Day 1

Several militia guards shoved her into the room, through the still open door, she could see several more guards dragging Miles further down the hallway of Independence Hall.

A man that appeared to be in his early thirties, with black hair and creepy brown eyes, stared down at her triumphantly. "Sit tight kitten, I'll be back soon."

A chill ran up Charlie's spine as she watched the man, or creep, slam the door of the cell closed.

Well, if you could really call this a cell.

It was a large bedroom, with two windows along one wall, that all had bars on them of course, and there was an armchair sitting in between them. The large bed was set against the opposite wall, made up with fluffy white sheets, and a trunk sitting at the foot of the bed. The wall next to the door leading out into the hallway had a small vanity with a stool sitting in front of it. The far wall had two doors, and thinking that she had found her escape, Charlie ran towards them.

Nope. The door on the right was just an empty closet, and the door on the left was a bathroom. She entered the generously sized room and found a tub of fresh water sitting next to the sink, and a large clawfoot bathtub in the corner. Further inspection of the room showed that there was water in the toilet, frowning, she gave the handle on the side an experimental push.

It worked.

Of course, Monroe gets to enjoy his indoor plumbing while the rest of the Republic starves to death.

She went back out into the bedroom and went to the door, leaning against it to see if she could hear anything. There was no noise on the other side, so she tried the door knob.

Locked.

She wiggled it and pushed on the door, but it remained firmly in place. She needed to get out of here, she needed to find Miles, and she needed to get back to Danny.

Earlier that day

"Charlie, run!" Miles' face, which usually remained so calm, was showing the fear he had been keeping at bay ever since Charlie had showed up at his bar in Chicago.

But his apparent fear was no match for Charlie's stubborness.

"No, I am not leaving you." Her usually bright blue eyes were hard, and he knew he wasn't going to win this argument.

"Fine," he turned desperately to Nora, "get Rachel and Danny, and get them the hell out of here. We'll catch up with you guys at the rendevous point."

Nora shook her head at him. "Miles, there's no way you guys can do this, there's too many-"

"I said, go!" Miles was screaming at her, his eyes begging her to understand. He has to do this.

Nora nodded her head shakily, "ok, but be careful Miles." She grabbed Miles' face between her hands and pressed a kiss to his lips before running off in the direction of the Rebels' base camp, where Rachel and Danny were helping with the injured.

Miles looked sideways at his niece. Three months ago, she was this stupid, little farm girl that showed up begging for his help on some crazy suicide mission. But now, looking at the fierce determination in her eyes, there was no denying, she is a warrior.

"Are you sure you wanna do this? It's not to late for you to go with your mom and Danny."

She could see the tension in his face and hear the sadness in his voice. He thinks they've already lost.

"No. I already told you, we stick together."

Her courage and loyalty pushed away his self-doubt, and he pulled his sword from his belt.

"Then let's go kick some ass."

Present

That had been early this morning. She and Miles had been caught less than an hour later, and Monroe's men had thrown them into a wagon, taking them back to Philadelphia. Back to Monroe.

Her first encounter with him hadn't been anything like what she was expecting. In her mind, Monroe was like the monster under her bed. Big, mean, and ugly with a side of crazy. The reality of meeting him proved that he's definately mean and crazy.

Big and ugly? Not so much.

Not that she's actually attracted to him. She's willing to admit that Monroe is good looking, but the whole I'm-the-psyco-that-kidnapped-your-brother-and-killed-your-dad thing, kind of ruins it for her.

Charlie throws her shoulder against the door in an attempt to break out of her large, and admittedly luxerious, prison cell. It doesn't budge, so she tries again, and again, and again. Nothing. Her shoulder is starting to hurt, but she doesn't care, she gives it one more big push and... nothing.

She steps back from the door, gripping her now sore shoulder. She stares at it as if she can get the door to open by merely willing it to happen with her mind.

But again, nothing.

Not that she really expected that to work.

But losing the battle doesn't mean you've lost the war, so she looks around the room for another exit. Her eyes spot an old vent just above the headboard of the brass bedstead. Jumping up onto the bed, and ignoring how soft it is, she reaches up and pulls at the vent screen. It comes off remarkably easier than she was expecting, but she pays no mind to that as she climbs onto the headboard to squeeze herself into the hole.

Well, guess that plan isn't going to work either.

