Part 8: Epilogue (aka one more little surprise)

One year later – Just outside of Willoughby Texas. The Patriot War is over. The good guys won.

Miles is sitting on the front porch of the old farm house he calls home. He's nursing a whiskey – Rachel only lets him have one a day – and frowning at an unknown horse-drawn wagon that is bumping down their lane. The Patriots are history, but out of habit, he tenses. The wagon is a mash up of horse drawn carriage and ancient Volkswagen Bus. There is writing along the side of the yellow beast of a vehicle, but Miles can't make out what it says from this distance.

The eyes aren't what they once were.

"Rachel, come out here." He yells as the visitors get closer. The driver is a hulking man with short cropped hair. He's wearing an old tank top that shows off biceps the size of pony kegs. "What the hell?" Miles mutters to himself.

Rachel appears next to him. She has a dish towel in one hand and smells of baking bread. "What do you need?" she asks.

Miles nods in the direction of the wagon that has now pulled up in front of the house. Now they are close enough that Miles and Rachel can both read the elaborate purple script painted on the side of the yellow vehicle. "Who is Lady Veronica?" Rachel asks

Miles shrugs, "No idea."

The giant of a man hops down from his perch. He flashes them a big grin, "Hiya." He says.

"Uh, hiya." Miles replies with a smirk. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tiny." The giant says with a childlike smile.

"Of course you are." Miles is grinning now. "Why are you here, Tiny?" he asks.

Tiny shrugs, "They wanted to come for a visit and I asked if I could come along." He says this as if it should explain everything.

"So who is 'they'?" Miles asks. He opens his mouth to say more when the door to the wagon opens and a lanky man emerges.

He has a shaved head and a black moustache and looks oddly familiar though Miles can't place him at first. The visitor sees Miles and Rachel and smiles a bit nervously, "Hey."

Miles walks down the steps and toward his visitor, trying to figure out how he knows the guy. When realization dawns, Miles feels his heart jump in his chest. "Holy shit! Connor?"

Connor nods, "Hi Miles. My Dad around?"

Miles doesn't even turn, "Rachel, go get Bass. Connor is here."

Rachel gives him a look but turns to go inside.

Miles stares at Connor. "What the hell did you do to your head?"

Connor shakes his head with a laugh, "Nice to see you too. I started shaving it when all the wanted posters went up and I needed to lay low. Kind of liked it after a while."

"And the Tom Selleck lady tickler growing on your upper lip?"

"I have no idea who Tom Selleck is, but the moustache was also something I started as part of my disguise. When the war ended and nobody wanted me dead anymore…I decided I liked it and didn't want to shave it off."

Just then the door bursts open and Bass barrels down the steps, stopping dead in his tracks when he sees Connor. "Is it really you?" tears are glistening in Bass's eyes.

"Yeah," Miles answers. "Can you believe it? Connor and his lip luggage have decided to pay us a visit."

Bass walks to his son and pulls Connor into a tight hug. Connor is stiff at first but soon he's hugging his Dad back. The last time these two had met, neither had been sure they'd ever see each other again. Bass pulls back, his hands on Connor's shoulders. "I'm really glad you're here." He says softly.

"Yeah, me too." Connor grins, pretending his own eyes aren't a little wet as well.

The moment is broken when they all hear a baby crying. Charlie has come out and is standing by her Mom on the porch. She is holding a baby wrapped in a soft yellow blanket, and grins, "Connor? It's really good to see you."

She comes down the stairs, and holds the child so that Connor can get a good look. Bass wraps his arma around Charlie's shoulders. He looks back and forth between Connor and the baby for a moment, beaming. "Connor, I'd like you to meet your little sister. Her name is Vegas."

"Vegas, really?" Connor laughs, shaking his head.

Bass shrugs, "We argued a lot about names. This was the only one we both agreed on." He glances meaningfully at Charlie and grins, "It is a name that was…uh… significant to us."

"It's where she got knocked up." Miles adds with a shake of his head. "I need another drink."

"Ahem." Rachel frowns.

"Oh Jesus." Miles mutters. "Good to see you back Connor, but I'm going inside now."

