Okay first of all, I am so sorry it has taken me this long to upload. It's been quite a journey recently, and I don't want that to be an excuse. But it's a reality. Moving across the country, trying to make new friends, depression, and learning how to be an adult - it's a lot. So, all that said, I'm sorry I've made you wait so long! Thank you to all those that have continued to read my story, like and favorite it. Every time I get a notification email - it makes my day. Thank you. :)

And now, the story. This one's all Charlie, I hope you like it! Let me know if anything seems off or something doesn't seem right. I enjoy constructive criticism :) Thanks again and enjoy!

Charlie looked at the clean kitchen and then at the duffel bag near the back door. Guilt gnawed at her insides but she knew she needed to act, to do something. She knew the consequences of waiting too long all too well. She was good at running. Charlie rubbed her face and tried to banish the hurt expressions she imagined Nattie and Nana would wear when they came home from the diner to find her gone. But they had lived without her once, they could do it again – right?

She shook her head one last time, schooled her face, and grabbed the two trays of cinnamon rolls from the counter. Charlie walked from the house to the diner, willing her heart to stop bleeding for a place she'd never allowed herself to call home. She smiled as she came in the door and held the trays up higher as the few regulars in the diner clapped.

"Oh thank you, Lotte. I was beginning to think you weren't coming in this morning," Nana said, taking the trays from her. Charlie just shook her head, the lump in her throat making it hard to breathe.

"Good morning Lotte," Nattie called from across the diner. He smiled at her and she forced a smile back. His brow furrowed, smile slipping. Da**. Nattie always knew when something was wrong. Before Charlie or Nattie had time to say anything, Bentley burst through the diner doors.

"Charlie, you got in!" Bentley shouted.

"I – what?" Charlie stuttered.

"The competition, the baking one, you made it!"

"Baking competition? But I didn't sign up for one…" Charlie trailed off as Nattie cleared his throat. Nana stood off to her side, mouth agape but eyes glowing.

"It was, um, going to be a surprise," Nattie said, giving Bentley a pointed look. Bentley ignored him and walked up to Charlie, shoving a piece of paper in her hands. Charlie looked down and saw an email printed out, stating she had been accepted into a baking competition in –

"Washington D.C.!? You signed me up for a baking competition in D.C.?" Charlie asked, incredulous. Nana gave an excited cry and crushed Charlie to her chest.

"Oh our Lotte's going to D.C. to compete! Everyone's going to see how wonderful you are and I – I'm just so proud of you Lotte." Nana smothered her in a hug while Charlie's head spun.

"But – but I didn't – I don't-"

"Sweetheart, we think you're amazing and we just want everyone to know it, not just this little town," Nattie said, joining the hug.

"Congratulations Charlie!"

"Go show em what you got!"

Other cheers echoed around the diner, adding to the spinning in Charlie's head. Nana finally let go of Charlie only to laugh at her stunned expression.

"Well read the email and maybe it'll set in," Nattie suggested. Charlie nodded her head, looking at the paper but not really seeing anything.

"Actually, sorry to rush but we have to leave now if we want to get there on time," Bentley piped up.

"What?"

"What are you talking about Bentley?"

"Well, I'm not great with technology, as you know, so I didn't see this email for a couple days," Bentley explained. "But, I saw it just in time and bought a flight for us to go to D.C. in the next three hours. With the airport being two or so hours away, we need to go now."

There was a pause before Charlie was being ushered back to the house, voices telling her what she needed to pack – how long would she be gone? – three months? – Okay, so she really needed this, this, and this – where was she going to stay? – what happened if she won the completion? – Everyone's voices were blurring together, overlapping in their urgency.

Charlie snapped out of her stupor right before Nana and Nattie went into the kitchen. The duffel bag.

"Okay, okay!" Charlie cried, making her guardians pause. "I can pack. Go back to the diner and take care of the customers. You can't just leave them alone! I promise I'll come back through before I go."

"Are you sure? Because Lotte this is a big thing and it's happening so fast. I can help you," Nana said, reaching out for Charlie.

"I know and I'm positive. Plus, you just told me everything I needed." Charlie smiled, giving Nana another hug. "I'll be okay. I think I need a moment for – just everything – I can't thank you guys enough and I just-"

"I know darling. We both do." Nana cupped Charlie's face in her hands, mouth pulling up into a proud smile. Charlie placed her hand over Nana's and smiled. She gave Nattie a nod. Both her guardians nodded back, misty eyed but smiling. They slipped back out the door and towards the diner, leaving Charlie with Bentley. She hadn't even realized he was there.

Bentley caught her eye and motioned for her to go upstairs. Charlie instead went to the kitchen and grabbed the duffel bag. She paused, taking in the little kitchen and round table. This had been the place where she'd lived for more than ten years and the memories were flooding back. The time when Nana taught her how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. When Nattie helped her learn fractions by using his grandmother's recipe for apple strudel. Charlie hadn't expected to feel this much. Hadn't realized she'd become attached so firmly to this house, this life. This was nothing like last time.

"Charlie, what are you-" Bentley began, stopping when he saw Charlie with the duffel bag. They locked eyes and he nodded. Charlie took a deep breath, pushed everything to the back and followed Bentley back to the diner – but not before snatching the oven mitts Steve had given her and stuffing them in her bag.

It was an hour into their drive to the airport, when the shock and emotion of leaving her guardians behind in the diner began to ebb, that Charlie turned to the man driving the truck.

"Bentley, what's really going on?" she asked. Bentley glanced at her and shifted in his seat.

"You know, you're a lot more observant than anyone gives you credit for."

"Bentley."

