Author's Note: This is the final chapter for Housesitter(s). It's a tad long, but I hope you enjoy it. Happy Ending alert (though I dip my toe into the angst pool from time to time, you'll find I only do happy endings. Real life is way too full of crap that makes me sad.) Please leave a comment it you are so inclined.

He can't sleep. He tosses and turns and prays for any rest at all, but it doesn't come. Instead of the darkness he craves, when he closes his eyes he sees only her. Charlie lives in his head now and he can't shake her from his every thought. He smells her and tastes her and feels her every time his eyes drift shut. He's never missed anyone as much as he misses her. He wants to go to her. He wants to forgive her, but he can't. He is a slave to his own anger. He stares at the ceiling, hoping for a reprieve from his demons, praying for sleep. Sleep does not come. At some point he'll give up and drink a bottle of whatever he can find, until darkness envelopes him like a glove and he passes out.

She can't sleep. She hates even going to bed now. It seems like the biggest waste of time. She knows that all she can hope for is a few scattered hours of restless slumber. She is plagued by dreams of Bass, of his laugh and his crooked smile. She dreams of him fighting and she dreams about being on the back of his bike, holding him close. When she does sleep, she always wakes drenched in sweat with sheets twisted around her like a strait jacket, her heart racing, and tears streaming down her cheeks, missing him. Maybe she's losing her mind. She's returned to drinking heavily especially at night. Sometimes this helps. Sometimes it doesn't.

Sleep is a fickle bitch.

Miles and Nora return from their honeymoon. Although they don't know about all that has gone on, they are arriving just three days after Charlie watched Bass fight. When they enter their kitchen, they begin to worry in earnest. The sink is filled with empty bottles – mostly whiskey but apparently no drink was off limits.

"Did she have a party?" Nora asks.

Miles shakes his head and points to an open box of pop tarts, "After Danny died she went into a bad depression. She drank whiskey by the bottle and ate pop tarts and nothing else. Something has taken her back to that."

"I'm going to look upstairs. You check this floor." Nora says, a worried look on her face.

He agrees and they split up. It is Nora who finds Charlie. She is in the spare bedroom, wrapped tightly in a bed sheet. She is awake, but staring blankly at the wall.

"Charlie?" Nora asks, trying to fend off panic. This is not a good sight. Charlie is a mess. Her hair is unwashed and her eyes are ringed with mascara smudges. She reeks of booze and sweat. She looks at Nora, but Nora isn't sure she actually sees her. Charlie is extremely drunk.

"She okay?" Miles is at the door.

Nora shrugs, "No idea. She's lit. She might have alcohol poisoning. Never saw anyone this drunk."

Miles makes his way over and sits on the bed next to Nora. He reaches out and strokes his niece's hair. She stirs slightly and smiles a little at him. "Miles." She whispers.

"She'll be fine. She's a Matheson. We can drink a lot. Charlie needs a shower and a big meal. You help her get cleaned up and I'll start some dinner." He squeezes Nora's shoulder and smiles at his bride. His gaze says he's sorry. She smiles back, letting him know its okay. Nora understands the importance of family.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In Philadelphia, Duncan Page has had just about as much as she can take of Monroe's bullshit. She gets it. He has had his heartbroken by some sorority girl who wanted to have his kid. Duncan is not a patient woman and thinks it's time he got out of his funk. He's useless at work and hasn't even been to the office since his first day back in the city. Instead he sits in his favorite dive bar, throwing back drinks until they won't serve him anymore. That's when he calls her for a ride. Every damn day.

Today she decides to beat him to it and just drives by on her way home from the office. He's in his usual spot, staring into his whiskey with a frown. Duncan plops down beside Bass and orders a vodka tonic. "You ready to go home?"

He doesn't look at her, "I didn't call you yet." He says quietly. He's not drunk, just trying to get there.

"You know you're being ridiculous. She's just a girl. I can find you a new girl. Just say the word."

