RELAPSE

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognise (with the possible exception of my name) belongs to me.

Summary: A shortish fic from Charlotte's POV. Clarisse has something of a relapse and Mia finds out something she never knew. (Some fluffy Joseph too...) Set after PD2.

Charlotte had seen it coming. She supposed it was hardly surprising really, having been through the worst of it previously. It had all started, as far as she could gather, when Queen Mia had called to say that she was going to be late back to the palace as the limo had gotten a flat tire on the road back from their visit to the children's shelter in Libbet. Naturally, Queen Clarisse had been quite willing to step into the breach and hold the Public Audience that Mia had had scheduled. Charlotte had accompanied the former Queen to the throne room, and stood back to watch the master at work. Clarisse was a natural at this part of the job. It seemed to be second nature to her as she listened attentively to whatever tale it was that her people wanted to share with her or ask her advice on. Everything had been going swimmingly until a rather nervous looking gentleman had stepped forward. Having bowed shortly he had held his hand out towards the Dowager Queen in tacit request for her to shake it. Without hesitation she had done just that and the young man had dipped his head once more.

"It is such an honour to simply be in your presence." he had said quietly.

"Why thank you, but what can I do for you today?" she had asked, as he straightened up. But before he had let her hand slip free, a drop of blood had fallen from his face, followed by another and another. Charlotte had seen the older woman tense as the man lifted his hand up to his nose, a look of confusion on his face.

"I'm so sorry Ma'am!" he mumbled obviously aghast.

Charlotte waited for the dismissal of his concern, the quiet reassurance and perhaps the request for the tissues that Charlotte had automatically reached to retrieve from the nearby occasional table. None of these came however, as the Queen simply seemed to stare at her bloodied hand. That was when Charlotte had realised what was happening.

"I'm afraid this session is going to have to come to a premature end," Charlotte announced to the few still left waiting, looking towards the footmen, hoping desperately that they would come to her rescue. "but if you'll step outside someone will be down shortly and will do anything they can to help your predicaments." She added hastily before stepping in front of her former monarch and ushering the young man away. As the room began to empty, she turned her back on it, and crouching down in front of the throne tried to establish how bad things were. "Your Majesty?" she asked, looking up into the other woman's eyes. They were glazed though, and still remained solely focussed on her trembling hand and Charlotte received no sign that the older woman had even heard her. Pulling several tissues from the box she took Clarisse's hand and tried to wipe it clean talking away in soft tones, hoping to avert the full blown flashback but suspecting that it was already a lost cause.

She knew well enough, from the time when these incidents had been much more common, that it was incredibly important to try to keep the Queen grounded, to talk to her about where she was and keep physical contact with her to attempt to keep her in the here and now. She also knew that, even before their relationship had developed, Joe had been far more successful at this than anyone else. Lifting her suit sleeve so that she could speak in to the tiny mic hidden there she pressed her earpiece in with her other hand so that she could hear better any reply. "Would someone find Joseph and get him to the Throne room ASAP. Repeat. Joseph to the Throne Room as soon as possible."

"Got him in my sight." Came the unexpected sound of Shades' voice. Obviously Queen Mia's limo had arrived back. "Will do. Over."

The flood of relief that filled her at this news was instantly depleted however, by the soft whimpering of the woman before her.

"No… No! Philippe!…" The quiet plaintive cries were enough to break Charlotte's heart all over again. The Queen was shaking all over with the emotion, and slid forwards toward the marble floor so suddenly that Charlotte struggled to stop her from hitting it too hard.

"Felix?" She called to one of the longer standing footmen. "Can you help me get her into the ante room?" she instructed more than asked, when he quickly appeared at her side.

Between them they managed it, all but carrying her to a settee in the much smaller room. Charlotte sat next to her, placing a hand on the older woman's back as she began rocking, her eyes now squeezed shut as though she could block out the images that were assaulting her.

"Please… No… Stay with Maman, Philippe… Just a few more minutes…"

The desperation in the Mother's pleading to her son was so profound that it left Charlotte clueless as to what she possibly do to help. It could only have been seconds later when Joseph all but ran in to the room, both Shades and the current Queen on his heels.

"What happened?" He asked, as she stood, allowing him to take her place.

"One of the… he had a nose bleed. I mean… a few drops of his blood fell on her hand. I think that was the trigger…" Charlotte stammered.

He offered her short nod of approval, having already gathered his wife in his arms, holding her close to his chest and rocking gently as he whispered into her ear. As she withdrew to give them a little privacy, Charlotte was somewhat startled to hear her Queen's voice in her ear.

"What's going on Charlotte?" Mia asked, her understandable concern plain to hear.

