You can't go around making plans

that have you getting killed as a by-product.

Eventually one of them is going to work.

-Holly Black

Chapter 12: All Great Changes Are Preceded By Chaos - (Driver Picks The Music)

It was awkward.

They rode in silence. Charlie was still mulling over all that she had heard from Bass the night before, trying to figure out how to process the information and what to do with it. What to do with him. She knows there's no way that she can just shut off the feelings she has for him, and if she's honest with herself, she doesn't want to.

And she knows it's hypocritical when you think of what happened with Connor, but can she really move past the fact that the guy she has feelings for, slept with her mother?

Charlie shook the thought off though. Now wasn't the time to think about it, they had more important things to worry about than the, will -they -might -they, dance they have been doing. Like getting to Bradbury before something horrible happened to their family and friends.

"Charlie."

Bass had come up beside her while she was lost in thought. Another reason to push their personal troubles aside for now, it was all too distracting if she hadn't even heard him approach.

"What?" she asked, not looking at him. She was half afraid if she did, she would forget everything on the spot and throw herself at him, and half afraid she might just haul off and punch him square in that beautiful face of his.

Bass sighed. "We're going to have to talk at some point, we can't just spend the rest of this trip in silence."

He had a good point. That would only make things even more awkward than they already were. But that didn't mean she had to start talking now.

She shrugged. "Yeah well, I'm not ready to talk yet." she smirked sarcastically. "But when I am, you'll be the first to know."

Bass rolled his eyes. Yeah she had a right to be a little miffed with him, but seriously, she slept with his son. He had one night of regret with Rachel years ago and she's going to give him the silent treatment now?

He didn't even know her when it happened! Is he supposed to apologize for every women that he slept with before her? Because that could make for more tense conversations.

"Fine, whatever." he said, tired and ready to get this trip over with. "Have your silence."

Pulling up on the reins he brought his horse to a stop and slid off, tossing her the lead before heading to the trees at the side of the road.

Charlie caught the rope and held the horse in place, frowning. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Bass turned his head to her and raised a brow. "To the little boys' room, if you don't mind."

Charlie rolled her eyes and sighed, readjusting her position in her saddle.

A few minutes passed before she started to wonder what was taking him so long. She slid off her mount and grabbed the gun from the waistband of her pants and headed for the trees.

"This better not be some juvenile attempt to get me to talk to you." Charlie muttered as she headed into the tree line.

She didn't have far to walk before she spotted the trouble. Bass was standing with his hands in the air while Truman held a gun on him. He was far enough away to keep Bass from being able to rush him. Truman would easily be able to get at least one shot off before Bass could get to him.

"Well" Charlie thought. "This is a promising start to the day."

Truman waved the gun slightly as he sneered at Bass. "Guess you should have ripped my throat out when you had the chance, because I'm going to enjoy watching you bleed to death."

Bass' eyes flicked to Charlie and back again as she quietly came up behind Truman. "Come on," he said. "We both know that wasn't really you, that was the real Truman I was talking to when I said that."

Nano Truman shrugged. "Either way, I'm still going to like this next part."

"I don't think so."

Nano Truman turned at the sound of Charlie's voice, but before he had time to aim his gun at her, she fired. She emptied her clip into his chest and face, not stopping even after she heard the click telling her the gun was empty.

"Charlie. Charlie. Charlie!" Bass grabbed her arm and took the gun from her hand. "Hey, it's over, he's dead." he said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to look at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked when he saw the slightly wild look in her eye.

Charlie frowned and looked him over. "Are you ok?" she asked, ignoring his question.

Bass nodded and smiled a little. "Yeah, thanks to you. I really thought he was gonna shoot me for a minute until I saw you creep out of those trees."

Charlie didn't say anything, she just reached out and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her, not giving him a chance to speak before her mouth closed over his in a heated kiss.

"I'm sorry," she said when she pulled back a little. "It was stupid to be mad. I was so scared he was going to kill you and I wouldn't ever get the chance to say that I was sorry."

Bass shook his head and grabbed her face, letting his fingers sink into her hair. "No, I'm sorry," he said as he rested his forehead against hers. "I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that. I just didn't want to keep anything from you."

