Jax's POV
(Time Skip)
I got out of Dauntless and rode the train all the way to Erudite. Why? Because my brother was supposed to be having a meeting there. If I was gonna get out of Dauntless, I needed to make sure that my brother came with me. My mom and dad could protect my little brother. But it's Mateo I'm worried about. Everyone's already having doubts about my brother's priorities. So, I need to get him out of Candor before they think he helped me escape.
(Time Skip)
I walked into Erudite, seeing all the people stare at me. I looked around for my brother, worried that I missed him somehow and that he's back in Candor. Luckily, I was wrong.
"Jackie?" I heard. I turned to see my brother walking over to me. "What are you doing here?" Once he reached me, I hugged him. He hugged me back.
"I missed you." I said.
"I missed you too, sis." He said as we pulled away. He saw the look on my face. "What's wrong?"
"I need help." I said. "I'm in trouble."
"Okay." He said, looking around. He pulled me over to a spot where no one could hear us. "What's the problem?"
"I'm not gonna survive in Dauntless." I said.
"What do you mean?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I sighed in frustration. "Jacquelyn, what's wrong?"
"I can't tell you, exactly." I said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I just...I can't be there anymore." I said. "I can't."
"Okay." He said. "Well, you know you can't exactly go home."
"Maybe I can." I said. "Maybe...Maybe the council will let me."
"You can't." He said, shaking his head.
"Why not?" I asked. He sighed and uncrossed his arms, putting his hands on his hips.
"Erudite won't let anyone go back home." He said. "I mean, they have Abnegation on full lock down, literally. Who knows what rules Amity is under."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Erudite's trying to overthrow Abnegation." He explained. "With them in charge, no one will be going anywhere. We probably won't be able to see each other again."
"They can't do that!" I said.
"They can, if they're in charge." He said. "Remember Caleb Prior?" I nodded. "Well, he's literally preaching about how Erudite should be in charge. How all the other factions want Erudite to be in charge, which a load of bullshit. He's betraying Abnegation, his friends, his own family...He's gone into full Erudite-Asshole-Mode, literally. It's all this faction before blood bullshit. It's gotten to his head. If I ever have a kid like him, remind me to disown them, honestly."
"Is there anything you can do?" I asked.
"Not from where I stand in the council." He said. "I can't really do much other than be a representative for our leader, train the new Candors and tell the younger Candors to knock off their bullshit."
"So, what do we do?" I asked.
"Nothing right now." He said. "But if I have a plan, I'll send someone to come get you, okay?" I nodded. "Look, I gotta go, but be careful, alright? People take 'Faction Before Blood' very seriously."
"Well, good thing that's not how the Cruzes roll." I joked. He nodded, chuckling a bit. I hugged him and he hugged back.
"I love you, sis." He said.
"I love you too, Mateo." I said. We pulled away and I walked away. I walked to the stairs and down the first set. Suddenly, two men stood in my way.
"I need you to come with me." The first one said.
"No happening." I said. "See ya, jerks." As I tried to walk around them, he grabbed me. Then, my fight mode kicked in. I backhanded him, causing him to fall to the ground. Then the second one grabbed me, causing me to grab his hand and twist it. He groaned in pain.
"Stop!" I heard. I looked up and saw Jeanine looking down at me. "Are you alright?" I let go of the jerk.
"Yeah." I said. "It's nothing I can't handle."
(Time Skip)
I was following Jeanine down a hallway, when I noticed on the floor below us that they were doing some type of simulation for 3 men. But why? We walked over to some chairs and Jeanine turned to me.
"Please, sit down." She said and we sat down in the chairs. A girl poured us some beverages.
"Thank you." I said to her. She nodded and walked away.
"I'm glad you came here today." She said. She is?! "Are you happy with your new faction?"
"Yes." I said.
"But you came to see your brother." She said.
"I just needed to talk to him." I said. "Plus, I kind of missed him."
"Have you seen your parents?" She asked. I shook my head no.
"No." I said, looking down at my hands.
"It's hard to let go." She said, causing me to look at her. "Faction before blood." Oh, not this bullshit again. "It's an important ideal, but sometimes difficult to fulfill. It goes against our fundamental human nature. But that's exactly the weakness we need to overcome."
"You think human nature's a weakness?" I asked.
"I think human nature is the enemy." She said. "It's human nature to keep secrets, lie, steal. And I wanna eradicate that. That's how we'll maintain a stable, peaceful society. You would help me with that, wouldn't you?"
"Sure." I said. "But how can I help you?"
"You're aware that Abnegation is undermining the faction system and breaking laws harboring Divergents?" She asked.
"I wasn't aware of that." I said.
"See, I need to know that I can count on you to enforce the law, even if it's been broken by someone close to you." She said. "Someone you care about."
"Yes, ma'am." I said, which was an absolute lie.
"Good." She said, smiling. "Then, I'll have my car take you back to Dauntless." I nodded.
(Time Skip)
I eventually made it back to Dauntless after a long awkward car ride. I was walking back through the cave-like hallway when I heard something. Like a door closing. I stopped and looked in the direction of the sound, but I saw no one. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind. I went to scream but they covered my mouth with their hand. I tried to get them to let go but they held me tight as I saw two more people in masks run over. One helped the guy behind me while the other grabbed my legs. As I struggled to get free, they lifted me up. I twisted and turned, trying to slip free of their grips but nothing happened. I ended up kicking the one off me, but he just got back up and they carried me. Then, we stopped, and I saw we were right over the chasm. Oh shit! They're trying to kill me! They turned me around, causing the other to remove his hand from my mouth.
"Let me go!" I shouted as they tried to push me over the ledge. "STOP! LET ME GO!"
"Come on!" I heard one say. "Get her over!" Wait a minute...I know that voice! I grabbed one's mask and ripped it off his head. And when I saw who it was, it shocked me to my core.
"AL?!" I asked.
"Come on, do it!" Another shouted. "Do it!" That sounded like Peter's voice...THAT ASSHOLE! Suddenly, I felt myself starting to go back over the edge.
"NO!" I yelled, as I fought to stay on the edge. "NO!"
"HEY!" I heard someone shout. Suddenly, Al was pulled off me and thrown into a wall. The other two kept trying to push me over. I started slipping, causing me to gasp, when someone grabbed me and pulled me back over the edge. I looked up and saw Four fighting the other two. As I heard the other two grunting in pain, I looked over at Al. I felt tears coming to my eyes at the fact that one of my own friends tried to kill me. I shook my head and gritted my teeth in emotional hurt. I can't let him see me cry, he doesn't deserve to see the hurt he gave me. Then grunts stopped and I looked over at Four. He walked over to me and helped me stand up. "You alright?" I looked down at Al, staring at him with angry tears in my eyes.
"Yeah." I said. "I'm okay."
"Come on." Four said. "Let's go." He gently pulled me away and back down the hallway.