Turning, Charlotte looked the younger woman in the eye, trying to establish how much Mia knew about what was going on. "She's having a flashback." She explained. "To the accident, when your father died… she had a bit of a problem with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the crash. Certain… triggers would spark off one of these episodes… send her back there…"

"I didn't… she never…" the younger woman was floundering.

"She hasn't had one in years…" Charlotte added, keeping her voice low.

"Send her back there? To when she heard the news…" Mia suddenly asked, looking up horribly confused. And something suddenly dawned on her.

"What do you know about the accident that killed your father?" Charlotte asked.

"That he died in a car crash on the mountain roads, that he was driving and that it happened about two months before you all ended up in San Francisco and turned my life upside down."

"Right… oh…" Charlotte wasn't quite sure what she could say to that. It wasn't wrong – it just wasn't the whole truth. Mia was watching her closely, before her eyes suddenly went wide.

"She was there, wasn't she? Grandma was there when he died? Wasn't she, Charlotte…?"

"Shhhh…" Charlotte urged, placing a restraining hand on her arm. She looked over to the sofa but the two of them were in their own little world, and Shades was standing silently by the door. Pulling Amelia behind her, she moved as far into the corner as she was able. Into the shadows, as though they would protect them from this conversation. "Yes." she admitted quietly. "Yes, Her Majesty was in the car. Umm… your father, he had bought her a house – somewhere just for her after the coronation. He wanted her to have the chance to be herself he said… anyway. He, uh, he insisted on driving her up there to see it himself. They took a bodyguard with them… Jean-Luc. He was fairly new to the job but they weren't expecting any problems. Prince Philippe loved to drive, did it quite regularly all things considered so no-one thought to say anything… Joseph was away at a hospital appointment in any case… There was a landslide. They… they were thrown off the mountain road. It was a miracle that the Queen escaped as lightly as she did. The… the others weren't so lucky. Jean-Luc died instantly – he was thrown half through the windscreen. Your father… he… was conscious for some time… She… the Queen was there with him… used the radio to call for help… tried to save him." The younger woman stifled a sob at this news. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty." she apologised. "I'm sure your Grandmother chose not to tell you for a reason… you can understand…" Despite Charlotte's fears that Mia wouldn't be able to understand… she nodded through her tears.

They looked up as Clarisse suddenly cried out. She looked around the room, as if trying to establish where she was before her gaze landed on Joseph.

"I…" She began quietly, her eyes lowering and moving away before looking back up to him. "I was … there. It… happened again, didn't it?" she said, tears suddenly sliding down her face, as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"It's alright." He told her, stroking her hair gently. "It's over. You're safe…"

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled. "I don't know what happened…"

Charlotte felt like she was intruding on a private moment, as she watched the interaction. It was always like this after the Queen came back to herself. She was so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open, confused and upset. Charlotte remembered the first time she had found the Queen backed into a corner of her office. She had never been so scared in her entire life. That night the doctor had had to sedate the recently bereaved mother. They had never established what it was that had triggered that episode the day after the funeral, but at least the Queen's physician had been able to tell them what it was that had happened. The flashbacks had tailed off eventually, the trip to San Francisco seeming to do more good for her than anything else. It hadn't marked the end to the problem; she had had an episode the evening after she and Mia had disappeared for the day, but there was a marked improvement. It also helped that they learned to deal with them better, even avoid them in some instances and although they had never really discussed them openly, they faded into the background. This said, Charlotte could well believe that Mia had never discovered what had gone on in the wake of her father's death.

"Let's get you upstairs to bed." Joseph said softly, waking Charlotte from her reverie, as he stood, his wife cradled in his arms.

"I…" Mia said stepping forward. "I love you Grandma." She said simply, leaning in and kissing her on the forehead. Joseph looked between her and his Granddaughter, seeming to understand what they had been discussing quietly in the corner.

"Come up to our rooms when you get a minute," he said, "Clarisse will probably sleep all afternoon, and we can talk."

When she thought back on what had happened today, Charlotte managed to look at things more logically. They had primed the Queen for it, she had primed her for it, by telling her of Mia's limo getting a flat tyre on the mountain road, which would naturally bring the accident to mind, even if only subconsciously. Then one of the members of the public had asked about repairing a landslide that had partially blocked the access route to his farm. The blood had only been the final straw. Charlotte could still see the way that the Queen had looked when she'd arrived back at the Palace on the night of the accident. Joseph had carried her into the entrance hall and it had taken Charlotte a minute to realise that the blood that was covering Clarisse's dress and her hands was, by in large, not her own. Charlotte could only hope that it had been this unusual combination of factors that had triggered this particular episode and that the former monarch wasn't about to experience another series of them. Only time would tell though, but in the meantime she found it much easier to rest knowing that now the older woman was surrounded by loved ones who would do anything in the world to make it better.

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this - feel free to review. Thanks go to rev-sue my overworked beta - lol

xLx