"She's not just a girl Duncan." His voice has an edge. "There won't be anyone else. I'm done." His frown is deeper. He downs the last of his drink and motions the bartender over for another.

Duncan shakes her head, exasperated. She knows when the deck is stacked against her. It's time to call for reinforcements.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Miles has run to the local deli and returned with food for Charlie. The kitchen island is stacked with sandwiches, a big veggie tray, bags of chips, boxes of cookies and little plastic tubs of macaroni salad and potato salad. He isn't much for cooking or preparing food in general, so he's proud of the spread.

Nora comes down. She's frowning but looks a little hopeful. Charlie follows. Her eyes are still glassy, but now that she's showered, she looks and smells normal again. She smiles sadly at Miles and then at the food. "Hey Miles, are we having a party?"

"No kid. Just worried about you. Ya gotta eat something other than pop tarts." He holds his arms out to her and she walks to him, snuggling into his neck. He can feel the tears soaking into his shirt but she doesn't make a sound. "What's going on Charlie? Talk to us."

"I screwed up Miles. I found something really good and I screwed it up. He's never going to forgive me. I'm sorry." She grabs a napkin from the counter and dabs at her eyes. She grabs a sandwich and a bag of Doritos and heads for the stairs. "I'll be in my room."

"HER room?" Nora whispers, eyebrows raised. "She still has an apartment, right?"

"Yeah, that's not the most worrisome thing to me." Miles looks pissed.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Did you see her tee-shirt?"

"I guess I wasn't paying attention…" Nora trails off.

"She's wearing a USMC Boxing Championship tee shirt from 2008." He waits for Nora to make the connection. She doesn't. "Bass was the Marine Boxing champion that year. She's wearing his goddamn shirt. He's definitely the one she's all heartbroken about."

"Oh," Nora says, realization setting in. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm gonna kill him, obviously." Miles says before taking an angry bite from his turkey on rye.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that afternoon, Nora knocks on the door to the spare room. She hears a muffled "Come in." and opens the door.

"How are you doing Charlie?" She asks, sitting next to her on the bed.

"The food was good. Didn't realize I was hungry." She's looking down, unable to meet Nora's gaze.

"Hey, tell me what happened. Please? You and Bass?" Nora reaches out and takes Charlie's hand. Charlie squeezes it and looks at Nora, her eyes are brimming with tears.

"I love him, and now I've lost him, and I don't think my life works unless he's in it." Her voice cracks and she's crying. Her narrow shoulders are shaking and Nora's heart goes out to her.

"Why do you think you lost him Charlie? What happened?"

"I lied to him I guess, not really a lie but he trusted me and he thinks I betrayed him. He's kind of right but God I can't believe he's gone. I miss him so much."

Nora pulls her into a hug, and says, "You need to let Miles know how you feel Charlie."

"No, I can't. I don't think he wants to hear about me and Bass."

Nora pushes Charlie back a little, so that she can look into the younger woman's eyes. "Charlie, he's packing. He's going to Philly. Said he's gonna kill Bass for hurting you. He needs to know how you feel."

The words aren't even out of her mouth and Charlie is out the door and running to the master bedroom, where Miles is putting things into a duffel bag. Nora follows.

"You can't hurt him." Charlie pleads. "If you touch him, I'll.. I'll.. I'll hurt YOU. I don't know how, but I will…" Her voice is scratchy. Her face is stained with tears. "He didn't do anything wrong except trust me, and I messed up. If you want to blame anyone, you have to blame me."

Miles pauses from packing, and stares at her. Slowly he walks to his niece, and puts his hands on her shoulders.

"What do you mean, you messed up?" his voice is kind. He wants to know. He's not going to hurt Bass. At least not until he has the full story. She takes a deep breath, and then she tells him.

She tells him everything.

