Early update! Notes at the bottom its almost 12 am here!

~Miles/Charlie/Bass~

Charlie sat beside Miles' bed waiting for him to wake up, he'd been out cold for two days now and the not knowing was putting her on edge. She promised to kill him when he woke up for not telling them about the infection, he was dying and decided to be a stupid idiot about it. Running her hands through her hair she sighed in frustration, looking back at him though she was just glad they were able to get him back to Gene before he stopped breathing.

Monroe was standing vigil outside his room also waiting, He knew Charlie needed time with Miles so he let her have it. He was leaned against the wall staring off into space when he heard Charlie's voice coming through the cracked door.

"Come on Miles..." Her voice was soft and worn. Bass leaned around the door frame just enough to see her.

Charlie crouched closer to the bed and took her uncles uninjured hand. "I need you to wake up..." She pulled his hand closer and she bowed her head to mattress. "You can't leave me like this, you know that. We've been through way to much for you to just ditch out on us, I need you, Bass needs you..."

Monroe took a step back from the door eyes wide, He didn't know why it surprised him so much that she said his name but he was aware of how constant it was that she call him Monroe, he knew it had to be a distancing thing that if she called him Monroe it would be harder for her to forget that he was General Monroe. She knew he was there but he suddenly felt like he was intruding on something so he turned and went outside, he needed air and to be away from the confusion that battled in his mind.

Groaning Miles gripped Charlie's hand, he didn't wake up but it was enough to put her at ease. Rocking back on her heels she watched him for a moment and had a flash to when Monroe was lying in this spot. The apprehension she had when Monroe was here was nothing compared to how she was feeling now, she knew with Monroe that he was going to pull through and be fine, but with Miles it was anyones guess how this was going to turn out.

Standing up she stretched her arms above her head trying to release the tension in her shoulders and back, dropping her arms to her sides she glanced down at Miles again. She rung out a cloth from the bowl of cold water beside the bed and brushed his hair from his forehead before placing the cooling cloth there.

She couldn't help but smile at the situation, it seemed she was destined to look after the two ex- generals. Standing straight again she brushed her hand over his one last time before leaving the room. The first thing she noticed was Monroe's lack of presence. stretching she glanced around the bunker they were in before deciding that he was no longer there. Stepping outside she finally found him leaning against a tree faced away from the house about a hundred feet away.

"What are you doing out here?" Charlie asked stepping up beside him.

Monroe jumped backing into the tree. "Shit, Charlie don't sneak up on people like that." He ran his fingers through his curls unsure of what else to do.

"Sorry." She chuckled and shrugged. "Thought you were still inside, is everything ok?" Crossing her arms she looked up at him curiously.

"Yah, everything is fine." His answered abruptly.

"Liar." She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's up?" she stepped in front of him trying to get a clear look at his face.

"Charlie, drop it." He narrowed his eyes back at her.

She eyed him up again then dropped her arms to her sides. "Fine don't tell me." She huffed at him. "But you should go see Miles, he was stirring a bit when I was in there." She waved her arm towards the hideout as a signal to go. "I'd get in there before Rachel or you won't see him alone." She turned her face away from him as she spoke.

"Charlotte. Thank you." He touched her hand lightly as he passed by her. Her eyes closed as he did, when ever they made contact either by accident or on purpose it did something to her something she couldn't bring herself to try and figure out.

"I'll stand outside, let you know when Rachel is coming. Don't be in there when she comes or we'll never hear the end of it." She smiled blandly at him not giving away the frustration and confusion plaguing her mind. She didn't know it but he was trying to figure it out, to see if he could numb himself to the effect she was having on him.

He didn't smile back, he didn't give her much of anything back. They both turned and headed towards the safe house.

They were almost to the door when Charlie lost her footing and pitched forward. She reached out her arms to brace for impact when she was suddenly jerked back, Monroe had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into a standing position. He hadn't moved out of surprise and a little fear at how Charlie was going to react to him having his arms all over her.

"Bass?" Charlie had turned so she was facing him, her hands were on his chest she wasn't sure if it was an attempt at distancing herself from him or to appease the sudden craving for contact she was trying to deny.

Monroe's eyes went wide again, then narrowed into a glare as he stepped away suddenly and looked away from her. "I'm going inside, keep a look out for Rachel." He left her standing outside the door watching after him. The moment he stepped through the door he felt slight relief but not enough. He made his way quietly into Miles' room and sat in the chair that was previously occupied by Charlie, stuffing his face into his hands he growled in frustration he needed to figure this out.

While he sat watching Miles frown from discomfort flashes of his time in bed rest came to mind, he remembered Charlie sitting with him and talking with him a lot, he also remembered her hands on him holding his hands or running them over his chest. They couldn't be real memories there was no way she would willingly touch him... was there? He touched his chest lightly where he swore he could still feel her hands. "Miles... Your niece is going to be the death of me."

When Monroe disappeared from view Charlie picked up the nearest solid object and hurled it as hard as she could while making a frustrated growl huffing noise. "The son-of-a-bitch needs to stop doing that!" she angrily whispered to herself. With another angry huff she landed in a fuming pile next to the door.

twenty minutes of pulling grass and mumbling to herself passed as Monroe sat with Miles doing or saying who knows what when Rachel appeared across the field a bucket filled with supplies in hand. Charlie sprung up from her spot and thudded down the stairs, bursting into the room she looked between the unconscious Miles and the stoic as ever Monroe.

"Come on get up, Rachel is coming and quickly." Charlie said locking with his blue eyes.

"This is just getting stupid." Monroe huffed as he stood.

"I'm aware, she's crazy and I'd like to keep it at bay for a little while longer." Charlie smirked at him. "Come on." She nodded to the other room.

The two left the room and flopped onto the couch opposite the door to Miles room, they could still kind of see him but not as much as they would both like. Rachel came down the stairs unaware that two sets of eyes were watching her. she had her back turned to them as she set some of her things down, they looked at each other and sighed silently in relief. Rachel turned to go into Miles' room and jumped at the sight of Monroe and Charlie sitting and watching her with innocent grins on there faces.

"What are you guys doing?" Rachel asked holding her chest.

"We're keeping an eye on Miles." Charlie said gesturing to the open door.

"Out here?" Rachel eyed them suspiciously.

"Where else? You didn't want Monroe around Miles when you're not there and honestly as much as I love Miles he's seriously the worst at keeping interesting conversation right now." Charlie shrugged and leaned farther back into the couch. "Really though, he's not much better at the interesting conversations right now either." She jerked her thumb in Monroe's direction. "Miles I think is doing better, he was moving around a bit when I went in there earlier."

Rachel nodded at her daughter and disappeared into Miles' room. Charlie and Bass relaxed into the couch and waited for news on Miles.

And by here I mean I'm back home. phew what a day! almost 16 solid hours of traveling, a train a plane a bus a ferry and a car... my butt hurts from so much sitting! But we're back at the boy's parents and I had loooooots of time to write, so gimmie any and all feedback! I made a real effort to try and make this chapter longer and I think I succeeded a little, part of my problem is keeping track of how long they are, I don't have Word on my laptop so I have to use Notepad so I gauge the length on the scroll bar and the KB size it saves into... alas I don't have a disc drive or a credit card to buy it... so sad