Charlie knew going into the courtroom that this day would determine the rest of her life. She wasn't sure she was ready. But she did it anyway, taking the stand and smiling out at the courtroom. She caught Miles' eye and he nodded, he knew what she was planning to do and he was giving her permission.

"My mother, Rachel Matheson, had an affair with my dad's brother, Miles Matheson. She was in love him. When she found out that she was pregnant with me, Rachel went to Miles and told him that she loved him, and that she would wait for him to come back from the war so that they could be together. But Miles was married to his work as a Marine. He told her that she should marry Ben and be happy with him. My dad, Ben, never knew that I wasn't his daughter. Rachel never gave him any reason to believe otherwise. But I knew. I knew that my mother didn't love me - at least not in the same way she loved Danny. He was her favorite because all I ever did was remind her of what she couldn't have, my existence reminded her of Miles' rejection, and she hated me for it."

In the crowd, Charlie could see the beaten down look on her grandfather's face. Gene wanted to believe that his daughter had been happily married so badly, but even he had known the truth before Ben and Rachel had said 'I do.' Miles visibly hated this admission, but seemed to be taking it better than she expected. He was fiddling nervously with the hem of his nice dress shirt, carefully not looking in Gene's direction.

Charlie continued. "And while I love my mother very much, or at least the idea of her, I can not pretend that she didn't have a hand in the destruction around us. Rachel was a scientist before the blackout. She worked for the Department of Defense, developing technology to help stop the war. My father worked with her. They called their invention 'the nano.' It was designed to absorb all of the electricity in any selected area, but the government - the same people responsible for bombing the east coast - weaponized it and used my parent's invention to cause the blackout."

The entire room was silent, people openly staring at her like she had lost her mind. Charlie took a deep breath and continued.

"The pendants were also created by the group of scientists that helped create the nano. Basically, the pendants give you a small range where electronics can be used. I wish that I could explain it better so that you could all understand but the truth is, I still don't get it. For a while, I just told myself that my dad's necklace was magic and that's why it made the lights come on. If you ignore the science behind it, it makes it a little easier to understand.

"Anyway, President Monroe knew that Rachel had information about the blackout, which was why he had his people searching for my family for such a long time. Rachel turned herself into the Militia - claiming that it was to save our family from being hunted - but really, she only did it so she could be near Miles again. Danny and I thought she was going to look for food, and when she never came back we believed she was dead. Monroe continued to search for us, but with even more conviction because he had concrete evidence that we were all alive.

"If Rachel had stayed with us and we had left The Republic together, Monroe would have eventually given up on finding us and assumed that we were dead. But she was selfish. She couldn't stand the idea of never seeing Miles again, and put the rest of us in danger because of it." Charlie took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. She wanted to stop talking, but she knew that in order for Emily to have a chance to know her father, that she would have to talk about losing her own.

She described his death in detail. From the moment she heard the gunshot ringing through the air to the moment Ben Matheson went still and lifeless in her arms. A single tear managed to slip by but she brushed it away impatiently, not having the slightest desire to break down and cry in a room full of people that were planning to kill her husband.

"My dad told me to go to Chicago, so I could find my Uncle Miles. He said that Miles would help me get Danny back. So I did. Miles, Aaron, my step-mother Maggie, Nora, and myself made our way to Philadelphia to rescue Danny." Charlie shook her head with a sad, little smile. "But it didn't go the way it was supposed to."

"I was captured while trying to rescue Danny from the power plant Monroe was keeping him in. And after eight years of mourning the death of my mother, I was thrown into a cell with a woman that I recognized, but had never met. The Rachel Matheson that I met at the age of twenty in Philadelphia, was not the same one that left when I was twelve. She looked the same, but she was colder, almost cruel."

Charlie shrugged at this admission. She'd long since accepted that her mother hated her, and after Miles had told her what had really happened between them, she knew it for sure. She stared out at the crowd trying to gauge their reactions. Aaron and Miles were both nodding, agreeing with her and giving encouragement at the same time. Bass' head was bowed. She knew he was listening though, he was probably just feeling too ashamed to look at her at the moment. That was ok, she'd fix that later. The prosecutor, however, was staring at her with disbelief.

"So Rachel Matheson indirectly caused Ben Matheson's death," he said. "She did not kill him."