"Jesus Charlie, Bass is messed up about kids. That was a stupid move…" he runs a hand through his hair. Miles clearly remembers Shelly and the baby. He remembers when Bass first found out about Connor. He remembers long conversations with his best friend about how Bass wished he'd had a chance to watch his kid grow up. "I'm still pissed at him for messing around with you in the first place, but…" he trails off looking at Charlie, seeing her grief. She really does love him.

"Please don't hurt him. He's been hurt enough by me."

Miles nods. "I won't hurt him. Go get some sleep. You look like shit, Kid."

Charlie gives him a wobbly smile before turning and leaving the room. Miles motions for Nora to come closer. He places a soft kiss on her lips. "I'm so fucking happy that we are normal." He says quietly against her mouth.

She laughs, "Yeah, normal."

"I'm also glad that I don't have to go anywhere, and can just stay here doing unspeakable things to my beautiful new wife." He grins at her and pulls her close.

She's reaching for his belt when they hear the doorbell ring.

Miles growls in frustration. "What the hell? Doesn't anyone remember newlyweds live here?"

"You get the door. I'm gonna check on Charlie real quick." Nora is laughing. Life with a Matheson is anything but normal.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Miles opens the door, and is surprised to see Jeremy standing there.

"Hey Baker, what do you want?"

"You sweetheart," Jeremy answers sarcastically. "We're leaving town. Go pack your bags."

"Uh, no. I just got back to town this morning. I'm not going anywhere."

"Duncan called." Jeremy's tone goes serious. "Bass is in trouble. She's called us in to help. Got tickets waiting for us at the airport, but we have to get going now."

"Well shit. I don't want to go with you. I want to go upstairs and fuck my new wife." Miles turns as if to walk away.

"Hey Miles."

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen Charlie? She's not been to work in… well, a while. I think Pete's gonna fire her ass."

"Yes I've seen her. She's moved in with us evidently and is ten kinds of miserable right now. Pete is better off not having her around in her current state." Miles stares into space for a few moments, concern clearly etched in his expression.

Jeremy breaks through the silence, "So she and Bass are both all heartbroken or something? I didn't get a lot of details from Duncan. Why don't they just talk to each other?"

"It's a long story. I'll catch you up on the flight."

"So, you're going?" Jeremy cracks a big grin.

"Of course I'm going. Don't be a dick."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nora goes through the entire house and clears it of alcohol. She makes a big pot of beef stew and bakes a loaf of bread. She takes a large bowl of the steaming soup and a big slab of bread on a tray to Charlie along with a big glass of ice tea.

Charlie eyes the tray warily, "It's summer Nora. Why the soup? I'm not sick."

Nora chuckles, "I don't care what season it is Charlie. This is comfort food. Eat it. Be comforted."

Charlie pokes at the stew a bit before hesitatingly taking a bite. Her eyes open wide in surprise, "Oh this is good."

"Of course it's good. That's the Clayton family beef stew. It doesn't get better than that." She turns to leave. "Here." Nora holds out two small pills. "After you've eaten, take theses. You need to sleep."

Charlie nods, her mouth full of beef and vegetables. Her heart is broken, but she sees a glimmer of hope in Miles and Nora. They are her family. They'll help her get through this.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the plane, Miles explains all that had happened between Charlie and Bass. Jeremy is caught off guard by the whole birth control issue.

"I gotta say, it was so clear when I saw them together that he loves her and I thought she felt the same way. What was she thinking, pulling that shit?"

"Hold up Baker. You saw them together? You knew something was going on and didn't call me?"

Jeremy holds up a hand, "In my defense General, you were on your goddamned honeymoon. And like I said, they looked really happy." He shrugs. "I'm not sorry."

Miles signs. He knows Jeremy is right. "So what is our plan? Did Duncan fill you in?"

"Oh yeah," Jeremy chuckles, "She's staging a good old fashioned intervention. This will be all sorts of fun."

"If by all sorts of fun, you mean stepping into the seven layers of hell… then yeah." Miles shakes his head as the plane begins it's decent. "We're gonna have a great time."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Duncan is sitting behind a simple black desk. Her office is sparse and classy. She greets her guests with a smirk, "Hello boys."

