KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Kidnapped: part 3 (Keefe POV)

"A trade?" Linh asked, speaking up for the first time. "Keefe..."

Keefe looked imploringly at Fitz, hoping this time that Fitz had been listening to his thoughts.

I wasn't snooping, Fitz said. But I can now.

There was silence for just a few seconds, then Fitz said aloud, "Actually, that's not a bad idea." He turned to look at the room at large. "Keefe thinks he should hail her and beg to meet. Ask for more information about what she wants him to do, see if he can get Sophie back without having to become Gisela's puppet. Ask to see with his own eyes that Sophie hasn't been hurt, but insist he's not coming alone. Basically, tell her the truth--we want to come, together, to get Sophie back. The difference is that we will be fighting to kill this time."

"You don't think she'll be expecting us to fight dirty? It's not like it's a secret, how much Sophie means to everyone. To all of the Lost Cities, even." Dex still sounded shaken--but then, Sophie was his best friend, so he was dealing with trauma on many levels.

They all were.

"Probably," Keefe agreed. "But she'll also expect to have the upper hand in any fight we have. I don't care how much she knows or suspects of our plan--if we can just get to where she is, we can finish this."

"He has a point," Tam agreed.

So they went round and round, trying to decide what to do, who to send, how to word the conversation with Gisela.

And Keefe understood why this part always made Sophie angry.

Every minute counted, and they were just arguing.

Keefe couldn't stand it.

And taking one look at Grady and Edaline told him they couldn't either.

They'd already lost Jolie.

Keefe couldn't let them lose Sophie too. And everyone was just going in circles, arguing, wasting precious time.

They all loved Sophie, so they all wanted to be involved. But they were losing time.

He had to get her back.

So Keefe grabbed the large glass statue he'd noticed sitting on a shelf in Havenfield's expansive living room. And after one quick glance at Grady, who seemed to give him a look that said 'go ahead', Keefe threw it hard against the wall--far enough away that the shards of glass wouldn't hit anyone, but definitely close enough to cause a crashing, breaking sound loud enough to shock everyone into being quiet.

With all eyes on him--or on the floor behind him, which was now holding countless tiny shards of broken glass--Keefe took a deep breath.

"Enough." He let that one word sink in a moment before continuing. "Here's what we're going to do."

Edaline would be waiting at the Healing Center with Elwin, and they would be hailing Livvy to come as well, because they didn't know how many injuries might be sustained during this particular battle.

Grady, Keefe, Fitz, Dex, Biana, Marella, Maruca, Tam and Linh would all be going to try to fight Gisela and get Sophie and Sandor back.

Grizel, Woltzer, Lovise and Bo would be going, but would hang back, watch the perimeter, warn them if others were coming.

Rayni wasn't ready to face Gisela again yet, and Linh didn't trust Rayni enough to work alongside her yet anyway.

Wylie wanted to join the fight, but agreed to go to assist Livvy so she wouldn't have to waste her time with candles. Having a Flasher could help enable her to speed up the healing process.

Tiergan and Mr. Forkle both seemed frayed at the edges--of all the Collective, they were closest to Sophie--but agreed to stay behind at Havenfield with the rest of the Collective to watch over the estate and make sure there were no attack attempts on either property or animals while Grady and Edaline were both gone.

So Keefe pulled out his Imparter and hoped against hope that his mom would respond.

She did.

"About time," her voice rang out within seconds of his hailing her. "I expected to hear from you much faster. It's been an entire day already. I thought you cared about Sophie."

Bile rose up in Keefe's throat, but he swallowed it down and said in a hollow voice, "of course I care. Forgive me for panicking and needing help pulling myself together before I could reach out." He took a shaky breath. "Show me Sophie. Show me you haven't hurt her."

The screen stayed blank. "I disabled that aspect of this Imparter ages ago," Gisela said impassively. "But I haven't hurt her. I've merely subdued her. But it'll get much worse if you continue to refuse to comply."

Keefe winced. This was not easy. "Don't hurt her."

"Does that mean you're ready to join me?"

Keefe shook his head, knowing she could see him even if he couldn't see her. "No. I don't want to do anything without knowing more of what you want from me. And we both know Sophie wouldn't want me to. I want to meet up and see for myself that she's okay and get more information from you before I agree to anything."

"Son, that has 'trap' written all over it. I won't fall for it."

"It's not a trap. I'll be completely up front with you: I will bring several friends with me. I don't trust you or your creepy troll army and it'll take a lot to convince me. And sure, if fighting is the only way to get Sophie back, we'll do it. But I hope it doesn't come to that. But my friends come with me. They're part of this. You didn't just take my..." he paused. "You didn't just take Sophie from me, you took her from all of us. You took the moonlark. Everyone wants her back."

There was silence for a moment.

"I can't pretend I didn't expect this. You and your friends always insist that working together is the best option. Just remember: I've been planning this since long before you were born and nothing you or your friends do can thwart me."

The call ended, but was immediately followed with a quick message sending her coordinates.

They had no idea where they were going, but it didn't matter.

They were going.

So hand in hand, they leapt to the location Gisela had disclosed.

Keefe wasn't sure where they were, but assumed it was somewhere in the Forbidden Cities.

Somewhere nondescript, a small town somewhere, nothing much but a country road and this small building in front of them.

They went inside, wary but hopeful.

The scene before them was a bleak one. Sandor lay on the floor, bound and gagged and unconscious.

Sophie sat, bound to a chair, fully conscious.

But with a somewhat familiar-looking circlet around her head.

Keefe was sure, immediately--with a deep ache in his heart--that it was an ability restrictor.

Rendering her nearly powerless.

This was why she'd been unable to transmit to them.

And why she hadn't been able to inflict on Gisela in order to escape.

And why she couldn't inflict now, to keep Gisela from standing bedside her, a crude knife—a shamkniv, Keefe was sure of it—held to her throat.