A/N- here you go guys, let me know what you think. Those of you waiting for an update on my Klaroline story - I'm sorry. My mother has taken hostage of my copy of next chap, to "just look over it for you love" closet fan mefinks, should be up by tomorrow but don't quote me :S.

Anyway, since the show seems to determined to do what others have done to their most interesting couples, I hope you guys find a teeny tiny bit of comfort in my fanfic :)I also hope Monroe is the one to save Charlie next ep cause if tis Connor I may give up entirely.

I own nothing yadda yadda... Thanks for all the reviews and favs they mean a lot to me, constructive feedback is always welcome :)

When he woke up again he was alone. And in dire need of a wash. With a groan he rolled onto his back. Last night had been... severely screwed up. But he couldn't remember a time when he had wanted someone so badly. And falling asleep with Charlie tucked tightly against him, holding him; it had been the most at peace he had felt in a long, long time.

A wry smile formed on his face as he pictured what he reaction would have been when she awoke this morning. She must have been horrified with herself. Letting the monster General touch her. He realized with a bitter chuckle that she probably hadn't even noticed that the guy on watch hadn't seen their little moment of fun. On the one hand, Charlie not knowing that her guy Manson or Mason or Marilyn - or whatever the hell his name was - had sneaked off for a ten minute leak, or more likely a few minutes out of sight with his right hand; well, it was pretty affirming for his ego. Not to mention hilarious. But on the other hand, if she didn't know that they weren't seen there was a risk she might blurt out some excuse trying to explain herself and give away that what had happened between them had been anything more than some accidental cuddling.

They had been reckless and stupid. Acting without thinking in the world they now lived in was plain idiocy. If anyone saw them last night they may well tell Miles, (which was far from good. He was the one plotting deaths in their little gang - not Miles.). Or worse, they might mention it to Connor.

Bass wasn't an idiot (unless it came to beautiful and infuriating women of course), he could see that his son had a thing for Charlie. He could also blatantly see,
(even before she had willfully attacked him with that body of hers - which was the version of events he planned on telling Miles should he ever find out), that
Charlie did not feel the same way. She looked at Connor as though he was a new puppy they had brought home to her from the trip to Mexico - amusing; if bewildering in it's exuberance. She seemed to like him well enough, they got along alright. But Bass had never seen anything to suggest she felt anything more for his son. 'Except for her laying naked beside him, you dick.'

He rubbed his eyes, trying to push the image from his mind. But he was already back to elaborately planning how he was going to just kill the girl and bring an end to his misery. Before he could get too detailed, Connor showed up.

"Hey old man, come on. Breakfast! We need to leave soon."

"Leave soon?" He blinked up at his kid. He was in charge here, he decided when they left. "Says who?"

Connor smirked down at his dad, clearly waiting for a reaction, "Says Charlie."

As Bass grumbled a few dozen choice swear words about what "Charlotte" could do with her "leave soon" Connor started laughing outright. Bass fought the urge to get up and punch him.

After a long wash Charlie had finally started to feel normal again. Waking up still clinging to Monroe had been a sharp shock. At first she had assumed she dreamed the whole thing. Then, when reality hit in the form of his body still half over hers, she began praying that Monroe at least would think he'd had a dirty dream or something. But as she had gently eased her way out from under him and he'd clutched at the air in his sleep looking for her and mumbling a "Charlotte." she'd found herself reaching out to stroke a hand down his back soothingly. He looked so peaceful; happy even, that she'd had a hard time keeping in mind that this was Monroe and not some sweet guy she had picked up.

Of course the second she had stood up she started mentally calling him a bastard again. Because watching her carefully, an unreadable look on his face was Mason.

Lately her fallback expression when in doubt had been a wide smile. This morning, she had barely managed a grimace. Cringing hard now as she looked back on it, she thought about asking Monroe to just kill the guy. She could pretend that she didn't want him to go tell Miles and get them both shot but really, she just wanted to never have to make eye contact with him ever again. But Mason was a good man who watched her back constantly. Even if he did throw disapproving looks her way every time she was standing too close with Monroe.

