Slight AU: The storylines of the first season still exist although Charlie and Bass have never actually met face to face.

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise.

Chapter One: Worthy

There were some days when Charlie regretted leaving behind the others in Willoughby but there was a certain satisfaction to being on her own. There wasn't anyone to hover anxiously around her constantly making sure that she wasn't going to fall apart or go off the rails, nor was there the dread of having to parent her own mother day in and out. She understood her mother's guilt, her despair over what she had done and the deaths she'd indirectly caused because of it but she wasn't the only one who had went through hell. It seemed she was the only one allowed to fall completely apart with no regard for those around her that needed her. Miles tried but his heart lay with Rachel and Charlie would never deny him that for her own selfish purposes no matter how much it felt like a knife to the chest when he'd turn away from her to cater to her mother. Aaron was building a new life, one free from violence and death so it seemed unfair to drag him down with her. Quite frankly as callous as it sounded she didn't know her Grandpa enough to stick around.

So she left.

She'd travelled for the first few weeks, taking in the sights around her with leisure, no longer afraid that Militia would appear behind her like they had before. Eventually she found herself in New Vegas and loved every minute of it and so for the first time since home she found herself settling. It was filled with filthy debauchery of course, the sheer number of whore's that frequented the place was alarming to say the least but there were no limitations set to her. She could do whatever she wanted; drink freely, flirt, fight. Hell it was a joy just to be able to sleep in in the morning.

The fighting ring was her favourite past time, she often found herself wandering into the tent in the evening, even placing a bet or two on some of the more promising fighters. There weren't many that struck her as particularly skilled until a few weeks ago when he arrived. Jimmy King. He fought like a man who had nothing to lose and quickly became the fighting Champion. Men from the neighbouring towns often travelled just to take him on, much to the delight of the owner who seemed to be infinitely wealthier than he was before Jimmy. It wasn't just men that flocked to him; various women simpered and fawned just to get a glimpse of him. She could understand why, he wasn't exactly hard on the eyes and from what she'd heard he was all sorts of charming.

They'd never actually crossed paths before, never seemed to be in the same place long enough to. Tonight seemed like it was going to be the exception. She'd been leaning on the bar top for the past fifteen minutes, amusing herself by flirting with one of the bartenders, debating how far she was willing to let it go when a muscled forearm brushed by her arm to slap a hand against the wood to capture her flirting partners attention. Immediately a glass of scotch was slide towards the now outstretched hand.

She turned her head to the side and locked on to bright blue eyes. Jimmy King stood before her, fresh from tonight's win and seemingly in high spirits as he gave her a little smirk.

He nodded towards the retreating bartender as he questioned, "Lowering your standards a bit, don't you think?"

She raised a brow in response, "What? You think there's someone here more worthy of my attention?

"Most definitely."

It wasn't hard to tell he meant himself and although she'd never admit it out loud she wholeheartedly agreed. He was older than her that much she could tell but hell if he didn't look in better shape than most of the twenty something's in the place. He was all hard muscle and if he fucked like he fought she had no doubt she'd leave very satisfied. But he was cocky, she'd seen the way he was with woman around here, a couple of pretty words and a well-placed smile and he was leading them back to his trailer. Between his looks and his reputations he didn't have to put much work in at all but she wasn't about to be pulled in so easily by a pretty face.

She smiled as she shuffled closer to him, "And you wouldn't happen to know this more worthy person would you?"

His free hand slid carefully over her hip as he griped her far more gently than she expected, "Why don't I show you?"

Her lips brushed his once, twice before she extracted herself from his grip, "Not tonight."

With a flip of her hair she turned heel and walked off in the direction of her trailer, unsure whether she was proud of herself or bitter than she hadn't took him up on his offer.

Bass had just finished off his last opponent of the night and figured he'd head into the bar in search of whiskey and some company for the night. The fight had been over far too soon for his liking and he had a lot of pent up energy left still to burn off and figured there was no better way to do it than by finding himself a pretty girl to take back. There wasn't a shortage of them in New Vegas and he never had trouble finding himself a bed mate; Miles had always said he was particularly skilled in talking a woman into doing anything he wanted. Just because he was a fugitive now, didn't mean that had changed.

He spotted her almost immediately by the bar; her long blonde hair was easy to spot even in the limited lighting of the bar. Long lean legs were tightly encased in leather, a strip of toned skin showing between her pants and her top. She wasn't all dolled up like most of the women here were but that was probably what attracted him to her. Without a second thought he found himself leaning on the bar beside her, tapping the bar top as he signalled for a drink. From her profile he could tell she was probably a good bit younger than he was but age wasn't exactly a factor nowadays, although he'd always found himself with woman younger than him pre-blackout anyways so it wasn't that far of a change for him.

He eyed the bartender she'd previously been flirting with and withheld a scoff. He was hitting way above his limit and the kid probably knew it with how quickly he ran off once Bass arrived.

"Lowering your standards a bit, don't you think?"

Her head tilted for a moment before she turned to face him, brow raised as she snarked, "What? You think there's someone here more worthy of my attention?"

He withheld a smile at her tone; she'd probably had her fair share of men claiming to be the more superior choice, "Most definitely."

She shuffled closer to him as she questioned who he considered to be a more worthy choice. They both knew exactly who he'd meant but that didn't mean he wasn't happy to play along with the game. He liked the fact that she didn't immediately fall for his charms, he wasn't opposed to a bit of a challenge, especially beautiful ones. He didn't stop himself from sliding a hand over her hip to pull her closer to him, her skin was soft beneath his fingertips and he couldn't help but imagine running his fingers over other more pleasurable parts of her.

More than ready to take this somewhere more private he murmured, "Why don't I show you?"

His grip tightened somewhat as her lips brushed his own but as he prepared himself to capture her lips in a deeper kiss he felt her pull away from him with a half-smile twisting her lips as she sauntered away, "Not tonight." Floating over her shoulder as her parting words.

He choked out a little surprised chuckle as he stared after her and the tantalising view she made from behind. Yeah he most definitely liked that particular challenge.