Near the river, close to her

Charlie is gathering wood. His kid is watching her and is doing absolutely nothing. Bass' hands are in the pockets of his black leather jacket while he watches them. He knows he should have stayed away. With every step he takes towards Connor, more bitter rawness flows through his blood. Tension runs through his jaws and the muscles of his neck when Connor looks at her and she fucking smiles at him.

'You're going to get yourself another scoop?' His voice sounds low and gruff while his eyes are fixed on a spot on the ground in front of him. Dark and deep irritation fills his chest. It almost hides what he doesn't want to feel but can't push away when it comes to her. He tries to swallow it away. He fails.

'It's creepy the way you talk to me sometimes.' Connor looks at him before he finds Charlie with his eyes again.

Bass looks at Charlie before he looks away. 'You want to bang that? You go at it, I don't care.' It's a fucking lie. He knows it. Hell, even his kid knows it, it's there in the way he looks at him again. 'We have bigger things to worry about.' The Republic. It's always there, as a way to pull Connor back to him.

Connor is still looking at him with a deep intensity in his eyes when Bass hears her behind him. The wood she has gathered is forgotten and on the ground behind her. Bass turns around while Connor takes a couple of steps towards the both of them. She is standing in front of him, her eyes filled with fury and hell. 'Don't you ever talk about me like that, Monroe' She is pissed, and fuck, she is so much like Miles when her strength and anger fill her words and eyes.

Bass swallows. Regret start to fill his chest and joins the dark wave of something he still can't acknowledge. He is not sure what is going to happen. Her eyes are still connected with his, refusing to let him go. Connor is about to say something when there is a shift in the air. She has felt it too, Bass can sense it while it's flowing through her. The warrior inside her wakes up with the same intensity that fills his blood.

After that moment, the ground under them shakes. The sound of an explosion and the first gunshots fill the air. Her eyes find his one more time and he can see something inside of her eyes that always happens when it is him and her fighting something they never imagined fighting together. But then the moment between them breaks and disappears.

Charlie starts running back to their small camp close to the river. She starts running back to Miles and everyone else. He follows her. Connor is right behind them. All hell breaks loose. Tom fucking Neville is there. Truman and a bunch of other kaki assholes he just wants to kill his way through are close. Duncan's men are already in the middle of the fight. Charlie runs to them whit her gun in her hands, Connor is covering her. Bass' thoughts fill with rage while his blood is filled with a desire to kill. And finally, Tom Neville appears from the shadow of the fight. He is standing in front of him. Both men look at each other. And all the betrayal from the son of a bitch fuel his anger when they start to fight. But between every punch and with every new gunshot that fills the air, Bass is aware of her, fighting close to him while he fights Tom Neville. A new explosion fills the air and he can't see her anymore. He does see Connor, struggling with Jason Neville. He needs to get to his kid. He needs to find Miles. He needs to find Charlie and they all need to get the hell out of here. He punches Neville one more time, and feels hot satisfaction run through his blood when his fist connects with his face before the asshole lands on the ground.

The sky fills with the promise of nightfall. When Miles screams at him that they have to go, Bass grabs Connor and starts running. It only takes a couple of heartbeats to realize Charlie isn't there. When they reach the safety of a line of trees, Bass asks Connor where he has seen her for the last time. He looks at his brother while Connor talks him through the last minutes when he had seen her. Miles' eyes are filled with the same worry that lives in his. Decades of knowing each other and many battles fought together mean they only need one nod and a couple of words before they split up. Time moves them into the night.

It's dark. It's cold. It is too cold for her to be out there. Alone. On her own. Hurt. The images that fill his mind make his mouth dry and his thoughts chaotic. A pale moon adds a soft, eerie light to the Texan landscape when he follows the line of trees close to the river.

And with every lonely fear filled step he can hear his own words again. You want to bang that. I don't care. Bass curses at himself. With every minute that passes the look in her eyes when she had stood in front of him hours ago, haunt him. His boots leave prints in the path that meanders through the forest close to the river. And then, he finally sees her. He finds her. She is lying close to the water of the wide river. She isn't moving. He rushes over to her before he kneels down next to her. Wild panic spreads through his chest. When he feels her warm breath and sees that her chest is still moving, some of the panic starts to subside.

'Charlie…hey…' His hand cups her face. She barely reacts to his voice and his heart is fucking breaking because she leans into his touch. She mumbles something. Her skin is carrying the start of bruises. She is shivering. She is cold. He doesn't know what the hell happened but he feels rage when he thinks about the asshole that did this to her. His voice is deep and low, while he is desperately trying to push the panic away. For her. 'Charlie..hey…stay with me..' She barely responds. He gathers her in his arms. He knows he has to get her out of here. When he pulls her closer and starts walking back to Miles with her in his arms, his scruff brushes against her temple. 'I'm sorry.' His voice is barely above a whisper, only meant for her to hear. He doesn't know if she can hear him. He doesn't know why the hell he says it to her. He just knows it is the truth. The moonlight brushes her face, while her head is resting against the fabric of his leather jacket and his chest.

Back at their rendezvous point he has to let her go. Miles is there, gathering her in his arms. Rachel is there, pushing him away with a cold look in her eyes. They find a safe house and doc take cares of Charlie. Bass moves his hand over his face. He finds an old couch in the back of the living room that is filled with the darkness of night. He's exhausted but he can't sleep. It's almost dawn when he hears the soft voices of the old doc telling Miles and Rachel she will be okay. He falls asleep on the couch, his dreams filled with the chaos and the fight and her eyes.

They stay at their new safe house for another day so Charlie can get her strength back. He hasn't talked to her. He hasn't seen her. He gets up after another night from hell on the couch in the living room that is too small for him, to get some fresh air. Outside, his eyes scan the lines of the horizon while the morning light fills the Texan sky. But when he hears the sound of boots on the porch behind him, he turns around. Even before looking at her, he knows it's her. Bass isn't sure if she remembers it was him that carried her to safety. He is not sure if she remembers what he has told her when it was just him and her, close to his chest. But when her eyes meet his when she walks of the steps of the porch of their safe house, Bass knows she didn't forget. She knows it was him. And she has heard everything he had to say to her. She remembers.

Author's Note: I really enjoyed thinking about adding and writing this scene that belongs somewhere between episode 16 and 17 from season two. I borrowed two lines from a deleted scene from season two because it is such an interesting scene. I, of course, do not own Revolution. I just love it, very much. Love from Love