Charlie frowned at him, but nodded her head. "She didn't pull the trigger, but she was responsible for it."

The prosecutor sighed and addressed the judge. "Your Honor, we aren't here to point fingers at who shot who, this is about Monroe and how he-"

"Enough." The judge gave him a stern look. "I know why we are here Counselor, thank you. However, I think I speak for everyone in saying that I would like for Mrs. Monroe to finish her story." The prosecutor slumped back down into his seat angrily as the judge turned to Charlie. "Whenever you are ready, I believe you were preparing to tell us about your brother." His voice was oddly gentle, making Charlie realize that regardless of his feelings about Bass, the judge at least believed her and was willing to listen.

"After we were captured, the three of us - myself, Danny, and Rachel - were all taken to the same room and introduced to the President. At the time, the only thing I thought about him was that he would have looked nicer with a bullet hole in his head." That surprised a laugh out of everyone, even Bass. "He was an arrogant, self-centered, insane, egotistical, asshole. And he wanted Rachel to build him an amplifier."

Cynthia, who kept smiling smugly in the prosecutor's direction as Charlie continued her story, stopped her and asked a question. "Mrs. Monroe, would mind explaining what, exactly, an amplifier is?"

"Well, it's like I said earlier, the pendants made electronic things work, but they had a very small range. An amplifier was meant to expand the range, which would have given The Republic the power to use larger weapons. For example - a helicopter - but we'll get to that later." Cynthia nodded and gestured for Charlie to move on.

"At first Rachel refused to built it, but then Monroe had one of his soldiers pull out a gun, and asked her which one of her children she wanted to die. There was no way I was going to let anyone shoot Danny, so I volunteered. That's when it all went wrong. I begged Rachel not to build it for him because I knew that he would kill thousands of people if he had electricity, but she wouldn't listen. She caved, and built the amplifier so Monroe wouldn't shoot me."

Charlie shook her head sadly, briefly wondering what would have happened if Rachel had held out, but ultimately decided that it wouldn't have mattered because she would have been dead, anyway.

"She built it, and then we somehow managed to get away. I was so happy to have my baby brother back." She smiled sadly, feeling the tears prickling in her eyes. "But a few days later, a helicopter, powered by the amplifier that Rachel built, gunned my baby brother down right in front of me. If she hadn't built it, if she had just listened to me and not been so selfish, Danny might still be alive right now."

Cynthia thanked Charlie for sharing her story with the court and then continued questioning her. "So while Monroe was the force behind their deaths, you don't hold him responsible?"

Charlie seemed to mull this over in her head, eventually shrugging her shoulders. "No, I don't. He didn't do any of those things with the intention of killing my family specifically. Rachel did whatever she wanted regardless of the consequences it could have for the rest of us. I hold her responsible because we were her family, we were her responsibility. But even now, she refuses to take the blame for any of the problems she's caused. Millions, possibly billions, of people were killed as a direct result of the blackout. Why should Bass be punished when his crimes are so much less than hers?"

After thanking her again, Cynthia sat down and let the glaring prosecutor have everyone's attention. He studied Charlie for a moment, then said, "as you were speaking, I noticed that you called your husband Monroe or President Monroe. Do you always call your husband by his surname?"

That particular question didn't require much thought, especially since she'd thought of it beforehand. "No, my husband is Bass. And yes, Bass and President Monroe are the same person, but to me they are two completely different people. President Monroe was a murdering sociopath, fueled by power and rage. Bass is the man that changes our daughter's diapers and kisses her goodnight. He's the one that chases away my nightmares when I can't sleep. The man he was is nothing like the man he is now."

Her answer definitely had the desired effect on the jury and the audience. Collective sighs and gasps of 'awww' were heard all around the room. Charlie didn't miss Miles rolling his eyes.

The judge finally decided that Charlie had been on the stand long enough and dismissed the court for the day. Stomachs growling, everyone headed out into the late afternoon in search of dinner and a drink.

XxX

When court resumed the next day, it was made clear for everyone that the jury would decide Bass' guilt in the bombings along with all of the other charges at the end of the trial. Racketeering, conspiracy, and murder had already been taken off the table, but fraud and trespassing were still apparently on the list. Bass thought that those two seemed rather silly after they had accused him of terrorism.

