𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐞
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳

     "𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 you think one of your first times driving after your license shouldn't be an hour-long road trip?" Jess asks her girlfriend with a sarcastic grin.

"Hey, I got it," Noah replies with mock offense. "And this is not my first time driving after getting my license."

"You love to make me nervous," Jess giggles as she buckles her seatbelt.

"I wouldn't have invited you if I thought I wasn't gonna make it," Noah jokes as she puts her hand on Jess' thigh.

The blonde smiles and puts her hand over Noah's. "We're gonna stop for snacks, though, right?"

"First you're nervous about my driving and now you want to stop for a snack?" Noah chuckles, shaking her head as she starts the engine of Josephine's car.

Jess plugs her phone into the aux cord and plays the playlist she made for her and Noah. She fiddles with the volume, making Noah smile to herself. They drive just outside the city and Noah finds a gas station to stop at. She fills the car with gas and they head inside to get snacks.

"What're you getting?" Noah asks as she puts her hand on the small of Jess' back.

"I don't know," the blonde says as she walks through the aisles. "Something sweet and something salty."

Noah grabs a Twix, gummy worms, and an energy drink while Jess gets sweet tarts, pretzels, and a sweet tea. They check out and Noah pays for everything. She grabs the bag and heads back to the car, ready to start their little road trip.

After a few minutes, once they get on the highway, Jess turns the music down. Noah peers over at her as she watches the blonde get comfortable.

"Can you run through this with me again?" Jess asks as she holds her camera up and takes a picture of Noah.

The brunette hears the shutter of the camera and smiles. "What're you doing?"

"What?" Jess asks. "It's a good picture. I have to put the camera you got me to good use, don't I?"

"You brought it to capture our murder mystery adventure?"

"No, and that's your mother you're talking about," Jess reminds her as she puts the camera down. "You do understand that this is serious, don't you? If this lady gets freaked and decides to tell the police, we're gonna get in so much trouble—"

"Hey, relax," Noah says, regretting her joke. "Listen, I'm taking care of everything. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm complicit—"

"You're just here," Noah corrects her as she reaches for her hand. "If that were to happen, I would tell them that you didn't know where we were going. I lied to you and dragged you along because I was scared. I would never let anything happen to you. You know that, right?" she asks as she squeezes Jess' hand.

"Of course," Jess replies with a soft nod. "But I don't want anything to happen to you either."

"We're good," Noah says, but she knows she can't promise it.

"Alright," the blonde nods more confidently and lifts her legs to rest them in Noah's lap. She leans her back against the car door and looks through her camera's memory. "Run me through it."

"My mom worked for Interpol, infiltrated Doyle's business, and somehow fell in love, although that's still questionable. She was pulled out and Doyle was arrested. She was compromised and therefore too dangerous to be undercover, so Easter placed her in the FBI."

"But that was after she gave birth to you, so she lived in Restin, took care of Declan, had you, then moved to Quantico so she wasn't far from him."

"And he and the nanny lived undercover all this time."

"This nanny worked for Doyle, though, right?"

"Yeah," Noah replies with a nod.

"How do we know that she still doesn't?"

"We don't," Noah says as she takes a deep breath. "I'm just really hoping that she doesn't. I mean, she must have cared for Declan. In the end, all Emily wanted was for him to have a normal life. The nanny must have wanted the same if she went through the trouble of changing her identity."

Jess takes a deep breath, hoping that Noah's right. The last thing she wants is for either of them to get hurt, especially Noah.

"Did you ever hear back from that coffee shop?" she asks, deciding to change the subject.

"No," Noah replies as she shakes her head. "I'm assuming they did a background check and found out my family is crazy."

"Or maybe someone else applied who's been a barista before or something."

"Or they don't want the daughter of an international criminal handing out lattes to Quantico's finest," Noah says and grips the steering wheel, the tips of her fingers turning white.

"Noah, not everything is about him," Jess reminds her.

"No?"

"No," Jess repeats as she puts her camera in her bag. "You're more than him. You're more than what happened to you. And there's a seal on your file anyways, so they don't even know that you're related to him."

"So they just think I'll be a shitty barista?" Noah replies with a smirk.

Jess giggles and shakes her head. "We'll look for a new place for you to apply when we get back."

"Okay," Noah says with a nod and puts her hand on Jess's ankle, moving it up and down in a soothing motion.

They continue down the highway, making their way to the house. Noah feels jitters in her hands, not sure if they're from the energy drink or her nerves. Jess keeps a close eye on her girlfriend, who's there to support her whether she decides to go in or back out.

Noah parks her car at the top of the street, not wanting Jess or her mother's license plate to be connected to anything that may happen. She turns to the blonde and tightly squeezes her hand.

"I'm here," Jess assures her. "Partner in crime."

Noah smiles softly and brings Jess' hand to her lips. She kisses the back of her hand and squeezes it once more before opening the car door. Jess watches Noah slowly walk up the street, her head hung low. She pleads for Noah to be careful, but also to find the answers that will help ease her anxieties.

Noah walks up the steps of the house she drove past with her mother just months ago. She takes a deep breath as she raises her hand, which feels like a thousand pounds. She rolls her shoulders back, using the last shred of confidence she has, and knocks three times.

Noah waits for a moment, and then the door opens with a hesitant swing. "Hi," she says as she looks up.

"Hi," the woman replies. "Can I help you?"

"Uhm, you don't know me, but I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about Ian Doyle."

The woman's eyes widen just a hair and she grips the door. "You need to leave," she says as she tries to shut the door, but Noah holds it open right before it can slam on her fingers.

"You're scared, I get it. But there's something you should know."

"Why would you know anything about Ian Doyle?" the woman asks.

