Kind Revolution, Charlie, Monroe and Charloe-fans: thank you so much, again, for reading and taking the time to let me know you like this story. Today there is another chapter for you! The next one is on its way, busy writing it for you! ;-)

After this story I am working on another Charloe story, that will follow the season but will leave out some parts, like the connor-charloe hook up in Vegas. A lot of Charloe fans wanted another twist in the story and you know what's the beauty in fanfic? We can do that! A different view on things, following the episodes, but then with new scenes and some alterations, combined with the old one!

So, if you have any requests, thoughts or ideas on that story, please feel free to share!For now, my gratitude for reading and best to you all!

As always, I do not own Revolution, just love it very much, this story is still a daydream of what could have happened when the camera's were not there for us to see.

Darkness

After fighting off the attack from those four men in the woods, things calmed down. The next couple of days on the road were long, but without threats. They were running out of errands though. Even with her going hunting as much as she could, they needed supplies. In the afternoon they reached a little town ahead and they decided to stop for those supplies and a warm meal. They hid the wagon and walked into town, both of them being alert and wanting to leave as fast as they could. Well, every now and then they founds something they agreed on. This was one of those moments.

It was almost nightfall when they were done. Charlie was happy she could find a new tank top, just in case the other one completely fell apart, and some soap. Her hair had started to live a life on its own and she was happy she could get her hands on this little bar of soap. Monroe was of course nowhere to be found at this point. It reminded her of Miles, it was 'chick stuff' as Miles had called it before with a slight mocking tone combined with some endearment in his voice. Charlie just had to smile a little bit when thinking about that typical Miles line. As hard as it was to go back to Willoughby, especially if Monroe was going to be right about all the problems they had to face, seeing Miles again was suddenly something she really looked forward to.

She found Monroe again at a corner nearby, he wasn't that far away as she thought. But then again, it felt like he was never that far away. It should have irritated her, but it didn't. They headed to the local bar to get a warm meal. Some variation on something with stew, or soup if they were lucky, Charlie thought to herself with some sarcasm. She vaguely could remember ice cream. How much she would give to get a spoonful of ice-cream again. But for now, Charlie felt tired and hungry and was thankful for the hot meal that was actually on its way.

They were almost at the bar, the familiar sounds of people talking, relaxing, drinking and eating after a long day, coming their way. All of a sudden Charlie felt nauseous. A hint of panic. She pushed the feelings and memories from another night at another bar as far away as she could. She did not want to be this person and was not going to be this person. Those memories did not own her. She took a deep breath to clear her head. She did not know if Monroe noticed the change in her but he quickly took a step forward and walked next to her.

'Ladies first,' he said with a faint charming grin when they reached the bar. Yeah, leave that to Monroe. She could throw, and still did, a lot in his face but not being a charming gentleman son of a bitch, was not part of that. She rolled her eyes at him. But did take his offer and brushed against him a little bit closer then she had to when passing him when she walked into the bar.

When they were entering the bar he did not leave her side. She was grateful it kept the straying looks from other men away from her. Monroe had a presence that gave no other signal then them having to stay the hell away from her. She continued to push away the hint of panic , and focused on her surroundings instead. Focussed on the sounds, the smell of the food, the warmth of the candles. Focussed on her hungry stomach. It worked. There was stew on the menu, as she suspected. With a small smile on the inside she said to herself that the ice cream had to wait for another day, yet again.

Charlie felt her heart racing, she felt like she was disappearing and suffocating all at the same time. There was darkness around her, a darkness that remembered her about that night in the bar. It was the same darkness she felt creeping in around her that came right after the dizziness. The darkness that kept her company until she passed out. Images from the bar, the horrible feeling of being trapped, those disgusting men, they all fought in her head to keep her captive in her dream. The lock, the doors, they would not open. As hard as she tried, the lock was not going to open. Panic took over her whole body. The eyes of those vultures around her, their hands all over her. The lock, she had to open the lock.'

'No, No,' She whispered. Again, she tried to open the lock, this was her only chance.

'Charlie.'

She heard her name coming from very far away, too far away to get her out of her suffocating dream.

'Charlie, wake up.'

The second time she heard the voice, it helped her to regain some focus.

'Breathe, just breathe.'

She knew this voice. It was deep, calm. At this point, the only thing she could do, was use it as the one thing to hold on to. She started to realise she was dreaming, she was not in that bar anymore. Charlie forced herself to calm down. She did not want Monroe to know how much that night still did to her. She did not want him to know what made her scared or lonely. She did not want to be this woman around him ; even if she did not feel strong, she wanted to look the part. But the feeling of spinning around and losing herself in that dream was not going away. Panic sat in, she was not able to breathe. She was not able to hold back the tears. She was not able to forget how lonely she felt right before Monroe stormed into the bar. She was not able to pull away from the dream.

Slowly she came back to the sounds of the forest, she could hear the wind through the leaves above her. She could feel the ground under her body. Could hear the small noises that the fire made next to her. She forced herself to sit, her knees pulled to her body, arms around them.

She shivered. The nightmare left her covered in sweat but she felt cold inside. She tried to control her breathing and slowly, the images from the night she tried to forget all afternoon, faded away. They lost her grip on her. And slowly she had the courage to look up in the direction where his voice came from. Monroe was sitting next to her. He did not move, he just sat beside her. Charlie felt something running down her cheek. It took her some moments to realise she was still silently crying.

When Charlie felt the tears hitting her arm, she did not care anymore what he would think of her. For this little moment, right here and now, she had to let go. She had tried so hard to not feel what she felt. What she had to feel. She had no choice. She never knew if he had seen it in her eyes, or maybe recognised some pain, but he very gently placed a hand on her left shoulder. His eyes were soft. The warmth of his hand and the fact that he was just sitting next to her like there was all the time in the world, helped her breath again. She leaned into his touch a little bit. It was just him, her and the sounds of the nightly forest. It gave her an amount of comfort that she never expected. She hadn't cried for such a long time. So hadn't had some comfort for so long. But here he was. Here she was.

She was thankful he did not talk. That he did not ask questions. Talking was not very easy for her. As much as she loved to feel his strong hand on her skin, she also realised she was so very close to him. She didn't want to break this moment, but it was too much. The dream, the memories, Monroe. She did not want to push him away in that moment, but it was also too much to keep the connection between them.

She felt completely exhausted and slowly laid down again. He removed his hand but not his eyes from her. Was this the man she hated with all her being? Was he capable of anything more than destruction? Confusion lost it from her feeling even more exhausted and she could not keep her eyes open anymore. Charlie was almost asleep when she felt how he covered her with her blanket. It felt soft to her skin. And when he reached her head with the blanket, he very softly and ever so quickly touched her face with the palm of his hand.