Chapter Text
Willougby, TX.
“It’s war Miles. We’re going to beat these sons of bitches.”
Miles and Monroe wander an abandoned barn, surveying a stockpile of weapons. Miles runs his hands down his face. He’s tired of war. “Yeah, we’ve got to.”
“It’ll be like the old days,” Monroe says with a grin. “We’re going to have some fun.”
Miles gives a little laugh. “You seem a little too thrilled about it, Bass.”
“I’m spoiling for a fight, brother.”
“I can see that,” Miles says, distracted by seeing Charlie enter the barn. “But we’ve got more to lose now.”
“Not me. I only lose if I don’t fight,” Bass says as Charlie approaches them.
“Never change, Monroe,” she says.
He glares at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“War. Fighting. It’s what you’re good at.”
Is she mocking him? He can’t tell. “Well, at least – “
Miles puts a stop to what he knows will become a war of sarcasm between them. “What’s up Charlie?”
“The guys are looking for you. They’re getting impatient for a plan.”
“See?” Monroe looks at Miles, who rolls his eyes. Monroe looks at Charlie, feeling victorious after winning this tiny battle.
“They want a plan, not something half-baked with hostages,” she smirks.
“Good thing they’re looking to people with experience then, and not smug dilettantes.”
She glares.
“Okay, you two.” Miles has had enough. “I’d love to have a plan. We don’t have a plan.”
Monroe opens his mouth to talk.
“Something we’ve thought through.” Miles clarifies.
“I thought you and Frank wanted to wait hear back from California?” Charlie asks.
“We can’t wait for Affleck,” Monroe says. “These men are spoiling for a fight and we gotta get moving.”
Miles looks at him and then back at Charlie.
“I hate to say this, but he’s right,” Charlie says. She refuses to look at Monroe.
“What was that, Charlotte? Can you say it a little louder?” He of course milks this for all it’s worth.
Miles rolls his eyes and walks over to a table that has a map of the New United States unfolded on top. “We’re going to separate into three groups. You’ll lead one Bass, I’ll lead one, and Frank will. Charlie, you’ll be with me.”
“Okay.” She glances at Monroe, waiting for him to tease her about not having her own team to manage. He just looks back at her, with a slightly raised eyebrow. Too easy.
She rolls her eyes and looks away.
“Think Frank can say sober?” Monroe asks.
“Let’s hope so.” Miles shakes his head.
Monroe gives him a look.
“Probably not,” Miles agrees.
“All right then,” Monroe pushes away from the table. “Now that we’ve pulled our thumbs out of our asses, Let’s tell the troops.”
“Bass – “ says Miles.
Monroe heaves a dramatic sigh and turns to Miles. “What now?”
“We’ve got to set up a command post and it’s not going to be Wiloughby.”
Monroe waves his hand in the air. “Then set up your command post.” He turns towards the door.
“We’re going to Austin where there are more resources.”
They stare at one another.
Monroe cocks his head, working his jaw from side to side. “Tell you what Miles. You go to Austin and set up house, and the rest of us are going to get going. Why are we even talking about this? Even Charlie thinks we need to get moving.”
“Hey, don't drag me into this.”
He moves his gaze to her. She glares at him. Another face off.
Miles is sick of Bass's bullshit and posturing. “We’re going to Austin, Bass. We don’t have enough weapons or food here. We’ll load up and then we’ll leave from there. End of discussion. We’ll head out tonight. Tell your ‘troops.’”
He turns and walks away.
Monroe stares at his retreating back.
Charlie walks past Monroe, tossing him a look over her shoulder. She may have agreed that the men were anxious to get fighting, but Miles’s plan is smarter. And she loves when Monroe is the loser when he faces off with Miles.
**
That night. It’s late, and only Monroe, Miles, and Charlie are still up, sitting around the fire.
“We’re going to spend no more than a day in Austin, Miles. Then we’re leaving with you or without you.”
“I’d like to get Frank and Affleck with us,” Miles cautions.
“No time to discuss it as a committee.”
“This isn’t – Goddammit Bass, don’t quote Empire Strikes Back to me.”
Charlie watches with fascination. It’s like she can picture them as little kids.
Monroe grins. “I’m just saying now’s the time to fight.”
“Your eagerness makes me a little nervous,” says Miles.
“What are you saying?”
“Just wondering if you have another agenda.”
“Like what?”