"It's a great name Dad. She's adorable. May I?" Connor holds out his hands to Charlie. She hands him the squirmy baby who stares up at her big brother with wide blue eyes.

"I also think it's a perfect choice." Everyone glances up at the woman who has emerged from the wagon while they were talking. She moves to stand beside Connor as he hands Baby Vegas back to Charlie.

Charlie does a double take. The hair is different. Instead of long and red it is brown and stops at her shoulders. She still styles it to fall over her bad eye, but today the mask she wears is skin colored and far less noticeable. Instead of the purple gown, she's wearing brown pants and a leather jacket. Something about her is oddly familiar. "You're Madame Veronica." Charlie says, "But also someone else… I think I know you from somewhere else too?"

Bass squeezes her shoulders tighter. She can feel his hands shaking. "Sure you do Baby. Madame Veronica was once known as Duncan Page." Bass's voice cracks.

As soon as he says it, Charlie is amazed that she didn't recognize her as soon as she'd stepped out of the wagon. The mask and the facial disfigurement had simply been too distracting… that and the fact that Duncan is supposed to be dead.

Their visitor smiles her strange half smile. "Sebastian." She says softly.

"We thought you were dead." Bass says in a hoarse whisper. He still hasn't moved. Charlie looks at him and sees the shell-shocked expression he wears. She wraps the arm not holding Vegas, around his waist.

Duncan takes a hesitant step toward them. "I thought I was dead too." The side of her face under the mask has no muscle tone. She speaks slowly to make up for the occasional slurred speech. "Some Patriot asshole shot out my eye. Lucky for me the bullet came in at an angle and went out my temple. Bad news was my eye was gone and the trauma caused me to have a stroke. I was a bloody mess. Most of my men were dead. The ones that weren't thought I was and they ran off."

"I found her. She was still alive." Tiny frowns, "Couldn't lose her too."

Duncan turns her glance to the huge man with a child's mind, and nods at him. "Tiny saved me. He watched over me and nursed me as best he could. He found a doctor that sewed me up. He didn't tell anyone who I was. We all knew that if the Patriots thought I'd survived, I wouldn't last for long."

Tiny moves to stand protectively next to Duncan. He glances at Bass, "Hey Jimmy. Told you I could keep a secret."

Bass shakes his head, still stunned.

Duncan continues her story, "It was rough at first. I wanted to die for the first few weeks. Never had felt so hopeless. Tiny made me see things differently I guess. He'd lost someone very special in that same battle. He reminded me that I still had a lot to live for. When New Vegas moved, I followed along behind, and set up as Lady Veronica as soon as I was healthy enough. Tiny has been close by ever since. He's my guardian angel."

Connor takes her hand and also takes over the story. It's clear that Duncan needs a break from speaking. "So I stumbled into New Vegas after Neville went nuts. I didn't even know about the bounties at the time. I was kind of lost. Didn't feel I could come home. Didn't have anywhere else to go. I was sitting in this seedy little bar and she saw me. She could tell I was in trouble and recognized me from the dog fight and from all the wanted posters….though she didn't tell me that right away." He chuckles, shaking his head. "Anyway, she helped me get my head on straight."

"You weren't so bad off." Duncan says quietly. "I'd seen worse." Her glance falls on Bass.

Connor continues, "When Duncan took me in, I was a mess. She fed me and gave me a place to stay and more than anything, she listened. I had a lot bottled up, and it all came out. I didn't know who she was at first though she remembered me from the start. She called me Junior from that first day. I didn't get her little joke until I finally figured out who she really was. I'd been with her for a couple weeks when I figured that out." Connor smiles down at her and squeezes her hand. "We were both very aware that our identities needed to be guarded. I promised I'd keep her secret, and she helped me figure out a disguise." He points to his head and laughs. "So from then on I acted as Lady Veronica's assistant and everyone knew me as Junior."

Bass squeezes Charlie's shoulders and then moves to face his son and his old friend. "You saved him just like you saved me." Bass's voice is quiet and rough with emotion.

"Turns out I have a weakness for saving Monroe men."

