Word Count; 3010 (ex notes)

Notes at the bottom

CHAPTER 11:

Charlie was sitting on the iron stairs. After they realized that Jason and Tom had bolted they'd decided to move to a more secure location. The building they'd used for the meeting with Fry seemed like a good choice, both Miles and Bass had argued that it was well hidden and easy to defend should shit hit the fan. It had been about a week now of gathering intel, trying to find out where they could get more allies and what their plans would be once they had them.

After a while she'd started talking with Bass again, the first two days she'd been too angry but slowly it started to ebb away, the magnetic pull he had on her proved to be too much for her to resist. She was still worried about what it meant that he wanted some form of the republic back but to her astonishment and Rachel's anger Miles hadn't tried to talk Bass out of it yet. It scared Charlie a little that Miles and Bass seemed to be getting along a little better but nothing had gone wrong yet and if Miles wasn't worried then maybe she shouldn't be either. She just figured that even if Bass wanted the republic back it wouldn't be anytime soon. He had neither the opportunity nor the man power, plus the Patriots were still going strong. Charlie reasoned that she'd cross that bridge when she got to it.

Charlie's men were spread out over the grounds and Gene and Rachel were under the building cooking the tiny bit of food they had at their disposal. Connor sat down next to her and placed a hand on her arm "Hey, you alright?"

"Do you think it's weird that we've forgiven Miles but not Ba... your dad?" She stopped herself from saying his name but it was getting harder and harder to refer to him as 'Monroe' even when they weren't in private. She realized her words must have caught him out of the blue so she added "I mean, Miles has done some pretty awful things, he told me so himself. He's killed brothers and fathers, uncles and sons. He set up the Militia, helped set up the republic so wouldn't you say he's just as guilty as Monroe? And he was the one who took my mom from me in the first place"

She had caught the first part of Bass and Miles' fight. Though Bass had told her to stay put at the camp she just ignored him and followed him back to Miles and her mom. Since she'd waited a few moments before going after him she'd arrived just when he and Miles had started to get into it and she didn't know how to feel about what the two men had discussed. Bass' words about Miles being just as bad, if not more bothered her. It made her question everything and there wasn't anyone to talk to. Couldn't talk to Bass or Miles and her mom was more obsessed with Gene and Miles nowadays to actually listen to her for three seconds. Maybe Connor would listen, though she doubted he could be of any help.

Connor eyed her intently "Why do you ask?"

Charlie sighed and fiddled with the zipper of her jacket. "It's just... Do you? Think it's weird, I mean. My mom, Gene, Aaron and me, we all just forgave Miles, forgot all the things he's done under the title 'General of the Monroe Republic' because he got himself out. But he still did those things. Monroe... he got out. Maybe not completely voluntarily and five years late but he got out. Sometimes I wonder who's really to blame for everything that happened, who really is the monster... the man giving the orders or the thousands of men following them without question.

"Both." There was no hesitation in Connor's reply. "Both are wrong but I understand what you mean." There was a moment of silence before he added "He got my mom killed. I mean... he dragged her into the line of fire and she got shot but I find myself searching for excuses not to blame him. Like, someone else actually pulled the trigger. He'd already put the gun down and stopped counting, he wasn't gonna hurt her anymore. He told me she died in his arms, her last words that she wanted to see me again. I find myself wanting to forgive him because he's my dad and he's the only one I've got left."

Connor squeezed her shoulder "I think both of them have done some unforgivable stuff but because Miles is your family you're more motivated to forgive him and to try and rationalize it with facts instead of letting your emotions and feelings control it whereas Monroe... he was at the helm when your dad died, right? And your brother? I think that makes it more of an emotional response. It makes it harder to look at it from a distance and it's also newer and you did get your mom back in the end so Miles gets a pass on that, in your mind. The real question is, do you care enough about him to grant him the same forgiveness as you've granted your uncle? So, do you?"

She eyed him with surprise and a new found respect "I have... feelings for him, yes but.." Charlie sighed and kicked a rock in frustration. "I don't know what they are. I.. respect the man I've been traveling with for the past few months. I like him, even care for him and maybe I could... But then I think about him wanting the republic back and I think of Danny and my dad and I feel like I'm betraying them for not only working together with Monroe but also.."

"Fucking him stupid in the middle of the woods?" Charlie nearly choked on her own tongue at Connor's words. "What? Sound carries, you know. I did pick up the last bit of your tumble between the trees." Charlie felt her cheeks heat up and she buried her face in her hands "Please, can you please just not.. Let's never talk about that, okay. It's awkward enough as it is seeing that you and me, that we..."

