Hi folks! You'll notice towards the end of this chapter, I rewind to someone's inner thoughts during the previous scene. I just wanted to clarify that in case anyone got confused. Happy Reading! :)

By the time Duncan and her men arrived back to the site of the shooting, Bass & Charlie were gone. Unsure of what had happened, she made her way towards the house with Tom in tow.

—

The moment she fell to the ground, panic set in. Bass shook her. "Charlie, please, please stay with me!" Nothing. He scooped her up quickly as if she weighed nothing. He started towards the house with Charlie slouched in his arms. He thought of nothing other than getting her to Gene as quick as he could. While running faster than he ever had, he did his best to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.

When he had finally gotten back to the house, he kicked the front door open. "GENE! HELP!" He made his way to the kitchen, using his leg to get everything off the kitchen table. As cups and plates tumbled to the floor, he laid Charlie on the table. He was nearly on top of her as he continued applying pressure to her shoulder.

He continued yelling, "Gene! Rachel! Miles! Anyone! Help! Please!" He was nearly in tears. Finally, he could hear someone running down the stairs.

"Jesus, Bass it's not even 8…." As Miles turned the corner, he saw Bass pressing down on Charlie, blood all over his hands. "Oh, God."

Gene & Rachel appeared behind him.

"Oh God," Rachel nearly fell at the sight of Charlie unconscious.

"Rachel, go grab my bag." Gene ran towards Bass & Charlie. "Where was she shot," he asked Bass.

"In the shoulder."

"Ok, keep applying pressure." He turned to his daughter, "Rachel!" Gene realized she wasn't moving. She was in shock. "Miles, go get my bag. Now!" He turned his attention back to Charlie & Bass. "We're going to need to roll her over, I need to see if the bullet went all the way through." Gene inspected the back of her shoulder. The bullet was still in her. "Keep applying pressure." Gene spotted Jason & Connor, who had heard the commotion and made their way to the kitchen. "Connor, go run and get some water. Jason, get some towels. NOW!"

When Bass turned and saw Jason, he leaped off of Charlie and sprinted towards Jason. Gene immediately took Bass' place, and continued applying pressure to Charlie's wound. Bass flew in the air and threw down the hardest punch he ever had. Jason surprisingly fell to his knees. He wasn't quite knocked out, so Bass threw one more hard punch. With that, Jason fell to the ground.

"What the hell?" Connor didn't understand what was going on.

Miles ran back into the room. He saw Jason on the ground, with Bass fuming beside him. As he handed the bag to Gene, he turned back to Bass. "What the hell happened?"

"Tom….Tom…" Bass slowly backed up, starting to realize the gravity of the situation.

Miles knew he wasn't going to get the full story at that moment, but he realized what most likely happened. He turned to Connor, "Water. Now!" As Connor ran to get the water, Miles ran to get some towels.

Bass made his way to a chair not far from the table where Charlie was sprawled out. He just sat their staring down at the blood on his hands. He was trying to sort through his thoughts.

Rachel had apparently tuned back into reality, because she was now helping Gene. They were working very carefully but quickly.

Connor & Miles ran back to the kitchen handing the towels & water to Gene & Rachel. They then turned their attention to Jason, who was still on the floor.

"Connor, go get some rope from the barn. We should probably tie him up." Miles then directed his attention to Gene & Rachel. "Is she ok?"

Gene responded calmly, "The bullet didn't go all the way through, but we were able to remove it. We're just stitching and cleaning her up now. Thankfully, she didn't lose too much blood. She'll probably be out a few hours, but right now, she looks like she's going to be ok." He turned to Bass. "Getting her here as quickly as you did and applying constant pressure…you may have saved her life. Thank you."

Rachel also turned her attention to Bass, "Thank you…but can you please tell us what happened?"

Though he was listening carefully to what everyone was saying, Bass was staring at the ground, still unresponsive.

At that moment, Connor walked in with rope from the barn. Duncan soon followed with 2 of her men & Tom. Everyone turned to see the stranger escorting Tom in the house. Connor realized his father wasn't going to speak up, so he took care of introductions.

"So Duncan, do you mind filling us in on what happened," Miles asked.

"Well, Sebastian & I were packing up camp when Charlie came darting out of the trees screaming and pointing towards Tom, who was raising a gun. I ran over to him, but the gun went off before I could reach him. I think he was trying to shoot Sebastian, but it appears the girl really didn't want that to happen."

Everyone just stared at her dumbfounded. They all began exchanging questioning glances. When they all looked over to Bass, they saw his eyes were now glued to Charlie. He was sitting very still, watching her closely.

Rachel spoke up, "You mean to tell me my daughter, the same one who tried to kill Monroe just a few months ago, took a bullet for him?" She didn't believe what Duncan was saying.

"It would appear that way." Duncan was quickly figuring out that no one in that room had a clue as to what was going on between Sebastian & Charlie. She figured she best not get involved. "Look, we need to get him tied up," she said pointing to Tom. She then glanced down at Jason. "I'm going to assume that's his son. We should get him tied up too."

Miles agreed, "Yea, let's get them into the basement. We'll question them later."

Duncan sent her men off, seeing that there were already enough people in the house. As she, Miles, Gene, & Rachel began moving Tom & Jason to the basement, Connor walked over to his father. "Are you ok?"

That woke Bass from his thoughts, "I…have no idea."

—

When Bass stepped back from Jason, it finally hit him what was happening.

He heard Miles yell, "What the hell happened?"

"Tom….Tom…" He suddenly found his thoughts colliding rapidly, unable to sort through them properly. He spotted a chair near the table where Gene & Rachel were working on Charlie. He sat down and looked down at his hands. They were covered in blood, Charlie's blood. His thoughts immediately went to a dark place. What would he do if she died? He'd fall back to where he once was, right back down the rabbit hole. No, she couldn't die. He couldn't….he couldn't live…without her. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He realized in that moment that he loved her. He was in love with Charlotte Matheson.

He heard Gene speaking to those in the room, "The bullet didn't go all the way through, but we were able to remove it. We're just stitching and cleaning her up now. Thankfully, she didn't lose too much blood. She'll probably be out a few hours, but right now, she looks like she's going to be ok. Getting her here as quickly as you did and applying constant pressure…you may have saved her life. Thank you."

Rachel then spoke to him, "Thank you…but can you please tell us what happened?"

He couldn't respond. His thoughts had taken over him. He could live without her loving him in return, but he could not live if she died. He was so thankful that she was ok. He would do anything for her. Though he could live without reciprocation of those feelings, he wondered if she ever could.
He then began to think of how she tried to save him…she did save him. She took a bullet for him. Why? Why would she do that? She tried to kill him. She slept with his son. He didn't understand. Was it possible she felt something…anything for him? That couldn't be possible. She hated him. But she saved him. As much as he hoped she felt something for him, he didn't want to give himself any false hope.

He then heard Connor speaking to him, "Are you ok?"

"I…have no idea."

So what do y'all think about this little plot twist? Let me know! Critiques are extremely helpful! Thanks in advance! :)