Fitz and I only break away from our silent embrace when paramedics actually come into the conference room with a stretcher. I can't watch when they actually put the corpse onto the stretcher and take her out, so I look away, tilting Fitz's head slightly so he wouldn't be looking either. Neither of us look up until Mr. Wallace clears his throat. The Sovereigns, Altruistics, Fitz, and I stare at him halfheartedly as he says, "Perhaps you lot should go to sleep. You may be drained after... that."

We all nod somberly before trudging towards the elevator. After we all enter the elevator, Laurel forces a slight smile of her face before saying, "I think we should spend some time with our partners. They just may be the ones who'll comfort us the most." She then turns to hug Benen again.

Donovan and Audrey nod at each other silently, and I see a soft smile stretch across Audrey's face.

Looking at Fitz, I stare at his enchanting teal eyes before I lean my head on his shoulder. I can't help but smile gently when Fitz lays his head on top of mine. And before long, Fitz and I are the only ones in elevator, heading up to Level 8.

Once the elevators open for our floor, we separate slightly so both of us can exit the elevator. We then enter our separate rooms absentmindedly, almost as if we were brainwashed a few minutes ago.

If only we were.

I trudge to my bathroom and splash lukewarm water onto my face. Even after I've turned the faucet off, I let the now cold droplets fall of my face slowly.

I just saw a corpse.

And I saw her when she was alive as well. The same person who's now dead. 

Without a pulse of any kind.

I shudder and splash some more lukewarm water onto my face before turning it off. I quickly dry my face and walk away from the sink. Sighing, I walk over and open the connecting door to see Fitz exit his bathroom with a towel to his face. When he smiles at me weakly, I near him and raise an eyebrow sympathetically. "Are you alright?" I ask.

Fitz opens his mouth to say something, but closes it. Instead, he shrugs and hangs his towel in his bathroom again.

He comes out again, and I can't help but frown at how much color there is to his cheeks. Remembering how pale he was, I lean closer and place my hand over his forehead. When I feel an unnatural heat, my face shows concern. "Do you suddenly have a fever or something?" I ask, placing my hand on his forehead again to make sure. Sure enough, it was warmer than it should be, in my opinion.

Fitz gently grabs my hand, causing my own face to warm considerably. Shaking his head, Fitz says, "I just splashed my face with some warm water." He smiles weakly at my concern, making my heart beat faster. I press my lips together as I grow more self-conscious about my burning face. Suddenly, Fitz touches my forehead. "Did you do the same or..?"

I shake my head. "No..." I say, deliberately avoiding his gaze. I then decide to look at my feet so I won't have to answer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Fitz smirk. When I look up again, he asks, "What do you want to do now?" He looks at his bedside clock. "It's almost one- are you hungry?"

I shake my head. "Are you?"

"Not really."

I nod. "Do you think you can handle looking through Fitton's marriage certificate and 'death' certificate'?" I ask softly.

Fitz chuckles gently at my use of the quotations. "Is it alright if we do that later?"

"Of course," I say as he goes and sits down on his bed. Sighing inwardly, I go and seat myself adjacent to him. Looking over to him, I ask, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine," he says vaguely. I frown slightly when he shudders mid-answer, making it harder to believe his actual reply. Seeing my reaction, he just runs a hand through his hair. "I- I don't think that I want to look at Arien's folder for a few days," he says suddenly, catching me off guard.

I raise an eyebrow in concern. "Why?" I ask curiously.

Fitz shakes his head. Letting his body fall back onto his bed, he says in barely a whisper, "She looked like Arien when she died. Almost like she was killed the exact same way."

I gasp at the realization. Her gruesome corpse flashes through my head again, and I can't help but agree with him. Now that I see it, Arien's body temporarily replaces Susan's body. Both carcasses overwhelm my mind, and I feel like I can hear their screams of agony through my mind.

Did they scream? I don't know. Were they caught off guard? Maybe.

It's not like I can ask them, since they're dead.

I snap out of my daze when I see Fitz down onto his knees, shaking me by my shoulders. Once I blink at him, the male Percipient sighs in relief. "You have no idea how much you scared me," he breathes, making my eyes widen. "You suddenly started to scream, Sophie. You screamed for it to stop, for Jacob to stop, for Fitton to stop..." Fitz lets out a deep breath, but doesn't take his hands away from my shoulders. "I was startled when you started to scream randomly, clutching your head..." His voice trails off for a bit. "And then Jacob's name was coming from you, and Fitton's... That's when I began to worry the most."

I nod. "Sorry, I don't know what happened," I say truthfully. Before I know it, I'm wrapping my arms around his neck, taking in the scent of spearmint. "I was just thinking... I'll try to not freak you out like that."

Fitz sighs, hugging me tenderly around the waist. "Good," is all he says before we sit in our embrace silently. Somehow, this feels better than actually talking. And judging by how he hasn't pulled away yet, Fitz might feel the same too.

After what I assume has been at least five minutes, Fitz and I separate from the embrace. Suddenly, Fitz's teal eyes widen. He stands up so abruptly that I stand up as well, not knowing his reasoning for doing so in the first place. I watch with a concerned gaze as he begins to pace back and forth. I can hear him muttering under his breath, but it's so faint that I can't decipher it. Finally, I can't stand the lack of answers and ask, "What is it, Fitz?"

Fitz stops and turns around on his heel to face me. "You know how I said that both Arien and Susan looked... the same?" He rubs the back of his neck nervously as I wrap my head around his question before answering.

After a few seconds that must've felt like minutes, I nod, too confused to give a verbal answer.

"You also know how we first suspected Fitton?" Fitz presses. Walking closer to me, he adds, "And how we ruled him out because we thought he was dead, but now knowing that he's alive, we suspect him again?"

I nod again. "Yeah..." I let my confusion seep into my actual answer, indicating that I need a better explanation than more question.

Fitz raises an eyebrow at me. "So if Arien died from Fitton- just a possibility- and since Susan looks the same..." His voice trails off, leaving me with an unfinished explanation.

But this time, I understand it clearly.

My eyes widen as well. "No..." I say, looking at him. "But- but..."

Fitz sighs. "But what? Either way, there's now someone who most likely murdered those two innocent women."

"We don't know them enough to call them innocent," I point out before thinking.

"Sure, but no one deserves to die from what's most likely poison."

I breathe out a loud puff of air. Turning to Fitz, I ask, "You do realize that what you just said fits so many puzzle pieces together to not be true, right?"

He nods solemnly.

"And because of that, that killer most likely is in this building right now?"

Fitz pales, but nods nonetheless.

I sigh in agitation. "It seems like whoever's involved in this case is just on this murderer's hit list," I spit out in exasperation. "Oh God, what are we going to do?"

Suddenly, Fitz grabs my hand. I find myself running down the hallway towards the elevator with the male Percipient. Once in the elevator, I don't bother to tell to point out that we're still holding hands, but I'm pretty sure my face is very red now. "Where are we going?" I ask as the elevator opens again to show the ground floor.

I squeak slightly as we both run down a random hallway. "To the laboratory," Fitz says. "I remembered the directions to get here the last time I came, so we're going there."

I frown slightly. "Do you think they're still there?"

Fitz shrugs, but it's kind of hard to when we're running hand in hand. "I don't think they would've left without embarrassing us one last time," he says jokingly. I can't help but laugh as I see the corner of his mouth turn upwards in a smirk.

I can't help but agree that one- they'd surely be able to help.

And two- that Fitz Vacker is an absolute genius.