Nights in white satin, sweet dreams...into the fire

A Revolution fic: Bass Monroe/Charlie Matheson, Charloe; Blackout AU. Miles Matheson, Rachel Matheson, Aaron Pittman, mention of other characters from the show. After the Tower, and before he found New Vegas, Bass headed towards Philadelphia, aiming to see what was left of the Monroe Republic… Somewhere along the way, something happened that made him wonder about the power of dreams, and why Charlie Matheson kept turning up in his…

Rating M

Author's note:

Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this, and for sticking with me during a long break in updates… The story is based on prompts from the Orgy Armada's Revolution, The Second Coming and has taken on a life of it's own! it keeps wanting to go further, do more...anyway, I don't own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters.

Nights in white satin, sweet dreams…into the fire

Miles kept the horses going, pushing them on until their sides were wet and heaving, sweat foaming white under the leather of the harness and dripping in long streams from their mouths, then finally he let them drop back to a walk...

Rachel seemed oblivious to everything and was staring off into space again, bolstered between Miles and Aaron, muttering and swaying with the motion of the wagon, her left hand twirling a strand of hair…

Charlie pulled up alongside the wagon, leaving Bass to go on ahead through the trees parallel to the road. Looking back the way they'd come, she edged a little closer, her voice harsh… 'I think we're ok, Miles, I can't see anything coming back there.'

Aaron turned to look, his hands shaking a little, his face pale…'So what the fuck were they?'

Keeping his eyes on the horses, Miles kept them moving to cool down – as well as to keep getting further away from the weird shit behind them. 'We're just the other side of Ludlow' he frowned, 'I remember hearing something about the place when I was a kid, there was a massacre there back in the day, a couple dozen mining people, men, women and kids, were burned alive,' he shook his head 'a really bad business, and if that was them, or what's left of them, I'm not surprised that they're pissed'

Charlie frowned 'maybe the lightening woke them up too' she looked back down the road again, it was still empty, still quiet, 'I hope Rose is ok'

'I thought I heard her telling us to run, Charlie,' Aaron cleared his throat, shifting on his seat… 'It looked like she was fighting them off, helping us…'

'Yeah, like I said, I hope she's ok,' Charlie turned back to Miles, reefing Stony away and circling him round when he tried to scrape her leg against the wagon wall but keeping him going alongside…'how far are we from Pueblo, Miles?

He frowned then shrugged…'at least another day and a half, a bit less if we keep going through the night although that depends on the horses, we'll have to rest them somewhere along the way…' he shuffled uneasily on the bench, looking over his shoulder then quickly back again, 'But one thing I know for sure is that I want us to be as far away from here as possible by the time it gets dark.'

Aaron nodded, his eyes haunted, 'Amen to that'

'Yeah, me too.' Charlie pulled Stony away from the wagon again and glanced at the sky, 'We've got a couple of hours yet till sundown, I'll go scout ahead and report back before dark, ok?'

'Ok…' Miles urged the reluctant horses on… 'Be careful though, I'm betting someone's found those bodies back at the farm and maybe the lake by now, we might have picked up a few followers...'

She nodded, 'maybe we'll get lucky and they'll run into the grey people.'

Aaron shuddered, 'I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even the Patriots'

Charlie shrugged, careless, 'better them than us.'

He looked at her, his eyes sad, 'you've changed, Charlie, you wouldn't have said that a few months ago…'

She looked back at him, keeping the restless Stony on a tight rein… 'What do you want me to say, Aaron? I'm just trying to keep us alive…'

Aaron looked away, 'I know, it's just…' he shook his head, 'nothing, it's nothing…'

Miles darted a look at Charlie but didn't say anything…

….

'Place looks deserted,' Bass passed the binoculars to Charlie…

She took them, having a look for herself…

It was early morning on the third day since they left the farm and Bass and Charlie were laid out on their bellies on a little rise above the town of Pueblo which stretched out below them looking, as Bass said, deserted and empty.

Miles and the others were about half a mile back hidden a little way off the road; waiting for Charlie to report back…

She swept the glasses over the collection of hulking chimneys, metal stacks and tumbledown buildings that Bass had said were the remains of the steelworks museum and the patchwork landscape of the town itself, overgrown with trees, shrubs, weeds…still nothing… Then… 'Bass?' she passed the glasses over and pointed down at a small building on the main street. 'See? Over there.'

He put the glasses to his eyes, 'yeah… I see him.'

