After Mark is escorted out of the apartment, dinner is cleaned up, and Tim Curran is showed the adjoining apartment. Maddy numbly sits on the couch, staring into space. How could this happen? How could she let this happen? Why would he risk everything to cover for her like that? How is it that the men in her life that she cares about keep ending up in prison?! Josh better keep it in check because if something happens to him, she will really flip. And what did the recruitment officer mean about prior accusations?
"Maddy?" her mom says gently, pulling her back to reality as she comes to sit down beside her. "Tell me what's going on." Elisabeth's voice is gentle and understanding, yet also stern.
"I messed up," Maddy answers slowly, but her calmness soon fades and she explains everything at a rapid pace. "John and his friends are always picking on me at school and I mean most people pick on me because I'm kind of smart and they know I'll hand over my work instead of fighting but John and them are the worst. When Mark started working here he accidently found them beating me up so he hit John and another kid or two to get them to stop but when the principal asked we agreed it was a miscommunication because he's John's dad and John always gets his way so I didn't want either of us, especially Mark, to get caught in that crossfire. When Mark was talking to the principal John found me and said I didn't deserve to go to Terra Nova and I should just do everyone a favor and die so that someone who has worth can go. He broke my rebreather, and this afternoon I admitted that to Mark but I never meant for him to take the fall! I don't know why he would say he was the one lying but it should be me being charged with obstruction, not him, and the assault of minors charge shouldn't exist!"
Elisabeth looks at her daughter with raised eyebrows as she comprehends that overload of information. She sighs and holds her hand in her hands for a moment. "Alright," Elisabeth says eventually. "Thank you for telling me the truth, but Maddy you should have come to us as soon as this started! You could have told me or your father or your brother and it would have been okay."
Maddy shakes her head quickly, struggling to hold back tears. "It isn't okay mom," she cries. "I told Josh and that's how he broke his arm a few years ago; he told John to back off, then John hurt him. And I told Mark and now he's being charged as a criminal! Maybe John's right. All I do is cause everyone trouble. It's all my fault."
"Madelyn," Elisabeth says sternly. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. You are not worthless. You deserve to go to Terra Nova as much as anyone and someone who convinces you otherwise is pathetic. You are intelligent, beautiful, kind, and see the best in everyone. That's why Mark stood up for you. He was trying to protect you from getting hurt more."
"That doesn't erase that fact that he will never get another job," Maddy says. "He has three siblings at home. It's all my fault."
As Maddy cries, Elisabeth holds her and tries to convince her she's wrong. Curran is next door, but Josh, Reilly, and Foster all look at each other.
"We need to do something," Foster says.
The next day Maddy wakes up and robotically gets ready. "Where do you think you are going?" Elisabeth asks as she walks into the kitchen.
"School," Maddy responds. "I'm sixteen I legally have to go to school."
Elisabeth looks at her daughter squarely. "I don't think so," she says. "Until we figure out how to deal with the whole John and Mark mess, you're stuck here."
"Mom," Maddy hisses under her breath. "I can't exactly sit here all day with Zoe stuffed in the vent or back room. Curran isn't Mark; Zoe isn't safe anymore."
With a sigh, Elisabeth concedes. Josh will ditch with the excuse of being with Kara until they are forced to part and the two will watch Zoe while Ken stays in the hall. Maddy barely eats breakfast before flying out the door, already impatient for the day to be over. It doesn't even feel much of a relief that it's Friday.
During the walk, Maddy doesn't say a word to Curran, though he tries to formally introduce himself. Once in the school building, she slips Josh's rebreather into her bag, not willing to let anything happen to it. In the mood she's in, Maddy wants John to try something. She wants to make him regret it.
