Quenton finally speaks up, startling Nick, Jocelynn, Octavia, and Valerie. "That would only put them in danger," he says.

"Who the Hell is this?" Octavia demands, noticing Quenton for the first time. Quenton stiffens, glancing at me with worry.

"Everyone," I sigh, "this is Quenton. He escaped the CDC with us, and he wants to help us stop David."

"That doesn't answer my question, Cassandra," Octavia growls, looking over Quenton with a scrutinizing eye. "He's dressed like some sort of SWAT boy." She notices a patch on Quenton's uniform, and her eyes go wide. "Holy shit, he's an Atlas soldier!"

She stands abruptly, brandishing a knife, and Jocelynn, Bree, and Valerie startle.

"You brought an Atlas soldier here?" Valerie's voice is level as she stares at Quenton, who is slowly backing away.

"Whoa, hey, calm down, guys!" Sparrow steps in front of Quenton protectively as Octavia starts to advance on them. "He's with us!"

"Like Hell, he is!" Octavia growls. "Cassandra just got done saying that Atlas was the one who did this to us! We can't trust him!"

"Sit down," I growl, fed up with Octavia's hostility.

She glares at me, then storms over to me and get's in my face. "You get Felix killed, disappear for three months, and come back with some carrot-topped asswipe who happens to be a member of an organization you tell us is hostile. On top of that, I don't see Dani or Josh with you, so you better have a damn good explanation for all of this."

My blood boils at the mention of Felix, the fresh scar of his death reopening as memories of that day come flooding back. It takes everything I have not to slap the shit out of my sister and start a brawl in Valerie's office, so I take a deep breath, regaining my composure.

"Felix's death was not my fault," I growl. "Both of you could have left me out there at any time you wanted. I even gave you the option several times, but neither of you took it up. Jess was the one who pulled the trigger and killed our little brother, so don't you dare pit his death on me. You can be pissed at me all you want to for everything else that's happened, but you're just as responsible for him as I was."

Octavia's face falls, and she shakes with rage, glaring even harder than she was before.

"I wasn't the only one responsible for his safety, you were his big sister, too, so how about instead of blaming me for all of your problems, you take a good look at everything that's happened. You can stay mad at me for all I care, but put that anger to good fucking use and help me fix this mess."

Octavia seethes, but Jocelynn stands up, putting her hand on my sister's shoulder and slowly pulls her away from me.

"She's your sister, Octavia," Jocelynn says. "Felix wouldn't want you to fight. He'd want all of us to help her end this, once and for all."

Octavia takes several calming breaths and finally sheathes her knife.

"Fine," she growls, glaring at Quenton and me. "But once this is all over, don't think for a second that you and I won't be having some words."

I sigh, glad that Jocelynn stepped in. "That's fine with me, but we have a long way to go before this is finished. Look, Quenton was ordered by David to watch over us while we were at the CDC. I don't trust him any more than you do, but he knows Atlas better than we do, so like it or not, we need his help. But, that's not all of the information we gathered."

Valerie looks up at me, inquisitively.

"Doctor Bryce gave me a list of the last people in possession of the lockets and their likely whereabouts. It won't take David long to figure out that we're not at the CDC anymore if he hasn't found out already, so we need to get out of here pretty quick and start our search," I tell them. "He'll likely have Atlas soldiers watching us since Quenton is no longer in contact with them, so we have to step carefully. The first thing we need to do is figure out where Dani and Josh are."

"I was wondering if maybe you guys knew," Jocelynn mutters.

I shake my head. "They gave themselves up to Jess when we went to the CDC, and we have no idea where they might be now with how much time has passed."

Octavia takes a breath, glancing over at Valerie, who nods. Octavia sighs, turning to face me. "We have someone who might know," she confesses.

Even Jocelynn looks shocked at the news.

"The Widow's have been attacking us nearly every night if you couldn't tell when you walked in. After the latest attack, we managed to capture one of them as he tried to run off," Octavia says.

"Well, let's go talk to him," I say.

"It's Matt," she adds.

