Celeste POV

"What time are the parents coming?"

"My dad should be getting here around eleven." Kate says, shrugging her shoulders from across the dining table. She sits with her nose buried in a textbook, taking a big sip of coffee between words and each time she turns the page.

Seth reaches onto his plate and flicks a hashbrown at Kate with a smirk, but she doesn't even realize or notice it. I roll my eyes and look down at my plate. "My dad is coming in around noon." Seth says with a nod, taking the hashbrown back and popping it in his mouth.

I look up to meet his eyes quickly but draw them back down to my lap. One thing Seth and I have in common is both of us were living with foster parents, but he was adopted. When Seth says 'my dad', we all know he means Mr. Ashford, but not his true father.

"I'm probably just going to hang out with Joe, neither of us have anyone coming." I say with a shrug, dismissing the question. "We'll probably do some research and studying in the dorms while you guys are out." Kate's eyes dart up from her textbook to meet mine.

"Actually, I need you guys to do me a favor." She closes her textbook and wraps her hand around her mug.

"What's up?" I ask.

"You know how I got an apprentice this year, right? Her name is Lynne Cutshall."

I nod my head. "Sure. That's a big Academy name."

"So I've heard. Her parents are coming today and they're both agents for the government. I need you guys to talk to them for me."

I cock an eyebrow. "Why?"

We are interrupted when Joe walks up to our table and mutters a "good morning", gripping his coffee in his hand. He's dressed in a suit in preparation for meeting all the student's parents. It's a casual outfit, with a sportcoat and a beige undershirt that has the top three buttons undone. He pulls out a chair and slides in next to me, his hand grazing my knee softly. It takes me by surprise, and my knee jumps and hits the bottom of the table. Everyone's eyes snap in my direction, but I mutter an apology and drum up some stupid excuse about it being cold in the room. Joe just lets the smallest of grins pass across his face while Seth's stare passes between me and him. Kate doesn't give him a second glance.

"Her parents may have known the Vegas family since they attended school together. They probably knew your parents too. If we can gather any evidence from them it would help our mission. But you guys have to be discreet about it."

I glance at Joe, who nods his head. "They'll probably stop by to talk to me since I'm head of the Phys Ed department. We can catch them then."

I nod back and I can feel Seth's eyes watching me carefully. Kate and I decided not to tell him anything. We don't need him getting all worked up and trying to tag along to a foreign country with us after being in a coma so long. Kate, Preston, Joe and I are the only ones that know. And for now, we want to keep it that way. Seth looks at us with his eyebrows furrowed, but his face relaxes after several moments when he dismisses it internally. I feel myself let out a breath when he ignores the conversation. He sits next to me, staring down at his plate of pancakes like they could burst into flames at any moment. Kate looks up from her textbook and her eyes drift between Joe, Seth and I hesitantly. I bite my lip as several seconds of heavy silence pass over the table.

"Is it okay if I tag along during conference hours?" I ask Joe, who simply nods his head and sips his coffee. He takes it as a Red Eye, if I remember correctly.

Kate and Preston seem satisfied enough with his response and we all know that progress has to be made with the Colleen situation, but they have to be with their parents today.

"Well I've got to go clean up my dorm before my dad gets here." Seth mutters, his voice is icy cold. He stands from the table and shoves his chair back, grabbing his tray and stalking off.

Preston lets out a sigh as he watches Seth walk away. "I should probably go talk to him." He says, standing up and leaving the table. He plants a kiss on the top of Kate's head before he goes. Joe looks at me with a curious expression on his face and Kate only watches us quietly. I did not tell Joe about what happened with Seth and I at Espresso Express. At this point in our senior year, I'm trying to avoid as much drama as possible. Joe is perceptive though, he'll catch on eventually.

"Any prior advice before we talk to the Cutshall's?" I ask.

