Chapter 12

~You can't go home again~

a.n:Forgive the errors. This chapter was a pickle and I'm sure some details are wildly inaccurate.

2 months later

Rachel's announcement that the amplifiers were complete had brought about a flurry of activity and anticipation at the Presidential compound. Only Bass, Miles and Rachel knew that she had created a total of four amplifiers. Only Bass and Miles knew that they had managed to find two pendants from the information Jeremy had gained from the spy responsible for the "Birthday Bombing," as everyone was now calling it.

Bass and Miles were desperate to see just what these pendants and amplifiers could do and what kind of range they had. After much deliberation they decided to test them on the Huey helicopters currently located at the Willow Grove power plant, north of town.

xxxx

Charlie was running late as the morning sickness that had been with her almost the entirety of her pregnancy had reared its ugly head this morning. Combined with the dizzy spells and fainting, the one at the hospital the first of many, she wasn't even allowed to walk through the Hall alone anymore. Danny had volunteered to stay behind with her when everyone else was packing up to go, Miles and Bass having already been gone for hours.

xxxx

The group at the power plant watched the helicopter power up, take off and fly into the distance before returning. "Shit, Bass," Miles muttered stepping close to his longtime friend. "We've got to find more of those pendants or a way for Rachel to make them. I don't know who Flynn's working for, but depending on how many they have, they can bring every one of us to our knees. Foster, Carver, Affleck. They're threatening our family, Bass. If we don't do something soon, this is gonna spiral out of control."

Bass ran a hand through his hair. "I know, Miles. I know."

"Do you think we could buy some extra time? Maybe give Rachel a chance to see if she can replicate the pendant?"

"Anything's worth a try at this point."

Miles nodded his head in agreement as they followed the rest of their group downstairs to the bottom floor.

"Where's Charlotte?" Bass asked the group at large, not seeing his wife anywhere, the hair on the back of his neck suddenly standing on end as he swung around to look at Miles.

"She still wasn't feeling well when Rachel and I left," Maggie responded standing next to the other woman, "Danny volunteered to stay behind with her." The smile on her face dropped as Bass and Miles looked at each other.

"What? What is it?" Nora asked as Duncan and Jeremy moved closer.

"Just a feeling," Bass said quietly, quickly making his way to his horse.

"Jeremy, we need a handful of men, now!" Miles ordered. "Nora, Duncan, stay with Maggie and Rachel. Do not let anything happen to her or to the pendant and amplifier. Get them to the Hall as soon as possible."

Miles ran to his horse, Jeremy and his troops falling in behind, following Bass' dust trail.

XXXX

"Charlie! Are you ready yet?" Danny called out to his sister as he threw himself into a chair, tired of waiting.

"Well, I'm sorry little brother, if I could not puke every five minutes I assure you that I happily wouldn't," she replied finally emerging from the bedroom, slipping a jacket on over her slacks and blouse. Pulling her Colt out of the desk drawer in the office she checked the gun over, tucking it into the holster underneath her jacket.

"Come on, let's go, they're probably wondering where we're at."

"We probably already missed it." Danny grumbled taking her hand. "I really wanted to see it, too."

"I don't, not really." She said thoughtfully on their way down the hall to the stairs. "That much power scares me, Danny. Randall Flynn and whoever he's working for can only want bad things with it and that means trouble for us."

"Yeah, I know. Mom's been pretty stressed out working on it. I think she'd live in the basement if we let her."

Charlie bumps his shoulder, "She's always been passionate about her work and you. I know you've been a huge comfort to her since Ben died."

"There are some days I miss him so much, Charlie."

Stopping, Charlie pulls him into her arms. "I know,I'm so sorry."

As they break apart, Charlie hears the sound of gunfire outside.

"What's going on?" She asks the soldiers standing guard inside the main doors.

"We don't know, Mrs. Monroe. Please stay here until we find out."

Charlie nods her ascent, pulling out her weapon as a precaution as the soldier opens one of the double doors. Automatic gun fire mows him down, leaving her cursing as his bullet ridden body falls back into the hall. "Upstairs!" Charlie orders her brother shooting at the man crossing the threshold.

"My room," she replies to his unasked question as they reach the second floor landing, passing the guards on duty as they urge them up the stairs, blocking the way of any enemies trying to get to the First Lady and her brother, the sound of gunfire and men's screams echoing in their ears. "Bass has weapons in the closet."

