Sophie POV

Luc threw his arm around Sophie's shoulder and pulled her close as they walked in the woods. After a month they had grown quite close and the woods had become their special place. Well, more like the woods was the path to their special place. Their place was the reservoir. They would walk there together and sit with their legs dangling over the edge; they would talk and laugh or just hang out together away from the bustle of society. It was where he taught her how to fish. Where they ate her failed attempt at cookies. She spit hers out right away but Luc finished his saying they could tweak her recipe later. Turns out she wasn't much of a chef. She felt at home there.

Sophie felt Luc turn his head so his lips brushed against her ear, she blushed but all he said was, "Race ya." And he took off to the reservoir.

"No fair! You got a head start!" She laughed and chased after him. When she caught up to him he reached out and grabbed her before she ran off the edge.

"Whoa there, might want to slow down just a bit." But they were both laughing.

"So not fair, your legs are freakishly long and you got a head start. I demand a rematch."

"You're on. On our way back we will race till our hearts' content. Cool?"

"I suppose it will have to suffice." She said dramatically but she couldn't keep a straight face.

"Come here you." He smirked and she started to run away but he threw her over his shoulder, "We can't have my best friend falling down a reservoir now can we? And you are way too clumsy to be trusted to walk on your own." She was laughing but then she flashed to herself with a boy, his eyes periwinkle blue and the most adorable dimples ever. "You're my best friend Dex." She shook her head. She had no idea how to explain what she had seen. As soon as she thought that she forgot what she had been thinking about.

But she had no way to explain why two boys around her age had just appeared a few yards away. Nor could she explain why one came storming up to them and punched Luc in the face while the taller one grabbed her away from Luc.

…..

Fitz POV

Three weeks. That's how long it had taken them to get a lead on where Sophie was. At this point they all agreed she wasn't dead. What had proven it to him was when they searched for her in a spy ball and it said restricted. Not unfound. It meant the council was hiding something about her and they finally had a way to find out. But knowing she could be alive was not enough to actually find her. They needed information for that. Information that Alden had. And they intended to get it.

Two weeks ago Bianna hide an untraceable recording device Dex had built to get information in Alden's office. They had almost given up when she heard he was leaving on a trip the Forbidden Cities. A couple of hours from then.

They were getting ready to follow him. Dex had hacked Alden's pendant so they would know where he was going. He had gotten the idea from when Sophie had gotten hers. She had been a bit spooked knowing people could know wherever you are. Turns out she was right to be spooked. The irony.

"You guys ready?" Fitz looked at their small group. They were breaking the law, going against the council and against family. But they couldn't turn back. This was for Sophie. They had all seen just how well they did without her. It was time for her to come home.

"Yep. Let's go stalk your dad and rescue Sophie!" He couldn't help but think that was premature. That if Alden really was going to see Sophie and that was a huge if, then it wasn't like she would need rescuing. But he didn't say that.

"Ok your dad just left. He's someplace called Connecticut in the Untied States." Dex looked up from his device. "Any one heard of it?"

Fitz nodded, "Yeah it's in the same country where I found Sophie. Completely different side, but the same country."

"Well then let's go." Keefe pulled out his pathfinder but Bianna grabbed his hand.

"Wait, we can't all go. We would be too conspicuous. Did any of you boys even consider that we won't exactly blend in with the humans? Plus, if we are planning to follow my dad then the fewer people the better."

"She's right." Fitz ran a hand through his hair. "We'll have to split up. Two and two."

"Okay then two can follow and two can monitor their progress on the device. We can keep the imparter on so we all know what to do." Dex handed Bianna the device. "Fitz and I can go and you two can monitor from here. If anything goes wrong you can come get us."

"Wait why should I stay? I want to go!" Keefe seemed rather frustrated by this.

"Yeah! I can help!"

"No he's right. I have experience in the forbidden cities and Dex's gift for technology may come in handy. It'll work." Neither of them looked happy about it but they eventually agreed insisting they will come if they find Sophie.

…

Fitz had forgotten how bad human thoughts were. He needed a minute to block them all out. Dex waited impatiently nearby, pretending not to care that his companion was in a massive amount of pain. He never did know why Dex hated him so much.

After they followed Alden for a while he entered a large, depressing building. "Is that a prison or something?" Dex asked.

"Something like that. They call it high school." They were about to follow him into the building but he walked out and leapt away.

