Chapter 8 – Atonement

A/N: Hope you all enjoy this, please read and review :P

PREVIOUSLY:

"Rachel…."

Her son gasped and stood, frantically looking for a weapon of any kind as he shoved her behind himself, protecting her.

She stumbled and caught her footing before slowly turning around. Her own sky blue eyes locking with those blue nearly translucent eyes that she never thought she'd see again…..at least not like this.

"You!"

She felt like she'd been punched in the gut, the absolute last person she ever thought she would see like this was standing in front of her, bleeding and more vulnerable than ever.

His intense gaze locked with hers and she opened and closed her mouth speechless while Danny stood in front of her protectively, holding up a branch of all things as the only weapons they had were on the former militia boy.

"Rachel…." He repeated, stepping closer.

With determination, Danny stepped towards him, ready to beat the ever living crap out of the leader of the militia for all they had gone through when Rachel grabbed his shoulder, gently pulling him back. "Mom…" He looked back questioningly.

She opened her mouth to speak when Sebastian Monroe's eyes rolled in the back of his head, the wound from his arm dripping with blood as he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Without a second thought she rushed to his side, "Mom what the hell are you doing?!"

Ignoring her son, she tore at her own shirt, grasping the generals bleeding arm and wrapped it around the wound tightly.

"MOM!"

She turned back, "We cannot just leave him here to die like this."

Danny's eyes blazed fire, "He is the reason dad is DEAD! In case you forgot! We should leave him for the vultures; he would do the same to us."

The coldness in her sons voice brought forth sadness, she never wished for this to happened, for him to become so hardened, but she supposed this is what happened when faced with darkness at such a young age for such a long time.

"Danny, if he had wanted to kill us we would already be dead."

He made to retort when Jason reappeared, squirrels slung over one arm. His own eyes widened at the unconscious form of the militia leader on the ground, "What the hell is Monroe doing here!"

He dropped their dinner and pulled out his bow and arrow, "Move out of the way Mrs. Matheson."

"No."

His jaw dropped, "Why?"

"Because he came to us for a reason and I for one, would like to find out what it is first."

Charlie fell to the ground with a thud again, failing for the third time to disarm Miles who was busy catching his breath after their extreme parrying.

His stomach growled and he was reminded of dinner. Leaning over his niece he held out a hand, pulling her to her feet, "We should eat."

The mention of food made her own stomach call out in a grumble and she smiled, nodding her head in agreement as they both headed for the stream to catch their dinner.

Monroe groaned, shaking his head slowly as he sat up, his arm feeling as though someone had run through it with a sword…..oh wait someone had….his own second in command.

Now the memories flooded his mind as he groaned again, blinking and slowly taking in the scene before him, realizing it wasn't a dream, he really was with Rachel and her son and Neville's son…..

"Care to explain what you are doing here? Where is your army?" Rachel demanded as the militia boy drew an arrow, ready to kill him on the spot.

Monroe slowly got his feet and looked at the group in front of him, "I don't have an army anymore." His lips felt so chapped as he spoke, days without water and food, how he hadn't died from his wounds or starvation/dehydration was beyond him.

The beautiful former Mrs. Matheson gave him a curious look before she pulled something out of her own pack, tossing it at him.

He grasped the object in midair, a canteen…..she had read his mind…..or noticed just how fucked up he looked. Greedily he downed the water without a second thought, nearly throwing up at the slick taste of it, his body asking for more. With a sigh, he finally took a breath and looked back at the group. They stared at him, obviously waiting for an explanation.

"To make a long story short…..my second in command decided now was a great time to usurp me and take over my army. I have…" He grimaced as he shifted his weight on his foot that wasn't bruised from his fight with some of his former men, "been on the run for days…..obviously," He drawled, "And happened to stumble upon you." He looked directly at Rachel who blushed and looked anywhere but at him.

"I smell bullshit." Her son challenged him, "I think this is all part of some plan of yours and…."

