As they entered the room, Charlie was thankful to Monroe's protective arm around her shoulders; walking had become difficult and the staircase would have proved troublesome by herself. The door knob produced a click as she turned the knob, she winced, it was a loud noise in the quiet of the night. She pulled the door open slowly and tiptoed in.

Monroe was amused by her efforts at stealth, after half of a bottle of whiskey they bore no resemblance to the chillingly quiet way she could stalk prey, crossbow at the ready. She tripped over a bad floorboard and into the room. He stepped forward and caught her around the waist. He laughed silently, blowing warm air against her cheek.

"Steady Charlotte," he was enjoying himself. He felt like a teenager again, sneaking into the house after a couple of drinks on the sly. But his elation was cut short.

"Hey! Are you two there?" Miles' voice rang loudly in their inebriated ears. Charlie noticed that the adjoining door was open and made an effort to walk soberly into the other room, with Monroe following at a distance.

"Everything okay Miles? Where's Mom?" She fidgeted, aware of how obvious her drunken state must be.

"She was getting worried about patriots following us here, wanted to talk a look around outside. Clearly I'm in no state to head out with her, so she went to wake you Charlie. Where were you?"

Monroe was leaning against the wall next to the door frame, "we went downstairs for a drink, Miles."

"Oh, excellent. Sebastian Monroe sharing a bottle of whiskey with her daughter, that's exactly the image that will get Rachel sharpening a dagger."

"How did you..?"

"I can smell it from here, Kid." His eyes were mocking, not angry, which of course he had no right to be. Charlie was well within her rights to have a drink when she wanted one. His expression shifted as he looked over to his old friend, "besides, I know it's Bass' favourite drink."

The comment wasn't lost on Monroe. Whiskey was not his favourite drink, but back when they were young and stupid it was the liquor of choice when looking for meaningless hook-ups. He meet Miles with, what he hoped, was an honest gaze. "Miles."

Charlie turned slowly to regard Monroe as the two men held each other's intense gaze. "Hey. Would you stop doing this? What's going on?"

"Nothing, Kid."

Charlie turned to walk back to the second room, muttering under her breath, "right, you two staring at each other always means nothing." She noticed Bass supress a grin as she passed him.

"Bass, close the door behind Charlie." She rolled her eyes as she was closed into the room by herself. So she was going to get to hear what all of the staring meant. She collapsed on the bed, the dull buzz of intoxication returning to her now that she was alone. Lying back, sleep came to her quickly now.

ooo

As she woke, Charlie pulled grasped at the blanket pulling it up around her shoulders and rolled over. She was reluctant to open her eyes, aware of the pain in her head and the sickness in her stomach. The voices carrying from next door pulled her out of her slumber. The bright light strained her eyes and she laced her boots and ran her fingers through her knotted hair.

She swayed as she stood, and walked slowly towards the door, resting her hand on the doorknob. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out steadily. She didn't want Rachel to notice that she was so hungover. She didn't want Monroe to notice either.

The three of them turned to watch her enter the room.

"Welcome to the land of the living," Miles was smirking, right, so he has chosen to enjoy this situation. Good to know.

"There's some food for you Charlie," her Mom was trying, but it had been a long time since she'd used the gentle caring tone of a mother and it sounded grating leaving her lips, "drink plenty of water."

Charlie could feel Monroe's eyes on her as she walked over to the small table and sat down to a metal bowl of thick porridge. Once they were content she'd managed the small walk, they returned to their conversation.

"I was scouting for two hours last night and there's no sign of any patriots nearby, they don't seem to know we're here."

Miles flinched as he sat up, "So they've not found us, doesn't mean they're not looking for us."

"So we check." The look that Rachel shot Monroe as he spoke would have been difficult to miss; her eyes were cold, colder than usual. It seemed that Miles had filled her in on the night's events.

"You're suggesting we head back in the direction of Willoughby?"

"Obviously not you, I doubt you could even stand up yet. Me and Charlotte."

"Absolutely not. You're not taking Charlie back with you, they think you're dead – what do you think happens to her if they find you?" Monroe's face was like stone, completely impossible to read.

"Mom. Come on, I'm the best tracker her by a long shot, anyone else might miss it if they've got a couple of scouts off on their own digging around. So I go."

"Then you don't need him with you."

"Listen to yourself, how can it be anything but safer to have a guy and a gun with me?"

That got Rachel, she turned to Miles for support. He held her gaze for a moment, then weakly shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"It's decided then. Charlotte and I will set off this evening. Shouldn't take more than a couple of days to track down and deal with a few scouts." His focus turned to Charlie as she spoke, the meaning of 'deal with' was not lost on her, or her mother by the looks of things.

ooo

They walked in silence, Monroe watched as she placed one foot in front of the other, slowly and carefully. He had enjoyed her drunken sway, but had for a long time come to appreciate her deadly ability to travel unnoticed. She expertly avoided twigs that would crack and damp ground that would unsteady her footing. They had run most of the distance between the public house at the patriots, but as they got closer they had to be more careful.

Charlie sank down into the ground and edged closer to the patriots who were settling into camp for the night. Monroe sank beside her. "Doesn't look like they're going to be moving again until dawn."

"We might has well get a couple of hours sleep, wanna stay close though." Decision made, she turned and retreated twenty or so yards to a hollow in the ground that was sheltered by a large boulder. Monroe regarded the small space, only just big enough for two bodies to crouch.

"And to think, we had a sofa and a mattress last night."

"Get down. And keep your voice down."

"Of course, you're the brains of this operation," he teased as his arm pushed against hers as he settled into the hallow. "I'm just 'a guy and a gun', right?"

She glanced at him sideways with a disparaging look.

"Get some sleep Charlotte, I'll take first watch."

She nodded, leaning her head back against the boulder and closing her eyes. She was so tired, her limbs were drained from the extended run and the residual effects of the alcohol had allowed fatigue to settle in quickly. But her mind was active and charging, all too aware of the closeness of Sebastian Monroe.