Charlie sat in the back of the wagon staring at the wanted poster. Her likeness stared back at her. "Wanted. Dead or Alive. For crimes against the United States." It wasn't lost on her that she was holding her death warrant in her hands, right there it was in black and white. She knew Conner and Bass were worried about how she was taking it. Honestly she didn't feel anything. She knew she should. She should feel scared or angry. Anything but nothing.
Bass could hardly rein in his anger. Who the hell did these Patriots insects think they were? It was one thing for them to come after him. He deserved it ten times over. But for them to target Charlie, it made him even more determined than ever to wipe them off the map. They had no idea who the hell they were messing with. Maybe it was time to show them exactly how he became the leader of the Monroe Republic. He was more determined than ever to bring back the republic. He'd make it bigger and stronger and more deadly. He'd become the devil himself if it meant keeping her safe.
Bass looked over his shoulder at Charlie. She was just sitting there quietly, with almost a bored expression on her face. He had to hand it her, she was taking it like champ. Then again he should have expected nothing less. Most people would have freaked out, finding their name on a wanted poster. Not his Charlie. She was solid as a rock.
Conner had just about as much of the brooding silence as one man could take. He looked over and his father was busy grinding his molars down to nubs and Charlie was just staring at the passing scenery. God if he had to endure any more of this silence he was going to go mad.
"So Charlie." He said as he turned around to look at her. "Did I tell you about the time I had to jump out of a wagon that was being driven by a team of runaway horses? It was intense, but I didn't panic. I kept my cool, made the decision to jump and jumped."
Charlie just snorted.
"What? Okay miss tough girl, you got a better story?"
"I've got two words for you El Macho." Charlie paused and held up two fingers. "Moving Train."
"El Macho huh, I like it." Conner said as he smiled, taking in the nickname. "Now what about a train?"
"I got thrown off a moving train that was about to explode."
"How did you know it was going to explode?" he asked.
Charlie got quiet and sadness filled her eyes. "Because a very dear friend of mine put a bomb on it."
"I'll call it a tie." Conner smirked. "So tell me Toranado, what other wild and crazy things have you done?"
"Toranado?" Charlie asked.
"You know Tornado, beautiful to look at yet extremely dangerous and deadly."
Charlie just shook her head.
Bass listened intently as both Conner and Charlie swapped stories, each trying to one up each other. He learned more about Charlie in those few hours than he had in the past few months. Conner too. He sat and listened to them talk, soaking it all in.
As they arrived home Miles came out to great them. Charlie could tell right away that something was wrong. "Miles?" she asked.
"So where are the guys you went to go get?" Miles asked deflecting her questioning gaze.
"It was a bust, but we have bigger problems brother." Bass answered.
"You have no idea." Miles said. Then he looked at Charlie as they started to walk into the house. "Promise me you won't freak out."
"Why would I freak out?" Charlie asked warily. As soon as she entered the kitchen she knew. Sitting at the table was none other than Tom and Jason Neville.
Charlie reached for her gun, pointed and fired. At the same time Miles grabbed her arm, causing her shot to go wide. Tom drew his gun and pointed it at Charlie while Bass and Conner pulled theirs and set their sights on Tom.
"Okay everyone just calm down." Miles yelled. "Put your guns down."
"That bitch shot at me." Tom growled.
"And you're still breathing, count yourself lucky Tom." Bass sneered.
"That's enough." Miles warned. "Tom put it down. Bass, Conner you to."
Miles glared at each of them and slowly everyone holstered their weapons.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Charlie asked through clenched teeth.
"They showed up yesterday morning." Rachel said quietly from across the room. She looked about as happy as Charlie felt.
"After your little stunt in Willoughby, it didn't take long for them to figure out that my idiot son here helped you." He turned and glared at Jason. "We barely escaped with our lives."
"I'm still waiting to hear why you're here or why we should care." Charlie bit out.
"Because we can help." Jason spoke up for the first time. "We've been on the inside. We know how they act, how they think, what resources they have, you name it."
"And why would you help us?" Conner asked, clearly not believing a word coming out of Jason's mouth.
"Because these guys are monsters. They have to be stopped and our best shot at doing that is to stick together." Jason answered, then he looked at Charlie, concern plain on his face. "And we know about the bounty."
"Right," Bass snorted. "And I'm supposed to believe you both are hear out of some sense of duty. This coming from a man who switches sides like most change their socks."
"Bounty, what bounty?" Miles asked at the same time.
"I don't care what you think Monroe." Tom shot back, ignoring Miles' question. "From where I stand you're in no position to be choosy. You're pitiful little band could use all the help you can get. So for better or worse, here we are."
"What bounty?" Miles asked again.
Bass pulled the wanted poster from his pocket and slammed it down on the table. "Charlie has a price on her head."
Miles looked at the piece of paper in front of him. What in the hell? This changed things. He was on the fence before about letting Tom join them. But since Bass returned with no men, he really didn't have a choice. They needed all the help they could get and fast.
"Charlie." Miles said in a low voice. "We could use them."