He cut the boy off mid-sentence, "And what?!" His voice rose, "I just decided to beat the shit out of myself and go for days without water and food to lure the three of you into a trap? And how would I go about doing that exactly whilst having no idea of your location to begin with?"

Danny open and closed his mouth a few times, rendered speechless, glaring at him.

"Let's say we believe you." Rachel placed her hand on Jason's arm, making him lower his arrow. "Then what you are saying is that…Neville…."

"Neville took over, wife proudly by his side." He watched Jason's expression change.

Jason looked at him sharply, "My father…." Obviously it hadn't clicked at first that his father was his second in command….

"Yes your father…as he put it 'I will become leader and you my subordinate, I no longer answer to filth such as you.' So here I am, barely made it out as he managed to turn the whole militia against me….I'm lucky I made it this far."

"But how…." Jason looked confused.

Monroe snorted, "Trust me your father is very convincing and conniving when he wishes to be, he must have been planning this for months."

"And my mom?"

"She stands by his side."

Danny glared at him, "You could be lying, tricking us…."

Monroe turned to the boy who was quickly becoming a pain in his ass, "Again, why would I do that? Why not just kill you all now?" He drew out a gun, watching as they all sucked in a breath; he threw the gun down sliding it towards them.

The boy seemed to think on that before responding as Rachel picked up the gun, "You killed my father…."

"Ben Matheson was ordered to come to me unharmed; it was your friend's father," He gestured to Jason, "Who killed your dad, not me."

"Well I still don't trust you." And with that, Danny walked off and went to his bed roll, knowing he'd be sleeping with one eye open all night long.

Rachel shook her head, "I don't understand….if you aren't trying to trick us then what do you want?"

His eyes softened as he looked at her, "I stumbled upon you literally, and I was just trying to escape with my life from my OWN men." He growled to himself, "Needless to say I would prefer to stay alive and if that means going with you then….."

"You know you cannot go with us…."

"Why?" He challenged her.

"Because, all you want is the power for yourself and I cannot …. I will not let that happen."

Monroe turned back to the fire momentarily, "I did want it, but Neville took it from me, he has the amulet and there's no telling what he will do with it."

"He has it?"

He nodded, "He was in the process of building a bigger amplifier for it."

She felt her heart clench, the man was worse than Monroe in every way. She remembered the madness in his eyes, how he seemed consumed in everything he did from torturing to killing.

"You still cannot come with us…."

Monroe turned to face her again and he did something surprising, walking towards her he came inches from her face, "You really don't trust me." His voice came out like a whisper.

"No…." She felt her own breath hitch at his close proximity.

With a smirk, he pulled out two more guns from his belt in the back, watching as her eyes widened in fear. "Good."

He handed her the weapons, watching as she stood, stunned at his actions, "You shouldn't…..but you should trust that for now we are on the same side…..you want the pendants….I want Neville's head. Win win."

She regained her ability to speak and sucked in air, "How do I know these are your only weapons?"

He grinned, blue eyes twinkling, "Want to check?" He spread his arms out, "Go for it." He could see the faint blush on her cheeks as she looked anywhere but his face.

"Even without weapons you are still deadly just like Miles."

The mention of his old friend made his heart clench and he sighed, "As I stated to your idiotic….." He watched her face flame, "To your son," He corrected himself, "If I had really wanted to kill you all, I would have."

She sighed, she could detect no deception and worse, she could see the Sebastian she knew, the one she'd …. made love with …. Just below the surface. She knew he was being truthful and that made things worse, she was supposed to kill him, should just kill him, and yet she couldn't.

Jason watched the exchange and he pondered just how he father had done all this, turning the tables, right from under Monroe just like that. He placed his weapons underneath his roll just in case and spoke, "One wrong move and you are dead."

Monroe looked over at his former militia underling and nodded swiftly, recognizing this as a warning but also as a chance.

He hated being the one vulnerable but now he had no choice, the rug had been pulled right out from under him and he would choke the life from the boy's father the first chance he got. But for now he would settle for following along his former enemies to make sure his damn second in command did not get to the pendants first.

