AN: I know, I know. It's been a month since I last posted, and I've totally missed getting feedback from you guys about my story. Sadly, my family has been dealing with multiple illnesses and emergencies lately, which, needless to say, has given me a lot less time to write. But I'm sure all of you can understand that, and I'm grateful for your patience in waiting for this chapter. I hope you enjoy it, as I had a lot of fun writing it. And not to worry: I've finally figured out the full scope of where I want this story to go, and I am dedicated to writing it ALL. So rest assured, even if I don't post every week, I will always eventually post. Oh and by the way, even though I have an outline of this story in my head already, I would be more than happy to hear from you guys about where you'd like the story to go. Fresh perspectives and ideas always help, and ALWAYS get me writing. Enjoy, ya'll!
Walking down a backwater dirt road in the middle of nowhere with someone you've just quite possibly sent into cardiac arrest is quite an experience. Not one that I would personally recommend, but hey, Charlie thought wryly.
Annie hadn't said a word since Charlie had told her- told her... Damn, Charlie wasn't even ready to think about it too closely. The good news was, even if she was, you-know, she couldn't be that far along - she'd gotten her period three months ago. But nothing since then... Maybe she was overreacting. Women missed their periods all the time, didn't they? Just another way Mother Nature liked to screw with women, right?
Charlie closed her eyes briefly, trying to believe it.
But that explanation, comforting as it was, just didn't seem right. She'd always been pretty regular, and for her not to be now, just months after her marriage to a very attractive man - Charlie winced. Well, was it any surprise that she might be... Still she couldn't say it
But Hell, wasn't she supposed to be throwing up and crying and holding guns to peoples heads and stuff? Sure, her head had been a little screwed up lately, but she had just left her dictator husband to go find her uncle, now married to her mother, who at one time had been best friends with Bass, in order to ask him for his help in stopping Bass' plans to take over the world.
Well, that's not entirely fair to Bass. He's just planning to take over the continent for now.
What a guy.
And anyway, any person who's not a little bit crazy after dealing with that kind of crap FOR YEARS has got herself some pretty damn low expectations.
Charlie came out of her own thoughts just in time to watch her friend nearly drown in hers. Annie was walking alongside Charlie, her eyes unfocused, her face scrunched up in thought, dead quiet. She'd been like that for over an hour - ever since the two of them had silently packed up camp and hit the road. Honestly, Charlie was beginning to wonder if telling Annie the news had really been the best idea when she saw a flicker of movement to her left.
Apparently Annie was finally ready to get the heart-to-heart over with because she cleared her throat and straightened out her shoulders - before slumping back over, shoving her long hands deep into her pockets, and staring hard up into the sky like she was trying to find the words. After a few more minutes of silence, Annie just sighed and rubbed her forehead. Charlie almost smiled. It was scary sometimes just how much Annie reminded her of Miles.
"Is that why you decided to run?" Annie glanced over at her, her green eyes troubled.
For a split second, the question threw Charlie. Why would she go and force her child to grow up without ever knowing her father? Charlie'd grown up without one of her parents, and as a child she'd vowed that she would never do that to one of her own kids. But...
Oh yeah, because the man I married is a homicidal maniac. Charlie dropped her gaze from Annie's, unwilling for her friend to see the momentary flash of pain that lit her eyes. Still, apparently. And he'll never change.
Choking down one of the biting responses that always seemed to come too easily to her, Charlie looked back at Annie, knowing that for all the crap her friend was going to have to go through for helping her escape, well, she deserved the truth. And more than a little respect
"No, Annie, it isn't." Seeing the question - the rising panic - in Annie's eyes, Charlie added quickly, "but if I'd known I would've left anyway. Probably sooner." Although, it would've been hard to have been more efficient with the time they'd had than they'd already been. Confusion clouded Annie's face.
"Charlie, don't take this the wrong way but why would you still want to leave if you'd known you were pregnant?" The pained expression that crossed over Annie's face was only there for a moment, but it didn't escape Charlie's notice. And it could've been her imagination, but Annie's voice sounded a little ragged when she spoke again. "Didn't Monroe want kids?"
Charlie's chest suddenly felt too tight - but she just shrugged.
"Well Bass already has a kid."
"Yeah, Connor, right?" Annie dipped her head thoughtfully. "I remember Alex mentioning him once. Something about a fallout-"
"Yeah, they haven't seen each other in a while."
When it became clear that that was all Charlie was going to say about it, Annie shrugged and pressed on.
"Ok, so when did you find out about... the kid?"