Charlie grabbed one of his hands and held it in her own and shook her head. "It doesn't matter, none of it matters anymore. We were both stupid, it's not like it was the first time, and I'm sure it'll happen again." she said and chuckled, earning her a smirk from Bass. "Things are never easy with us, that's why I like you so much," she said, giving his own words from the night before back to him.

Bass closed his eyes for a minute and let that sink in, before he sighed and slowly let his hands draw away from her. "As much as I would love to stay right here with you; well maybe not right here;" he swayed with a glance to the dead body laying a few feet away from them. "We have a job to get back to." he said.

Charlie nodded and took a step back. "Right." she said before smiling slightly. "Later."

Bass nodded with a smile of his own. "Later."

As they headed back for the road, Charlie couldn't hide the smile on her face at the possibilities of later, especially when Bass reached over and took her hand.

…

The news wasn't great when Charlie and Bass finally got to town. They found the others easily enough, knowing the kind of place they would use for a safe house. Not that it was really all that safe they were learning.

Charlie was saddened by the news about Priscilla, but was glad no one else had been too badly hurt.

Aaron and Bonnie, and Peter and Grace had split off into pairs to go out to track down someone to use as a test subject after Charlie and Bass filled them all in on what was going on back home.

"How's your grandfather?" Rachel asked Charlie as they headed out the door. Miles bandages needed new dressing and they were hoping to find something that at least resembled clean in one of the empty buildings down the street.

"He's good. He's struck up quite the friendship with Blanchard." Charlie said. She felt awkward, trying to make small talk about others back home when she really just wanted to confront her mother and ask her what the hell she had been thinking sleeping with Monroe?

"What is it? What's wrong?" Rachel asked, pulling her to a stop inside the door to the first building they got to.

Charlie shrugged, feeling like she often did where Rachel was concerned, like a child once again. Rachel raised a brow and folded her arms. "Charlie, what is it? I can see by the look on your face that something's bothering you? Is there something you're not telling me about grandpa?"

"You slept with Monroe!" she blurted out, shocking them both.

Rachel let her arms drop to her sides. "How do you know about that?"

"He told me." Charlie said as she squared her footing, preparing for the fight she knew was going to come.

"Why would he do that?" Rachel asked, not getting, or at least not letting herself get, the reasoning behind this decision on Bass' part.

"Because he didn't want me to find out from someone else, he didn't want to hide it from me." she said.

Rachel frowned and shook her head. "It was a huge mistake. We were both so angry at Miles for leaving and I knew it would be a good way to get back at him, even if he never really found out about it. And Bass was so beside himself over the lose of his best friend at that point that he was drunk more often than not. We both knew it had been a bad idea as soon as it happened and we never really talked about it after that." Rachel shrugged, and Charlie was surprised to notice she looked somewhat ashamed. "It became this thing we held over the other's head, like blackmail, a dark and dirty secret that neither one of us ever wanted to see the light of day."

Charlie let her words sink in without responding. But Rachel wasn't going to let it go that easy. "Why would Monroe care if you knew about it or not? Why would he drag it out now?" she asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

It was for the same reason she had been willing to drag it out and confess to Miles about it.

Charlie looked at her mother, but remained quiet. Rachel took a step back away from her and shook her head. "Oh Charlie, no. Not him. Anyone but him, he's a monster."

Charlie shook her head. "No, you don't get to say things like that anymore. I've let it go most of the time because I knew there was never going to be a way to change your mind, and if I'm being honest I felt the same way about him for a long time." she shook her head again. "But things change.

"We all make mistakes mom, you made more than your fair share, so have I." she said. "Why is he the only one that can't find an ounce of forgiveness?"

Rachel looked around the room, as if she might find an argument laying on the floor. "But your father, Danny. What about what he did to them?"

"What about what you did to them?" Charlie asked her. "His hands aren't clean when it comes to them, but let's be real honest here mom, we all played a part in what happened to them, even me."

Charlie took a step closer to her mother. "I'm not asking you to be alright with my decision, but I am telling you to keep your mouth shut about it."

