Author's notes: Yes, I suck at titles. Sorry about that.

This is set between The Beautiful Trap and Home Turf. I'm technically disregarding Like Father, Unlike Son because Grier shows up later, but they have their Hoplite Titans.

This started out as a fluffy little exploration of the fact that Lok drowned twice in two episodes and no one acknowledged it. Really, it was going to have fluff and everything! And then it mutated into a mutli-chaptered, sequel producing fic with kidnapping and angsts and people getting shoved around and kidnapped and everything.

For the purposes of this story, Lok and Sohpie are 15, Zhalia is 23, Dante is 27.

On the topic of the sequel; it currently features an OC who, while not in any way the focus of the story, is there. It could be rewritten without too much trouble so the character is Cathy, Lok's sister, instead. (Though she's practically an OC; what did she have, like four lines of dialogue?) What do y'all think? I don't want to be accused of writing the first Mary Sue in the fandom!

And now, having sat through all that, have some story.

Lost and Found 1

The Organization always found them. Dante fired off another Boltflare and dropped lightly behind Zhalia, brushing her shoulder as she turned.

"You ok?" he asked, raising a shield around them and dropping it a moment later so she could fire.

"You should be worried about them," she told him. Dante glanced past Kilthane, trying to make out shapes in the shifting shadows on the other side of the crypt.

Rumours of a powerful curse had brought his team to a crypt in the Spanish countryside, miles from anywhere. The information had been sadly lacking, though; expecting a simple tomb, they'd found a labyrinth of tunnels. The holotome had found them a path through, but the curse was hiding nothing useful and before they could get back out the Organization had attacked.

Lok was abruptly outlined in green as Kipperon retreated back into his amulet. The rush of energy staggered him; Sophie jumped in front of him, shield already raised, and Cherit barrelled past, trying to distract their attackers.

"Go," Dante told Zhalia. Sophie wouldn't like it, but Lok wasn't up to fighting and between them the girls could protect him.

Lok's two near-drownings had taken their toll; he was slower to respond than usual, tired more easily, and found it harder to battle.

It didn't take him long to finish the Suits; they were all low level, not even challenging except through their numbers. He was advancing on the last one when Sophie screamed, "Lok, look out!"

Dante spun, trusting Caliban to watch his back, but he knew even as he turned he was too late. Zhalia was moving too, but half a step too slow; Lok took the Augurfrost to the chest and went down hard, unmoving.

Dante fired over Zhalia's head, taking down Lok's attacker, and she whirled past him to deal with the last Suit. Dante slid to his knees beside Lok; Sophie was already there, biting her lip as she examined him.

Dante ignored her protests to haul Lok to a sitting position; his breath was catching, labouring, but it eased as he raised. Bracing him carefully against his chest, he nodded for Sophie to continue.

"He's not bleeding," she said after a moment, "and I don't think he's broken any bones." She sat back on her heels, lifting a hand as Cherit crawled into her lap.

Zhalia knelt beside Dante, touching Lok's chest and forehead quickly. Dante caught her eye, frowning. "Ready?"

"Ready for what?" Sophie demanded.

Dante shifted Lok, freeing his other hand. "We're gonna try and wake him up. It'll make it easier to get him out of here."

"Let me help."

"You keep an eye on those guys," Zhalia told her, gesturing to the Suits. "Once we start this, we can't stop." To Dante, she added, "Can you do it from there?"

"Good a time as any to find out." He pressed his hand against Lok's chest, over his heart, waiting for Zhalia to mirror him. "Ready?"

***

Sophie kept her back turned, watching the Suits for any signs of consciousness. Cherit was still curled into her arm, trembling against her.

The light from whatever Dante and Zhalia were doing cut off suddenly, and she blinked hard against the colours streaking her vision. Cherit scrambled up her arm, peering over her shoulder, but she still didn't turn.

"Slowly," Dante said warningly.

"Careful!" Zhalia added more sharply.

Cherit jumped from her shoulder and she heard Lok whuff as he caught him. A moment later he laughed, low and tired.

"Sophie, come on," Dante said. "We have to go."

Lok was on his feet when she turned, even if he was leaning heavily against Dante, but he was too pale and seemed somehow smaller than normal.

"What?" he asked when she just stared at him.

"N-nothing. Sorry. Are you alright?"

