KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Flashback 46 (Keefe POV)

"I have some news about your mom," Foster jumped in, changing the subject.

Keefe felt the blood drain from his face. Oh, no. Anything to do with his mom was never good. He squared his shoulders, preparing for bad news.

"Well...I guess 'news' is the wrong word," she hedged. "Maybe 'update' is better? Or...'clarification'?"

She seemed uncomfortable. Which wasn't surprising. She let out a breath before continuing.

"Fintan let Fitz and me each ask one question when he was trying to prove that we could trust him. So I asked him about the shattered memory you recovered--"

"You did?" Keefe interrupted. She could've asked anything, anything, and she thought of him? This was one of those many times when he was really glad Foster wasn't an empath. Or that his thoughts didn't just come at her unbidden like her emotions did to him.

He would not have been able to hide how much she meant to him if she could do that.

"Well, first I tried asking about all your missing memories, but Fintan called me out for being too broad. So I asked about the damaged memory we found. And he confirmed that you weren't supposed to get that one back."

Keefe closed his eyes. "Anything else?"

"A little. He said your mom kept certain projects to herself, so he didn't know very much about them. But he did tell me that your mom sent you to that house in London to try to recruit someone for something--and yes, she was trying to recruit a human. Fintan said it didn't work out. And...that's all he told me. I know that's not much to go on, but..."

"Hey, it's more than I had," he said quietly. It was what he suspected, but also very unsettling. What on earth would she have needed a human for? And what would she have done to them for refusing her?

He was starting to feel unsteady on his feet, so he stumbled over to the staircase and sank onto the bottom step.

Sophie sat beside him, reaching for his hand. "Are you okay?"

He stared at their twined fingers. He loved holding her hand. And right now, that point of contact seemed to be what was keeping him from spiraling. "Yeah."

It was quiet for a minute, then Sophie finally said, "I'm sorry it's not more."

He could tell she was worried about him, and could feel her apprehension that he would be frustrated at the lack of information she'd procured.

"Uh, you so don't need to apologize. I mean...you had one question you could ask Fintan, and you used it to ask about my memory. That's..."

He looked away, blinking hard.

He'd cried in front of her before, but he hadn't cried because of her in front of her before.

Because while part of this was frustration over his mom--and fear for the unknown human who had crossed her--if he was being honest with himself, it was also in large part because Foster's thoughtfulness was overwhelming.

This girl...

She was everything.

But she couldn't know that he was thinking that. So he hoped she wouldn't comment on his battle for emotional control, because if she asked him about it--if she tried to comfort him--his resolve would crumble and he'd wind up pouring his heart out to her.

And that would mess everything up.

He was still holding out hope that things would change between them.