Word count; 2704 (ex notes)

Notes at the bottom

CHAPTER 24:

"Tea?" His look shifted to one of confusion. Her confession that it was him she'd been thinking about when she'd been with Connor set his blood on fire and he could feel lust racing through his veins. His eyes hungrily took her in and he wished he could reach out and pull her into his lap to devour that tempting mouth of hers and here she was turning the conversation to tea? "That's not random at all." He watched a smile creep up her lips and once again the urge to kiss her popped into his mind. Bass looked around but he saw that Rachel was only a couple of yards away, far enough not to hear them but close enough that he didn't dare risk a kiss.

He eyed her up and down and shook his head "Leave it to you to change the subject to something as innocuous as tea." But the smile still hadn't left her lips "It's a special kind of tea" She added but really, how fucking special could a tea be. "Unless it can make Rachel and Miles accept the two of us I really don't want to hear about your tea right now, there are more interesting things I can think of." His eyes roamed her body and rested on the soft swell of her breasts, no, tea really was the furthest thing from his mind. "You'll want to know about this tea, trust me." The tone of her voice piqued his interest and with effort he lifted his gaze from the tempting mounds of her breasts to her face.

"Really and what does this magic tea do?" He doubted it was anything of real interest but he was willing to humor her for a while. "Keeps me from getting pregnant in case someone... you know." The suggestion of her words took a moment to get through to the right part of his brain but when he got what she was telling him it took him about 2 seconds to harden to full length in his jeans. "Fuck!" He swore silently and she smiled again "Exactly." She deadpanned.

"Monroe?" Evan, that was the name of the blond man who'd come up to him and explained what the War clan was doing here came up to them and Bass cursed under his breath. Damn, he completely spaced out by the mention of what Charlotte's magic tea was good for. "We're ready." He looked at all the other people and noted that they were indeed ready. "Ready for what?" Charlie stood up and looked around, undoubtedly noting that the tribe was suiting up for battle. "We're hitting the Patriot boot camp tonight." Bass revealed.

He braced himself for what was about to come and he was not disappointed "You're gonna do what?" She hissed. "Are you out of your fucking mind, haven't we just talked about you needing to keep yourself in check?" He chuckled at the anger on her face, he knew it was going to piss her off even more but he couldn't help it, she looked so damn gorgeous when she was angry. "This IS me in check, Charlotte. We need to hit the boot camp now. Not tomorrow, not next week, now. Before they get a chance to send out a scout and find out that our little party has grown with a couple dozen men and women to fight them. We need the Intel that they can provide to know what their grand scheme is."

Charlie shook her head, she didn't want to just agree with him even though he had a point "We should at least wait for Miles and grandpa to get back." She tried but he shook his head in return "They won't be back until tomorrow morning probably, if they come back at all. What if they're captured, huh. Think the old man can withstand the torture they'll lay on him to get out location? No, we can't wait for Miles, there is no time, we've been waiting too long. They have too much of a head start. And to be honest, lately he's been a little pussy-whipped by your mom." He held up his hands as she wanted to protest that "Now, hold on. Nothing against your mom, okay, but sometimes action needs to be taken. Sometimes you need to do in stead of talk about doing."

"Bass." She tried again "No, Charlotte, I'm sorry but we're going. Now, you can come with us and fight or you can stay here with your mother. It's up to you." He wanted her to join them but he also understood that she might not want to because of Rachel. He wouldn't budge though, they needed to do this and there was no time to wait for Miles and Gene to get back. He knew that Miles was going to be pissed when he got back and found out that Bass had gone to attack the boot camp by himself but he'd deal with that later. Now, it was time to focus.

Charlie did end up joining them to Rachel's dismay. A small part of Bass was pleased that she defied her mother that way, at least she wasn't under Rachel's control like Miles was. The attack went down without a hitch, they snuck up on the Patriots and before they could get their heads out of their asses most of them were lying on the ground, dead or on their way to being dead. He moved through the bodies, pulling the trigger time after time to put the bastards out of their misery. Before the blackout they might have been able to save them but now that modern medicine was back to old fashioned medicine they didn't stand a chance, better to end their suffering now.

