Chapter 43;

Rachel was still sobbing on the other side of Charlie, his own tears were silent. Everyone else was gathered around them and the silence was deafening.

Bass didn't know what else to say, how to explain what had happened to her, to ease the pain.

"Who?" The question came from Rachel and for the first time Bass looked up, two pair of blue eyes, red-rimmed and filled with tears met. "Some kid, barely older than she was." He replied "Because he could, was his answer when I asked him why... I cut him open, stem to stern. He's dead."

"Good." Rachel's voice was as dead as he felt inside and he nodded, never before had he killed someone who deserved it more than that little piece of shit.

He couldn't take it any more. He couldn't sit there for one second longer while staring at the body of the woman he loved so much. Bass got to his feet and ignoring all the calls of his name he disappeared into the woods surrounding the camp side, he wanted to be alone.

It was quiet, aside from birds and other animals moving in the forest and he wondered where the hell they got the nerve to sing on a day like this. Filled with anger and rage he picked up a rock and threw it into a tree where a few birds were holding up. They dispersed when the rock hit the tree but he was already gone.

He walked for a while until he came to the spot Charlie and him had kissed the other day. It seemed like it was different, like without her it was... less. Bass leaned against the tree he remembered pushing her u against and he sank down to the ground.

Her knife was in his hand, he'd slipped it from the sheath and had taken it with him. It was small and cold in his hand where it had always seemed large in hers. It was a simple knife, leather grip, sharp blade and he studied it in the filtered sunlight.

Leaves rustled, alerting him to the fact that he had company. When he looked up he was surprised to see Miles standing over him, he would have figured Miles would be busy comforting Rachel.

He didn't know what to say to his friend, words weren't enough, could never be enough at times like these. Miles just sat down next to him and grabbed the knife from his grasp "I gave this to her." He twirled the knife around in his hand "When we were coming for you, I felt she needed a good weapon and the little pig-sticker she had wasn't enough."

Miles' voice was shaky and his fingers faltered when he stopped twirling the knife around "She picked it up so quick, throwing knives," A small smile "She picked everything up so quick, hand to hand, sword fighting, she was a natural with anything."

Silence dawned between them until Bass spoke up "First time I met her she dared me to kill her." He chuckled lightly at the memory. "I wanted Rachel to build me an amplifier so I told her to choose one of her children... to die. Charlie said 'Pick me' She was so... ballsy." He swallowed hard "I'd never seen bravery, selflessness like that before. She was amazing."

"She was a pain in the ass." Miles handed the knife back to Bass "She always wanted things her way, she was stubborn and annoying and a complete pain in the ass." Bass chuckled in response "When we got captured she told me that she'd gladly put me out of my misery... almost did, too. Came swinging at me with some kind of club, steel, wood... hurt like hell. She refused to take me back to Willoughby at first."

Miles chuckled "That sounds like Charlie."

"I nearly didn't help her to try and get Danny back." Bass looked up at that confession and Miles laughed "This kid shows up out of nowhere and demands I put my life on the line for a bunch of people I don't know... yeah, like hell. She came back for me though, when your guys came for me... she came back and helped me fight them. Even though she didn't know shit back then, she came and risked her life to get my sorry ass out of trouble."

"If I hadn't sent Neville after Ben she never would have been here. Danny never would have died and she never would have gotten a bullet to the head." Miles shook his head "If you hadn't sent Neville after Ben I never would have known her. She wouldn't have had to come to Chicago for my help and I would never have gotten to know the woman she turned in to. She never would have seen her mother again."

Bass refused to look at it that way though "She's dead, and it's my fault."

"No, it's not. You did everything to keep her from that fight. Past is the past, Bass. You've done a lot but you are not in any way responsible for ... that." Miles had trouble saying the words and Bass couldn't blame him.

"It doesn't matter how you look at it." Bass said, his voice tight "She's gone, Miles. Our girl... she's gone." He felt hot tears run down once more and he angrily swiped at them, cursing himself for being so weak.

"What... what are you going to do now. Where are you going to go?" Miles wanted to know.

Bass thought for a moment before he spoke "I'm going to head out, after we bury her. I'm going to head out and kill anything in a pastel uniform. By the time I'm done there won't be a patriot left on this continent."

Miles shook his head "She wouldn't want that for you, Bass. She wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life hunting down and killing people."

Bass jumped up and turned towards Miles "She wouldn't want that!?" He fumed "What she wanted was to get a place, couple of animals, corn... fucking family and charades and all that bullshit. That's what she wanted and because of those bastards she's never going to get it!"

His friend stood up as well "Then that's what you should do, find a house, make a home." But Bass snorted "Why!? What the hell is it all worth without..." His voice broke "What the hell is it all worth without her?" Bass sighed "Tell me that, Miles. What if it had been Rachel, what if you had lost her, hmm?"

"You still have Connor, Bass." But the other man shook his head "It's not the same and you know it. At one point Connor will find himself a girl, start a family and I'll be a third wheel. Even if he wouldn't find a girl, it's different. Nobody can... she's irreplaceable, Miles."

"I want you to come with me, Gene and Rachel" Bass laughed "Oh, yeah. That's gonna be good. me and Rachel in the same place... It wasn't a good idea when Charlie was here to play referee but now she's gone... Rachel won't want me to come and to be quite honest, I don't want to be reminded of what I had every time I look at Rachel, their eyes are too similar."

Miles nodded as if he knew what Bass meant "I know, but I don't want you out there on your own. You should be with friends, Bass." The other man looked up "Thank you, for saying that. I really appreciate it but I just can't do it. After we bury her...I'm leaving."

The two men stood there in silence before Bass spoke up, voice cold and empty "We should head back... we have a grave to dig."

