A/N: There is some Rachel stuff in this chapter and some Nano stuff… It's brief. I promise this story is about Charlie and Bass. To reward you for hanging with me through the sci-fi b/s, I'm giving you some smut in the second half of this chapter. Hopefully that makes up for the Rachel parts.

November 24, 2029

Rachel Matheson was the scariest person I know. I told her that once. It was true too.

But that was then. She's not scary anymore.

She's here, but she's not HERE. She looks like my mother. She has the same golden hair. She has the same blue eyes, but she's an empty shell of her former self. She stares at the blank wall for hours on end. Sometimes she mutters nonsense. Sometimes she twists her hair and rocks back and forth.

She is skin and bones, drinking and eating only when someone forces her to do so.
Mom has been back for two days now, and I miss her more than I did when she was gone.

November 25, 2029

Aaron isn't the same either and seeing him breaks my heart. He is broken. Priscilla is dead. He hasn't told us how it happened and Mom doesn't talk at all. We don't pry. We just know.

November 27, 2029

I sit with her sometimes. She doesn't know I'm here.

November 28, 2029

Aaron finally filled us in on some of what happened. They had gotten to some town in Idaho where they had hoped to find answers. Aaron said that they saw Neville there and President Davis. They saw Truman and a handful of other familiar faces. Except that they weren't the same behind the familiar faces.

"The Nano had gotten to them. They were like robots." Aaron told us tonight as we sat in Grandpa's living room around the gentle warmth of the fireplace. Bass was sitting next to me on the old couch. His body was a firm reminder that I wasn't alone in this. Now and then he would run his fingers along my thigh. It wasn't a suggestive move. It was supportive. Comforting.

We listened as Aaron told us his story. He talked for hours, but I'll keep it simple here...

The Nano can't be defeated. They will continue to absorb power for eternity and the dark world we live in is all we'll ever have. I think this stunned us all. Even though the lights have been out for a long time, we all kind of thought they might come back on…someday.

No such luck.

The only real piece of good news he had for us was that the Nano had overestimated its control over humans. The human body just couldn't handle long term possession. Sometimes it took a while, but no human body could survive the Nano. They either wasted away and died or they went insane and killed themselves.

"It was awful." Aaron said. His eyes were glassy.

"Is my Mom possessed by the Nano? Is that what's wrong with her?" I tried to keep my voice even. Bass pressed his leg against mine firmly. I took strength from his touch.

"No, Charlie. She was fine. She was fighting and hopeful and then the Nano visited us. It took the form of your Dad. He... It told us that their plan to rule the world by overtaking humans was doomed. Then…"

"Then what?" Miles asked.

"The Nano said it had something to show us and suddenly we were thrust into this weird virtual reality. It was like an IMAX movie gone horribly wrong. It showed us all the bad stuff that had happened... all the bad stuff we had caused inadvertently by putting Nanotechnology in motion. We saw the lights go out and planes crashing and the bodies piled in streets. We saw Maggie bleeding out and Danny getting shot. We watched Nora die, and there were fireflies everywhere, and then…"

"What else did it show you?" Bass's voice was hoarse. We all knew what came next.

"It showed us Flynn pushing the buttons. Then it showed us Philly and Atlanta – up close and personal. We watched the people there burning alive. We saw the mushroom clouds. It was all in slow motion." Aaron was sobbing by then. His words were jarbled, but we could still understand him. "At the very end, it thanked both of us for helping to bring it to life. Your Mom wasn't the same after that. She couldn't deal – like not at all."

Everyone talked some more, but I wasn't listening. I could feel Bass shaking next to me. I looked at his face and he was a mess. His eyes were glazed and he was fighting off tears. I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew he needed to get out of there. It was my turn to be supportive.

"Let's go." I said quietly. Nobody noticed we were leaving or that I had snagged Miles's whiskey from the kitchen counter on our way out.

We'd made it down the front steps before I realized I had no idea where we could go. We'd moved back to Willoughby on the night Mom and Aaron had returned. Connor already had a place in town, but Miles, Bass and I had crashed with Grandpa. Miles and I took turns sitting with her. Grandpa paced a lot and read old Medical journal articles about mental breakdowns.

Bass had really come through. He'd been our all-around errand boy. He'd cooked our meals, sent well meaning (but unwanted) visitors on their way and foraged for bark and other natural ingredients that Grandpa said he needed. Everyone knows that there is no love lost between Monroe and my Mom, but he was doing this for us. For Miles and for me.

