Reports from Georgia have been coming in pretty steadily since even before Tom and Jeremy left, but the good ones have only started to arrive since the boys have been there. Miles hates having to sit back on the sidelines while the others handle something as serious as a border threat, but ever since Bass and Charlie got married it's seemed less and less like she needs him, so he couldn't say no when she asked him to stay behind.

It's hard for him to believe it sometimes, that the five year old he used rock to sleep in those first scary months after the blackout is now twenty-two and preparing to have a child of her own. Seventeen years is a long time, but he often finds himself wishing that she would have stayed little for just a while longer. Life seemed easier when Charlie was his main and only priority. Now he feels torn between his responsibilities to the Republic, his niece, and his girlfriend.

Speaking of Nora, she's running late, which is unusual for her. They're supposed to have lunch together before the afternoon assault of boring meetings begins. Miles taps the breast pocket of his jacket nervously, feeling the tiny ring beneath the fabric to reassure himself that he hasn't lost the engagement ring before even having the chance to give it to her. He's been carrying it around for three weeks while waiting for the perfect moment to pop the question, but somehow the moment just never seems right.

Maybe it's too soon, he muses while he waits. They've been tangled up in this on-again-off-again relationship for six years, but they've only technically been back together for six weeks. It's taken him a long time to work out his true feelings. Rachel had been a deep gash on his heart for such a long time that he just isn't sure whether jumping into things with Nora is a good idea. But at the same time, there's no doubt in his mind that he loves Nora. He's loved her for a long time.

"Then just do it already," he mumbles aloud to himself.

The silence in his empty office mocks him, the knowledge that he'll just chicken out again undeniable.

But why?

Miles sighs, swiping a hand over his face in frustration. All this touchy feely crap is Bass' department. Sometimes he can get away with asking Charlie, but he isn't sure how she'll feel about him asking her best friend to marry him. Then again, it's not like she considered his feelings when she agreed to marry his best friend. Not that he minded. By that point he was just happy that they would finally stop gushing to him about how much they liked each other and actually start talking to each other.

Maybe that's my problem...

But it's different for him than it was for Charlie. There's never been any question that he would support whatever decision she made, he'll always love her, no matter what. But what if she decides that she just can't handle his decision and cuts him out of her life, taking Bass and the baby with her.

Not that she would actually do that.

OK, he's pretty sure she wouldn't do that.

You could just ask Charlie about it, a little voice in his head says.

"Genius," Miles mutters under his breath. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner?

His office door opens and he half expects Charlie to come prancing through it, she has a knack for knowing when she's needed, but it's merely Nora finally arriving for lunch.

"Sorry I'm late," she says with a quick kiss on the lips. "I got held up with Julia. You know how much she likes to talk."

Miles nods absent mindedly, his brain still trying to figure out how Charlie will react when he talks to her.

"Miles, everything OK?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Just thinking about something."

"I know how hard that is for you," she jokes.

Miles rolls his eyes at her, his lips quirking into a smile as he does it. This, the easy banter and simplicity between them, is what makes them work. Nora is probably the only woman on the planet, besides Charlie, that can even put up with him.

"Miles," Nora says firmly when she notices the distant look in his eyes. "What's going on?"

He shakes his head roughly and gets up from his seat, brushing a kiss on her cheek as he moves past her. "I'm gonna have to skip lunch today. I need to talk to Charlie about something."

"Can't it wait until after lunch?" Nora asks incredulously.

"Uh. No. It can't." Miles crosses the room back towards Nora and kisses her gently, resisting the temptation to push her back against his desk and skip lunch altogether. "I'll catch up with you later, OK?"

Nora shakes her head confusedly but doesn't argue. "OK."

Miles opens the office door and steps out into the hallway only to stop and turn back around. "I love you Nora. You know that, right?"

Her smile lights up her beautiful face, her eyes shining bright with happiness. "Yeah. I love you too."

Miles can't help but grin in response as he walks down the hallway in search of his niece.

XxX

Charlie's been on Jason's case about his new girlfriend for over a week but so far hasn't had any success getting him to talk. Which is unusual for him. Normally, the mere mention of women has him spilling the beans even when you don't want to hear it. She suspects it has something to do with Danny. Maybe now that he has a guy friend to talk to, Jason doesn't want to share his news with her. The thought makes her heart sink but Charlie is determined not to let it keep her down. One way or another, she will figure out what is going on.

Her first stop is Danny. No more of this avoiding her in the hallways or skipping out before dinner is finished. He will talk to her and she will figure out what Jason is hiding.

Charlie rounds the corner near Danny's room and doesn't even think to knock before she pushes open his bedroom door. What she finds is enough to render her completely speechless. Jason, with his uniform jacket haphazardly discarded to the floor and his shirt hiked up around his shoulders, his lips attached to - wait... Is that Danny? His pale chest bright in the afternoon sunlight, his fingers grabbing insistently at Jason's pants.

Neither man seems to be aware of her presence as Charlie takes a step back from the open door, trying to take slow, deep breaths. "Oh my God."

The boys break apart with a comical popping sound, both of their eyes wide with shock, confusion, and quite possibly guilt.

"Charlie," Jason says weakly, gasping for breath. "What are doing here?"

But she's still too shocked to string her sentences together. Watching her best friend, practically her brother, making out with her actual brother. This is soo not what she'd been expecting when she went in search of Jason's secret.

"Charlie. Say something." Jason says worriedly.

She shakes her head roughly and clears her throat. "I-I uh, I was just... Looking for Danny," she finally gets out.

