(A/N: This is another MAJOR Sophitz shipping chapter. So enjoy and comment on your opinions! Feel free to leave ideas as well!)

My room key tucked safely in my back pocket, I exit sneakily into the hallway. I'm planning on knock on Fitz's door to ask him if he wanted to come with me to the laboratory. Even though I stand calmly in front of his door, my mind races with second thoughts, mentally wearing me out already. I ask myself two things: why am I so hesitant in knocking on his door? And why am I even asking him if he wants to come with me?

But before I can change my mind, Mr. Wallace's voice sounds behind me, "You know, he's not in his room right now."

I exhale sharply before turning around. Facing him, I say, "Do you know where he is?" I try to ask the question casually, as if I'm not wanting him to be there. As if..? I ask myself. Where did that come from?

Mr. Wallace only smirks at me. "He's at the laboratory," he says. "Woke up earlier than you. He found something out, and I think he'd like to tell you himself." When he smiles in a suspicious way, I furrow my eyebrows, but still follow him as he leads the way to the laboratory.

...

After what can only be a few minutes, I find myself standing alone in front of two large, silver doors. Mr. Wallace left me here only a few moments ago, and I curse him mentally for doing that. When I hesitate to knock on the door yet again, my inner frustration rings out when I knock on the door, loudly. I'm met with unnerving silence, and begin to ponder if Mr. Wallace was lying or not.

Luckily, before I can turn around, the door opens, and I'm met with a giddy Caroline. I smile weakly when she squeals, jumping forward to hug me. Quickly jumping back before I can respond, she screams, "Steven..! It's the other one!" She then flashes an overbearing grin at me.

At Caroline's yelling, a familiar voice shouts, "Oh God!"

I frown, then raise an eyebrow at Caroline. She only laughs sheepishly and says, "Oh, that's right! Steven and I aren't alone. Did I forget to say that?" Caroline then grabs my arm and drags me into the oh-so-familiar laboratory, carelessly closing the doors behind her.

Inside, I see Steven chuckling as Fitz bends down to pick up a fallen tablet. When I come within earshot, I can hear Fitz apologizing for additionally yelling. Of course he'd apologize, I think to myself as I watch Steven pat Fitz's shoulder with a broad smile. Fitz is always a gentleman. A rather handsome one, at that. When I replay my thoughts, my eyes widen at what I called him, and I quickly turn away, hoping my blush isn't that evident as I walk towards Caroline.

She only smiles at me, which makes me wonder more if my blush is showing. "Don't worry, dear," Caroline whispers in my ear when I stand in front of the microscope. "I only noticed your blush when you came closer. You two ought to be together, don't you think?" When she smiles sweetly at me, all I can do is flush more, staring down at the microscope until my blush actually dies down.

When it does, I take a deep breath and turn to the forensic chemist. "I wanted to talk to you about something. How much do you know about cells in humans?" I ask quickly.

She smiles at me. "Although I'm a chemist, I also have a bachelor's degree in biology." She lowers her voice into a whisper. "But don't remind Steven. He has a sour spot for being a one-trick pony." She then giggles, which causes me to let out a few laughs of my own.

Shaking my head to get back on topic, I continue. "I was wondering too much about the cyanide. If she swallowed it, then she'd have some cyanide left in her esophagus, or on her tongue." Caroline only nods, and I suppress the groan that almost came out. Nodding doesn't help. "And if she inhaled it, then it'd be in her respiratory system as well as in her nasal cavities. Isn't it weird that it was only found in her nervous system?"

Caroline nods again. "Yeah, that does sound weird," she replies, to which I fight back my eye roll. "So what are you saying, that someone implanted it?"

My eyes widen at how she caught on. "Yeah, actually," I say, my mouth slightly ajar. "I was thinking that someone had a needle small and thin enough to just insert it through a nerve." Realizing my mistake, I groan. "That could be anywhere, though! Nerves are literally everywhere on our bodies..!"

When she chuckles at me, I stop and stare at her, a frown dipping my lips down. Caroline wags a finger at me as if she's a teacher and I'm the student. "But the article you found said that it was specifically in her brain, and that she survived."

I nod, remembering how Caroline's the reason why I know this much about the cyanide. I take a deep breath. "So does that mean that the amount of cyanide that was inserted into one of her nerves had a dose so small that it was able to let some of her brain live?" I ask hurriedly, my words flowing out like a waterfall. "Or maybe they got to the hospital in time, but that's only because the effects of the cyanide weren't as instantaneous? Or-"

Caroline holds a hand up. "How about another time, I'll get a sample of some cells, and we can try to insert the least amount of cyanide possible into them. Without harming ourselves, that is," Caroline adds when I tense up. "Then we can go with that."