He sighed and pointed to the email that was still clutched in her hand.

"The competition is real. And Betty and Nathan did sign you up. That's all true," Bentley explained.

"And what's not true?" Charlie pressed. Bentley looked at her again and his mouth set into a line.

"You need to get out of Wyoming, out of this city. It's the best thing for you."

"What does that even mean? Why?"

"You know d*** well why, Charlie. Those people hanging around the diner are HYDRA and you are in danger because Steve is your friend. You needed to leave this place, but you already knew that." Bentley gave her a pointed glare. She looked away.

"Where were you going to go, Charlie? Where would you run?"

"I don't know," Charlie sighed softly. "I just knew I had to do something and – and I'm good at running." Bentley grunted. Charlie rubbed her face and tried to push away the nausea that was turning her stomach. Neither of them had said it out loud yet, but now that it was out there – Charlie knew she was in a lot of danger, just by association with Steve. It was scary, terrifying, but nothing like the guilt she felt for putting Steve in a bad spot. He was so good and just wanted to protect people. He'd hate himself knowing that he put someone else in danger.

"It's not like it was before, is it?"

"What?" Charlie asked, shaken from her thoughts.

"Running away."

"No, it's different. But I'll be fine."

"Yeah," Bentley agreed, his smile tipped into a grin. "Yeah, I know you will, kid. You're a lot stronger than you think." It was her turn to grunt in reply. It wasn't strength. She just knew how to survive.

"So, what happens now? Will you just drop me off at the airport or-"

"No, I'm coming with you to help you move in to your apartment. And there's one other thing, the competition is real but we missed it."

"What?"

"That actually was my fault. I've been at the diner a lot-"

"I noticed."

"Yeah, well. I didn't check my email. The competition technically starts today…" Bentley began to explain his plan. The competition was supposed to take three months as it was being filmed, so they asked contestants to find a place to stay in the city. Bentley and Charlie would arrive and rush to the competition area, only to find they were a day late and could no longer participate. However, since Bentley had already paid the rent on an apartment for three months, Charlie would stay in the city for the time being.

"And then what? Also, how do you have money for all this? How did you do this?" Charlie asked. Her thoughts were spinning. She barely paused for breath before more question spilled out of her mouth.

"And why D.C.? Wouldn't that put me in more danger? Isn't HYDRA like stationed there? What are we going to tell Nana and Nattie? And-"

"Are you going to let me answer or keep firing off questions?" Bentley interrupted. Charlie snapped her mouth shut, breathing heavily.

"Betty and Nathan will be fine, they're resilient. We'll tell them the same story, we missed the competition but you stayed due to paying for the apartment." He put up a hand to silence her rebuttal. "The less they know, the better."

That didn't sit too well with Charlie. She felt bad that she was lying to them, even if it was for the best. They'd given her so much…

"You can tell them later when there's not imminent danger. With you moving, it puts them farther out of harms way. Now, D.C. seemed like a bad option to me at first too, but Nathan insisted on entering you into a competition. Once I thought about it, seemed fine to send you closer to Steve so he can keep an eye on you and help if needed."

"I can't ask him to do that, Bentley."

"You won't need to."

"I know," Charlie sighed. She rubbed her head again. "I don't know if that's better or worse." Bentley didn't reply. They stayed quiet for a time, watching the trees pass by through the window. Guilt, doubt, fear, and lies were mixing together, maintaining that nauseous feeling. Charlie breathed in through her nose, out through her mouth. It helped a little.

"You didn't tell me how you were able to do all this. Not just the expense, but the planning, the preparation," Charlie said. She turned from the window and caught his eye, "Bentley, who are you?"

Bentley stared at her, calculating. He closed his eyes, turned back to the road, and sighed.

"I used to be C.I.A. A special forces, elite operative in a division that no longer exists. It retired when I did. Government gave me a hefty sum to keep me quiet. Never had to use it until now, never had a reason."

Charlie exhaled slowly. Everything made sense. Bentley had always been aloof, guarded behind an iron wall. She'd been terrified of him from the beginning, hated his cold eyes. That had slowly changed. She lashed out at him a lot fueled by fear and distrust. Bentley had taken it, never retaliating. Maybe her sharp edges had worn out his defenses, or maybe…she reminded him of someone.

"The little girl in your photographs, was she your daughter?" Charlie asked softly. Bentley gulped. Shook his head.

"My niece. The woman was my older sister. She left her abusive husband to come live with me. I thought I would protect her if her a**hole husband ever came back. But…" Bentley trailed off and trained his eyes on the road.

"But your past came back. What happened?" Charlie couldn't help but ask. Bentley shook his head, set his jaw. Charlie looked out the window and tried to process the new information with everything else. It was a lot, but old habits were kicking in to numb the pain, the emotion. She just had to keep running and everything would be fine.

"What happened to you?" Bentley asked. The question, unexpected, made Charlie jump.

"What do you mean?"

"The night you turned up on Nathan's doorstep, you were in one hell of a state. More bruises than a child should have, shivering enough to chew your tongue off…" Bentley was watching her, she could feel his eyes. Every time she thought she was over her past, that she'd run far enough away, it came after her with such ferocity she couldn't breathe. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to relive the pain, the rejection, the absolute terror –

Charlie shook her head, swallowed, and breathed in deeply. The panic was bubbled in her stomach, adding to the nausea, but her instincts pushed it down. She was good at running.

"My father was like your sister's husband. But my mother was not like your sister." That was all the answer she could give. The instincts wouldn't allow for more. She couldn't allow for more. Not now. Bentley glanced at her, and came to the same conclusion. They drove in silence for a long time, both using habits they wished were long gone.