A/N: I wrote the first chapter to this already, but then I decided that I needed a prologue… so I'm writing a prologue so the rest of the story can make sense. Yay!! (I know some things won't be completely accurate with the book, and some things Jasper would never do. But you know what, that's why it's FAN FICTION!! Get over it.) This isn't written in diary form, 'cause those are lame. It's just what the dates are that whatever happened to Jasper that day.

Oh yeah, and this is in Jasper's POV. (duh.)

After an extremely prolonged absence from my regiment, I had decided to take a day off of leading a newborn army to spend some needed time with my former troops. It wasn't a terribly long ride from Maria's headquarters to where I assumed my troops were.

I had left early that morning and arrived into my former camp around mid afternoon. One of my soldiers noticed me arriving, and dropped whatever he was doing to run over to my horse. I considered it okay, since there was no fighting in this area at the time.

"Major Whitlock, sir!" smiled the soldier.

"At ease, Tom," I returned.

We had been talking for a few minutes when a courier rode into camp. He rode up to one of the soldiers, who then pointed at me. The courier traveled to my side.

"Major Jasper Whitlock?"

I nodded.

"This is for you. Came all the way from Washington." The courier nodded, handing me the letter.

"DC, right? Not the one way out there on the Oregon Trail…?" I hoped.

"Yessir, 'course."

I opened the letter. It was from John Wilkes Booth. An actor. I recalled seeing him a while ago in Richmond, Virginia while I was out visiting one of my friends. He was a pretty boy Shakespearean actor. Now I remember. He wanted my help in the kidnapping of the Union president, Abraham Lincoln. I was supposed to arrive at the National Hotel in Washington by Sunday.

Maria would love this.

Not.

I thanked the courier and gave him a few Confederate dollars for riding out here. I spent the rest of the day catching up with my former troops and rode back to Maria's place at night-time. I had a lot of explaining to do.

I had a hard time convincing Maria to let me leave for a few weeks to go to Washington, DC. She didn't want to lose a commander of her newborn army, but I really thought that I needed a break. And I was still a Confederate at heart… or whatever was keeping me going these days.

I had signed up for this war to serve my country. And that is what I was going to do. Whether Maria liked it or not, I was leaving for Washington tomorrow.

APRIL 5, 1865

I had a long ride ahead of me, and I really didn't think about how or what I was going to eat. I had made up my mind to help Booth with his plan. There was no turning back now. It was midday and I was almost in Mississippi. It was my goal to be in a part of Tennessee closest to Virginia by tomorrow morning. I had eaten before I left Galveston this morning, and I really wished that I would last that long until tomorrow.

APRIL 6, 1865

I had surprised myself when I found out that I was 20 minutes from the Virginia border at about 11:15 this morning. My horse died, so I fed on that. I had bought a new horse crossing the border into Knoxville, TN. Right now, I'm in a place called Kingsport. I'm very close to Virginia.

APRIL 7, 1865

I pushed my horse to limit and we galloped across Virginia in 12 hours. It collapsed of exhaustion when we were not too far from DC. I disposed of it as I should, and ran the rest of the way to the Capital City. I found Booth's letter in a pocket and asked directions to the National Hotel. I found that there was already a room there booked for me under Booth's name. I put all of my stuff there and there were instructions left for me on a nightstand:

Dear Major Whitlock,

Thank you so much for coming to Washington during this tragic time. I had heard of you from a friend of mine named Lewis Powell, he was also a Confederate soldier like yourself, but from South Carolina. Please meet me tonight, April 7, at the Surratt Tavern on H Street.

Yours,

J. Wilkes Booth

A/N: Yeah, I know that was kind of crappy, but I really want to post this story and I felt that a prologue was necessary so that the rest of the story wouldn't seem as bad. Please don't flame, but tell me what you think! Scratch the 'please': DON'T FLAME AND PLEAE REVIEW!!