An old man in sturdy working clothes, his hair and long beard snowy white in the midday sun, was heading towards the museum, driving a wagon pulled by what looked like an equally old grey donkey with a couple of black and white dogs, sheepdogs maybe, padding alongside and a jersey cow tied to the back of the wagon.

Bass put the glasses down and turned to Charlie, his eyes very blue in the sunshine, 'fancy a visit to the museum?'

She grinned, 'sounds good to me.' The grin became wicked behind the fall of her hair… 'You know what else I think sounds good?'

He grinned back, 'what?'

She shrugged then rolled over so she was on her back and shuffled closer, 'we're alone, so you can kiss me…'

He leaned over her, the soft hair of his moustache and scruff lightly brushing the smooth skin of her cheeks, something he'd learned she loved, that set her senses reeling… 'I like the way your mind works' then his lips descended.

Charlie laughed against his mouth and relaxed back against the grass, enjoying the firm lips on hers, his tongue gently thrusting; the hard muscled body pressed up against her, his arms strong columns either side of her shoulders. She ran her hands up over the tight abs, her fingers playing with the hard little nipples then sliding up, spreading out over the broad shoulders, pulling him closer, loving the warm strength of him, the feeling of being surrounded by hot, hard flesh…

They left the horses tied up outside the museum and Charlie knocked on the door.

A chorus of barks sounded loud on the inside, then a man's voice telling them to shush then quiet. Then the door opened and Charlie was looking down the double barrel of the biggest gun she'd ever seen, the sound of a safety clicking off echoing loudly in her ears.

'What do you want?' the old man from the wagon was standing behind his gun, several assorted dog shapes sitting quiet but on alert in a semi-circle behind him.

Bass held his hands up, moving forwards just a little, just a little more in front of Charlie…'We've got some pre-blackout bio-weapons that we need incinerated, we're hoping you can help'

The man's bushy eyebrows lifted, 'Now that's a new one…' he lowered the gun a little, his sharp eyes appraising. 'No uniforms, so you aren't those new Patriot types; they're starched so stiff I wouldn't be surprised if they kept their guns up their asses… So are you government people maybe?' He looked Charlie up and down, the sharp eyes noting the brand on her wrist and darting up to her face, 'the young woman here's ex-militia but then so are a lot of people these days'

Charlie bit her lip, she had a feeling this man was a whole lot smarter than he looked.

He turned those eyes to Bass and they narrowed, the gun rising a little again… 'And you look familiar'

Bass took a deep breath, keeping his hands high. 'Who we are, or were, doesn't matter, what we're trying to do does.' He leveled his gaze on the old man, putting every shred of sincerity into his voice that he could find, 'we need to destroy this stuff before it can be used against innocent people'

The gun lowered again, just a little, and the old man let out a long breath… 'Maybe I believe you, maybe I'd even want to help if I could, but I can't, the furnace needs power to start up,' a couple of the dogs whined and he shrugged, 'and in case you haven't noticed, there isn't any power.'

Charlie slowly raised her hands, 'Can I show you something?' She slowly reached up for the thong around her neck, pulling the pendant out from under her tank.

The old man tensed as she moved, the gun rising again, then he just looked puzzled, 'so what's that supposed to be?'

Charlie pressed the base with her thumb the way Aaron had shown them the night before and the little power symbol on the front pinged into life.

Behind the old man a couple of lamps suddenly went on and music floated out to them from further inside the building… a guitar and a man's voice, singing '… cause I know, I don't belong, here in heaven…'

The old man stared at the pendant for a long moment, then up at Charlie and Bass, tears falling down his cheeks into the white beard. Then he took a long breath, lowered the gun and clicked the safety back on. 'You'd better come in…'

Miles drove the wagon in through the big double gates that led to the steelworks exhibits, Charlie and Bass coming in after him with Painful trailing reluctantly behind Bass' black gelding.

Charlie dismounted near the wagon, tying Stony to the back… 'Are Mom and Aaron ok, Miles?'

He nodded, 'They're fine, Aaron took the stuff of the wagon that we wanted to keep, now he's cooking and your mom's having a lie down' he swung down from the bench seat, 'they're far enough away that she won't see or hear anything, but close enough that Aaron can come get us if he needs to.' He looked at the sturdy figure coming towards him pulling a flatbed trolley and held a hand out to shake when he got close enough…'Hi there, you must be Steve…'

The old man took the offered hand and shook it in a firm grip, 'and you're Miles Matheson' he chuckled, tipping his head towards Bass, 'and over there's Sebastian Monroe'

Bass turned from unloading Painful when he heard his name, gave a mock salute and a grin then turned back to what he was doing…

Steve shook his head, 'two of the most wanted men in the country asking for my help' he chuckled, 'this is turning out to be quite an unusual day…'

Miles' lips twisted in a half grin although his eyes were grim and the lines around his mouth harsh. 'You could say that,' running a hand through his hair…'Have you got the furnace up and running yet, Steve?' he pointed a thumb at the wagon, 'the sooner that stuff is ash and gone the happier I'll be' he looked around, 'we've still got a few hours before sundown.'