He made a face. "Feel like a herd of Titans trampled me." Cherit made a protesting noise and he added, "Big ones. What's wrong with me? I've been hit before."

Dante moved towards the entrance, steadying Lok until he caught his balance. "You nearly drowned twice in the last week, Lok. Your lungs are weaker than normal and that hit shocked them."

Zhalia hadn't moved, and it took Sophie a moment to realise she was shaking. "Zhalia?"

"I'm alright," the older girl said irritably, but it lacked her usual bite. Cherit flew back, alarmed, but she waved him off and headed after Dante.

Sophie stayed behind them, watching. Lok was walking well enough, but his sense of direction was shot; Dante couldn't let go of him for long, because he would walk into the nearest wall sooner or later. Zhalia's awareness of them was lessening; she almost walked into Dante each time he slowed or stopped, saved only by Cherit catching her hood or scarf and hauling her back.

"Dante," Sophie called after the fifth near-collision, "how about a break?"

"We really need to get out of here," Dante reminded her. "Those Suits will be waking up soon, if they haven't already."

"Five minutes?" She let her gaze slid deliberately to Zhalia, standing with her head down, and to Lok, leaning against the wall and not really hearing them. "Even after we get out of the tunnels, it's forest for miles. At least it's fairly warm and smooth underfoot down here."

"Five minutes," he agreed reluctantly.

Look dropped where he stood. Dante looked from him to Zhalia, but Sophie took the decision out of his hands by crossing to sit next to Lok. Behind her, she could hear Dante and Zhalia murmuring softly.

"Hey," she said quietly, holding out her water bottle.

Lok tilted his head to look at her without lifting it from his knees. "Hey, Sophie," he murmured, taking the bottle but making no effort to drink from it.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better'n Zhalia, I think."

Sophie glanced over his shoulder. Zhalia had refused to sit down but she was leaning against the wall, talking quietly to Dante. The holotome was projecting the partial map of the tomb in front of them and they were studying it carefully.

"How is she?" Look asked quietly.

"She's fine. Drink your water, Lok."

"Well, if you're going to ask nicely…" He lifted the bottle, swallowing several mouthfuls before tipping it over his head. Cherit flinched, abandoning him for Dante.

"Sophie?" Lok said quietly. "Where are we?"

"Still in the tunnels." She took the empty bottle back from him, playing idly with it. "There're still Suits around; it's taking us longer to get back to the entrance because we have to avoid them."

"Time to go," Dante said from above them. "Lok, you ok?"

Lok accepted his hand up, glancing at Zhalia. "I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Let's just get out of here. I'm sick of being so cold."

Sophie flinched. It was damp down here, certainly, but it wasn't at all cold. "Lok…"

"That's fine," Dante interrupted her. "It's not far now." Lok nodded, turning and heading away with one hand on the wall for balance.

"Dante," Sophie protested.

"We can't help him here." He had to be tired too, she realised suddenly; she wondered if Zhalia had given more energy to the spell, or if Dante was just better at hiding it.

Zhalia paused beside them; she, at least, looked better for the rest. "He's a strong kid," she offered, eyes fixed firmly on Lok's back. "He'll be alright."

Frustrated—there really wasn't anything else to do, much as she hated it—Sophie took Cherit from Dante and headed after Lok.

"Tell me you at least called Guggenheim," Zhalia murmured.

"No signal. It'll have to wait until we're back above."

Zhalia sighed, following the kids, and Dante fell into step just behind them.

***

Naturally, they were in sight of the exit when it all went wrong.

Zhalia was pretty sure she knew all the Suits, and they should all have known her, but of the group of seven surrounding Dante's team she only recognised two. Wearily, she prepared to fight; she wasn't sure she had enough power to summon Gareon, let alone a more powerful Titan, and neither Lok nor Dante were in any better shape.

"Sophie," Dante said quietly, apparently realising the same thing. He caught her arm when she turned, pulling her back to stand between them and in front of Lok. Zhalia nodded quickly; she could still fight hand-to-hand, if she had to, but Lok couldn't even stand up straight right now.

Sophie rapidly invoked Sabrial and Icarus; Zhalia saw Dante going for Caliban's amulet and reached to push his hand away. "You can't," she warned him.

"Hoplite!" Sophie yelled, adding "Honorguard!" a moment later.

"Zhalia," Dante protested, reaching for Caliban again.

