A/N: A Fitz POV of chapter 65 of Everblaze (Sophie and Grady have confronted Brant, Dex has come to her rescue thanks to her panic switch ring, and Dex has removed her ability restrictor after Brant reveals that the Neverseen knows about the ambush on Mount Everest).
Sophie showing up at Mount Everest--with the ability restrictor suddenly missing--had been a huge surprise.
But then, so had what she'd come to tell them.
This wasn't a simple ambush. The Neverseen had caught wind of their plan and was going to use it against them.
And Mr. Forkle wasn't going to let them stay and fight. Fitz felt indignant, at first--sure, they were underage, but they weren't kids, and they wanted to make a difference. But, Mr. Forkle insisted that they were too valuable to be lost in the fight. Finally, they had agreed.
"Before you go," Mr. Forkle told them, "there's something I must teach Fitz, in case another opportunity does not present itself."
He waved Fitz over to where Sophie was standing.
"Place your hands on Sophie's temples. I'm going to show you how to slip past her blocking."
"WHAT?!" Fitz, Sophie, Keefe and Biana all asked at the same time--though Keefe was the loudest.
Why was Keefe the loudest?
"Are you okay with that?" Fitz asked Sophie. He knew she valued her privacy.
But she didn't even hesitate before she nodded. "I trust you," she told him simply.
He wasn't sure why, but...he really liked hearing that.
Keefe grumbled something about Telepaths as Fitz reached for Sophie's temples and Mr. Forkle pressed his hands against Fitz's.
"Do you feel that trail of warmth I'm leaving?" Mr. Forkle asked him.
"Yeah--wow, that's crazy. How are you doing that?" Fitz asked. This was something he hadn't experienced before. How did you leave a trail like that in someone's mind?
"Focus, Fitz. I need you to memorize the path so that you can find it on your own."
"Right," Fitz mumbled, his brow furrowing in concentration. They weren't even past her mental block yet, but it was already confusing trying to navigate through her head. He'd never have figured out this path if Mr. Forkle hadn't guided him through it.
"There," Mr. Forkle announced, as Fitz saw some sort of flash, and he hit a wall, Mr. Forkle's warm trail stopping cold. "Did you see that?"
"I think so. But I don't understand what you did."
"It's a point of trust. Transmit the right thing and her guard will lower."
"What do I transmit?"
"It varies person to person. What makes her trust me will not work for you."
"Just so you guys know, this is super weird to watch," Keefe told them, earning himself a shout of "Silence!" from Mr. Forkle.
Fitz figured it probably was weird, since the others couldn't see what was going on inside Sophie's head, but that didn't matter right now.
He needed to figure out how to get in. She already said she trusted him--wasn't that enough?
He leaned closer to Sophie and whispered, "What do I say?"
"How do I know? I don't even know what he says," she told him, indicating Mr. Forkle.
"She's right. It's her subconscious you're reaching," Mr. Forkle explained. "Her conscious mind cannot help."
Fitz sighed, his eyes wandering over Sophie's face. What to say? Her conscious mind trusted him, or so she said. So did he just need her subconscious mind to know who was trying to get in?
Could it really be that simple?
He tried transmitting 'it's me', thinking there was no way that would work.
But it did.
She really did trust him. It had hardly taken anything at all for her to let him in, if that was all it took for even her subconscious mind to lower her guard.
A joy that had nothing to do with telepathic success rose up in his heart.
Did she...?
Did she like him?
He knew they were friends, she was always very friendly, but...didn't she secretly resent him, a little, for taking her from her human family? For turning her world upside down? He still felt really bad about that. He'd never seen anyone so heartbroken. Not to mention the way he'd treated her when his dad's mind had broken...the thought of that would probably forever fill him with shame.
But he didn't have time to think about that, no matter how much he wanted to.
So he pumped his fist and shouted "I'm in! And whoa--it's...overwhelming."
Overwhelming was an understatement.
Any minds he'd entered before this...there was always a lot of information to take in, but wow.
Everything was so vivid.
It kind of made his head hurt.
He hadn't thought of other peoples' minds, their thoughts and memories, as being blurry before, but he probably would after being in Sophie's mind.
"Yes," Mr. Forkle agreed. "Photographic memories can be. We're running out of time, so I'm afraid you can't explore. But are you following the warmth?"
Fitz nodded, focusing again on the trail Mr. Forkle was leaving him. Where was he leading him now? He'd gotten past her blocking. Then his eyes widened. What was this?
This looked like...
Not something Sophie's conscious mind was even aware of.
This window in Italy--was it Florence or Firenze?--was something he knew would be familiar to her, but the rest of it--some vague instructions were included here, planted in her brain, but for what purpose?
"Yes," Mr. Forkle told him, before Fitz could speak. "Remember this place. You may need it. Possibly soon."
"What?" Sophie asked.
"Don't tell her," Mr. Forkle ordered Fitz. "She is not yet ready to know."
Seriously?
"Are you kidding me?" Sophie shouted, echoing Fitz's thoughts. "It's my brain."
"Yes, and I'm doing everything I can to protect it. Come on, Fitz, that's enough for today."
He pulled Fitz back and Fitz shook his head, rubbing his temples.
Sophie's mind was going to take some getting used to. Wow, that was intense. Was Keefe's mind the same? Was that just what it was like to be a person with a photographic memory?
Keefe had never let him into his mind. He'd asked, once, not long after manifesting. He wanted to hone his skill, but would never do it without asking. His parents had both let him--but then, they'd known how to only let him see what they wanted him to see, and he knew better than to go where he shouldn't. His dad in particular was privy to information Fitz didn't need to know.
So he'd asked Keefe, and had been given a hard no.
Keefe told him he couldn't keep an air of mystery if Fitz could enter his mind, but Fitz thought he understood a little better now than he did back then.
Keefe's home life didn't seem to be very good. He probably didn't want Fitz to see the way his parents treated him--or each other.
Both of Keefe's parents made him uncomfortable, and Fitz figured that was not very fun to be around all the time. So he'd dropped it and never asked Keefe again.
But with Lord Cassius almost certainly in the Neverseen?
It must've been even worse than Fitz had realized.
"You okay?" Keefe asked.
Fitz wasn't certain if Keefe was talking to him or to Sophie, but they both answered him. "I think so."
Though Fitz wasn't completely sure he was being honest.
Apart from that experience being nearly overpowering, Fitz was struggling with being told to keep a secret from Sophie--particularly one that he found inside her own mind--and he hoped he wouldn't have to keep it secret for long.
He was also reeling from how easy it had been to get her subconscious mind to trust him.
He knew she was special.
He knew how scared he'd been when she'd had that allergic reaction to limbium. How heartbroken he'd been when they'd thought she had drowned.
How relieved he'd been when they found out she was alive.
How much he wanted to hurt the people that had kidnapped and tortured her.
But...they were friends, right? It made sense that he felt and thought all those things, because they were friends.
But Sophie was so pretty. And so fun to be around. And her little nervous tics and sweet demeanor were so endearing. And...
Too many thoughts were swirling around in his head. He was glad, now, that they were about to leave. He just wanted to be alone to think things through.
"And now it's time to go," Mr. Forkle said, fishing out a glowing purple vial and handing it to Biana. "You still have the charm?"
A rumbling above them drowned out her answer, and everyone ducked and covered their heads as rock and ice rained down.
"Is it an avalanche?" Sophie shouted.
But it wasn't.
It was two massive arms punching through the rocky ceiling.
They grabbed Sophie by the shoulders and pulled her back through the roof before anyone could stop them.