I suddenly furrow my eyebrows. "Wait- another time?"

"Yeah. Didn't you know that it's 4:25 in the morning right now?"

My eyes widen as I quickly thank her. Then I rush right out the doors, hoping sincerely that I don't get lost.

...

Audrey and Laurel meet up with me in front of the closed conference room doors. They must be early birds as well, or I was that loud. I frown when I notice the stress lines on Audrey's forehead. "Um, why aren't you inside?" I ask as I slow my pace to a halt. I tilt my head in confusion.

"Well, those boys went in there and won't let us go in there," Audrey huffs, crossing her arms.

"But Benen would've let us in!" Laurel counters, puffing her cheeks up. "But that meanie Donovan didn't let him!"

I sigh, shaking my head. Suddenly, I light up. Smiling rather mischievously, I say in a soft voice, "What if we just went inside and spied on them? Kind of like what Audrey did before, but all of us will do it." I laugh when Audrey nods happily like a little child when it came to candy.

Laurel just presses her lips together, obviously in thought. I wait patiently for her answer.

And when a smile brightens her face, I smile more. I'll take that as a yes.

With the female Sovereign and Altruistic behind me, I quickly and sneakily open the door, rather surprised that it's unlocked. Although I should be wary of this, the three of us end up entering the conference room. Inside, the conference table and chairs were moved to one wall, and a plethora of blankets and pillows were in the middle.

Only a few seconds pass before we split up, with Audrey hiding behind the projector, Laurel under a table, and me hiding behind a wall. Simultaneously, the three of us then peek over to see what the boys are doing.

"So Fitz, are we going to tell the girls about this?" Benen asks, fiddling with his fingers in a guilty manner. He looks at his feet as he waits for a reply.

"Actually," Fitz says smoothly. "Yes, we should. But I want each one of us to tell their partner separately. I think that'd be easier, with the different reactions and all." Glancing up from his laptop, he runs a hand through his brown hair, flashing one of his memorable smirks.

Benen instantly lights up, knowing that he won't have to keep anything secret. I giggle quietly at this and mouth 'He loves you' to Laurel, who I can tell has started to blush.

Donovan, on the other hand, says in an exaggerating tone, "I have to tell Audrey!? Do I have to!?!" He then groans for a prolonged period of time.

Fitz laughs, shaking his head. "No can do, Donovan..." He says something else, but it's so faint that I can't hear it. He then shakes his head at Donovan. "You know, after yesterday, I feel like you wouldn't mind spending a few minutes with Audrey, Donovan... You're secretly happy, aren't you?"

The male Percipient and Altruistic chuckle at their blushing friend, who looks away so they wouldn't notice the blush. I sigh- that was all too familiar recently. And the name Sovereign's blush deepens when Benen adds in a sing-song voice, "You didn't deny it..!"

At that point, I decide to look over at the blushing Audrey.

Big mistake.

Instead of giggling again, I begin to laugh uncontrollably. Audrey gives me an irritated glare, her pink cheeks reddening. Laurel sees Audrey's face, and bursts into a peal of laughter. We continue laughing while Audrey rubs at her cheeks, trying to dim down the blush.

It's only when Audrey's eyes widen in shock that I stop laughing. Replaying through our pity of a stakeout, I realize that Audrey was silently telling us that the boys already knew we were here and that we needed to get out- fast. Otherwise, we're done for.

And when Laurel shrieks, my heart begins to race as I exchange nervous glances with Audrey. She, being the 'action' type of person, leaves her hiding spot and dashes out into the open, bending down so she'll run faster. But when I can't see her from my hiding spot, I hear her yelp as something falls to the ground, foul words echoing in the room in a string. Dreadfully, I can only assume that it was Audrey after being pursued by most likely Donovan.

When I finish my process-of-elimination, my eyes widen considerably. Oh God, I think to myself as I dare to peek over my shoulder. I see Audrey on the ground, glaring at Donovan as he towers over her victoriously. A bit further away, Laurel and Benen are sitting down on the ground, chatting like best friends.

After I face forward again, my eyes widen. Half of a scream escapes my lips as I note how his arm is leaning against the wall behind me. My heart beats faster when I realize how close he is. When I begin to blush madly, I become glad for the rather dim lighting of the conference room.

Fitz, however smirks at me. Mischievous written all over his face, he smirks more as he leans in a bit, most likely studying the dark tint of my cheeks, which becomes darker with the decrease in space between us. I hold my breath in when he says, "Too late to escape now, isn't it, Percipient?"

Yet at this point, all I can think is, Oh dear God. He's right.