Surviving Charming

The Cabin

Hannah stayed up all night, brainstorming and getting angrier by the minute. Packing a bag for both Gracie and her, the phone pings with a text from Chibs I'll be taking you 2 to the cabin for the next few days, Piney is sick. Hannah paused for a minute, then texted back K. Packing a few of Gracie's toys and some snacks, her phone vibrates again, One letter is all I get? Hannah chuckles, might as well poke the bear, Ok. Laying down in bed next to Gracie, staring at the ceiling, her phone vibrates again with a text from Chibs Ok smartass, I'll be there at 7am, we have to grab food on the way. Hannah sends back a thumbs up emoji and sets her phone down. What is Piney doing? Why is Chibs the one taking them? Why can't Happy or Kozik? And what will she tell Stahl on Monday?

Gracie is sitting in her booster seat, licking the chocolate off the top of her donut and chattering away about whatever pops up in her little mind. Hannah is staring out the window as Chibs is driving and answering Gracie. Lost in her thoughts, Chibs gently grabs her hand to get her attention, "You ok love ?" Hannah nods and laces her fingers between his. Pulling up to the cabin, they pile out of the car and Gracie takes off running,. "Sissy, come see this lake. I want to go fishing." Hannah yells to her, " Wait for Chibs." Then turns to Chibs " Can you take her fishing? I'll put the food away and take the bags in." He says "Aye, but we ne' to talk later." Hannah turns to walk away with her arm a full of bags, he grabs her arm. Before she could ask what he wanted, he cups her face and kisses her. She chuckles, nips his lip with her teeth and says," That's not talking." He puts his forehead to hers," I kno', let me check on da wee one" smacking her butt as she walks away. Hannah wanted to make the most of the day, letting Gracie pick what they were going to do next, with Chibs being really attentive to both of them. Later After putting Gracie to bed, Hannah cleans up from dinner as Chibs walks into the kitchen. He comes over, behind her offering to help, and she figured now or never, letting the alcohol in her system give her guts.

She turns to face him, and leans in to kiss him. At first he's surprised, but quickly takes over, cupping her face, kissing her lips while backing her against the sink. As She reaches up to run her fingers through his hair, he wraps his arms around her waist pulling her closer. Reaching up and gently grabbing her braid, pulling her head back, nipping at her ear lobe then making his way down her neck, kissing and biting it. Her breath speeds up, feeling her body temperature rise, she reaches down to rub his erection through his jeans. He growls, pulling her hair a little harder before kissing her again. She pulls away, taking his hand, "Take me to bed." Guiding her to the master bedroom, he picks her up and throws her back on the bed, causing her to squeal. They start stripping down, clothes and shoes on the floor, as he climbs into bed on top of her. Holding one of her hands and leaning back, he pauses to look at her, "You ok, bòidheach?" She just nods, pulling him back in for a kiss. She doesn't want to talk, she wants to just enjoy his company. Allow him to quiet her mind. And he does just that for the time being.

It was 2 am when she woke up, mind racing. Something was wrong but she couldn't put her finger on it. Chibs was snoring next to her, so she slides out of bed. Putting on his tshirt and her pj bottoms, she goes to check on Gracie, who's sound asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hannah gets a drink of water, and goes outside for some air. Sitting on the porch, she listens to the quiet, trying to figure out what was nagging her. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her. Or even worse, watching Gracie. But Chibs said the guys are doing their own thing this weekend and it was only the 3 of them there. Shutting off the porch light, she quietly walks around the porch, scanning the woods and listening. When she goes to open the door, Chibs is standing there, making her nearly jump out of her skin. "Shite. Why 're you in da dark?" Hannah catches her breathe," Ugh, I don't know, I couldn't sleep and something was nagging me, so I turned off the light to see if I could see anything." Chibs shakes his head," Aye, it's jus' us, love. Come to bed, yea?" Hannah shakes her head, " Can i just take a walk around the cabin, please? I'll be real fast." Chibs closes the door and locks it, " No worries, love. I've got ya." Hannah sighs, figuring she was just being paranoid, and follows him back to bed.

Standing under the shower, trying to ease her mind, Hannah still can't shake the nagging feeling. Chibs was outside with Gracie, teaching her to throw a frisbee and breakfast was in the oven. Getting dressed and drying her hair, Hannah realizes she doesn't hear Chibs or Gracie, and the nagging feeling intensified, but she thought maybe her brain was overthinking again. Slipping on her shoes, she walks out onto the porch, to see them standing by the trees, Gracie looking back and forth between the two men while they were talking. It seems like a calm conversation, Hannah figures maybe it's a neighbor, so she goes into the kitchen to check on the French toast bake she prepped last night. She hears Gracie scream, and Chibs yell " No." Hannah panics, racing out the front door to see what was going on. She recognized who the man was - Mike. He had Gracie under his arm with a gun pointed at Chibs, who was so angry his accent was too thick for Hannah to understand what he was saying. Hannah springs off the porch,running towards the commotion , yelling "GRACIE." Gracie is kicking and screaming, and calling out a name Hannah hasn't heard in a few years. Hannah's mind wanders for a few seconds, as if there is a flip book of their lives going through her mind, starting when Gracie was born, brief glimpses of the past. She hears 2 gunshots, and her mind snaps back to reality. She looks down to see Gracie clinging to her leg, crying. Reaching down to pick her up, Hannah looks over and sees both Chibs and Mike on the ground, both with blood on their faces.