Woot woot! Chapter 20! Wowzers! I never thought I'd get this far, so thank you guys for all of your fantastic support! I actually finished this chapter up last night, but forgot to post it... whoops.

Anyways, just some quick plot stuff to clear up. For anyone who wants a sort of timeline, I'm imagining we're in late March sometime. Their graduation is set for the end of May. And yes, Cammie seems to be a little OOC here, but I'm mostly just trying to show her being jaded by all that has happened. We will be seeing the old sarcastic, cheery Cammie again before this fic is through. I'm working on getting more Zammie in here as well, but (1) as I mention earlier, I suck at romance, and (2) it doesn't always fit in with the plot progression, but there is a pretty big scene planned between them before the story is finished with.

So, once again, thank you all! It is a real treat to write for all of you! Love always, Tickgrey

And there I was once again just sitting in Professor Buckingham's office. The only difference was that this time, she wasn't there too. My eyes flickered impatiently at my watch; it was nearly a half hour after she had asked me there. I breathed deeply trying to maintain my patience. I swung my legs and began to twiddle my thumbs. I know that spies should be patient, but I had homework and well, other things to do.

I heaved another deep breath of air before pulling a book out of my backpack. The next half hour of waiting was consumed by archaic Russian literature on which I had a test to make up. It was a little hard to concentrate knowing that I was probably about to be yelled at or told I was going crazy. I looked down at my watch again wondering where Professor Buckingham could possibly be, but was interrupted by the rumbling of my perturbed stomach. I should have been eating dinner by now.

Finally, there was a light rapping on the door which nearly scared me to death. I looked up, "Mr. Solomon?"

"Hi, Cameron," he greeted. "Professor Buckingham asked me to tell you that she has been summoned to Langley for a few days."

"You couldn't have told me that an hour ago?" I joked awkwardly.

He shook his head, "I only just got the message." He walked into the room and casually switched topics, "While you're here, we might as well talk."

I shrugged, "About what?"

"Well, we're concerned about you," he stated bluntly. I nodded because quite frankly I agreed. I was even scaring myself lately. "You've been through a lot, and we all just want to know that you're okay. I need to know that you're okay."

"I think I'm okay," I hesitantly replied. He didn't look convinced at all. "Well, I supposed there have been some rough patches along the way, but I'm getting there."

"No, I understand completely," he said. "I know what it's like to lose someone."

"Who?" I asked curiously. Any bit of information I could pry out of him was always nice.

He sighed, and his eyes became really soft, "Your father was my best friend, and your mother was, well, a really great friend."

All week I'd been dodging stories and old acquaintances of my parents, but suddenly I wanted to hear. He continued, "They both meant the world to me, and I can only imagine what you're going through."

"Thanks," I murmured. I went back to thumb twiddling for a minute to relieve my anxiousness.

Mr. Solomon broke the silence once more when he said, "This probably isn't the best time at all to ask, but were you ever planning on applying to an agency?"

I just shrugged, "I thought I wanted to, but now I don't know."

"Your parents both knew the risks. But they also knew that they were serving their country in one of the most valuable ways possible," Mr. Solomon tried. He seemed a little uncomfortable discussing them, but I knew he was just trying to help.

I shook my head, "That's not why. I just want to get these people. But, you guys can't anymore because some higher up says no? I don't think I would be able to live with that. I know I can't live with that actually."

"It gets easier," he explained. "When I first joined, I wanted to get every crime organization, every crooked guy, everything. But you can't. You can't get every single one, and even if you did, more would just come back. There's evil everywhere."

"I might not be able to, but I'm going to give it everything I've got," I stated coolly. Some ice-like liquid seemed to be running through my veins now. I knew exactly what needed to be done, and I finally had the strength to do it.

Mr. Solomon paused and said, "A few years ago, I told you that had promised myself that I'd look after you after your father died. Well, I made the same promise again two weeks ago. Cammie, please, don't do anything you're going to regret. You're acting on impulse right now. But please, just wait before you do anything."

"I- well, okay," I lied with some hesitation. He was being so honest and caring, and here I was about to completely betray his trust. "I've got a lot of work to make-up still," I began. Mr. Solomon nodded and motioned to the door which I hurriedly scooted out of. My stomach rumbled once more, so I made my way to the dining hall to get some food before it closed. The chefs had been particularly lenient about getting me food during off hours lately.

Before heading back to my room that night, I decided to take care of business. With Professor Buckingham gone, this was the perfect time to get that ledger. I made my way to the library first in order to establish a reasonable cover in case I accidentally set some alarms off or if someone got curious. I grabbed a desk in the back and spread my books and notebooks out to make it look like I would be in late to finish up as much make-up work as possible (which I was planning on doing after the mission anyways.)

I make a point to walk through the most crowded section of the library (which was pretty full because it was only seven o'clock.) They all saw me, and Anna even gave a short wave which I returned with a slight smile. I grabbed a book from the shelf and made a point to walk past even more studying classmates. My alibi was now practically fool-proof. When I returned to the desk in the back, I put my new book down and made it look like I needed to grab another book too.

Instead, I went for one of my favorite passageways in the back of the room. It used to lead outside the school, but that part had been sealed off. There was still an off-shoot that Buckingham had missed, however, which was very convenient for getting to the Sublevels.

When I got to the lift to the Sublevels, I cautiously glanced around, but there was no one in sight. Luckily, my hand was still recognized by the system, so I slipped into the lift before anyone could see me. When I finally arrived to the modern hallway underneath my school, I gulped. Where was it? My best guess was that it was in the room filled with sterile filing cabinets. I slipped into the storage room and began rifling through the drawers. My heart was racing; I really didn't want anyone to walk in during this.

Eureka! I silently exclaimed. I pulled out a slim file labeled 'Circle of Cavan Ledger.' Could it really be this simple? I opened it quickly and quietly. My eyes flashed through the names and numbers on the pages checking to make sure it was what I wanted. When I was absolutely certain that I had the right file, I slipped it into a different, more covert folder in my backpack and left its previous folder in the cabinet.

When I was finally back in the passageway to the library, I let out a deep breath. It was really that simple. If only I'd done that sooner, then Mom would still be alive. When I arrived back at my desk in the library, I looked at the clock. It had only taken me a half hour; I was getting much better at this.