MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

31

"Finally. You're awake Foster."

"Um... Keith. That's not awake."

"Trust me. She's going to open her eyes in three... two... one."

Sophie's eyes snapped open with a gasp as she sat up, wincing from the head rush that followed. The figures around her were nothing but blurry blobs, and her head felt like it was being blended.

"Hello? Earth to Foster?" a vaguely familiar voice asked. "Can you see me?"

"No," Sophie admitted, her voice cracking. She rubbed her eyes until her vision cleared. "Scratch that. Yes."

She was laying on the cement in a back alley- definitely not the most comfortable place. Her head was in somebody's arms... was that Keefe? Blonde hair, ice blue eyes, trademark smirk... yup. That was Keefe. On one side of her was a strawberry-blonde haired boy with dimples... her head was too foggy to remember, but it was something like... Desk? No. Deck? Dex. And on the other side... a girl with chocolate brown hair and startling teal eyes... that was Biana... and next to her...

"Fitz," Sophie whispered.

Fitz opened his mouth to speak, but Keefe cut him off. "Hey! Why's he the first person you think of? I'm the one that saved your life!"

"Saved my... life?" Sophie winced again as another head rush passed- but this time it came with a whirlwind of terrifyingly familiar memories.

"Your parachute didn't deploy correctly," Biana explained, her voice shaking.

"You basically almost became a splatter on the sidewalk that got run over by a truck," Keefe agreed, shuddering. "Except luckily, me and Wraith were nearby, scouting the area for... something. That I promise I'll tell you later. Anyways, I noticed the truck was labeled for some mattress company- and I sincerely hoped that they were carrying mattresses. So I rigged the thing, and sure enough one fell out. It braced your fall enough that you're alive but... how you feeling?"

He said this all much too quickly for Sophie's mind, which was still processing things at half the normal speed.

"Actually... surprisingly fine," Sophie admitted. She couldn't bring herself to meet Keefe's eyes. "For what it's worth... thank you."

Keefe cleared his throat. "Anytime."

There was a pause before Fitz added, "By the way Keith, how did you pull that off? You started here, what, a week ago? A few days? Normal new recruits don't get missions on their first week- or know how to rig moving trucks without getting run over, spotted, and manage to save someone's life. Not that I'm complaining, of course."

He flashed Sophie his trademark grin, but she was too exhausted to reply.

"I have my secrets," Keefe promised, trying his best to be dismissive. Sophie was the only person there that knew he was a double agent for the Neverseen... and she was still puzzled as to why she was covering up for him...

"Where's Wraith?" Sophie asked, changing the subject. Keefe gave her an appreciative glance, but she refused to look at him.

"Went to handle things with the police- and the truck driver." Keefe grimaced. "And-"

"Wait," Dex interrupted. "What's that?"

He pointed to a circular object at the end of the alley. It was... beeping?

"Don't touch it," Biana warned, squinting. "Is it a bomb? Only bombs make that noise."

Fitz snorted. "Last time you thought something was a bomb, Biana, it ended up being some kiddy toy. Remember you hailed the Collective, and it turned out to be some talking teddy bear?"

Biana sent him a surprisingly intimidating glare.

"No... I think Biana's right," Sophie said, wincing as she stood up and walked closer. "What about you Keef- Keith? Do you-"

She turned around and gasped. Keefe was holding a Medler. Fitz, Biana, and Dex had their hands raised in obvious surrender. Three agents in cloaks imprinted with a white eye had suddenly appeared at the end of the street, all holding up Medlers pointed at her friends.

And Keefe's weapon was aimed at her head.