If I was being honest with myself, I hadn't expected 'home' to be Oaks Academy. Sure, it was the place I'd lived for the past four years and was the only stable housing situation I'd really had since leaving Oregon, but it seemed a rather obvious choice for people to come looking for me.

Brent had assured me that this had already been thought over and, while it was a concern, Oaks was simply the safest place for me. With all of its security and fortification, not to mention the amount of secret passageways which could be used for a quick getaway, it was the most secure location they could have chosen. Whether or not it was actually the safest, I had no idea.

We drove in two separate cars to the school. Daniel had been ushered into one with his parents while I had clambered into the back seat of another with Brent and Lydia. It was a relatively quiet drive. I was debriefed by Lydia, recounting every detail of what had transpired since I'd landed in Oregon. It was a painful questioning, especially having to go through every factor pertaining to my mom and dad's deaths. I knew, though, that it was all valuable information. Everything Daniel and I could tell them would hopefully get us one step closer to my brother.

The Grimes' also enlightened me on a few other facts which had been lingering in the back of my brain but hadn't been addressed in our other discussion. The first of which was why Scorpion had only chosen to attack me now when I was fully capable of fighting back.

"Well," Brent said when I brought it up, "we knew it was only a matter of time before they found you. We're not quite sure how they got your location, but we're assuming it came from your offers into certain agencies after graduation. Their agents must have found out about you from there. Even though your last name is different from your parents', it wouldn't take much digging to find out whose daughter you really are. Especially not for an organization as skilled as they are."

"Okay," I said to him, "so then why did you even offer me a place at Oaks if you knew that they'd be able to make that connection so easily?"

This time it was Lydia who answered. "We knew that Scorpion was looking for you. They'd been getting more desperate to find you over the years leading up to your recruitment and we'd heard word that they were starting to close in on the location of a girl who was rumored to be the daughter of Jack and Elizabeth Briar. We couldn't risk your safety. And besides," she added with a gentle smile at me. "You really did have the highest score we'd seen in years on that test. It measures intelligence and protective instincts among other things. As soon as we saw your results we knew that you'd inherited your parents' skills and knew that we had to offer you a spot for your safety and well-being."

"What would you have done if I refused to go?" I asked her. "Would you have forced me to leave?"

"No," she replied immediately, non-hesitation. "We'd planned to have a security detail to watch over you in the event that you refused our offer. They were set to begin that afternoon if you decided to stay in Oregon. The only way we would have ever forced you away from home was if they showed up on your doorstep. We promised your parents that we'd keep you safe and that's exactly what we intend to do."

"That's another thing I have questions about. You said earlier that Jack Briar has been MIA for the past fourteen years. I was given to my aunt and uncle when I was one and a half. That means there are two years where he wasn't missing that I was with them. What was he doing?"

"Running and hiding mostly," Brent said. "There were so many people hunting him down that he had to live completely off the grid. I know that he was also trying to find the people who were directly responsible for your mother's death."

"He wanted to revenge." Not a question.

"Yes," Brent told me anyways. "He hated them for taking her away from him and also for the fact that he had to leave you behind. His goal was always to make it back to you but he knew that Scorpion had to be all but destroyed before he was able to pursue that dream. The last thing he wanted was for you to be in danger and as long as he was being hunted, he knew that he could never be the father that you needed."

I looked out the window, considering this. I'd had a good life. While I supposed it would have been better to have known all of this information years ago, I understood the reasoning behind why he and my mother had left me. They'd wanted to give me my best shot.

"Do you think he's dead?" I asked.

Lydia and Brent were both silent for a moment. They shared a brief look, as if contemplating how much I could handle in one day. Then, Lydia sighed. "I don't know, kiddo."

"If he's not, he's being very quiet," Brent added. "He went completely off the grid fourteen years ago. Before that, he'd make sure to leave drop notes or something so that we knew he was still alive but then he went quiet. I'd have to assume he's dead or being very, very careful about what he's doing."