"Yeah. Brayden and Meredith Cutshall. Lynne is their only child. Brayden currently serves as a higher up in the FBI... I want to say he's the Executive Director or something. Meredith isn't in the field as much, but she's an investigator for the company at their headquarters. They're both big shots basically. Meredith graduated Salutatorian in 1990. Brayden graduated in '89. If I'm doing my math right, your parents were in the same class as Brayden, which means they would have known Meredith as well." Kate pauses and her eyes dart to Joe. "Elaine came much later. Michael was returning as a mentor at the Academy when they met. Elaine graduated in 1995 when she was seventeen. She was one of the youngest in her class because of a summer birthday. She and Michael started their relationship not long after that."

Joe blinks when he hears his parents' names and takes another sip of coffee. "So the Cutshall's knew both my parents and Joe's as well. What about Jasper?" I say, gripping Joe's hand under the table. I glance down long enough to notice that his knuckles are white.

Kate shrugs. "Jasper never attended the Academy. He didn't meet certain criteria or something along those lines. I didn't think to look. But if your parents or the Cutshall's were close with Michael, then they probably knew Jasper as well."

I nod when she finishes talking. "Got it."

"One more thing," Kate says, and finishes the last of her coffee and pushes the mug aside, "I would be discreet about who you are. Even if they were friends in high school, the Cutshall's may have changed their opinions about the Vegas family by now. If they know who you are, Joe, then they know parts of your history as well. But they would also know that you helped save this school, and they'll respect that. I just want you both to be careful with how you proceed with them... you're treading in unknown waters with this family."

"Of course." I respond. Joe's grip in my hand has grown tighter, and he looks away when I try to catch his eyes.

Kate glances at both of us and then checks her watch. "Right, well I better get going. My dad is going to get here as early as he can. If you guys need anything, just call me. I'll have my phone on me the entire time. Good luck." She stands and straps her bag over her shoulder and hugs her book close to her chest. She has entered into full scholar mode: her hair is up, her glasses are on, and the sleeves on her white button-up shirt are rolled to her elbows. She hurries out of the mess hall, catching a few glances from several students on her way out.

Most of them are guys, seemingly enough.

I chuckle when I turn back to Joe, who stares straightforward with a faraway expression. "I think Kate has become the main point of fantasy for a few guys at this school since she stopped that bomb. Maybe explosions are a kink for them or something. Or maybe it's Preston's fault, I don't really--" I pause when Joe doesn't respond to me. The only movement he produces is the thumb treading slightly back and forth on his coffee cup. "Are you okay?"

Joe catches my last question and nods his head. "Yeah, I'm just thinking about... later."

"What do you mean?"

Joe sighs and looks at me for a few seconds. "I've never really cared to ask about my parents, partly because I knew that Jasper was never going to tell me anything. So I never bothered to look into it after he died. It's like I had almost forgotten that they even existed in the first place and now... now I'm possibly going to find out things about them that I could have been searching for years ago. Just makes me feel slightly guilty, you know?"

My other hand comes to grasp his shoulder and I turn to him. "I know; it's gonna be weird. I didn't know much about my parents until Lockharte started opening up to me about them at first. They were just Nora and Marcus to me before he started telling me stories and it felt like they were present people in my life. I started to figure out what they would have been like and how they would have raised me if they were still around. Yeah, it's weird at first, but over time you start to not be able to get enough of it," I pause and squeeze Joe's hand, "Both of your parents came to this school, which means that Lockharte knew them well. Ask him about them sometime. He won't let you down, I promise."

Joe looks at me and smiles for the first time this morning. "I'll consider that. Thank you." He stands and offers me a hand, which I accept. I don't yank him down to the ground this time. "Let's go meet the parents."

*********************

Seth POV

I look nothing like my foster father, naturally. First thing is that he's much shorter me, standing maybe two inches taller than Kate, who's 5'4 herself. He has a round face and hunched shoulders, old eyes that used to be a bright gold color like Preston's, but have now diminished to a dull, tired hue. Still, his heart is in the right place.

He's not a coffee drinker, surprisingly. You'd expect people like him to consume something that keeps them going all day, but Benjamin Ashford's beverage diet consists of water and the occasional glass of hot or iced unsweet tea. He drinks it hot today. He stares down at the little white cup of the dark substance in front of him and then looks up at me and offers a half-hearted smile. "Well, I've learned one thing about this town in the past few weeks: its seclusion offers an excellent source of peace and tranquility."