Reaching her room, Sergeant Hoffman ushers them inside before placing himself at the top of the stairs while they shut and lock the door behind them. Dodging into her bedroom, Charlie throws open the closet doors as Danny pushes a tall chest in front of the door to the room. Pushing aside clothes, she tries to open the combination lock.

"Come on, Charlie!" Danny blurts out as booted feet are heard on the stairs.

"Didn't Uncle Ben always say patience is a virtue?" She asks slowly breathing in and out to make sure she dials the correct numbers.

"I don't think that applied to life threatening situations," Danny shouts at her when the outer door gives way.

"Catch!" Charlie hisses tossing an assault rifle to Danny before grabbing one of her own.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" They hear a voice taunting from the other side of the door.

Charlie and Danny glance towards each other from where they stand shoulder to shoulder, rifles aimed for the door.

"We only want the First Lady. If you come with us willingly, Mrs. Monroe, no one else needs to get hurt."

Charlie chews on her bottom lip worriedly as Danny elbows her with a stern look. "No! You are not going with them." He whispers as the door knob rattles.

"Oh come now, Charlotte. We don't need to do this the hard way and I know that you don't want the boy hurt."

"No, Charlie!" Danny hisses when he sees her arm drop slightly.

Suddenly, gunfire erupts as whoever is outside the door opens fire on them.

Charlie screams as the room explodes in bullets and wood, letting Danny guide her into the corner between the wall and bed.

They're returning gunfire when Danny is hit and thrown backwards with nothing more than an exhale of breath. Screaming furiously, Charlie stands from her crouched position firing her rifle, spraying the wall in front of her until it runs out of ammo. There's no sounds coming from the room beyond but that doesn't stop her from picking up Danny's rifle and stalking towards the door, easily pushing the bullet riddled chest away from the door.

Yanking what's left of the door out of her way, Charlie moves into the office where men lay dying or are already dead. Without a second thought she pulls the Colt out of her holster and proceeds to put a bullet in each unfamiliar face she sees.

When she's finished, she returns to the bedroom dropping to her hands and knees in the small space next to the bed as she crawls her way towards her brother's body.

There's an entry wound just above his left eye with a trickle of blood that doesn't match the amount of the blood that she's currently wading through. Reaching out to brush his eyelids closed, she leans back against the wall, pulling him into her lap.

XXXX

Jeremy and Miles manage to catch up with Bass when he's stopped at the city gates by the Sergeant in charge with reports of gun fire at the Presidential compound. They head home not knowing what to expect.

The street is oddly quiet when they leave their horses at the edge of the grounds, dividing up the men between the three of them. Jeremy and his men will take Independence Hall itself, while Bass takes the front of the family's residence and Miles the back.

Bass is shaken by the violence in which the attack was carried out. It's not that he's never seen war, he's seen more than his fair share of it. No, what scares him is the fact that his pregnant wife and teen-age brother-in-law were here when this happened. For the first time in a very long time he begins to pray.

He meets up with Miles in front of the stairs on the first level. Using nothing but their hands and eyes to communicate, they make their way to the second floor, searching the rooms before meeting back out in the hall way. There are dead Militia soldiers and other men littering the stairs. Other than the men at the front doors who were taken off guard by the attack, the rest of the soldiers had put up a fight trying to keep them away from the third floor. Silently moving up the stairs, neither dares to think about what they might find.

Charlie's favorite guard is blocking the top of the stairs, staring at the ceiling. Bass lowers himself just enough to close the man's eyes.

Miles is standing to the side of the main door which is busted all to hell and barely hanging on its hinges. Bass nods and they enter the room together at the ready. The smell of gunpowder lingers heavy in the air and he can see from here the bodies on the floor of his private office and the fact that his bedroom wall looks like Swiss cheese.

"Stop it!" Miles hisses getting his attention.

Nose flaring, Bass takes a deep breath and nods his readiness.

They slip into the office, guns at the ready. Three men. All with kill shots to the head.

"Charlie? Danny?" Miles calls out from near the bedroom door as Bass stands at the ready, least they've missed someone.

"Daddy?"

