Word count; 3137
Notes at the bottom
CHAPTER 26:
Bass walked back into the campsite, the 'party' still in full swing and he moved over to a group of men with Evan and the guy he knew had translated the book with the Arabic writing. "You're Soner, right?" The lightly tinted man nodded and shook Bass' hand "That's me, sir." He replied. Bass was secretly pleased that he was in a position of power and respect once again, the 'sir' music to his ears. "Good job on translating the scribblings from that book." He praised the man's work "Did you get a chance to read more of it?"
Soner shook his head "No sir, but mostly it was schedules and plans on what, where and how. Would you like me to try and translate the rest?" Bass nodded his head "I think if you'd be able to do that then you would give us a huge advantage in the upcoming battle against these pastel idiots." Information like that could make or break a battle, Bass knew this better than anyone. "So, when you have the time, please see if there is any additional information you can translate for us. It's not is a rush or anything, enjoy yourself this evening but it would be appreciated if you could get it to me in a timely fashion."
The man, who was about two inches shorter than him with a nicely maintained goatee nodded "Will do, Sir. You'll have it ASAP, I want to make sure I translate it correctly, so you don't end up with the recipe for tabouleh, or something. Bass chuckled and smiled at the warrior "Much appreciated, Soner. I look forward to seeing your work." He left after he clapped the man on the shoulder for a job well done. He missed Evan shooting him glances, wanting his attention and when Miles walked up he left the group behind.
"Bass, can we talk?" Miles asked as he nodded in the direction of a more secluded spot. Bass shrugged his shoulder and nodded, at least this time Miles hadn't clocked him in the jaw so he followed his old friend to were it was a little more private and quieter so they could hear each other without having to scream.
"What?" Bass was a little apprehensive, it's not like Miles and he had the best track record the past few weeks. He watched his old friend search for words and with an agitated sight he said "Just spit it out, Miles. What's got your tight little panties in a bunch, now? Rachel bitching about me attacking the Boot camp or it AARP complaining about me going behind your backs?" He was getting so sick of people questioning his every move. "I did what needed to be done Miles, and it's apparent that if something like this needs to be done then it's gonna have to be me because little miss Rachel neutered you something good."
"I wanted to apologize." Miles' words stopped him cold and with effort he kept his jaw from dropping. Miles Matheson, apologizing? He almost felt the need to check his pulse, or maybe he was on some sort of prank-show... if those had still existed. "You're what, now?" Sure he had misheard Miles' words.
The other man scoffed "You heard me, Bass. I said I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry, okay?" Miles wasn't looking at him, brown eyes fixated on the ground, one fist clenching and unclenching, a nervous tic Miles' had since they were kids. "You're sorry?... For what?" He sure as shit didn't know what the hell Miles was sorry about. Hell, half of him expected Miles to pull a gun, shoot him and tell him he was sorry for having to do that.
No gun though as Miles's empty hands clenched "You were right. The camp needed to be dealt with. You were right about the fact that I shouldn't have let that Patriot kid go. You were right about me needing to think realistically instead of just hoping it will turn out for the best. You were right about all of it."
Never in a million years had Bass thought these words would ever cross Miles' lips. He'd been hoping for something like this, a small seed so that their friendship could start growing once again but not it was here he didn't have the slightest clue what to do about it. "Did you hear me?" Miles voice sounded and Bass realized that he'd been silent for a few minutes now, it was because he was completely dumbfounded by Miles' words.
"I heard you, I'm just not sure what to say to you." Miles sighed and nodded "We fucked up a good thing, didn't we?" Bass knew he was referring to their friendship, their brotherhood and he nodded "How the hell did we let it get this far, brother?"
Miles looked at him and leaned back against a half broken-down wall. "Because we're idiots." He said matter of fact. "Because somewhere along the line we stopped talking, I stopped talking and it all went to shit from there. Then when it was time to say something, I couldn't." Miles shook his head ruefully. "I should have said something." His eyes connecting with Bass "I should have said something the moment I found out you killed two entire families because the fathers planted a bomb. I should have told you that it was not okay and maybe... maybe we'd have been able to make it better again."
Bass nodded and leaned back against the same wall. "I was just so angry." He explained, voice soft "I was so fucking angry that someone got it into their stupid head to bomb the bar we were in and nearly killed you. Someone nearly killed you, Miles. The last family I had. I would have been alone." He chuckled sadly "Turns out that the rebels succeeded in that part, huh. Because not long after that bombing I really was alone."
"It fucked me up, Miles. To see you standing over me in the middle of the night, thinking you might be sick or something only to find you holding a gun to my head." Another chuckle "How stupid was that. After that, I guess I lost it, I just lost it. Everyone I met, everyone I knew... if my best friend secretly hated me and planned to assassinate me... how would everyone else around me be." Bass wiped his hand over his face "I couldn't trust anyone any longer because I couldn't trust myself. I never even suspected that you were planning something against me and you were the person closest to me, so if I missed that... what else was I missing around me. Who else was out to get me if my best friend, my brother, wanted me dead?"
