Sokeefe Oneshots

Foster

AU, some time after Lodestar.

"Foster!" Keefe called into the forest. During their battle with the Neverseen, he and his friends had been split up. He remembered a Neverseen member had taken Sophie away from the group, and now, he was searching for her.

"Sophie!" he tried again, using her first name this time. He had been looking for at least half an hour. His body was tired from the running and fighting he had done, but he couldn't give up. It was getting colder and darker each minute.

He heard a female groan, and his jog picked up into a sprint.

"Sophie!"

"Keefe."

It may have seemed like it was just his name, but to him, it was a big relief. He found Sophie leaning against a tree, pressing a gloved hand to her side. The fabric was almost soaked with blood.

"Where . . . are the . . . others?" Her breathing came out in gasps. Keefe crouched beside her, staring at her bleeding wound.

"We got split up. What did they do to you?" He tried to keep his voice calm, for her sake, but his voice instead shook with anger.

"They . . . stabbed my side. It's not. . . . that deep though." The wound told another story. Keefe gently eased her hand away from the spot she had it pressed down at, and stared at what the Neverseen had done to her. He then tugged at his cloak, ripping the thick fabric almost miraculously. He balled the fabric up, then tried to compress the area. Sophie groaned in pain again.

"I'm sorry, but we have to try to stop the bleeding." She nodded, her head lolling to the side, hovering over her shoulder. His idea was working, and soon her breathing slowed down to a steady pace.

"Do you know who did this, Foster?"

She hesitated, then choked out, "A-Alvar."

Keefe felt rage boil inside his body, starting deep inside his stomach. But he had to push it aside. For Sophie.

"Do you want to try and stand?"

Sophie nodded, and Keefe, as gently as he could, wrapped his arms around her waist carefully, pulling her up to stand with him.

"We should probably take these off," Keefe said, pointing to her gloves."

"There goes another pair," she mumbled, fumbling to get the soaked gloves off her fingers. She let them fall to the ground with a soft thump, then looked Keefe.

"We should probably s-start walking." Keefe nodded, then noticed that she was shivering. The sun was setting, and the air was noticeably colder. Without hesitating, he unclasped his cloak and pinned it around her shoulders.

"B-but, Keefe-" she tried to argue.

"I'm fine. Believe, Foster, I'm fine." He set an arm around her shoulders as they started to walk in the direction Keefe had came from.

"You called me Sophie earlier," she mumbled.

He didn't reply, just held her a little closer to him.

They walked for an hour. He updated her about what had happened when she was taken away from their group, and she tried to tell him what had happened to her fully, but couldn't bring herself to it. He told her she didn't have to tell him now.

Finally, after three long hours of slow walking, they came upon the clearing where the rest of their friends were waiting. Fitz, who had been nervously pacing, seen them first and said, "Guys, they're back!" Soon, their friends stood around them, greeting the two.

"Where's Dex?"

"He went looking for you," Biana said. She let go of the lock of hair she had been curling tightly around her finger. Keefe noticed Tam reaching for her hand, and how she took it gladly, squeezing it. 

"I'll see if I can transmit to him," Fitz said, and stepped away from their group to concentrate.

"I can do it," Sophie said, and they all replied with "No!" quickly, Keefe being the loudest. "Gigantor isn't here right now, so I'm your bodyguard for now. And I say you need to give yourself a break. Deal with it, Foster." He said the last part with a small smile, trying to cheer her up. It worked, and she smiled back.

"He's heading back now," Fitz said, joining them again.

"Sophie," Linh said, "what happened to your side?"

Sophie and Keefe's smiles faded. In all the excitement of being reunited with everyone, the two almost forgot about Sophie's wound. And apparently, no one had noticed until now.

Keefe shared a glance with her, and she nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Alvar stabbed her," Keefe stated. Everyone but Sophie, who winced, gasped. Biana and Tam's hands clasped together even tighter, and Fitz's fists tightened.

"That little-" Fitz started, just as Dex came into the clearing, saying "Guys?"

"Dex?" Sophie said.

Dex came over to them quickly, looking like he wanted to throw his arms around his friend, but resisting it. "I heard what happened. I can't believe he did that. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said.

"I know."

"Do you think your feeling well enough to light leap?" Tam asked Sophie.

"I think so, but that decision is up to my bodyguard." She glanced over at Keefe.

"Well, you look a lot better. And your emotions are better, too." And very strong, he wanted to add. "I think if you're ready, we can leap back, Sophie."

"I am," she said out loud. Suddenly, Keefe heard her in his head, loudly. 

You called me Sophie.

Yeah, so?

Well, you always call me Foster.

So? That's special. Because I call you that.

Fitz pulled out his home crystal, glanced at Sophie's wound again, then joined hands with the others. When Keefe held Sophie's hand, he felt a jolt of emotions surge into his body. Her Enhancer ability, he realized. He felt pain, so much pain, but he also felt relief, and, as they leaped to Everglen, he sensed another emotion, one that both he and Sophie were feeling.

Love.

*

Aww, I'm loving how this turned out!

Also, thank you for all the votes and sweet comments, everyone! They absolutely make my day!

Enjoy, ~Kirs.