"Just like Mara and Kevin were, they died protecting you" Jared told him.
"I tried to call the police and some guy came on saying he was from the CIA. Frank Burton"
"Burton?" Jared and I said at the same time. "We work for him"
"Used to" I reminded her. "She's right, we did. He can't be trusted" Jared told him. "I know, Carter already told me, don't believe everything the government tells me" Nathan told her. She nodded and smiled. "Carter's a good girl" she said fondly.
"There were only five of use that knew your identity. Mara, Kevin, Cater – eventually – me, and Burton. Two of us are dead and third was almost dead. Until I can get I touch with Martin we have to consider Burton unreliable" Jared told him.
"Here" Jared handed him a set of keys. "4311 Claritin Boulevard, Apartment 2, Arlington, Virginia. Memorize the address"
"What?" Nathan asked, not being about to comprehend everything all at once.
"Find your way there and sit tight until someone contacts you" Jared instructed us. "It's an arrangement I made with your father in case something like this ever happened"
"Who is my father" I bit my lip. I couldn't really help him since I only knew a voice, a past, and a name.
"Who are my real parents?" he asked.
"I can't tell you. As soon as you can, dump those clothes" Jared got out of explaining.
"Now, in less than twenty seconds we're gonna hit a soft curb, just before the bridge, I'm gonna slow down just enough for you to jump out" I nodded at her. "Their felid division will be obscured. It's thirty feet down to the river head…"
Nathan interrupted her. "Dr. Bennett, this is insane"
"Fifteen seconds, and remember from now on, do not trust anybody by Carter, Martin Price, and Paul Rasmos" she told him.
"I don't even know those people but Carter" he told her. "I need answers!"
"You've been looking for answers your whole life, you just didn't know what questions to ask. You can do this Nathan, now you have ten seconds to open that door. After you jump I'll create a diversion" she told us.
"Five seconds. Do not leave Carter, got that? Do not leave my daughter" Nathan didn't have time to react to Jared's comment.
"Jump! Now!" Jared cried. Nathan and I opened our doors and jumped. We were propelled over the edge of a ditch ad stopped a few yards from the road.
"Get out of here!" Jared gave one last cry before driving away.
We started running down, holding onto each other, trying to get away.
We stopped when we got to the river. Across the river was a huge cloud of fire. I sniffled and buried my head into Nathan's shoulder, trying not to cry. He wrapped one arm around my waist and the other hand was stroking my hair, trying to comfort me without words.
"Come on, let's go" Nathan pulled me with him as we walked away.
"We have to get in the river" Nathan said. I nodded. "They're probably trying to track us right now" I added. "Right here" he found a good spot for us to get in. Nathan grabbed my hand tightly and helped me into the river.
We started swimming. "Behind here" Nathan said. He pulled me behind a wood formation that was floating in the middle of the river. Lights were flashing as they looked for us, though I wasn't sure which 'they' it was.
Nathan got closer to me as I started shivering violently. He wrapped his hand in my hair next to my neck and leaned in close. "It'll be okay" he whispered, so close I could feel his breath o my lips.
I swallowed. "It wasn't just because I was assigned too, you know" told him. "In fact, if that was the only reason, I would probably not have done a very good job"
"Then why?" he asked me. We were so close he could have kissed me. "Because I saw a beautiful, funny, amazing, fun guy who…" I trailed off not having the heart to finish, but he seemed to know what I was saying.
But the lights disappeared and we needed to run. So we did.
We got out of the river and onto the opposite bank. I sat down, shivering. "You stay right here, alright? I'll be right back" he started to turn away, but I grabbed his arm. He turned back to face me. "You know the only reason I'm letting you go alone is because I know you, right?" he nodded, knowing what I meant.
I let him go and he walked away.
Nathan came back with a towel for me and a quilt wrapped around his shoulders. He gestured with his head for me to join him so I stood and walked over.
He wrapped and arm around me, quilt and all. We walked to another fallen tree further in and sat down. I peeled off my jacket and shirt, leaving me in a tank-top. I also peeled off my wet jeans, so all I was in was the tank-top, some short-shorts, and my boots. 'What are you doing?" he asked me.
"The wet clothes will only make me colder. Body heat is the best way to warm up and prevent hypothermia, but if we're both covered in layers of wet clothes it wouldn't work" I told him. "Besides" I grinned, "I'm still covered.
Nathan nodded, but didn't remove and of his clothes. Not that he needed to; I could feel the heat radiating from his body through his clothes.
I cuddled in close to Nathan, and we lied back together, covered by the blanket to sleep. I smiled; I was cuddled up next to my crush: Nathan Price!
Nathan's POV
I woke up to find my arm around Carter's stomach and her face buried in my shoulder One of her hand was in a fist under her head, while the other was clutching my shirt as tightly as she could.
She was beautiful, even after everything we've been through. It made me slightly grateful for everything; if this had ever happened I might ever have gotten the courage to be this close to her. I might have tried talking to her once or twice after the project was finished, but I knew I wouldn't have found the courage.
Back to Carter's POV
I turned over to see Nathan wiping tears from his eyes. I grabbed his hands to stop him. "Don't. It's okay to cry for them. They were your parents; you wouldn't be human if you didn't cry for them" I told him. He nodded at me.
