The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, the desire to run and fight for Bass being pushed away by the desire to take Emily and run the other way. When she did get a hold of herself, the Rangers had already led him halfway down the street. Charlie followed them at a run.
"Wait, wait! You can't take him, he's... he's my..."
"Ma'am, you need to step away from the prisoner. It's for your own safety." The town sheriff grabbed her upper arm, sending her into a frenzy. She called out to Bass, shouting obscenities at the Rangers and then begging them to let him go.
"Charlie, stop it. It's alright." Bass was trying to calm her down but she wasn't having it. A firm, gentle hand landed on her shoulder and she immediately sagged against Ralph. He pulled her close and patted her back comfortingly.
"They can't do this," she said through her tears. Ralph said nothing, thought he watched the Rangers march Bass towards the Town Hall with a grim expression. Aaron and Cynthia came running down the street, someone must have told them about the commotion in the market, both of them wearing grave expressions.
"They can't do this," she repeated to them. Cynthia gently took Emily and started rocking her in an attempt to calm her down while Aaron took over comforting her. His arms wrapped around her and she buried her face in his chest. "They can't Aaron, they just can't."
He rubbed soothing circles on her back. "I know. I know."
XxX
Cynthia crammed them all into her tiny living room. Ralph and Opal were squished on the love seat with a sleeping Emily, Charlie and Aaron were sharing the couch though they were saving a spot for when Cynthia got back with some drinks.
"Don't worry, Charlie." Ralph told her. "I've known some of them Rangers since they were kids, we'll get this all sorted out first thing in the morning."
Charlie smiled at him. Ralph was a good man, but she knew that Bass would never want him to put himself in a bad position just for trying to help him. "That's alright, Ralph. Bass wouldn't want you-"
"Well, if Bass wanted to say something about it then he should have been here instead of gettin' himself locked up then. I'm goin' first thing, whether you like it or not."
Opal patted her husband's arm affectionately. "That's right, honey. You tell her." Caught between the urge to yell and tell them both to shut it and the urge to burst into tears, Charlie opted to keep her mouth shut and try for a thankful smile.
Cynthia came back with some water for everyone and they all sat in a stunned sort of silence for a little while, punctured only by Emily's adorable little snores. When Cynthia got up to get everyone a snack, someone started knocking frantically on the door. They didn't even wait for her to answer. Instead, Miles burst into the house, his eyes wide and feral, with Rachel trailing along behind him.
Maybe no one else noticed, or maybe no one cared, but Charlie saw something... off in her mother's facial expression. While Miles continued to rant and demand answers for his best friend's imprisonment, Charlie continued to watch Rachel. She didn't seem the least bit concerned, which wasn't surprising, though she did seem awfully chipper, like something had gone right. Like a woman who had finally gotten her way.
"God, you bitch." Uncaring that she was interrupting Miles' rant, Charlie rose slowly from the couch and moved towards her mother.
Rachel rose her eye browns unconcernedly. "What was that, sweetheart?" The underlying smugness to her words cut through Charlie like a knife.
"You did this! You turned him in to the Rangers." Her mother didn't bother denying it, but she did shrug her shoulders indifferently.
"That man is dangerous, I was doing my civic duty."
BAM!
Charlie's fist moved so fast that no one really even realized what had happened until Rachel was already on the floor with blood pouring from her split lip. Charlie jumped on her mother's chest and wrapped her hands around her neck with her thumbs pressing down on her windpipe. "You had no right," she growled. "That's Emily's father, and you just sentenced him to death!"
Miles ripped her unceremoniously from on top of Rachel and tossed her aside. Opal and Cynthia scurried into the kitchen with a waking Emily to keep her out of the way of the impending fight while Aaron and Ralph tired to hold her back from doing more damage. Rachel lay gasping for breath on the floor but even Miles didn't seem inclined to help her up.
"It's true, isn't it. You did this." He looked down at the woman he supposedly loved and shook his head. "How could you... What is wrong with you?"
Rachel growled, getting gingerly to her feet. "How could I?" She asked in a raspy voice. "He murdered my son, and then he tried to steal my daughter, my granddaughter." She shook her head wildly, her eyes glazed over with rage. "He has taken enough, and it is time for him to get his punishment."
Miles seemed at a loss for what to say, so Aaron tried to reason with her. "Rachel, don't you think that we've all suffered enough? I mean, how could you take away someone that Charlie loves?"
"She doesn't love him. She just wants to hurt me," Rachel insisted.
"Not everything is about you," Charlie spat back angrily. "We were doing just fine without you. I'm your daughter, your supposed to support me-"
"I will never support you loving that sociopath!"
Charlie didn't even know what to say to that. Instead, she walked calmly to the kitchen and took Emily from Opal. Then she walked back to the living room and stood in front of her mother. "Say goodbye to Grandma, Emily. You won't be seeing her again."
Rachel blanched. "You can't..." she trailed off weakly.
"I don't want a sociopath around my daughter." Charlie walked out of the house and slammed the door shut behind her.
