AN: These two are fan fiction fodder if ever I saw it. So much was conveyed via 'look' in that last New Vegas scene it practically killed me. So here's to hoping I don't have to give up on Charloe anytime soon! And can I just say poor Monroe? I didn't realize until this last episode just how oblivious he is to the whole thing. It'd be like asking him, "Tension?" "Yes." "Sexual tension?" "Huh?"

Anyways, even if the writers are just teasing us, I'm glad hope lives on. Also, if you haven't seen the video of David talking about 2x14 on you tube you should check it out. Gives some nice perspective on the character (and some nice validation for this story.) Www you tube com/watch?v=TK6Q44caxrQ

AN2: Haven't written anything in a while, but this was clawing to get out of my head so I figured I'd better get it out before the rabid non-plot bunny caused permanent damage. As usual I apologize for any grammatical mistakes or wild inconsistencies with the show as I have no beta and haven't rewatched the episodes since they aired. And please let me know what you think! Monroe is a tough one to write!

What Happens In New Vegas

Sebastian Monroe was… confounded? No, too strong a word. Puzzled? Not strong enough. Perplexed? Yea, that had a goldilocks zone ring to it. Not the point. God he was tired.

After they parted with Duncan they left New Vegas with Charlie in the lead. It was late but there was nothing to be done about that. They needed to get back to Willoughby with their meager reinforcements as soon as possible so they headed straight for their wagon. When they got there Bass was interested to see a second one, hitched and ready to go alongside their own. Charlie's surprise was apparent and one of her new groupies spoke up almost immediately.

"Courtesy of Duncan. Thought it would be a bit crowded with all of us in one wagon."

"Mighty generous of her," Bass muttered, causing Charlie to smile while they loaded up.

He reached for the reins of their wagon at the same time she did. He looked up at her, expecting her to let go only to have her yank them out of his hand as she looked back.

"You guys are exhausted. I'll take the first leg while you two get some sleep."

"No."

"Yes."

"Charlie," his brow furrowed in consternation, "if you think I'm just going to fall asleep and leave you alone to deal with these men you are sorely mistaken."

One eyebrow went up and amusement lit her expression. "I'll be just fine with my men, so you will drop the overprotective act and get some sleep. Go." She made a shooing motion with her hand.

Bass was mildly offended by her blasé brush off. "At least…"

"Go!"

"Fine," he grouched, hauling his battered form into the bed of the wagon and settling down to keep an eye on her, regardless of her orders. Connor lounged next to him and was asleep moments after they started moving. Ah, the sleep of the guiltless mind. Bass envied him that. His own dreams were usually filled with blood and screams. Eventually the gentle sway of the wagon got to him and he passed fitfully into sleep.

A nasty rut woke him with a jolt a few hours later and his first thought was of Charlie. That concerned him more than he liked and the nearness of strangers made him restless. He snorted and shook his head at his son, still sleeping peacefully next to him, before asking Charlie to slow enough for him to jump down and switch vehicles. Time at the reigns would give him some distance and a chance to clear his head.

Most of Duncan's men were dozing, the driver of the other wagon sitting stoically behind the reigns until he was relieved, giving Bass the bench to himself.

His mind was a jumble, thoughts spilling everywhere as his tired brain tried to deal with the past couple days on too little sleep. His thoughts kept circling around Charlie, Connor and Duncan's last words, "you're way better than he deserves." What the hell was that supposed to mean?

He tried to think back to when they first found Duncan. From the moment they stepped into the casino there seemed to be some sort of assumption that Charlie was "his woman" in-so-much as any woman with a gun can belong to someone. Connor may as well been invisible for all the notice he got when Charlie was present. Bass let it go because while he knew that Charlie was with him and not "with" him, being Jimmy King's girl could possibly afford her some protection. He really did think that, rude comment aside, Duncan would realize that. Looking back now he could see from his negotiations with her that she hadn't.

