Chapter 5

Charlie pulls the strap of tank top over her shoulder as she watches Dr. Blake make notes in his worn notebook. Her eyes wander around the office that used to be her grandfather's office and feels her heart ache at the reminder.

"There's no infection yet Charlie, that's a good sign."

She sighs relieved and starts to slip on her flannel shirt that she had placed beside her when the doctor tsks at her.

"Let me have a look at that arm before you go."

Charlie grimaces but relents, knowing that arguing is futile with him. She places the flannel shirt back down and turns so that he can examine the splatter of purple and yellow mess her elbow is. It aches but she's had worse.

"You know," the doctor says, gently touching the discolored skin, "that bastard deserved what he got."

Charlie's mouth quirks into a grin at his use of the term bastard and she chuckles, "He sure as hell did. I thought for a moment that you were going to lecture your favorite patient."

He chuckles and then sets her arm back down at her side, "My dear, I could lecture you day and night but I don't think anything could tame that fire inside of you."

Charlie puts on her worn flannel shirt that used to belong to her grandpa, reveling in the heat it brings.

"I'll see you in a couple weeks. Any pain or any more fights, I expect to see you."

Charlie rolls her eyes but nods, smiling when he gently squeezes her uninjured shoulder. She gets up with a thank you and opens the office door, so lost in thought she almost runs over little Sarah Greyson.

"Are you sick today ?"

Charlie squats so she's eye level with Sarah and smiles gently, tucking an unruly brown lock behind her ear.

"Not today Sarah. says I'm doing A Okay today."

Sarah nods and looks worried and Charlie lifts her chin with her index finger so the girl will look at her.

"What are you doing here Sarah?"

Sarah sighs, her hands fidgeting with each other. "I punched a boy."

Charlie's silent for a moment, "Why did you punch him?"

"Because he pulled my hair and took my lunch."

Charlie's expression turns hard and she softly holds Sarah's hands, "Did you hurt your hand?"

She shakes her head vehemently, "No but Mrs. Collins told me to come here anyway."

"Well then we're going to go talk to this boy and sort this mess out okay? Does your mom know?"

"No she's working late tonight."

Charlie sighs, knowing that working late meant she probably wouldn't be home until the early am doing god knows what.

"Okay love, we're going to go to the school together and sort this out."

Sarah shakes her head, her eyes growing wide. "You can't hit them! They'll get mad and I'll be in even more trouble."

"Hey," Charlie moves so that Sarah has to look at her, "no one's gonna hit anyone okay? I'm going to talk to your teacher about what that boy did to you and then I'm going to talk to that boy about what he did wrong."

Charlie stands up and offers her hand to Sarah and she immediately takes it, her small hand fitting like glass in Charlie's rough calloused hand.

"Let's go hon." They start to walk through the waiting room when Sarah yells "Bye Sebastian!"

Charlie stops and searches the room, finding him squared away in the corner of the waiting room unmoving. Slowly he gets up, his hands in a surrender gesture as he approaches her.

"Charlie I know what you do when you talk to people." His eyes search hers and find fire and anger in them.

"You have a bad habit of thinking I asked for your input."

She tries to shove by him but he stands his ground and she halts before she walks into him.

"Charlie just take a second and breathe, think about what you're doing."

"Do you think that I'm forgetting what I'm capable of? I know exactly what I'm doing."

He sighs frustrated with her and runs a hand through his hair and studies Charlie's impassive face, "Charlie," he touches her arm and she flinches like she's been scalded and he drops his hand, "you can't protect everyone."

She pales and he wants to shoot himself for the reminder he just gave her and he suddenly realizes that he just made her think the very things that she believes. That her family's deaths are on her head.

"Shit Charlie, I didn't mean it like that."

Charlie backs away from him her head shaking frantically before she schools her features, remembering the young girl still holding her hand. She plasters on a smile the size of Texas and starts to walk away.

"Charlie…" He watches her walk out the doctor's office without looking back and he waits a moment before saying fuck it to his headache and starts to quickly jog to the bar he knows Miles is holed up in.

"Sarah I want you to wait out here for me okay?"

The girl nods and let's go of Charlie's hand as Charlie walks into the classroom, finding the teacher sitting at her desk reading through papers.