The vent appears to have a sheet of metal blocking anyone from escaping. There is a small slip of paper sitting in front of it.

'Nice try.'

Charlie's blood is boiling, anger coursing through her veins. That smug son of a bitch, actually took the time to write that note and put it in the air duct. She pushes at the metal inside, but it doesn't move. In her anger, she punches and pushes some more.

"Your wasting your time." She whips around to find a blonde man with broad shoulders staring up at her. She's seen him before, he's the Captain that Miles turned himself into, but she can't remember his name. So she says nothing, she simply stares at him while she continues to stand on the bed.

The Captain seems unbothered by her silence. "The President takes security very seriously. If you had actually managed to escape, he probably would have had you tortured to find out how you did it right before he shot you in the head."

He looked so calm, standing there, talking about shooting her in the head.

So again, she opted for silence.

Captain-guy seemed to realize that she didn't plan on speaking to him, so he opened the door before looking back at her to speak. "I was sent to tell you that Miles said 'sit tight.' "

That got her attention, but rather than letting her ask any questions, he snapped the door shut behind him.

Charlie yelled at the door in frustration, "what the hell are you talking about!" She jumped down from the bed and ran to the door, beating her fists against it. "Where is Miles? Let me out of here!"

Silence.

She hit the door a few more times just for good measure before retreating over to the windows. Examining the glass, she decided that even if she managed to shatter it, there was no way she would be able to squeeze through the metal bars fitted over the window.

There was no other way out. As much as she hated the idea of 'sitting tight' she knew that she didn't have a choice. So she went to the armchair placed between the windows and sat down. The adrenaline from the day was starting to wear off, her body was tired and her eyes were already drooping. Charlie fell into an uneasy sleep as the afternoon turned into evening.

OpOpOpOpOp

"Charlie, hey, kid, wake up." She was startled out of sleep by Miles standing over her. She smiled up at him and breathed a sigh of relief, deciding that her trip to Independence Hall must have simply been a nightmare.

Wrong.

As she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, vaugly registering the room around her as she took in Miles' appearance. He looked remarkably cleaner than the last time she had seen him and he was wearing new clothes. A navy blue jacket with matching pants.

Oh shit.

"Miles, why are you wearing a militia uniform?" Her heart was racing and the tiny bit of doubt she had, about whether or not Miles would stick with her, was busting through. "You're back with Monroe?" She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. "How could you? You said that-"

Miles grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Charlie, stop it. I don't have a lot of time, so we can't waste it arguing."

Charlie furrowed her brow, "what? What are you talking about? What's going-"

Miles put his hand over her mouth to make her shut up. "Now I want you to listen, listen to everything I say before you say anything else. Got it?" He waited for her to nod before removing his hand from her mouth. He sat back on his heels and looked away from her guiltily.

"I have to go away for a while... I told Bass that I would go to California for him." Charlie looked like she was about to start screaming so he held up his hand to stop her.

"I don't have a choice kid. I knew when we came here that our chances of getting out of here alive were slim, but I wasn't counting on being captured. I don't want to be here, I'm done with the Republic and Bass, and I know you just want to get Danny and go home. So I made a deal.

"I have to go to California to get some stupid treaty signed for Bass, then when I get back, he'll let us both go free. And he agreed to leave your mom alone."

Charlie snorted, "and you believe him?"

Shaking his head, Miles gave her a sad smile. "No. But if I don't agree then he's gonna kill us both, so this is the only way I can keep you safe."

Charlie looked away from him, she couldn't stand to see her uncle look so defeated. "So when do we leave?"

His brown eyes found hers and he shook his head sadly, guilt radiating off of him.

Realization dawned on her and she jumped up from her seat. "No. No way, I'm not staying here."

Miles stood up, his height making him tower over her. "You don't have a choice, it was part of the deal. It's the only way he can make sure I'll do what I'm supposed to. He keeps you here, and I have to play good little soldier in order to make sure you stay safe."

"And what makes you think he won't kill me the moment you walk out the front door?"

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because he's hoping that I'll decide to stay when I get back, and he knows that I won't even consider it if your not here."

Charlie eyed her uncle uneasily, "are you? Considering staying, I mean."

"No. Definately not, but letting him think that I am will help keep you safe."

Just then, the door opened and the blonde Captain-guy came in, shutting the door behind him. "Sorry Miles, time's up."