It explained the exorbitant price. In her eyes, a blonde girl shows up in town looking for him, then they both disappear. Next thing you know he's back with the blonde in tow and asking for favors. That had to sting a bit. Not to say that he and Duncan had some exclusive relationship, but they'd had some good times before he took off without a word. So in retrospect turning on the charm probably wasn't the best play, but the truth didn't seem like an entirely believable option and he definitely wasn't used to having to justify himself to anyone. Well, anyone outside the Matheson family anyways.

He sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. He'd chosen to drive thinking the quiet would be good and the night air would clear his head. Instead it was just giving him a headache. He'd blame it on the ever present exhaustion and physical abuse, but tonight that dull throb got a little sharper every time his thoughts circled closer to Charlie.

He supposed they had "history," if you want to call their string of violent encounters that. All life saving aside he wasn't expecting to be anything other than grudging allies, and technically he wasn't even expecting that when it came to Charlie. This more formidable Charlie was not the same cowering girl he'd met in the Republic. She wasn't even the petulant but determined one he'd met at the Tower. This Charlie was a seasoned warrior and worthy of his respect. That still didn't mean he thought Miles was going to let her fight the good fight when they started a war. Yet here she was, spending her time off gallivanting with a man she not-so-long ago was dead set on killing. So apparently she was going to do whatever she saw fit to help take down the Patriots.

Her unshakable self confidence and sense of 'right' was, if not irresistible, certainly alluring to a man like himself. It was what intrigued him about the entire Matheson family, their indefatigable sense of fairness and their gapping blind spots when it came to their personal lives. That righteousness tended towards the harsh with Miles and coldly judgmental with Rachel, but there was something different about Charlie. She had an openness he couldn't attribute to her youth. Maybe it was from her father, maybe it was all her own, but to have that after all she had seen was practically a miracle. When you looked at her you could see what was going on behind her eyes. Not her thoughts exactly, but feelings; anger, fear, hate, humor, concern… hope.

He was lucky he could read Miles like a book, but that was from years of knowing him. Even when he wasn't judging you his expressions didn't range much beyond determined and annoyed; the exception being the occasional constipated look he got when Rachel was around. Love had never been an attractive look on him in Bass' opinion. And looking for emotion in Rachel's eyes was like trying to pry secrets from a wall of ice.

If he'd been talking aloud he would be rambling. Thankfully there was no one listening inside his head but himself. Not the point. What was he thinking about? Oh, Charlie. Charlie was intriguing. An intriguing pain in the ass, but he didn't mind having her around.

He had noticed the tension between Charlie and himself. It was undeniable now that he really thought about it. Every interaction they had was fraught with it. She pushed, prodded and poked every boundary and limit he had… and, oddly enough, he let her. Sometimes it was hatred and cruelty that prompted a poke, other times hostilities started over a clash of wills, but more and more frequently it was a quiet curiosity that nudged at old scars and new.

It was possible she didn't entirely hate him anymore. There were a lot more smirks and smiles than scowls. She seemed to trust his judgement these days rather than outright dismissing it… but that still didn't add up to him sleeping with Miles' niece. And yet, even though she actually slept with his son (a mistake of high order he hoped she wasn't keen on repeating) she never once denied being with him. She simply accepted Duncan's assessment of the situation with a smile and moved on.

Had he really been blind to it this whole time? If she weren't Miles' niece would they be together right now? And with all these revelations that hours of contemplation had bought him contaminating his thoughts, how did he unthink them before he came face to face with her again?

He didn't have long to ponder. Charlie slowed to a halt as the sun started to rise. She called for a short break and took off into the woods. He instinctively wanted to follow her, so instead he walked in the opposite direction to stretch and relieve himself. She could take care of herself and until he could work out the exact nature of their relationship he didn't want to deal with her.

The fates seemed to playing with him as a few minutes later he retook his seat only to have Charlie climb up next to him. He sent a glare her way hoping she would take the hint and go back to her own wagon. Her eyes brows went up and he could tell she was trying not to laugh outright in his face. As if that wasn't answer enough she accompanied her expression with, "Don't give me that look. Connor hasn't shut up once since he woke up two hours ago. I need some quiet."