Steve nodded, 'I've got number three going, she's hot enough to do the job without shouting it out to everyone within thirty miles'

Charlie finished unsaddling Stony and came over, stretching out the kinks from her back, laughing as three gangly puppies trotted along next to her, winding around her feet, their tails wagging furiously…

Miles' eyes softened a little as he looked at them, then he turned back to the old man, 'Charlie says you've been here since the blackout, Steve, why'd you stay?'

Steve shrugged, his shoulders heavy, 'it's my museum, I ran it, and when the blackout happened I had no where else I wanted to be, so I just stayed on' he swept an arm out, indicating the yard and the fields beyond. 'I've got room to myself, I mostly grow my own food, or trade for what I need in the next town,' he reached down, patting the dog sitting at his feet and a black, furry tail thumped on the ground, 'and I've got plenty of company.'

Charlie smiled at the three pairs of lively, intelligent brown eyes gazing up at her from the ground near her feet and three more tails thumped, one patchy brown, two black… 'They're lovely…'

Bass came over, standing just behind Charlie, bending down to run a hand over a smooth black and white head; caressing the soft ears, rubbing the offered belly as the puppy flung himself over onto his back, legs waving in the air, tongue lolling. 'I've missed having dogs around…'

Steve smiled, proud, 'yeah, they're pretty special' He studied Charlie's face, 'would you like a puppy or two? These guys are ready to go to a new home,' he looked at Bass then back to Charlie 'they're smart, if you trained them right they'd help you hunt, guard your camp…' he looked over at Painful, 'I'd take the mule in trade if you haven't got the diamonds, my donkey's way overdue for retirement…'

Charlie was tempted, and she could feel that Bass was too… 'I don't know Steve, like you said, everyone's after us, Patriots, Bounty hunters, Rangers' she frowned, 'we don't even know if we'll make it through tomorrow, let alone live long enough for these guys to learn to guard us or anything else, they'd be better off with you, or on a farm somewhere…'

Miles looked away, frowning, then turned back… 'This is all really nice, guys, but maybe you can play with the puppies later, I'd really like to get this crap in the burner before the Patriots or Texas do find us…'

Charlie jumped, then nodded, 'you're right, Miles, sorry…' she turned to Steve and pointed at the trolley, 'can we load up now?'

Steve nodded, glancing at Miles then back to her, 'Yeah, fire's nearly ready…'

Bass gave the puppy a final pat, then stood up and walked over to the wagon, reaching for one of the boxes and brushing past Miles on the way, 'Lighten up, Miles; if Charlie wants a puppy, where's the harm in it?' his voice was low, intense, 'It might even help her get through all of this…'

Miles followed him and picked up one of the boxes himself, his voice harsh, uncompromising, 'it's just one more thing for her to lose, Bass…'

The two men looked at each other for a long, long moment, then Bass turned away, 'you could try having a little hope, Miles...'

Miles huffed…'Hope? What the fuck makes you think there's any hope for any of us?' he turned to where Charlie and Steve had placed the trolley, carried the box over and put it down…

Bass stared after him; the blue eyes full of something… understanding? Sympathy? then he took his own load over…

By the time they had most of the load on the trolley, moving carefully, gently, stacking the boxes so nothing would break on the way, Steve's face was grim, his lips tight… 'So those Patriot bastards were actually planning to use this stuff on people? Animals?' He'd tied the dogs up, worried that their curiosity and sensitive noses might get them into trouble, and he glanced across at them, his eyes angry... 'That's inhuman, as if we haven't lost enough…' he shook his head, carefully placing another box on top of the others already on the trolley, then turned to Miles 'and they were the ones who sent the bombs too?'

Miles nodded…'yeah, we saw one of them do it, in Colorado, we were trying to stop him but he locked himself inside the control room and pushed the button. Seeing it all happen sent Charlie's mom into a kind of mental breakdown' he sighed, 'We've been travelling since then and found this stuff on the way by accident…' he shrugged, 'sort of… Then Bass remembered that there was a furnace here, so we thought we'd try to get rid of it, keep it out of their hands.'

