Sorry its been so long! I have had this written for a week, just haven't had the chance to upload it. So I didn't want the flashback to be this long but I kind of got carried away a little. Lol I love writing about Bass during the Republic days, it's so fun! Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews! It is awesome to know that people are actually reading this. Plus it makes me write chapters faster so please review and give me feedback! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6
Bass walked into Liberty Hall, closing the doors to shut out the cool night air, his face full of frustration. He had just come back from a meeting where he had learned of several attempts at rebellion in his Republic. His Militia had put them down, but there had been heavy casualties. Not only were they dealing with the rebels, but also several Georgian spies had been captured in the Republic. One had spilled about an impending war between the Monroe Republic and the Georgia Federation. He sighed heavily as he layed his gun on the table and draped his coat over a chair. He needed a drink. No he needed more than a drink, he needed her to tell him everything was going to work out fine. Miles had been against him in the meeting, saying that putting troops on the Georgian border and housing them in the towns close by would enflame the current rebel situation. He knew she would be on his side, she always was.
"Joan?" he called, looking towards the bedroom. He poured himself a drink of whiskey before walking to the big double doors and knocking softly. "Joan?" No answer. Thinking she was probably asleep, he slowly pushed the doors open. He looked around the empty room. Frowning, he searched for a note. She always left a note before she left, though it was rare that she left the building. It just wasn't safe to have her running around unprotected and she refused to be accompanied by a guard. Having thoroughly searched the room and not finding a note, he began to panic. 'What if something had happened to her? He couldn't think of anyone stupid enough to harm her, but maybe someone had kidnapped her. Rebels maybe? Or had she just left him?' He head spun with a thousand different scenarios, none of them good. He swallowed hard as a deep cold settled in him. He couldn't lose her, he just couldn't. The sound of the door closing brought him out of his thoughts. He walked out of the bedroom, hoping to see her. Instead of the woman he loved, he saw his brother standing before him. He couldn't stop his shoulders from slumping in disappointment.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Miles snorted in reply to seeing Bass's face fall. "Who were you expecting?" Letting out a breath, Bass raked his free hand through his hair. He brought the glass to his lips, realizing that it was empty. He frowned at the glass that had just been full a minute ago and moved to refill it.
"She's gone Miles."
"Who?"
"Joan. What if she has been kidnapped by the rebels? Or left?" Miles looked around as if realizing that the women that was normally attached to Bass's arm, was nowhere to be seen. He swallowed hard as he watched Bass pour a glass and down it, before refilling it again. 'This is so not good', thought Miles. Bass turned to face him and Miles saw the pain etched in his face.
"Maybe she's just went to get something? I'm sure she will be back." Miles said unconvinced. It sounded fake to his own ears. He had noticed the shift in the way she had looked at Bass in the past few months, like she found out something she shouldn't have.
"She would have left a note if she had done that." He said drinking half the glass in one gulp.
"Yeah well maybe she forgot?" Miles said.
"Miles!" He hissed in aggravation. With a determined look he grabbed his coat and started walking towards the door.
"Where you going?"
"To look for her."
"Oh come on Bass that would be the stupidest thing to do. IF it is the rebels, it might be a tactic to lure you out."
"I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing!"
"Yes you are. We both are. I'll send some men to look for her." Miles said in his best 'end of story' voice. "Corporal!" He yelled. A young man appeared almost instantly. "Get me Captain Neville." The young man saluted and hurried out the door. A few minutes later Tom Neville comes into the room. Miles explains the situation and sends him to gather a group of soldiers to search the area. After he leaves to carry out his orders, Miles turns to study Bass, who looks as if he is in deep thought. "You know we are probably over reacting and she just forgot to leave a note, right?"
"She wouldn't forget something like that." He stated, taking another drink and sitting down heavily on the couch. He sounded so tired and down. Miles noted the gun on the table; at least he didn't have a weapon on him. The last time he had seen and heard him sound like this was that night he had found him at his family's graves.
"Ok", he breathed and went to sit across from his friend. "Bass, she's going to come back."
"She's not coming back." Bass said. Getting up to retrieved the bottle and another glass; he set it in front of Miles.
"Drink up brother, it's going to be a long night." Miles only shook his head; for once he didn't want whiskey. He was worried; if she really was gone he knew what that would do to Bass. He wasn't sure he could pull him back from this; he had gotten too attached to her.
5 hours later
The bottle lay empty beside the couch and another almost empty. Bass lounged on the couch, staring at the ceiling with a smirk on his face. Miles had left to talk to Neville about the search, leaving Bass to entertain himself with memories. Many of those memories were about Joan; the one he was currently thinking of was when she had surprised him for his birthday. He laughed thinking about how silly Miles had looked in a paper party hat. In his drunken, relaxed state, he barely heard the door open and close softly.