"Charlie! Baby!" Miles shouts as Bass sags against the wall at the sound of his wife's voice, rushing into the room right behind him. Miles can only make out Charlie's head in the corner and starts yanking at the bed to get to her, Bass helping. They come to a stop at the sight in front of them. Charlie is leaning up against the wall, Danny's head in her lap. Her hair and face are streaked with blood, marred only by tear tracks that have long since dried, her loaded gun lying across Danny's silent chest.

Miles turns away punching the wall beside him, as Bass moves slowly around the bed towards his wife. He knows it's fruitless but still reaches out seeking a pulse, no matter how faint, from his brother-in-law. He remembers when Danny was born, watching a tiny Charlie sitting in a chair holding her newborn brother much like she is now.

"Charlotte, I'm here now." He says softly, wrapping his hand around hers, pointing the gun towards the wall. "Let go baby, Dad and I are right here."

She stares at him for a moment before looking down at their joined hands, letting him peel her fingers away with no resistance. He slides it away from them as she reaches out to stroke the dead boy's cheek. "We did what they asked, didn't we?" she asks no one in particular, "Everything they wanted, but it still wasn't enough."

Miles is standing to the side, his heart breaking as he watches his daughter hold her dead brother in her arms. Getting himself under control, he moves to crouch down beside her, reaching out to brush her hair out of her face. "Charlie," he manages to croak out.

She turns her head towards him smiling sadly. "Daddy."

"Hey, Baby, are you okay?"

"They only wanted me, but he wouldn't let me give myself up. They promised not to hurt him if I went willingly. I just wanted to protect him. He's my baby brother. It's my job to look after him but he died protecting me."

Miles leans over, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "It's gonna be okay, I promise."

"I know," she whispers as her eyes flutter close. "I made sure they all died for what they did."

Bass grimly meets Miles eyes over her head, a decision silently made.

"Let me take him, Charlie. Let me take him to your Mom."

She nods in agreement bending down to kiss Danny's forehead, before letting Miles lift the boy over his shoulder.

Miles looks down at Bass and Charlie, worried because he doesn't know if any of the copious amounts of blood belong to her and turns to find Jeremy, wet-eyed in the doorway. "I'll take him downstairs to his room."

"Jeremy," Bass says getting the man's attention. "Get the grounds and buildings locked down. No one in or out. Put the soldiers on staff detail. I want these bodies out of here asap and everything cleaned, make hot water for a bath a priority. Have it sent to Miles' room."

Jeremy nods in response, taking in Charlie's appearance. "Is she…is the baby?"

"Jeremy, just get Maggie here as soon as you can."

Running a hand through his hair, Jeremy spins on his heels to carry out his orders.

Charlie lets Bass pull her to her feet and waits for him near the door, staring out at the dead men, as he grabs things from drawers and the closet, shoving them into a pillowcase he strips from the bed.

Moving to the bathroom he dumps everything he thinks she'll need into the trashcan. "Are you alright to walk?" he asks running his eyes over her, her slacks soaked in blood and gore.

"I'm not hurt, Bass." She responds meeting his eyes.

His hand is shaking as he guides her downstairs to Miles' rooms, tossing her belongings into a nearby chair.

She joins him near the fireplace where he is quickly starting a fire even if it is only ten in the morning. He glances up at her every few moments, watching as she begins to strip out of her blood soaked clothing, dropping them on the tile at his feet until she's nude in front of him.

He can't resist the urge to run a hand up the inside of her leg, ensuring that their child is still safely ensconced in her womb. Not finding any fresh blood, he stands, circling her body looking for any injuries before letting out a sob that he didn't know he was holding in. Cupping her cheeks, he kisses her gently. Bringing hers up to cover his, she leans into his body.

That's how Miles finds them a few moments later, Charlie's face tucked into the crook of his neck, her hot tears scalding his skin.

"Is she hurt?"

Bass shakes his head, unable to speak as he cradles his wife's head in his hands.

Miles eyes flick over Charlie's nude backside, bloody from her hips down. "Water's on its way up,"

Nodding his tanks, Bass moves to pull a robe out of the belongings that he brought. Helping her to slip it on, he moves them towards an empty chair, pulling her into his lap where she tucks up close, her hand going to his mark.

"Promise me they're not going to get away with this," she whispers harshly into the quiet room.

"I promise," Bass vows holding her tighter.


a.n.:Honestly, I'm just tired of looking at this chapter. After babbling, as I tend to do in replies, to Iceonfire about the last chapter and Charlie's character overall in this story, I ended up rewriting the majority of the chapter.