Of all the people that could lie to her, Charlie never expected Miles to be one of them. The knowledge that he is deliberately keeping secrets from her, big ones if Jeremy's attitude is any indication, is downright depressing. There's a pit growing in her stomach at the mere thought of his treachery.

Charlie shakes her head at herself as she storms down the hallway from Jeremy's office. Perhaps she's being a little over dramatic. But then again, never once in her life has she kept a secret from her uncle. He was the first person she told about her crush on Bass when she was eleven and he was the first one to know when it grew into something more. On the day Bass proposed, Miles was the first person she sought out to tell. Miles is more than just her uncle. He's her friend and confidant. He's practically her father. He is her father as far as she's concerned. But even after all that, he's still keeping secrets.

Her feet carry her through the house without her notice. Past the offices and conference rooms, through the residential wing, and into the kitchens without a second thought. She nearly runs over poor Marla as she pushes a cart loaded with hot tea and breakfast out into the hallway.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mrs. Monroe!" Marla, a thin older woman with streaks of grey in her ginger hair, hastily starts brushing imaginary dirt from the front of Charlie's clothes in apology.

Charlie fends the woman off with a smile that she manages to dredge up from nowhere. "No, I'm sorry. I should watch where I'm going."

Marla nods politely and goes back to her tray. "Oh, don't worry about me. I know you're very busy."

Charlie gives her a small smile as the woman takes off down the hallway but something pokes irritatingly at the back of her mind. She shrugs it off and heads into the kitchen in search of a snack. About halfway through a freshly baked roll, it hits her.

Who is Marla taking breakfast to?

Bass and Miles are both out of town, which means that the food isn't for them. And since she ate breakfast with Jason a little over an hour ago, she knows it isn't for him. The only other person in the house that would dare ask to have breakfast brought to them is Jeremy, but she happens to know for a fact he went out to have breakfast with Tom and Julia this morning.

So who is Marla taking breakfast to?

The only other time breakfast is served somewhere outside the kitchen is when the person can't get to the kitchen. But last time she checked, no one in Independence Hall was sick. So that just leaves... prisoners.

Charlie drops her half eaten roll on the counter and rushes through the kitchen door in the direction Marla disappeared. She stops at the junction between three separate hallways, but the woman is no where in sight. Pointing to the young Private standing against the wall, she asks, "which way did Marla go?"

The young man shifts uncomfortably on his feet, looking anywhere but at her.

"I asked you a question soldier," she growls.

He huffs out a shaky breath and points down the hallway towards the north wing. "She went that way."

Without another word, Charlie hurries off down the hallway. The north wing is a part of the house that they rarely use. It's mainly full of guest rooms and supply closets. The only time they ever use it is when Kelly Foster or Frank Blanchard are in town. And even then, Frank's been known to simply sleep on the couch in the living room upstairs and Kelly usually ends up in Maggie's room since the doctor insists on staying at the clinic whenever possible.

So then who the hell is over here?

She catches Marla as she is making her way back towards the kitchens with an empty cart.

"Mrs. Monroe." The woman's voice comes out as a worried squeak, making Charlie suspicious.

"Where did you take that food?" She asks, getting right to the point.

"Sorry?" Marla asks innocently.

Charlie's eyes narrow to slits. "The breakfast tray that was on your cart just a few minutes ago. Where did you take it?"

Just like the guard in the hallway, Marla shifts around awkwardly on her feet. She bites her lip and looks at her guiltily. "Ma'am, I'm not sure that I'm supposed to say."

Beneath the guilt, Charlie can also sense a bit of fear. Not caused by her of course, she would never hurt an employee, and definitely not Marla. But someone clearly has her spooked.

"Marla, I don't know what's going on, but I promise you that you are not in any trouble. I just want you to tell me where you took the food. That's all." Charlie tells her gently.

Marla checks up and down the hallway for anyone who might be listening before leaning in close. "I can't say anything for certain Mrs. Monroe, but you may want to check the room that President Blanchard usually doesn't stay in."

Charlie's face breaks out into a huge smile as she gives the older woman a quick hug. "Thank you, thank you."

"But you didn't hear it from," she says quickly.

