A/N So I attempted to write Rachel, a challenge all by itself, because I never got a grip on her character beyond 'hypocritical'. I could actually like her (and her story) if she didn't keep pretending she was better than everybody else *cough* Miles, Charlie, Bass *cough*. I just wanted to get this almost Canon-y compliant-y Rachel POV out of my head, because I needed to attempt to explain how a mom could abandon her child like that (did I succeed?)
Rachel gets the note from a stranger while she's working on the town's administration. He walks in, drops the paper, and gets out before she can get a word in. Frankly, she only notices the guy when he's already closing the door behind him.
When she opens the note, she has no idea what to expect. The wax seal of the Monroe Republic doesn't grace the paper like it should have, nor is there handwriting on the outside that she could have recognized to warn her of the contents.
Miles' chicken scratch greets her, and her fear sets in. He's found her, and he's coming. His words few and to the point. She has until dawn to greet him outside the town, otherwise he and Bass will take her, her husband and the children.
She and Ben have been so careful, moving every few months, staying on the outskirts of the Republic and avoiding their own last names as much as possible. Charlie resents them for it, and Danny always gets sick when they travel to their next house, sometimes remaining weak for days or even a month.
Rachel wonders what Miles is like now. She has the newspaper clippings about her former lover and Bass' rise to power bound in this office, which is unofficially hers. It starts with the massacre of a camp, whose supplies had fed, bred and strengthened its neighbour, which would grow into an army base and move into Philly only months later.
Every article after that has the Monroe emblem in the right upper corner, propaganda mostly, but a vague pattern of their location and plans hidden in the subtext. Miles still looks handsome, even more so now that he stands up straight and proud and sober.
She crumples the note in her hand, reminding herself of Ben and the children and casting out the disloyalty and her deepest, darkest desires. They have to get out now. Maybe if they can leave by nightfall, the Mathesons have a chance to remain uncaged.
Rachel races home to find Ben in his office, the door locked, Danny drawing on the dining room table, and Charlie nowhere to be found. She knocks on the closed door, the urgency practically forcing her husband to open it. "He found us," she whispers urgently, moving inside and shutting the door behind her. "Miles and his lapdogs are on their way, we have to get out."
As she says the words, she already knows they're not going to make it. The children slow them down immensely, and there are no horses available, even if they had the money. Rachel is going to have to walk into her cage and she is going to do it willingly. "We won't make it," Ben confirms, his sigh loud and his shoulders hunched, like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. It's the only thing they share these days, the only thing they have in common. But Rachel still stands tall, because the only other option is a catatonic state she will never leave again.
"I'll start packing," he says, grabbing the duffels with frightening familiarity while Rachel goes to Danny. Only to find Charlie in the hallway, arms crossed and tears streaming down her face. "I want to stay," she says, her wet eyes staring at Rachel with Miles' determination.
"We can't, Charlie," her mom sighs, crouching down to her daughter's eye-height and reaching out. Charlie steps back, and Rachel draws her hand back, hurt. The girl is so resentful, always secluding herself, gone for hours at the time, sometimes even nights pass without a sign from her. Rachel guiltily wonders if Charlie would've been different if the power was still on.
"Why are we running from uncle Miles?" her daughter asks out of nowhere, and Rachel resents her husband's brother with all her might. Even years later, with only the faintest memories of her uncle, Charlie still loves Him more than she loves her mom, or even her dad. If only the girl knew what Miles had become, what he had done, the blood he had shed.
Rachel stays silent. Charlie always knows when Rachel tries to trick her, but she knows she can't tell her the truth, can't explain. If anybody ever finds out what the Mathesons know, they will be hunted by every soldier of every Republic and any stranger, friend and enemy will turn them in whole-heartedly. Even with Ben, they never say it out loud, afraid someone will hear.
"I'll just ask him, then," Charlie says, tears gone, frustration gone, just an edge of irritation left in her voice, and for just a moment, she sounds like a cool, rational adult, and then she's gone.
Rachel gives her the time to cool off, sure her daughter will be back soon. Meanwhile, she packs the children's packs, and leaves her own stuff lying around. She has never been all that materialistic anyway, and wherever Miles and Bass are putting her, she doubts it will be pleasant. Or maybe, just maybe, she can convince Miles to give her more, but even that will take time.
Charlie doesn't come back.
Ben and Danny wait, packed and ready, all night. The moment she gets back, they will be gone. Her husband hasn't even remarked on her lack of bags, probably hasn't noticed yet, or thinks her things are in with the children's.
"I'll get supplies," she lies to Ben, knowing that despite their differences, he will never let her go in his place, and definitely not to her brother, "You wait for Charlie and get to the next town over. I'll meet you guys there." She won't, but Ben is smart enough to figure that out eventually and not wait.
Rachel sets out, a more or less dutiful kiss for her husband and a true goodbye for Danny. Suspicion dawns in Ben's eyes, but he stays silent. She knows suddenly that alone, he will force himself to get better, to get out of his room and raise the children in a way he hasn't before. Maybe he will get through to their daughter again, like he did before the blackout.
Rachel knows she is late, but is aware that Miles will wait for her. He gave Ben and the children a chance to escape, and she is grateful for that. He will stall as long as he can to give his brother a head-start.
She hears the horses long before she hears the soldiers, who move with such grace that they barely make a sound. They're already packing, and Rachel sighs in relief. She's just in time.
When she actually manages to get close enough to observe the scene, her breath stocks and her feet attach themselves to the ground. She feels frozen, unable to move or speak.
Charlie found him.
She is sitting in front of Miles on his horse, relaxed and with a smile on her face, her weight resting against Miles' chest. There is a crossbow resting on her arm, one that Rachel recognizes as the one that disappeared from a cabin they had been staying a few weeks ago. Charlie had taken it.
Her eyes keep switching between her daughter and Miles until Charlie meets her gaze.
Rachel should be running, calling out, turn herself in and beg the generals to let her daughter go, but she doesn't. Alone, she could have kept her secrets, but Miles has gotten hands on leverage, and therefor everything she knows about the Blackout.
If he and Bass know, they'll turn the power back on, and Danny will die.
She has to trust that Miles will never harm his niece as long as he can't take advantage of her parents as the result. The only thing she can do now is stay away as far from Philly as she, Ben and Danny possibly can.
The only thing she can do is to keep the connection between blue and blue for as long as possible and not move a muscle.