"Duncan, you are as sexy as ever, how did I ever keep my hands off you?" Jeremy gushes before pulling her up and into a warm hug.

"You were probably too worried she'd chew them off if you tried," Miles mutters with a grin. "How's Bass doing?"

Duncan hugs Miles before shaking her head. "Not good guys. He's a mess. He won't eat. I don't think he's sleeping. He's sure as hell not working. Hasn't even been in the office since he got back. Just sits in that damn hellhole of a bar wallowing. It's pathetic."

"Has he said anything?"

"He mumbles a lot. Says he misses her. Says he wishes she hadn't lied to him. Says he misses her. Says he can't live without her. Says he misses her. Says he can't ever forgive her. You get the idea."

"So what's the plan for this intervention of yours?" Miles asks.

Duncan grins at her old friends – a sparkle of mischief dancing in her eyes. "Allright fellas, here's what we're gonna do…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass is buzzing pretty hard, but he's not drunk yet. He'll get there soon enough. For now, he's just sipping his whiskey and listening to some crap song that's playing. Music today is ridiculous. He'll get up and put some money in the juke box soon. He's in the mood for Zeppelin or maybe some Janis. His mind wanders to Charlie, as it often does. His lips turn into a faint smile as he remembers one afternoon when they were lying in bed talking after a particularly acrobatic fuck fest. The topic of music had come up and Charlie mentioned loving Janis Joplin. Without warning, she began to sing Bobby McGee and he couldn't help but grin at her because (even though she was an awful singer – terrible really) she sang with gusto. Charlie did everything with gusto. Bass' small smile fades again and he motions the barkeep to bring him more.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charlie knows Miles has been called out of town for an emergency. Since Miles had promised not to hurt Bass, it doesn't occur to her that he might be headed to Philly after all. She's wrapped up in her own thoughts anyway.

Charlie bears her soul to Nora. They talk a lot. Well, mostly Charlie talks. Nora is a good listener and a good friend. Nora is getting Charlie to eat, and slowly she's looking better – more like herself.

Charlie didn't even want to leave her room at first. Eventually Nora convinces her that they need some fresh air. Charlie agrees because she's had an idea. There is something she needs to do, and she wants Nora to go with her. Nora doesn't ask a lot of questions. She follows Charlie to a small tattoo parlor near the University of Chicago.

It's a weekday afternoon, so the place is not crowded. Near one wall a woman with neon green hair and a spike through her chin is piercing the tongue of a college age guy. The green haired lady sees them enter and smiles, "Hey Charlie! You looking for Kurt? He'll be back up in a few minutes."

"Sounds good Z. Thanks."

"You come here often?" Nora asks, surprised.

"Well, I had some tattoos done here. They were pretty detailed. I came back several times because they took a while. We got to be friends." Charlie is scanning a wall on which are displayed hundreds of images.

A door at the back opens and a man emerges. He sees Charlie and smiles. Kurt is in his forties. He is tall and slender with long black hair and a goatee. His arms are covered completely with intricate designs. He walks over to Charlie and gives her a friendly hug. "You know I'm always glad to see you but I'm hoping you have a happy reason for coming in this time."

Charlie gives him a sad smile. "Well nobody died, but my heart is broken." She's trying to sound brave, as if it's a joke, but there are tears in her voice. "I need to document it I guess."

He nods. "You don't have to tell me. I know exactly what you mean." He pats her back and leads her to the wall of images. "Do you know what you want?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bass is drunk now. Not so far gone that they've cut him off. That will come later. The crowd is starting to build. There are a few people on the dance floor and a handful of tables have filled. A young girl with long hair walks in and for just a moment Bass thinks it's Charlie. His heart lurches in his chest and he stands, but then he sees that it's not Charlie and he sits back down heavily. He stares into his drink. He's in trouble. He knows this. He doesn't know how to get out.

He almost spills his drink when he is startled out of his reverie by a military style yell of "Attention!"