Charlie looked between the man and Miles quickly, her heart dropping into her stomache. He's really going to do this. He's really leaving.

As if Miles could read her mind, he pulled her into a bone crushing hug and whispered into her hair. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise. Stick with Jeremy, he's gonna keep an eye on you for me."

Her vocal cords didn't seem to be working, all of her words burning out in her throat before they reached her lips, so she nodded into his chest.

Captain-guy cleared his throat and Miles separted himself from her, trying to hide the moisture in his eyes. "Try to keep the stupid to a minimum, alright?"

She took a deep breath and nodded, trying to smile. "I make no promises."

He smirked at her as he walked towards the door, nodding at Captain-guy before he left. Anger at Monroe for being stuck here mixed with the fear of being his newest prisoner swept over her and she sunk back down into the armchair, numb with shock.

Charlie hadn't even noticed that Captain-guy was still in the room until he walked over to one of the windows. He looked out at something that she assumed was down on the street below. "There he goes." His voice sound... sad, like he was going to miss whoever 'he' was.

Curiosity got the better of her and she went to the other window to see who was leaving.

Miles.

Yes, he had just told her that he had to leave, but she hadn't honestly thought it would be right this second. It was almost dark outside already. And if she was being perfectly honest with herself, she had figured that they would come up with some sort escape plan before he had to leave. But there he went. Riding down the road with a few dozen other soldiers on horseback.

As soon as his horse was out of sight, Captain-guy turned to her with sympathy on his face. "Look, I know this sucks, but trust me this was the only way."

Who the hell does this guy think he is?

"Get away from me."

"Charlie, listen-"

Her anger flared up at his use of her chosen name. That name is for friends, family, and he is neither one.

"You don't know me, don't call me that."

He seemed mildy irritated by her behavior, but managed to calm himself down. "I'm friends with Miles, and I need you to listen to me because I need to get back-"

"How do you know him?" But Miles words came floating back into her mind, 'Stick with Jeremy.'

"Are you Jeremy?"

He seemed overcome with relief for a moment, but then his face turned tense. "Yes, I am. So now you need to listen to me because I have to go back upstairs and tell Bass that Miles is gone and that your going to sit down here and be a good little girl."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at him, prepared to tell him just how stupid he must be if he really thought that that was going to happen.

"No, listen to me, he's got Pittman."

Charlie's stomach started to churn. "What do you mean? You guys have Aaron?"

"The fat guy? Yeah, they found him wandering around by himself about an hour from the Rebels' base camp."

"Well Monroe can't hurt him, Miles said-"

"Actually he can. Bass didn't tell Miles that Pittman was here, so the deal they made was just for your safety. It's a bullshit technicality, but Bass is desperate. He's going to use you to manipulate Miles into doing what he wants. Then he's going to use Pittman to make you cooperate until Miles gets back.

"If you don't play nice, Bass won't hesitate to kill your friend. Believe me Charlie, he's unstable as it is. Don't start pushing his buttons or you might end up getting your friend killed." With that, Jeremy moved to leave.

"Now in a little bit, an older woman named Madelyn, is going to come in here and bring you some new clothes and some bath water. Clean up, get dressed, and then come to dinner. Play nice." He turned and opened the door, "and do me a favor, don't piss off Madelyn. She's a sweet old lady, but when you make her mad, everybody in the house suffers."

A man appeared behind Jeremy, and Charlie noticed that it was the creepy guy with black hair from earlier. "Oh, this is Private Nevins, he's your guard. He'll escort you to all of your meals and stand watch outside of the door to keep you from escaping."

And then he was gone, the door shut firmly behind him. Leaving her to process all of the information that had been dumped into her lap in the last fifteen minutes.

Miles left to go to California to keep her safe, he doesn't know that Monroe has Aaron, Monroe will kill Aaron if she makes him mad, Jeremy is her friend (sort of), don't piss off whoever the hell Madelyn is, and creeper-Nevins is her new jailor.

It could take more than a year for Miles to get to California and back.

She is a prisoner in Independence Hall until then.

Great.

But on the bright side, Jeremy said that Madelyn's bringing water for a bath.

A/N This is going to be a super slow burn Charloe, but it is a Charloe story. We have a lot of ground to cover before miles gets back from California, so I have lots of fun planned in the meantime. Tell me what you think, I love reviews!