After the first few classes of the day, Maddy grows bored and heads to the library, not bothering to attend the rest of her lessons. She goes to log into the computer but hesitates. She would love answers as to what happened with Mark … A glance around the space tells her that there's only one other kid in the library and the librarian. Maddy discreetly slips the core out of her Plex and stows it in her bag. "Excuse me," she asks the librarian, "the core must have fallen out of my Plex. Do you have a spare? If I can't finish this assignment then-"
"Don't worry," the librarian cuts Maddy's rambles off. When the lady goes in the back, Maddy slips around to her desk. Curran is near the door not paying attention and the other student is engrossed in their own work. With a few strokes of a keyboard, she starts to set up a new student account when she realizes existing student records are on here. She searches for Ward and finds John's information. Maddy memorizes his username and password before clearing out the tab.
"Oh," she calls out to the librarian, "Sorry, but I found my core. I must have knocked the port open by mistake."
"No worries."
Maddy smiles nervously before taking her seat at her computer again. Her heart beats rapidly as she punches John's information into the login. The computer unlocks and Maddy shakily opens the Terra Nova Recruitment Offices homepage. With a few strokes of the keyboard she finds herself blocked by their firewall. Taking a breath, Maddy rewrites the code to gain access. After a few tries, she gets into their private server.
Immense pride floods Maddy as she searches Mark's name. The documents within the file are quite extensive, but when she comes across a video clip entitled interrogation, her heart feels like it skips a beat. After plugging in her earbuds, Maddy plays the clip. It consists of Mark sitting in a dark room with gray walls. Across from a mental table is the recruitment officer from the other night.
"I thought I had the right to an attorney," Mark points out.
"I just thought I'd offer you a chance to talk before said attorney arrives. Maybe we can clear the air and a drawn-out trial won't be necessary."
Mark looks at the man uncomfortably. "What do you want?" he asks.
"Do the Shannons have an illegal child?"
Mark looks taken aback and claims he doesn't know what the officer is talking about.
"Do the Shannons have a third child?" the question is repeated.
Mark denies it again.
The officer continues firing questions completely unrelated to the charges brought against Mark: "What do you know about Terra Nova's interest in the Shannon family?"
"Dr. Shannon was recruited," Mark answers simply.
The officer changes the subject, "Why did Jim end up in prison?"
"Isn't that something I could be asking you?"
"Has he had contact with his family since?"
"How would I know and how would that be possible?"
The officer slams his hand on the table but Mark doesn't flinch. "Tell us about Madelyn," he demands.
"She prefers Maddy."
"Don't be a smart ass," the officer snaps. Mark shrugs. "Were you involved with Madelyn Shannon in anyway?"
Mark raises his eyebrows. "We were friendly," he answers after a pause. "I was kind of stuck following her around for a few weeks, so we didn't exactly ignore each other."
"Were you involved beyond that?" the man asks tenuously.
Mark frowns, "No. She's like fifteen. She's just a kid." Maddy feels her face burn as she watches the video. Considering it is the reality, she doesn't know why it bothers her so much to hear Mark's admission that he only sees her as a little kid he was forced to follow around.
"She's sixteen," the officer corrects in the video. "And that makes you only three years older than her."
"I worked for her parents."
"No, you worked for us."
Mark laughs harshly. "Is there a point?" he asks. "No I didn't hook up with Maddy or date Maddy or whatever you're trying to get at. What do you want?"
"I want a deal," the officer said. "Tell me something about the Shannons and you walk free."
It is quiet for a moment as Mark studies the table. Then, he silently says, "Get me pen and paper."
Maddy can hardly breath as the clip turns to snow. She knows that it's her fault Mark lost his job, but she didn't ask him to lie for her. Would he give the officer what he wants? He could tell him about Zoe and it would be all her fault. Mark once assured Maddy he would never do that, but Maddy can't help but worry what has changed.
After looking through the file and finding nothing else added after the time stamp of the video, which was concerning, Maddy starts packing up her stuff. At the last second, she searches the database one more time for her own file when the bell starts to ring for lunch. She looks over to find Curran talking to the librarian than looks over at the back door of the library. Without overthinking, Maddy logs out of the computer, grabs her bag and ducks out of the library. She needs answers.