Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the kind reviews. They mean the world! I really hadn't been sure if I wanted to take this on but am glad I did & the reviews keep me going. I hope you enjoy this part too.

Chapter 3

Charlie woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. For a moment she felt disoriented and couldn't remember where she was. Her entire body felt sore and as she looked around at her surroundings that was when she saw him—Monroe. Curled up next to her, she stared at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful…so beautiful, she thought. She looked at how she was sitting in relation to him- her legs were curled up beside him, her knees resting on his thigh. Her left hand laid upon his chest, a fistful of his shirt curled up within. His arms were around her, one tightly wound across her shoulder, the other more relaxed, lying across her abdomen. They were snuggling, she thought, almost smiling. The events of the previous night slowly came back to her and she nearly groaned. She had sobbed like a baby in front of him, to him…she started to feel embarrassed but then remembered his arms going tightly around her, holding her so close, telling her she needed to let it out, even kissing her on the head. Things, she thought, would never in a million years come from him.

She turned to look back up at him; she was studying his face when he opened his eyes. He smiled at her as their eyes locked.

"Hey," he murmured, not loosening his grip from around her.

"Hey," she replied, embarrassed that he'd caught her staring. She looked down at her hands, releasing her grip on his shirt.

He slowly, regretfully removed his arms from around her. "How are you?" he breathed.

"I'm okay," she answered, not meeting his gaze. "Sore as hell."

"That's to be expected," he soothed, "after the fight you put up against those guys."

He didn't mention the crying for which she was grateful. She slowly removed her knees from his thigh and stretched her legs out in front of her.

He slowly stood up and stretched his arms out to the morning light that came through the trees along with a welcoming breeze.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked.

"Yea," she said, "I haven't slept that well since befor…" her voice trailed off. She didn't want to say his name.

"I know." He looked at her.

"You know?" she met his gaze.

"You forget I'm first watch, Charlie," he said softly.

"Oh…" she replied.

She sat there thinking about how she'd only had one nightmare last night…one. Usually, every time she closed her eyes the nightmares came. This one was different, though; at first the same, but then different. Jason was there again, asking her why she'd done it; accusing her-she remembered crying to him in her dream trying to make him understand. And then he did. He said it wasn't her fault, that he knew she had to do it. She was crying to him, telling him she was sorry and he had said, 'Shhh, Charlotte. It's okay. Please don't blame yourself. Go to sleep now.'

She looked up at Monroe, quickly, her cheeks turning pink, the realization dawning instantly. Jason had never called her Charlotte. In fact, only one man did and he was standing right in front of her. Monroe had been the one talking to her during her nightmare.

Bass felt Charlie's eyes on him and turned to face her. He noticed the flush of her cheeks; whatever she was thinking about was embarrassing her, he thought. He almost asked her what was up and then thought better of it. He walked off to give her a minute.

"Nature calling," he smiled.

Upon his return he noticed she was still in the same spot.

"Come on," he said, holding out his hands to her, "you need to get up, walk around a little before we get going."

She took his outstretched hands and he gently pulled her to her feet. She was so stiff she could hardly move.

"Oh, man," she said, leaning back against the cement wall. "I feel like I've been run over by a pack of wild horses," she said.

He grabbed her canteen from up off the ground and handed it to her.

"Drink," he said.

She took a long gulp and studied him as she did so. She had something she needed to ask him and decided now was as good a time as any.

"I need to ask you something," she said, looking down at the ground.

He stopped putting stuff in his pack and said, "Shoot."

"Well," she hesitated, "It's about my mom and Miles…and what I did last night."

He walked up to face her, giving her his full attention. He smiled at her, encouraging her to go on.

"Uhm…okay. I kind of need you to promise me something." She seemed afraid to go on.

"Ask me, Charlotte. It's okay."

"I need to ask you to please not tell them what I did…you know…with the Patriots," her voice quivering, as if just remembering it was painful.

He noticed her hands were shaking and he took one and held it in his own.

"Okay," he locked eyes with her, "On one condition."

She nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Promise me," he said, "you will never do anything like that again. I'll be keeping an eye on you, Charlie, and if it even looks like you're considering doing something like that again I will go straight to Miles and tell him everything, dragging you along with me."

"Okay," she swallowed.

"I'm serious, Charlotte."

"I know, I know," she replied.

He gave her hand a squeeze before slowly letting go. He looked down at the ground for a few seconds, and then brought his gaze back up to meet hers.

"I've been where you are right now, Charlie. I've been in a place where I've wanted to die."

"What-t?" she seemed stunned. "You have?"

He saw the look of complete shock on her face and looked directly at her when he said, "Yes."

She didn't know how to respond to this. Miles had never said anything to her and she just found it hard to imagine this man ever feeling so low that he wanted to take his own life. The thought of it made her feel sad.

He said, "Come on…we better start walking or your mom will kill me for getting us back so late. They must be really worried. You need to start walking to loosen up those muscles and we can talk on the way."

He proceeded to tell her about his about parents and baby sisters and how they were killed by a drunk driver. She could hear the emotion in his voice, even after all this time, and was tempted to reach out to him. She didn't.

He told her how Miles found him in the cemetery with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a gun in the other, crying. He looked over at her when he said the word 'crying', hoping she would understand his reasons for admitting it.

Charlie walked alongside Bass, listening carefully to everything he was telling her. She couldn't believe this seemingly fearless, somewhat ruthless man, had ever been at the point where he wanted to end his life and was shocked that he was telling her about it. She wasn't quite sure why he was opening up to her but was grateful for it. Hearing that she was not alone made her feel a little better; having someone who understood what she was feeling was like a breath of fresh air.