"Guys, where is he?" Dex asked through the imparter.

"He's back at home. Actually I think I hear him downstairs."

"Why did you find her?" Keefe's face suddenly appeared next to Bianna. He saw how frustrated she was and winked. "So, where's Foster?"

"We're…not sure. He just left what they call a high school." Fitz scanned the area and then a painfully loud shill bell rang and suddenly there were hundreds of human teenagers pouring out of the school. "Oh. My. God. Look at them all. We're gonna die." Fitz shook his head and dragged Dex into the nearby woods.

"Calm down. If Sophie's in there somewhere we need to get her out. Okay?"

"Right, but do you happen to know how we are supposed to track down Sophie in all this." He gestured towards the massive crowd of teenage humans. For a moment he was mesmerized by how different they all were. He had forgotten since the last time he had been in the Forbidden Cities how much variety there was for the human body. Some looked like elves while others had acne ridden faces or glasses or were plump. It was very strange. Then, in the corner of his eye he saw a flash of blonde hair and brown eyes.

His head whipped around so fast he worried he gave himself whiplash. He panicked when he lost her in the crowd but then he saw her. It was her. And some punk human had his arm around her. He took off running with Dex in a tow.

As he was pushing through the crowd, running after her, one thought was on repeat in his mind like a broken record. She's really alive. Sophie's okay. Soon she'll be back in my arms. He was grinning now because Sophie was okay.

But that grin fell away a soon as they caught up to her. The human had her over his shoulder as she was screaming. Dex seemed to have the same thought as he did. Someone was trying to hurt her again and they weren't about to let her. He ran up to their startled faces and ripped Sophie away from the guy trying to kidnap her while Dex sucker punched him. For a guy so short he sure could pack a punch. "What the hell man! Sophie are you okay-put her down!" Dex responded by kicking him in the groin. Fitz ignored him.

Fitz held Sophie in his arms bridal style as he inspected her, drank up the sight of her alive as though he had been starved while he made sure she wasn't hurt. If he hurt her I will kill him. "Sophie you have no idea how worried I've been. We thought you were dead and I-I'm just so glad that you're okay." He was about to push up her long sleeves to check for bruises when she jumped out of his arms.

"What do you think you're doing? Get off of me! Luc are you okay! Leave him alone!" She rushed to where he stood about to start fighting Dex back. The human put his arm around Sophie protectively then before throwing them a threatening glare looked to Sophie, and inspected her in a similar way to how Fitz just had. As if he would ever hurt her. The thought made him want to scream.

"I'm fine, just trying to keep myself from killing this kid. Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" She shook her head and he gently pushed her behind him. "If you two want to fight then fine, your funeral, but leave her out of this."

He was so confused. Sophie was looking at him like he was a stranger. Before he could speak Dex said what was on both their minds. "What do you mean you were the one hurting her? Sophie what's going on? I-I thought you would be happy to see me."

"I'm sorry you must be confused. This is Lucas my best friend. We were just messing around. I mean, thank I guess for trying to help."

"What do you mean your best friend? I'm your best friend!" Dex looked about ready to cry.

"Funny Sophie's never mentioned you two." The guy, Lucas, still looked suspicious as he shielded Sophie.

"That's because I don't know them. I think you guys are confused I mean, you look kind of familiar." She trailed of then jumped as if she had been shocked, "Wait! I met you at the museum in San Diego right? You asked about my picture in the magazine. Fitz right?" Fitz suddenly understood why his dad had kept this from him. He wanted to cry, to scream, to make her remember but he couldn't. Dex seemed to understand but didn't want to admit it. "Um, yeah. Yeah I think I remember you. I was visiting family." The words felt like poison in his mouth. But it felt like a poison blade in his heart when she nodded, oblivious to knowing him in any other way.

"No but you-you're Sophie. Sophie Foster my best friend!" Dex was about to break down.

"Sorry. Wrong Sophie. It's Sophie Freeman."

Lucas look at Dex with surprising concern considering he had just punched him, "You alright mate? You look kind of sick."

"I'm fine, we-we're fine. Sorry about the, you know, I-we should go. Come on Fitz."

"I hope you find your Sophie. She must be really great for you guys to care so much. Good luck." She looked at him, and his heart broke a little bit more.

"I hope so too. We all really miss her. I-I care about her too much for her to be gone." But she was. His Sophie was gone and he had no idea how to get her back.