We sat up. "I was dreaming about…" I interrupted, putting my hand over his mouth. "I know; boy do I know" I looked down at the ground.
"My parents died when I was six years old. They were killed by another one of Kazlow's men. That's how Bennett and the others found me; they were trying to track him. Bennett took me in and they all decided to train me so I could help watch over you. They needed someone our age to follow you to parties and such. You already know most of the rest of the story" I told him.
We got up and started walking. "You should go home. I stopped in my tracks. "Oh no you don't. Not only am I one of your greatest chances of getting out of this alive, Bennett told you not to leave me, and I don't really have any place to go!"
"Everyone around me is dying, Carter! I know you can probably take care of yourself, but so could my parents and Bennett, look what happened to them" he told me.
I smiled softly and put my hand on his cheek. "I know, but as long as we stick together we'll be okay. I really care about you Nathan, I have for a while now. I don't want anything to happen to you either, and the best way to make sure nothing does is to stay with you" I told him.
He nodded and we continued on our way.
Nathan and I found ourselves on a road, hitchhiking. A semi-truck stopped when the driver saw us.
"Hey, can you take us to Virginia?" I asked. Usually, direct was best. "Get in!" the driver called. Nathan and I grinned at each other; we were on our way.
"Claritin Boulevard, this is the street" Nathan said as we wondered around Arlington, Virginia.
We walked into the apartment Jared had told us about cautiously. Nathan flicked on the light and called to see if anyone was here. It was just us.
It was a big, spacious apartment. Very nice actually.
Nathan looked through the drawers and cupboards, trying to finds something important.
I was in the smaller bedroom, where Martin had told me he had stashed some clothes for me if something like this ever happened. I changed into a new pair of leather boots, new jeans, a fresh camisole, an elbow-sleeve-length dark button-up T-shirt, and decided to let my hair down, though I kept a scrunchie on my wrist just in case.
"What is it?" I asked when I came in and saw him sitting at a desk looking through some paper. When it came to this point, I was as clueless as he was.
"I know this woman" he said softly, staring at a picture.
"Who is she?" I asked him, though I hadn't seen the picture yet.
"I think she's my mother" Nathan said. I stopped what I was doing and stared at him in shock.
Nathan set down the picture and stood up. "This must be Martin Price's apartment" Nathan walked over to the closet. "I'm gonna try and call Bennett" I told him. He nodded, knowing how important it was to me.
"I picked up the phone and dialed Jared's number, but a man answered.
"Hello?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number" I cried, pretending I was someone else, someone that knew nothing.
"Carter? Carter Mason, is that you" Burton said deliberately. I continued to pretend I was someone else. "I'm sorry, who is this?"
Nathan looked over at me. "Someone who is trying to help Nathan" Burton told me. He must have bought that I wasn't, well, me.
"You two are in danger. There are other people trying to find you" Nathan took the phone from my hand as I shook my head wildly at him. Despite my head-shaking, Nathan talked to Burton.
"Who is this?" Nathan waited a little bit before shutting the phone. "Let's go" he grabbed my hand and we started walking out of the apartment.
He slid on the leather jacket he must have gotten from the closet before continuing to the garage. Inside sat a silver sports car. Nathan and I grinned at each other before getting into the car.
Nathan sped out of the garage and off we went.
"This address could be fifteen years old" I told him, looking it over. "Ad from your dreams, the chances of finding your mother living…" I didn't even bother to finish. "I know" Nathan said, not looking at me. "But it's all we have"
I looked at the address again. "This isn't an address" I said slowly, looking at Nathan. He sighed. "G377" he repeated. "That's her plot number" It took everything in me not to cry.
We wondered around until we found Nathan's mom's plot. We found a large headstone that read:
Lorna Elizabeth Price
Jun. 25, 1961
Dec. 18, 1995
I stood back while Nathan kneeled before her for a moment. The he got back up and stood next to me, his back to the grave. Then I noticed something odd. I walked over and picked up the bouquet of flowers next to the headstone and smelled them.
"You know what's messed up?" he asked me. "I never knew either one of my mothers. The one who raised me? I had no clue who she really was. What she sacrificed for me. And Lrona Price, all she was was a face in a dream. Now she had a name, but she's still a…"
"I don't think Lorna Price is a dead end" I told him before he could finish. I held up the flowers I had smelled.
"These flowers are fresh. Not even days old" I told him. We walked towards the clerk when I told Nathan, "I got this" He nodded and let me get the information.
I walked up to the desk and leaned on it, which pushed my chest up slightly.
"Hello" I smiled brightly. The guy smiled back. "Hi, how can I help you?"
"My brother and I went to visit our mother's grave when we noticed some flowers. Our father hasn't been around. Is there any way you check to see who sent them?" I asked him. He reluctantly shook his head.
"We came a really long way to visit her, and if there's someone who cared enough to visit her as well…" I trailed, making myself look sad but slightly hopeful.
"Okay, what's the name" he said. I smile brightly. "Lorna Price"
He typed it in and told me, "Okay, so the flowers came from Omaha, Nebraska from a P. Rasmas"