Miles followed him closely until they got back to the camp. Charlie was where he'd left her and he got down on his knees by her side and grabbed her hand. She was a little cold to the touch and he gritted his teeth to keep from crying again. "Why are you so sad?"

Bass' head shot up and he looked at Priscilla. He wanted to tell her to fuck off at her stupid question but maybe she just hadn't heard that he and Charlie were together. "I loved her." He managed to get out and his eyes widened when she got to her knees beside him.

"Why?" He didn't understand the question, really but he was too tired and too devastated to argue with the woman "Because she makes the world a better place, she makes my word a better place." He softly pushed a lock behind Charlie's ear "Wouldn't you feel the same if someone killed the person you love most in this world?"

Priscilla's eyes narrowed, she was thinking about it and it seemed strange but his mind was so muddled he just couldn't be bothered.

Connor, Miles and he went out into the woods and found a nice spot. Picking out the place where she would spend eternity was more difficult than anything he could imagine.

Between the three of them it took about an hour to get a decent sized hole in the ground, it needed to be deep enough so the animals wouldn't mess with the grave so they dug a little deeper than strictly necessary.

His hands and nails were covered in dirt and he was second away from breaking out into a full on panic attack on why there was dirt under his nails, dirt from her grave. It was almost too much to deal with but Bass was determined to keep it together, at least until everything had been taken care of and he could go his own way.

Walking back to camp this time his feet felt heavy, it was like wearing cement shoes it was so hard to move. He got to her first and even though Miles and Connor offered to help he declined and lifted her into his arms for the last time.

He adjusted her so that her head was resting against his shoulder and he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "One last trip, baby." He murmured as if she were still able to hear him. Bass started walking towards the site where they had dug the grave, a couple of the men had fashioned a marker from a piece of wood that they were carrying with them.

Halfway through the trip he felt a small, slender hand on his arm and he looked down into Priscilla's brown eyes "You should stop for a moment." Bass squinted his eyes but he halted, the group halting with him "What's wrong?" He wanted to know.

The Asian woman scrutinized him before smiling, her eyes lighting up, literally and he took a step back "What the hell are you?"

She smiled that unsettling smile of hers and ran her hand across his cheek, he did his best not to flinch but it was hard. "I'm the nano." Miles, Rachel and the rest gasped but Aaron was suspiciously normal and Bass narrowed his eyes "You knew?" He accused.

Priscilla shushed him and forced his attention back to her "He knew, I asked him to show me around, to help me find out what it's like to be human."

"And what did you find out?" Rachel asked the question, an angry look on her face.

"That being human is painful." Priscilla replied "It's hard and dirty and messy and I don't really know why anyone would chose to live in a world like this. I found out that people are selfish, cruel animals that kill for pleasure and sport and how you ever got to the top of the food chain is beyond me. There is no animal on earth that is so full of malice as mankind"

She focused her attention back onto Bass "But... I also learned that being human is wonderful and exciting and interesting. You have a capacity to love I haven't seen in any other creature, a capacity of forgiveness and redemption. Yes, I must admit it was very interesting to live as a human, if only for a short time."

"I learned that even when one of you loses their way other people come together and bring one back from the precipice. I learned that love is so strong it turns a monster into a good man. Its stronger than any force I have ever encountered and yet I can no measure it, I can not study it. It's not to be understood or dissected, it just is." She looked Bass into the eyes "love is so strong it can make a man who's closed himself off to the entire world want to come back too it, it bridges race, religion, hate and fear. Nothing is as strong."

"So, what do you want?" Bass asked Priscilla, the nano. She smiled and looked at Charlie "You prayed." She stated "You prayed to some god, even though you know he doesn't exist. You begged for her life, pleaded for him to take yours in stead of hers, isn't that true?"

Bass nodded and gazed at the woman in his arms "Yes." "Why?" She wanted to know in return and he looked back at her "Because if there was even the slightest chance that it would work... I'd have to take it."

"Would you still do it? Lay down your life for her? Die, if it meant she would get to come back?" Bass' eyes drifted towards Aaron, he remembered Charlie telling him that Aaron had died and come back because the Nano brought him back and without hesitation he answered "Yes. Yes, if there was any way it could be done, I'd give up my life for her."

"You will get to keep your life, Sebastian Monroe." Priscilla said lightly "And you get to keep your Charlotte." Priscilla, or the Nano, he didn't know up from down anymore, touched Charlie. Her fingers caressed Charlie's arm lightly and what happened next scared the shit out of him.

Charlie opened her eyes and gasping for air she came back to life. She squirmed in Bass' arms and he quickly sank to his knees before he dropped her to the ground. Her blue eyes were wide with panic and she was struggling to suck air into her lungs.

"Charlotte, Charlotte?!" Bass wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his body "Breathe, baby, breathe." He soothed under while laughing relieved "That's it, baby. Come on, now... deep breaths." Her gasping was subsiding and he looked up at Priscilla.

The other woman's eyes were back to brown and there was a confused look in them "Where am I?" Was all she got out before she collapsed onto the ground. Obviously the Nano had vacated her body and she was herself once more.

Bass just couldn't focus on anything but the woman in his arms, her hands clutching his shirt and her face buried in his neck as she sucked lungs full of air into her body. Gently he stroked her cheek and rested his face against hers "Charlotte."

He could feel hot tears running down his cheek but he didn't fight them this time, she was back. She was back.

To all of you who had no faith… shame on you! ;p Told you it would have a happy ending, I would never kill off a main character… well, not anyone that's the main focus of the pairing anyway haha.

Hope this chapter made up for the last one, though since people had VERY strong reactions to the previous one it did what I had intended and I'm glad that you are all so invested in these characters.

Two more chapters to go and then it's curtain call.

Let me know what you thought of this one :D

Love, Marisa