A/N: This is the result of me not wanting to do my homework ;) Hope you enjoy!
"Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretense of keeping it alive." –Havelock Ellis
"I'm not sure what else we can try at this point, to be honest."
Rachel, Miles, Charlie, and Bass were sitting around the table in their latest safe house, just outside of Austin. A map of Austin was spread out on the table in front of them, marked with the locations of Patriot officers and soldiers. Empty glasses of whiskey sat in front of Bass, Charlie, and Miles as the group tried to come up with a way to infiltrate the city.
After a few more silent minutes, Rachel sat forward. "What if we blew up part of the wall? It could create a diversion so we could slip in," she suggested.
Charlie immediately leaned closer to the map and shook her head. "That wouldn't work. They have enough men to go check out the site of the explosion and still leave the rest of the wall fully guarded. And even if we did manage to sneak in, they would all be on high alert. They would know we are there."
Charlie kept her head down, focused on the map, so she missed the proud look on Miles's face. Rachel didn't, and felt a stirring of jealousy in her gut, because Charlie was so important to Miles, and a simple thing like showing how much she had learned from him and Bass made him proud.
"Well I'm not hearing any better suggestions," Rachel snapped harshly.
Both Miles and Bass looked at Rachel, frowning and her sudden anger, which only increased the swirling in her gut.
Charlie, however, simply pointed to a spot on the southern edge of the wall. "There. It's their weakest point, so maybe we can slip in. The area inside of the wall is just some empty space, so we shouldn't have to worry about being spotted by civilians. Cut a few guys down, maybe make a small hole in the wall, and we're in." She sat back, glancing at the two men to see what they thought.
Miles grinned and Bass smirked. "Nice thinking, Charlotte," Bass rumbled.
"Good work, kid," Miles added, grabbing the whiskey bottle and refilling their glasses.
Charlie gave Miles and Bass one of her blinding smiles before downing the whiskey.
Rachel's frown deepened as the swirling jealousy intensified at the attention her beautiful, clever daughter was getting. She could still remember a time, years before Charlie was born, when she was the one men would be fawning over and complimented on her intelligence. She felt the need to do something to show them that Charlie was still just a child.
Rachel stood abruptly, causing everyone to glance at her. "Charlie, can I speak to you for a minute?" she asked with forced calm, giving a fake smile in a weak attempt to cover up the storm of emotions inside.
Charlie simply nodded and followed her mother outside, aware that something was amiss.
Once out of the house, Rachel turned to her daughter and took a deep breath. "I don't think you should go with them to the wall."
Charlie raised an eyebrow, shock showing on her face. "Are you serious? No. I'm going."
Rachel's face turned to stone as her eyes flashed. "Let me rephrase: you are not going with them to the wall."
Charlie went from shock to rage as she heard the order from her mother. "No. You don't get to decide what I do."
Seeing that her hasty plan wasn't working, Rachel quickly switched tactics. "Charlie, I refuse to lose another member of my family. You will not go with them to the wall, or else I –"
"You'll what?" Charlie interrupted softly, menacingly. "What will you do, Mother?" She took a step forward, getting right into Rachel's face.
"Charlotte Matheson, I am your mother and –" Rachel started angrily, before being cut off by Charlie once more.
"No, you gave up the chance to be my mother when you left us on the road to go be with Miles. You are my mother by birth, yes, but you get no say in my choices, especially when you tend to make such awful ones yourself," Charlie hissed out.
Rachel saw red and whipped the back of her hand across Charlie's face, the unexpected blow causing her to stumble back, just as Miles and Bass came outside.
"Rachel, what the hell?"
Charlie whipped her head up to look at Rachel, blue eyes glaring at full Matheson force, before she leaped for her, hands outstretched. Bass quickly lunged out, grabbing onto Charlie and she kicked and scratched, trying to get out and go after Rachel.
Miles, on the other hand, went straight for Rachel, shoving her back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled in her face, eyes raging.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Miles held up a hand, cutting her off. "You know what, I don't even care. Just go, Rach. I think Gene needs some help in Willoughby."
Rachel stared at him in disbelief, glancing over to where Bass was talking soothingly to Charlie, calming her down so she wouldn't murder Rachel the moment she got free. Holding her head high, Rachel stalked inside, grabbed her meager possessions, and started off on the road to Willoughby.
She never looked back at the trio of warriors as they turned and walked back inside, together.
A/N: Love it? Hate it? Review below, and thanks for reading!