Chapter 10: A Signficant Development

They both freeze for a minute, lips still pressed together, each briefly wondering if they've actually created an explosion with their sparks until they realize what is actually happening. IT is finally happening. They pull back and look to each other and then turn to the sky, which is alternating between bright flashes of light and lightning bolts, to pitch black.

"This is what happened when it went out," Monroe says, grabbing Charlie's hand to pull her off the stairs and into the yard. "But that didn't." They see fireballs exploding from miles away in Bradbury. Huge flames reaching to the sky.

"It's happening! It's happening!" Aaron comes running outside, stuffing his arms in a hoodie, looking both excited and terrified.

The others join them but are too focused on the sky to notice how close Charlie and Monroe are standing to each other. Except Miles. He notices that their arms are touching as if they'd been holding hands. He glares at them until they both look at him in confusion. He continues to glare and raise his eyebrows until they step away from each other.

"Uhhh, do we need to worry about this lightning hitting anything? That definitely doesn't look normal." Connor squints at the sky.

"This should stop," Aaron replies. "Because yeah, the last place we want to be is on a train during something like this."

That didn't quite answer his question, so Connor looks around for conductors that might be on the property. He does a double-take and gives tiny smile when he sees Charlie in Monroe's jacket.

Finally it quiets down. The lightning becomes less frequent until it eventually stops. They're left staring at the town of Bradbury burning itself to the ground. All is quiet except for the low sound of other people in and around Blackfoot marveling at what they're seeing.

Miles and Monroe both turn towards the house. "There doesn't seem to be any electricity," says Miles, looking at Aaron.

"So much for that theory," Monroe looks at both Rachel and Aaron. "It was just a theory," Aaron says defensively.

"Well, show's over, it's time to get out of here," says Connor. 'When's the train come through?" he asks Miles.

"11am tomorrow." He has his hands on his hips, and taps them in thought. "We need a plan." Connor rolls his eyes. "Do we have to overthink everything? Let's just get on the train tomorrow."

"We need to hide Bass," says Miles, pointing to Monroe. Monroe opens his mouth to say something before realizing he has nothing to say, because he doesn't disagree. He just didn't expect Miles to say it.

"He can join us later, just in time to get on the train," says Rachel. She clearly doesn't care if he shows up or not.

"You need someone with you Bass, in case something happens." He looks at Connor and Charlie, debating which is the worse choice.

"I will." – Connor.

"I will." – Charlie.

Bass is touched.

"You can't, Charlie. They know he's traveling with a woman." He looks back and forth between Monroe and Connor. "Don't make me regret this."

Bass rolls his eyes in frustration. "Have I given you a reason not to trust me?" Miles's eyes grow wide in disbelief, so Bass tags on, "Lately?"

As usual, Miles wants to ignore the issue. "Try and get some rest everyone. I'm going to wait here and make sure we're not attacked by burnt nanite zombies."

"I'm fairly certain they're dead," Aaron says. "After that fireball?" But no one is listening him. Everyone's headed inside to try and get some kind of rest, and Aaron follows.

But Miles holds back Charlie and Bass. "Okay, what the hell is going on between you two?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing!"

He looks back and forth between them, finally clocking Charlie in Monroe's jacket. He puts his hands on his hips, not believing them for a second. "Uh huh." He wags his finger between them. "Just make sure Rachel doesn't catch wind of this."

Monroe shakes his head on a sigh, venting his frustration. "Jesus, Miles. I'm going inside." He wants to dodge this confrontation; he's so aware of Charlie right now that he's worried just standing next to her will give his feelings away.

Miles and Charlie watch Monroe retreat and then look back to each other. Miles raises his eyebrows. Well? She puts her hands on her hips and looks him straight in the eyes. "There is nothing going on." Okay, maybe that's a lie. "But if there was," Charlie says firmly, "that would be between me" – she points to herself – "and him." – she points to the house.

Miles looks at her, tapping his fingers to his hips, thinking. "Okay. Fair enough." He walks towards the house.

But Charlie is so wound up that she knows she'll never sleep. Stuffing her hands in the pockets of Monroe's jacket, she walks around the side of the house, following a small stream she'd spotted earlier. The sound of the water rolling over walks is soothing even as the occasional flash brightens the sky. She follows the stream until it opens up into a very small pond surrounded by trees.

Suddenly she hears a rustling to her left, and whips out her gun. At Monroe, who is pointing his gun at her. "What are you doing here?" they both ask at the same time, putting down their guns. "There's no way I was going to sleep," Charlie says. "Me either."