Zhalia took a step closer to him, behind Sophie now, ignoring how much she hated letting the poor little rich girl fight her battles for her. "If you go down, we all go down," she hissed. "Sophie can't get us out of here by herself, and I can't help."

"I can hear you," Sophie protested. "Boltflare!—they're figuring out something's wrong."

"They're dumb, but not that dumb, considering Sophie's the only one of us actually fighting," Zhalia agreed.

"You don't think I could take them?" Sophie grinned over her shoulder at them.

"Zhalia, can you throw a few flares?" Dante asked.

"No," she said reluctantly. "But I can shield Lok. You two go fight."

Dante nodded, pressing a hand to his shoulder. "Everfight!"

Zhalia leaned against the wall. She was absolutely exhausted, barely even able to keep her eyes open, but with any luck the Suits wouldn't try too hard to defeat her.

A Mindrone hit the wall over their heads; she pushed Lok aside, wincing at his cry of pain, and yelled "Hyperstride!" just in time. The rush of energy left her dizzy, though, and she slammed hard into the ground, unable to even sit up let alone get out of there.

Cherit grabbed her scarf, tugging uselessly. "Up, up! Titans coming!"

Zhalia tried to swat him away, but her hand fell embarrassingly wide. Distantly, she heard the little Titan moan "Oh, my!" and Dante call "Cherit!" but the words were lost in the wave of energy that swept over her. Radiating out from her chest, it washed from head to toe, leaving her, if not back to normal, at least closer to it.

Cherit was out cold and she scooped him up as she rose. Dante was standing over Lok, ready to fight; she called another Hyperstride, marvelling at how much easier it was, slipping Cherit gently into Lok's arms.

"Can you summon King Basilik?" Dante demanded.

Zhalia hesitated, examining herself. "Not for long. He's too strong."

"Boltflare! Call Kilthane, then."

"Kilthane! Defend your lady!"

Dante and Kilthane set themselves against the incoming attacks; Zhalia crouched beside Lok, checking him over quickly. "You ok?"

"Sure," he murmured. "You push hard."

"Sorry." She touched his arm lightly and he flinched, pulling away. "I'll let you…Armorbrand! I'll let the Mindrone hit you next time."

Lok shifted. "I thought you were out of power."

"Cherit charged me up."

He looked down at the little Titan. "I guess you're the better fighter."

"It's not about that. You're sick. He can't help with that."

"I'm not…"

He broke off to cough harshly; Zhalia got an arm around his shoulder, hauling him to sit upright. "Want to try that again?" she asked dryly. Lok managed to roll his eyes while still coughing.

The wall behind them vanished without warning; Lok tumbled backwards, dragging Zhalia with him. They crashed down a steep slope, slamming into each other and the rocks at the sides of their path.

Zhalia managed to land mostly on the bottom, saving Lok the impact, but he'd knocked his arm again on the way. She allowed herself two breaths to recover before sliding carefully out from under him.

"Cherit?"

Cherit didn't answer, still out from charging her up, but tucked into Lok's shoulder he seemed to have escaped without injury.

Kilthane's amulet flared as he retreated and she doubled over, breathing hard. The battle above them couldn't be going very well for Dante.

Lok hadn't moved yet, and he was breathing very quickly. Zhalia dropped to sit beside him; Cherit's energy burst was wearing off, and her exhaustion was catching up to her. "Lok?"

"Ow," he breathed, opening his eyes. "Dante?"

Zhalia shook her head. "Just us."

"Where are they?"

"Still up there."

He turned to look, hissing in pain and reaching for his head. "Oh, that's not good," he murmured, looking at the blood on his fingers.

Two Suits rounded the corner, checking slightly on seeing them. "Look, two little Foundation Foundlings," the woman sneered.

Zhalia ignored them; Lok's eyes had glazed and he wasn't responding.

"Maybe we should help them out," the male Suit suggested.

"Don't be an idiot," Zhalia snapped.

"We have orders to take the boy," the woman told her. "Stand aside."

"You know who I am?"

"We're on Klaus' orders."

"So am I." Zhalia rose to her feet, forcing herself into a defensive position. "You're not touching him."

"You want to fight us?" The Suits exchanged glances. "You wouldn't last ten seconds, Zhalia."

"Let's see what Klaus says if you lay a hand on me."