His eyes locked with Connor and he nodded at his son, glad to see him still in one piece. Charlie was standing next to Connor and both were looking at him, he knew it wasn't a pretty sight but it had to be done. He wasn't proud of what he had to do and he certainly didn't like it but he'd rather kill them now then have them die in excruciating pain. Their wounds were mortal and beyond their help so this was the more merciful solution. It was a shame really, that so many people had to die, but like he'd told Tom Neville before, if he had to chose then it would be them that would die not his people.

Back at their own camp they'd lighted a couple of fires and opened bottles of alcohol to celebrate, courtesy from the Patriots, Bass understood the need of Duncan's crew to celebrate their victory, their revenge. To be quite honest he didn't really feel bad about it, it needed to be done and you could say a lot of things about him but he never shied away from things that needed to be done. He was a little apprehensive about seeing Charlie, though. Bass knew that she wouldn't be happy about all the dead Willoughby kids, he wasn't happy about killing kids either but they'd fought them like pro's even losing a couple of men in the battle.

And that's what it had been, a battle, not a massacre. Both sides fought and they were the lucky ones to come out as victor. He noticed Miles was back in the camp, Gene with him. So the old timer hadn't bought it yet, but from the looks of it it had been a close call.

Miles walked up to him and he smiled at his old friend, he'd figured Miles wouldn't be happy but he was unprepared for the right hook the other man threw and he went down. "Is there a problem?" Smugness clear in his voice. Miles started bitching and moaning about him hitting the camp but to be honest he wasn't really listening. He was getting sick and tired of Miles nagging about everything. Rachel had clouded Miles' judgment so badly that the other man didn't see what needed to be done.

They were interrupted by Evan who brought them the translation of the notebook he'd found in the patriot camp. They were going to assassinate the Texas president and overthrow his government... splendid, just what they needed for Texas to fall into Patriot hands. He smacked the book into Miles' chest "Tell me again I was wrong for doing what I did." His voice agitated "I hadn't taken t upon myself to hit the camp and we never would have known this, not until it was too late."

Bass could see the conflicting emotions on Miles' face, he knew that the man loved Rachel but there was a difference between loving a woman and letting her control you even if that meant that you didn't think straight anymore. Funny thing was he thought Charlie had him good but even Charlie couldn't keep him from doing what he knew he needed to do. Not that she'd really tried to stop him, so maybe that was the difference, not he and Miles but Charlie and Rachel. Charlie could see that even though it wasn't an ideal solution, in times of war one needed to make hard decisions and Charlie let him do that. She let him be the 'bad' guy because she knew that in the end, he was right. Or at least he hoped he was right.

He left Miles alone with his thoughts and went in search for the younger woman, asking a couple of his newly acquired men if they'd seen her. He eventually found her on the other side of the compound staring into the dark of the night. Bass walked up beside her and rested his back against the railing she was leaning her arms on. "You good?" She didn't reply and kept staring out into the darkness.

"You killed them." She accused. His hackles went up "I've killed a lot of people the past few years, Charlotte. You should be a little more specific." She turned and glared at him "Don't talk to me like I'M the one who did something wrong. You walked around that camp killing off every last person still alive! God... and here I thought you had changed!" Bass stepped away from the railing, could he really blame her for thinking the worst of him. She'd said she cared about him but maybe she only did so when he was being her version of what she thought he should be like.

"I told you before, Charlotte, I'm still the man who ran a militia for years. I'm not just going to turn into a puppy just because you click your heals together and wish it so." His voice was angry and he wondered if her words only had to do with what happened tonight or if there was more going on in that head of hers. Not really wanting to deal with her accusations after just having been railed on by Miles, he could just tell her that the men he'd shot were not going to survive anyway and if he'd let them live then he would just be prolonging their suffering but he wanted her, just once, not to immediately think the worst of him. Obviously that was wishful thinking on his part.

