I don't know whether to pull my hair out or scream as I find myself once again in the god-awful prison Jacob's in. Now my fourth visit for the same prisoner, I can almost visualize the path to his cell with my eyes closed- a skill I would rather live without. Now's not the time for my nerves, I remind myself as I swallow grimly, clenching my fists to stop them from trembling. There's much worse things that are about to happen than this visit.

I glance over at Fitz, who's noticeably paler now that we're reaching our destination. He never exactly explained to me why we had to come here; all he could manage to say was, "We have to go see Jacob right now," before Mr. Wallace ushered the six of us back into the car while Caroline and Steve raced off in the opposite direction.

"Are you okay?" I whisper as I near the male Percipient, "what's going on?"

That's enough to startle him back into reality. Exhaling deeply, he says, "There's a lot, and I don't know how much time I have to explain." Fitz glances forward and I follow his gaze, realizing that we're quite close to Jacob's cell. A hand tears through his hair, and I can tell that too many thoughts are going through his head for him to process.

Before my nerves can get the better of me, I call out to Mr. Wallace, "I- I don't think I'm ready to see Jacob yet." The older man turns around as the Sovereigns and Altruistics look at me sympathetically. "Can I take a few minutes before I go in? Please?"

"Sophie, we don't have much time," Mr. Wallace responds, not entirely convinced by my request.

Fitz snaps out of his trance and takes the opportunity, "I can calm her down a bit, and then we can come in. Can we have five minutes?" You're an actual life saver, the male Percipient transmits to me, and I actively have to stop myself from smiling.

Fortunately for us though, that's enough to convince the man, and I watch as everyone enters the cell while Fitz and I stand outside in the hallway. I wait until the door closes with a click before I turn to Fitz, "Okay we don't have much time, but clearly something's happening that I need to know about." My eyes widen suddenly as I transmit to him, Is this about the contact lens? What's wrong with it?

I had to give the vial over to Steven instead of returning it like I wanted, Fitz explains, occasionally looking over at the door to make sure we're not interrupted. He couldn't explain it to me fast enough either, but whatever tests they need to run need to happen now or the actual trial's going to be jeopardized.

...what do you mean?

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. I mean that depending on what they find, Jacob's trial may not happen anymore.

I almost miss the last part, the rushing of blood echoing through my ears overwhelms all surrounding noise into a faint ring.

What does he mean, the trial may not happen? It has to happen, it has to- I stumble forward slightly as all the blood drains from my face, and I can focus on is the, is the, uh- was the hallway always like this? I don't remember it having so many twists and turns, or spinning around and around like this. Which way did I come from? Where was I facing? What am I even looking at now?

I open my mouth to breathe in some air to calm down to say something, but I can't seem to get anything out. I pound my chest a few times, willing my airway to miraculously open up. When did my chest start to feel so tight? Is there something in the air? I grab at my neck since surely there must be something that's too tight around me but there's nothing? No, no that can't be right, maybe I just don't have a good grip on it.

Another rush of blood through my ears deafens all my other thoughts as I slap my hands over my ears, using every ounce of my willpower to not claw out my own ears at this very moment. Everything's just so loud and you're trying to speak and I just can't I'm really trying, okay I really need some air. I smack my chest a few more times, the sheer pain from my fists momentarily clearing up my vision enough to see Fitz come back into view. I look up at the male Percipient, squinting my eyes as he tries to speak to me, but his lips are moving too fast for me to understand- what are you trying to say? I, I can't really- okay, hold on let me just lean on this wall for a second GOD why is it so hard to just BREATHE-

"Hey, hey... you're alright, I'm here with you" Fitz whispers, my eyes darting at the sound of another voice instead of my own thoughts for a change. "Why don't we sit down together for a sec?" I begin to shake my head, but the Percipient is already guiding me along the wall towards the floor, the chilled concrete taking some of that unbearable stuffiness away. "Talk if you can, but shake your head no if you can't."

I force my lungs to take in as much air as I can, quickly blinking away the black spots creeping up the corners of my vision. "I- I can talk" I whisper before closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the wall again. All the blood that previously left my face rushes back, my face now burning in embarrassment, "It's all just...a lot, sorry." We should be inside talking to Jacob, yet here I am freaking out cause of god-knows-what at this point.

Fitz puts a hand on my knee, "Hey hey, there's nothing to apologize for, this is a lot to handle. You've had to go through so much because of this man already, you shouldn't have to be going through more." He pauses for a moment, looking up at me, "Are you sure you're up to talk about this right now?"

I nod, not trusting my voice. The world never stopped for worse things in life, it won't just stop for something like this. I take a few more seconds to breathe in the silence before finally opening my eyes and facing Fitz again. "Okay... walk me through it again. What's happening?"

"Honestly, I wish I could tell you but I have no clue," the Percipient admits dejectedly. "But whatever it is, I think it has to do with something I said." When I frown in confusion, he elaborates, "I couldn't help but notice that the shade of grey looked kind of artificial, cause it definitely didn't look like a natural eye colour, you know?"

Thinking back on the vial when I looked at it, I couldn't help but agree. "And that's all it took for Steven to kind of... freak out? That literally makes no sense."

Fitz chuckles under his breath, scooting over to sit next to me. "Your guess is as good as mine, but he specifically asked for us to stall for time, but I just don't know whether the stalling part was about Jacob or Mr. Wallace, though."

"I just..." I drift off, looking up at the ceiling as I figure out how to exactly word my thoughts. "Jacob's an absolute lunatic for the things he's done to so many people, and part of what made him so terrifying was the idea of him still roaming around. At least if the jury found him guilty, then he would be locked away and I can finally breathe." Closing my eyes again, I lay my head against the concrete, letting the cold ground me a bit. "I guess, I guess I just got comfortable with being able to breathe?"

Fitz takes in a shaky breath, grabbing my hand drawing circles with his thumb as he gathers his thoughts. "I wish I could tell you things other than that none of this should have happened," he begins slowly, tightening his grip slightly. "I may not ever know exactly what it's like having to go through something like that and then having to see the person who did that to you over and over again." He leans back against the wall himself, struggling with his loss for words.

"We can't change what happened," I sigh, placing my other hand over the male Percipient's. "I think regardless of whether Jacob's in prison or roaming free, I'll never be like I was able to before- I don't think any of us will. But this suffocating feeling won't last forever, we'll get some fresh air again at some point...it'll just take some time, won't it?"

"At least we've got some experience in waiting already."