Miles decides to say nothing. “Nothing. You’re right. We should head out.”
“I’m what? I’m right?” Bass turns to Charlie. “You heard that, right?”
She ignores him. “What about your kid?” She’s surprised that Monroe hasn’t mentioned Connor at all.
He turns his gaze away from her. “What about him?”
“I sorta figured you were going to go look for him.”
“Yeah well,” He picks at the fire. “I can’t control what he does.”
Miles and Charlie share a look, and Monroe catches it.
“What? You don’t trust me?” he asks.
“We just want to know that we can count on you,” Miles says.
“And depend on you not to go crazy General. We don’t need that,” Charlie pops in.
Monroe glares at her.
Miles glances at her. “Not helpful Charlie.”
“Let’s just call it like it is,” she says, holding Monroe’s gaze.
“Charlie…”
But she ignores him and remains staring at Monroe. “You’re not dependable –"
“Yeah?” He interrupts her. “I seem to recall saving your ass plenty of times, not to mention bringing back a President and betraying my own kid!”
“And there’s my point,” Charlie waves her hand at Monroe.
“We just want to know where your priorities are, Bass,” says Miles.
Charlie makes an non-committal sound. We can’t trust him.
This really pisses off Monroe.
“Maybe she’s the one with the other priority,” he says, pointing to Charlie.
“And what would that be?” she says, starting to get mad.
“Maybe you want me to go find my kid. You two were fucking. Maybe you want more.”
“Oh shit. I don’t want to hear this.” Miles tries to shut down the conversation.
Charlie levels Monroe with a look. “That’s not going to happen.”
Bass shrugs. “Guess it wasn’t very good.”
“Okay! This has reached a point where I don’t want to hear any more.” Miles stands up. “We head to Austin tomorrow, get what we need and then head out. Now I’m going to bed.” He points back and forth between them. “Play nice you two. Don’t make me come back here.”
They wait for Miles to walk out of earshot before continuing.
“Actually it was fucking great,” Charlie says with a smug grin.
“Well he inherited something from his old man.”
“Maybe.” Charlie stands up. “But I’m sure it wasn’t that.” She walks towards her tent.
Monroe calls after her. “You want to know for sure, Charlotte?”
“Nope,” she calls over shoulder, and walks into the night.
**
The next morning, Charlie is kneeling by her backpack, stuffing in clothes, when a pack of ammo lands on her backpack, followed by another one. And finally a book, Murder on the Orient Express.
She stares at it, and then up at the person who dropped it there. Monroe. She raises an eyebrow. “You trying to tell me something?”
“No Charlotte. I am trying to keep you armed.”
“With a novel?”
“With the ammo! Jesus. No the book is to keep you from getting bored.”
“From getting bored.” She finds this very odd but amusing.
“Yeah, well, we both know what happens when you’re bored and you see someone cute.”
“Aahhhh. Yes.” She tries to stifle a smile, but can’t help it. She puts the ammo in her backpack, grabs the book, and stands up. “Thanks for your concern for my safety and my virtue.” She slaps the book into his chest and smirks into his eyes. “But I’ve read this one.” She walks past him.
He turns to watch her. “Is that a metaphor, Charlotte?”
She laughs, and turns around to briefly walk backwards, raising her arms, palms up. “Whatever you want, Monroe.”
“Anything I want?” He grins, flipping the script.
She rolls her eyes and turns back around, flipping him off over her shoulder.
Monroe laughs. “You’re going to miss me, Charlie! Admit it!”
“I doubt it.” But she’s smiling too.
**
Later that day, about halfway to Austin. Charlie and Monroe find themselves walking side by side, as always tends to happen when they travel together.
“So you never answered my question.” Monroe says out of nowhere.
Charlie senses trouble ahead. “And which one was that.”
“How you managed to sneak off and bang my son.”
“Jesus. This again?”
“I’m curious though. Middle of the night? Did you sneak off into the woods?” He gestures towards a large copse of trees they’re approaching
“None of your business.”
“True.” They continue walking. “It’s impressive though.”
“Hmmm,” she says, unwilling to commit to this conversation.
“I mean, how did we never see you? You’ll have to teach me that trick.”
Before she can answer, Miles calls out from the front of the group. “Let’s go through these woods. You hear the water? Heads towards that. And spread out so we’re not trampling through like an elephant. We don’t know what we’ll find there.”
The group slows down and spreads out a little.