Her brother grabs his shirt and yanks it over his head, rushing towards her with pleading eyes. "This isn't what it looks like. I swear."

Over his shoulder, Charlie takes a look at the half naked man standing in her brother's bedroom which shocks a laugh out of her. It's a belly shaking laugh that leaves her breathless. "Are you kidding me?" She says as she wipes the tears from her eyes. "Are you gonna tell me that you guys were just practicing mouth to mouth resuscitation?"

"Well... No." Danny picks awkwardly at his shirt sleeve until Jason appears next to him, now fully clothed, and gently pushes past him.

"I'll see you later," he murmers in Danny's direction, grabbing Charlie by the wrist and dragging her down the hallway behind him.

With the bizarre turn of events, meaning that she now understands why the boys have been ditching her, Charlie is gaining her positivity back and can't help but note the deep frown on her best friend's face. "Jason, hang on a second." But he merely sends her a look that says not here and continues to lead her where he wants them to go.

They wind up in the clock tower room, their old secret hideout where they used to go in order to get away from the adults and the craziness that surrounded their childhoods. Charlie takes a seat on a dusty crate and lets Jason gather his thoughts. Clearly this isn't how he'd planned to tell everyone.

"Jason," she says after a few minutes of his overwhelming silence. "Why didn't you just tell me? The past few weeks I've been thinking that you'd replaced me with Danny, that you didn't need me anymore."

He shakes his head slowly, his face torn between guilt and confusion. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen-"

"-No, don't apologize." Charlie cuts him off quickly. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just... it would have been nice to know what was going on with you guys."

"I don't even really know what's going on," he admits softly.

Charlie nods. She doesn't want to push him but there is one thing that she really isn't getting. "Can I ask you something?" She says hesitantly.

"'Course."

"I thought that... I mean you've never, well, I've never seen you with..."

"A guy?" He finishes for her.

"Yeah."

Jason bites the inside of his cheek and shrugs helplessly "That's 'cause I've never been with a guy. Well, until now."

Their eyes meet and Charlie has to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"Stop it. This isn't funny," Jason says in his best stern voice, but it only makes the laughter bubble up and burst of her. He eventually joins in, slouching over to her so he can plop down on the crate as well. Charlie gets her giggles under control and bumps his shoulder with her own.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I didn't want you guys to think that I'm like, some kind of sissy now."

"What? No one is going to think that." Charlie says firmly.

"You don't now that. People talk."

Charlie snorts. "Jason, the entire Republic thought Miles and Bass were together for years. It wasn't until me and Bass got married that they finally let it go, and even now, people talk all the time about how my husband is having an affair with my uncle."

The ridiculousness of it is enough to bring a genuine smile to Jason's lips, his shoulders seeming to lift up from under all that weight.

"So are you going to tell me how this even happened or am I just gonna have to guess?" Charlie asks with a grin.

"Oh, shut up." Jason says with a roll of his eyes, standing from the crate to leave the room. "Can't you just mind your own business for once in your life?"

"No." Charlie hops down from the crate to follow him back downstairs. "I mean, you are my best friend. We tell each other everything. And I can tell that deep down, you're just dying for some serious girl talk. You want to tell me about how horrible of a kisser he is or how he chews his food? I'm a good listener. Just ask Nora."

"Ew. You and Nora talk about how Miles kisses?"

"Amongst other things that will be permanently burned into my brain," Charlie says with a scrunched up face.

Jason holds his hand up in an attempt to keep her quiet. "OK, I've heard enough."

"Heard enough of what?" Miles asks, appearing out of nowhere and stopping them in their tracks.

Jason subtly shakes his head, telling Charlie that he isn't ready to spread the word about his newfound sexuality just yet, and takes off in the opposite direction of the General. "Trust me Miles. You don't want to know."

Miles frowns afafter the younger man, but it quickly turns into a nervous smile as he looks down at his niece. "I've been looking for you."

"Why, what's up?"

"Uh... I, uh..."

"Oh no, I hope you aren't about to tell me you're gay."

Miles' eyes go wide. "What? No!"

Charlie grins up at him. "Just checking."

He shakes his head at her and pushes a hand nervously through his dark hair. "I need to talk to you about something."

Noticing the serious tone of his voice, Charlie nods and looks up at him expectantly. He hesitates under her gaze, his confidence wavering with every passing second.

"Is this about Nora?" Charlie finally asks, her voice so soft that he can barely hear her.

"Yeah, how did you-"

Charlie smiles gently, her blue eyes looking up at him with admiration, love, and respect. She reaches out and puts her hand on his chest, right over where the ring is sitting snugly in his pocket, and leans in close to whisper. "She won't wait forever Dad."

They share a look, understanding passing between them in mere seconds without a single word. After all these years, the fact that he ever even doubted Charlie is laughable. He clears his throat loudly, attempting to blink away the sudden tears in his eyes. "Thanks Bug."

Charlie kisses his cheek gently and then playfully shoves him away from her in the direction of Nora's office. "Now go. Shoo. I have a bachelorette party to plan." She winks at him and sets off down the hallway, leaving Miles all alone in a puddle of his own nervous sweat.

He wonders vaguely if Bass had been this nervous when he proposed to Charlie and makes himself feel a little better with the knowledge that at least he doesn't have to find Nora's dad and ask permission first.

A/N Thank you so much for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. I honestly can't believe that you guys are still reading this meandering tale of... Well, I'm not even sure what exactly this is about anymore. Lol. Let me know what you think if you've got a minute. :-D