"Just this morning."
That little confession hung in the air between them for a few minutes, each lost in her own world of thoughts. Until Annie broke the silence.
"Soooo..." Her voice sounded funny to Charlie's ears - she sounded almost excited. Annie took a deep breath. "Are you sure, Charlie?" Charlie glanced over at her friend in surprise.
"I'm sorry, what?" Annie stared at Charlie, trying to match her friend's tone with some possible, rational meaning. But nothing fit.
"Are you sure you're pregnant?" Annie's pale face lit up with a hesitant smile. "I mean, as sure as you can be with this type of thing?" Charlie stared at her friend in disbelief - Annie might as well have been jumping up and down like a freaking 10-year-old. This was nothing to be excited about.
"You do get how this is a bad thing, right? Charlie tried to keep her voice level. "You know, 'cuz we're on the run. From both our husbands, by the way. So, all in all, this isn't the best thing that could happen right now."
"I know. I'm not an idiot, Charlie. Yeah, this is going to make some things a little harder. But I mean come on! You have to be at least a little happy. You're going to have a baby!"
"Well, yeah, Annie! Let's just throw a baby shower while we're at it, huh? Invite Miles and Rachel. Oh and we can't forget about Bass." Charlie barely registered the way Annie's smile had faded before starting up again. "Hey why don't we invite Alex too? It'll be great. We can play Guess Who Monroe's Gonna Kill Next and Whose Psychopathic Husband Is Gonna Be The First To Help Him. And who the Hell knows? We might both win a freaking prize!" By the time Charlie finished, Annie's face had paled considerably, and there was no trace of the former smile. Instead, her eyes were full of tears and betrayal.
Charlie's racing heart stuttered.
"Annie, listen-" But the words stuck in her throat. Shit. Charlie couldn't believe it. The one person who'd risked everything to help her get away from the Republic, and here she was treating her like crap. Worse than crap, really. No matter what was going on in Charlie's own screwed-up life, bringing up Annie's husband was way over the line. Hadn't Charlie seen firsthand what that man was capable of?
Charlie sighed deeply.
"Annie, I'm sorry. You don't deserve this. Any of it." She paused briefly, letting her natural courage buoy her next words. "And if it weren't for me you wouldn't have to put with it."
Annie's gaze found Charlie's instantly, the heat behind it nearly making Charlie take a step back.
"Don't ever say anything like that again. If it weren't for you, I'd still be back in Chicago. With Alex." Charlie flinched. "Even if you hadn't run, it was only a matter of time before I did." Tears were trickling down Annie's face in a steady stream now. "Oh it would've killed me to never see you again, Charlie." She bit her lip, and then took a shuddering breath. "You're my best friend - my only friend... And I'm selfish enough to be grateful that you ran with me. I should want you to live a happy life. With Bass. With your baby. And I do! But... I'm also so relieved - that I - didn't have to leave on - my own." Annie was trying to pull herself together, but try as she might, the sobs kept coming.
Unsure what to do, Charlie just stood there for a second, watching her friend break down. She hadn't felt like a big sister in so long… she had no idea how to be one anymore. But, for Annie's sake, she had to at least try. Hesitantly, she moved toward the other girl and then slowly put her arms around Annie's shaking shoulders. And after a moment, Annie hugged Charlie back as hard as her thin arms would allow. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Charlie gently pulled back.
"We both had our reasons why we needed to leave Chicago." Charlie stopped, stared hard at the ground, and then finally continued. "I know that I never told you what made me want to get the Hell out of the Republic so quickly. Why I need to get to Texas… There's - someone there who can help us."
"Help us?" Annie frowned. "With what, Charlie?" Looking a Hell of a lot calmer than she felt, Charlie met Annie's curious eyes with a look laced with iron.
"Miles is going to help us take down Monroe."
"I'm sorry, what?" Annie's eyes were wide with disbelief. "You're going to kill Monroe?"
"I never said that Annie!"Charlie angrily scrubbed a hand across her eyes. "We're not going to kill him." Charlie straightened her spine. "Not unless we have to."
"I don't get you Charlie! I mean, Hell, Aren't we trying to get away from him? Now you're talking about going back and assassinating your husband? What the Hell, Charlie?"
"Do you think this is how I want things to be? Do you think I want to kill Monroe? Dammit, I love-" Charlie bit her lip. What was the point? "Annie, just listen for a second, OK?" Gaa, she was so tired. Annie nodded slightly, obviously hoping that Charlie hadn't completely lost her mind.
