GarrettPOV

I only saw Ciara for a moment before they whisked her onto the helicopter. She had been kicking and screaming. Her aunt had been killed, and she was being abducted, of course she was unwilling to go. I spent the last week thinking about her, I wanted to go after her, but Miles shot down the idea. Getting in and out of Philly was extremely dangerous. Ciara could fend for herself, he said. Even President Jackson, her own father, took Mile's side.

I sat outside with several other soldiers. I knocked back another shot and the rebel soldier sitting next to me laughed. "You might want to slow down, unless you want a bad headache tomorrow," he cautioned.

"Don't care," I muttered.

"What's got you so upset?" He asked.

"Militia abducted a friend of mine during that confrontation in Jasper. I couldn't stop them."

"Your girlfriend?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, just a friend. I lost her to the Republic once already, now she's gone again. I don't think they'll let her go so easily this time."

"She's already escaped once? She must have luck on her side."

I shook my head. "I wouldn't call her lucky. Her mom died before she turned 18, and her fiancé died a few months back. Her aunt was killed in Jasper." I shook my head. "But you'd never know it by talking to her. She's on glorious quest to rebuild the United States. Thinks she can single handedly unite the Federation and the Republic."

The rebel laughed. "I knew a girl like that once."

"Knew?" I asked, happy to change the subject.

"I met a girl, on accident. She was running from rebels, ironically enough. I helped her. I never thought I would see her again, but she wasn't who I thought she was. I used to be in the Militia. My father was important enough to warrant a political marriage for his son. Lucky for me, I was engaged to the girl in the woods."

"If anyone around here has luck on their side it appears to be you," I said patting him on the shoulder. "What happened to her?"

"I had to leave the Militia, and I left her behind. I don't know what happened to her. She could be dead for all I know. Maybe they told her I just abandoned her. She might hate me now."

I handed him the bottle I was drinking. "I think you could use a drink too." He laughed quietly and took a swig. "What was she like?"

"Besides having crazy dreams about rebuilding the country? She was nice to everyone, in her own way. But she could have an attitude too. The was hardly a moment when she wasn't holding a book, or drawing." He stopped and laughed. "Either that or she was eating pie, and drinking lemonade."

I laughed. "That reminds me of Ciara. When I was escorting her to Philadelphia we passed these kids selling lemonade. She made us stop for a glass. It was so good she bought the entire pitcher."

His head snapped up quickly. "What did you say?"

"She bought a lot of lemonade?"

"No, her name, what was it?" He asked urgently.

"Ciara Jackson, the President's daughter."

"That's the girl who was just abducted?" He asked. I nodded not sure where he was going with this. "She was the girl from the woods, the one I was supposed to marry."

I blinked. "Wait, you're Jason?"

He nodded. "I can't believe she got out of the Republic."

"She helped your parents escape, almost got Atlanta blown up because of it. She thought you were dead."

"So that's what they told her. I was forced to leave. If I went back, they would've killed me. I thought my best bet was to come here, and hopefully get her back one day."

"I've been looking for a team to go to Philly with me, if you're interested," I told him. I held out my hand, and he shook it. "Garrett King, nice to meet you."

He looked surprised. "You're the friend who was killed by rebels."

"Turns out, I'm very much alive. Apparently people in Ciara's life don't stay dead."

"Maybe I was right, maybe she is the one with all the luck."

CiaraPOV

I had been in Monroe's office all night. His gunshot wound had been bandaged, and the doctor had left us with the request that we both get rest. We hadn't. Bass hadn't said a word to anyone. I'd only talked to Molly when she came in to ask if I needed anything.

Monroe was pacing, it was making me nervous. Pacing meant thinking, and thinking meant he could be deciding my fate. Finally he glanced over at me. He looked a bit surprised, as if he hadn't realized I was still there. "You can leave," he said simply.

"What?" I asked, standing quickly, positive I had misheard.

"You can go back. I'm letting you go."

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"I don't want to hurt you. I'll tell my men to let you leave and not to bother you should they ever cross paths with you again."

"You can't be serious."

"You're welcome to stay here too, if you want." He frowned. "But I thought you'd be happy to leave."

