Look at me! Three updates in one day! Don't get used to it, peeps. (lol)

Reviews:

KOTLC 1 Fan: Aww, thanks! You're one of mine, too! The list is growing, and as someone who spent so many years alone, I'm so blessed to have you all! Heart you back!

TEAM SOPHIE: *Bows dramatically* *Falls over, because I have no sense of balance* *Cracks up laughing over how awkward I am*

Wow it seems like forever since I updated this one.

Chapter 36:

It took Sophie, Elwin, and Tam all working together to get Biana stable. She was still in some kind of coma, but it was the best they could hope for, for now.

"I'm hoping some nice induced sleep will help," Elwin said fretfully, "But at this point I'm just guessing."

"I couldn't pull all the shadowvapor away," said Tam. "It was… intense. I don't know how she's attracting so much, but, well, the last time I pulled it all away, you saw how that went."

"Her consciousness is weaker than ever," Sophie agreed. "If the shadowvapor is keeping her together for now, at least something is." She gagged slightly as the sent of sedatives drifted in a fresh wave to her nose. "I think I need to go home. Grady will be really mad that I've stayed this long."

"I'll stay with her," said Fitz from the door. He looked horrible, and Sophie didn't want to leave him alone, but she decided not to argue.

"Tam, do you and Linh want to come over?" she asked. "I may be confined to my room, but we do have some business to take care of." She gestured to his head.

A frown creased Tam's face. "I guess it's necessary," he said darkly. "But I don't like it.

Grady was indeed very mad. He was also not pleased to see Tam and Linh, but Sophie explained that it was important.

"You can ground me for real when the war is over," she said. "But we need to get ahead of the Neverseen if we want to win it.

"No offence, Sophie," Tam said as they mounted the stairs, "But I've never seen you be so…"

"Defiant? Rude?" Sophie half turned to look at him behind her on the stairs, tripping as a result.

"Bold." Tam twitched his eyebrows and reached up a hand to steady her.

Sophie blushed and concentrated on getting up the stairs gracefully. "I just want to do whatever it takes to finish this," she said when they'd reached the top. "Looking at what the Neverseen planted in your minds will give us a clue to their next move. Plus, I don't want you to go through what I did, or Keefe did with the hidden memories."

She opened her door and ushered them in before her. Linh smiled.

"Your room is beautiful, Sophie," she exclaimed.

"Thanks." Sophie pulled her memory log from her desk and plopped down on the carpet, motioning for the twins to follow.

"This shouldn't hurt," she explained. "I will be trying to uncover some things that were repressed or even erased, though, so I'll have to dig some. Once they're out, the memories should stay with you, so I only have the log in case there's something really important we need to show the Collective."

Tam took a breath, then scootched forward. "I'll go first," he said. Linh squeezed his hand.

Sophie placed her fingers on Tam's temples and closed her eyes.

Tam's mind was a landscape of shadows. Sophie tried not to invade his privacy more than necessary, but she saw little clips of memories from throughout his life. All of them were tinged with sadness or anger. She waded for a while, but soon realized it wasn't getting her anywhere. There had to be a trigger, but what?

Tam can you think of something? She transmitted.

I don't know. Tam pushed his mind, in search of an answer.

They didn't get far. It seemed like an unsolvable puzzle, until Sophie had an idea.

Lodestar, she thought. Tam's subconscious stirred. Sophie transmitted an image of the mirror, then overlaid an image of Tam on it, as if he was standing in front of it, being himself in it.

Tam gasped as memories flooded into his conscious mind. Things his father had said, clues he'd left, secret trips that had been washed from Tam's mind, playing back in fuzzy, broken snippets. It wasn't as clear as Keefe's washed memories, but then Tam didn't have a photographic memory.

This could be an important base, Sophie studied one of the places Tam had been on a washed trip. I'm going to put it in the log.

Sophie broke away from Tam and grabbed her memory log.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were alright," Linh remarked. "You were sitting so still for such a long time."

"Sorry," Sophie said, checking her handiwork. "Do you know this place? I couldn't tell if you were there in the memory."

Linh looked over and frowned. "I don't think so," she said. "But, it was hidden, right?"

"Yes. We'll find out soon enough. You ready?"

Linh gulped, but nodded. Sophie reached for her temples.

Lina's mind was like a sunken city, soft and watery, fascinating and filled with the hope of buried treasure. Now that Sophie knew what she was doing, she unlocked the hidden memories without trouble. Most were similar to Tam's, but there was one frightening addition.

'Now listen, Linh, I'm going to take you to Atlantis,' her father was saying.

'No, please!" Linh, three years younger than when she'd met Sophie, looked up at her father in fear. 'I'm going to have an accident again.'

'What do you mean again?' Quan's tone was dangerous.

'You know,' Linh said. 'Like the other cities I've flooded. The other places you took me.'

'We've discussed this, Linh.' The man was trying hard to control his temper. 'That never happened. You haven't flooded any cities.'

'Yes I have!' cried Linh, distressed and confused. Why was her father denying what he'd forced her to do?

Quan sighed. 'Linh, dear,' he began, 'just this once more, than it'll be all over, I promise. Come with me to Atlantis. It's important. Your mother can come, too, this time.

'What about Tam?' The hope in Linh's voice was enough to make any living being have mercy, but Quan shook his head.

'You know Tam can't be there. This is our own little secret, you and me.'

'But I hate keeping secrets from him.' Poor Linh was utterly miserable.

'One more time, then you'll forget all about it.' Quan ran his hand along Linh's hair, with what seemed like genuine affection.

'Promise?'

'I promise.'

Sophie pulled back with a start, staring at Linh in shock. Linh sat on the carpet, going paler by the second.

"What happened?" Tam demanded, sounding frighteningly like his father.

Linh curled her knees to her chest and started to shiver. Sophie opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to form words. Tam grabbed their arms and shook them, brow furrowed with worry. "You're scaring me," he shouted.

Sophie met Linh's eyes. Linh nodded, and Sophie transmitted the memory to Tam.

The room was suddenly full of dark shadows, collecting around Tam. "I'll kill him," he growled.

"No you won't." It was Sophie's turn to grab Tam's arm. "You don't need that guilt."

"I think I'd survive it," Tam snorted, but he seemed to calm down. He reached out to hug Linh, and she buried her face in his shoulder. Sophie felt herself missing Fitz's strong, comforting presence in her mind, but this wasn't her secret to share, and he didn't need another problem to deal with right now.

"I think we'd better go," Tam said in a raw voice after a few minutes. "We've got a lot to think about."

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Sophie asked worriedly.

"Yeah." Tam stood and helped Linh up.

"Let me know if you remember anything else," Sophie said.

"Yeah. And Sophie?" Tam looked straight into her eyes. "Thank you. This wasn't easy, but, we needed to do it." He pursed his lips.

Sophie nodded. She didn't know how to put into words how much she understood, but Tam saw it in her eyes. He twitched his head in an almost nod, then led Linh gently outside.

Sophie was left alone, wondering where and when it would all end.