Rachel turned away and walked to her roll, laying down and attempting to sleep as he settled next to the fire, wanting to lay by her side but knowing the son would most likely try to kill him in his sleep if he did.

His feelings for her never quite went away, perhaps now he could use this as an opportunity to get closer to her, to make her see she was his other half.

"I wonder how far along the others have gotten." Miles spoke as he ate the meat off of the rabbit leg he'd cooked for them.

Charlie shrugged, finishing up her own meal and drinking back the water from her canteen, "Who knows."

"Hopefully they haven't killed each other."

She laughed, "Yeah hopefully."

It was nighttime, pitch black out save for the fire in between them and the moonlight shining down. She yawned and lay on her roll; it had been a long day to say the least so she was looking forward to sleep tonight.

"Goodnight Miles, thanks for the food." He smiled at her and nodded as she got comfortable.

Moving quietly over to his own roll, he sat down, staring up at the sky, yawning as he stretched.

5 Days Later:

Rachel watched as Marcus gave them a wary look and she sighed, knowing that Seb…Monroe's presence did absolutely nothing to make him want to cooperate.

They had finally made it to their second destination in the great Illinois area, near Chicago. The first pendant was safely tucked away in Jason's pack. It had been easy to get since they had managed to make Monroe stay out of sight. But this time he insisted on going with and now they were met with wary eyes.

"Why should I trust you? You brought HIM to my house!" The man growled, thrusting a finger in his direction.

Rachel signed "Look I know it's hard to believe, you have to understand that he's not the threat anymore, it's …."

"Tom Neville." Monroe stood in the doorway, hands in the air in surrender, "My second in command, he has taken over and he has one of the pendants and my army at his command. I don't expect you to believe a word I say," He moved inside slowly, watching as the man looked at him in fear, gun shaking in his hands, "But if you hate me…..he is far worse than I." His blue eyes glinted in the light and the man slowly dropped his gun.

"Fine, but this is for Ben, only for him." He glared at Monroe before thrusting the pendant in Rachel's direction, "Take it and restore the power, do what you have to do to get it done, for Ben."

She smiled a small smile, nodding her head, knowing he must have been one of the employees who worked with her late husband and took the pendant, tucking it in her pocket, "Thank you Marcus, we will."

He nodded and shooed them out, "Now get out of here, especially you!" He glared again at Monroe who moved out of the small home and onto the dirt pathway.

"You should let me have a gun you know." Monroe spoke casually as they all walked through the forest, the crunching of leaves beneath their feet the only sounds echoing throughout the area.

Danny snorted, "So you can kill us all?"

He sighed, "What would I gain by killing you all boy?"

Danny opened his mouth to respond when another noise infiltrated the area and Monroe whirled around, hearing footsteps, and loud ones at that coming their way.

It appeared Jason had heard it too as he had drawn his arrows out, aiming behind them.

"What is it?!" Rachel cried out, grabbing for Danny in fear.

Monroe listened and suddenly it grew quiet, too quiet. "Militia."

It was the only word he was able to get out just as the forest seemed to open up and the militia surrounded them.

"Monroe." One of them chuckled darkly as he moved towards Rachel, rifle aimed at her head as he grabbed her by her hair, roughly dragging her to her knees. Danny yelled out and went to attack when another solider came up behind, hitting him in the shoulder with his rifle, causing the teenager to scream out in pain as he fell to the ground, the solider stepping on his back to keep him still as the other one kept a tight grip on his mother.

Jason and Monroe stayed together, "My militia, I can say it does sadden me to see you operating under Neville's command now."

One solider smirked as he moved closer, "Sorry to break your heart, we went with the highest bidder, you lost."

"What brings you here then boys?" Monroe smiled fully, even unarmed, he refused to look weak.

The solider grinned, "We came for the woman, General Neville wants her alive, she's going to help build a bigger amplifier for him and then get the rest of the pendants. He's not a stupid man; he knew you'd eventually stumble across this lot when he threw you out."