"I agree that we needed to hit the camp, that we needed to stop them, that we needed the Intel but I never agreed to execute wounded people!" He watched as she ran a hand through her hair, face fraught and pained. "I... I changed my mind. I don't want this with you. This... us, it was a mistake and it should never have happened." He felt ice creep through his veins and he shoved his fists into his pockets "That so?" His voice cold and calculated. Charlie nodded at him, keeping her eyes trained on the dark of the trees "I was stupid to even think you'd changed. I was right the first time. You're a sociopath, you say what you have to to get what you need but you're empty inside." He nodded, his eyes hard and cold "And here I thought that you were starting to like me."

Charlie tensed but still didn't look at him "That was my biggest mistake, thinking I cared about you. How could I care about a man who feels no regret killing kids, how could I ever feel for a man who lies and murders his way through life who killed so many people, including my father and brother. How could I ever love a monster like you?" So they were back to that. He could see she was conflicted, that she was in doubt about something but her words hurt him more than he thought they would.

In the back of his mind he should have realized that this was coming, that she would never stay with him but he hadn't counted on it being so soon. Not after what they had discussed by the water, not after her comment about her tea. He'd thought he'd seen something akin to affection in her eyes when she looked at him but maybe he'd been mistaken.

It took him a little effort but his voice was as hard and cold as his eyes "Good question, Charlotte. How could you." He'd had about enough of this. Without saying another word he left her standing there by herself, forcing himself to move in slow, calculated steps as he moved away from her. He refused to let her see how much she hurt him. He wasn't just going to stand here and let her talk like that to him but he wasn't going to beg for her understanding either.

Back in the clearing people were still celebrating their victory but Bass didn't feel like joining in. He kept walking past the fires and the groups of people laughing and drinking, the flames were high and bright but couldn't penetrate the cold he felt creeping inside. He heard Miles call out for him, asking help with Gene but Bass just kept on walking "You figure it out Miles, I don't care" He called back and without anything else he slipped into the welcoming darkness of the woods.

The darkness swallowed him up, just like it always did. This time it was a little different though because this time he'd almost been able to step into the light. He'd been able to see it, he had felt it and just like that, it was gone. He realized how weak that seemed, how completely and utterly pathetic but he never claimed to be a strong man, not in that way at least. Bass kept walking until he could no longer hear the people in the camp and silence, just as darkness enveloped him.

He'd swiped a bottle of some unknown liquor when he walked out and he opened it taking a long pull from the lukewarm bottle. It didn't matter that she took it back, wasn't like he wasn't used to people deciding he wasn't worth their love after all, especially concerning a Matheson. Another long pull from the bottle. Didn't bother him at all that she called him empty, a monster, hell she was probably right. Maybe he should be more surprised by the fact it had taken her this long to blow things off. Another pull. Another person he cared for, gone, just like he predicted. Now the only one left was Connor, maybe he should do the kid a solid and just walk away. Head out into the dark of the forest, find himself a nice town like New Vegas and just spend the rest of his days surrounded by fighters and whores. At least they wouldn't leave as long as he kept paying them.

Bass was starting to get a nice buzz going and he sank back against the tree. Nope, he wasn't bothered at all by the fact that Charlie took it back. Never liked her anyway, it was just for sex. She didn't mean anything to him. A couple more pulls from the bottle. Nope, she didn't mean a goddamn thing.

Sorry, still no sexy times.

I realise the battle seemed hurried but that's what it was like on the show and I'm not all that good with writing action so I decided to keep it to a minimum.

Oops, little spat between lovers, no worries next chapter it will all be explained why :D

I hope you guys enjoyed this update. 2 days in a row because I wasn't able to update on friday, next will most likely be tuesday or wednesday depending on my spare time :D

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I reappy appreciate it :D

Love, Marisa