MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

12

"Seriously Soph, he's bound to give it back to you eventually," Dex promised, after yet another day of what her friend's had been starting to call the "Sophie Shell."

"Easy for you to say," Sophie shot back, slumping into her seat and taking a dejected bite out of her slimy slice of pizza. "You still have yours."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Biana biting her lip nervously.

"It's not the pendant I'm worried about so much," Sophie admitted, dropping her voice- even though that was a half-lie. "It's that there's absolutely no way Leto's going to let us into the interrogation room now. I swear- everyone's going to be there. Everyone. And they're all going to..."

"We can try to warn them," Fitz offered, but even that was half hearted.

"No one's going to listen," Sophie snapped back.

"Would the hard drive work? I recorded the whole thing," Biana reminded her, sounding so hopeful that Sophie hated to shoot her down.

Sophie waited until a group of passing spies-in-training went out of earshot to continue. "Dex is a genius- and they know that. Besides, we have spies here that can mimick voices so well, it's inhuman- and they know that too."

She barely noticed Dex's blush- and she was a tiny bit disappointed that she wasn't blushing back.

"Do we at least know when they're planning it?" Dex suggested. "Maybe you can try to get Leto's trust back then, and then-"

"Wait. I'm confused- you literally led a mission to retrieve two of the most wanted items in the spy industry, and he rewards you by taking away your monocle?" Fitz demanded, sliding into the seat next to her. "Isn't that kinda...?"

"Tell that to him," Sophie sighed, raising an eyebrow.

It wasn't until they left the cafeteria that she realized, they'd never answered Dex's question.

____________________

"Cognatism means complete trust," Tiergan instructed impatiently. "When you're on a dangerous assignment- enemy agents running after you, trying to defuse bombs, gathering information, there's no time to make plans. You have to act as one- and know what to do at the right time."

"Jeez, no pressure," Fitz grumbled.

"So that means trust exercises," Tiergan went on, ignoring their instantaneous protests. "I know everyone hates them. But their essential. Cognatism will not function properly if not for complete and total trust. This means secrets. All secrets."

Sophie felt herself blushing. She was well aware of the more-than-little crush she had on Fitz... and all secrets certainly meant that one as well...

"I'll leave you to it!" Tiergan chuckled, his gaze darting to both their awkward reactions. The door closed gently, leaving nothing but an awkward silence and two nervous teenagers.

"Ladies first," Fitz offered, winking.

"Um... fine," Sophie mumbled, trying to stop her heart from fluttering. She expected her mind to center on the pair of teal eyes staring back at her- but instead she thought of a pair of ice blue ones that she couldn't quite remember the person they belonged to...

"Well...er... when I was back living with my parents," Sophie muttered, searching for the least embarrassing statement that could also be classified as a secret. "I...er... they used to call me Soybean."

Fitz laughed. "That's it? Fine.. I guess..."

"Your turn," Sophie teased, glad she'd gotten that over with.

"This one time, right when Biana was chosen to specialize in that creepy little sneaking-up-thing she does, like my mom and Alva- I mean, like my mom," Fitz said quickly. "I... might've thrown some Farte A La Carte stink bombs at her. I had an entire bag full of them, and I climbed through the vent so she couldn't see me."

Sophie stifled a giggle- for all she knew, Biana was hiding in some dark corner waiting to throw some Farte A La Carte back at her older brother.

Sophie was just picturing the scene-

Wait.

Vent.

Crawl.

Metal.

"Fitz," Sophie said suddenly, standing up from the table. "I know how we can get in the interrogation room."

Fitz sent her a quizzical glance. "What?"

Silence.

Trust.

"I have a plan."