"What the fuck?" Bass asks as he looks up at Jeremy Baker who is grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "Why are you here?"

"We heard you could use some cheering up, maybe some perspective. So we hopped on a damn plane to give you some."

"We?" Bass asks warily.

"Of course Bass. The band is getting back together. Miles just had to park the car. Duncan is with him."

"Ah hell. You brought Miles?" Bass runs a hand through his hair nervously. "He probably knows about Charlie. He's going to kill me."

"I think it's safe to say at this point, every-damn-body knows about Charlie and you." Jeremy waves the bartender over and orders a Scotch. "Miles was pissed at first but Charlie talked him down. Told him she'd kill him if he touched you."

"Yeah?" Bass feels a tug at his heart, "She said that?"

"Miles said she was a little scary."

And then Miles and Duncan are there. The four move to a table and sit quietly while the new arrivals order drinks.

"So, you've been fucking my niece?" Miles asks deadpan.

Bass won't look up. He doesn't answer. He doesn't have to. They all know.

"That was a real dick move, Brother. She's really special to me and you've broke her damn heart."

Bass looks up at this, "Hey wait Miles, there's two hearts in this story and mine didn't come out in one piece either. I'm sorry she's hurting, but she lied to me. I can't just pretend that didn't happen."

"So talk to her about it. Maybe she'll apologize." Duncan pipes in.

"Some things can't be fixed with an apology. You don't understand."

"Yeah we do Bass." Miles says, "Charlie told me the whole damn story. I told her she was a fucking idiot for yanking your chain when it came to kids. She is as sorry as sorry can be. She wants you back for some damn reason." Miles clearly can't figure out what that reason might be.

"Did she send you here?" Bass asks.

"No. "Jeremy says with a grin. "Charlie has no idea we're here. We came because Duncan felt you needed an intervention."

Bass looks startled, "An intervention? You have got to be kidding me." He pushes at the table and stands as if he's going to leave.

"I'm your ride home idiot," Duncan says with a smirk, "Sit your ass down." He does as he's told. The truth is Duncan always did call the shots in their little foursome. "Here's how this is going to work. We are going to take turns telling you about some shit that you will wish we don't remember, but which we do. Then you're going to think on the things we tell you and realize you're being a big jackass."

Bass stares at each in turn, and sighs. He knows when he's been beat. "Bring it." He says quietly, sitting back to listen, arms crossed.

Miles starts, ""Do you remember that time you fucked my girlfriend while I was passed out in the next room? Do you remember how I forgave you for that shit?"

Jeremy pushes on, "How about when that punk Strausser beat you to a pulp and you didn't think you could face everyone so you tried to go AWOL and we had to find your sorry ass and lie for you and get you back in time to avoid the brig?"

Duncan smiles sweetly, "How about that car you stole just after basic training? I had to spend some not so fun quality time with the owner of that car while Miles and Jeremy tracked you down and brought it back. The guy never knew it was missing. I never got pissed at you about that. I suppose I should have..."

Miles continues, "Do you remember buying clean urine from a guy that worked at the 7/11 because you'd been doing coke all weekend and Duncan convinced you a drug test was scheduled at base for the next day? You carried it around in a Mountain Dew bottle if I remember correctly."

"Or how about that time in Fallujah when you…" Jeremy stops when Bass holds his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, I get it. I screwed up a lot. What's your point?"

Miles leans closer to Bass, "The point is that people do stupid stuff when they're young. They do stupid stuff, and the people who love them forgive them for it. They do it not because the person deserves forgiveness, but because not forgiving them might mean losing them forever."

Bass' eyes brim with tears. "So, you're saying I need to forgive her."

"Well, yeah." Jeremy says. "That's sort of why we're here."

"I don't know if I can. I want to…" Bass is at a loss.

"Do you love her?" Miles asks quietly.

Bass takes a deep breath, slowly exhaling. "Yeah, I love her so much." His voice cracks. "I miss her."