"Mrs. Collins."

The teachers head snaps up and a panicked smile runs fleetingly across her lips.

"Charlie, what can I do for you?"

Charlie's steps are assured as she feels her swords slap with every step she takes. "I'd like to talk to you about Sarah Greyson."

"Look Charlie, some of these kids are just lost causes, you've got to let them go. I can't just let kids go around hitting kids."

Charlie snarls, "But its okay when a boy gangs up on a girl and hurts her?"

"You know how boys are Charlie, they're just having fun."

Charlie pauses, her fingers dwindling on her sword sheath. "I do know how boys are," she says softly. "I know that some of them like to take girls against their wills. They like to hear them scream and plead with them as they rip their clothes off and rape them. I know the kind of boys who will use woman in any way they want and sleep the moment their heads hit the pillow. I've seen it. I've felt it. "

The woman sighs and smooths her hands out on her skirt, "Charlie, there isn't any war. What you've fought through and with is gone. You need to let it go and stop finding vendettas to throw yourself into."

Charlie pulls the knife out of her leather boot, fingering the blade with unhurried grace.

"You know when I was fighting I met this girl, Alex. She had spent two years in a brothel, being sold by men to other men who did with her as they pleased. She joined our rebellion and when it was night and we couldn't sleep, she used to lie beside me and tell me stories, the kind of stories that bring a whole new term to the phrase hell. She told me about men who used to chain her to their wall and rape her, how some used to cut her with pocketknife's so no one else would want her. Every night she would have nightmares, she would wake up screaming and she would wake the entire camp with her screams, but no one complained. Whatever she was dreaming about to make her scream like that…. No one wanted to know what it was."

"We've fought and bled and died so that it didn't happen to these children. We've done things that will haunt us for the rest of whatever life we will have. We've sacrificed and done things we can never take back in order for there to be peace."

Charlie locks eyes with Mrs. Collins and takes a step closer. "Boys will never be just boys. Boys grow into men and men are capable of horrible things."

"Thirteen year old boys aren't monsters Charlie! They're children."

"What is the boy's name?"

Mrs. Collins hesitates and Charlie takes another step towards her.

"Jake, Jake Thomas."

Charlie nods in thought and then puts her pocket knife back in her boot.

"Deal with him or I will. And trust me if it isn't dealt with I will take your job and I will get that boy kicked out of school faster than you will see coming. Don't call my test me. I'm too tired to make empty threats."

Charlie walks out of the classroom, feeling a little lighter than she has in a long time. She finds Sarah where she left her and ushers her out of the school only to find Miles and Bass jogging up the yard towards the school, stopping suddenly when they see Charlie.

"Seriously?!" She yells, directing it at Miles and shooting a death glare at Bass.

Miles shrugs and slips his hands into his jean pockets, "This fucker here thought you were going to dismember the teacher. I told him you had a bit more control than that but he insisted."

Charlie keeps her voice light, mindful of the little girl beside her but her eyes are blue steel and angry.

"Well there's no blood on me so everything is just right as rain."

She kneels down to the little girl at her side, "Sarah do you want to go with Miles to work for a little bit? He'll give you some cookies and juice."

Sarah nods immediately, she has always taken a liking to Miles and Miles can't help but be soft on her. Sarah grabs his bigger hand and when Bass starts to walk with him Charlie harshly grabs his arm and hauls him back.

"Charlie…" Bass raises his hands in a surrender gesture and she snorts.

"Stop fucking with me Bass, I don't need you to care. I don't need you look out for me. I don't need you to save me. I need you to leave me the hell alone. You want to be buddies with Miles again, be my guest. But if you leave him again, you will kill him and then I'll kill you. So be very sure that you're here to stay. For him. Because he won't survive you leaving again despite him saying he doesn't care. Death broke him. You broke him. I can't put him back together again."

Bass looks shocked, "I won't leave him again Charlie, I swear."

She shrugs, "Fine." And then starts to walk away until he grabs her arm.

"What about us?"

She chuckles but it's an empty kind of laugh. "There is no us. Do not mistake my caring for Miles as a way to keep you here. The Charlie who would have cared two years ago is gone. A little girl buried six feet under. Don't try to find her Bass, she'll only come back to haunt you."