I frowned too. I didn't know what I felt. "I don't know, I should be happy. You've almost killed me twice now, without even meaning to. But you aren't the one who killed Emma, they did." It felt odd to set my own army as the "other." But thinking of them as my people felt wrong too.

"It was my fault," he said. It was the first time I had heard the emotion slip out since last night. He was as upset as I was about Emma's death, maybe even more so.

"You didn't mean for her to die. I don't think you would have pulled the trigger if it came down to it. There are some lines even you wouldn't cross. I saw how you looked at her, when she told you about your son."

"You knew about him?"

"I knew she had a son, but I didn't know he was yours. I didn't even know you knew Emma till yesterday." I sighed. "But you loved her, and you got me instead."

He looked at me for a long moment. "I wanted you for you." I sat back down. "Are you going back?" He asked, when it was clear I wasn't going to respond.

"I don't know. Yes, probably. I mean, I should." I nodded, then shook my head, changing my mind. Finally I just leaned back against the couch. "I don't think I can chose sides here. My goal isn't confined to the Federation or the Republic. I want to unite the country, the United States of America. I've got to focus on that, regardless of how this war ends."

"I admire your will to stay devoted your cause, no matter what," Bass said.

"It's the only thing I can do now. It's a better cause than either side of this war are fighting for. I'm looking at the bigger picture, focusing on the future." I shrugged. "I'm going to fight for this country, and the people I love. I won't let anyone or anything stand in my way."

"What if someone you love is what's standing in your way?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I guess, I have to decide which is more important." He grabbed a bottle and poured himself a drink, then he offered me a glass. To his surprised I took it, and knocked it back. "You said everyone needs a drink eventually, I guess I'm there."

GPOV

"Did you hear?" Jason asked, sitting by me at dinner. "Miles is getting a boat together to go up to Philadelphia."

"For Ciara?" I asked.

He shook his head. "They're kidnapping a scientist. But, if we volunteer we'll be right there. We can go in and get her ourselves," he explained.

I nodded. "That doesn't sound like a bad plan."

He frowned. "My father is going to be there too."

"On the boat?"

He nodded. "President Jackson recruited him to join the army."

"Why would he come to Georgia?"

"He lives off revenge. He probably just jumped at the first opportunity to take down Monroe. Maybe he thinks he owes something to Ciara for saving his life."

"You think he'll help us rescue her?"

"There's no way we're getting him back in Philly."

"Some way of paying her back then."

OoOoO

The next day we took a boat to Philly. We were posing as a group of fishermen. Charlie had expressed her dislike of Tom Neville, but Miles was adamant he was coming with us. Ciara hadn't been fond of Miles' niece when they met, and now I could see why. They were a lot alike.

Miles chose to bring Tom along because he knew the Republic better than any of us, save Miles. "Stay on deck, watch for Militia patrols in the area. They'll recognize me," Miles told me. I headed out of deck, grateful to get out of the stuffy cabin.

I took a walk around the deck. When I came to the bow, I saw Tom and Jason talking intensely. I kept out of sight so I wouldn't interrupt. "I don't care what side you're on," Jason told him. "You're only here because, for the time being, they're kissing your ass."

"I am here because you are a traitor. Your mother and I did not have a choice. She almost died because of you. Atlanta was almost bombed because Ciara helped us escape. She stayed behind to protect us. You think Monroe is treating her like a guest anymore? She didn't ask for any of this but she helped us anyway. If your former fiancée can do that, I should think you would be able to deal with me being here." They stared each other down before Jason gave in. He turned down my side of the boat and brushed right past me without a word.

CPOV

"I'm going back to Georgia," I told Bass.

"Chose your side?"

"No, but I thought I could talk to them, maybe work something out. This war is just going to cause even bigger rifts in this country."

"Miles isn't going to let Emma's death go."

"Neither will I, but its as much Georgia's fault as it is yours," I said. I narrowed my eyes. "But we both know this isn't about Georgia. This is about Miles. How many more people are you both going to let die, before you just get over it?"

"I was on the verge of war with Georgia before Miles joined their side."

"And now all your problems are in one place."

