I must've blacked out after I saw the photo because I find myself sitting up in bed. I hug myself and shiver uncontrollably as I go back to how the four of us were so close to a murderer. Or someone no one knows. I let out a shaky breath before staring up at the Altruistics, Sovereigns, Steven, and Caroline. My breathing becomes shorter as I ask in a panicked tone, "Where's Fitz? What happened?"

Caroline looks at me sympathetically. "Dear, you blacked out while you were still standing," she explains softly. Walking closer to me, she says, "You would've hit your head on the edge of the table if Fitz didn't drop everything to catch you. You were so close to getting a blunt force injury, Sophie."

I nod, still shivering. Caroline hugs me tenderly, followed by Laurel and surprisingly, Audrey. After a few moments of hugging, we all separate, and I notice that Donovan and Benen are gone. "Where'd they go?" I ask, pointing to the empty space near the door.

"They went to go get Fitz," Steven explains, smiling gently. "He went to the conference room to check if Mr. Wallace was there. But now you're awake, so that's good."

I whimper quietly at the mention of the conference room. I honestly don't know what's happening to me- it feels like all of the fear and panic from the past year is overwhelming me. I wrap my arms around my legs protectively as Audrey asks, "This isn't like Sophie at all. What happened?"

Caroline just says, "...Something."

Before either Laurel or Audrey can protest against the chemist's answer, the three boys burst into my room through the connecting door. Fitz sighs in relief when he sees me awake. I find myself staring into his intriguing teal eyes as he makes his way to me. I watch with wide eyes as Fitz sits down next to me on my bed.

It doesn't look like you woke up rested and at peace, Fitz transmits to me. I can practically hear the seriousness in his thoughts. Biting my lip, I nod hesitantly.

I place my hands over his, holding his hands gently. Please tell me you didn't find anything, I mentally plead. No poison, no... him, nothing. It was empty..?

Fitz smiles softly and nods. I found nothing. Mr. Wallace wasn't there either, but Benen and Donovan found me before I exited the conference room.

Thank God, I transmit, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding in for so long. Taking in a quivering breath, I lean forward and touch my forehead to his chest, my hands still holding his. I'm panicking so much right now, Fitz.

Sighing softly, Fitz rests his head on top of mine, letting me listen to the rather comforting sound of his heart beating in his chest. I can tell... What's scaring you so much?

Don't you also have telepathic abilities?

Fitz smirks at my attempt of a joke. Is it how Fitton was in the photo in the first place?

Not quite, Fitz.

Fitz takes his hands out from underneath mine. I tense up momentarily, thinking that I did something wrong. But when he pulls me closer in a warming embrace, I relax a lot, letting my arms wrap around him as well. Or is it the fact that the four of us were so close to a possible killer? Fitz transmits to me.

I take a shaky breath. That's exactly... why, I manage to think before shivering uncontrollably. We... "We were so close... he was right-" I feel a warm tear fall down my cheek. "He was right there," I say, my voice cracking. Before I know it, more and more tears of fear stream down my face. "He's here. He's-"

I suddenly stop when Fitz uses one hand to gently wipe the tears off of my face. Hugging me again, he says, "He's not here now. He won't come here now."

"Will he come later?"

Fitz takes a moment to think. "He may, but we'll just be prepared, alright?"

I nod, feeling so comforted at the moment. I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep while in the arms of the male Percipient.

But does that stop the fear and panic within me?

Yes. For now.

...

A few hours later, I find myself being awakened softly by Fitz. He's still sitting next to my on my bed, and I'm sitting in his arms. I glance over to see that it's just the two of us and begin to blush. Slowly sitting up, I say, "Did I fall asleep? I'm sorry-"

Fitz shakes his head. "No need to apologize," he assures me. Smiling slightly, the male Percipient stands up and walks to his room. When he comes back, I see that he's buttoning up a grey shirt and leaves the first two buttons unbuttoned. "I just went to change my shirt," he tells me. "As you can tell."

