Author's Note: So sorry for the wait guys, I promise I tried to write every day and it just didn't work. I had written just about half the chapter when my dad did something to my computer and it crashed, effectively killing my chapter as well as one of my essays for college. Well, this is it! I've finally found the time to finish it and boy is it a long chapter compared to my others. I didn't play with the flirting as much this chapter because I wanted Jason to be more earnest. And Matheson! We get to see Miles finally! I know my writing isn't very fantastic, but I need to get to the goods as fast as possible! Remember to Review! This is important to me! I'm a bit selfish like that!

Traveling with Charlie and Co. reminded Jason of camping trips when he was little. The Neville family would pack up snacks and a small tent and drive off to a camping ground in upper Pennsylvania. Everyone seemed to be interested and happy on the surface, while underneath no one was. Everyone in the group was hiding something, that much was obvious, but no one cared. No one was forced to share their thoughts because their worries were either obvious or respected. To dispel this, Aaron would say something awkward, Maggie would roll her eyes and smother a chuckle or two. Charlie, on the other hand would laugh outright, tossing her hair over her shoulder, smiling brightly, even her eyes shone.

The first time Jason heard her laugh he couldn't move. Her laugh didn't tinkle like bells or bubble up or anything stupid like that. Rather her laugh was raw, smoky and real. It completely floored him.

"… Nate?" Jason quickly glanced away from Charlie, swallowing tightly.

"Nate!" Aaron's voice woke him from his reverie.

"Woah, what?" He shook his head, trying to dispel all thoughts beside that of the mission. Those other thoughts were too dangerous. "Sorry, I was daydreaming. What do you need, Aaron?"

"Oh, no problem. Do you know how close we are to Chicago? We really need to get there as soon as possible and any help you might have would be great, so.., yeah." Aaron ended lamely, scratching at his beard.

"No, I don't. Sorry, man." The Nate persona took over and smiled easily at him, lies spewing from Jason's mouth. "I haven't been in this area before."

Jason hated 'Nate'. Nate was easy and charming and inviting, suave even. He was, in Jason's opinion, a complete douche. But being Nate had its advantages; Charlie and Aaron were completely taken in, with Maggie coming around. Nate would ask innocent questions and laugh and slowly he was able to draw Charlie's worried look off her face.

"What were you daydreaming about?" Charlie asked, tilting her chin to the side. The light coming through the leaves leaving flashes of shadow and sunlight on her skin.

"Oh, you know, just-"Jason stopped himself midsentence. He turned slightly, looking back at Charlie. God, he hated himself. He had to keep telling himself that he didn't have to lie all the time. That the mission didn't require him to lie about everything. "I was just thinking what if we didn't have anywhere to be, no one to meet, what would we do? Where would we go?"

Charlie raised her eyebrow incredulously, "Oh really?"

'I'm an idiot', Jason thought, inwardly cringing at the awkward, existential question.

She gave a little quirk of her head, pulling her chin to the side before responding. "Surprisingly, I think I'd be doing exactly this." She shrugged a little, pulling her pack more securely on her shoulders. "Wandering, seeing what's out there. This is what I wanted to do before.."

'Before your dad died'. Jason finished in his head. He really needed to stop thinking about that. It was the man's own fault; he should have controlled his son. The man was weak.

"Why did you want to travel? Didn't you like your home?" He found himself asking as he swung a leg over a fallen tree.

She glanced over at him as she took his offered hand and jumped over the log, supporting herself on his arm. "My village was nice enough, just really quiet. I was too old to be coddled and too young to have a town responsibility. So I wanted out. This broken country is huge and I plan on seeing it all."

'Broken country…The Monroe Republic isn't broken and it's the only country you've ever known. She better not be a rebel. I'd really hate to kill her or her friends'. Jason cast a look up towards Maggie and Aaron. They weren't stupid enough to be part of the so-called 'rebellion' were they?

"Charlie, look!" Aaron called back at them, pointing to the gap in the trees. As the broke through the forest, a huge structure loomed in front of them. It was the Wrigley Stadium. It was crumbling and vines were covering it, but the huge building was still recognizable. They were there. They were in Chicago. And so was Miles Matheson.

