"Crying now. Through a rusted smile she knows this isn't how he paid the bills before."

-"A Mountain In The Middle Of The Cabins" Panic! At The Disco

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Panic! At The Disco

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. . .

My mouth can't seem to manage any words whatsoever, and that is probably because my mind has slowed down significantly. Clare Edwards is his successor? The girl I just passionately kissed is supposed to be an illegal arms dealership's leader? How is that possible? How could she possibly be his successor? This is impossible. Adam is wrong. It can't be Clare. She doesn't know the first thing about his business! She doesn't even know-

"I wasn't going to beg. I was going to negotiate.

"Negotiate what?"

"Information in exchange for seeing my mother."

Fuck.

I open and close my mouth before speaking to Adam. But when I do, it comes out slightly strangled and confused. "What?" I ask.

Adam runs a hand through his hair. "Helen Edwards cracked. We showed her the email and she just…she just confessed."

I cocked my head to the side. "Just like that?"

Adam nodded and snapped his fingers. "Just like that."

I cross my arms over my chest and turn to stare at Helen. She appears nothing like her profile states on the CIA's computer database. The database's Helen Edwards was cool, calm and collected. But the real life Helen Edwards? Not so much.

Several strands of her dark, straight hair stood up, causing her to look like she just got out of bed, but purplish black bags under here eyes indicate that she hasn't slept in quite some time. She nervously fidgeted, tapping her knee excessively, and picking at her fingernails.

I turned back to Adam, who was jotting down notes in a spiral. "What if she's lying?" I asked. Adam looked up for a minute. "Why would she lie?" I shrugged. "To protect her husband."

"Ex-husband." Adam corrected and I waved my hand at him. "Why would she put her own daughter on the line to protect her ex-husband?"

Again, I shrugged. "Maybe he still pays her bills, maybe he'll hurt her if she doesn't throw us off his scent, maybe she's still in love with him. There are a number of reasons as to why she would try to protect him."

Adam considered this before striding to the door and opening it. "Well why don't you put your little theory to the test?" He said, motioning his hand to indicate that I should walk in.

I straightened my shoulders. "You want me to question her?" Adam nodded. "Since you seem to have a pretty good idea about this situation, what with your theory and all." I held up a finger. "But I didn't mean that I should question her on it." Adam put his hand on my back and attempted to push me in. "Who better than you? It's your own theory. Now go." He said, and managed to get me through the doorway. I turned around to give him a playful glare. "I'm telling Fiona you're forcing me into things." Adam shook his head and smiled. "Yeah yeah, just go and do your job hotshot." I smirked and turned on my heel.

"Gentleman." I said, addressing Simpson and Drew. "If you could leave Mrs. Edwards and me alone, that would be amazing."

Simpson and Drew both stood up, and made their way to the door. Simpson stopped walking when he was directly in front of me. "You can handle yourself?" he asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Of course." I said. Simpson nodded and followed after Drew to exit the room, shutting the door behind him. I took a seat on the opposite side of the table that was facing Helen Edwards. "So," I began. "How are you-"

"Ms. Edwards." She states, her voice clearly shaking. "Sorry?" I ask, not knowing what she's saying. "Ms. Edwards." She repeats and she looks pained. "Not Mrs. Edwards. Miss."

I realize what she means and my mistake. I smile slowly. "My apologies." She merely jerks her head up and down in response. "So, Ms. Edwards" I say, starting completely over, but this time I try a different approach. "What are your feelings toward your daughter?" Ms. Edwards looks me in the eyes for the first time. "Darcy?" she asks, and I can tell she's avoiding the question. "No" I say. "Your other daughter, Clare."

Ms. Edwards looks away from me then, and her fidgeting becomes more noticeable. "She was never supposed to get mixed up in this nonsense." She whispers and I feel my breathing slow, as if it's making too much noise and I need to hear every word coming out of Helen Edward's mouth because it's that important. "Business and family were supposed to be two completely different concepts. That's what he promised." Her eyes find mine again and she bites her lip like I saw Clare do just earlier today. "I didn't know what plans Randall had for her until it was too late. Until his will had been rewrote, the business information changed, and all of his" she swallows. "Company notified."

Her eyes appear slightly glassy as she pours out the story she has been withholding for years. "I tried to stop him. I tried to convince him otherwise. Clare couldn't be a part of this. She's too innocent, she's too naïve." Ms. Edwards chokes back a sob and looks at me. "She's just a child."

I lick my lips before speaking. "What was your ex-husband's response to that?"

She shook her head. "He didn't listen, of course. He never listens to me, let alone any form of logic." I shift uncomfortably in my seat as the Edward's marital problems slide into the conversation. "He said "A girl like her needs to be hardened to face the real world. I don't trust anyone else with my business except for her." And for a brief moment, a smile graces her face. "He loves her immensely, Darcy as well." Then she looks up and stares me square in the eyes.

