Hosanna naps a bit on the sofa while we come up with exactly what we're doing and how to go about it. We all stay in Max's room while we plan this out. Jack is going to stay out of it but he remains to hear what's going on and offer advice. Andrew and Natalie are coming with us to convince Marcus to go along with it. Hosanna wakes and tells me she's hungry so I order her a bowl of soup, a toasted sandwich, and a cup of tea with honey from room service. We fine tune the details as she eats the meal.
I talk it over with Hosanna and she sounds much better. She agrees on everything but Max and Andrew will do most of the talking. She tells me Marcus needs to be held accountable for what he's done but saving the city from what Jeanine is planning is more important.
All of Dauntless leadership takes a vote and it's unanimous. We all oddly agree, believing that the city is more important than a few months in prison. We'll give him the bargain, for now.
We leave Max's hotel room, our guards accompany us. We part ways with Jack at the elevator and he wishes us well. Andrew and Natalie remain with us. We head up to our rooms and Rob is still standing in front of Marcus's door. He steps aside and Hosanna knocks.
Marcus opens the door for her a moment later. "May we come in?" she asks her father.
"Do I have a choice?" he grumbles but he opens the door nonetheless.
We all step in, except the guards stay outside and in our room. It looks just like our hotel room in here except the color scheme is different and it's a mirror image. Marcus takes a seat on his sofa and sits back comfortably. He doesn't look at all concerned until he realizes the Priors are here.
"Andrew, Natalie, what are you doing here?" he asks breathlessly. He looks genuinely surprised.
Max speaks. He lists off everything he's done that we have evidence of. He explains that we have enough proof to convict him and throw him in holding for months. "You have the option of either being arrested and going to court, or you can stay away from your daughter. You will not harass her or touch her. You will not stare at her or stalk her. You will have no contact with her whatsoever other than professionally. You will watch your mouth and not doublespeak towards her. Anything that comes out of that vile mouth of yours will be clean. No tucking a sixteen year old into bed when you've been accused of forcing yourself upon her. Although if you choose holding, you probably won't have your position to return to when you are released. It's your choice but if you pick prison, your name and faction will be drug through the mud by Erudite," Max practically spits, venom lacing every word.
Marcus laughs almost nervously. "This is ridiculous. These accusations have no ground," Marcus says.
"I've seen the footage of your conversations with her, the bruising immediately afterward. I assure you they are serious," Andrew explains.
"The girl bruises like a peach. If I held her hand as a child, she bruised," he defends.
"Then perhaps you shouldn't touch her since you'd know she'd get hurt," Andrew bites back. It's funny, he sounds more like an Erudite now than an Abnegation.
"Andrew, Natalie, I thought you were my friends. Why are you defending these Dauntless troublemakers?" he questions calmly.
"Two of which are your children who testify that you abused them," Max says.
"This is ridiculous. I've never touched them," Marcus defends.
"Even Jack Kang agrees that the fear simulation matches up with her scar," Max replies. "How are you going to defend that?"
"Tobias accidentally dropped a knife on her. I told Natalie that before when she was a child," he says.
"But Hosanna says it was your belt," Natalie responds.
"She never said that," Marcus argues.
"Because I was never asked. Once you said something, nobody asked me. Your word was law. You've even told me recently, you make the laws, you can do as you please. Is that why you think it'd be okay for me to come back to Abnegation?" Hosanna says.
He shakes his head in denial. "You have no grounds for these allegations," he continues.
"Enough!" Max shouts. "We have the evidence we've already told you about. Make your decision or I'll make it for you and drag you to lockup myself."
"I will keep my distance from Hosanna if that's what she wants. I will not admit fault to any of these filthy accusations," he replies.
"I'll accept that," Max agrees. "If you come near her again, we will continue with these charges and whatever idiotic things you do in the future."
"That won't be a problem," Marcus says staring at Hosanna. She stands tall beside me, no fear of her father, just anger consuming her eyes.
*****
Marcus agreed... eventually. We made him aware that he's being monitored and that if he doesn't stop harassing Hosanna, we'll turn him in.
We enter our room just as it's lights out. I light a candle and enter the bathroom. I realize there's water all over the floor and frown at what happened earlier. I wipe up the mess and toss the towels aside in the corner before pulling the plug in the tub. I pause crouched down before the bath, grateful that this night wasn't worse than it was. I'm glad she woke up or things would have been so different.
I breathe heavily through my nose and brush my teeth by candlelight. I hadn't realized how late it was. This night was ridiculously long.
I walk back to the bedroom, light in hand and realize my clothes are in the dresser we pulled over to block the side door. My lips form a thin line. I really wanted to strangle him or have some sort of consequence for his actions tonight—for all of his past transgressions. Our case just isn't strong enough for an adequate punishment yet. I toss my laundry aside and slip on a pair of sweats.
I climb into bed and blow out the candle before sliding closer to my wife. The snow outside our window helps illuminate this part of our room. I stare at her beautiful face. Her eyes are open, staring back at me. They glisten in the small amount of light.
I run my fingers down her cheek. She sighs and turns her head, kissing my fingertips. "I love you," I whisper.
She turns to me and I can see tears drop from her eyes. Her lips quiver and I pull her to my chest and hold her as she cries. This must've been hard for her tonight. He didn't even seem that affected that we all know.
She pulls back after a minute when she calms down. I kiss her lips so gently. "Eric," she whispers.
"Yeah, baby?" I say.
"Help me to think about something else," she requests quietly.
"Alright," I agree. I think for a moment about something that'll make her happy, something that always makes her smile. "How many children do you want?"
She laughs and looks up at me, an ecstatic grin on her face. "I don't know. We can only have up to three here," she points out. "How many do you want?"
"As many as will make you happy," I tell her kissing the tip of her nose.
She sighs contently. "That's one thing I love about you. You can always make me feel better, no matter what. Nobody knows that about you but me. I feel like I've got one of the best kept secrets in the whole city in my arms," she says.
I laugh at that. "You make me sound like I'm soft," I joke.
"Yeah, but only for me," she whispers. She moves closer to me and kisses me gently, slowly. I kiss her back with the same amount of fragility. I hold on to her, I know she needs me as much as I need her. We drift off and I'm surrounded by dreams of our future together. Tonight, our past problems and the future worries don't haunt us, we just focus on us and what great things we'll achieve together.
*****Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this one.*****
Words of Wisdom:
"My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life."
Psalm 119:50 NIV
"May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant."
Psalm 119:76 NIV
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NIV
YOU ARE READING
To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series
FanfictionThis is the second story in a trilogy: Change Of Heart (Book One)-complete To Save A City (Book Two)-complete To Change A City (Book Three)-in progress Hosanna Eaton, Four's sister, came to Dauntless. She and Eric fell in love. He was a Diverge...