His jaw tensed ever so slightly at the mention of his son's name. "No."

"No?"

"No."

It was painfully silent as she considered his refusal, face serious. "What's bothering you most about this whole situation? That I saved your ass, that you're not in charge, that I slept with Connor …or that everyone thinks I'm sleeping with you and I'm not."

He was taken aback by her question but didn't intend to show it. "Go. Away." he growled between gritted teeth.

She starred back at him hard for a few moments more than he was comfortable with until she seemed satisfied; the spark of humor returned to her eyes. She jumped down and called back, "Chatty Cathy is all yours. Enjoy!" and walked away, hips swinging.

What the hell was that? He shook his head and rubbed at the pain, sharp as an sword between his eyes. Connor joined him shortly. Apparently Charlie had told the kid he wanted to talk to him.

"Look, if you are gonna tell me to stay away from Charlie again I don't want to hear it. I get it, you don't want me with her, but she is different and interesting and umph!" He was cut off abruptly as Bass snapped the reigns and he had to grab hold of his seat or fall off the wagon.

"Actually kid, I didn't want to see you, she just got tired of listening to you yap."

Harsh but effective. Connor was quiet for a long time after that. After a bit he glanced over at the young man sulking next to him and considered Charlie's question. Was he upset about any of those things?

Her saving his ass wasn't even close to a problem; mutual ass saving was pretty much a given at this point.

Duncan giving the men to Charlie did stick in his craw a bit. He was too used to giving orders and having them followed without question to not be bothered when he was completely disregarded, but he also knew that she would consider anything he told her and relay that to her 'troops' so he kind of figured what the hell. Miles never listened to him either so he was probably going to have to get used to everyone ignoring his orders again.

That left two options.

He'd admit that her and Connor sleeping together bothered him, but not because he was jealous. At least he didn't think that was a factor in his discomfort.

He wasn't entirely sure how this father thing worked, but he knew he wanted something better for Connor than what he'd had in Mexico. The only things that Bass could give Connor were the Monroe name and a lot of emotional baggage. He hoped his son would take the former and do something better with it than he had. The latter he wouldn't wish on anybody, especially not his only child. He wanted Connor to find happiness and hold on to it. For someone raised by a monster Connor was remarkably innocent. He'd grown up in an insular world and still had the potential to become a good man, unscarred by the horrible things in his father's past. At the center of those horrible things was the remainder of the Matheson family. Bass would never be able to untangle his fate from theirs, but if he could get Connor away from them and set up with a new Monroe Republic then maybe he had a chance to make something of himself. A chance to find love without the ever-present judgement from Rachel and that Look from Miles that said he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knew what they said about the sins of the father and all that. If Connor had anything to do with the Matheson family they would always transfer his sins to his son. So yea, Connor and Charlie hooking up bothered him.

As for the last item on her list, originally the assumption that he was screwing around with some young thing didn't even phase him. He knew they were wrong. And frankly if it were another girl and another time he'd probably be proud of it. But now the thought of it, and just how wrong they all were made his fists clench and open and clench again. They didn't know Charlie. She wasn't some fight whore giving it up to the guy that won the most rounds.

It hadn't started to bothered him until she didn't deny it. She practically acknowledged it with that little smile she'd given Duncan. Did she not mind them thinking that? That was nearly tantamount to her wanting to sleep with him. He sure as hell hadn't been upset because Charlie wasn't sleeping with him until she put the idea there!

He looked again at his son who resembled him so much and had to wonder at Charlie's motivation for sleeping with the kid. Was it possible that he had missed the point of that whole scenario?

If Miles could see the images that'd started flickering through his mind he'd likely cut his balls off and present them to Rachel for a keepsake. He liked his balls safely where they were so he was determined to banish all inappropriate thoughts of Charlie.

He wasn't going to think about how her bare legs had looked when he found her with Connor or that sexy little nighty she'd been wearing when she rescued them or the way her eyes sparkled every time she looked at him… damn it. Miles was going to kill him if his head didn't explode first. And he hadn't even done anything wrong yet!