Rachel looked at her daughter standing before her, and knew that there would be no changing her mind. She was too stubborn, just like her mother.

"I think it would be best if we split up, we can cover more ground that way." Rachel said, but Charlie knew she just needed some time by herself to process everything they had just talked about.

Charlie nodded. "Alright, I'll meet you back with the others." she said and watched her mother silently walk away from her.

…

When the Nano had approached her all those weeks ago, promising that they would bring Jason back to her if she would help them; Julia had of course been skeptical. In the end, the promise of a reunion with her only child had been the one temptation that she simply could not deny.

She's done what they asked so far, luring the Mathesons and their friends to Idaho. Now, only one part of her mission remained.

Julia Neville watched Rachel leave the old building and knew her time for action had come. In her opinion the nano was crazy, but if they were willing to give her a second chance with her son, then she's willing to put up with Rachel Matheson for a while longer if that's what they want.

…...

Bass paced around the room. Miles watched and grunted for him to sit down. "Why are you so amped up?" Miles asked when Bass peeked out of the window for the third time in the last five minutes.

Bass let the curtain drop and finally sat down. "Nothing, they've been gone for a while is all."

Miles frowned. "They've only been gone for twenty minutes Bass, I'm sure they're fine." he said. "They know how to take care of themselves."

Bass nodded and did his best to relax.

"Hey, remember that time in high school when we hid old Mr. Trembles car?" Miles asked, breaking the quiet.

Bass frowned and shook his head. "No, I remember you doing that and both of us getting suspended for it because "There's no way you weren't a party to this childish prank". Sometimes it sucked being your friend." he said and chuckled.

Miles nodded and smiled. "Good times."

…

Charlie found them still sitting there telling old stories and bickering over details when she got back with an armload of supplies.

Miles narrowed his eyes as he watched Bass finally relax and practically jump out of his seat to help her get things set out and ready to use.

"Ah hell." he muttered to himself when he saw the lingering glance and the brush of hands before they pulled away from each other.

Now wasn't the time to confront them about this new, but not surprising development, so he kept his mouth shut on the topic for now.

Charlie glanced around the room. "Mom's not back yet?" she asked and received no's in return. "We split up to cover more ground, and I think she needed a few minutes by herself." she said and glanced once again at Bass.

"Ah hell." Miles muttered again.

Bass raised his brows but wasn't going to touch that subject right now. "I'm sure she'll be back in a little while, she hasn't been gone that long and after all, she knows how to handle herself. Right Miles?"

Miles looked back and forth between the two of them and then over to the window. "Ah hell."

…

Connor and Jeremy rode hard and fast trying to get to Bradbury before it was too late. They stopped outside the city limits and stashed their tired horses and walked into town. They were keeping to the shadows and side streets, but managed to get a look at the town square. There was an old ice cream parlor with a giant neon clown, and in front of it there was a group of people moving around as if they were in a trance while they were building what looked like gallows in the middle of the street.

"Well that can't be good." Jeremy muttered as they stood and watched for a few moments.

Connor nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we better find my dad and the others fast." he said before pulling Jeremy around the corner and running into Aaron and Bonnie.

Aaron looked surprised to see them. "What are you doing here? Does Monroe know you're here?" he asked Connor before looking at Jeremy standing beside him. "And who are you?"

Connor shook his head, ignoring his question to Jeremy. "No, we just got here, we know who's behind the bounties." he said. "We know who brought everyone here."

Aaron seemed surprised when Connor revealed what they learned, but nodded his head. "OK, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by now that so many people keep coming back from the dead." he said, frowning slightly when Jeremy snorted.

Aaron shook his head. "But that's beside the point. We have a plan." He said quietly as he leaned in closer. "We think we can stop them."

…

Rachel had that feeling on the back of her neck like someone was watching her, but when she looked around she didn't see anyone.

Trying to shake it off, she went back to her task of searching the old pharmacy for clean bandages or anything they might find useful. She had left this place for last, figuring that most anything useful was probably long gone. And from the looks of the rusted shelves and empty pill bottles, she had been right.

She was just leaning down to check out a box labeled as gauze, when Tom Neville stepped out from behind a set of shelves.