"You have to believe me." She says. "Clare has no idea that she is his successor. If we don't tell her, then she never has to know. That puts an end to this all." She hooks a piece of hair behind her ear.

It is at this moment that I realize that Ms. Edwards was not at fault here. She merely fell in love with a man she thought she knew. Randall Edwards is the only one who should be punished. Not Helen, not Darcy, and especially not Clare. Randall simply took them down with him when he fell.

Slowly, I reach my hand over and place it over Ms. Edward's own. She looks a bit shocked, but doesn't pull away, so I take that as a sign to continue. "You would like that, right?" I ask quietly and her eyes widen and she stares at me. "You just want this all to be over. So you can get on with your life, and leave this all behind."

A lone tear falls from Helen Edward's eye, moving down her cheek. "Yes" she whispers. I stand up, remove my hand from hers, and smile. "Don't worry Ms. Edwards. You're going to be able to do that."

She stands up quickly and envelopes me in a motherly hug as she begins sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh, t-t-thank you s-so much!" she says and tightens me in her arms. I cough slightly and pat her shoulder uncomfortably.

She releases me from her grip and begins wiping her eyes. "It may take some time, possibly days, maybe a few weeks, but we're going to get you out of here, and you can restart your life. Alright?" She nods and her face breaks into another tiny smile. I turn and walk out the door, making sure to lock it behind me.

. . .

The first thing I hear is a catcall from Drew. "Ow ow Goldsworthy!" he says, wrapping his arm around me. "Getting it in at Cougar Town I see?" I glare disgustedly at him. "You're a weirdo Torres." Adam laughs and one look from Simpson silences us all. "Goldsworthy" he stares at me. "Do you believe her story?"

I look around at all three of them. "Yes." I answer honestly. "But I think we need to keep them a while longer, just to see if they might be withholding any more evidence."

Simpson nodded in agreement. "Drew? Escort Mrs. Edwards back to her original holding cell in building 4C." Drew grins and winks at me. "Time for Drew to get some cougar action" he says and runs through the door.

From behind me, I hear Adam make a gagging noise. Simpson directs his attention to the two of us. "Alright, one of you is going to need to spend the night here with Clare Edwards. Monitor her behavior; see if she admits to anything. Which one of you is up for it?"

"Eli will." Adam pipes up and I turn to him in confusion. Adam smiles at me in an understanding way and I realize that Drew must have said something to him while I was out, something to make him understand and accept my attraction to Clare.

Simpson gives me a questioning look. "Uhm…yeah. Sure I will." I accept, trying not to look too excited. A whole night alone with Clare Edwards. Simpson smiles briefly before walking out of the room.

I look at Adam again. "Thanks." I say and he continues to smile. "If you're really attracted to her, then you should go for it. It shouldn't matter who she is. Sorry I didn't realize that before. It's been ages since you've found someone you actually like. You're my best friend. I just want you to be happy." I grin. "Quit acting like a chick man." I say and we both share a laugh.

. . .

The old office is dimly lit, but the six members of the organization can be seen due to the lamp sitting on the edge of the desk.

"Why the fuck are we here?" one of them growls, the girl on his lap nodding in agreement. "If Edward's got caught, than what's the point of all this shit?"

"Calm down Milligan. Do you really think I would have gathered us all here if we had nothing to discuss?" Coyne's voice crept through the room, as he sat in a chair in the front, a cigarette hanging lazily from his lips.

Milligan grumbled under his breath, and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, Macpherson, who had joined Edward's team mere months before he was captured.

"So why are we here Coyne?" DeSousa asked, checking her nails for any chip marks.

Coyne smiled, and it appeared evil and slightly eerie in the light. "We're getting our leader back." He said.

All five of the other members of Edward's closest panel of workers gave Coyne their full attention after that statement echoed in the room. Coyne was silent, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He cleared his throat before speaking. "All we need to do, is infiltrate the CIA base, figure out where Edward's is being held, and get him out undetected."

He leaned back in his chair, obviously impressed with himself, while the other members looked at him like he was crazy.

Owen spoke first. "How the fuck do we plan on doing all of that Coyne? This would be our hardest mission yet, and it's going to be a hell of a lot harder without Edward's guiding us through."

Coyne smirked.

"Oh, Milligan. Don't you realize that tasks like these are so much easier when you have someone on the inside?"

The other members looked at each other a smiled as the realization hit them.

A dark figure, the sixth member of Edward's panel who was sitting in a chair off to the side, suddenly perked his head up. Coyne chuckled when he took note of this.

"Yes Martin, I'm talking about your beloved Clare."

. . .

You guys like it? I'm actually quite proud of this chapter.

I also apologize for that last part to be so vague and small. I don't want to give anything away now do I? ;)

Also, sorry this whole chapter is so small. I just really want the events taking place next chapter to be all together in one chapter. I'll make it up to you guys with an earlier update and some snacks, cool?

If you liked this chapter or just the story in general, give it a review, because they make me smile :)