I know I'm in some weird emotional place because of my Mom and everything, but if Bass keeps this up, I'm going to totally fall in love with him. Shit.

So there we were, out of the house, which was good…but with nowhere to go, which was bad. I looked at Monroe. He was doing a little better in the fresh air, but he still looked haunted and unsteady. I had a thought, pulling at his hand. "Marion's old place is just down this road."

He didn't argue and we walked in silence. It didn't take long and we were at Marion's old diner. The place was boarded up, but we weren't going to be deterred by a few old boards and soon we were inside. I found some glasses in a dusty cupboard and poured some of Miles's whiskey for each of us as we sat on an old vinyl bench near a table at the back.

Bass's hand shook as he lifted his drink to his lips.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Come here."

I moved closer and he sat his drink down. He pulled me against him and buried his face in my hair. He stayed like that, his arms wrapped around me while he cried. I melted into him, my own face covered in silent tears. He was remembering his city and the blame he still assigned himself for its destruction.

"It wasn't your fault, Bass. None of it was your fault."

We stayed like that for a long time. He calmed down. His breathing became even. Gradually there was a shift. His need for comfort gave way to need of a very different kind.

Bass pulled me to my feet and began to undress me. His actions were slow and deliberate. He was kissing me and I felt like he was pouring himself into this moment like he hadn't before. That first time had been new and exploratory. Since then, we hadn't had two minutes to ourselves. There had been a few stolen kisses and that was all.

We were naked and the kissing was growing more intense. I could tell he was tired. Not physically, but emotionally. He needed to be taken care of. "Sit." I whispered against his mouth.

He sat.

I moved to stand between Bass's legs. He leaned forward, licking and kissing my belly as I moved to straddle him. My mouth was on his as I hovered over his lap. He was achingly hard and I was drenched with need. Bass grasped the flesh of my hips and pulled my body down over his, sheathing himself in my heat. Seated firmly on his cock, I began to rotate my hips ever so slightly. It felt so good, but we both wanted more.

Bass took one of my nipples between his teeth and began to suck and nip at the puckered flesh. He used his hands to urge me into motion and I started to move. Slowly, I slid up and down his slippery cock. The fullness I felt from this angle is difficult to describe. His cock is thick and long and when he would pull me down, thrusting up at the same time – there was this feeling of pleasure that bordered on pain. The pleasure part far outweighed the occasional discomfort I felt when the head of his cock pushed roughly against my cervix. I knew I would be sore later. Hell, I'd be lucky if I could walk.

I did not care.

Looking into his eyes, I saw that he was getting close. He began to pull at my hips even harder, ramming home over and over. I reached down and stroked my clit without ever taking my eyes off his. We were both breathing raggedly.

"Charlie?" he was asking my permission.

There was no way that what he wanted to do was a good idea. No way. And yet, the primal need for it overwhelmed all common sense in my head. In that moment I needed him to do what he was asking.

Needed it like I need air.

"Bass." I said with a shaky nod, my answer unspoken but clear.

He surged into me with a growl and we came together, eyes locked, bodies joined. I was shattering around him, by body grasping and clenching his cock as he came deep inside me.

I collapsed against his chest as we both settled slowly into normal breathing and coherent thought.

"Damn." I said.

"Damn." He agreed.

Later, we went back to Grandpa's. Nobody had really even noticed we were gone.

November 29, 2029

I woke up this morning feeling happy for the first time since Mom got back. I rolled to get out of bed and saw something lying on the pillow next to where I'd slept. I picked it up. It was a small heart carved from a chunk of wood. It nestled perfectly in my palm. Engraved on one side was the letter B.

I got dressed and tucked it into my pocket. I couldn't stop smiling.

Big tough General Sebastian Monroe was a softie underneath it all. He'd literally given me his heart. Yesterday I said that if things didn't change, I'd probably fall in love with him.

Pretty sure that ship has sailed.

November 30, 2029

Mom is worse. Miles won't leave her side. Grandpa said he doesn't think she has long to live. My heart aches for them. I suppose it aches for me too.

Bass is never far. We still haven't told anyone about this thing between us and they are all preoccupied with their own stuff anyway, but he still makes a point to remind me I'm not alone.

We'll get through this. Together.