I cock and eyebrow and try not to spit my coffee out. "Yeah," I say, "I guess you're right. Are you comfortable in the condo?"

"Yes, immensely. The service is sub-par, but I can move past that."

I don't respond and instead observe the other families around the common room, who all hug each other or are deep into a conversation. I envy them, but at the same time, I don't think I could ever have a relationship like that with Ben. He's too... monotone.

"How are your classes proceeding?" He asks, and I dart my eyes back to him. I take another sip of coffee.

"Fine, it took me a little while to catch up but I've been getting a lot of help from my friends. Most of my classes aren't that bad this year excluding Computer Ethics. Kate practically tutors me in that area."

"She seems excellent in the field of intelligence."

"She is. She has a lot going for her after she graduates. So do Preston and Celeste." My mouth goes sour after I mention Celeste. I feel guilty and irritated at the same time for feeling this way.

"Celeste Blackwood, you're referring to? I've heard quite a storm about her."

I nod my head. "Yeah, she's been busy." I give a humorless laugh.

"So have you, apparently." I know what he's referring to. He's talking about when we drove all the way to New Hampshire to rescue Celeste, when all of this started.

"Yeah, and it was worth it, too." I say, daring him to argue with me on this. Ben leans forward with raised eyebrows.

"Was it? Because as I recall, you nearly died. You had to have a machine support your breathing for four months, Seth."

"Also worth it if it meant that Celeste would live," I say, "Oh and hey look, we both ended up surviving so it's a win-win situation."

Ben rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair, watching me with a critical eye. He's watched me like that since I was a little kid, ever since his wife, Mallory, died three years ago. Still, he's watched over me in the best way possible, and I couldn't ask for more than that.

"The Blackwood name seems to have trouble surrounding it constantly, doesn't it?" Ben asks and watches for any small reaction that I could have.

"Considering all of them are dead except for one, I couldn't say. And there was trouble surrounding them only because the Vegas family had to stick their hands into everything." I bite back. Ben shifts in his chair and glares at me.

"I would be careful what you say about the Vegas family."

"Why?" I ask, "Because they're good people?"

Ben sighs through his nostril and says, "Yes, some of them were." He looks away, at a family of five over in the other corner of the commons room. I recognize the student as Harrison Abbott, the other senior that is in the run for valedictorian against Kate. I observe his two younger sisters, who share the same fiery red hair as him and the adoring parents who gaze at their son with proud faces as he goes over all his numerous accomplishments since the beginning of the school year.

He's one of the few kids in this school who has a full family like that left.

I turn back to my foster father, who is watching me closely. For a moment, I think I catch a glint of remorse and sadness, but it is gone as soon as my attention is back on him. "Did you know them?" I ask, "The Vegas Family?"

Ben glances at me with curious eyes. He hesitates and seems to consider his words carefully. "Yes, I knew them. I was in the same class as Michael Vegas' wife, Elaine. We were close friends until I retired from the NSA."

"You knew Michael Vegas." I sit up straight and lean closer to him.

"Of course, why--"

"So you knew Jasper as well?" I press on.

"... Yes. I knew Jasper very well. Pity he never received the opportunity to become a student at the Academy. He was just as bright as his brother was," Ben pauses and catches my tense glare, "Of course, I never... he wasn't behaved well. Always the troublemaker in the family."

I roll my eyes. "Seems that never changed. And they're all troublemakers."

"I'm assuming you're referring to Michael's son--"

"Joe, yeah. He's the only one left, so who else would I be referring to?"

Ben clears his throat and takes another sip of his tea. "I've heard much about him lately. Quite the fighter, from what I've noticed."

"Yeah, you could say that, I guess."

"And he's employed as the physical defense trainer now?"

"Yeah." I lean back in the chair and cross my arms. Ben watches me with a curious eye.

"You don't seem to think highly of him."

"Why would I?" I snort, "He's with--" I cut myself off and look away, feeling heat rise in my cheeks. Ben laces his hands on the table and looks at me with a tinge of sympathy.

"He and Miss Blackwood, are together, are they not?"