Now as she made her way back to camp she decided that it wasn't really that big of a deal. So she had made out with Monroe... granted there were a few extras thrown in, including a massive orgasm, but it wasn't as if they had actually had sex. It was barely anything really. And it would never happen again. There was a sharp tug of longing in her chest as she thought about never getting to touch him again.

Her dad was dead because of him. And her little brother. How could she be feeling anything other than loathing for the man? 'But then, is it really that simple? My mom ended the world in the first place. Miles is known as The Butcher. I've lost count of how many I have killed. Are any of us really fit to judge? Monroe asked for my dad, he never wanted him killed. And his men were the ones who killed Danny, he wasn't even there. Ultimate responsibility for their deaths lies with him. But then, he only went after our family in the first place because my mom took the power away and refused to tell him, or anyone else anything about it. So it could be said that she was the one ultimately responsible.'

She didn't know if she was coming to an enlightening conclusion about Monroe with all the kind thoughts or making excuses for herself and her actions.

Unfortunately, she had run out of time to decide.

"Thinking about me Charlotte?"

Screw kind thoughts, she was right about him. He was a stupid, smirk y bastard with a stupid smirk and the next chance she got she was gonna stab him.

She made to walk around him, not even dignifying his question with an answer, but it was Monroe she was dealing with. Why she kept forgetting that she'd never know.

He grabbed her arms, forcing her to stop in front of him. The fact that he was suddenly chest to chest with her wasn't helping her to relax any. As their eyes met she sincerely hoped that he didn't notice the sudden heat she was feeling.

"We need to talk about what happened last night." 'Oh, God, really Monroe? Seriously?'

"No, no we really don't." She tried to pull away but his grip tightened.

"Are you ashamed of me Charlotte?" The amusement was clear in his voice. "Don't worry, no one saw us."

At the look on her face he had to stop himself from bursting out laughing. Relief and disbelief at the same time. He could understand, neither of them were usually that lucky. "Your guy on watch hasn't had a woman in a while I guess." The leer on his face should not have been sexy. "He disappeared at just the right time." Monroe finished, but he still hadn't let go of her arms.

Memories of the way he was touching her last night came to her. His lips were so close she could feel his breath on her face. He was so near already all she'd have to do was lean up a little... Monroe must have picked up on her mood because the smirk disappeared. His gaze went from lighthearted to intense in half a second. The world around them dropped away. Suddenly, ironically, the air seemed filled with electricity. Neither was willing to be the one to give in and close the distance between their mouths, yet neither moved away.

Charlie felt her heart begin to speed up. This couldn't happen, it just couldn't. It was beyond wrong. But as his eyes bored into hers and his hand came to rest on her cheek she couldn't summon the will to pull away.

Her skin was soft beneath his rough fingers. He couldn't get over just how beautiful she was. It shouldn't have felt so fucking right the way she just fit against him - like no other woman had. Bass tried to summon the will to let her go. This could never go anywhere. They could never be... anything. If she was too good for his son then she was sure as hell too good for him. But as she stood there just looking up at him, letting him touch her, he couldn't bring himself to do the right thing any more than he could last night. Couldn't bring himself to not taint her any further.

His fingers gently ran over her cheek. Charlies eyes closed as she turned into them. "Charlie.." he murmured, lowering his head. Somehow her hands had ended up in his hair, she was on her tiptoes and their lips were touching...

"Charlie!"

They sprang apart as Connor's voice intruded on their moment. She tried to get her breathing back under control with difficulty. Looking at Monroe was not an option right now. Connor appearing at least gave her something else to focus on. She honestly didn't know whether she wanted to thank him or punch him for showing up right now. Sneaking a peak out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Monroe seemed to have frozen in place.

Connor's smile at seeing her faded as he glanced between Charlie and his dad. Something had clearly been going on; Monroe looked murderous and Charlie was definitely uncomfortable. He figured they had been arguing again. Why that Duncan chick had thought they were together was beyond him, all they seemed to do was argue, disagree, and just generally attempt to irritate each other.