Apparently, the prosecutor had thought so too, since he hadn't even bothered to prepare for them.

"Mr. Monroe lied to the people of Willoughby about his true identity. No one even knew he was here until Rachel Matheson brought it to the people's attention."

It appeared that Cynthia was still having way too much fun making the prosecutor look like an idiot. "Actually, you Honor, I have several witnesses here that are willing to testify the complete opposite."

The judge, who for some reason seemed to be enjoying Cynthia's little show, gestured for her to get on with it and she called Ralph to the stand. Having lived in Willoughby his entire life, Ralph held a certain level of respect from the people. They listened patiently as he explained how he and Bass had met. He didn't even have to lie either. He told them that Bass had admitted to having a rocky past but that he was trying to make a fresh start, and that he'd been helping him ever since. The townsfolk accepted this without question. Apparently, you don't get that old without making some friends.

Opal was called to the stand next and Bass had to spend the majority of her testimony pretending like he couldn't hear her for fear of breaking down in the middle of a courtroom. The old woman sat up there and cried about how wonderful he was. That he was the perfect gentlemen just trying to carve out a life for himself, his wife, and his beautiful baby girl. She positively bawled when she admitted that Bass was the son that she and Ralph had never had.

When Opal finally gathered herself together and tottered down from the stand, she winked at him on the way back to her seat.

XxX

In the end, the jury only deliberated for twenty minutes.

"How does the jury find the defendant?"

A woman from the jury stood up and read from a small slip of paper in her hand. "On the counts of fraud and terrorism," the room took a dramatic breath, "the jury finds the defendant, not guilty."

Bass simply stared at the woman. He could hear the room around him exploding, though if it was from happiness or anger he couldn't tell, but he paid them no attention. He turned around in his seat, his eyes locking on Charlie just behind him. She nearly jumped over the small railing between them in her excitement to get to him, but everyone was quickly brought back to reality by the sound of the judge's gavel.

He glared at just about everyone in the room before turning back to the woman in the jury. "You may continue, now."

She nodded and went back to reading from her slip of paper. "On the count of trespassing, the defendant was found guilty, and sentenced to one thousand hours of community service."

Bass turned to Cynthia, confusion finding it's way through the haze of happiness. "Trespassing?"

But Cynthia merely laughed and pulled him in for a hug. The next few hours were basically the same. He was aware of Charlie's hand clasped in his or at least touching him in some way at all times while various strangers hooted and hollered, clapping him on the back. It was a whirlwind of hugs and well wishes, and he was overwhelmed by the shear number of people that seemed genuinely happy to see him.

All of that ceased to matter though when Charlie finally managed to get him through the door of Aaron and Cynthia's small house. There were two teenage girls sitting in the living room, he knew that he recognized one of them from the school, but Emily holding on to the coffee table so she could stand up on her little legs stole the show.

She pointed a single, chubby finger at him and screeched, "dada!" In that moment, it didn't matter that he'd been able to see her every day that he'd been imprisoned, it didn't matter that he'd hugged and kissed her goodbye just two days ago. All that matter was that his daughter was right in front of him and that there weren't any chains on his wrists to keep him from hugging her properly.

Bass scooped her up and kissed her all over her face, hugging and squeezing her to the point that Emily audibly objected with a "bah." He supposed that meant 'bad.' Everyone laughed.

It seemed that everyone wanted to see him, everyone wanted to talk to him, but all he wanted to do was take his girls home, put his daughter to bed, and snuggle up with his wife. He stayed anyway. He had a drink with Miles and Aaron, cried with Opal and Cynthia, tried to thank Ralph which ended with both of them in tears and neither of them ever acknowledging it happened. Ever. Hugged Gene. Thanked Gale. Thanked people he was pretty sure he'd never met.

It was never ending.

Somehow, Charlie had managed to turn everyone into his biggest fans. He suspected it had something to do with her smile and Emily's adorable face.

When the chaos finally subsided, Charlie steered him out into the darkness towards home. A diaper bag slung over his shoulder, Emily sleeping against his chest, and an arm wrapped possessively around his wife's waist, Bass made his way home.

The happy family of three didn't even notice the blonde woman hiding in the shadows.

A/N Thank you for reading everyone! Leave a comment it you have a second. :-D