They stare at each other a beat. The air smells like smoke, heavy with crackling electricity, like during a lightning storm. An errant flash briefly lights up the sky.

Then they walk toward each other and press their mouths together, finishing what they'd started earlier. Charlie wraps an arm around his shoulders, and the other around his nape, burying her hand where his hair curls into his neck. His arms wrap around her, pressing her tightly to him, helping her keep balanced as she rises on her tiptoes.

This kiss is passionate, a culmination of their longing for each other that has been between them since that first trip to Willoughby.

His jacket is too bulky, he can't feel her. He slips it off her shoulders, puts his hands under her ass, and lifts her. She wraps her legs around his waist. They stay like that for a moment, lost in their kiss.

"Charlie," Monroe pulls his mouth away from hers, quickly searching for a place to perch her. He settles on a flat-enough boulder bordering the water, and then they're frantically kissing again.

How is it possible to want someone so badly? She rubs her lips down his neck, kissing him, hearing his breath catch in response as he cups a hand around her nape, bringing her lips back for another kiss.

She runs her hand down his chest, then under his shirt, from his breastbone down his abs, to the button of his pants. His muscles contract, his panting grows heavier.

"Oh god, Charlie."

She digs her thighs into his, pulling him closer, his hardness pressing against her center, making them both moan.

He moves his hand under t-shirt, feeling the warmth of her skin at her waist and lower back. How is it possible to want someone so badly? They kiss again, tongues sliding against one another.

His hand moves up her back and then around to palm her breast, and her breathing speeds up. His thumb grazes over her nipple, and she tears her mouth away from him because she's panting so hard.

He moves his other hand to the other breast, and rubs his thumb over that nipple. "Monroe," she pants. She is burning up, she wants him so badly. She grabs the hem of his shirt and pulls it over his head, and he does the same with hers.

She wraps her arms around his neck, and he wraps his around her waist, pulling her against him, feeling their flushed skin pressed together. Their lips meet, their tongues meet, kissing passionately.

He tears himself from her mouth to kiss her neck, running the tip of his tongue along the side, down to where it curves into her shoulder. She shivers in need. His hand lowers her bra strap to the side of her shoulder, giving him better access to run kisses along the top of her shoulder. "Bass," she breathes. He brings his mouth to hers and kisses her again.

Suddenly they hear a snap of a branch nearby. Their heads snap up, turning towards the sound, Bass tightening his grip around her.

"Oh shit! No! No! No! Sorry, sorry!" Aaron pops out of the trees just long enough to cover his eyes with his hand and whip around. "I'm leaving now. I'm walking away. Never came this way..." His voice fades out as he makes a hasty retreat.

They watch him go, still panting, then they turn to each other and softly laugh.

"Fantastic," says Bass.

She nods her head. Still recovering her composure.

"Probably better that it was him than anyone else," says Bass running his hands down her thighs before resting them on either side of her.

"Yeah," Charlie says, releasing her legs from around him. "I don't think he'll tell anyone." "Probably because he'll have a heart attack on the way back to the house."

She laughs a little, and then they're silent. He leans his forehead to hers. The moment is broken. Reality has intruded. Cooler heads are beginning to prevail.

"Probably not the best place for this anyway," he says, slipping a finger under her bra strap and putting it back in place. It's a quietly intimate gesture.

"Yeah."

They wait a beat, recovering their breath, recovering their composure. Maybe wondering if the other one will throw caution to the wind.

But neither caves. "I should go," she says.

He waits a beat, because he doesn't want her to go. "Okay." He steps back to pick up their shirts, briefly brushing hers off before handing it to her. She puts it on as she slides off the boulder; he reaches to help her, but she doesn't notice.

She looks towards the house, then back at him. His eyes search her face. She starts to say something, but isn't sure what. Instead, she reaches out to briefly run her hand down his stomach in farewell, and turns to go.

Back at the house she is still too wound up to sleep. Even more so now. She crawls out the window to the roof over the porch, planning to sit and watch Bradbury burn. To her surprise, she finds Aaron sitting outside the roof of his bedroom as well.

He just stares at her. She moves to sit closer to him, drawing her knees to her chest, and wrapping her arms around them.

"Sorry I ruined your tete a tete." He's clearly not sorry, so she doesn't say anything. "Come on Charlie, Monroe? Monroe?"

She looks out over the yard. She doesn't know how to explain it to him. She's not sure she needs to.

"Look, I know it's none of my business... but come on! Monroe? Everything he's done and you're just going to give him a pass?"

"I'm not giving him a pass," she says quietly, looking out towards Bradbury.

