A/N: Thank you to my two readers and reviewers! JAS, I wanted to reply to your review directly but you disabled your private messaging? Anyway, just to clarify, the central romance is Nolive, but there will be a lot more going on around them :)

Chapter 2: Stranger Than Fiction

Alive Again Avenger, Charlotte Charles sat sandwiched between her mother and aunt, smothered by their attention like a melted marshmallow between two toasted graham crackers. Never before, in her old life or new, had she felt so many conflicting feelings; joy at being with them, guilt at having left them, and fear of what the future would bring for their family, as somewhere in the world, another member of the Charles clan lived on.

But that revelation was best left for later. Or never...

"How...could you do this to us?" Lily Charles spluttered for the 22nd time. She sat on the sofa, holding the hands of her once dead daughter so tightly they hurt.

"We mourned you for months! " Vivian shouted, uncomfortably close to her ear.

Chuck floundered, feeling about fifteen years younger. "I am so sorry."

Lily glared at the girl with her one good eye. "No. Sorry ain't gonna cut it, kiddo. I want you to explain why – how you could let us think that-" Here, she choked, hand rising to her mouth as she looked away.

Chuck felt her eyes brim and burn with tears. She wished that she could tell them everything; the Pie Maker and his gift, the caveat it came with, the immortality she had obtained as a result...

"They put you in your dress," Aunt Vivian murmured faintly, "and they put you in your coffin, and they put you in the ground. How did you-? Did Dwight Dixon dig you up? Were you alive down there, all that time?" Her voice was high, bordering on hysterical and Chuck grabbed her hands, squeezing reassuringly.

"No. No, I was out way before that. Ned got me out."

"But why...why fake your death in the first place?"

Ah. The $64, 000 question. Chuck had an answer for it, but it was barely anymore believable than the truth.

"I just...needed to start over. I needed space."

"So why didn't you say?" Vivian despaired.

"I...felt bad?"

"So you decided to make us feel bad? Charlotte, if you had just run away it wouldn't have hurt one tenth as much as believing you were taken away by someone else. This doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't," Lily snapped suddenly. "And in the wise words of Judge Judy: if it doesn't make sense it's probably not true. There is something you are not telling us. The Shiny Shoes Killer killed you. He tried to kill me. And he threw you overboard. They fished you out of the water! The coroner examined you. How could you possibly play dead during all that?"

Chuck's heart began to flutter with the frenzy of a bird desperate to escape its cage. The more they asked about it the less plausible it seemed. Without Ned here for backup she felt cornered and confused...

"Charlotte," Lily murmured, reaching up to touch her cheek, "if we are ever going to be able to move on from this we need you to be honest. What happened?"

The Formerly Lonely Tourist put a hand over her mother's, soaking up the tender touch, and sighed.

"Ned. Ned happened..."

XXX

24 hours, sixteen minutes and 42 seconds after the dramatic revelation of Chuck to her family, the Pie Maker paced. With his lover and his partner in crime investigation away, it had been a quiet Sunday at the Pie Hole. Digby padded around the place with Pigby, as one of the last customers said goodbye and thank you for the pie.

Olive Snook waved absently, swivelling back round on the white leather stool. She placed her elbows on the cool clean countertop, nested her chin in her hands and watched Ned wander aimlessly.

"Worried about Chuck?"

"Hm?" He stopped, blinking blankly. "Oh. Yeah. I just-"

"Worried she might never come back?"

The Pie Maker winced, wondering when he became so transparent. Thankfully, the phone rang, and he was spared having to deny the intensity of his fears.

"Hello?"

"Howdy, partner."

Ned sighed, smiling slowly at the weary throaty voice of the girl named Chuck.

"How are you?"

"I am...so many things I can't even...Ned, they know."

"Who? Lily and Vivian? I know they know."

"No. They know...about your gift."

"About my-? oh. Oh, god."

"I know! I am so sorry-"

"No, don't be," he cut in quickly, wrapping an arm around his waist. "The truth may be stranger than fiction but it's better than lies. I understand."

"They don't. Lily doesn't want me around you without her permission and supervision. I tried to tell her how careful you've always been, but she's all paranoid and protective..."

"She sounds like your father," said Ned, shivering at the thought.

"Well, she is my mother. And they are my parents and god it's all so complicated..."

"I know." They commiserated in silence for a while, before Ned decided to cut to the chase. Which, in his mind, meant dancing around the issue politely until someone like Emerson intervened. "So...will you be sleeping over again?"

"Yeah. Could you ask Olive to bring a few of my things?"

Olive...oh no. Olive. Ned glanced round to see her clearing tables, foregoing the chance to eavesdrop for once. Olive was officially the last to know.

"Okay," he murmured. "Will do."

Chuck thanked him, making kissy noises before hanging up. Ned lingered a little longer before putting the phone down and turning to watch the waitress. She whistled while she worked, so dutiful and dedicated that he could not help but feel terrible. Emerson found out his secret, the Aunts found out his secret...maybe it was time he told someone of his own accord.

"Olive? I need to show you something..."

The last time they were in these woods it was Halloween and a ghostly horseman was on the loose. Nothing much had changed. Olive was still with him, the leaves still crackled underfoot and Ned was still scared, although for entirely different reasons...