"Fucked each other stupid in a field in New Vegas?" She turned and saw the humor in his eyes so she punched him in the shoulder realizing he was actually teasing her. "Shut up" She demanded softly, cheeks still glowing with embarrassment. "Why did you forgive Miles?" The question was simple but Charlie still had to think for a moment or two, the fact that Connor didn't mention the republic was completely lost on her. "Because that's not who Miles is anymore. He's not the man he was five years ago, he bettered himself."

"I think maybe that's what Monroe is trying to do right now, change his ways, become a different man. He's just five years late to the redemption game and I think he's going to need a little help. He's.. I can't believe I'm saying this, I think deep down, he's a good man but he's taken a few wrong turns in his life. Maybe he's just one of those people that needs help to stay on the right path, needs loved ones to keep him in check and maybe have a little faith... Faith in that he won't turn around and screw everything up again, I mean. Give him a little breathing room to actually do right. Miles has your mom, he has Gene and he has you but Monroe... what's he had since Miles left? Tom Neville? His officers? Yeah, that's probably been a good influence on him." Words dripping with sarcasm.

"You know, you didn't seem this smart or mature to me when I first met you."

He grinned at her words "I like to throw people off. Make them think I'm just another one of those ridiculously handsome guys who's really great in the sack but lacking in the brain department. Then I can dazzle them with the fact I'm fantastic in both the brain department as well as the sack." She couldn't help a chuckle and gently smacked him upside the head "All that and modest too?" She joked. "How lucky we are to have you here". A huge grin spread across his face and Charlie could definitely see Bass in him. "Aww, thanks. That's really sweet of you to say, Charlie...Or hey, should I start calling you step-mommy now?"

"Oh.. you!" But before Charlie could hit him Connor had gotten up and sprinted away from her. "You get your ass over here because I'm gonna kick it into next week!" She set off after him and chased him around the fire under the building and out the other side. When he rounded a corner she tried to take a short-cut but that resulted in her walking into a wall. A six feet tall, muscular, blue-eyes, curly-haired wall.

"Whoa, whoa!" Strong hands gripped her arms and he held her at arm length "Where's the fire?" Charlie looked over his shoulder and glared at Connor "Kindly let me go so can go maim and kill the fruit of your loins." Bass snorted a laugh "I'm sorry, maim and kill my WHAT?" His arm came around her waist and his hand rested in the small of her back "Something I need to know about?" She looked up into his blue eyes and recalled Connor's words. She was going to have to figure out if these feelings that she had for Bass were of the kind that made her want to forgive him. There was a lot to forgive because he'd done a lot of things wrong but there was the possibility to gain so much if she could grant him that forgiveness, for both of them.

She smiled up at him and shook her head "Nah, he was just getting on my nerves. It's one of his talents. He get's that from his father." And she slipped from his grip to leave him standing there, slack-jawed and in complete confusion. "I get on your nerves?" He shot after her. She turned her head and grinned at him "Well, you do something to my nerves but you get a slightly different reaction than him." She winked and disappeared around the corner. She chuckled to herself, she loved that she could throw him off like that. She loved the way he reacted to anything she did and thinking back to the last few weeks she was pretty sure he wasn't as kind to anyone as he was to her even though lately he was a little more standoffish, though she figured that had to be because of their fight. It were the little things he did but if she were a betting person she'd say that maybe, just maybe he felt something for her too.

"Hey... who are those two?" She asked the question when she rounded the corner and saw two kids sitting on their knees, hands bound and wearing Patriot uniforms. "Caught them spying... needless to say they weren't very good at it." Miles checked the ropes around the kids hands and focused on something behind Charlie "Wanna give me a hand asking them some questions?"

Bass slipped past her, his hand softly brushing against hers "Sure, what do we wanna know from Chip and Dale over here?" Charlie watched as both Rachel and Gene got in Miles and Bass' face about interrogating the children. Bass was insisting on doing it but Gene and Rachel refused to let him near the kids. "They're just kids, Bass. We want to interrogate them, not torture." Her mom's words were sharp and angry.

"They're Patriot's, Rachel." Bass argued "They're soldiers and you don't get answers from soldiers by holding their hands and spoon-feeding them soup. There's only one language they understand."

"They're KIDS! Bass." She insisted. "The Nazi's were someone's kids, Rachel. Bin Laden... everyone is someone's kid! Do you wanna win this war, or what?" Charlie could see the anger and irritation on both Bass and her mothers face. "Miles?!" Her mom's voice called out "Miles, let me and dad talk to the kids, keep that murderer away from them, we don't need his tactics."

Bass huffed and stepped closer to her mother "No?" He asked, his voice dripping with venomous anger. "I don't remember you complaining about my murderous tactics when we you gave me a coil gun to save Charlotte. I don't remember you having difficulty with my murderous tactics when we were saving Staypuft... or when Charlotte and I got grandpa there" He nodded in Gene's direction "Away from the Patriots. No, you seemed to be just fine with them then."