"Hello Rachel." Nano Neville said with a placid smile.

"Tom." Rachel said, surprised he had been able to sneak up on her.

Nano Neville smiled a little wider as he took a step towards her. "I'm glad to find you alone, we have important plans for you and we can't have your other family getting in the way."

"Other Family?" she asked as she took a step back.

Neville nodded as he reached out for her as he shuffled along the aisle. "Yes, we're going to be all the family you need now."

Julia watched from behind another set of shelves as the Nano Tom seemed to be trying to impersonate a zombie from an old horror flick. She sighed and wished that her Tom was there. He would have already subdued the Matheson bitch and gotten on with the plan. But she was stuck with this bumbling idiot and would have to make due if she ever wanted to see her son again.

With a resigned sigh, Julia stepped out from behind the shelf, and using the gun she had stowed in the waist of her skirt, she hit Rachel over the head with it, causing her to drop like a sack of potatoes, out cold on the dirty floor.

Julia looked up to the blank eyes of the thing wearing her husbands face. "Alright, let's get this show on the road." she said, motioned for him to pick Rachel up from where she lay. "We have a lot of work left to do."

…

"OK, I think it's been long enough now, we should probably start to worry." Charlie said as she once again looked out the window for any sign of her mother.

Sure Rachel was upset, but she wouldn't stay gone for so long knowing the kind of worry it would cause. Miles was so worried; he was just about ready to start tearing his hair out.

"OK, we're gonna go out and look for her." Bass said, grabbing his gun and shoving it into place at the small of his back. "You stay here in case she comes back." he said to Miles hoping, but not believing, that he would take the suggestion.

"Like hell I will, we'll split up, you two go together, and I'll take a few of the old store fronts myself." he cocked a brow. "That is, if you think you two can keep your hands to yourselves and your head in the game?"

Charlie looked surprised, but Bass only looked mildly offended. "We're not a couple of horny teenagers Miles, I think we can handle it." he said.

Miles scoffed but nodded. "Alright, let's get going then."

Charlie looked worried. "Are you alright? Should you be going alone?" she asked.

Miles shrugged. "Probably not, but I've never let that stop me before." he winked at her and smirked. "It's all part of the charm."

Charlie rolled her eyes and opened the door.

…

Miles didn't make it far before he needed to stop and lean against the wall and rest for a moment. He was glad that the other two were out of sight, or Charlie never would have stopped hovering.

With a heaved sigh, he stood up and headed through the door in front of him, into what looked like an old pharmacy, hoping to find Rachel inside, having just lost track of time.

He blamed his slow reflexes and subsequent takedown on the blood loss. Not that the reason really matters, but as he is dragged away by a couple of Nano possessed goons, it makes him feel better none the less.

…

The next time Miles opened his eyes, he was laying in a jail cell, Charlie and Bass sitting against the bars across from him.

He squinted and sat up, groaning as he pulled the still fresh wound. "Where are we?" he asked. "And what are you guys doing here?"

Bass pointed a thumb at Charlie. "She saw them take you and ran after them, so I ran after her." he said. "Long story short, they wanted us to follow you so they could jump us." Bass shook his head. "There were dozens of them, ready and waiting for us, as soon as we rounded the corner they were on us and we had no way of stopping them."

Charlie jumped in. "And then we saw Tom Neville, and he said he had been expecting us. They threw us in here with you and we haven't seen them since."

Miles looked around, hoping to come up with some kind of plan, something to help them escape, but these Nano were smart, and they knew their captives well. There was nothing to do but wait and see what would happen next.

…

They didn't have long to wait. Julia Neville waltzed in and smirked at them as she stood just out of arm's reach outside the bars of their cell.

"Hello Generals." she smirked. "Miss Matheson."

Her smirk widened when they all looked on with surprise evident on their faces.

"You're behind all of this?" Bass said. "The bounties and everything?"

Julia lifted her hands and shrugged a shoulder. "What can I say, it worked, didn't it? They got all of you here." she said. "And that was what we wanted."

Miles struggled to his feet and grabbed the bars. "Where is Rachel? I know you took her, what have you done with her?"