"Do you have a picture of them?" I asked.

Lydia opened her purse and dug through. A moment later, she came up with a folded note. She passed it to me saying, "I figured you'd want to see what they looked like. That was taken the day they got back from their honeymoon. We met them at the airport and then they came back to ours to catch up. They were still undercover, of course, but the good thing about their op with Scorpion was that they still had to keep up pretenses of being affiliated with other organizations and old friends. It was only in the later years, when Jack got in really deep, that they were able to interact with us as much as we'd had before. They didn't want to put anyone else in danger so most of the time they kept their distance."

I unfolded the paper and stared down at the couple in front of me. They were a handsomely matched pair. He was all strong and dark edges while she was softer, seemingly more delicate. Jack Briar stood tall with brown hair, a defined jaw, and piercing blue eyes which—I noted—happened to be the exact same shade and shape as my own. Elizabeth Briar was easily half a foot shorter than her husband. Her eyes were hazel, hair short and blonde, mouth curled in a smile.

It was easy to find myself in them. Her strong stature and hair and his blue eyes. I was probably a bit taller than she was, but definitely shorter than he. My jaw wasn't as sharp as his, coming out more rounded like hers and the curve of my mouth matched Elizabeth's completely.

"You look like them," Lydia said. There was a ton of wistfulness in her voice. "Especially your mother. You're almost a spitting image of her when she was your age. Except for the eyes..."

"Did you know her then?"

"No. Brent and I went to school with your father while your mother studied at an American academy with Grace and Malcolm. We met for the first time at the Global Centre for Covert Operatives. We'd all been sent as representatives from our organizations and became fast friends. I met Elizabeth before she met your father, though. She was chosen to go undercover with Jack about two weeks after we first met."

I glanced back down at the picture, frowning at the man. He seemed oddly familiar. "I think I've seen him before," I said. Lydia turned around in her seat to face me. Brent stared at me through the rear-view mirror. "It's just a feeling. He looks familiar to me."

"When?" Lydia asked, her voice insistent. It was such a stark contrast from how it'd sounded only moments ago. The transition from mother to operative was swift and distinct.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Old enough that I can remember him but young enough that it seems like a while ago. Before Oaks definitely."

The two shared a look.

"If you remember anything..." Brent trailed.

"You'll be the first one I come to."

He nodded and then turned his eyes back to the road, falling silent. I glanced back down at the photo, tracing my eyes over every curve of the two people. I felt as if I should have some emotional connection to them but I felt nothing. They were just two strangers, people from another lifetime.

I spent more time staring at Jack Briar, my father. I tried to remember where it was that I thought I'd seen him before but I kept drawing a blank. Perhaps it'd just been in a photograph or something like that which my parents had. Somehow, I was certain that this wasn't it. No matter how hard I tried to recall that moment in time, the one that seemed lost in the confines of my subconscious, it seemed to dance just a little farther out of reach. Eventually, I found myself could wondering if he was still alive. It was a definite possibility. Unless there was a body present, I couldn't assume his death—especially since he was someone who disappeared for a living.

When Oaks finally loomed in the countryside before me, I couldn't help the pang of longing that shot through my chest. It wasn't because I was anxious to return to school, because that was something that would never happen, but rather due to the fact that my last moments here had been the last time my life resembled normalcy.

The two cars pulled to a stop in front of the wide marble steps that led up to the doublewide doors of the school. I hopped out of the backseat and walked over to Daniel, who was in the process of climbing out of his own car, as he gaped at the building in front of him. It was clear that he'd been thrown off guard by the majesty of this place. Heaven knew that I had been too when I'd first arrived. It was the aura of the school. Old and timeless, covered in extravagant stonework with ivy climbing the entire right side of the building. The sky was dark above us which meant that the school was lit only by the moon and the few tall lanterns that loomed around the roundabout through which we'd driven up.

"This is where you were, then?" Daniel asked, still stunned. He didn't even look at me.