"Those were grown men!" Charlie took a step in their direction, afraid it was going to escalate to violence. "They were soldiers, Rachel! But I see that you, in fact, are okay with my murderous ways. Just only if you get to direct them to your liking. Only when they are helpful to you. You're a hypocritical bitch, Rachel" He spat "Or did you forget good Doctor Jaffey? What did he do wrong to deserve a screwdriver in the chest, or let's say... the thousands of people who died as a result from your little science project?"

She wanted to go up to him to calm him down but she was afraid of the reaction of her family. She saw the anger on Bass' face and she was afraid that if it escalated any higher bad things were gonna happen. And just as she thought that her mother slapped him in the face, hard. The sound was deafening and Bass' head whipped to the side with the force of the hit, his cheek turning red instantly. Bass' eyes narrowing in anger.

Charlie was sure that this was it, Bass was going to reach out and snap her mothers neck with one flick of his wrist. But it never came. Charlie's eyes searched Bass' face. He was calm, his eyes were neutral and he was looking at her mother as if she'd grown a second head. Then he spun on his heals and marched away without hurting her mother, without saying another word. She wanted to take off after him, her muscles straining to keep in place. Miles, her mom and her grandfather were talking amongst themselves but she didn't hear a word they were saying. They stepped into the building with the two kids Miles had brought and Charlie took that chance to take off after Bass.

Turned out she didn't have to go far. He was just barely past the tree line, leaning against a large concrete wall left over from a time long past. "Come to vent your anger... I have a cheek for you that's not been hit yet, today." His voice was sullen, his eyes focused on the ground. "Wouldn't blame you, you know. Your mother is right, I am a murderer."

There were so many contradicting feelings fighting for control in her. Anger, rage, pain, sadness, fondness, respect, lust, need, adoration. She shoved them all to the side and nestled herself in between his legs. The shocked look in his eyes making her smile ever so slightly and she pressed his lips to his. His sharp intake of breath sent shivers down her spine and his hands, gently gripping her hips made her shudder in delight. "Charlotte.." He was resting his forehead against hers and breathed her name against her lips "Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte."

"Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian" She retorted her hands coming up to cup his face. She liked the sound of his name on her lips "I thought for sure you were going to hit her back." Bass sighed and took her chin between his thumb and index finger "I nearly did" He confessed. "What stopped you?" She was curious because she didn't really know him for his self restraint. "Figured Miles would shove a sword through my chest if I did" His tone joking and light, though his eyes told a different story. "She has a right to be angry with me... you have a right... you... should be angry with me."

He looked into her eyes and she felt like he could see right into her soul "Why aren't you angry with me, Charlotte. You should be furious with me, you shouldn't want to be within a hundred yards of me." His lips brushed hers and she gladly tilted her head up to chase his mouth when it pulled back. " I don't know. I used to be, so angry with you, hated you, wanted to kill you and then...You changed and I saw this whole other side of you. Maybe because I realized anger over something, someone... who doesn't exist anymore is pointless. It's wasted time."

Bass shook his head "Charlotte... I.. I'm still me. Don't fool yourself. I wish I could tell you that I was a completely different man but I'm still me. I still don't mind it when I have to kill to survive, kill to protect who.. what I.. And I would easily kill those kids if it would give us information to protect our little group. I wouldn't hesitate one second."

She shook her head "No, you aren't a completely different man... but you aren't exactly the same as you were before either. You're not cruel anymore. You might not see it, but there is something different about you, Bass. You are different... So don't fuck it up" He chuckled but she was dead serious "Not joking, Bass. Don't fuck it up by going back to being General Monroe, don't take these Republic plans of yours too far because I won't forgive a second time. If you go off the rails again..." She didn't finish her sentence but she saw that he got the gist of it. She stepped back and turned around leaving him there with his own thoughts.

Author's notes;

I am SO SORRY! My Bass and Charlie have decided to go completely emo on me, sigh. Hope it doesn't turn you guys off but like I said, I'm a slave to my characters. There is some action coming up in the next chapters though, and also some naughty bits that I know you guys like ;p

Ok, so I'm trying to build up the 'love' factor but there are a few hurdles to overcome. That's why I made Connor the voice of, reason I guess you could say. Besides, I just LOVE Connor and Mat Vairo who plays him. If they kill him off next week I will be writing several letters with r-rated words to the network. My personal faves to kick it are Rachel, Gene and Aaron. Either character is fine by me, whiny asses imo. The wonderful AlexandraF predicted to me it might be Rachel, that it would set him off and make him join Bass so they can be bad-ass together... I'm voting for that scenario!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and a special thanks for the people who help me better the story through constructive critique and reviews, you are my heroes :D Thank you!

Love, Marisa