The clash of swords filled the room. Miles watched as Charlie and the other young rebels trained. Charlie was paired off with Jason and she was more than holding her own. He had to admit, the kid had great instincts and some good skills. He couldn't help but feel some pride toward his niece.

Jason made a wrong move and Charlie took her opportunity to disarm him. She smirked at him as his sword fell to ground. Unfazed he moved in close, grabbed her hands and in one swift motion took her down to the ground, pinning her to floor. Both of her hands were trapped by his one, and his other gravitated toward her hip holding her in place. He leaned in close and said "nice try Charlie, I saw that one coming a mile away" all while his hand stroked her hip. Charlie could only stare back up at his eyes, momentarily lost in the moment. She was brought back to reality when the tip of Miles' sword appeared under Jason's throat.

"Watch your hands nipples, or I'll chop them off. Now on your feet do it again and concentrate."

Miles heard Nora's soft chuckle behind him. "He won't be any use to us without hand Miles."

"Well then he better keep them off my niece, fucking boy band wanna be."

"I never thought I'd see the day when Miles Matheson turned into an overprotective father."

"Yeah well I never asked for this, that's for sure. If I could reach into heaven and drag's Ben's ass back here I would. Then I would beat him into a bloody pulp. This was his job not mine."

"I think it's cute."

"Hold your tongue woman. I am many things, but cute isn't one of them. I made a promise, why I have no idea, and I'll be damned if I let that kid down. If that means killing every pretty boy that tries anything so be it – hell I might even enjoy it."

"She's not a child Miles, and her having a boyfriend won't interfere with your promise," Nora said as she walked away to finish building the pipe bombs for tonight's raid.

No but she's like my child Miles thought. He couldn't exactly pinpoint when he started thinking of Charlie as his own. It was the little things that happened along the way that made him realize he loved that girl like she was his own. Holly hell he wasn't parental material, not even close. No one in their right mind would nominate him for father of the year.

Speaking of parental figures, where the hell was Rachel? She was Charlie's actual parent but she had hardly spent any time with Charlie and when she did it usually turned into a silent death glare contest or a shouting match.

Christ, when had everything gotten so fucked up. Hell he knew the answer, it was when a naive wide eyed girl burst into his bar spouting the importance of family. Family he thought. He never thought much about family. Didn't want one, didn't need one, didn't deserve one. Then Charlie showed up and little by little he realized what he was missing.

He didn't deserve her, not after everything he had put her through and would probably put her through in the future. God under his "wing" she's got up close and personal to shoot a warden for a sniper riffle, kidnapped by a psyco dog man, branded, beaten, stepped on a landmine and shot in the head. Thinking back on all those moments made Miles shudder. And through it all, even after finding out who he really was, she forgave him and stuck by him. That kid had an endless amount of strength.

God she deserved a much better father than his sorry ass, but he would try his best to be the father he could. He only hoped it would be enough.

"Widen your stance" he barked at her. God she was a natural. A chip off the old block. He knew he couldn't lock her away and keeper out of the fight that was coming. Hell even if he tried she would just follow anyway. Stubbornness, one hell of a Matheson trait. If he couldn't keep her out of it, he would do the next best thing, train her to be the best.