Charlie and Monroe both instinctively fall back behind the others, and veer to the right, closer to the perimeter of the trees. “I’m surprised you’re not front and center, trying to take over from Miles," she says.
“Meh. This is the boring part. The walking. I like the action.”
Charlie silently agrees.
Monroe misinterprets her silence. “Hey, you’re the same. You like the action.”
“Then why did you sit behind a desk for so long? You certainly seemed to like sitting around giving orders."
“No.” He shakes his head. “We’re not going there. Not today. You don’t get to judge me.”
“You kept my mom a prisoner.”
“That’s not entirely true.”
“What would you call it then?”
Bass stops and turns to her. “I would call it ‘Get all the facts before you lay blame.’ But I’ll tell you this: He knew she was there.” He points in Miles’s direction.
She opens her mouth to talk.
“No.” He interrupts her. “Ask your uncle.”
Charlie processes as they make their way through the increasingly dense forest. “How long have they wanted to be together?”
“What?” Monroe looks at her, but she doesn’t repeat it because she knows he heard her. She just keeps staring ahead. He points towards Miles and Rachel. “You mean like recently or…”
“I think you just answered my question.”
“I thought you were okay with them together.” He lifts a branch so she can duck under it.
“I am. I’m curious how long they’ve wanted to be together.”
“A long time. Since before she married Ben.” Monroe gives her the truth, like he always does.
She gives a little nod, indicating she’s heard him, but takes a beat to think about what he just said, before asking something else she’s been curious about. “You know, it’s funny, because she was with you in Philadelphia for so long, that I thought maybe you and she were together.”
Monroe barks out a laugh. “Me and Rachel? Not likely.”
She glances at him. “Did you want her to be?”
“No! Oh god no.”
“You seem a little too fast to protest to that.” She feels a sinking feeling in her stomach that she can’t name. “What is it they say – doth protest too much?”
They’d unconsciously stopped walking. Monroe turns to her, hands on his hips as he weighs his words. “Well, I’ll tell you this since you’ll probably find out anyway.” But then he stops talking.
Now she’s curious. “What?” She gets a feeling that she doesn’t want to know whatever he’s about to say.
He continues to walk. “We did have sex in Philadelphia. Once.” He holds up a finger to indicate “one.”
She processes that. Monroe and her mom? She hates how that makes her feel. She doesn’t want to name how that makes her feel.
“Does Miles know?” She steps around a branch, unintentionally rubbing against his side.
“I’m sure she’s told him.”
She doesn’t say anything.
“That’s all you have to say?” Monroe asks.
“What do you want me to say?” She feels inexplicably disappointed, and she’s desperate for him not to see that. “It’s none of my business.”
They stop in front of a huge fallen tree that they’ll have to scramble over.
He turns to her. “Then why did you ask?”
She looks up at him, nonchalant. “I don’t know.”
“You wanted to know if I slept with your mom.” He points at her, grinning. “You’re interested in my sex life.” He goads her, familiar ground for them.
“I’m definitely not.”
“Yes you are.”
She puts her hands on her hips, looking right at him. “I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
This is ridiculous. “What are you, five?”
“That’d be a little young for sex.”
“Hey,” she says, repeating his pointing gesture. “You’re the one who keeps bringing up my sex life. So you started this.”
“What are you, five?” He turns and makes his way to the top of the fallen tree, and reaches his hand to help her up.
She ignores it, making her own way up the tree. “Let’s just drop it.”
“You did bring up sex first.” He’s having so much fun with this, but is a little hurt although unsurprised that she didn’t take his hand. He drops down the other side of the tree.
“It only happened once with Rachel. Didn’t mean anything.” He puts his hand up again to help her down the other side of the tree.
She looks around for something else help her down the tree. “It only happened once, with Connor.” She can’t find anything to help her down, so she reluctantly takes Monroe’s hand. She misjudges her inertia, and bumps up against him when she lands, instinctively putting her hand on his stomach. He instinctively reaches a hand to her waist to steady her.
They hold each other’s gaze for a beat, still lightly clasping hands.The low spark that had been humming between them crackles into full force.
The only sound is their ragged breathing. Monroe’s eyes dart from her eyes to her lips. Unconsciously hers do the same. A bird begins squawking loudly nearby, breaking the moment. “Only once, huh?” Bass says, dropping his hands and letting her go.
She feels like she just let him win a battle, but she’s not sure why. But she’s determined he won’t win the next one.