"If you can convince Georgia to end this, do it," he said, changing the subject.

I shook my head. "On it."

"I can change," he said quietly looking down. I wasn't sure if he even meant for me to hear it.

"Miles doesn't think you can," I told him. He looked up. "Luckily, I'm not Miles."

GPOV

Miles wouldn't let Jason or me off the boat. He knew what our plan was. So, we were stuck on a boat, because of mission we hadn't even wanted to go on. "You think she's okay?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, Ciara's tough, she'll be alright," I said. Though I wasn't sure if I believed it myself.

"She helped my parents escape, Monroe might have killed her already."

I shook my head, not wanting to hear that. "I don't think he'd do it, she's too important."

"Important to what? Georgia already declared war, there's nothing left for her to do."

"She's important to him," I clarified. "After you died she agreed to marry him."

"She did?"

I shrugged. "She probably didn't have much of a choice. She was pretty quiet about the whole thing after she escaped to Georgia." I remembered how sad she'd looked after she'd decided to stay with us.

"What?" Jason asked.

I shook my head. "It's probably nothing. I'm sure it was just weird being back."

"Probably."

OoOoO

When everyone got back, Dr. Camp was locked up below deck. Neville told us he and his men had captured Camp's family. They threatened the man, saying if he didn't start working for Georgia they would kill his family. "Did you know about this?" I asked Jason.

"No, of course not."

"That sounds like something Monroe would do, not us." I glanced out over the water. "Is that a Militia ship?" I asked pointing behind us. Jason nodded that it was. I didn't waste a second getting everyone prepared for them to stop us. We slowed to let them catch up with us; we didn't want to seem suspicious.

"Can we see your fishing license?" One of the soldiers said. I nodded and pulled the forged license from my pocket. They nodded and handed it back. "We're going to need to search your ship."

"You saw our license, we're good," I said.

"We've had a few fishermen come through here smuggling goods. Its procedure," the soldier. I nodded for Jason to go below deck and warn the others. I took them around the ship. We passed a few of Neville's men and Nora. Miles stepped out on deck. "What's this about men?"

"Just a routine check," one of the soldiers said. I tried to shoo Miles away before any of the soldiers had the chance to recognize him, but he shook his head. What was the point of telling me they'd recognize him, if he didn't care anyway. We took them below deck, where we only found Jason. I didn't know how he'd hidden the others, but it worked. The soldiers returned to their boat and left us alone.

Jason and I returned above deck. "Where did you hide Camp?"

"Charlie found a secret compartment."

Charlie came upstairs. "This has gone too far," she said to us. "We have to stop this. I'll talk to Miles about getting rid of Neville, but if he says no we have to take control of this operation. Threatening a man's family is not us."

Jason and I both nodded. "Alright."

"Be ready," Charlie said. She went below deck to find Miles.

"He'll say no. I'll take out Tom, you tie up Captain Lucas. Lucas knows where Camp's family is."

CPOV

As soon as I reached the Rebel-GA base I went looking for Garrett, because I knew he'd be worried. I opened the flap on his tent and peeked in. "Garrett?" I called. No answer. I sighed and turned around, figuring he might be at dinner. I ran right into him.

"Ciara?" He said surprised. He was carrying a backpack and his gun.

"Been somewhere?" I asked.

"Up in the Republic, we wanted to look for you but Miles wouldn't let us," he told me. "How did you escape?"

"That's the thing, I didn't escape. He let me leave."

"General Monroe of the Monroe Republic let you walk right out of town?" He asked skeptically.

"He told his men that if they laid a hand on me, ever, he'd kill them."

"Why would he do that? You aren't useful anymore," he reminded me.

"I might be. I want to work out a treaty, negotiate, I don't know, do something to end this," I told him. "But that's not why he let me go. He told me I could leave before I told him all that."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" He asked.

I sighed. "Forget it, I'm back. That's all that matters, right?"

"Yeah." He hugged me and ruffled my hair. I laughed and pushed him away. "Oh! I almost forgot. There's something I need to tell you."

The tent flap opened and I turned. The light outside blinded me for a moment but as soon as it closed I could see the person standing in front of me. "Oh my god, Jason, you're alive."