This is our second fan fiction, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the first one. We'll still be continuing with our original ('Love In Danger?') but we just thought we'd try something different, although it's still a Chax-focused story hehe. Hope you enjoy it

It takes place just after Charlie kills Hammer (as in the actual TV show).

Charlies POV:

I sit in the back seat of Watson's police car with a blanket around my shoulders, staring at the havoc all around me. Blood is still dripping from my face, a reminder of the kidnapping, and the events that transpired; everything tastes of salt and metal. I stare at the black body bag as it rolls passed the police car, soundlessly, knowing what – or rather who – lies beneath it; time seems to have broken, everything seems slower.

I am only broken out of my trance by a familiar voice – Watson. 'Charlie - Charlie - ' she says, stepping into my line of sight and hiding the body bag – and all the other carnage – from view.

I snap out of my train of thought, and reply with a monotonous, 'Yes?'

'Charlie, we need to take you to the hospital to get that head wound checked out.' Without really processing what she's saying, I nod.

'Please tell Ruby that I'm okay.'

Watson nods before ushering me inside the car properly. She closes the door and gets in the front. Before we drive away, I can't help looking out at the scene one last time. One thing catches my eye, and suddenly I really wish I hadn't looked out. Brax stands in the midst of it all, looking back at me, one familiar element in the chaos.

I lay now in the hospital bed, my head wound all patched up. Whatever drugs they've dosed me with have taken away the headache, and slowly but surely, things are starting to come back into focus. What I am waiting for now is the results of the MRI the doctors – specifically Sid – insisted I have, just to make sure no permanent damage was caused by the blow. I don't know whether time is still broken or whether Sid was just really quick with getting the results back, because before I know it, he has returned, a manila folder in hand, a serious look on his face. As he looks at me, his expression only becomes more serious, which makes me worry that perhaps there really is more damage than I thought there was.

My suspicion is all but confirmed by the first thing he says to me - 'Charlie...I have some bad news.'

BRAXS POV:

500 years later and the doctors finally believe me when I tell them that nothing's wrong with me, aside from the fractured wrist of course. I am finally let out of the emergency room, only so I can be escorted to the police station for questioning, where I'll undoubtedly spend another 500 years trying to convince the police that for once none of what happened was my doing. It was Hammer who'd tried to get to me, Hammer who'd brought the weapon, Hammer who'd tried to kill me before Charlie had –

Charlie. As if just thinking about her summoned her to me, I see her sitting in a hospital room not too far away. Ruby is in there with her, and unsurprisingly, neither of them look too happy. Charlie's eyes flick up, and she sees me. Ruby looks over her shoulder and half-smiles at me, almost sympathetically. I don't know whether or not Charlie would want to talk to me, but I have to talk to her.

'What are you doing?' one of the cops walking behind me asks.

'I'm going to talk to Sergeant Buckton, if that's alright?' I ask him. Too bad if it's not alright. Both of the cops look at me, neither of them seeming too impressed.

'Five minutes,' the second cop says sternly. They follow me like bad smells as I head towards the room.

As I come closer to the room, Ruby walks out. Hopefully it's because she wants to give us some privacy, and not because she's trying to avoid me.

'Hey, Brax,' Ruby says to me, sounding tired. 'I'm just going to go to the cafeteria to get some coffee – would you like anything to drink?'

'No thank you, Rubes,' I tell her, knowing that I won't have time to drink it, seeing as I have to get down to the police station. She smiles at me again and disappears; the cops wait just outside the doorway as I go inside.

'Hey,' I say as I enter. 'Are you alright?'

Charlie nods. 'I'm just waiting for my discharge papers now.' Her head is all bandaged up, and she looks withdrawn. She doesn't look alright to me.

'How's your head?'

'Fine.' I know when she's lying, but I won't pull her up on it.

'Charlie – I'm so sorry about today. I – '

'Save it, Brax,' she says dismissively. 'Okay? Let's just not talk about it.'

'Not talk about it? How can we just not talk about it?'

'It's simple really – we just don't talk to each other. At least not for a while.'

'So, you kill a man – ' she grimaces, ' – to save my life and you just don't want to talk about it?'

'No, not really.'

'Charlie, this is ridiculous! After everything that happened today you're still mad at me for – ' I stop, realising that getting angry about this isn't going to help our messed up situation. 'Charlie...even Hammer could see that what's going on here isn't something that we can just not talk about or ignore altogether. Okay? I won't ignore this anymore. Charlie I l – '

'I'm going up the coast for a few days,' she interrupts me, jumping down off of the bed. 'I need to get away from here, from all of this, and from you. I can't deal with this right now, Brax.'

'Charlie...'

'Where are those discharge papers?' She pushes past me and leaves the room without looking back.

CHARLIES POV:

It was hard enough telling Brax that I didn't want to talk to him, but it was even harder to tell Ruby that I am leaving town. As I thought she would, she offered to come with me, and while I would love to spend some time away with her, she has school to think about, and more than anything I need the time alone to clear my head.

My mind keeps drifting back to what Sid told me at the hospital. I guess it hasn't fully sunk in yet. I can't tell Ruby – not now, maybe not for a long while. She would just be so worried and she already has enough to worry about, especially with her HSC coming up. I decide that now, at least, is not the right time to tell anyone. I hope that the time away will give me time to come to terms with what's happened, and what's going to happen next. If it doesn't, then maybe I just won't tell anyone at all – what's the point of burdening people with the weight of something that you yourself cannot bare?