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

Charlie waits until Marla has gone back down the hallway and is out of sight before taking off to Frank's usual room. When there aren't any guests in town this part of the house is usually patrolled by a skeleton crew, but as she moves through the halls Charlie can tell that something is definitely going on over here. There are way too many guards around. She wonders what Jeremy could be hiding in Frank's room. And since Jason is in charge of house security, he must be in on it too. She pulls to a stop at the end of the hallway just a few feet from where Sergent Rolland is standing guard in front of a guest room door. His eyes widen in surprise at the sight of her.

"Mrs. Monroe, what are you doing all the way at this end of the house?" He asks in a shaky voice. Ignoring his question, Charlie brushes him aside.

"Wait, you can't go in there!"

"Excuse me?" Charlie asks with a raised eyebrow.

Rolland shallows thickly. "I just meant-"

"-Let me save you the trouble of lying to me Sergent. I am going to go in this room and you can not stop me, nor can Captain Baker or Lieutenant Neville. Understood?"

He nods. "Yes, ma'am."

Charlie twists the door knob and pushes the door open, revealing a pale, skinny boy seated at a coffee table devouring his breakfast. His light brown eyes snap up to meet hers as he chews around a mouthful of toast.

"Who are you?"

But Charlie doesn't respond right away. All she can do is stand and stare at this skinny kid who is apparently important enough for Miles, Bass, Jeremy, Jason, and half the house to keep hidden from her.

"Who am I?" She finally says back. "Since this is my house I think that you should tell me who you are."

"You live here?" The boy asks incredulously.

Charlie scoffs at his incompetence. "Well, I am married to the President, so yeah, I live here."

The kid's mouth drops open in shock. "You're President Monroe's wife?"

His shock manages to distract her from her original mission. "Yes," she says defensively. "Is that a problem?"

"No, no. I just... I mean I thought Monroe was like, old. And you're hot."

Charlie huffs out an angry breath and crosses her arms over her chest. "My relationship with my husband is none of your business."

The kid shrugs apologetically. "I know that! I just- Forget it, forget I said anything."

The look on his face is sincere enough, causing Charlie to crack a smile. "Don't worry about it. I get that a lot."

"What, that you're hot?"

She snorts. "No, about Bass being older than me."

"Oh, right." He chuckles softly and gives her a curious look. "So... was there something you wanted from me?"

This kid, something about him is strange. Of all the things to keep secret, she can't figure out why the boys would pick him. He seems like an ordinary, good natured kid.

"Yeah, actually. I was just trying to figure out what you're doing here."

The kid opens his mouth but then shuts it again and shrugs. "Honestly, I have no idea. That guy, the big one with the blonde hair, said that my parents are being held for questioning and that I have to stay until they're done."

"You're parents? What did they do?"

"He said that they tried to break in or something. I don't know for sure." Suddenly, his voice changes and takes on a worried tone. "Are they in trouble? Am I in trouble?"

There's a sudden desire in her heart to calm this poor boy's nerves so Charlie takes a seat across the table from him and smiles gently. "Truthfully, I don't know at the moment. But I will go talk to Captain Baker and I'll figure out what's going on, alright?"

The boy sighs with relief. "Thank you, Mrs. Monroe."

"You can call me Charlie."

He nods. "Oh, I'm Danny, by the way. Danny Matheson."

The smile drops from Charlie's face. "What did you just say?"

"Uh, my name is Danny."

Charlie shakes her head roughly, trying to clear the sudden chaos in her mind. "Matheson?" She asks breathlessly.

"Uh, yeah. Are you OK? You don't look so good."

Charlie stands and staggers away from the couch. The boy, Danny, her brother, rises to steady her. With a hand on either side of her waist, he guides her slowly back to the couch. "You guys have that doctor around here don't you? The guy outside can get her."

He's halfway to the door when it bursts open and Jeremy rushes into the room with Jason at his heels. Danny jumps back and puts his hands in the air in surrender. "I didn't do anything, I swear! She just got all pale, I think she needs a doctor."

Jeremy tries to calm the kid down but Jason brushes right past him and goes straight for Charlie. He kneels down in front of her and cups her cheeks gently in his hands. "Charlie? Charlie?"

Shaking off his hands, Charlie looks directly into his deep, brown eyes. "It's Danny," she whispers.

Jason nods slowly. "I know. I know."

She sits up suddenly. "His parents. He said his parents are here. That my parents are here."

"I know, Charlie."