When they first entered the city proper, Jason tried to compare Philadelphia, his home, to the sprawling city of Chicago. Philly was clean and organized with Militia soldiers monitoring the streets. Business shops were kept by smart, professional merchants and the markets made sense. Chicago was like entering a jungle. The entire city was in chaos. Shanties on the sides of the road claimed to be honest businesses and their customers shouted disagreements about quality and price. There was no order. The few militia he saw had dirtied uniforms, patched and worn carelessly. The arrests Jason witnessed were sloppy and often resulted in a fight.

Charlie and Aaron were shocked. They looked at everything with an expression of wonder and disgust. Maggie, unsurprisingly, simply looked about disinterestedly and made her way through the crowd.

As different as it to his home town, Jason found himself walking confidently, casually mingling in the shops. The chaotic rhythm of the city suited something inside him. He felt powerful here, he felt he could handle this city. It held nothing special and no one worth their salt.

Maggie grabbed a small, raggedy boy and asked him to point them in the direction of the Grand Hotel. The boy stuck out a small hand, glaring at Aaron and Jason as if he was daring them to try and push him around. Maggie sighed and placed two coins in his grimy palm. The boy grabbed her hand and pulled her, shoving passersby out of the way.

The inside of the Grand was dimly lit, oil lamps in the corners, and stank of alcohol and unwashed bodies. Men nursing shots of liquor eyed the group suspiciously, some grumbling under their breath. A few reached out and tried to pull Maggie and Charlie to them, but a glare from Jason and they pulled back, cat-calling and whistling as they passed. One or two even tried to come on to Jason, but he simply cracked his knuckles and stepped around them. As they neared the bar he shouldered his bow, making sure it would be easy to draw and fire.

"Excuse me," Maggie asked to the bartender. He turned eyebrow raised. "Maybe you can help me."

The man scoffed a bit. "God, I hope so." he looked Maggie up and down appraisingly

"We're looking for somebody." She said, determinedly ignoring his leery smirk.

"That accent. Lady, you are classing up the joint."

"That shouldn't be too difficult, should it." She said dryly.

He glanced over at her, pausing a moment at the insult before twitching his eyebrow again and continuing to fill bottles of liquor.

Jason glanced over at Charlie. She was staring fixedly at the man, her muscles tense as she focused all her attention on the conversation. She really did need to find Matheson, it really was important to her.

"His name is Miles Matheson." Maggie continued. The name didn't force a response from the bartender, who finishing with the bottle set it down before answering.

He waved a hand and shrugged a bit "Never heard of him."

Charlie stirred finally, a tremor in her voice as she said "No, he has to be here."

The bartender shrugged carelessly, "What do you want me to say, kid?" he smiled a bit and held out his arms as if to show his helplessness. He turned around, grabbing a rag and a few dirty glasses

"Well, if you know him or know anyone that does, will you please tell him that his brother is dead?" The man paused in his washing, back stiffening. "He was murdered by militia." Her voice was soft, as if she still couldn't believe it herself.

The man turned around and gestured to Charlie, "Who are you?"

"Charlie, er- Charlotte. I'm his niece." She looked up at the man hopefully.

He set down the glasses in his hand and thought for a second. "Kay." He pointed to Charlie, "Just you. Come with me."

'Like hell she will'. "Oh, wait, Buddy." Jason said, pulling out his large hunting knife, leaning on the counter. The bartender looked over at him, "You're not taking her anywhere." As he spoke, Jason held his knife up, tip pointed at the man's throat.

The man looked down at the knife, unimpressed. Like a flash, the man had grabbed Jason's wrist and held the knife flush against Jason's own throat. Jason glared at him, ashamed. Not many men had ever been able to get the better of him. The man leaned in, "She's my niece. I don't know you." He flipped the knife away and stabbed it into the bar. He looked back over to Charlie and nodded to the door at the far side of the room. "Come on."

Charlie jumped, "Wait, you're Uncle Miles?" She took a step back, staring at her relative.

"Underwhelmed?" Matheson guessed, shrugging apologetically.

