KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Alternate Ending: Father (part 1 of 2)

A/N: An alternate ending to my "Father" story arc from earlier in this collection. The first two chapters—and most of the third—are unchanged. This picks up after Sophie and Keefe leave the Healing Center, only this time, Elwin wasn't concealing anything.

"I told you Elwin would be on our side," Keefe told Sophie as they walked to orientation.

"And I didn't doubt you," she pointed out. "I just doubt that it'll make much of a difference."

"Maybe not," Keefe said. "But it won't hurt, either."

"I wonder if it really is worth it," Sophie said contemplatively.

"Do you want to know who your father is?"

"I really think I do."

"Then it's worth it. It'll be different this time too. I'll be here to support you. And last time, you knew it was going to mess things up with you and Fitz, and that made it harder for you to deal with." They were in the cafeteria now and he stopped and pulled her aside. "You know I don't care about any of that," he said softly, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears. "Who knows, maybe Forkle will be more willing to tell you if he knows you don't plan to use the information."

"I doubt it."

Keefe leaned in and kissed her lightly. "Either way, I'm right here, Foster. Every step of the way."

Before she could respond—or grab him and kiss him again—Magnate Leto's face appeared on the large screen and he began morning orientation.

But as they went their separate ways for morning session, Keefe swiftly kissed her cheek. "Don't stress too much about it," he said quietly. "I can't smooth out that worry crease for you when we're in separate sessions."

Sophie smiled at him. "I'll try. And you try not to get detention, I'd like to see you at lunch."

"Yes ma'am," he said with a smirk and mock salute before walking away.

Sophie headed for her Telepathy session. Fitz was already there, and he looked particularly sad. When he realized Sophie had walked in, he quickly rearranged his features into a smile.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"Of course."

She didn't believe him.

"Fitz..."

He sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you but I don't want it to change anything." He took a deep breath. "I saw Keefe kiss you a few minutes ago and it just, you know...it makes me sad. But I don't want to get in the way of your relationship or make you feel like you have to hide how much you care about each other when I'm around. I promise, I'll get over it...in time."

Oops. They'd both forgotten, for just a moment, that they were trying to be more careful at school, in order to avoid this very situation. She hated causing Fitz pain and knew Keefe did too.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," she said quietly.

Before Fitz could respond, Tiergan entered the room.

Thankfully, he wanted them to spend the session going through trust exercises, keeping the air clear, making sure the Inquisition had done its job.

We've had a few Telepathy sessions since we completed our Inquisition, and every time he's just had us talk and clear the air, Fitz pointed out. We must've come really close to losing our Cognate bond.

Sophie shuddered. She knew Cognates were fairly rare, and they'd almost let their teen angst ruin the strongest pair their world had ever seen.

I'm glad we salvaged it. And I'm sorry for any pain I've caused you.