Monroe's eyes widened at that…..he should have known he'd be followed, but he was just concerned with getting help….he didn't realize he'd run straight into Rachel and her little group…..

"What about us?"

The solider puffed up, aiming his weapon between all of them casually, "Jason will be coming with us and we will be putting you and the boy to rest."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rachel cried out as she struggled to get away from the man holding her by her hair. "NOT MY SON YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The militia solider holding her by her hair growled and pulled her closer, licking the side of her face, "I will have some fun with you before we get you to the general." His laughter made her blood freeze and Monroe felt his blood boil, no one would touch what was his in that way, his eyes darkened as he felt nothing but rage take over.

"Sorry but I am not going anywhere boys." Jason retorted, "None of us are." And with that he drew his arrow back, shooting the officer closest to him in the head.

Monroe lashed out, striking the one doing the talking in the throat, watching as the man gasped for air before grasping his neck and twisting, letting the body fall to the ground.

Shots fired and Jason fired arrow after arrow before pausing to do what he hoped was the right decision, and threw one of the guns on the ground at Monroe who caught it midair.

He regarded him with a nod before turning and shooting, watching as the soldiers fell one by one before turning to the one holding Rachel.

"Let her go."

The man shook his head, pressing his gun into her temple, "Orders are orders, you understand."

Monroe growled and lashed out, using the butt of his gun to hit the guy face first, hearing the crack of his nose as he knocked the gun out of his hand whilst throwing Rachel out of the goons arms and onto the ground. "Not really." He hissed and fired his own gun, blood spraying as the man fell with a thud to the ground.

"DANNY!"

He looked over to see Rachel sobbing as she attempted to get to her son, the man who had held him to the floor now aimed his weapon at Danny, grasping the teenager by the neck, ready to blow his head off, "Not another step closer."

Rachel stood, crying, begging for the man to release her son and Jason went to aim his arrow at the man holding Danny captive when another militia officer came at him from behind, knocking the arrows and bow onto the ground as he grabbed him by the throat.

Monroe turned back and Jason struggled against the burly man, "Don't…..worry….get Danny!" He ground out as he was dragged out of sight.

Rachel openly sobbed, as Jason was drug out of sight and turned back to see the other officer attempting to do the same with Danny.

"I will only say this once. " Monroe began as he moved towards them, "Let the boy go."

The man visibly shook under his former leader's intense gaze but steeled himself, shaking his head, "No."

Monroe sighed, "Have it your way." Just as the man attempted to pull the trigger, the former militia leader struck, his foot catching the man in the face, sending the gun flying to the ground.

He pulled Danny out of the man's grasp and threw him backwards out of the way before aiming his own gun, "Noooo!" The man cried out just as he pulled the trigger, body slumping lifelessly on the blood stained grass.

With a sigh, he cocked his gun again and turned back to see Rachel hugging her son, both looking at him in fear…..glancing at him and the gun in his hands. "You still think I am going to kill you?"

Danny was the first to step forward, shaking his head, blonde hair blowing in the wind, "No. Not anymore….you saved my life….you didn't have to."

Monroe turned back and walked to one of the dead soldiers, grabbing the pistol next to the solider; he turned back and threw it at Rachel's son.

The boy caught it in midair, looking at him in surprise, "You need to learn to use a gun."

"Jason…." Rachel finally choked out, "We have to find him."

Monroe shook his head, "They won't kill him, and Neville wants a family reunion. For now the boy is safe. We have to get the rest of these pendants…."

"Pendants." Rachel cut him off, eyes wide in horror, "He has one of them! We have to find…."

"The other pendants." Monroe cut her off, "He may have two but if we find the last one in Wisconsin and the …. others," It pained him to think of his old friend, curiosity rising at what the man would say to him when they met again like this, "find the rest of them, then its six against his two."

"Wisconsin…." She sniffed, holding back her emotions over nearly having been killed again.

He nodded, "Wisconsin."

"One pendant down," Charlie smiled as they left the little village in Wichita Falls.