"I need to see them."

Jason looks over to where Jeremy is still calming down a distraught Danny before pulling her to her feet. "You will, but right now I think you need to rest."

"No, I'm fine. I have to see them-"

"-Charlie, I know you want to but you can't right now."

The chaotic haze suddenly seems to raise from her mind. "You knew they were here. This is what you guys have been hiding."

Jason's face takes on a worried look as he all but drags her from the room. Charlie struggles against him, getting glimpses of Danny on her way out, but he's much bigger than she is.

"What are you doing? I just want to see him. He's my brother!"

Jason grabs her shoulders and yanks her towards him so their faces are only inches apart. "I know that," he hisses. "But that kid in there, Danny, he has no idea that he has a sister. He has no idea why he's here. And he has absolutely no clue that his parents have been lying to him his entire life."

The fight goes out of her, leaving Charlie propped against Jason for support. "What do you mean he doesn't know he has a sister?" She asks weakly.

"I don't know the full story, you'll have to ask Jer. But I do know that that poor kid has no idea what's going on and you fainting and screaming isn't going to help him."

Before she can respond, Jeremy comes out of the room. He gives her a quick once over as if checking to make sure she's all there before speaking. "Look, I know you're pissed, but I was just following orders. Miles wanted to make sure it was really them before he got your hopes up."

The understanding that this is all Miles' idea hurts, but she accepts it for it really is. He's just trying to protect her. "I know. But I still want to talk to them."

"You can't. We don't even know if these people really are your parents. For all we know they could be dangerous."

Charlie scoffs. "Did you see that kid in there? The only dangerous thing about him are those pointy elbows."

"OK, the kid's a lump. But the parents are different Charlie. We need to wait for Bass to come home so we can know for sure."

Propping a hand on her hip, Charlie glares at him. "Do you really think that Miles and Bass would leave this house, knowing full well that they might never come back, and leave me without some way of identifying my own parents? Because if you think they would then you clearly don't know them at all."

Jason stares at her with wide eyes. "Wait, how can you tell?"

"Why wouldn't either of them tell me?" Jeremy asks.

But Charlie simply shakes her head at them. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I need to speak to them. So where are they?"

Jeremy frowns but seems to realize his arguments aren't going to get him anywhere. "They're downstairs in holding cells."

"Bring them up to my office. I'll talk to them there."

"Are you sure about this?" Jason asks.

Charlie takes a deep breath and nods. "Just do it."

XxX

As she paces the office waiting for them to arrive, Charlie tries over and over again to remember what her parents looked like. But seventeen years is a long time to go without seeing someone and each time she tries to picture them in her mind they come back more and more distorted.

Her mother comes up as a faceless blob with blonde hair. She knows her hair was blonde because Miles told her. But the hair looks wild and curly, and she isn't sure if that's what it really looks like or if she's simply putting Maggie's hair on her mother's head. Her father is even harder to picture. She knows from what Bass has told her that Ben had dark hair but every time she tries to picture her father's face all she can see is Miles.

A sharp knock on the door jars her from her thoughts and she calls for them to come in as she straightens her shirt. Jeremy enters first; followed by a smaller man with unkempt, dark hair and bright, blue eyes. As soon as he sees her, he stops moving and just stares at her face with something like wonder in his eyes. The woman behind him has long, blonde hair. It's curly, but not as much as Maggie's. Her pale, blue eyes are searching Charlie's face for something but she isn't sure what.

"Hello," Charlie says, her voice much steadier than she would have ever thought possible.

The man let's out a muffled sort of squeak and moves towards her. "Charlie..." But Jeremy pulls him back before he even makes it two steps.

"Watch yourself," he growls.

While she appreciates that Jeremy is just trying to protect her, Charlie seriously doubts that this man means to do her any harm. Though she isn't sure she's up for hugs just yet.

"Why don't you both have a seat." She gestures to the two chairs sitting in front of her desk and watches as the man slowly takes a seat, his eyes never leaving her face. The woman is watching her more closely though. There's an air of suspicion about her that Charlie isn't sure she likes. She takes a seat next to her husband and looks up at Charlie expectantly.

"Thank you for bringing them up Captain Baker. You may go."

Jeremy gives her a 'you must be out of your mind' look but Charlie shoots him down with a glare. He huffs and steps out of the room, practically slamming the door on his way out.