Miles actually looked contrite and for a moment it left Bass speechless. "I'm sorry. I was weak and selfish and you deserved better." His voice sincere "But even though I might have stopped the downfall... I am not responsible for the man you became, Bass. It's not because of me that you went bat-shit crazy after a while and started killing anyone and everyone who you thought had it out for you." Bass nodded. He knew Miles was right, if he'd been a stronger man maybe things would have turned out differently, but he wasn't. All the things that had happened to him over the years had been chipping away at his inner strength and Miles leaving had been the straw that broke the camels back. There were no excuses, which is why he was trying to better himself, to become the man Miles had been friends with for most his life, to become a man Connor would be proud to call his father and yes... become a man that maybe, maybe Charlie could love.
When hell froze over, maybe. He scoffed and shook his head in dismissal when he saw Miles' questioning looks "Nothing, just some self reflection." He explained. "You're right. When it comes down to it, it was all my fault and I won't make any excuses for it anymore." He looked into his friends eyes "But thank you, for saying sorry. I.. it means a lot to me. I want you to know that I don't want to become that man again, all this talk about bringing the Republic back, that's not how I want it this time around. Like I said before, I don't even want to be at the helm of that. I'll follow you... again, but only if this time you promise you won't leave me holding the bag."
Bass' voice was light but his eyes showed he was serious. Miles replied with a smile and a nod of his head "How about this... You promise me that you'll try not to turn back into full-on General Monroe, even though you have an army now and I'll try and listen to you when you're telling me something, not just listen to Rachel and Gene blindly." Bass smiled and let out a chuckle "Deal... though, I'm still gonna snap Neville's neck, you do know that, right?"
"Get in line" Miles grunted "Him and Nipples." Bass frowned and tilted his head "Nipples... I'm sorry, am I missing something?" Not understanding who the hell Nipples was. "Nipples... It's what I call Neville's kid it's because... You know what, never mind. What I meant to say was 'get in line' I owe Neville for my brother and Danny and all the shit he's pulled since then." Bass nodded "Besides," Miles continued "You have my explicit permission to kill anyone who's ever been, or ever will be, a danger to Charlie or Rachel."
Again Bass smiled, glad that Miles accepted that he wouldn't be turning into some kind of saint all of a sudden. Glad that Miles was back to understanding that sometimes things needed to be done, even the unpleasant things.
They leaned back against the crumbling wall and stood there for a moment in companiable silence before they were disturbed "Monroe, a word please?" It was Evan and the serious look on the other man's face had his full attention. He mumbled an excuse to Miles who waved him off and headed back over to where Rachel was taking care of an injured Gene.
"What's up, Evan?" Bass watched the other man switch his weight from one foot to the other and it was obvious that he was a little nervous. Bass smiled and shook his head, wondering what the Clan-member would be so worried about, they won the fight and Soner was a great asset in translating the text from the book. There was nothing to worry about, for the moment anyway. "Spill it, Evan. I don't have all night, I'd like to go back to drinking myself stupid."
"Yeah..." Evan started "About 'drinking yourself stupid'... There's something you need to know." Bass' brows furrowed "get on with it." He demanded, not really in the mood to listen to riddles, it was late, he wasn't half as drunk as he liked to be and Charlie pretty much told him she wouldn't be warming his bed any longer, so to speak. "Couple of the guys got a little drunk tonight and did something... not all that smart." The former General couldn't help but chuckle. "Well Evan, when drunk a man sometimes doesn't make the best decisions, what's the problem?"
"Problem is that in their drunk state they might have... bothered Charlie a bit too much." Bass head snapped up, his eyes narrowed and angry "What the hell do you mean by 'bothered Charlie' Evan." His voice low and dark, rage evident in his tone and expression "What did they do?" The other man switched his weight again and refrained from looking into Bass' eyes "Well I don't know the full story but I came upon them while they were... propositioning her and she didn't seem to be happy about it."
Bass' mood got darker and darker the more Evan spoke "Elaborate!" He demanded. "Well, I suppose you could say they were harassing her. Trying to... uhmm, you know, against her will." Hands grabbed the lapels from the blond man's coat and Bass pulled him in close, his voice nothing more than an enraged whisper "Are you trying to tell me that a couple of men from the tribe were trying to rape her?!" Evan shook and nodded his head at the same time "They were drunk, I chased them off and told them to never go near her again. They won't so much as look in her direction now, Monroe. I promise."
Promises like that didn't mean a thing to Bass, his eyes raided the camp "Who" The word was soft but said in such a tone that Evan didn't dare to defy "Right there, those three." He pointed at one of the fires where three men were sitting, drinking and laughing. "Three?" Bass' voice was downright ominous now and Evan noticed "Yes, sir. I promise I won't let them near her again."