By the time he finished they were less than half a mile from camp.

"I'm so sorry, Bass" she said.

She had never used his nickname before & hearing it now left a small smile on his face as he stopped and looked at her.

"You're not alone, Charlie. I just wanted you to know that- and if you ever need to talk…anything…I just want you to know I'm here."

"Thank you," she smiled, almost shyly.

"I know I'm not always the friendliest guy," he said, trying to ignore her rolling her eyes at him. "I know I've been downright mean to you as of late for reasons I can't explain to you right now…I know I've done things to your family that are above and beyond forgiveness- things I can never make up for as long as I live."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "You're so different," she said, under her breath. "I almost don't know how to take all this…but I hope you're not just saying all these things because you feel sorry for me or something. I don't want any one feeling sorry for me, including you, Monroe." Her voice had kicked up an octave and she was suddenly on the offensive, thinking the worst.

He stepped closer to her, locked eyes with hers and said steadily, "I do not, nor have I ever felt sorry for you, Charlotte. You're one of the strongest women I know. I do not pity you but I empathize with what you're going through. Not to mention you scared the hell out of me last night—for a moment, I thought I…we…were going to lose you," he stumbled, "and if there is anything I can do to help you from feeling that way again I will do it…gladly. It's the least I can do after everything I've done to your family."

She nodded, believing him. One thing about Monroe she did know…he didn't lie. At least not to her- he'd never lied to her and she didn't really believe there was any reason for him to start now.

"Come on," he said. "We need to get back."

They began walking again, side by side, back to camp.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To say Rachel was angry with him and blamed him for everything that'd gone wrong was an understatement. She was livid. She blamed him for everything from their late return to Charlie's stiff gait to even the huge, somewhat swollen bruise across her abdomen and ribs.

Charlie, who'd been being examined by Gene, had had enough. "Stop it, Mom!"

Rachel ignored her daughter, still yelling at Monroe while Miles stood there, not knowing what to do or say because, quite frankly, he wanted answers himself.

"Enough!" Charlie screamed.

All the yelling stopped. Monroe marveled to himself that had there been a pin to be had you would've been able to hear it drop.

All eyes were on Charlie as if just seeing her for the first time. To say they were shocked at hearing her speak so loudly was an understatement. She had barely spoken at all since Austin, let alone loudly. In fact, Miles and Monroe didn't think they had ever heard her yell so loudly- Rachel had, but not for a long time; not since they'd been reunited in Philly. She knew her daughter was angry and turned to look at her but not before noticing the brief grin that crossed Monroe's face.

"None of this is his fault," she said, pointing toward Bass. "We were late getting to the clearing because I was slow walking there. We took down a buck and while we were getting it ready to haul back here some Patriots found us. Bass was already starting to carry the buck and so I threw my knife at one of them."

"How many were there?" Miles inquired, looking at both she and Bass.

"Three," Charlie answered. "Bass took out the second guy while I started fighting the third. I had no weapons at that point and he kicked me in the gut as you can see and held a knife to my throat. Bass saved my life." She looked at him hoping he would go along.

He was about to speak when Rachel spoke first.

"So he's 'Bass' now, is he?"

"Oh my God, Mom," Charlie breathed, "I swear to God, no matter what it is, no matter what I say, you only hear what you want to hear and disregard all the rest. I give up!" She threw up her hands and marched towards the door, each step causing her great pain.

"Wait," Rachel tried to stop her.

"No." Charlie answered definitively. "I'm done. Don't follow me, don't come after me, I'm done talking to you right now. Maybe when you're calmer….in a week or two…" she added sardonically, "but until then, leave me alone." And with that, she was gone.

Bass soon followed, holding up his hands when Rachel tried to speak to him again. "I'm taking a note from Charlie," he said. "I'm done too."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Bass watched as Charlie tried walking up 'her' hill. She was quite stiff but he thought better of going to try and help her. She made it about ¾ of the way there before giving up and sitting down where she was.

He turned around to find Miles watching him.

"What exactly happened between you two out there?" he asked, pointedly.

"What, are you taking a page from Rachel now, Miles?" Bass asked sarcastically. "Charlie already told you."

"But the calling you 'Bass' thing…that's new," he said, "she almost seems to like you now and that's definitely new."

"Miles, what can I tell you. She was in major pain last night after that asshole kicked her- I knew we couldn't make it back so we camped out in the woods more than a mile away. I told her about my parents…and sisters."

Miles flinched. "Why? Why would you feel the need to talk about the time you were suicidal, Bass?"

Without betraying Charlie's confidence, Bass answered, "Because of the guilt she's feeling over Jason's death, Miles…that's all." He placed his hand on his friends shoulder, reassuring him.

Miles exhaled. "So she said nothing about anything else, is that what you're telling me? Because Gene mentioned his concerns and we've been worried…"

"No, nothing like that," Bass lied, wondering if he was doing the right thing. "Just keep keeping an eye on her and I think, eventually, she'll come out of it. She's strong."

She's got to come out of it, Bass thought to himself. He couldn't take the thought of her not being in his life anymore. It was just too painful to imagine. He realized at that moment just how much he cared.

Man, he thought, I'm in deep.

Author's Note: As always your reviews & feedback are most welcome! They really help keep me going. I really appreciate all of your kindness and help. Thank you!