A/N: Yay! Another chapter! I don't have much to say other than: Robotics is so much work. Anyways, here's the chapter!

The moment Fitz held out his two fingers, Tiergan gave him the elixir. Slowly, but surely, the fog began to clear. The numbness that had settled in during the guilt began to fade as a sharp stab of pain settled into the back of his head.

"Ouch," he mumbled, slowly sitting up. "What happened?"

Tiergan gave him a worried look. "At first everything was fine. You were dealing. Then you began to rock in your chair," he took a deep breath. "Right after you held up two fingers, you fell off the chair and hit your head. Even before I could give you the elixir." He gave Fitz an apologetic look.

Smiling sheepishly, Fitz tried to stand up. The pain in his head, that had dulled, immediately shot back up.

"You might not want to stand up yet," Tiergan suggested.

"Yeah," Fitz agreed. "How long did I survive it?"

Tiergan refused to look up at him. "Five seconds."

Fitz's eyes widened. "Five seconds?" he repeated. "That's... How long do I have to stay in Sophie's mind?"

"One minute," Tiergan answered, barely audible. "But five seconds is still very high for a Telepath of your age," he encouraged.

Fitz clenched his jaw. "It's not enough," he stated, determination evident in his voice. "I don't care if I break all the records that Telepaths have created. I just want to get Sophie back."

Tiergan tilted his head to the side, studying Fitz.

"What?" he asked in response to being scrutinized.

Tiergan shrugged. "I've never seen a fifteen year old face so many pressures," he marveled. "And have such resolve."

Fitz didn't know how to respond to that. All he could think to say was, "I'm almost sixteen."

Tiergan laughed. "Of course," he agreed. "Do you think you can stand up now?"

Fitz slowly pushed himself up with the help of the chair and his hands. The pain continued, but he forced himself to ignore it. Spots blocked his view and his vision blurred as he struggled to stay standing up. "I think I can get to Elwin's," he choked out, but he was immediately cut off by another wave of pain.

Tiergan didn't look convinced, but it wasn't like they could light leap. "Fine," he relented. "But be careful. I'll hail him right now to tell him you're coming."

"Thanks."

*~*~*~*

"Didn't expect to see you here," Elwin greeted him.

Fitz tried to return Elwin's smile, but his head was pounding too much. "Trust me, neither did I," he joked. "I can't say I expected to get hurt in Telepathy."

Elwin raised his eyebrows in surprise, proceeding to snap his fingers and conjure orbs of light in front of Fitz.

"It's not too severe," he told him. "Just drink this elixir and you'll be back to normal in a few minutes."

He handed Fitz a chocolate brown vial, and Fitz couldn't help but be reminded of Sophie's eyes. Rather than contemplating this, he downed the elixir, desperate to get rid of the throbbing pain in the back of his head.

"Thanks," he said after gulping the last few drops. The pain was beginning to fade as he took a seat at the edge of one of the cots.

"So how did you get hurt in Telepathy?" Elwin inquired curiously.

Fitz took a deep breath. "We were working on how to heal Sophie," he began, when Elwin cut him off.

"Wait a second. You can heal minds?"

Fitz laughed. "No, but apparently Sophie's mind trusts me enough that I might be able to heal it," he explained. "Anyway, Sir Tiergan gave me this elixir that is supposed to create the illusion of a broken mind to see how long I could survive it. After five seconds, I was done, but I also fell down and hurt my head."

Elwin crinkled his nose at the mention of the elixir. "Oh that one tastes awful," he remembered. "I had to taste it when I was training to be a doctor."

Fitz nodded. "Sir Tiergan said Kesler might be able to fix the taste."

"If anyone could do it, it's him," Elwin agreed. "Well, you better be off. Wouldn't want to miss your next class."

Fitz jumped off the cot and walked to the door. Just before he was about to leave, Elwin stopped him.

"And Fitz... Good luck."

All he could do was nod.

*~*~*~*

The final class before lunch was over, and Fitz was dreading lunch more than ever. He knew the main topic would be Sophie and Keefe and he couldn't handle that right now.

But it wasn't like he had a choice. Slowly, he dragged one foot in front of the other to the lunch room. After taking the food, he tried to indulge in as little conversation as possible. But it was obvious what everyone was talking about.

"I heard he joined the Neverseen."

"I heard he betrayed all of them."

"I bet she followed him and joined them too."

"I bet she was the reason he joined."

That was it. He couldn't take it anymore.

"What business of yours is it?" he demanded angrily, slamming his hands on the table. "You don't know even close to what they did or why they did it! So why can't you leave it alone?"

Stina curled her lips. "What's the matter?" she began. "Are you going to join them next?"

Fitz furled his eyebrows and clenched his fists as red blotted his vision. "Don't you dare insult them. You don't know what we've been through!"

Magnate Leto walked into the room, his arms crossed. "Do we have a problem here, Miss Heks and Mr. Vacker?"

Stina stared him down, but to no avail.

Magnate Leto raised his eyebrows. "If that is so, detention for you Miss Heks for the next... Week or so." He gave Fitz a wink. "As for the rest of you, I would suggest that you indulge in your own work rather than the business of others."

As the red in his vision cleared and Fitz slowly sat down, he noticed Stina angrily stalking away. It made him smile slightly, but not quite enough to reach his eyes.

"So what actually happened?" Jensi asked in his usually rapid tone. Fitz took a deep breath, knowing the questions wouldn't stop until he answered them.