Bass nods, not saying anything. His eyes are wet. Finally overcome, he lurches forward and hugs Duncan tight. His shoulders shake a little, but in a few moments he calms down and steps back.

"Stop blubbering like a girl." Miles says from the porch. Bass ignores him.

"Thought you went inside?" Connor asks with a smirk as his Dad moves back to Charlie's side. Bass takes Baby Vegas from her mother's arms and holds her close.

"I did. Now I'm back." Miles holds up a bottle of whiskey he had brought out with him.

"Miles!" Rachel says, stomping her foot.

"Sorry Rach. Too much shit going down today for just one drink."

Charlie has watched all of this unfold carefully and now a scowl spreads across her face. "You're not a psychic at all, are you?" She directs her question to Duncan.

"No. I'm not." Duncan shrugs a little, "Sorry about that. I was only trying to help, I promise."

"But you pretended to talk to Danny! You said Benji was there! It was all a lie." Charlie is pissed.

"Was it though?" Duncan doesn't appear phased by the younger woman's anger. She is calm and another of those crooked smiles appears.

"Well, yeah… I mean… wait. What are you talking about?"

"Maybe my methods weren't completely honest, but you needed to know it was okay to trust Bass. He needed to know he was worthy of love and that if he gave in, he might just find the happiness and the family he'd been hoping for."

Charlie looks at Duncan, and frowns as tears threaten. "How did you know it would work between us?"

"Kid, I knew something real was happening between you two when you came begging for mercenaries. So, when I got an opportunity to nudge you two idiots toward each other, I took it. That's all."

"Idiots." Miles repeats with a chuckle. "I like her."

Charlie crosses her arms stubbornly. "Hmph." She says.

Bass moves to stand next to Charlie and holds out their baby. "Maybe cut Duncan some slack. She may not be a real Fortune Teller, but I think she did okay – at least this time."

Charlie softens at the sight of her sweet Baby Vegas. It's hard to stay mad when faced with all those curly blond locks and big blue eyes. "Fine. You're right." She turns to Duncan, "Thanks, for.. you know… helping….for giving us that nudge."

"You're welcome." Duncan smiles crookedly as Connor wraps an arm around her shoulder and kisses her temple.

Miles pipes up, "Why don't you all come in? We'll have dinner. Rachel baked bread. There's some venison, and…" he looks down at the almost empty bottle in his hand, "I think there's more whiskey somewhere too."

The visitors agree and everyone starts for the door. Charlie pulls Duncan aside, "Thanks."

"You already said thanks." Duncan says, her eyebrow arching in question.

"Well, that was thanks for helping us get together… and I am thankful for what you did there. I was being stubborn." Charlie pauses for a moment. "Things are so good now…life with Bass and Vegas… it's perfect. I don't know if we'd have made it this far without your help."

"I think you would have gotten there eventually." Duncan says.

Charlie shrugs, "Maybe, but it's actually something else I wanted to thank you for. He told me what you did for him after the tower, how much you helped him, how much of a friend you were. So, thank you for saving him back then… and for bringing Connor today. Bass has felt like he had a missing piece ever since his son left. Now that he's back… well, you've made him so incredibly happy."

Duncan shakes her head, "Nah. I helped him get back on track. That's all. You're the reason he's happy. It's all you."

Bass comes back out onto the porch then. He eyes Charlie and Duncan curiously. "You guys coming in?"

"Yeah." Charlie says with a smile. We are."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Later, when they've all had their fill of food and drink (Rachel's bread isn't nearly as tasty as Miles's whiskey, but everyone has had a bit of both), the group sits around catching up. Connor and Duncan talk about their plans to return to New Vegas. It is obvious that Tiny will follow them wherever they go. The Lady Veronica gig has been a success, and they will continue entertaining anyone willing to pay for the pleasure. Miles and Bass have filled Duncan and Connor in on how the Patriot War had been won, and everyone gets a chuckle at the recent news that Frank Blanchard will be the next President of Texas.