I tense, staring at my sister. "You have that bastard here?"

"Believe me, if we could have caught any of the others instead, we would have. We found him off in the city while we were chasing after the ones who fled. He's hardly said a word, and has been like that for a week," Octavia says.

"Is Leon with him?" I growl.

"Why would he be?" Octavia asks.

"Never mind. Where is he?"

"In the cells, same ones you and Dani were in when you first came," Bree says.

I turn away from them and start walking.

"Maybe you should go with her," I hear Jocelynn say. "You know, make sure she doesn't kill him or anything."

I repress a sigh as Sky and Sparrow follow after me, but Quenton is stopped before he can walk with us.

"Quenton, was it?" Valerie says. "I'd like to speak with you if I may."

Bree closes the door behind Sky, Sparrow, and me as they follow me down the hall and towards the cells.

I pass by several empty cells until I get to the last one, and I pause. Inside, Matt is curled up in a ball on the ground, his back to us, and he's tucked away in a corner.

I kick the cell bars, the sound echoing throughout the large room, and it startles Matt awake. He bolts up, looking frantically around, and when his eyes land on the three of us, he sighs.

"I thought you guys were dead or something," he says, sitting up and turning to face us.

"Not yet," I growl. "We need some information, Matt."

He raises an eyebrow, and I through the dim light, I can see he's in rough shape. He has a patch of gauze taped to his cheek, and his arm is in a sling. One of his eyes are bruised shut, and one of his legs has a bandage around it.

"Blowing up the Widow base wasn't enough, huh?" Matt accuses.

"Apparently not, since you're still attacking these people. But that's not why we're here," I tell him, crossing my arms.

He glances between me, Sky, and Sparrow, his face calm. "Figured Dani and Josh would be with you. They dead?"

"No," I keep my voice as even as I can, but he can tell there's something up. "That's what we need to know. When we left for the CDC, Dani and Josh were taken by Jess and her crew of Widow's. We need to know where she might have taken them."

He stares at me, surprised, then starts laughing. "They're probably dead by now if Jess was the one who took them!" He wipes away a tear from his face, leaning back against the wall of his cell. "Jess really has it out for those two, and I'm assuming that since you know who she is, you know just how fucked in the head she is."

"If she wanted them dead, she would have killed them instead of taking them," I hiss, stepping close to the cell doors. "Tell me where she took them."

He glares at me, defiant. "What's in it for me?"

"You're life," I growl. "We won't kill you for everything you've done if you tell us what we need to know."

Matt shrugs indifferently, shaking his head. "Sorry, Cassandra, but unlike you, I'm not scared of idle threats, and I'm especially not afraid to die." He leans forward, resting his chin on his good arm. "If you want the information, this is going to have to be a fair transaction."

I slam my fist into the bars of the cell, startling Matt for just a moment. "You're not in any position to be making transactions here."

"And you're not in any position to refuse the transaction," he muses. "I mean, unless you're okay with just leaving them behind. You know, like you did with Leon and me."

"You're a danger to the entire group, and Leon isn't any better," I snap. "We left because you hurt my sister and because Leon nearly got us killed."

He chuckles. "I think we have very different definitions of 'dangerous,' Cassandra. If you don't want to hear what I want from this exchange, then I guess you don't really want to find Dani and Josh as much as you think you do."

I'm close to bursting with rage when Sparrow rests his hand on my shoulder, stopping me from trying to reach through the bars to strangle Matt.

"At least hear him out," Sparrow says. "He's the only person who can tell us what we need to know."

I glare at Matt, letting Sparrow's words sink in, and I sigh, knowing he's right. The odds of catching another Widow alive are slim, and the odds of said Widow being willing to tell us what we need are even more dismal.

"Fine," I say. "What do you want?"

Matt smiles, looking pleased with himself. "I want to go with you."

"Fuck, no!" I exclaim. "The second we find them, you'll just go crawling back to the Widow's!"