I nodded even though he didn't see it. "Yes. I know these walls better than the back of my hand."

He shook his head and started walking towards the front door, trailing a few feet behind the Grimes' and his parents. "And here I thought you were lying dead in a ditch."

I grimaced at his back as he paced ahead of me and then the front doors flew open wide.

"Oh, my god."

"Bloody hell!"

"Mel!"

Three dark forms maneuvered their way down the stairs, practically running. Daniel and his parents were practically shoved aside as Lia lurched towards me, trailed a half-step by Max and Tasha. Lia's arms snaked around my shoulders as she pulled me in for a rough hug.

"Thank god you're all right," she said to me as she moved back. Her blue eyes were bright with worry and I could see the stress in her gaze melt away as she took me in.

Tasha hugged me next, her small stature really having to stretch. "We were worried sick," she told me. Her small dark eyes were wide and glistening. Her curls were frizzy and everywhere, spiraling off around her head in a wicked halo.

And then there was Max. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding as he stepped forward and embraced me hard. It was so good to see him, so good to see all of them, but Max especially. Lia and Tasha were my best friends. Max, for all intents and purposes, was, and would always be, my brother.

"Melanie," he said into my ear as his arms wrapped around my torso, lifting me off of the ground. I hugged him back just as fiercely, ignoring the burning pain in my side emanating from my wound. Thankfully, Max knew me well enough that he noticed the way I was holding back a wince. He set me back down and let me go almost immediately. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you're safe."

"What are you all doing here?" I asked. I looked to Grace. It was her I'd made my demands to on the phone, her who knew that I'd firmly requested for my friends to be kept as far from this situation as possible. "I distinctly stated that I didn't want any of you associated with this. There's too much at stake. Your futures. Your lives!"

Lia shook her head disdainfully at me. "Seriously, Mel? You're family. We're not going to leave you hanging under any circumstance. Don't you know that by now?"

"Yeah," I said. "I do. But this is different. This isn't just another assignment. These people murdered my mother and father. I don't want anyone else hurt in the crossfire." I looked to each of them in turn, everyone there in my little half-circle of family.

"We are taking all the necessary precautions and then some," Lydia said as she walked up to us. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "And everyone is here voluntarily. We're all aware of the risks your proximity to us poses. We've all decided to stay anyways."

I felt a lump of emotion rise in my throat and took a shaky breath. "Okay," I said at last. "Fine."

"Besides, kid," Brent added. "You should know by now how difficult it is to keep your friends from listening in on conversations and insisting that they be part of the extraction team. It was all we could do to get them here and have them waiting for you to come home. I was half-expecting them to show up in the middle of our chat."

"It wouldn't have surprised me one bit if they did," I said honestly. Lia grinned at me, not the least bit innocent.

From a few feet, Daniel and his parents watched our exchange. While Grace and Malcolm seemed utterly at ease with Brent and Lydia, it was clear that they weren't quite certain what to make of my rambunctious friends. I had the feeling that they'd been giving the Ortiz's some headaches these past few days.

Daniel just looked uncertain. It was written all over his face. He felt as if he didn't belong here in this world of guns and violence. But he wasn't going to back down, either. That's what I could tell. He would be here until Wes was back safe. Not for the first time, I was abundantly pleased that Daniel had remained friends with Wes even after my departure. It was nice to know that there was another person who cared about him just as much as I did. Someone who would put Wes's well-being above anything else.

"Guys," I said to my friends as I motioned Daniel over with a tilt of my head, "this is Daniel Ortiz. Grace and Malcolm's son. And an old friend of mine."

Daniel came to a stop beside me and raised his hand in half a wave. Trepidation flitted over his face. "Nice to meet you."

Lia tilted her head to the side, staring him up and down. Then, blunt as ever, she said, "You're gorgeous." She turned to me. "He's gorgeous. You never said anything about how gorgeous he was."

Max looked down at his girlfriend with a faux hurt expression. Teasing. "Thanks."