Julia regarded him coolly, one brow raised, all trace of her smile gone. "You don't need to worry about your precious Rachel, they won't hurt her." She glanced at the other two before settling her gaze back on Miles. "You three are another matter altogether. If you won't join them, they have no use for you."

With that parting insight, she turned and walked back down the short hall and out the door, letting it bang close behind her, leaving the three prisoners alone.

Charlie leaned her forehead against the bars and looked down the hall to make sure they were alone before turning to the other two. "She didn't say anything about Aaron or the others, maybe they don't know he's here?"

Bass sighed as he dropped back down to his place on the floor. "Great, Stay Puft is our only hope, I feel so reassured, we're bound to make it out safely."

Charlie lightly kicked his foot and frowned down at him. "He's better than the nothing we would have otherwise, so be nice. He's gotten out of tough spots before."

"Yeah," Bass said when they heard the sounds of hammers on nails and boards coming from outside. "I'm sure whatever's going on out there will be a piece of cake for him."

Miles laid back down on the narrow cot and covered his eyes with his arm. "Well, wake me up when the Cavalry comes."

…

Jeremy and Connor watched from behind a group of old trash cans as Charlie and Monroe were mobbed and dragged after Miles.

They knew trying to save them right then wouldn't have done any good for anyone, so they found Aaron and Bonnie and told them what they had seen.

With no time left to worry about a test subject, Aaron knew it was time to put his plan into action, and pray; something that an agnostic Jew knew very little about; that it would work like he hoped it would.

Connor had just gotten his father back, he wasn't ready to lose him again. "OK you said you had a plan." he said to Aaron. "So what is it?"

Aaron adjusted his glasses. "We're going to put the nano into a state of virtual reality. Sort of like they did to me. They'll think they're going on as normal, but won't be able to hurt us anymore."

Connor looked uncertain. "That's really going to work? You're just going to use their own tricks against them?"

Aaron shrugged. "That's the idea." he said. "We're going to need that computer again." He said to Bonnie. "And a safe place to use it."

…

At the sound of a key scrapping in the lock, Miles opened his eyes and sat up in time to be greeted with more Nano goons, this time locking chains around the three of them before grabbing them by the arm and dragging them out of the cell.

They were lead outside and down the block, into the middle of town. Miles saw Charlie pull against the hand holding her arm as Bass began to struggle against the chains binding him. A moment later Miles saw why when he laid his eyes on the gallows they had build in the middle of the road.

Miles sighed "It's really starting to feel like a Monday."

…

Jeremy peeked around the edge of the curtain that covered the front window of the house they had found that had a view of the town square. "It looks like they're on the move, I don't think we have much time."

Connor motioned for Jeremy to move so he could have a look for himself. "We need to go." he said turning back to Jeremy.

Jeremy nodded and looked to Aaron, as he sat in front of the computer, the light reflected on his glasses as Bonnie looked on from behind his shoulder.

"We'll go and get as close as we can, but it's up to you now." Jeremy said. "You've got this, don't let us down."

Aaron looked up at Jeremy and grimaced. "Yeah, no pressure, just the fate of the entire world resting on my keystroke. You know...again"

…

The nano had been busy. In front of the old ice cream shop stood a raised platform made from worn wood, repurposed from abandoned buildings around the town. There was a narrow staircase at the side, just wide enough to walk single file.

It was large and foreboding, and the three ropes; tied into nooses; that swayed slightly in the breeze are the things that nightmares are made of.

Bass fought against the chains that bound him but it was no use. They were well and truly screwed this time. Rachel was being held by the nano and Aaron was God-knows-where or why. Nobody even knew if he was still alive or not.

The three of them were lead up the stairs to where President Davis was waiting for them.

"Well," Bass said just loud enough for the other two to hear him. "I guess this beats lethal injection."

…

"Come on!" Aaron yelled as his fist slammed down on the table, making the computer jump.

Bonnie leaned down to look at the screen, not really knowing what she was seeing. "What's the problem?"

Aaron ran a hand over his face and sighed. "I don't know." he said before attempting to upload the virus once more. "It should be working, I don't know why it's not."

Bonnie frowned. "Could it just be taking a moment to take effect?"