I don't say anything, just merely nod my head. My adoptive father presses his lips together. "I know how much you care for her... I knew it the moment you came home from this school after your freshman year. You've always been taken with her, haven't you?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because she's dangerous, Seth. Trouble follows her everywhere, and it nearly killed you because you got too close. You're safer away from her."

"I already told you, I don't--"

"Hear me out, son. I know I may not be the most affectionate of fathers, but I do care about your well-being, more than you know. I have from the moment you came into my home. And I know that as long as you remain close to that girl, your life will be put in danger. Sometimes love is not worth pursuing, especially when it is not returned."

The last part hits me hard in the chest. I whip my head towards Ben and stand up from my chair, causing a loud screeching noise across the oak floor. Families near me turn to stare at me for a few seconds. "I don't care," I spit, "Whether she loves me or not. I made a promise that I would protect her until my dying breath, and I'm sticking to it, no matter what you tell me or no matter how she feels about me. She is my best friend, and she is my family." I pause and take in Ben's full figure. "More so than you'll ever be." I grab my coffee cup and turn to leave the room. I pause and look over my shoulder at him. He's staring back at me, his face void of emotion. "Have a safe flight back to New York."

I stalk away.

********************************

Celeste POV

"A training course at 5 a.m. in the morning? Isn't that a little early for young minds to be functioning?" The short woman in front of us says, her eyes wide with astonishment. Joe looks like he is barely holding on to his patience. I have to press my lips together to keep from smiling.

"Once again, Mrs. Lawrence, it's an optional training course for those that are looking for a more physical profession after graduation. And considering that lights out is at 8:30 for underclassmen, I don't think your son is suffering. He's an excellent learner."

"Physical... profession?" Mrs. Lawrence eyes widen even further, if anyone thought it possible. Joe pauses and blinks at the woman.

"Has he not spoken to you of his plans after graduation?"

"No, he has not."

Joe glances at me and then shoves his hands in his pockets. "Well, maybe you should have that conversation with him."

"No, I think I would rather hear it from you, Mr. Carter."

I bite my tongue to keep a laugh from escaping. "He plans on joining a SWAT team or... he once spoke to me about the military." Joe hesitates, shifting slightly on his feet.

Mrs. Lawrence's mouth drops open and she turns to a rather small boy standing on the opposite end of the room. "Jordan Scott Lawrence, you get over here this instant!" She stalks away from me and Joe, heading straight for what must have to be her son. As soon as he sees her coming, he lets out an odd noise and looks for an escape route out the door. Joe shakes his head next to me.

"Jesus! She was the worst one yet." He wipes his forehead as if he has just finished running a marathon.

"Well, it's a good thing that that was the last of them. Conferences are nearly over," I say, smoothing a hand down my uniform skirt, "We should find the Cutshall's."

"I hope to God that they're nothing like that woman. No wonder Jordan is so antsy." He shakes his head like he's discovered an exotic animal. I giggle.

"Come on, let's get out of here before she turns her wrath on you." I say, taking his arm.

"She already did that," Joe mutters under his breath, but lets me lead him out of the room. We stroll down the hallway of the building and I catch Joe observing the paintings lining the hallway. It reminds me of the day when I first met him, and how I compared him to one. Beautiful, but too perfect to touch. I will admit that he doesn't have the dark circles under his eyes anymore, the tense forehead like when he first stepped into my view.

He's happy.

"Do you know what Lynne looks like?" Joe says close to my ear as we slip into another room full of parents and their children. I nod my head and scan the crowd, looking for anyone who matches a picture of the family Kate showed to me.

After a few seconds, I catch a head of light brown hair towards the middle of the room and squeeze Joe's arm. "12 o'clock." I say, and Joe chuckles. He has already spotted the family as well.

"You could say anything like 'straight ahead' or 'middle of the room', but instead you go with that phrase."

I shove him lightly. "I'm training to be an agent, I'm gonna say stuff like that naturally. Let's go before we lose them."

