Nina frowned at her youngest brother. "No you will not, Spence. Don't you dare change your mind because of me." She said and I was suddenly reminded of a mother I'd once seen in a park when I was younger. She was telling her child off because he'd hit another kid in the park for teasing his sister. I remember sitting there alone at the top of the slide, watching and wishing that I'd had a mother to tell me off, a sibling to protect against the bullies, or even a father that cared enough to remember his own son had been waiting for an hour to be collected from his school across the road. 
"I told you that I would go because that's what you wanted me to do." I was pulled back to reality with the sound of Spencer's voice. Em was looking between her siblings appalled as if she couldn't quite comprehend what was happening.
"Then respect that. I never wanted to go back home, Spencer. Our parents don't want me there, but they want you to be safe. If anything happens on my watch they will come and find me and kill me themselves."
"So you'd rather I'd die on Em's watch?" Spencer shot back.
I just sat there trying not to show my discomfort at the fight that seemed to be going nowhere.
"Spencer, just listen to her. How can you make me leave both of you behind?" Em pleaded with Spencer, grabbing his hand so tightly, I could see the white of her knuckles from across the table.
Spencer looked long and hard at Em, clearly thinking about his next words carefully. He looked over at Nina who gave him a look only he seemed to understand, before turning to face General Thomas who had been silent the entire time, waiting patiently for minds to be made up.
"I- I'll go. I'm sorry about all of this, but I promised. I did. I'll go with Em and Joe."