Aaron shook his head. "No, this should cause an instant change to the system. It shouldn't need time, it's like when a computer crashes, it just does it."

…

Charlie wanted to look away as they placed the rope around Bass' neck. This is the second time that she's seen him in such a similar situation, and it's only gotten harder to watch.

Bass turned his head to give her a sad smile. "It would have been amazing." he said.

Charlie nodded. "Epic."

Their eyes held for a moment longer, conveying more in a single glance than most people can with a whole conversation.

…

Aaron's eyes scanned across the screen. "Come on, come on, come on." he muttered to himself. They didn't have much time. Bonnie now stood by the window, watching the happenings outside.

"They're putting the nooses on." she said, the nervousness thick in her voice.

Aaron nodded without replying. "Work damn you." he said, silently praying to whatever might possibly listen that it works, because they are out of time.

…

Bass watched as the man who put the rope around his neck moved back, ready to move on to the rope for Charlie, who stood beside him. But as he started to reach out a hand, he jerked back and stumbled, looking around wide eyed as he sank to his knees before falling over in a heap on the ground.

Charlie and Miles turned to look around the square and see people falling to the ground while others simply shake their heads as if suddenly waking up.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked.

Miles shrugged. "I don't know kid, maybe Aaron came through for us."

Bass smiled; the rope still securely around his neck; as Charlie turned to him, a smile of her own beaming across her face.

But her smile turned to a look of fear and anger as she took a step towards him, struggling once more against her chains.

"No!" she screamed.

Bass turned in time to see President Davis; now nano free but still hating Bass for his part in taking down the patriots; lunge for the release lever that would open the trapdoor Bass was standing on. He had just enough time to mutter an "Oh shit" before a shot rang out and Davis crumbled to the boards at Bass' feet.

Connor ran out of the crowd and up onto the platform with the others and began to set them free, as Jeremy made his way a little slower, placing the gun he had just used back into the holster on his hip.

"Am I glad to see you." Bass said as Jeremy removed the rope and began the task of removing the chains.

Charlie; now free of her chains thanks to Connor; began freeing Miles as Connor gave his father a quick but strong hug in greeting.

"Glad you didn't die." he said with a smile on his face after stepping back.

Bass smirked in return. "Me too."

"I don't understand, Baker." Miles said as the chains that had bound him fell away. "You're dead, he said you were dead."

Everyone stopped talking when they realized Miles had never been told about Jeremy being alive and well.

"Well lucky for you Matheson, I'm not." Jeremy said with a smirk of his own.

Miles stood there speechless for a moment, before walking closer and in a completely uncharacteristic move, pulled the other man into a hug.

Connor cleared his throat to get their attention. "Hey, I'm really glad you guys didn't die, but maybe we should take this out of the middle of everything?" he said and offered to lead them to Aaron.

…

They all agreed to go back to their original safe house, on the off chance that Rachel might have gotten away now that the nano are otherwise occupied, and they found Grace and Peter there waiting for them.

They had gotten trapped by a group of nano while looking for a test subject, and couldn't get away until after they realized Aaron must have gotten the virus to work. They took advantage of the confused state most everyone was in and made a break for the safe house.

"I gotta say," Bass stated when they were all seated in the main room of their safehouse. "You really came through for us, good job Aaron."

Aaron frowned at the use of his real name and Bass smirked. "What's wrong?" he asked him.

Aaron shook his head. "Nothing, that all just sounds really odd coming from you."

Charlie rolled her eyes as she sat down beside Bass. "Yeah, it's great that you guys are BFF's now, but maybe we should be thinking of our next move in-case my mom doesn't come back on her own?"

Miles nodded. "I second that notion."

"There's no need, I'm fine."

Everyone turned at the sound of Rachel's voice as she entered the room. She looked tired and worn out but otherwise unharmed.

"Mom!" Charlie jumped up and hurried over to her mother, unsure of the reception she would receive but wanting to see for herself that she was really alright.

"Charlie." Rachel said with a smile, glad to see her daughter again, alive and well.

"Mom, about before," Charlie started, but Rachel stopped her.