Blue eyes searched the camp to find Charlie sitting with his son near another fire. From what he could see she looked fine, she was smiling at Connor and she didn't seem injured in any way. He shoved Evan off "Circulate amongst the other men that if they even THINK about touching her, about harming her... I will personably open them up stem to stern and leave them to die, do you understand." His eyes never leaving Charlie. "Yes, sir."
Bass stepped around the slightly shorter man to make his way towards where Charlie and Connor were sitting. Screw her and her not wanting to talk to him, she was going to talk about this. He walked up to them and immediately fixated on her blue gaze "Connor, maybe you should go get something to drink, you look thirsty." Connor not getting Bass' serious look smiled "I'm good" and he stayed where he was. Blue eyes narrowed and shifted to his son "Connor," voice cold as steel now "Go!" Without further discussion the younger man got up, not without a last questioning look at Charlie, Bass noticed. The blonde woman nodded her head and then his son was off.
He could see she was starting to squirm under the scrutiny of his gaze "Bass... hi. What, uhm... what do you want?" Her voice was wavering and she was nervously pulling her fingers through her hair, she looked absolutely stunning. "Evan told me something." He saw her face turn pale and her blue eyes shift to stare at the ground. "Oh." He scoffed at her reaction "Oh... that's all you have to say? Three men tried to rape you and all you say is 'oh', what the hell, Charlotte? Did they touch you?" She was silent and avoided his gaze "Charlotte!" He demanded "Did they touch you?"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. His eyes bore into hers and he had to fight himself not to shake the truth from her. There was a small cut on the side of her temple and his eyes darkened "They hurt you." He growled and his long fingers cupped her jaw and turned her face towards him. Her eyes avoided his but her forced her to look at him "Charlotte?" He demanded again.
Her head lifted and she looked into his eyes "I'm fine, Bass. Evan was there and they won't do it again." Bass heard her reply for what it was, confirmation that they put their hands on her, unwanted. His eyes noticed the bruise on her jaw and he saw red "No, they won't."
Without another word he turned and walked over to the fire. He wasn't going to let Charlie get hurt by anyone, ever again. It's a promise he made to himself and Rachel not too long ago and he was going to honor that promise. "Evan!" The blond man came hurrying over and Bass nodded in the direction of the three men around the fire, three men now gazing up at him "Them?"
Evan knew what he was asking and he nodded his head. Up until then Bass hadn't really been sure about what he was going to do but looking down on these smiling idiots only fueled the anger inside. Not thinking, just reacting he took the gun from the holster on his hip and in quick succession shot the three men in the head. The sound of the gunshots were loud in the sudden silence, he could feel the eyes of everyone in the camp on him but he didn't care.
These men hurt Charlie, they tried to rape her and they were sitting here, laughing. He knew in his heart that even though they'd told Evan they wouldn't do it again that they would. Once a rapist, always a rapist. Bass knew the type, they had no respect for women and their opinions, they were just there for sex and breeding. Not his Charlie. Nobody got to treat her like that. "You all know what they did?" He asked to the others. Nodding heads all around, Evan was efficient, he had to give him that. "Try shit like that and you'll be next." Bass said to no one in particular.
A hand came down to his shoulder and jerked him around painfully "Goddamnit, Bass!" Miles was right in his face, furious and fuming "What the hell were you thinking! You can't just go around shooting people in the head! These are your own men now, for crying out loud. Have you gone completely mental?" Bass put the safety back on the gun and slid it back into it's holster before looking Miles in the eye and then letting his gaze wander over to Charlie "You told me I could kill anyone who is a threat to Charlie's safety."
He felt Miles follow his gaze and brown eyes widened in realization "That I did." He turned towards Bass "They uhm... did they..." Bass knew his old friend couldn't get the words out, words that left Miles paralyzed and he was glad he could deny them "No, Evan stepped in before anything could happen. My guess worst they did was get a couple of gropes in. Nevertheless... They don't get to keep breathing."
"You really care about her, don't you." Bass tore his gaze away from Charlie, Connor having joined her again after Bass had stepped away. "I guess there's an upside to her shacking with your kid. She get's another protector out of it." Bass shifted his gaze back to Charlie, her eyes were wide and shocked and he bore his gaze into hers, trying to say what he couldn't with words. If Miles only knew.
They shoulda known. You don't mess with Bass' girl.
So... too much? I wasn't really sure about this chapter so I hope that it wasn't too much for you guys. It just popped into my head and my fingers started typing. It's a little ... over the top maybe?
In three days we'll FINALLY have a new episode of Revolution, I for one, am dying to know what will happen. It depends on what happens in the new ep whether or not this story will keep following the show slightly, if I don't like what I see I might go a different way.
Also working on the new AU story. It's going a little slower than this one because I find it a little more difficult to come up wth a storyline for something that I have to pull out of thin air ;p Like I said before though, won't start posting that until this one is finished. Aditional ideas are still welcome, you all got my e-mail from the earlier chapters :D
Anywho. Please comment, review, tell me what you think of it so far. Still ways to go before this little journey is over.
Thank you for reading and reviewing :D
Love, Marisa