"No, it's just-I never expected-" She stumbled over her words,

"Come, on. Not in here." He looked pointedly over at Jason.

So that was General Miles Matheson. The man Jason had been hunting for over a month and he was working as a bartender. Jason watched the man as he walked through the door, not waiting for Charlie to follow him.

The man certainly hadn't lost any of his skills. After seven years out of the Militia, Jason had thought for sure that he would have gone soft, been easy to take down. Jason had thought that taking Matheson by himself would be a matter more of patience than of skill. He'd have to rethink his plan and fast, Charlie would soon come out and he'd have to deal with the entire group.

Jason was certain that he could at least injure Matheson, hopefully enough to slow him down. He'd have to call out for the militia outside, he didn't have the necessary tools to contain Gen. Matheson. Maggie and Aaron stood tensely off to the side, eyes glued to the door. They'd be of little concern. Jason saw how they handled the thugs from before. Poison and adrenaline, no skill whatsoever.

A minute or two later, Charlie burst through the door, alone. She looked upset, she quickly brushed at her eyes before striding up to them.

Maggie shoved away from the counter, "What's wrong?" she sounded motherly, so concerned.

"Nothing. Let's go." Charlie was on the verge of tears again, her voice trembling with anger and frustration.

What happened, why is she so upset? He looked out at the door where Matheson was slowly walking back toward them, taking a swig of whiskey.

"Charlie, what is wrong?" Maggie reached out, but Charlie shrugged out of her arms, pushing Maggie away.

"Nothing, let's just go. Get your stuff-" Charlie frantically grabbed Aaron's pack and shoved it in his arms.

"Hey, hey, wait, what happened." Jason put an arm on her shoulder. She was breathing heavily and wouldn't look anyone in the face.

"Nothing let's just go." She repeated, looking up at him. Jason wanted to punch someone. She was barely holding back tears, jaw clenched so tightly a vein was sticking out on her forehead. She was about to crack.

He looked over her head again. Matheson was looking at the group, chin raised, watching Charlie's attempt at escape.

'Bastard.' For a moment Jason forgot the mission, forgot everything except the fact that that strong, beautiful girl had been hurt. And it was that man's fault.

Jason stepped around Charlie, ignoring her pleas for them to just leave, and strode towards Matheson. He lifted a hand, stopping Matheson from brushing past him. "Hey, hold on." He stepped right up to Matheson, "So what did you say to her, huh?" 'Come on, give me a reason to sink my fist in your ugly face.'

Matheson simply looked him up and down before grabbing the hand Jason had raised, pulling the sleeve of his shirt down. The 'M' brand stood out, angry against his skin. "Militia, huh? When'd you enlist?"

Jason's knife found itself against Matheson's neck again, and he glared proudly into his eyes. He opened his mouth, about to answer. Jason's training took over, training that all Militia had learned thanks to this man and head butted him in the face, pulling his wrist out of Matheson's grasp. Bow and arrow was strung and drawn in a second, the point at Matheson's heart as Jason backed up quickly.

He found the door and kicked it open. Just before he turned and ran, Jason caught the expression on Charlie's face. Anger and tears had been replaced by shock and confusion. He would probably never see her again.

A/N- Well that was exciting. I have to admit. I don't swear at all in real life, but in my head, Jason has no problem at all with that, so I just let the words flow. There are a few I will refrain from, but eh, we'll see. I'm loving Jason more and more. Honestly, ladies, who doesn't?

Oh! And if you guys don't know about it already, you MUST watch the AfterBuzz Recap and Analysis of each episode! You can find AfterBuzz tv show at or on youtube! I comment on them a lot and sometimes the hosts point out my comments and talk about them! They're really good too, you get a different feel for the show and for the characters. If you guys want to catch me, my twitter that I used is TheMcCostley, which I've now changed to ThatCostleyGirl. (When Dave would say my username on the show it just didn't sound right so I'm fixing it. Lots of confusion for anybody that pays attention. Probably nobody does, but I do.)

Anyway! Remember to review! I love reading them and I love getting them! If you have any question or corrections please PM me, if you have any insights, please post them as a review so others can see! I love you guys, thanks for your support and patience