"What the hell was that then?" He says gesturing towards the pond. "God never mind," he says, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I withdraw the question. I just...I just don't understand." He shakes his head. "But I guess girls always like the bad boys."

"I'm going to go inside." She makes a move to get up. "No, stay." He heaves a sigh. She settles back. They're silent for a beat. "Don't tell Mom? Or Miles?"

He shakes his head in disbelief. "I'm back in high school again. Yeah fine, I won't tell them." "Thanks," she says softly. "Just...tell me you know what the hell you're doing." Does she? She smiles to herself and then to him. "I'm fine Aaron." She nods her head. "It's fine."

The next morning. Railway station, a few minutes before 11am

Aaron is staring at the rail car. "We have to stay on this for how long?" The rail car is old and a peek in the windows shows the seats falling apart.

"It's about 20 hours," says Rachel. "With a stop. We should get on. It's almost 11."

Miles and Charlie exchange a glance. Where are Monroe and Connor? Miles and Charlie board the train, so they can get higher and see better. They linger in opposite doorways, looking for Monroe and Connor. A few people mingle about, but the men are nowhere to be seen.

"Did you see them this morning?" he calls over to her. "I saw him talking to Connor for a second. I didn't talk to him. You?"

"I just talked to him to confirm the plan. Goddamnit," Miles says. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted them." He looks to her. "You trust him?"

Before she can respond, there's a loud pop and Charlie falls from the train.

"CHARLIE!" Miles jumps from the train, but stops when a man lifts her off the ground, pointing a gun to her head. It's Louis, the drunk guy who saw Charlie and Monroe in the bar the other day. He wraps an arm around her waist, pinning her arms to her side. Blood is pouring from a wound on her upper arm.

"Where is Sebastian Monroe?" he calls out. "I know he's here somewhere!" The townspeople scatter in fear.

Miles points his gun at him. "Let her go!"

"Can't do that. We've got a job to do." He nods his head towards another man, clearly his partner. "And this little lady is going to help me get what I want." He presses the gun into the side of Charlie's head.

She struggles, trying to pull away from Louis. "Stay put," he spits as he pulls her tighter to him, and she winces in pain. "Sebastian Monroe!" he calls out again. "Come out! I've got your lady!"

"I'm right here." Monroe appears from behind the train, arms out at his side, indicating that he has no weapons.

"The great Sebastian Monroe," says Louis in glee. "I knew that was you in the bar. And someone's going to pay a pretty penny for your head."

"You're not working for anyone." Charlie says between teeth gritted in pain. "That's going to be a lot of work trying to find a buyer."

"I'll risk it," he says. "Come here," he calls to Monroe.

Monroe gets close enough for Charlie to look into his eyes. She wills him not to give himself up, but after a brief glance at her, he looks away and says, "I'll come with you. Just let her go."

"Tie him up," he says to his partner. "I'll let you take me," Monroe, says again, "But let her go first."

"Let her go!" Miles and Rachel are trying to get a clear shot at the guy, but he's keeping Charlie in front of him.

"You're not in a position to negotiate, Sebastian Monroe," Louis says, loving the way that sounds. "Put your hands behind your back."

"Don't." Charlie pleads with Monroe. "You think I won't shoot her?" Louis warns Monroe. "I'd happily put a bullet in her brain."

Monroe doesn't doubt that. Blood starts to roar in his ears at the thought of losing Charlie. He steps closer to Louis and puts his hands behind his back. Louis's partner ties him up with some fishing rod.

"Nice and tight now. Her too." says Louis. When the man finishes, Louis tests the tightness on both. Charlie grits her teeth from the pain. "Okay, now we're going to walk this way."

"Not until you let her go," says Monroe. "Let her go!" Miles and Rachel again.

"Are you kidding me?" Louis laughs. "She's my insurance. Sebastian Monroe's woman?" He looks at Monroe. "As long as I have her, you'll do whatever I want."

He starts walking backwards, with Monroe and Charlie shielding him, and his partner keeping an eye on Miles and Rachel.

Louis drags Charlie and Monroe around the corner of the railway station and down the street where a wagon not unlike the previous bounty hunters' is parked.

Monroe and Charlie look at it and then each other, raising their eyebrows at each other as memories come flooding back. "Déjà vu all over again," Monroe says under his breath to her.

"Stop talking!" Louis yells. "Open the door," he says to his partner, "and get them inside." But suddenly there's another pop and Louis hits the ground, bringing Charlie down with him. His partner is next, landing on the ground is a pool of blood. Charlie and Monroe whip their heads around to see what just happened.