She just grinned at him.

"We should get inside," Grace murmured. "It's getting late and we'll have a busy day tomorrow." She looked at me forcefully and I knew that she meant we would be talking about next steps for locating my brother.

We all started up the stone steps and into the old mansion. I'd never thought that I'd come back here again or, at the very least, not so soon. The school almost felt different, somehow. Like everything had changed. But, of course, it was only I who had really changed. The events of the past few days had altered me. I was still myself, of course, a covert operative; however, now aspects of my old life had started to creep in. Before I'd been able to bury the majority of my emotions pertaining to my family. Now, with my parents dead, a new set of biological parents, one missing, presumed dead, one dead for sure, and my brother, who wasn't actually my brother, missing, it was like a tidal wave had started surging towards the beach I was standing on. It was only a matter of time before it crashed.

"We're staying in our old room," Lia told me. Funny how after only a week or so of graduating, it had already become our old room. "Daniel can bunk with Max. Your parents have already set up in a room down the hall," she said to him.

The two boys glanced at each other. Then, Max shrugged and inclined his head down the hallway. "Follow me."

"Great," Daniel said. He looked at me. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

He nodded and followed after Max while Lia, Tasha, and I headed off in the other direction towards our old dorm room. While both of our room and Max's happened to be on the same floor, the sixth, they were at complete opposite ends of the school. Since there were staircases at each end, it was simpler to break off here and go in search of our respective rooms.

"You never mentioned he was that attractive," Lia said to me as we reached the spiraling stairs.

I rolled my eyes at her half-heartedly. It was too good to see her to get annoyed at her antics. "Yeah, well."

She grinned. "So you do think he's attractive." She glanced over at Tasha. "Did you hear that? Mel thinks her old BFF is H-O-T," Lia spelled the word out as if we were incompetent.

Tasha smiled. "Mm hmm. I heard."

"I hate the both of you," I muttered as we climbed the stairs up.

Our dorm room was almost the exact same as we had left it. The furniture hadn't yet been moved back to their original positions, we'd repositioned everything at the start of the term, and nothing had been cleaned out yet. The same scratchy quilts we'd always had were still on the bed and there was a small suitcase sitting at the end of my bed.

"We packed some things along for you," Tasha told me. She appeared by my elbow and looked up at me with her dark elfin-like features.

"Thanks."

I hauled the suitcase onto my bed and dug through its contents. I found an old set of pajamas and changed. As I pulled off my shirt, leaving me in my bra and jeans, Lia glanced at me, eyes drawn to the pad of gauze on my side.

"How's the wound?"

I shrugged. "Stings a little. Daniel did a good job with the stitches. It'll probably scar but it won't be too bad, I don't think."

"Sounds like this Daniel guy is pretty handy. Maybe we should keep him around for a while." Lia winked at me. Teasing again. I liked it better when she poked fun at Max.

"Yeah, yeah."

I finished changing and then crawled beneath the covers of the bed. Tasha hit the lights. The air was quiet but for the sounds of our breaths. That was when it hit me. The tidal wave. When everything was calm and I was mostly safe for the first time in days the wave crashed against the shore. That's when I really realized that my parents were dead. That they were never coming back. That's when I realized that they weren't really my parents at all—but they were my mom and dad—and that I'd lost even more than I originally thought. That's when I realized that my brother was probably somewhere alone, trying to fall asleep himself, in unimaginable fear.

Tears came silently to my eyes. There were no heaving sobs, no hitch my breath. Just the tears as they streaked lines down my face. I couldn't stop them. Even when I tried, they kept falling into little pools on my pillow.

I wasn't quite sure how long I lied there, in the dark, crying silently. It wasn't like me at all. I wasn't an emotional person—at least, I wasn't anymore. Before Oaks, I had been. Now, those days were few and far between but, faced with the possibility of losing my entire family in under a week, I couldn't bring myself to get the tears to stop.

Eventually, though, I could take it no