"About a week ago, I was going to meet Bass in his office for dinner. When I was passing by his briefing room, I heard voices. One of them was Bass's. So I was about to go in to remind him of our plans, but then I heard Alex's voice too. And no offense, but I never trusted that man."
"None taken," Annie replied wryly. Charlie smiled without any real conviction.
"So I waited by the door - I wanted to hear what they were talking about, and Alex always mysteriously seems to forget what he was going to say whenever I come into the room." Charlie paused, letting the memory of that night wash over her. "Then I heard it." Charlie glanced over at Annie, who was listening intently. "The two of them were weighing the pros and cons of invading the Georgia Federation this year or next year. Alex was pushing hard for this year. He said that Georgia's newest building project would be underway in a few weeks and would leave them vulnerable to attack since so many of their men would be on their southern border renovating Georgia's docks." after another deep breath, Charlie continued, softer than before. "And Monroe agreed." Her breaths were coming hard now, as the shock she'd felt that night came crashing back down on her. Shock and a sickening sense of betrayal. Bass had promised he'd never pull that psycho, dictator crap again. Well, he lied.
"And then Monroe- he said that defeating Georgia first would make it easier for him to take the rest of the continent."
Charlie let her words hang in the air, giving Annie the chance to process how bad things really were.
"That's when I knew I had to find Miles. And, I was hoping that my being gone would - distract - Monroe. Give us the time we need to find Miles and get a solid plan together."
"So... Monroe, he never, uh... you know, hurt you?" Looking scared as Hell, Annie clenched her fists, ready to march straight back to the Republic and set Monroe on his ass if Charlie said he'd so much as looked at her funny. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them - Charlie looked absolutely horrified.
"God, no!" It was barely a whisper but it made Annie's heart a Hell of a lot lighter.
Monroe might be crazy as all outdoors, but at least he'd never hurt Charlie.
"Why would you even ask-" Charlie's mouth snapped shut. The faint memory of Annie, saying something like "You did the right thing... Once someone hurts you, they'll always do it again," popped into her mind. Charlie'd thought Annie had been talking about herself - Charlie'd been so busy thinking about how she was going to get the two of them to Texas that she hadn't really been listening that closely... Had Annie meant her?
"I thought maybe that's what made you decide to leave in the end." Looking sheepish, Annie avoided looking directly into Charlie's eyes, hoping that she'd just let the moment pass. But Charlie wasn't one to let injustices lie. It was one of the reasons Annie respected her so much. But dammit if that trait wasn't going to bite her in the ass today.
Charlie's fierce expression looked like it had been carved from stone.
"I swear, Annie, if I ever see that little son-of-a-bitch husband of yours again, I will make him suffer." Charlie's hand twitched toward the sword strapped to her hips - the one Miles had given her as a sort of going-away present. It was almost as good as having him there with her. And she knew that if he had been there with them, he would've been the first to volunteer to help Charlie put the fear of God into Alex Hamilton. Who knows, maybe one day we'll get the chance? Charlie squared her small shoulders. "I promise. That man is never going to hurt you again." Looking toward her friend, who's eyes remained fixed on the ground, she forced her voice to steady itself. "We'll both make sure of it." At that, Annie's head slowly rose, her gaze coming to meet Charlie's, who nodded. And then they both dropped it.
A few more minutes passed in silence, but the quiet was no longer tense with worry, or rabid with fear. It was almost... normal. Like the two of them were just taking another walk through the gardens behind Monroe's house and had stopped to smell the roses that were in bloom. And there wasn't anything to be afraid of. Well, maybe there was one thing.
Charlie smiled softly, letting the fantasy sweep through her.
The only thing she'd have to worry about was making sure Bass didn't declare a national holiday when she told him that they were going to have a baby. A spark of hope suddenly came to life within her. She could only imagine how he'd react, but...
She would ask him to go for a ride, and Bass would roll his eyes and smile down at her. Then, after he'd canceled all his meetings, and ordered a small party of soldiers to discretely follow them past the Chicago city limits, they'd saddle their matched horses and go. Flying through their city, they'd stay close together, neither of them willing to lose the other. And then when they reached that patch of sunny grass they'd found when they first came to Chicago, they would quietly slip away from their escort and stroll down to the pond they both loved - it looked so much like the one Bass had taught Charlie how to swim in.
And then she'd tell him, when they were both soaking wet from splashing one another and almost half the pond water was covering the rocky mud outside of the pond.