"You okay?" He directed the question at Charlie and her answering smile seemed to piss his father off even more.

"Why don't you two lovebirds get back to camp while I wash up. I feel dirty." Monroe practically growled at them once he found his voice. Charlie visibly flinched at his words and without a second glance at either of them she walked away. It took Connor two seconds to turn on his heels and follow her after shooting a "what the hell?" look at his dad.

"Hey, slow down," he finally caught up, taking hold of her arm and being shrugged off immediately. "What did he say to you? If you want I can go back and punch the crap out of him for you." That earned him a smile. Charlie was furious with herself for letting Monroe upset her. She thanked God that no tears had spilled out - it had been touch and go for a second there. The fact that he had the ability to hurt her feelings at all was sickening. "Nothing," she told Connor, making an effort to keep her face calm, "he didn't say anything, just being an ass as usual." He reached a hand up to touch her face and she recoiled automatically, then kicked herself mentally when his expression became that of a wounded puppy.

"Look Charlie I get it okay. You don't want to be with me or anything. But I'd still like to be your friend. And before you blow me off or give me some crap about how there's no point in making friends since we'll all be dead soon -" she let out a chuckle at that, "see? I make you laugh at least. Come on, Matheson, friends? If you're right you'll only have to put up with me for a few months anyway."

She couldn't help but nod at him. He could be as charming and persuasive as his father when he wanted something. "Fine, okay. But if you ask me over to braid your hair and talk about boys even one time - " "You'll shoot my face off with that gun of yours, yeah yeah, I know." He grinned and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head atop hers. She froze for a second. Of course he's a hugger. Gross. She awkwardly held his arm for a moment then pulled away to smile at him. "Come on, let's hit the road."

"Yes ma'am." He smiled at her and led the way back to camp.

Bass felt like a bastard. He deserved to. The hurt look on her face had been impossible to miss. No matter how much he wanted her, one look at her and Connor's stupid grins at each other had had him wanting to end both of them. So he had lashed out, like he always did.

It was right, to push her away. To bring back the hatred she had felt for him last time they left New Vegas together. But he couldn't stop feeling like an asshole. The urge to run after her and apologize made him want to punch something. He'd caused the girl enough pain already.

Everybody else looked at him like he was a monster. No one had the right to more than Charlie did. But she had stopped doing that a long time ago. There was something other than disdain in her eyes when she looked at him now and he was addicted to it, to the hope it gave him that he could be more than just General Monroe. And he didn't want to let that go. He turned before he could talk himself out of it and headed back towards her, practically jogging in his hurry.
And arrived just in time to witness his son wrap Charlie in his arms for a hug.

As Connor rested his head atop Charlies she reached up and placed her hands somewhat awkwardly on him arm. Her obvious discomfort was ironically, probably what saved Connor's life. Because the ruthless, merciless General that seemed to stay just below the surface in Bass already had his hand wrapped tightly around the sword at his side.

A desperate urge to get away from the scene in front of him warred with a deeper, almost primal need to separate the other mans head from his body. But the other man was his son and this was beyond fucked up but he couldn't - wouldn't harm him. Kid was only trying to comfort an upset Charlie anyway. Upset that he had caused. His goddamned mouth had gotten him into this. He'd pushed her, quite literally, into Connor's arms. Bass' shoulders slumped in defeat. It had been moronic of him to chase after her in the first place and the stupidity needed to stop. Now.

Charlie couldn't wait to get back to her family. Well, Miles anyway. Nobody seemed to be talking to anybody else as they walked and that was just fine with her. As Connor scouted on ahead she stayed with her men. Monroe was bringing up the rear looking all moody and lost. Not that she had noticed or anything. She had risked a look backwards once or twice and caught the same faraway brooding look on his face each time. Once, he met her eyes and his gaze turn inquisitive - like she had the answer to some question that was killing him. She turned back, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in her stomach. If he wanted to be an asshat then that was just fine with her. Would make it a hell of a lot easier to avoid getting close to him again.

