A/N: An alternate ending to my "Father" story arc from earlier in this collection. The first two chapters—and most of the third—are unchanged. This picks up after Sophie and Keefe leave the Healing Center, only this time, Elwin wasn't concealing anything.
"I told you Elwin would be on our side," Keefe told Sophie as they walked to orientation.
"And I didn't doubt you," she pointed out. "I just doubt that it'll make much of a difference."
"Maybe not," Keefe said. "But it won't hurt, either."
"I wonder if it really is worth it," Sophie said contemplatively.
"Do you want to know who your father is?"
"I really think I do."
"Then it's worth it. It'll be different this time too. I'll be here to support you. And last time, you knew it was going to mess things up with you and Fitz, and that made it harder for you to deal with." They were in the cafeteria now and he stopped and pulled her aside. "You know I don't care about any of that," he said softly, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears. "Who knows, maybe Forkle will be more willing to tell you if he knows you don't plan to use the information."
"I doubt it."
Keefe leaned in and kissed her lightly. "Either way, I'm right here, Foster. Every step of the way."
Before she could respond—or grab him and kiss him again—Magnate Leto's face appeared on the large screen and he began morning orientation.
But as they went their separate ways for morning session, Keefe swiftly kissed her cheek. "Don't stress too much about it," he said quietly. "I can't smooth out that worry crease for you when we're in separate sessions."
Sophie smiled at him. "I'll try. And you try not to get detention, I'd like to see you at lunch."
"Yes ma'am," he said with a smirk and mock salute before walking away.
Sophie headed for her Telepathy session. Fitz was already there, and he looked particularly sad. When he realized Sophie had walked in, he quickly rearranged his features into a smile.
"Everything okay?" She asked.
"Of course."
She didn't believe him.
"Fitz..."
He sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you but I don't want it to change anything." He took a deep breath. "I saw Keefe kiss you a few minutes ago and it just, you know...it makes me sad. But I don't want to get in the way of your relationship or make you feel like you have to hide how much you care about each other when I'm around. I promise, I'll get over it...in time."
Oops. They'd both forgotten, for just a moment, that they were trying to be more careful at school, in order to avoid this very situation. She hated causing Fitz pain and knew Keefe did too.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," she said quietly.
Before Fitz could respond, Tiergan entered the room.
Thankfully, he wanted them to spend the session going through trust exercises, keeping the air clear, making sure the Inquisition had done its job.
We've had a few Telepathy sessions since we completed our Inquisition, and every time he's just had us talk and clear the air, Fitz pointed out. We must've come really close to losing our Cognate bond.
Sophie shuddered. She knew Cognates were fairly rare, and they'd almost let their teen angst ruin the strongest pair their world had ever seen.
I'm glad we salvaged it. And I'm sorry for any pain I've caused you.
Sophie, out of the two of us, I have definitely caused you more pain over the years than you have done to me. I'm the one that needs to apologize.
We've already gone through everything and it's all forgiven.
I know, he agreed. I just don't want you to feel guilty now for being happy with Keefe. I'd wanted it to be with me, but I'll get over that. And it's good to see you both happy. Keefe is different now, you know. He's still the same jokester he's always been, but he's also calmer, somehow. I hadn't really noticed before, but he's so steady now.
We don't have to talk about that.
I know. And I have something else I want to ask you. I just wanted to tell you that first—that I see how happy you both are, and I really am genuinely happy for you. But beyond that....his brow furrowed. Something's bothering you, too. Keefe looked like he was trying to cheer you up.
Sophie wasn't sure what to say. The biological father search wasn't something she could broadcast, and it might be a touchy subject for Fitz in particular.
It was also something pretty big to try to hide from her Cognate.
Maybe she could share the what but keep the who private, if she ever found out.
She felt that Fitz would respect that now, since they weren't together and weren't trying to get the names to remove her unmatchable status.
So she told him.
Ah. I can see why that would be hard. You were upset when you found out who your mother was, even before I made it worse for you. But...Keefe knows?
I sort of accidentally let it slip. But since I'm not taking that information to the matchmakers, he'll keep my secret. And I know you would too, now, but...
Fitz shook his head. I promise, I'm not asking. You're right, I would keep it secret, but the less people that know, the better, especially since Mr. Forkle claims it'll somehow turn the world upside down.
Sophie was relieved to hear that.
Tiergan, who was quietly reading beside them, only occasionally looking up to see that they were still communicating, shifted slightly in his seat as he turned a page.
