Title: Erase
author: Cindy Ryan
spoilers: all

Miles Matheson would kill for a couple bottles of whiskey right about now. Hell anything with an edge. The former general just needed something to dull the memories of the last few days. They were too vivid; too crisp. After a night's rest or lack of the group continued on their journey to Philadelphia As he walked Miles couldn't shut out the image of his niece about to take a life. She'd been willing to do the unthinkable for him; for this makeshift family they'd formed with Nora and Aaron. Miles kept expecting Charlie to crumble and more often than not she rose to whatever challenge or obstacle kept her from Danny.

'You're right life isn't a bunch of pretty postcards.'

The leer Drexel had given Charlie almost ongoing since he met her was ingrained in Miles's mind along with her angry words. His words shot back at him. Now Miles not only had to find a way to kill his ex-best friend and rescue his nephew he also had to deal with the new Charlie. She was becoming unpredictable a wildcard they didn't need. On the other hand Miles was sure the events Drexel had put in motion had shaken Charlie. As much as it had changed her it had also curtailed his niece's defiance.

Knowing they were hours from the nearest bar wasn't helping ease Miles's inner turmoil. By some miracle everything had worked out in the end. Aaron had saved the day at a cost to himself. Miles had prepared himself for never seeing Nora again. Leaving her with Aaron her only way out had been one of the hardest things Miles had done in recent memory. Drexel had known how to push Miles's buttons. Had known just what would get him to make an impossible choice. Despite his best intentions Miles had grown accustomed to this odd group; this family. To destroy it in order to save Charlie hadn't been an easy decision.

That decision was something he needed the whiskey for. Miles knew he'd make the same choice over again. Charlie had reawakened something in Miles he thought was dead. Something that he thought he'd erased. What family meant...love, honor and sacrifice. Miles knew Philadelphia would change everything. He just had to make sure this family survived what was to come along with what was left of the Matheson family. It was the only thing that mattered.

end