Noah peers down at her arm and lifts her sleeve, showing the four-leaf clover burned into her arm. "My mother was Lauren Reynolds," she says, taking the chance she has to explain why she's here.

The woman's hard expression fades and she opens the door wider, recognizing the symbol and name. "What did you say?"

"My mother was Lauren Reynolds."

"Was?"

"She's dead," Noah states with a slight frown, but she masks her emotions to focus on what needs to be said. "But that wasn't her name, it was Emily Prentiss, and she was an agent in the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit. But you knew her as Lauren Reynolds, an undercover agent for Interpol to infiltrate mine and Declan's father's business."

As the woman hears Declan's name, she steps aside and lets Noah in. The teen walks into the foyer and glances around—everything seems normal. The interior reminds her a little of Emily's taste, especially with the framed pictures of Declan that show the woman's pride in her son.

"I haven't seen Lauren in a very long time. She certainly never said one day a teenager was going to be knocking on my door, claiming to be her daughter," the woman says as she sits in an armchair in the living room, gesturing for Noah to sit on the couch.

The teen does so and nods, understanding her hesitation. "My name is Noah."

"Louise," the woman introduces herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Louise," the teen replies. "I understand this may be unsettling, but I promise, I'm only here to help."

"Help with what?"

"Ian Doyle escaped from prison and came to Virginia to find my mother. He captured me and her and...she didn't make it. I'm scared that he's now coming after Declan."

"What?" Louse frets as she sits up straight.

"That night...he expressed that my mother took everything from him. The one thing that mattered. That was Declan. If he was willing to do what he did to me, I'm scared of what he'd be willing to do to get to Declan."

"He's in school," Louise replies. "If he's looking here, he's looking in the wrong place."

"This is also about you," Noah reminds her. "If you used to work for him and now you're hiding his son from him...you're in danger as well. And I don't think he'll have much mercy for you."

"How?" Louise asks. "All those years, how did you and Lauren—Emily—stay undercover?"

"I..." Noah pauses, realizing it's a longer story than she anticipated. "I didn't know that Emily was my mother until about a year ago. I was adopted as a baby and she was an agent on the case of my foster mother's murder."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Louise says with a frown.

"No, it's okay," Noah assures her. "I'm just glad we had the time together that we did. But Doyle knew that I was his daughter before then. He had sent a woman posing as a social worker to my adopted mother's house. She would take her reports and give information to Doyle. When I moved in with Emily, it gave away our position."

"When did this happen?" Louise asks. "The night that he..."

"About six months ago."

"Six months? And he hasn't found us yet?"

"I don't think so. I can't say for sure, but I don't think he would wait. My mother's team at the FBI is looking for him. He would be stupid to think that they're not."

"Declan...he can't know about this," Louise tells Noah, who opens her mouth, but Louise speaks over her. "He doesn't remember much about your mother, even though she would care for him a lot. She hasn't seen him in years. He wouldn't really remember his father, either, he would be confused. I can't worry him for no reason."

"This isn't no reason—"

"He doesn't know anything about his father. We don't discuss him, I don't tell him stories, not even made-up ones."

Noah stares blankly at the woman. "So, what? You're not gonna do anything?"

"No," Louise replies. "Trutch causes panic."

"Truth saves lives," Noah corrects her. "Trust me, if I had known the truth, my mother wouldn't be buried in Quantico Park."

Louise glances down at her lap, not sure how to respond. Their differing opinions come down to life or death. She can't waver on how she feels, this is too important. This is her son's life, the boy that started as a job but became her life.

"If your mother was me, she wouldn't tell you," Louise states, remembering Lauren's stubbornness. She can tell that it's been passed down.

"That's what got her killed," Noah mumbles, tears stinging her eyes. "I really hope that you're luckier than she was."

Louise swallows the lump in her throat. She would be lying if it didn't scare her, but she refuses to be the reason Declan has to learn about his father.

"Declan is a good boy," Louise tells the teen with a pleading gaze in her eyes. "He may be part of that...monster, but he's a good boy. I made him a good boy, I gave him the life he deserved—Lauren gave him the life he deserved. I can't take that away from him, I just won't."

Noah tries to hide the anger in the back of her throat. A reminder of how unfair life can be. Declan has been oblivious to it all while she was dragged to the abandoned warehouse that night where she saw her mother walk away from her for the last time.

Louise can't take her eyes away from the teen. It's odd to her how different Noah and Declan seem to be. Two apples from the same tree, just different roots, but raised by the same woman for a period of time. How can they be so different?

Noah can see the question reeling in Louise's head. She knows the answer. It's because Declan was the child Emily took care of before the trauma and Noah is the one she chose not to take care of because of it.

"I'm sorry, Noah," Louise says as she shakes her head.

"I know," the teen mumbles and stands to her feet.

Louise walks behind Noah to the door. The teen opens the door and steps outside, turning to Louise for whatever last words they may have for each other.

"Lauren never told me if it was a boy or a girl," Louise says as she looks into the familiar blue eyes. "But I can only imagine that it tore her apart giving away her little girl."

Noah shows a small smile, her heart sinking as she thinks about her mother. "Thank you, Louise. It was really nice meeting you."

"Thank you," Louise replies with a soft nod. "Be careful, Noah."

"You too," Noah mutters and walks down the porch stairs, making her way back to the car.

Jess sits up and unlocks the car door, watching as Noah gets in the car with low shoulders. She wonders if it's because she's relaxed or if something happened.

"How was it?" Jess asks as Noah closes the door. "Did she listen?"

"I can't really tell," Noah says quietly. "She believed that I'm Emily's daughter, but...I don't know, she didn't seem like she wanted to do anything about it."

"What do we do?"

"For right now, that was all," Noah sighs as she starts the car's engine.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Noah nods as she feels Jess' hand squeeze hers. "I'm sure."