Connor looked back at her and flashed a smile. She couldn't help but grin back at him. After their conversation this morning they seemed to have arrived at an understanding. Friends. The word felt weird as she repeated it in her mind. It had been so long since she'd had one and that had suited her just fine. Friends could be taken away, they could be killed - like Nora had been. Or they could choose to leave you behind - like Aaron had. It was safer to care about as little as possible. But not liking Connor was not an option. He was just too cute. And open. And he reminded her of his father, which wasn't necessarily a good reason to keep him close but she was trying hard not to think too closely on that.

She stifled a ridiculous urge to run as he came up beside her. The fact that she hadn't even had to look up to know it was him beside her didn't escape her notice.

"Tell me something... Of all the guys you could choose to fuck, why pick my son?" His voice was casual. Too casual.

If he was trying to wind her up, it was working.

"None of your business," she told him quietly and hoped he would drop it and get lost.

Apparently he wasn't gonna change his entire personality just to suit her, the bastard. "Considering what happened last night you and I both know that it is my business."

There was a sadness in his tone, a sense of hurt that made her both want to smack him upside the head and beg him to forgive her.

"He was cute, I was bored. End of story."

Charlie hadn't really expected him to believe her but his reaction shocked her so badly she made the mistake of letting it happen.

He grabbed her arm and turned to her men, "Go on ahead, we'll follow." he ordered them. As they all looked to Charlie his grip on her tightened painfully, "I'm happy to have this conversation in front of everyone Charlotte, but I doubt you are." She was too surprised to realize he was bluffing, so she dumbly nodded at her guys and let him drag her off into the trees.

Once he had decided they were far enough away she felt her back slam not very gently into a tree. And she finally snapped out of her stupor.

Monroe was towering over, looking almost wild in his anger. Anyone else would be terrified but somewhere in her mind she noted with dismay that it wasn't a frisson of fear that had started creeping up her spine. "What the hell Monroe?!"

"Answer the question."

"No!"

"Don't act like a child."

"According to you I am one."

"Dammit Charlie!"

She flinched as his fist slammed into the tree above her head. For the first time ever she began to feel afraid of him. Not that she thought he would ever hurt her - because somehow that seemed impossible. But Monroe was losing it. And if she didn't get away from him right now this was going to go too far. Struggling against him though, it became more of a turn on than a legitimate escape plan. Charlie felt a thrill of awareness as his hard stomach pressed her against the tree.

They both stilled. Breathing hard, she glared at him with more defiance than she really felt.

"Why Connor?" His eyes had started doing that watery thing, she hated that she cared.

"Because I hate you!" She blurted at him. Monroe froze, hurt more evident on his face than ever. But before he could react at all she kept on going, tripping over her words in a rush to get them out, to be free of them. "Because I didn't want to feel - to feel - this - this stupid feeling in my stomach and you were off talking with Duncan even though I see the way you look at me and I hated that I even cared and he was there and not you and so I did it. I wanted you out of my head for good." Charlie finally trailed off, a horrified expression covering her face.

Bass stared at her in shock. In all the wondering he had done about her motives for sleeping with Connor - nothing prepared him for the truth. She wanted him. Him. She was jealous of Duncan. As if he could have touched the warlord with thoughts of Charlie taking over his head. The stupid, thoughtless girl. Every urge, every sexual thought he'd had since the trip to Willoughby - and even before if he was being honest - had been about her.

He meant to ask, if it had worked, getting him out of her head but somehow instead his lips had found their way to hers. They moved slowly, caressing her mouth softly. Bass poured everything he was feeling for this infuriating girl into his kiss. When she moaned softly into him, winding her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer against her body he was lost. Somehow they made their way to the ground still kissing. He turned her, pulling her into his lap as he slid down, leaning back against the tree bark.

