A/N - Wow, two chapters within a few days! This scene came to me and I just had to get it down. I've got another in mind after this one, so hopefully I'll have time to get that out sometime this week, possibly before the new episode airs. Anyway, I felt some of the following conversations had to happen, so I hope it doesn't come across as too melodramatic or anything. There does seem to be a fine line between gripping drama and ridiculous, TV soap type scenes :D

As always, happy reading!

~x LizAna

Charlie leaned against the tree and took a quick bite out of the apple she held, watching as men milled around the field they'd stopped in. They were half way back to Willoughby, and not exactly making camp, just taking a break for an hour or two before continuing on because Miles wanted to get back sooner rather than later. Leaving her mom behind seemed to have put him on edge.

Duncan had caught up with them an hour out of Vegas, just like she'd promised, and had around fifty men with her. Monroe had looked happy to see her and the war clan, but something about the woman put Charlie on edge. She didn't trust her, but it went deeper than that, though she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was about the woman that sent cold tingles down her spine.

So they'd walked all through the night, Charlie keeping to the back of their little procession, not in the mood to chat with anyone. Funnily enough, Monroe had ended up beside her, and they'd spent the dark hours in easy company, making the occasional comment or observation, or just walking in undemanding silence.

Monroe was about the only person she could tolerate right at the moment, which should have been about the most insane thing she'd ever thought. Miles had become hard to talk to, now that he and Rachel were together, it brought Charlie too close to all the simmering issues her and her mom couldn't seem to work out. Connor was nice enough, but kind of reminded her of some annoying puppy who only wanted to impress her, especially after— Well, she didn't want to think about the little moment of insanity she'd initiated back in Vegas. And she definitely didn't want to be anywhere near Jason, even though she'd really cared about him at one stage; he was way too complicated. So, yeah, that left Monroe and his quiet understanding. She couldn't work out why they meshed so well; there should have been a million reasons why they didn't, but he was about the only one she really trusted to be herself around right now — well, as much as she could trust Monroe, anyway. A small voice in the back of her head kept trying to remind her of who he had been, what he'd directly and indirectly done to her, and that him screwing her over was probably only a matter of time.

"Not going to rest?"

Charlie glanced over her shoulder to see Monroe stepping out from a strand of trees, adjusting his low-slung belt, adorned with the machete he'd apparently stolen from the Vegas creep who'd imprisoned him and Connor.

She turned her attention back to their new companions. "Maybe I'll take a moment when we get back to Willoughby, right now, I'm too on edge."

Monroe stopped less than two steps away from her. "What's wrong, don't you like the ruthless war clan we got on side?"

"Sure, I guess if we are going on this suicide mission against the Patriots, we could use the force, but I don't trust her." She nodded toward where Duncan stood talking to the two men who must have been her seconds in command, she always had at least one of them by her side. "And I don't understand how you can trust her."

Monroe gave a short, cynical laugh. "Come on, now, Charlotte. You know I don't trust anyone."

She glanced back at him, and brought the apple up to her mouth again, but before she could finish the last half, Monroe caught her wrist and slipped the fruit out of her hand.

"Hey!"

He held her eye with a challenging expression as he took a large bite out of the apple.

"You're just not the sharing type, are you?" He sent her a smart-ass grin. "Anyhow, you can't talk, I saw you steal this from the bag of apples one of Duncan's men had in his pack."

She glared at him. Damn, she really thought no one had seen that. "I offered to buy one from him, but he wasn't dealing. If an apple got stolen, that was his own fault."

Monroe laughed, before munching through the remains of the fruit. He tossed the core aside and then braced a hand against the tree beside her head, before leaning in closer, tilting his head down a little.

"Have you been keeping an eye on Tom or Jason Neville?"

She looked up, her heart skipping a little as she met his intense blue gaze at short range. "Yeah, I'm keeping tabs on them."

Monroe gave a single, half nod. "Good, because you can bet your ass those two are up to something, and personally I'd like to find out what it is before they get a chance to act. Between you, me, and Miles, hopefully we can work out their angle before it comes around to nail us between the eyes."