"We can't trust him, you know that." Charlie exploded. "For all we know he's here to collect that bounty, get back into the good graces of the Patriots."
"Oh but you trust him?" Jason yelled, pointing at Monroe. The hurt and confusion clear on his face.
Tom's expression was neutral, not confirming or denying her accusation.
Before she could respond to Jason Miles turned her to look at him. His expression left no room for an argument. But she could also see the apology there. He knew how she felt about Neville, than again it wasn't that long ago she had brought Monroe to their doorstep and the situations had been reversed.
"Charlie…."
"Fine, just keep him the hell away from me or I will shoot him, and I promise I won't miss." With that she turned and stormed out of the house, Bass hot on her heals.
Miles turned his gaze to the two men at the table and pointed down to the wanted poster. "Would one of you like to explain this?" his voice low and menacing. "If I find out one of you had anything to do with this, you will be begging for death by the time I'm through with you."
Bass found Charlie pacing in an overgrown park not far from the house. He could tell she was upset because he never would have been able to sneak up on her otherwise.
"Charlotte?" He whispered.
She stopped pacing, but kept her back toward him. "Please go away Sebastian. I want to be alone right now."
He sat down on a fallen log sending her a message loud and clear, he wasn't going anywhere. Charlie made a move to walk away. "I'll just follow you Charlie." Bass warned. "So let's save ourselves a bunch of walking and or running."
Charlie hung her head. "God you're a stubborn son of a bitch you know that?"
"It's one of my finer qualities." Bass quipped.
Charlie stood still for a long time, staring out into nothing. Bass just let her be. He knew better than to push. Finally she sighed and sat next to him. His hand automatically went to her neck, he could feel the tension there. Hoping to give her some relief he started to rub gentle circles. He half expected her to pull away, but to his surprise she didn't. Instead she relaxed into his touch.
"We're all going to die." She whispered, her gazed fixed in front of her.
"Charlie..." Bass sighed.
Charlie shook her head. "Don't try to deny it Bass, you know it's true. We are out gunned and out manned. Before, I gave us, me, a year tops. But now with Tom here and a bounty on my head even that estimate is unrealistic. Now it's more like 6 months, or tomorrow. Who knows?"
Bass stilled his fingers on her neck, he was surprised to hear her talk like this.
She turned her head to look at him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not going roll over and accept it. I'm going to fight like hell, all the way to end. I just don't see it ending in my favor that's all."
Bass stared into her eyes. What he saw there made what was left of his heart break. She truly believed she was doomed.
"Maybe I'm already dead," she continued. "Sometimes I don't feel anything unless I'm fighting or when I'm…" she trailed off.
"When you're what?" Bass asked leaning in.
"When I'm with you." She whispered.
"What do you feel?" Bass breathed out. Their faces inches apart.
"I feel, I feel…"
Bass didn't let her finish, his kiss stopped her words. Charlie sighed and relaxed into him. He knew what she felt, because he felt the same damn thing. He hauled her up into his lap, wound his hand through her long flowing hair and pulled her closer to him. Time stood still, he knew they should stop. It was broad daylight and they were out in the open. Anyone could walk up on them. But at this moment he couldn't make himself give a damn. Her hands where everywhere, pulling on his hair, her nails raking down his back. He angled her head to deepen the kiss. He needed to see more of her and right damn now. He reached down and tugged her shirt up. Her arms instantly went over her head, allowing him to remove it. He pulled away long enough to get it off and want back to kissing her. He loved the feel of her skin under his fingers. His hand traveled up her back and was about to make short work of the clasp of her bra when he heard someone clear their throat.
In a flash he shoved Charlie behind him and drew his weapon. He glanced to his side and realized Charlie had pulled her gun as well.
"Stand down guys, it's just me." Conner chuckled as he walked up to them.
Both Bass and Charlie holstered their weapons. "You guys should really hang a sock on a tree branch or something if you're going to be doing that." Conner said, amusement shining in his eyes.
"Turn around son." Bass growled as he handed Charlie back her shirt.
Conner turned but continued to talk. "Miles is looking for you dad."
Bass groaned and looked back at Charlie who was quickly putting her shirt back on. They both stood and started walking toward Conner. He held his hand up to stop them. "Maybe Charlie should stay here with me for a little bit."
"Why?" They both asked.
"Because your shirt is on backwards Charlie." Conner grinned.
Charlie could feel herself blushing. Bass turned to look at her and not only was her shirt on backwards but her hair was disheveled and her lips swollen. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they had been doing.
"I'll be fine Sebastian. Besides I'm ready to be in the same room as Tom yet."
Bass nodded to her and walked off. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but not here in front of an audience, even it was his son.
Charlie signaled Conner to turn around so she could fix her shirt.
"Are you decent yet?"
"Yeah all set." Charlie said as she smoothed down her shirt. "Let's get back."
"So." He asked, his back toward her. "Do I need to start calling you mom?"
"Very funny, it's not like that."
Conner couldn't help but chuckle. "If you say so." Conner chuckled, clearly not believing her. Hell she didn't really believe herself either.