"And one more to go." Miles quipped, walking beside her, drinking out of his newly filled flask. Thank god this town had alcohol; he was able to replenish his whiskey supply on the way out.

"Drinking already?"

He raised a brow, "Your point?"

She laughed, "Can I have some?"

"No!"

She stopped walking as they made it outside the village, "Why not?"

He could see the fire in her eye; she was challenging him, "Because I said so."

And with that, he continued walking, shaking his head at her brazenness. She was getting way too comfortable with him and he wasn't sure he liked that.

"How many more days do you think till we find the last pendant?" Danny looked at his mother.

She pulled out the map and analyzed it as they walked, "I would say another three days or four give or take."

Monroe reached over, removing the map from her to look at himself, "That looks about right; it may be longer if we have to go through the forests unless there is a direct path, but everything seems completely overgrown here." He gestured to the forest ahead, the long blades of grass coming up to their thighs, he'd been using his sword to cut through it lest a snake or some other kind of creature be hiding in it.

Danny sighed and looked at the man he'd once thought the enemy. The general who'd ordered his capture was not the same cold faced tyrant he'd seen at the camp. This was a different man, one who not only saved his life, but his mother's as well. He still didn't trust him a 100% but he could see the man was trying and at this point it was enough for him.

He cleared his throat and moved beside him, hesitantly as he fingered the gun in his hand, "So….will you show me how to use this thing?"

A small smirk broke over the former leader of the militia's face, stopping in his tracks to face him, he glanced at Rachel to see her nod her head. "Hand me it, first we need to unload both of the guns so we don't accidentally kill each other."

Rachel watched in silence, observing Monroe interacting with her son. This man, this was the man she'd…..she'd begun to fall for; this was the man she knew was still inside underneath his cold facade. A small smile graced her own lips as she watched him teach her son the proper usage of a gun.

3 Days Later:

"Okay so just one more to go now then back to Richards house." Charlie mused more so to herself as she looked at the map."

Miles looked over her shoulder, nodding, "Yep I say we will get there in three to five days….five days more than likely."

She nodded and rolled the map back up, putting it back in her pack as they trudged through the rugged terrain.

As the skies turned darker and the stars came out, brightly lit, Charlie turned to her uncle, "Should we camp for the night?"

He nodded and they found a nice spot to set up for the evening, placing their packs down and stretching.

"You hungry?" He asked as he took a big swig from his flask.

She shook her head, "Not really, but I do want some of what you are drinking!"

And with that she attempted to swipe it from him.

He merely laughed as she tried to jump for it while he held it above her head, "Don't think so kid, nice try."

She pouted, the look on her face doing nothing to help his condition when he was in close proximity with her.

"Please?"

He shook his head.

Suddenly her eyes lit up and he could see the wheels turning, "If I beat you this time then I get some?"

He laughed out right, "Yeah right kid."

God she hated that word he used for her.

"I'm serious."

He raised a brow, knowing she wouldn't give up, damn stubborn Matheson gene….. "Fine, but only a sip."

"Fine."

Miles placed the flask down before turning to her, "What do I get if I win?"

She thought for a moment, "Me not hounding you for the alcohol?"

He snorted, "Deal."

A bright smile floated across her face and he couldn't help but become lost in it momentarily before snapping himself out of it.

Before he could say anything else he watched in shock as she charged him, this was a first, and he caught her easily, throwing her to the ground. "I win."

Her eyes darkened and he fell flat on his ass as she knocked his legs out from under him, "Correction, I win."

With a growl, he slammed into her, bringing them both to the ground before she managed to kick him off of her, standing quickly.

He got to his feet just as fast and attempted to slam her back onto the ground with his leg when she turned the tables, grasping his shirt, she managed to flip their positions and slam him right into the nearest tree, his breath leaving him momentarily.

Choking back a cough, he glared at her as she smirked, thinking she'd won, and grabbed her waist, turning their positions, throwing her backwards into the tree, "A deal is a deal."