She nodded, because her own thoughts had run the same scenario. "If I see anything, you'll be the first to know."

Monroe nodded, and for a long moment, his gaze roamed over her face, leaving her wondering what he saw, or what he was looking for.

"Speak of the devil... make sure you keep on your toes," Monroe murmured. He reached up and smoothed his fingers along a tumble of her hair, before pushing off from the tree and stalking away. He brushed by Jason, and the two men shared a glare as they crossed paths.

Charlie crossed her arms as Jason came to a stop in front of her. For a second, he stood there and stared at her, a hard expression on his face, hands stuffed in his pockets and posture defensive.

"What's your problem, Jason?" She asked as things quickly became uncomfortable. She straightened from her slouch against the tree.

"I'm trying to work out what could have possibly changed you so much that you'd get into bed with him."

He might as well have slapped her, his words a verbal assault. Shock jolted her system, but was quickly replaced by anger. "You're way out of line, and not that its any of your business, but I'm not sleeping with Monroe."

Charlie went to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm. "Fine, maybe you're not sleeping with him, but you're on his side now, you actually trust him. And even if you can't admit it, you do care for him."

She yanked her arm out of his grip and took a large step back. "Oh yeah? And how did you work that out in the whole five minutes you've been here?"

Jason's features took on a sad edge, but the expression was so fleeting, she could have imagined it. "Because you look at him the same way you used to look at me."

A deep spike of something she couldn't name cut through her, and she couldn't do this conversation anymore. "Why are you here, Jason, you and your dad? I mean the real reason, 'cos I don't believe you tracked down Miles just because you want to make some joint effort against the Patriots."

Jason took a step back, his face closing down into a detached mask. "If you had any sense, you'd stay away from Monroe."

He didn't say anything else, and obviously didn't expect a response, as he spun and stalked off in the opposite direction Monroe had gone a few minutes earlier.

With a long sigh, Charlie turned, intending to go find somewhere she could be alone for five minutes, and almost walked right into Connor behind her.

"Let me guess, ex-boyfriend?" Connor rested a hand on the butt of his holstered gun.

"You have got to be kidding me. Did you guys choreograph this, or something?" She rolled her eyes and shoved past Connor, sending him stumbling back a step.

"Hey!" He didn't let her get away, but kept along side her as she walked. "Why are you pissed at me for?"

She cut him a sideways glare, wishing he could take a hint and leave her alone. "I'm not pissed at you, so much as the entire male population, does that help?"

He caught her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. "Come on, Charlie, I just want five seconds of your time. You've been avoiding me ever since we left New Vegas."

She shrugged him off and faced him, bracing a hand on her hip. "Yeah, I have, so why don't you take that for the message it is."

Connor ran a hand through his hair, and gave a short, humorless laugh. "Wow, ouch. Okay, so that's it then?"

"Yeah that's it, because this was nothing to begin with. I told you, you were cute—"

"And you were bored. Yeah, I got it the first time, thanks." He shook his head, glancing down, before meeting her eye again, his dark gaze earnest. "Look, Charlie. I get that maybe you don't think much of me, whether its because I'm Monroe's son and you think I've got the same bastard DNA he does, or if its something else, I don't know. But quite clearly we're going to be spending a lot of time together, and even if you think its pointless because we'll be dead inside a year or whatever, well, I'd still like for us to get to know each other, at least be friends."

"Friends?" She scoffed, and crossed her arms, pretending like his words hadn't struck something inside her. She didn't want to care about Connor. She didn't need another person to cry over when the inevitable happened and he got killed. But she couldn't deny there was something way to charming about him, just like his father. Connor might want to deny it, but the two of them had more than a little in common.

"Just think about it, okay?" With one last solemn look aimed in her direction, he turned and walked away, heading off toward where Miles and Monroe stood talking.

Monroe caught her eye, his gaze moving from her to Connor, and then back again. Something sparked in the way he stared at her, sending her heart thumping.

With a muttered curse, she turned away from him and walked into the nearest tree line, definitely needing that quiet five minutes after putting up with all that stupid drama.