Nodding, I ask, "Did someone need us?"

"Yeah, Mr. Wallace. He wants us to go to Donovan's room," he explains. We both grab our key cards before leaving my room.

As we walk towards the elevators, I ask, "What kind of training do we need now?"

Fitz shrugs. "I have no idea," he admits. "But I do know that Audrey and Donovan will be with us today, along with the Altruistics."

Surprise clearly written across my face, I nod in comprehension. A few moments of silence pass before we knock on the male Sovereign's door. We wait a few moments in silence. I then watch as Fitz turns the knob and opens the door.

Inside, the Altruistics and Sovereigns are sitting with their respective partner. Laurel smiles at me as we close the door and walk over to an empty area. Seeing how everyone's sitting on the ground, Fitz and I sit down ourselves.

Suddenly, I hear Mr. Wallace's voice in my head, You and your partner will be talking about the murder of Susan Goldberg. Then we'll come together in the conference room to say what we've talked about.

Audrey speaks up first after the transmission ends. "I'm not the only one who heard that, right?" she asks everybody.

We all shake our heads. Laurel looks at me. "Did you know that he can transmit like you two?"

I nod. "I found out during the submersion," I tell her.

And with that, the Sovereigns and Altruistics begin talking with their partner at the same time. Figuring that talking out loud will just make things more confusing, I transmit to Fitz, Ready to begin?

He nods visually.

So we know that Arien and Susan's murders are linked, I begin.

And that Fitton is alive. And was- is- in the building now, Fitz adds.

Forcing myself not to pale or shudder, I transmit to him, We also think that Fitton is the biggest suspect. And it seems like everyone hated him except Arien, obviously.

Yeah. Fitz scowls. Hey, did you notice how Susan kept glaring at Mr. Wallace?

I nod. It's pretty weird, isn't it? It's like she hated him for a while.

Like Leila and Fitton.

Exactly. I look at Fitz and see his face flashing with worry. What's wrong?

Fitz looks at me before sighing. Before we found her like... that, I was trying to track her thoughts to see if she was awake or still sleeping.

I raise an eyebrow. And what happened?

I sensed Benen and Donovan's thoughts easily, since they were with me. I then expanded out and tracked Audrey, Laurel, and your thoughts, and I found that you guys were sleeping still because of your dreams.

My eyes widen at that. Does that mean that he heard- saw..?- my dreams? As I think about it, I realize that I was thinking about that training session when Fitz caught me, and I was wondering about what would if we weren't interrupted... Oh God. Did you actual see what our dreams are?

Fitz shakes his head. No, I didn't. I wasn't focusing on that. Seeing me sigh in relief, the male Percipient smirks. Why?

No reason! I transmit too quickly. Fitz chuckles as I blush deeply. Anyways, did you sense her thoughts?

No... I didn't... But I did sense someone else's thoughts.

Whose?

Fitz shrugs, I don't know. But it was a male voice, and he was saying, "God, that took longer than it should have".

When Fitz doesn't continue, I raise an eyebrow. Was that all he said? I ask mentally.

No... Fitz transmits after hesitating for a moment. He... also thought, "Someone's listening to me."

Fear and panic mixes in with the dread in my stomach at that. What happened next?

His thoughts just vanished, Fitz admits, his thoughts sound just as confused as I am. I don't think he died, but I think he found out a way to block his thoughts.

I feel myself paling. That sounds like someone else, other than Mr. Wallace, the Altruistics, and Sovereigns, knows about telepathy and how to track thoughts.

And it also means that, judging by the words I caught, I think I just heard the thoughts of the killer.

I sigh deeply, my mind being overrun with panicked thoughts. And with Fitton there... I shudder involuntarily before I can stop myself.

Fitz then leans forward and places his hands over mine comfortingly like I did earlier. Things aren't looking good for him.

Or us, I find myself transmitting to him. Do you thinking that he's here still?

Most likely, Fitz says. I doubt that a possible murderer would leave without warning others. For good or for evil, we won't know until he actually does it.