Connor.

He'd separated from Monroe to enter the town from the opposite side. No one thought to hope he might help, because no one assumed he would. Sometimes it pays to be underestimated.

He runs to them and unties them before checking on the bounty hunters. Monroe rushes to Charlie, pulling her away from the bounty hunters and quickly untying the fabric that is always around his wrist.

"It's okay, it's just a graze," she says, hissing in pain as he wipes away the blood. His face his pale, his eyes hard. "Bass, I'm okay. It hurts, but it's just a graze."

He turns to Connor, who's checking on the bounty hunters. "Dead," Connor confirms. Monroe nods. "Go see if Rachel has a first aid kit, and if she doesn't, we need one."

He turns back to Charlie who is now staring at the massive scarring on his wrist. So that's what he was hiding. His brand is gone.

He doesn't notice what she's staring at. "Yeah it's a graze," he says, sighing in relief. "A deep one, but probably just a few stitches." He wraps the fabric tightly around the wound, and helps her get up. She grabs his arm to steady herself, slightly light-headed from the sudden blood loss, so he lifts her up into his arms.

"I can walk!" she says in protest, instinctively wrapping her other arm around his neck.

"Humor me."

He runs into Miles and Rachel who have chased after them. "She's okay," he tells them.

"I'm fine," Charlie assures them. She makes a half-hearted attempt to get out of Monroe's arms, but he ignores her, his arms strong around her.

"Hey." The Station Master comes towards them. "I'm not going to have trouble makers like you on my train."

"I'll pay you double to let us ride in the cargo boxcar," says Miles.

The Station Master looks at them suspiciously. Three people with guns and a woman bleeding in some guy's arms. Better to have them out of this town. "Yeah okay."

Monroe stalks past him, and perches Charlie on the edge of a boxcar. Rachel jumps in and he follows, Charlie maneuvering herself inside and turning so she has her back against the car. Miles and Connor go to fetch Aaron and everyone's things.

Rachel opens her first aid kit as Monroe sits beside Charlie. He gently pulls her hair away from the wound and behind her shoulder so Rachel can work. She gives him a look as she starts dabbing at Charlie's wound but he ignores her. "This is going to hurt," she warns Charlie before putting some antiseptic on the wound. Monroe grabs Charlie's hand and she squeezes it as she winces from the sharp pain. Rachel cleans the wound some more and is preparing stitches when the others join them.

"Hey. Want to watch your bouncing around? She's getting stitches here." Monroe glares at Aaron whose attempts at getting in the box car have jostled it from side to side.

"Well excuse me," says Aaron, giving him a dirty look, thinking of the last time he saw Charlie and him together.

"Stop it." Charlie says in warning to the both of them. All this attention is starting to piss her off.

Aaron gives another glare, until he notices the look on Monroe's face and sees that he is holding Charlie's hand. Aaron processes that.

As Rachel prepares to sew the stitches, Monroe takes off his jacket and gives Charlie a sleeve. "Bite down." He squeezes her hand to let her know that he's there. He wants to pull her on his lap and hold her, but obviously that's not an option. Instead, he snakes his arm around her waist, and hopes that Rachel doesn't see.

Halfway through the stitches, Charlie's pain and exhaustion takes over, and she passes out onto Monroe's chest, her head on his shoulder. Rachel finishes up and wraps a clean cloth around the wound. "She'll be fine." Then she notices how Charlie is flush against Monroe, his arm behind her. "Get away from her."

"No." He doesn't want to fight with Rachel, but he will be firm about this.

"This is your fault," she says.

"Rachel," warns Miles.

But she ignores him, still speaking to Monroe. "You are dangerous. For everyone around you. You will get her killed."

"Rachel!" – Miles again.

But Monroe looks into Rachel's eyes and says firmly, "You don't think I know that? I am well aware of that, Rachel. But right now, in this boxcar, she is safe and I'm going to let her sleep."

She just stares him, as it dawns on her that he is saying this not because of a promise he made her long ago to take care of Charlie, but because of something else. She's not sure if that makes the situation better or worse.

She gathers her things, and looks to Miles. He gives a small shrug, a suggestion to let things be.

A few hours later, Miles wakes to a sound. He opens his eyes to see that Monroe is quietly adjusting Charlie and himself so that they're lying on their backs. He watches as Charlie turns to Monroe in her sleep, her head on his shoulder, resting her arm on his chest. Monroe raises his arm to run the back of his fingers along her side, before resting his hand on her hip. He turns his head towards hers and sleeps.