He turned to go get his flask when he felt her pull him back, "I don't think so." And with that she attempted to make him lose his footing and he grabbed onto her at the same time, both uncle and niece colliding into each other as he tried to keep his balance, managing to thrust them both into the side of the tree. The only thing supporting him was his hand on her shoulder and tree behind her, faces inches from each other.

He was so close she could feel his breath on her lips, and her heart caught in her throat as he leaned closer, eyes locked on hers and she knew in that moment, knew he felt for her what she had been feeling for him.

"Char…." Her voice sounded choked on his lips, she could feel how close his lips were to hers.

"Charlotte, my name is Charlotte."

His hand wound in her hair and she could see him struggling with his emotions behind veiled eyes as she reached out, pulling him closer, feeling his excitement, knowing he wanted her as much as she wanted him, had been wanting him.

He growled his hand curling into a fist as he punched the wall beside her head, "No….this is…this is fucked up. I am fucked up…" He shook his head and just as quickly as he had pinned her, he released her, his other hand letting go of her hair, walking off as fast as he could.

She ran a hand through her hair, her body on fire…. She knew it was considered wrong, immoral, disgusting, not meant to be, and yet it felt like the most….right thing in the world.

"Who says?" She demanded as she finally moved away from the tree and towards him, snapping out of the trance he'd put her in.

He growled again, moving abruptly away from her. "We can't Charlie! This is wrong, I'm sorry."

And with that he walked off again, more like stormed off towards the river, leaving her alone near the roaring fire they'd built.

She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed, debating whether or not to go after him.

Miles kicked the ground, watching dirt fly in the air as he stood next to the river, listening to the sounds of the water running. He couldn't believe he did that, lost control…..he almost…..he shuddered. He would have to distance himself, he couldn't do this to her, it wasn't right. Ben would fry him within an inch of his life if he knew and Rachel…she would have his balls on a platter.

Yep he was a first class idiot

Perverted

Lusting after his niece

So close to taking her in the middle of the fucking forest

This would be the longest journey of his damn life

But he couldn't do this, not to himself and not to her.

Nightfall came too quickly and the trio set up camp for the night, Danny falling straight to sleep, exhausted walking for days and from training against Monroe with not just the gun but hand to hand combat in case he found himself without any weapons.

The fire burned, crackling over the wood as Rachel and Monroe stood on either side of it, attempting to warm up from the chill in the air.

"You ever wonder what could have been."

The question burned in the air and Rachel sighed, moving away from her sleeping son.

"No."

He chuckled softly as she put the pendant in her sack. "You are lying."

She shot him a glare over her shoulder, "No I am not."

"Yes you are." He moved closer and suddenly his breath was on her neck as she stood up, goose bumps prickling over her neck and arms.

She swallowed, "Stop it."

"Why?"

"Because….there can never be an us."

He breathed on her neck, gently, "I don't recall you having an issue before…."

She attempted to move away, feeling his hand gently grasp her arm, pulling her back, "That was before….they rescued me….and I wasn't in my …. right mind."

She cursed herself for stammering over herself, but he was very distracting and she refused to give into him, he was just using her, just wanting to pass the time and she wouldn't be his plaything.

"Make no mistake Rachel Matheson…." He spoke, roughly turning her around in his arms, "I will make you mine in every way." And before she could protest, his lips crushed hers, the memories flooded her mind and she felt him grip her as close as possible as her lips moved of their own violation going against her wishes.

Suddenly reality gripped and her and she realized just who was kissing her and where they were and who was in close proximity to them and she growled, pushing him away before letting her hand draw back, the slap echoing around their makeshift campsite.

Before he could say anything or react, she'd turned on her heel and headed towards her own roll, back to him.

He grasped his face, his cheek stinging and he was sure a red mark was there. Normally he would be angry, normally he would have yelled at her and maybe throw her to the ground, normally he would have been completely livid…..but this was far from normal, and he knew her better than she thought he did…..she was mad alright but it wasn't directed at him, she was mad at herself for the feelings she had developed for him and he would bring those to surface real soon. She would be his no doubt, and he wouldn't be taking no as an answer.