"Must have been a hell of a meeting." Said a voice he thought he would never hear again. He turned his head slowly, afraid that he had imagined it, to see a women a few years younger than him standing by the door. A rifle was slung over her shoulder and a sword was belted around her hips. He swallowed hard as he studied what he could only assume was a hallucination before him. He noticed the way her long straight brown hair fell like a cloak around her shoulders. She was decked out in all black leather, pre blackout of course. "Damn", he thought, "she looked good!"
"Bass, you ok?" She asked looking at him with concern as she set her sword and rifle on the table next to his.
"Joan?" He replied, sitting up. She watched as his face changed from complete surprise to confusion, to anger all in the matter of a few seconds. "Where the hell have you been!?" Her eyes landed on the two bottles on the ground. She ran a hand nervously through her hair, glancing around. He scared her when he got this drunk; he became unpredictable. She knew she couldn't tell him the truth; he would kill her if she did.
"I was visiting a friend." She replied smoothly. It was the truth, she had been. She knew he could always tell if she was lying, but not when she told a half-truth. His eyes narrowed.
"I don't believe you." He said, his blue eyes so cold, they seemed to look right through her. She struggled to stare directly into his eyes, trying to will him to believe her. Of course he didn't and had crossed the room, grabbing hold of her. It never failed to surprise her how fast he could move, even drunk. His grip on her arm was like steel.
"Bass let go, your hurting me." She said in barely above a whisper. When he didn't relinquish his hold on her, she began to struggle. "Bass!"
"Not until you tell me where you were!"
"With a friend I told you!" She yelled back.
"You don't have any friends!" She stopped struggling at that and looked him right in the eyes.
"And whose fault is that?" She said glaring at him. He almost seemed to wince at that.
"Where. Were. You." He asked again. She could hear him fighting for control. She tried to form a believable story with out telling him everything. He must have guessed what she was doing because he growled and slung her towards the couch. Suddenly the doors opened and in walked a private. He was maybe 17. His eyes went from Bass to her to back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. He looked scared to death.
"What?!" Bass growled at him.
"Capitan Neville sent me to give you a report, Sir." He answered, snapping to attention.
"Go ahead."
"He said to tell you that Joan was spotted sneaking out of the old subway system. He assumed that she had been outside the walls, Sir." Bass slowly turned to look back at her.
"Dismissed." He said without looking at the kid again. The kid practically ran out of the building. She swallowed nervously at the look in his eyes as he slowly advanced to where she lay on the floor. She averted her eyes and began to look for escape options. He stopped in front of her and slowly lowered himself into a crouch. He reached out and grabbed her chin in his hand, gently turning her to face him.
"Why were you outside the walls?" He asked calmly, too calmly. 'The calm before the storm' she thought.
"Like I said I was visiting a friend." She said forcing herself to look him the eye. He nodded slowly.
"And would you mind telling me where and who this friend is?"
"Why so you can have them executed too?" She said bitterly. She saw the change in his eyes a split second before she felt his hand collide with her face. She gasped and her hand went to her face in shock. He had gotten plenty mad before but he had never hit her.
"You do NOT get to talk to me like that." He hissed. When she didn't answer him he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her to her feet.
"Bass! Stop!" She yelled at him, knowing it would do no good. He dragged her to the bedroom and through her on the bed. As he went to the closet, Joan realized that her nose was bleeding. She was preoccupied with her nose that she didn't notice that Bass had gotten a couple of sets of handcuffs out of the closet. He grabbed her right arm and quickly handcuffed it to the bed. Then while she was confused he did the other arm. Then he left the room.
"What the hell Bass!" She yelled after him. "Bass!" She yanked on the handcuffs but found it only made her wrists hurt. He came back about 15 minutes later.
"Bass…" She started when her eyes fell to what he had in his hand. It was a red hot branding iron with the Militia symbol on it. "Wwwait Bass. Please don't do this."
He held up the brand showing it to her as he studied it.
"If you're going to be running around outside the walls. Then I want everyone to know that you're mine."
"Bass stop! Lets talk about this!" She pleaded. She had never begged anyone for anything in her life, but she was begging him. It wasn't the brand so much, but the way it was being forced on her. She would have gotten one had he asked, but for him to force her? She knew that if he did this it would taint what they had and she knew she would never trust him again. Not completely.
"Its for you own protection, babe." He said. His voice sounded a million miles away.
"Bass please don't do this." She begged one last time before he pressed the hot iron to her wrist. Their eyes locked. It didn't hurt at first, then her whole arm exploded in pain and she screamed. The doors flew open and Miles stood there looking in shock at the scene before him. Joan looked away from Bass and to Miles in time to see something flash in Miles' eyes. Was that anger?
The screams echoed in Monroe's head and he could still see that look in Miles eyes. He had never seen his brother look at him with such anger. He remembered Miles yelling at him about how he hurt everyone around him. He looked miserably at the food before him, but his appetite had vanished. He shook his head trying to get the memory out of his head. Movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn to look out the open kitchen door. He walked over to it and peered out into the darkness. He saw Joan stalking away. Even after all those years apart he still knew when she was upset. With a heavy sigh, he stepped out into the night and walked after her.