She clung to him, all reasonable thought going out the window as his kisses moved to her neck. His hand disappeared up the back of her shirt as she arched backwards, grinding down against him, desperate to feel the same delicious friction from the previous night. But this time it wasn't enough. Her resolve had crumbled, now that she had admitted to wanting him, she needed all of him.

As she began undoing his buttons he paused, pulling back a little to look at her carefully. his gaze unsure. "Charlotte-" Charlie pressed a finger against his lips, ceasing any further talk. "Sebastian." His eyes darkened at her use of his name and she quickly replaced her finger with her mouth. Hot kisses turned into a desperate battle for control. His hands felt like they were everywhere on her body at once, as she returned to his shirt a frustrated growl escaped when the last few buttons refused to come loose. Charlie ripped the rest open, earning her a chuckle from the man underneath her, the vibration going right through to all the right places.

If he had any more thoughts of stopping, they disappeared the second she leaned back and pulled her own shirt off. Charlie stood up and Bass allowed her to pull him with her, his mouth immediately finding a nipple. They became ever more frantic, pulling at each others pants until they were free. Charlie stepped free of hers while freeing his throbbing erection. Her legs were suddenly around his waist, her soaking heat rubbing against him. For the first time since he was a teenager he was afraid he might come before he had even gotten in. He made to step back with her, forgetting that his jeans were still around his ankles. They stumbled backwards, lucky enough to make contact with the same tree but neither really noticing or caring at this point. Bass sank back to the ground with her and set to exploring her mouth with his tongue again. Charlie shifted her hips against him and suddenly he was sliding inside her. His hands moved to grip her hair, hissing sharply as she took every inch in one long, exquisite moment.

And then she was moving. Every rise and fall of her incredible body bringing him closer and closer to the edge. "Charlotte, I'm close - fuck." he groaned. She seemed to understand because she stilled for a second. "Do it, fuck me Sebastian."

Charlie knew she'd said the right thing because suddenly she was on her back, his arms keeping her from the ground and he was slamming into her, hard and deep. She tried and failed to catch her breath as he filled her completely with every thrust. His face was buried in her neck and she didn't think she could stop him now even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. It felt like he was pushing into her very soul, possessing every inch of her. As she felt her climax build she spurred him on, her legs tightly around him, nails clawing into his back. "Oh God..." was all she managed to say as she exploded, her core clenching around him in waves, pulling him over the edge with her. Neither even thought of separation as he spilled inside her, panting her name over and over.

They lay in silence afterwards, coming back down. He was still holding her against him, his face buried in her chest as she stroked a hand up and down his back.

Charlie had never felt anything like what she had just experienced. Everything about what they had just done felt right. Mentally, she began berating herself for waiting so long. The others would be wondering what they were doing. Connor could walk up at any moment looking for her as he had this morning, but she didn't give a crap. If she never got to move from this spot ever again she'd be fine with that. Sebastian seemed to feel the same way because he wasn't showing any signs of movement. She decided she liked that, calling him Sebastian. Monroe just didn't fit anymore. At some point she must have voiced her thoughts because he pulled his head back to look at her, definitely amused. Raising an eyebrow, she cocked her head at him, challenge written all over her face. "Problem?" she asked him.

Bass chuckled, leaning down to kiss her. "Not at all, every time I hear you say my full name like that I wanna ravage you."

"I'm good with that, Sebastian." she answered, grinning as he groaned and attacked her mouth again. The stirrings of another hard on were forming against her thigh. As she remembered how they'd even ended up out here her eyes darkened. Grabbing his face, she thrust her tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply. As his body reacted she took her chance and rolled them over, landing on top of him and breaking the kiss with a wicked grin. "Maybe later, Monroe." He growled as she pulled away completely, moving to get dressed before he could even think about pulling his jeans back up. "But right now we gotta get back before they look for us." With a final grin at him, as he sat staring at her, desire and shock mixing on his face comically, she turned and walked away, a new swagger in her hips.

As Bass pulled his pants up and looked for his shirt, while tucking his still half-erect manhood away, he was at once completely satisfied yet hungry for more.

'I am definitely going to kill her.'