Charlie mostly just listens. She has settled into an old rocking chair in a corner of the big farmhouse kitchen. Vegas is curled in her mother's arms, sleeping quietly. Charlie strokes the baby's chubby cheeks, and watches the soft rise and fall of her chest. Charlie loves Bass with all her heart. He makes her happier than she could have ever hoped, but it wasn't until she became a mother that Charlie truly felt complete. Being in love with Bass, and being the mother to his sweet baby has made Charlie the happiest woman on Earth.

She notices that the room has gone silent and she glances up to see Bass standing in front of her with a nervous grin. "Hey Charlie."

"Hey?" She replies hesitantly, wondering what is going on.

Bass squats near Charlie's feet. He leans close and presses a soft kiss to the soft blond curls on his daughter's head. He then looks into Charlie's eyes and smiles again, "You know I love you?"

She nods, "And I love you Bass." She glances at the others and notes all eyes are on them. Rachel has a hand pressed against her mouth and her eyes look moist. Duncan smiles crookedly. Connor has his arm around his love, and watches with a pleased expression. Miles just rolls his eyes.

Clearly something is up.

"What's going on Bass?"

"You know how when we came back from the safe house after New Vegas and let everyone know we were together, we talked about maybe someday we'd get married?"

Charlie feels a lurch as her heartbeat accelerates. "I remember."

"And do you remember I said I wanted to wait because maybe the Fortune Teller was right? That maybe Connor would be here again? I wanted him to be there when we….you know."

"You want to get married?" she asks, eyes wide.

"Yeah," Bass says, his voice cracking a little. "Yeah, I do." He pulls something from a rear pocket and holds it out so that she can look at it.

It's a simple silver band. It's not fancy or flashy. "It's perfect." Charlie breathes softly. "I love it."

"So, is that a yes?"

"Yes." She leans closer to him to get a kiss, but Vegas stirs and both of her parents' attention is immediately drawn to the tiny child. Rachel swoops in, hushing her granddaughter quietly as she carries her to the other side of the room.

Bass grasps Charlie's hands tightly. "You are amazing Charlie. You and Baby Vegas…you are my life. I'll be happy as long as you are with me."

"Then you're going to be happy for a very long time." Charlie says before pressing her lips to his. "Cause we aren't going anywhere."

Bass stands and pulls Charlie to her feet. He wraps an arm around her and steers her to face the gathered people. "We're getting married." Bass says with a grin. Charlie smiles up at him.

"Yeah, we heard." Miles mutters, shaking his head. "All this mushy bullshit is killing my buzz though. Is there any whiskey left?"

"I'm pretty sure you've had enough." Rachel whispers harshly.

"Didn't need a psychic to see that coming." Bass mutters before kissing Charlie softly. They say good night and leave the kitchen, knowing that Vegas is in good hands with Rachel. "I really do love you." He whispers.

Charlie opens their bedroom door and pulls him inside the room. "Show me." She says.

So that's what he does.

END

A/N I really hope you liked reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. It started with a tiny idea about Charlie and Bass visiting a psychic… and then it grew into something a bit more complex than I'd originally planned. Anyway, I love weaving a story together so that all the different parts come full circle. I hope that's what happened here.

Duncan Page has always intrigued me, and this story gave me an opportunity to really explore her character and what she might have meant to Bass. Watching that scene where he's just heard of her death, and he's grieving quietly…that breaks my heart every time I see it. Clearly there was a story there. This was my attempt to write it.

After the way I've been treating Connor in my other current story, I felt like he deserved some happiness here…and I brought in Frank Blanchard because that old pervert cracks me up and he's a hoot to write for.

In spite of the rest of what was going on here… at its heart, this was of course a Charloe story, and it was fun to give them a chance to slowly work through their issues with each other… and finally find together what they could never find apart: contentment and happiness.

Review if you have a minute. I don't think I can fully express how much it means to hear from readers. I adore every comment and review and not only do they keep me going…they also help me to improve my writing. So, let me know what you think.

Special thank you/shout out to my friend IceonFire7 who correctly guessed Duncan was the Fortune Teller. Since she figured it out I asked for her to review this epilogue and her feedback was much appreciated.