"No, Charlie, I'm sorry." she said. "I doubt that I will ever think it's ok," she said before glancing around the room at the others and then back to Charlie. "But I guess you weren't entirely wrong either."

Charlie nodded. It might not sound like much, but coming from Rachel Matheson, that's about as good as anyone can hope for.

…

Miles hovered, not letting Rachel out of his sight as she told them about Julia and Nano Tom catching her.

"How did you get away?" Miles asked.

Rachel shrugged. "When the nano shut down they both ran out and never came back, I never saw what happened to them. Julia said something about never seeing her son again and grabbed Tom's hand and they were gone."

Miles frowned and Bass wrapped an arm around Charlie's shoulders when he noticed the way she flinched ever so slightly at the mention of the Neville's son.

"Well whatever the reason, I'm just happy you're ok.' Miles said. Rachel smiled and grabbed his hand.

"I don't know about everyone else, but I'm ready to go home." Rachel said, receiving a chorus of agreements.

…

Charlie watched Aaron place Bonnie's bag in the back of one of the wagons they had commandeered and she smirked at him.

"What's this all about?" she asked.

Aaron shrugged and adjusted his glasses. "Bonnie decided to come back with us, said she didn't have anyone else and had become pretty fond of our little group."

Charlie raised a brow. "I don't think it's the group she's all the fond of Aaron."

Aaron nodded. "I know, and we'll see what happens." he said. "I know things with Priscilla weren't right since she showed up, but it's all still a little fresh." he glanced towards Bonnie, where she stood talking to Rachel. "But I think it'll be alright soon."

Charlie smiled and reached out to lay a hand on his arm. "Good, I just want you to be happy."

Aaron nodded. "I know. You too." he said. "Speaking of which."

Charlie sighed, knowing where this conversation was headed.

"Monroe huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Monroe."

Aaron nodded thoughtfully. "I can see that."

Charlie looked surprised. "Really? Because you seem to be the only one who can."

Aaron shook his head. "Nah, Miles is cool with it, or Monroe would be missing a few body parts." he chuckled. "Rachel on the other hand..."

Charlie smirked. "I think I'm going to just take what I can get as far as she's concerned."

"Good idea."

Miles rounded everyone up. "Alright, we have three wagons at our disposal."

Connor spoke up. "Who's riding where?"

Miles cocked a brow. "You tell me, you three are the heroes of this story, you pick." he said, gesturing to Connor, Jeremy, and Aaron.

So the three of them divvied up the seats, putting Aaron and Bonnie, and Grace and Peter in one wagon, Bass, and Charlie in another and Jeremy and Connor both with Miles, and Rachel in another.

"I figure now would be a nice chance to catch up with this jackass." Jeremy said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder towards Miles. "See ya at home." he said to Bass and Charlie before climbing into the back of the wagon.

Connor had thought about settling into the wagon with his dad and Charlie, but five minutes with them and their sappy looks and he knew he would never make it all the way back to texas without shooting himself.

Connor grabbed his things and walked toward the other wagon. Might as well let the happy couple have some time to themselves.

Bass put his arm around Charlie and sighed. "Let's go home." he said and Charlie smirked.

"When we get there, do you think it might be later?" she asked.

Bass looked down at her and smiled. "I think it might be."

Charlie smiled. "Well then let's get going."

…

Julia Neville watched them all climb into their wagons and drive away. She sneered as she turned to her, now nano free, husband. "They've made fools out of us for the last time." she said. "We have to make them pay for everything they've taken from us."

Tom smiled at her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "We will sweetheart. Let them have their day, let them think they've won." he said and his smile turned into a smirk. "It'll make it that much sweeter when we rip it all away."

Julia smiled and leaned into Tom. "I'm so glad that you're back."

There's a quote from one of my favorite shows, it goes something like, "Any monkey with a typewriter can crap out a beginning and middle, but endings are hard" Now while I can agree that endings are hard, I have to say that this is wrong. Endings don't mean much at all if what comes before isn't well written, and I am thankful that I have had the great pleasure of working with some incredible writers to make sure that the beginning and middle are; if I do say so myself; fantastic.

Thank you for reading. If you have a moment we would love to hear from you one more time.