XxX
Two guards pushed Charlie into his cell. Bass was tempted to yell at them for manhandling her, but she recovered quickly and was instantly in his arms. His hands were chained close together so it was weird at first with her arms wrapped tightly around him and his own pinned at his sides, but she fixed it easily by pulling his joined hands over her head. He pulled her close and buried his face in her soft hair.
"I'm so sorry, Charlie."
She leaned away from him and shook her head. "Don't. This isn't your fault. Rachel should never have-"
"I've done a lot of bad things-"
"So?" Charlie tried to push him away but since she was stuck between his arms it didn't really work. "You've done a lot of good things, too."
Bass gave her a doubtful look.
"You have. Just look at Emily, and Ralph, and the kids at the school... And me."
"The only thing I did to you was get you pregnant."
"Which was a good thing." Charlie bit her lip, tears filling her eyes. "Before I found out I was pregnant, I was so lost. I had no idea what to do with myself. Emily saved my life. So did you."
Bass blinked back a few of his own tears and kissed her forehead. "You saved me, too."
They clung to each other before Charlie pulled back again. "We only have five minutes though, so now I need you to listen. Alright?" He looked confused but still nodded. "Ok, they only let family in to see prisoners so me and Ralph had to tell them that you and I are... well, married."
He stared at her stupidly, making her chuckle and hold up her left hand. On her ring finger was a shiny gold band. "So if anyone asks, we got married when me and Emily moved in. Ok?" He nodded numbly and she bit her lip nervously. "I'm sorry. I know that this wasn't really a part of the plan, but it was the only way they would let me see you and..." Her voice trailed off uncertainly and it occurred to Bass that she honestly thought he might not want to be married to her.
God, she really was adorable.
Bass kissed her, putting an effective stop to her babbling. They clung to each other, their tongues tangling desperately as if they believed that it would be the last time. When they finally broke apart gasping for breath, Bass grinned down at her. "I now pronounce us man and wife."
Charlie laughed and pressed her forehead against his chest. "So you aren't mad?"
" 'Course not." He reached for her hand and played with the ring around her finger. "Where did you get this?"
"It was Opal's. The ring was Ralph's idea, he said it would make the marriage seem more legitimate. Especially considering it never actually happened."
Bass looked down at her seriously. "Do you love me, Charlie?"
"Of course," she whispered.
He kissed her gently on the lips. "Then it's real."
The door to his cell screeched open and the two men that had shoved her in reappeared. "Time's up."
Charlie gave his hand a squeeze before extracting herself from his linked embrace. "I'll be back tomorrow."
XxX
And she was. The day after that and the day after that, too. Everyday for five minutes Charlie would visit him. They tried to talk about his situation at first but gave it up as a lost cause when all it did was reduce Charlie to tears. They both knew what was going to happen to him. They both knew that their fairy tale was going to end with a bullet in his head. So instead they cuddled on his little cot and talked about Emily, about their favorite things they had done together so far, and about all of the things that they wished they still had time for.
Miles' visits were different. When he came in it was all business. Apparently, Cynthia's father had been an attorney before the blackout, so she and Aaron were working on his legal defence. Though everyone seemed to agree not to tell Charlie about it. Not yet, anyway, they didn't want her to get her hopes up only to have it all ripped away again.
The good news was that Texas was so determined to prove that they had a good, solid government - complete with a great justice system, that Aaron and Cynthia had plenty of laws and loopholes to work with. The bad news was that he was such a high profile prisoner. They were all afraid that technicalities just wouldn't cut it. As a long standing, respected member of the town's council, Ralph planned to speak on his behalf and give a glowing review on his character.
The bombs that destroyed Atlanta and Philly were proving to be a big problem. Ultimately, Miles and Aaron agreed that the only way to deal with that was to tell people what had actually happened. Both of them were planning to testify. Cynthia thought that having Charlie speak as well would help, but Bass begged them not to drag her anymore into it. They all agreed not to put her on the stand unless it was absolutely necessary.
It took them a week, but the guards finally relented the 'one visitor at a time' rule, and let Charlie bring Emily in with her. She was quiet as Charlie brought her into the unfamiliar room but she perked up when her sky blue eyes found his face. Emily reached out to him with chubby hands. "Da!"
He grabbed her right out of Charlie's hands and had to remind himself not to crush his baby girl while he hugged her. "That's right, baby. Say 'da-da'."
She grinned up at him. "Da!" Charlie tried to run away to hide her tears but Bass pushed Emily back into her arms and quickly threw his arms over her head again, preventing an escape. She cried against his chest and he silently cried into her hair. Emily babbled, seemingly unconcerned with being crushed between her parents.
"Promise me something, Charlie."
"Anything."
"Don't let my daughter grow up without a father." Charlie tensed in his arms but he held on tighter to keep her from pulling away. "I'm serious. If I don't make it out of this, then promise me that you will find someone. Someone good, that treats you and Emily right. Someone that will love her as his own." His voice threatened to crack but he swallowed it down. "Promise me."
"You'll come back," she answered stubbornly.
"Just promise, Charlie. Please." She nodded against his chest and for the first time since the Rangers had slapped the cuffs on his wrists, Bass actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course he wanted to be the one to raise Emily, but sometimes, life didn't always agree with him.
A/N Thank you for reading everyone. Let me know what you think if you have a second!