"Thank God." Miles says smiling. "Now let's get you back to Chicago so you can work this shit out."

"Right now? You want me to go to her right now?"

"Listen," Miles says, "Either you love her or you don't. If you do love her, you've got to put this shit behind you. She'll learn from this. She's suffering right now. For some reason she's fallen for you and nothing we say is going to change her mind. But this crazy heartbroken shit has got to end. So yeah Bass, right now."

"Aren't you mad at me for all this?" Bass looks at Miles. "for getting involved with Charlie?"

Miles frowns, "I'm not thrilled about it but I get it. Your heart loves who it loves." He puts a hand on Bass' shoulder, "What do ya say, we go see if she's missing you as much as you're missing her."

Bass looks surprised and nervous all at once. "I've got to go get my stuff."

Duncan responds, "I took the liberty. You have a bag packed. It's in the car."

"What's the hurry? Can I take a shower?"

"The hurry is I'm a newlywed Bass. I want to be at home alone with my naked wife. I don't want my friends or family to be anywhere near us. The sooner I can get Charlie out of my spare room the better."

"She's still staying there?" Bass heart is beating faster. Just knowing that maybe they can work something out is like a gift.

"She won't leave that room you guys stayed in. It's weird and annoying and I want it to stop." Miles sighs.

Bass looks around the table at his oldest friends, and smiles. "Okay guys, let's go."

They pay and walk out, Duncan trailing behind Bass, "Change of plans." She says, wrinkling her nose. "We are going to let you take that shower."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later Duncan drops her three oldest friends at the airport. She stops Bass as he's getting ready to exit. "I want to buy you out Bass. I want to run the firm myself. You should think about it and maybe if this stuff with Charlie works out you can relocate there, and set up shop near your kid and your lady?"

He starts to say something, but she stops him. "Just think about it. Okay?"

He nods, gives her a hug and heads into the terminal.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Knowing that he's going to see Charlie calms Bass and he sleeps on the short flight to Chicago. Once they land Bass is suddenly determined to find something in one of the little airport stores. He doesn't tell them what it is until he comes out of the third airport gift shop he's tried, carrying a bag and grinning like a little kid.

Bass pulls a blue tee-shirt from the bag. He yanks off the shirt he had been wearing and pulls on the new one. The front is plain. He turns around and they see the back, which is emblazoned with the Chicago Cubs logo.

Miles raises an eyebrow, "But you hate the Cubs."

"True," Bass grins, "but Charlie loves them, and I love her.

Miles and Jeremy share an amused look. Maybe this will work out after all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dusk is setting over Chicago. Charlie is staring out the window of the spare room where she and Bass had made so many memories. Her bags are packed. She's still devastated by everything that has happened but she knows she can't stay here forever. Miles and Nora need some space, and her cab will be waiting.

She hears the door open, and says, "Sorry Nora, I was just enjoying the view one more time before I go."

"Where are you going?" Charlie whirls when she hears Bass' voice.

"What are you doing here?" her eyes are wide.

"I came for you. I came to say I'm sorry."

"No. I'm sorry. I was such an idiot."

"We were both idiots."

"I'm not pregnant."

"I don't even care. If you want to have kids, we'll have kids. I'll be the oldest fucking Dad at the playground, but if that's what you want I'm in."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I love you so much, I can't figure out any way that my life works without you in it."

Charlie feels the tears streaming down her face, but she doesn't care. "I love you too. I'm not good at saying those words because every time I tell someone I love them they disappear."

"I'm not going anywhere."

The space between them shrinks to nothing and their lips meet. This kiss is tender and forgiving. It is everything their last coupling was not. Her hands go to his nape. His to her lower back, where he gently pulls her close, deepening the kiss.

"Ouch." She moans.

He pulls back quickly, concerned, " What's wrong?"

She hesitates, and then begins to unsnap her jeans. His eyebrows shoot up and he smiles, "Charlie I really want to do that, but everyone is downstairs waiting for us."