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Am I annoying you? Are we there yet?"

They came to a clearing and stopped. She shrugged expectantly and he inhaled deeply.

"Olive, because I love you as a friend and respect you as a co-worker I feel that I can no longer keep you in the dark. You have earned the truth and nothing but the truth."

Ned got down on one knee, flashing back fleetingly to the day Eugene Mulchandani stumbled upon his secret in a similar way.

As she looked at him, Olive suffered something very similar to a stroke. "What are you-?"

"Look." The Pie Maker quickly picked a dead leaf from the ground and held it up to her. It turned a lush green before her eyes and Olive smiled, lowering herself delicately. "Wow. Neat trick. Did the twins teach you that?"

"It's not magic. At least...not that kind of magic."

"Then how did you do it?" she asked, plucking it from his fingertips.

"I..." Ned swallowed hard, as if to suppress his pounding heart. "It's what I do. Olive...I bring dead things back to life."

She stared at him for a while, assessing his sincerity, before snorting. "What, like a horticultural Jesus?"

"No, not like...okay, I know that this sounds insane, but both Chuck and Emerson can attest to the fact that I have...a gift. Ever since I brought Digby back-"

"Wait, what? You brought Digby back? So this thing- this 'gift' isn't limited to plant life." He shook his head. "You can bring back animals. And people?" He nodded. "Oh, come on, Ned! How is that even possible? It just doesn't make any..." Olive Snook slowed, her mind finally catching up with her mouth as she realized that this was, in fact, the only thing that made sense. "Jiminy Cricket. You brought Chuck back. You...Chuck never faked her death. She was dead. And you brought her back."

She stood slowly and the Pie Maker in turn staggered to his feet. He stared down at her dazed face, ready to catch her should she pass out. "Emerson knew what I could do for a while before Chuck died. He - we go to the morgue and bring people back so they can tell us who killed them. It's been a...profitable partnership."

He tried for a wry smile but suspected it was more of a rictus. Olive looked away, taking a deep breath. "What's the catch?" she asked abruptly.

"The...the catch?"

"There has to be a catch, Ned," she said, stumbling off a little. "I dunno...some kind of...limit?"

"Oh. Uh...yeah." Ned rubbed the back of his neck, blood starting to thrum in his veins as she turned to look at him. "The first touch brings dead things back to life. The second re-kills them. Forever." At this, she held up the leaf, disbelief darkening her eyes. Ned reached over and tapped it, whereupon it dried up and died.

He had hoped that this would answer all of her questions but Olive simply stared. And so, the Pie Maker began to ramble. "I didn't know any of this when I was a kid. I kind of had to learn the hard way. My mom...a blood vessel burst in her brain and she died. I brought her back...but I didn't know that it was a give and take thing. If I kept a human being alive for more than a minute someone nearby would die. And Chuck's dad, he lived next door... "

"Oh my - did he...?" Ned bowed his head, wondering if these revelations would be the death of their friendship. But the pitter-patter of little go-go boots, shattering dry leaves, assured him that Olive was coming back, not going away. "That's why you're so self-conscious about physical contact. That's why you never touch Digby. Or Chuck." She chuckled, but it sounded hollow. "Allergies. Can't believe I fell for that."

"You had to," he hastened to say. "The truth is just-"

"One more question," she cut in quietly. "Why did you lie to me for so long?"

Ned grimaced, not wanting to get into another discussion on the many days and ways in which she felt left out. "Ol, you may be missing the big picture."

Judging by the look on her face, this was exactly the wrong thing to say. "Gee, ya think? This is not just a big picture, Ned. This is a mural on a mansion wall! This is the Sistine Chapel of secrets and it is gonna take me longer than five minutes to see it in its entirety! So excusez moi for focusing on the little things, the facts I can actually process right now!"

"All right, all right," he stammered, anxious in the face of her anger. "I - I get it. But, Olive, we just wanted to protect-"

"Oy vey, again with the protection! Ned, despite my diminutive size I do not need protecting. And you know that. The real reason you kept me out of the loop is because you didn't trust me."

"What? No. If I didn't trust you why would I be telling you?"

"Because you have no choice! Chuck had to tell Lily and Vivian, right?"

"...right," he conceded and Olive groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "But-"

"Enough, Ned. I've had just about as much as I can take."

With that, she whipped round and walked away, blonde bob bobbing behind her. The Pie Maker stood stunned as he watched her disappear. What did she mean, 'just about as much as I can take'? Surely she could not be quitting again...

Could she?

XXX

Emerson Cod strolled into the Pie Hole, propelled by the purpose and possibility of a new case. A case unlike any other. A case that could - if they confirmed the identities of the men in the photograph - directly affect Ned and Chuck.

With this in mind it was understandable then that the PI felt more than a little disappointed to see Randy Mann manning the kitchen.

"What in the hell...?"

"Oh. Hey, Emerson! Ned and Olive asked me to fill in while they follow up on a case."

"And where exactly is Chuck?"

"Uh, I think Chuck went to visit her aunts? Yeah, she like lives with them now."

"...what in the hell?!"

A/N: Yeah, Cod. Now you know how it feels to be out of the loop. But not for long :p Anyway, that chapter was talky but hopefully not boring! The pace will pick up once DD reappears and Nolive start to reassess their relationship...