He'd stare at her, blue eyes careful, wary lest they misunderstand. His brilliant gaze would dart down to her flat stomach and then back up to her face, trying to puzzle it out. And then, like the sunrise, comprehension would slowly dawn on his face. She'd take his hand in hers and he'd hold her close. A few hard-won tears would gather on his eyelashes as he smiled down into her bright, happy face. And then he'd kiss her, and kiss her, and... She could almost taste his lips on her tongue.
"So," Annie's normal, playful tone was back, shaking Charlie out of her daydream. Charlie was relieved to hear it, even if it was still a bit strained. And honestly, now wasn't the time or the place to be thinking about could-have-beens - they would only lead to more heartbreak. Besides, light was good right now; light was safe. And if Charlie was going to keep her shit together for both their sakes, for all the people that Monroe could hurt - and, uh, for the kid too - "light" was exactly what they needed to be right now. And brilliant girl that Annie was, she knew it. "Are we both just going to stand here all day, or do you actually want to get some quality exercise in before Monroe's men catch us?"
Charlie grinned and actually laughed out loud for once.
"Well, one, you're a smart-ass-"
"I am not!"
"-And two, we're not going to get caught." Charlie's blue eyes twinkled. "I happen to have a plan." Annie's eyebrow flew up so high, Charlie hoped it would get stuck that way.
"That's reassuring. Really it is. But maybe you could tell me what the plan is." She rolled her eyes. "Before we get wherever the Hell we're going."
"You mean Texas?" Charlie supplied helpfully.
"Yeah, idiot. I know that. I was kind of hoping for something a little less vague." She looked hard at her friend. "Come on, Charlie! Are we gonna go south, east, west - through Georgia till we reach the Mexican border? Where?!"
"We're making a straight shot for Texas."
"Right. And next you're going to tell me that we're going through the Plains Nation." When Charlie didn't reply, the hairs on the back of Annie's neck began to tingle suspiciously. "Wait, hold on... you don't mean..." But Charlie just stared back at her, the slightest smile tugging at her lips. Annie growled in frustration. "Dammit."
"Well, I've always said I wanted to see the Plains Nation. And besides this will give me a chance to work on my tan." Annie stretched out her arms in front of her for maximum sun exposure, and Charlie couldn't stop the stupid grin that was spreading all over her face - that was happening a lot lately, Charlie mused.
As a matter of fact, Annie'd never said anything of the kind. And if she had, Charlie would've smacked her over the head and set her straight. Nobody "wanted" to go to the Plains Nation - it was always a last resort type of thing. There were really only two types of people that entered the Plains: men who were slaves to their schedule or men who were slaves.
Fortunately for them both, Charlie and Annie were the first sort of traveler.
Glancing over to her left, she saw that Annie was pulling out the pink sunglasses she'd had the foresight to bring with her. Really, Charlie was impressed with how well her friend was handling everything. As far as she knew, Annie had never even been outside of Chicago for more than a day, and even if she had, she'd certainly never had to walk halfway down the map in the blazing sun with only few packs of beef jerky and some water. Annie slipped her glasses on, and Charlie nearly groaned when the sunlight bounced off their glossy neon surface and hit her directly in the eye. Well, there was no denying that Annie was still a city girl-
Seeing Charlie's wince, Annie had glanced over at her in concern. After another moment, Annie'd removed her glasses and was sorting through her small backpack. Finding what she needed, she pulled out her half-full canteen, uncapped it, and drizzled a little water onto the dirt at her feet. Then, before Charlie could even blink, Annie was squatting down, pawing the new mud with her fingertips. When she'd finished, she was back up again, taking her glasses in one hand, with wet mud in the other. Without so much as a moment's hesitation, she began smearing the mud over the bright pink surface, muting the color into something far less conspicuous.
Charlie smiled proudly.
-But a damn smart city girl at that.
"Come on. We've gotta go." Without another word, Charlie headed South.
Annie just smiled at her best friend.
"Just do me one favor, Charlie." Charlie rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep from smiling back.
"Fine. What is it?"
"Just lay off the booze for a little while 'till John Boy gets here, OK? I think we'll both be needing you at your best for the time being."
"Jon Boy? Really, Annie?" Charlie didn't even try to keep the disgust out of her voice. But Annie just smirked at her, her bright eyes happy.
"What, I grew up watching The Waltons!"
"Yeah, well remind me to never take your advice on baby names, OK?"
Annie sighed dramatically, her green eyes full of mischief.
"Everybody's a critic," Annie muttered, kicking the dirt as they both picked up the pace
"And for your information Annie, I happen to do some of my best work while I'm drunk."