Sophie saw him out of the corner of her eye, her gaze still fixed on Fitz. It was mostly habit now, though they were both powerful enough telepaths that it wasn't really necessary.
Fitz's eyes shifted to Tiergan and back to Sophie, and he suddenly went pale.
Sophie? He asked, sounding tentative.
What? What's wrong?
I don't know...I'm probably crazy, but...he stopped. No, never mind.
Sophie rolled her eyes. You can't do that to me! My imagination is probably way worse than whatever is suddenly bothering you.
Okay...well...I don't know how you're going about narrowing down your potential fathers, but do you think maybe he's a Telepath?
Well...we wondered about that before, and Team Valiant was helping me ask a few questions. They even talked to Master Cadence about it, thinking maybe she was a mother candidate since we're both Polyglots, but she thinks that the Black Swan was unlikely to choose a person that would share any of the abilities they were giving me, because it would make it easier for me to find them, or throw suspicion on them at least.
That does make sense, Fitz agreed, but...that's just her theory. And the Black Swan knew they wanted your Telepathy to be particularly strong. I think it also makes sense that they would've had at least one of your parents be a Telepath so that you would already be genetically predisposed to manifest as one. Easier to tweak it and make it stronger if it's already there.
Sophie considered that.
He wasn't wrong.
Which brought a lot of people back into play.
You're right, she agreed.
That's not all, Fitz said hesitantly.
You already have a theory?
Well...we know it isn't Mr. Forkle, but...it would make sense for it to be a really powerful Telepath, for the reason I already gave you. And someone he knew he could trust to keep quiet about it. Someone who didn't already have a family. Someone who would be closely connected to Project Moonlark without being directly involved in the tweaking of your genes. Maybe someone who...well, who has always seemed to care a lot about you and even agreed to come Mentor you...and even agreed to Mentor me, your Cognate, even though he's had a difficult relationship with my dad...
Sophie felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop.
Tiergan.
Fitz was positing that Tiergan was her father.
Tiergan, who was an exceptional Telepath.
Who had so perfectly pretended he didn't know anything about the Black Swan when she was worried that they were the bad guys, and yet had gone out of his way to talk to her about it—and convince her that it didn't matter who the Black Swan was. All that mattered was who she was.
Tiergan, who also had blond hair.
Tiergan, who she had always considered one of the kindest elves she'd ever met.
Feeling both dizzy and queasy, Sophie buried her head in her hands. What if you're right? She asked Fitz.
She felt his hands as he took hold of both of hers, pulling them away from her face. She looked up at him, his concern evident on his face as he released her hands.
I might not be, he said gently. Please don't freak out. We don't even know if it's true. It's just a theory.
There's only one way to find out. But the thought made her feel like she was going to be sick again.
Fitz just looked at her, contemplative. I can ask, if you want.
He's a good liar. I'm sure he'll say no, and we will have no way of knowing if it's the truth.
Too bad Keefe isn't in here. For one thing...I think you need him. And for another, he'd be able to detect if Tiergan is lying. He's supposed to be in Elvin History right now if I remember correctly, which means he's probably ditching.
At that moment, Tiergan happened to look up and must've been alerted to the sudden tension on their faces.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, making them both jump at the sudden noise. "Is there something I can help you both work through?"
Sophie let out a harsh, humorless laugh. "Yes, actually."
Fitz gave her a warning look. Try to stay calm, Sophie. I realize that's pretty ironic advice coming from me of all people, but please try to stay calm. We don't even know if it's true.
She looked at him, and he seemed to realize she couldn't make herself say the words.
He gave her a small smile.
He also looked like he was about to reach for her hand, like they'd done countless times before, but then he pulled back.
Things were different between them, and even the friendly gesture of taking her hand to comfort her felt uncertain now.
He was being respectful, and she could appreciate that.
So he simply turned to Tiergan and blurted it out.
"Sophie has decided she's tired of being lied to, and I can't say I blame her. She wants to know who her father is."
Tiergan's eyes narrowed. "That was not at all what I was expecting," he admitted. "But I believe Mr. Forkle made it clear that he alone of the Collective knows who Sophie's biological parents are, and I doubt he's any more willing than before to divulge that information."
Sophie took a deep breath. "Fitz is right. I'm tired of being lied to." She looked at Tiergan, searching his face for clues as to whether or not her words were affecting him. "And we have a theory. A pretty solid one."
She let that sink in for a moment before choking down the rising bile in her throat and said, "we think it's you."