"See, that's where you're wrong," Matt corrects, matter-of-factly. "I was just as much of their prisoner as Dani and Josh likely are. After you blew up their compound, they spent quite a long time torturing me because they believe that I told the Valkyrie where to hit them. After they were bored with that, they left me out there to die," he glares through the bars up at me. "Jessica is a very dangerous enemy to have, and she's been even crazier since the attack. So long as that bitch still lives, no one is safe." He sits back, staring up at the ceiling. "Like it or not, you need me. No one else knows the Widow's as well as I do."

There has to be another way to find them. I can't just let Matt out and expect him to follow through with his end of the bargain.

Sparrow sighs, knowing that I won't answer. "We'll think it over and see what we can do."

He starts to steer me out of the room before I can protest, and Matt looks surprised that we might take up his offer.

Once we're out of the cells, I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"We can't let him go," I say as we walk back towards Valerie's office. "The moment we do, he could run and tell the Widow's what we're up to."

"But we also can't find Dani and Josh without him," Sparrow notes. "Searching the entire city for a Widow encampment could take weeks, maybe even months, and we've been gone for three already. If we take much longer, Jess might kill them."

"If she hasn't already," Sky adds. "We can talk to Valerie, hear her input on this. She's the only one who can sanction Matt's release."

I groan, knowing that this can only end in disaster, but I also know that they're right. Matt is a piece of flaming garbage, but he's the only one we know and have who has any idea where the Widow's might be hiding. We march back to Valerie's office, knocking on the door.

"Come on," her voice calls from the other side.

We walk in, finding Quenton and Valerie in the middle of a card game. Quenton looks up, grinning when he sees Sparrow.

"Hey, we were just playing Texas Hold 'Em! Did you get the info you needed?" Quenton asks.

I shake my head. "No, he wouldn't tell us anything unless we made a deal with him."

Valerie raises an eyebrow at that.

"What sort of deal are we talking about?" She asks, suspicious.

I glance at Sky and Sparrow, who are both looking like they'd rather not say. I sigh. "In return for giving us the information we need, he wants to go free."

Valerie's eyebrows shoot up, and she scoffs. "Of course, a Widow would make a deal like that."

"Well," Sparrow interjects. "Technically, all he said was that he wanted to come with us in return for the information. He didn't specify 'freedom' really."

"You know that's what he's after, right?" I argue. "He doesn't want to be locked away in here for the rest of his life, so he figures he'd make a deal we're not in much of a position to refuse."

Valerie looks between Sparrow and me. "It sounds like the two of you know him well."

"Octavia and Jocelynn didn't tell you?" I ask.

"Not specifics, no. They just said he traveled with you for a short time," Valerie responds, setting her cards down, the game obviously finished. "What do you know about him?"

"He's an ass," I deadpan, and Sparrow elbows me in the ribs.

"I think she meant details, Cassy," Sparrow adds.

I roll my eyes. "He was at Camp Cottonwood when my siblings and I first got there," I start. "We didn't know it, but Cottonwood was a refuge for people who were once with the Widow's."

Valerie nods. "Yes, I remember you telling me this when Dani was revealed to have the mark burned into her skin."

I cringe at the memory but nod. "Yeah, a lot of them were marked as well, but obviously we didn't know until much later. When the camp got overrun with Feral's, right after the Widow's attacked, it was just us, my siblings, Leon, Jocelynn, Matt, Dani, and Josh. We traveled for a little while, up until Eton, where Matt, Octavia, and myself got captured by cannibals."

Sky and Valerie both look mildly shocked at this.

"We took care of them, but right before that, Matt and Octavia got into an argument, and Matt shoved her into a table, giving her a concussion. After we took care of the cannibals, which incidentally Leon led us to," I add with a bitter taste in my mouth, "We left without the two of them and traveled on our own."

Valerie nods slowly, absorbing the information like a sponge. "I see. So Matt seems to have issues with his anger," she concludes.

"That's one word for it, but yeah. When we went to destroy the Widow base, he was there with them. He told us where to find our people, but I couldn't risk him alerting the Widow's to what we were up to, so I shot him in the foot and knocked him out."