"I'm surprised your administration allows that kind of insubordination," the woman says coolly.

"Captain Baker is a good man. He's just trying to do his job."

The woman nods and looks around the room appearing rather bored with the entire situation. "Your helper monkey said you wanted to speak to us?" Charlie can't help the growl that starts deep in her throat. There is something about this woman that she really doesn't like.

The man glares over at his wife. "Rachel, can you calm down for five minutes. Obviously this is a lot for her to process so just give her a second."

Much like she had with Danny earlier, Charlie feels an immediate connection with this man. There's something about him that puts her at ease, much like you would expect a father to. But there's still the matter of whether or not he actually is her father.

"I only have one question for you. If you answer correctly, then I will know that you really are my parents. Fail to answer, and you and your son will be charged with fraud and most likely be sent to a labor camp to work off your sentences. Do you understand?"

They both nod.

"On the night of the blackout my uncle received a phone call just before the power went out. Who called him and what did they say?"

Their faces go from eager to worried in a heartbeat.

"You have thirty seconds," Charlie tells them.

The man looks at his wife questioningly and Charlie sees her subtly shake her head. The man who is supposedly her father turns back to her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

It hurts, but after seventeen years it's not like she had high expectations of her parents ever showing up. She bites her lip to hold back the tears threatening to spill and nods. "I'll have Captain Baker take you back to holding. You'll await trial there."

But as she's crossing to the door, the man gets up and stands in her way. "Wait, please-"

"-Ben, shut up!" The woman shouts.

"It was me," he says quickly. "I called Miles."

The woman jumps up from her chair and yanks her husband backwards away from her. "I said, shut up!" She hisses.

"Hey!" Charlie shoves the woman back and grabs the man's shoulders. "Why did you call him? What did you say? You have to say it or I can't believe you are who you say you are."

"Ben don't!" Rachel shouts.

He glances over at his wife then looks back at Charlie. "The power. I told him it was all gonna turn off," Ben whispers.

Charlie slaps her hand over her mouth in shock. Miles had told her about that phone call just after her eleventh birthday. There had been a big battle going on for weeks and he was worried that something bad might happen to he and Bass, so he had to give her a way to identify her parents. They never told anyone else about that phone call. Not Jeremy or Jason, not even Maggie and Nora know about it. That phone call is the best kept secret in the whole Republic. The only way this man could possibly know about it is if he made the call himself.

Her shock of having her parents standing right in front of her is surpassed by the need to keep this family secret. She lowers her voice to a whisper and looks at her parents seriously. "Listen to me. Not a single person in this house knows about that phone call. Just me, Miles, and Bass. Do not speak a word of it here. If anyone found out that you both have information on the power that would put everyone in the Republic in danger. Do you understand?"

Ben nods immediately but Rachel takes a moment to look at her curiously before agreeing.

"We have to make sure Danny doesn't say anything either," she adds as an afterthought.

"He won't say anything, he doesn't even know." Ben says.

Charlie frowns up at him. "Yeah. I guess Danny doesn't know a lot of things."

He sighs and runs a hand through his messy hair. "We never meant for it to get this far. You have to believe me."

Charlie steps away from him, distancing herself for sanities sake. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you tell him the truth now. I'll have Jer take you guys down to see him."

"Aren't you going to come with us?" Ben asks hopefully.

Shaking her head, Charlie opens the office door. "Nope. You guys made that mess, you get to clean it up. Plus, I've got work to do."

Jeremy is leaning against the door frame with a concerned look on his face. "Well?"

"It's them," Charlie says simply.

"It is? Are you sure? How do you know?"

But she ignores his questions, instead giving him an affectionate pat on the cheek. "Take them down to see Danny for me, OK? And have Jason prep a room for my parents near his."

Jeremy opens his mouth to object but seems to notice the weary look on her face and decides against it. "I'll get right on it."

She waits until he's closed the door behind her parents before collapsing into her desk chair. Her parents are alive. Danny is alive. They are in Independence Hall. Bass and Miles aren't home to see it. Pulling a piece of paper towards her, Charlie begins to write.

'Dear Uncle Dickhead...'

A/N Bass will be back next chapter! Yay! By the way, have I mentioned how much I hate Rachel? ;-) Thanks for reading! Leave me a review if you've got a second!