'And I'm glad you came,' Steve looked over at Charlie, lifting a box from the other side of the wagon, Bass helping her, 'She's young to have seen so much trouble…'

Miles nodded, letting a breath out through his teeth…'Yeah'

Bass and Charlie arrived, carrying the last box between them and placing it carefully on top of the others. Bass patted the top, gently, 'that's it, that's all of it' he looked at Steve, 'time to rock and roll…'

Steve had set his iPod up next to the furnace, away from the heat but within range of the pendant, music blaring, raucous, heavy and irresistible, rising above the roar of the flames…

Bass grinned, 'ACDC? What happened to Eric Clapton?'

Steve shrugged and grinned back…'The last song I heard on this thing before the blackout was about heaven, so I figured it was time to raise some hell…'

Charlie raised an eyebrow, 'it's really loud…'

Steve laughed, a big, belly laugh, 'I never thought I'd hear anyone under thirty say that…' then he checked the temperature readouts on the furnace, clapping his hands together… 'She's hot enough, folks, so it's time to start incinerating this crapola' He flipped a switch and a metal conveyer belt started rolling towards the machine, creaking and groaning… 'We'd better be quick though, she's a little bit rusty after all this time and I'm not sure how long the fuel will hold out…'

They worked together, loading box after box onto the belt, watching them roll forwards into the mouth of the furnace, disappearing into the fire one by one…

Steve had held back the canisters of gas for last, and as the final boxes of the biohazard material went into the furnace, he turned to the others, 'I'm not sure what these are going to do when they get hot, folks' He looked at each of them, 'if they blow up and set the furnace off too, we could all die, and there's no point in that…'

Miles took a deep breath, 'so what are you saying, Steve?'

The old man looked at them…'I always figured I'd lasted out here this long for a reason, and this is as good as any I could think of. Now you all head outside so you can get away if you need to, I'll stay and make sure these are loaded and burning, then run…'

Bass stepped forwards, 'I'm probably a fair bit faster than you, Steve… I'll do it'

Charlie jerked, her eyes flashing to his face…

Steve noticed and smiled…'Nah, I reckon you're needed right where you are' he patted the edge of the conveyer, 'she's mine, I know her ways even after all this time and I might have to nurse her along a bit to make sure it's all gone, and none of you'd know what to do.' He picked up a couple of canisters, 'now go on outside, all of you, I'll be there soon, don't you worry,' he nodded to each of them, ending with Charlie, 'but if for some reason I don't come out, will you make sure my dogs are ok? That they get to good homes?' he grinned, his eyes twinkling, 'there's the donkey and that damn Jersey cow too'

She nodded, biting her lip, 'I'll look after them…'

He nodded back 'I believe you will, thank you…' he turned to the conveyer, 'now go on, get outta here…'

They'd just got to the courtyard where they'd left the horses and the wagon and where the dogs were tied up when the furnace behind them exploded in a huge ball of flame and flying debris, most of it caught by the containment walls but the lighter stuff raining down, the horses rearing in panic and the dogs barking, straining at their leashes…

Bass pulled Charlie towards him and out of the way of a falling chunk of burning metal, Miles on her other side, his arm up as a shield, the air thick with heat, ash and dust, then the three of them ran to get the horses under whatever cover they could.

Miles looked back at the burning mass of the furnace as he ran, a thick, swirling column of oily black smoke was rising into the sky like a black fist. It'd be visible for miles around, especially once it got dark, and there was no sign of Steve…

He turned to Bass 'We've got to get outta here, now…'

Bass nodded, 'you're reading my mail'

Aaron appeared at the gates, puffing, his face panicked as he looked at the mess in front of him… 'What the fuck did you do?' He held out his hands, he was holding what looked like half the deck of tarot cards… 'Rose is back' he heaved a breath, 'and I think she's gone crazy…'

The tall man lowered his binoculars, the star on his chest glinting in the evening sun…'Do you think it's anything to do with them?'

A second Ranger lowered his own, 'it's worth a look…' he turned to the half dozen others on the hill behind him. 'Mount up, boys, we're going to Pueblo.'

…..

AN, thanks for reading – and I'm sorry it's been so long between updates! Stories in between, holidays etc etc…. I've got the next bit (possibly the last bit, I'm not quite sure…) percolating now, but I have a couple of other stories to get out as well, anyway, hope you're enjoying it, cheers, Magpie