She laughs and shakes her head. Charlie pulls at the hem of her shirt and carefully slides the jeans down enough for him to see the large white bandage just above the orchid tattoos on her hipbone.

"You got a new tat?" he asks, recognizing the bandage for what it is.

"Yeah," Carefully she removes the tape. The image underneath is wet from the ointment Kurt had given her, but the design and color are amazing. Bass falls to his knees to look at it. Hovering over the three orchids – the ones that represented the people she had loved and lost, is a plump bluebird with wings outstretched. "It's the bluebird of happiness. I picked it to remind me that I can survive loss in life as long as I focus on the good stuff that I still have."

Bass is impressed by the detail that this tattoo has. The colors are vibrant, and greatly complement the flowers below. The bird itself is lifelike and stunningly beautiful. He takes a sharp intake of breath when he sees the smaller details. "The bird is…" he trails off staring. On the inside of the bird's left wing is a black circle around the letter M. It's open at the bottom just like the tattoo that is on his left arm. On the bird's side is a long series of hash marks. Bass feels the tears forming. "The bird is me?"

"You are my happiness Bass. You covered up all my pain. When you came in here, you asked where I was going." She pulls him up to stand in front of her and wipes a tear from his cheek. "I was going to Philly. I was going to find you and make you see that this is worth fighting for."

He presses his forehead to hers, "I'm so sorry I wasted time away from you."

"Me too." She reaches up and strokes the stubble on his chin. "I missed you so much. I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't even watch baseball."

Bass steps back and smiles, "I almost forgot. I didn't get a tattoo but I did get something to show you how much I care."

"What is it?" she asks with a chuckle.

He flips around showing her the giant Cubs symbol on the back of his shirt and she throws her head back with laughter. "So you're a Cubs fan now?" She moves close again and nuzzles against his neck.

"Well, no…. but I will wear this whenever we go to a ball game and I won't say anything bad about drinking Old Style or eating Chicago Dogs."

"How often will I get to see you?" she's frowning slightly. The distance between their homes is still an issue.

"I called Duncan right before we pulled up in front of Miles' house. She's offered to buy me out and I've accepted. It will take a few months to get things settled there and started here, but Chicago needs security too. Connor might even be interested in working with me. It will be good."

Charlie is beaming at him. "God, I love you."

"I love you too." He strokes her hair and kisses her lightly. "I want to show you just how much I love you and I will. But right now, I just want to sleep. Will you sleep with me Charlie?"

"Hell yeah."

And with that, they curl up in the bed that has become so familiar to them both and they fall into a restful sleep, cradled in each other's arms.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After waiting a while, Jeremy leaves. Clearly the lovebirds have made up and forgotten anyone else is around. "Call me if you need anything Matheson. I've got to get home to my wife."

Miles nods and the two old friends embrace. "Good to see you Baker. Come by more often."

After the door shuts behind Jeremy, Miles and Nora head to bed. They peek in the spare room since the door stands open. Bass and Charlie are wrapped in each other's arms, sleeping peacefully.

"Never would have believed it, but this is going to be okay, I think." Miles says.

"I think they're good together." Nora agrees

"And they both need a good night's sleep more than just about anything."

Nora smiles sexily at her husband, "How about you, Miles? Do you need sleep?"

Miles picks her up and carries her down the hall. As they cross the threshold into their bedroom, he kicks the door shut behind them.

"Nora, the very last thing I need tonight, is sleep." Miles grins broadly at his wife, "Let's get naked!"

***END***

Author's Note: This was a really fun chapter to write. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please comment if you have a minute. I really enjoyed bringing Jeremy, Nora and Duncan back from 'the dead' for this story. They were all great characters. Be on the lookout for more California. I anticipate that wrapping up within the next couple of weeks. I have decided to expand on my "After the Sh1t Happened" story as well, though I'd originally intended it as a one-shot only. So if you enjoyed that at all, you can expect more.