We shuffle our way through the group to the Cutshall's, who stand talking quietly. Even in the picture, I could see how intense Lynne's father, Brayden, would be. He's even more so in person. He stands with his shoulders straight, hands behind his back. He is dressed in a suit slightly similar to Joe's, only more high-end and he has a red tie around his neck. Lynne's mother is no different, sporting a baby blue skirt and blazer, her lips blood red.

For a moment, I see Jasper and Colleen, but that image quickly disappears. Brayden's eyes dart to us as we make our way towards them. "Good afternoon." He says, his full attention on us now. He observes everything about both of us. I feel nerves in the pit of my stomach just looking at them, and I can only imagine the strict regulations that Lynne has had to grow up with. I glance at Joe, who lets an easy grin pass across his face. He holds out his hand and shakes both Brayden and Meredith's, who watches us with a cocked eyebrow. "Nice to meet you," Joe says, "Jonathan Carter."

The parents offer him fake smiles and then look at me. I blink before I can think to introduce myself, and offer them my hand. "Celeste... Blackwood." My voice is shaking. Meredith leans her head to the side and observes me curiously.

"Marcus and Nora's daughter." She says. I nod my head hesitantly.

"I should've known. You look just like your mother." Meredith says, and her shoulders relax slightly. I try not to let on that I have over a hundred questions to ask them.

"You knew my parents then?" I ask.

"Of course I did. Brayden and I were both good friends with them when we were students here. They were good people, I'm sorry you lost them so early." Meredith replies, letting a little sympathy into her voice.

"Mom..." Lynne says, speaking for the first time. I nearly forgot she was here, she has been so quiet. Before either of her parents can rebuke her, I turn to her and smile. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've gotten to speak to you yet. I'm Kate's friend; we're roommates."

"Yeah, she told me about you. She said that you could help me with my classes if I ever needed it." she says quietly. I smile at her.

"Of course. You slightly remind me of my apprentice last year. Her name was--"

"Rory Jane," Brayden interrupts. He is frowning. "The student who perished in the library fire." My eyes dart to him and I clasp my hands together, feeling my heart pound for the first time.

"Yes, she did." I nearly whisper.

"Set off by one of Jasper Vegas' colleagues, if I am not mistaken," Now Brayden looks to Joe, who watches him with narrowed eyes. "Your uncle?"

"Yes sir, though I choose not to associate with the Vegas name. They're not my true family, only by blood."

"Isn't blood what identifies your truly family members, Mr. Carter?" Brayden turns to Joe now, testing him. I feel the biceps under his suit tense. A muscle is working in his jaw.

"Not in my opinion. Family is the people that truly love you. As far as I am concerned, I hate the Vegas family and all their ill intentions. That's why I took my mother's maiden name. I'm sure you hate them just as much as I do."

"Oh, you're mistaken, Jonathan. I once held high respect for the Vegas'. Your father, Michael, was one of my best friends. The one person that I detested in that family was Jasper, and I do not mourn his death. This world is better off without him."

Meredith gasps under her breath and takes her husband's shoulder, her cheeks turning a slight pink. I take a deep breath in and catch Joe's expression. I can tell that he already has a highly negative opinion on Brayden, but he won't let that on. So he says, "I couldn't agree more."

Brayden allows one eyebrow to raise, but that's it. He won't let anyone know that he is surprised. Meredith steps back into the conversation. "So you are Michael's son," she says, "You look like him. I wouldn't know if you were Elaine's son unless you told me. You have his hair and his eyes and... well, everything really."

"Yes ma'am, I've heard as much." Joe offers the woman a smile.

"Ah, that's it. Your smile is like hers." Meredith's eyes soften. I straighten up.

"So you were friends with Elaine as well?" I ask, trying to sound more bold. Fortunately, my voice does not crack this time. Meredith turns to me.

"Yes, we were very close. Nora... your mother, was also my best friend. The three of us were together as often as we could be." She pauses and observes my figure once more. "You look very much like her. It's slightly disorienting, she was beautiful. Boys looked at her every time she walked down the hallway." Meredith darts her eyes to Brayden, who suddenly looks immensely interested in a painting.

I blink and then offer a quiet laugh. "Well, that certainly isn't the case with me."

"It better not be." Joe says under his breath, and I have to keep from blushing. The parents pass their eyes between us.

