The anger flooding through her chest burns white hot as she storms through the house towards Rachel and Ben's room.

How dare she treat Miles that way! And as a guest in our house!

Sergent Rolland hurriedly steps aside as she stomps towards him, her eyes blazing with fury. Charlie vaguely registers him taking off down the hallway but thinks nothing of it as she advances on her mother, who is currently looking up from her book with mild curiosity.

"Sweetheart, how are you?" She asks calmly.

There's a moment where she considers sitting down and talking about the situation like rational human beings, but then Charlie remembers the hurt in Miles' eyes and that idea gets thrown out the window.

"You! You are impossible! And stupid, and arrogant, and manipulative, and... I don't even know. You're just crazy!"

Rachel's eyebrows raise slightly, her face remaining perfectly calm. "It's normal to experience mood swings-"

"This is not a mood swing," Charlie growls. "This is me telling you to back the fuck off. This is my home, Bass is my husband, and we will raise our child here, together, with or without your blessing. It makes no difference to me."

Rachel slowly closes her book and sets it aside, her pale eyes never leaving Charlie's as she gets to her feet. "I know this must be hard for you," Rachel says gently. "But someday you will thank me for taking you away from this mess. Bass is a monster. He will never be able to give you what you deserve."

Smack!

Charlie revels in the sting of her hand, grinning at the glorious look of outrage on her mother's face as the imprint of her hand blossoms on Rachel's cheek. She takes a step closer, invading her personal space, and points a finger directly in her face.

"I've heard enough of your bullshit. I want you out."

"Excuse me?" Rachel says, regaining her composure.

"You heard me. I will not let my baby be influenced by your insanity. I want you out of my house. Now."

Finally, Rachel's confidence wavers and her eyes narrow. "You can't do that, I am your mother."

"I don't care who the hell you are. I won't put my baby or my family through having to put up with you. Miles deserves better than that."

"Ah, I see," Rachel says with a smirk. "Apparently, Miles has told you about our little heart to heart."

Charlie scoffs. "You mean when you tried to use the feelings he had for you twenty years ago against him? Yeah, he told me. And guess what? It didn't work, because Miles doesn't love you anymore."

"So he claims," she says, amusement sparkling in her eyes.

The anger comes back in full force, thrumming through Charlie's veins like liquid fire. She pulls her first back and lets it fly right at Rachel's smug face, making contact with a sickening crunch. Her mother flails a little and falls backward onto the couch with blood already gushing from her obviously broken nose.

"Pack your crap," Charlie tells her angrily. "You're gone by dinner, or I will have the Militia escort you from the building. And not gently."

Charlie makes it to the door just as Bass and Jason come skidding to halt in the doorway. They're wearing matching expressions of concern until they notice Rachel and the blood dripping from her nose, at which point their concern turns into protectiveness. Bass quickly takes her in his arms, assessing her for any damage as Jason takes a defensive stance between the mother and daughter.

"What the hell happened?" Bass asks, his fingers diligently probing her for injuries.

"I want that bitch out of my house," Charlie seethes, pulling from his grasp. He lets her go, frowning at her back as she moves quickly down the hallway. He turns to Jason.

"Lock her down," he says, pointing towards Rachel. "Don't let her out of your sight until we know what the hell is going on."

Jason nods and moves further into the room as Bass takes off after his wife. He finds her pacing in their bedroom, her hands clenching and unclenching into fists while she grumbles to herself. After seventeen years of friendship and a year and a half of marriage, Bass has the good sense to stay out of her war path, though he gets just close enough to brush his fingers over her shoulder as she passes in front of him.

"Hey," he says gently. When her only response is a huff of air, he tries a little harder. "Babe, tell me what's wrong."

Charlie stops in her tracks, setting her hands in her hips defiantly but letting her head hang low. "That woman... she is unreasonable." She looks up to meet his eyes with angry blue ones. "And I want her gone."

"Well," Bass hesitates. "That seems a bit... extreme."

Charlie's eyebrows shoot up high on her forehead. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what she did," she says harshly.

"OK, OK. You're probably right." At her angry glare he adds, "I'm sure you are right. But it would be helpful if you told me what she did." His wife takes a deep breath, seeming to consider his logic.

"Yeah, OK." She concedes, taking a deep breath and sitting down on the trunk at the foot of their bed. She explains Rachel's visit with Miles, how she'd demanded that he send Charlie far away and bargained on their former love affiar. She also tells him how Nora reacted to the possibility of another woman being in Miles' life.

"And then she had the nerve to look me in the eye and say that someday I would thank her for this," Charlie explains angrily. "And then I just lost it and punched her."

Bass kneels down in front of his wife and takes her right hand in his so he can examine her swollen knuckles. He plants a gentle kiss on the back of her hand and grins up at her. "You punched your mother?"

Charlie chuckles but adds seriously, "she deserved that and then some. This is why she has to go. I don't want our baby growing up around all that craziness."

Bass lays a hand over her flat belly, a small smile playing at his lips. "I agree."

Charlie smiles wide and gives him a quick kiss. "I knew you would."

"However," he adds, earning himself a glare. "I don't think this is the way to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"What about Danny?" He asks, waiting for her to understand.

Charlie shrugs. "What about him? He thinks she's just as crazy as we do."

"Yes, but she's his mother. If we send her away then Danny will want to go with her."

"Maybe he won't," Charlie says, though she sounds uncertain.

"Then we'd be forcing him to choose between his mother and us, which is exactly what Rachel is trying to make you do right now."

"Which would make us just as bad as she is," she admits softly.

"Exactly."

They sit together for a little while, their fingers intertwined as Charlie calms down.

"Then what do we do? All she's done since she got here is cause problems and I can't deal with it anymore. Maggie said that stress is bad for the baby and all Rachel does is push my buttons."

Bass rubs her stomach thoughtfully, his worry for their child struggling against his concern for Charlie's newfound relationship with her brother. "I don't know yet. Just give me a few days to figure it out. OK?"

Charlie agrees and gives him another kiss.

A/N *squeals with glee* Charlie punched Rachel! By far my favorite thing I've ever written. ;) Thanks for reading!