The stupid thing was driving him crazy. First, Bass had tried storing it in his pack, but since Charlie seemed to think that his pack was also hers, he'd been forced to find another hiding spot. Then he'd kept it in his money pouch in his boot. That worked quite nicely until he and Charlie had gone into a market to do some shopping and he'd almost dumped the ring out into his hand right in front of her.

Now the golden band was resting in the inside pocket of his jacket, where it had been hiding for the last three weeks. He wanted to give it to her, he really did, it was just that every time he thought it would be a good time, something else would come up.

Which was exactly what had happened yesterday evening. Bass and Charlie had just gotten back to the safe house with dinner when Conner and Aaron came in, both men wearing worried expressions.

"We overheard a few guys talking in the bar about some bounty hunters coming to town," Conner told them. Miles and Bass had no way of knowing if these bounty hunters were after them or if it was just a coincidence, but Miles made everyone pack up immediately anyway.

"Better safe than sorry."

The six of them had traveled through the night and well into the morning, only stopping when none of them could go any further. They didn't even bother trying to find shelter. It was still very cold, but there wasn't any snow on the ground, so everyone picked a tree in the shade and collapsed onto their bedrolls. All except for Bass, who as usual, had first watch. He didn't really mind it though. The idea that men could be in the area searching for them made him worry about Charlie even more than usual. He didn't think that he would be able to sleep even if he laid down anyway.

It wasn't until it got close to the time when Miles should take over, that Bass realized how tired he really was. His limbs felt heavy, his eyelids were drooping, and he wasn't so sure that he'd be able shoot straight even if someone did come looking. Luckily, Miles came staggering from his bed after a while in order to relieve him.

Bass didn't even bother with his own bedroll. It was a testament to how tired he was that he didn't even think about it as he nudged Charlie over in hers and climbed in. She was so lost to sleep that she didn't even stir. Miles either didn't care or was too tired to care or possibly just too tired to yell at him for it.

They all regretted it come morning.

Screaming. And lots of it.

Miles had apparently fallen asleep while on watch and Charlie had slept right through hers, so when Rachel got up, it was to find Bass and Charlie still snuggled together in her bedroll.

Rachel was in such a rage that the majority of the words coming out of her mouth were nothing more than gibberish. They caught things like, "how - stupid - monster - why," But that was about it. Conner and Aaron had retreated far enough away that they could still hear, but that they weren't in any immediate danger. Miles was hovering around behind Rachel, seeming torn between interfering and not wanting to cause more of an issue. Charlie, who didn't seem at all happy about the rude awakening, slowly extracted herself from their blankets and rose to her feet. The movement seemed to catch Rachel's attention and she immediately turned her rant on Charlie.

"What the hell are you doing! How could you do this to me, to our family?"

Bass got quickly to his feet, and after taking one look at the expression on Charlie's face, stepped back. It wasn't a glare, she didn't even look angry. No, it was a face of carefully constructed calm. He had seen it on Miles' face many times, and with Miles, it usually meant that someone was about to die.

Her apparent indifference only served to irritate Rachel more. "What is wrong with you? Of all the men in the world, you decide that you want to sleep with the one that killed your brother?"

The only change in Charlie's face was the slight raise of a single eyebrow.

"This is stupid, Charlie. You can't do this."

Now the other eyebrow raised as well. "I don't remember asking for anyone's permission," Charlie said coolly. Rachel stopped, her mouth hanging open stupidly as Charlie continued to stare her down.

"I'm you're mother," Rachel protested weakly.

"And I'm an adult, so back off." And with that, Charlie turned and grabbed her hunting gear before heading towards the trees. She stopped just before moving out of sight and turned back to see all of their shocked faces. "Bass, are you coming?"

He blinked the stupid off of his face, grabbed his swords, and took off after her. They walked for a while until Charlie stopped and sat down on a boulder. Bass moved to stand next to her, automatically brushing her hair off of her shoulder.

"Are you OK?"

She nodded absent mindedly, then stood up to face him. She pressed a feather light kiss to his lips and ran her hands down his chest.

"It was about time for that to happen anyway. Besides," and to his surprise she unzipped his jacket and reached inside, pulling the ring he hadn't given to her yet from his pocket. "Now I can actually wear it." She moved to slip the ring onto her finger.

Ten thousand different things were trying to take center stage in his mind. How did she know about the ring? How long had she known that it was there? Why hadn't she said anything before?

Bass reached out and stopped her before she could get the ring on, because of all of the things going on in his head, the fact that he wanted to put the ring on her finger, was the most important. As the gold band slid onto her slim finger, his heart seemed to pound with a newfound love for life.

"How long have you known?" He asked.

Charlie grinned up at him, one of those heart stopping smiles that kept him going for days. "Since the cave. How long have you known?"

Bass almost laughed. She'd known that they were married even before he'd had the ring. "Pretty much since the day we met."

She nodded, taking his hand and linking their fingers together. Her hand felt strange with the cool metal wrapped around her finger, but he wasn't worried, he'd get used to it.

A/N This might be the end of this story, then again, I've been known to lie about that sort of thing so don't be surprised if another chapter pops up. Thanks for reading!