"You two are together?" Brayden asks, not trying to mask his surprise this time. Joe and I both nod our heads.

"How intriguing," he says, "Considering your family... histories... I would think that you two would oppose each other."

Once again, Joe tenses under my hand. "The world works in mysterious ways, Mr. Cutshall."

"Yes, I suppose it does." Brayden mutters.

"We actually have a few questions for you, if you wouldn't mind answering them." I say politely. Meredith turns to me and beckons for me to go on. I motion towards a table that has open seats, and the four of us sit down. Lynne moves to take the last chair, but her father tells her to go speak to her friends for a little while. Lynne looks at Joe and I for a few seconds before walking away, twiddling her thumbs as she goes. When she is out of earshot, I lean forward and lace my hands on the table. "You say that you knew the Vegas family well, so that means that you had encountered Jasper upon multiple occasions."

"Yes, of course." Brayden says, sounding impatient.

"Do you either of you know why he wasn't accepted into the Academy?" Joe asks. He taps his fingers in his lap. Brayden and Meredith glance at each other.

"The Vegas boys were raised in a wealthy family, who naturally attended the Academy as well. His parents were very successful after they graduated, and they built a legacy and a good opinion for their family name. The Vegas' became somewhat of a legend in the early years of the Academy. Naturally, good intentions were expected out of both Michael and Jasper. Michael met these expectations from the time he was a little boy, and he became the golden child of the family. Jasper was left in the dust. It caused a sort of... erratic behavior from him." Mr. Cutshall pauses before continuing.

"He acted out against his parents because of his jealousy for Michael. He got in trouble with the law before he was barely a teenager. The Academy would have nothing to do with that, even though Michael was accepted a year before. I remember when Michael came to class one day in our senior year, all shaken up. He told us that Jasper had run away and had taken a small fortune from his parents as well. Michael was devastated, despite all the issues his younger brother had caused," Brayden says, "I suppose that convicts spawn at an early age." He glances at Joe for half of a second.

"Did you ever hear from him again after that?" I ask. Meredith looks grim.

"No, he flew off the grid for a long time. He didn't even speak to Michael, and they were very close. It had to be at least eight years later before he finally heard from his brother, and by that point Jasper had married and had his first child."

"Jacqueline." Joe says, and crosses his arms. Meredith nods her head.

"She really was a wonderful girl. A natural leader and very smart for her age. Jasper pleaded with the Academy to accept her, and after seeing her potential, they accepted. It's truly terrible what happened to her," Meredith pauses and looks to Joe, "You would have liked her. She was lovely."

Joe nods his head and looks down. "And Michael? What happened to him?"

Brayden sighs. "He and Elaine married very soon after she graduated and turned eighteen. He was already an excellent trainee for the FBI by then, and Elaine was destined for greatness as well. That was cut short when they found out that they were pregnant. That was... well, nearly nineteen years ago. Elaine would have been your age, actually, when she gave birth to you." He motions to Joe, who has stopped twiddling his thumbs. "She had just turned nineteen."

"So my father... he stopped training after I was born? For the FBI?"

"Yes," Brayden says, "He worked closely with the Academy for a little while longer. Not that he was... necessarily needed. I imagine Lockharte took him in because he was partial to the family. You live with him now, no?" He gestures to me.

"Yes, I moved in with the Headmaster over the summer." I say, surprised that he acknowledges my presence. Joe moves the conversation away quickly.

"What--" he says, then composes himself, "What happened? Before he disappeared?"

The couple looks at each other, and some sort of communication passes between them. "We can't really say," Meredith begins, "It's not a secret or anything, we just legitimately don't know. He changed for one thing after you returned from Paris."

Joe sits up and leans forward. "Paris?"

Meredith blinks and opens her mouth, as if trying to shape words. "Oh, you don't know? You and your parents lived in France for nearly a year when you were still a baby."

Joe looks at me, and I stare back. Then we seem to communicate ourselves. We need to know more.

"Do you know why we moved to Paris? How long were we there?" Joe asks.

"You were there for... I would say eleven months. I can't say why. Your parents never explained anything to us. In fact, they completely cut off all communications from us after a few weeks. One day, they were fine, the next they were saying that they were leaving for France for a long-term project. No one saw it coming. Your parents tried to find something out, Celeste, but it only resulted in their being cut off from the family as well. They just... disappeared into Paris for a year before they returned. They weren't the same. Something had changed, and I can't describe it to you. It was as if something haunted them." Meredith looks down at her laced hands on the table. Her eyes go to a far away place for a moment, and Brayden looks as if he is remembering times of his past life as well. They were us once, students at a government secret organization who strived for greatness by turning in their research papers on time. It is an odd thing for me to process.

"And you can't think of anything they said before we left for France? Anything that aroused... suspicion?" Joe says, lacing his fingers together. The Cutshall's now look at us with slightly suspicious expressions. Brayden especially, but he looks happy enough to answer Joe's question.

"I was out with him one night about a week before your flight to Paris. I begged him one last time to tell me something, anything that would give me peace about why they were leaving for such a long time. And these were his words exactly: 'We're leaving to lift a heavy burden'. That's all I ever got from him on the matter. They left with you in baby carrier six days later. You weren't even walking yet."

"What was Elaine doing throughout all of this?" I ask. Meredith shakes her head.

"She changed as well, even before you three picked up and moved to Paris. She was always happy and smiling. You could listen to her talk for hours she was so interesting. It was clear why Michael was so infatuated with her. But after their announcement that they were leaving for France, she was... quiet. She never had anything to say when we would ask her why. She would always tell us that it was what Michael wanted, so naturally she wanted it as well. But I never believed her. When she came home from Paris, it was like somebody had switched personalities with her. She was always a woman who would look you straight in the eyes when speaking to you. She only looked down at the ground after Paris." Meredith pauses and takes a deep breath.

The memories running through her mind are tormenting her, because for a moment I see her eyes grow shiny with water. And for once, Brayden drops his wall and takes her hand on the table. "Whatever happened," she continues, "Whatever... burden they lifted in in Paris; it didn't make their lives better. It only changed them. Still, they loved you." She sets her eyes on Joe, who takes every word she releases and stores it in the deepest parts of his mind. "Up until they left with you, they spoke only of protecting you and doing what was best for you. Apparently that was in another country completely. Mr. Carter... Joe. You have to understand that they were good parents while they still had you. You were a light in both of their lives until they stopped breathing."

Joe's foot has been steadily tapping the floor under the table. It ceases to do so when Meredith stops talking. I see so many thoughts raging in his head, all the unanswered questions that he knows the Cutshall's won't be able to give to him, the desperation to find some memory that would reveal something. Anything.

But he simply says, "I believe you."

For once, no one at the table has anything to say. We all pass eye contact in between each other, trying to convey messages of understanding and a small amount of mutual trust. "Well," I say, standing from my chair. Brayden immediately stands as I do, as well as Joe. Meredith takes her time and sniffs as she smooths her skirt down and fluffs her hair. "It was great being able to meet you. You've both helped us more than you could know. Any memories that we can have of our parents are priceless, even if they aren't good ones. Thank you." I hold out my hand, which the two older people take and shake firmly. Joe copies my movements, but keeps quiet. He is reveling in his own thoughts, working calculations and puzzles that still have missing pieces.

The Cutshall's turn from us and make their way into the crowd of other parents, receiving a few glances here and there. They stop in front of Lynne, who smiles at them timidly. Few words are exchanged between them, but at one point, Brayden rests his hand on his daughter's shoulder and gives her a kind smile.

I turn to Joe and take his elbow. "Are you alright?"

Joe watches the family for a few seconds. "We have to get to Paris," He says, "Soon."

I press my lips together and reach for his hand, but he grabs my wrist and stares me down with his intense eyes; they hold a look I haven't seen since the night of the attack. "Celeste, whatever my parents did in Paris; whatever they left. It's tied to everything that has happened. We have to go there. I have to know what they did."

I watch his eyes move back and forth and take possession of a wild curiosity for the unknown. I gently unwrap his hand from my wrist and pull him close to me. I wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his shoulder. "We will," I whisper, "We will."