Before anyone even had a chance to pull a trigger, Annabelle tossed three knives at once to the generator, immediately sending the entire compound into darkness. Chaos ensued as bullets started spraying across the center of the room in Tobias and Anna's location. The siblings made quick work to divide and conquer as Annabelle handed off a knife to Tobias, instructing him to make it to the back gates control panel before sliding to the north side of the circle. It would need a manual override with the generator being down, but it would be no problem for Tobias given that he typically worked in IT at Dauntless on far more advanced technology. Tobias took out a couple of the insurgents at the ankles in order to clear a path to the control panel.
Meanwhile, Annabelle took almost too much pleasure out of finally being able to kill some more of Evelyn's cronies. Annabelle slashed through her opponents before they even saw her coming, the light of the fire power creating a strobe effect between the two parties. Annabelle's eyes finally began to adjust just in time to see Evelyn being carted away to safety by a group of her bodyguards. Annabelle let her knives fly and land in her targets, quickly taking down Evelyn's men one by one. Evelyn was in her sights now, no longer having enough cover to keep her from Annabelle's aim. Annabelle raised her arm for the final throw when a sharp pain suddenly erupted in her side. The young woman looked down to find a knife of her own embedded in her side just between her ribs. Arabella couldn't move. She couldn't even speak. Any air that had previously inhabited her lungs was gone in an instant. She could do nothing more than watch helplessly as Evelyn made her way higher and higher into the compound before reaching safety behind a closed door.
Annabelle still didn't react when large rays of sunlight suddenly infiltrated the compound, Tobias having gotten the gate open again. With the newfound light filling the space, Tobias was finally able to see what had happened to Annabelle. He yelled her name and worked to fight his way through Evelyn's insurgents in order to get to her but was only making slow progress due to the number of opponents. From behind her, Annabelle's attacker finally revealed himself, although it was no real surprise to the girl that Nelson had been the one to land the blow. Annabelle could feel his breath dance across the shell of her ear and the feeling made Annabelle want to throw up in disgust.
"Guess you're not as good as you think you are, runt."
Annabelle let out a low chuckle at the snide comment, grimacing in pain from the pressure pushed down on her ribcage by the action. Still, she did her best to appear helpless, like she would fall and die of her injuries at any moment. She slowly pulled the blade from her side, watching as more of her shirt became painted red with blood. Her hand was shaky both for show and in actuality. She could feel herself growing weaker by the second, but she refused to give her Evelyn and her band of misfits the satisfaction.
"You're right. I'm not as good as I think I am."
Nelson moved himself from behind Annabelle and to her side, his eyes locking with her own as if to make sure he heard her right. Annabelle looked him dead in the eye as he smiled down at her condescendingly. After Annabelle was certain that the man thought he had won, she gripped her knife tight in her hand and with all the strength she could muster, she lifted her arm up and back, effectively slicing the blade across Nelson's neck before he even had time to process what she had done. She leaned in close as the man uselessly tried to slow the bleeding from his neck, choking on his own blood as he did so.
"I'm even better."
Annabelle gave Nelson a small nudge to the side, sending the man to the ground to bleed out on his own. With nearly the rest of her own strength gone, Annabelle dropped to her knees and looked down at the wound in her side. Blood was covering the entire left side of her shirt. Not a good sign. She focused on relaxing her breathing in order to preserve oxygen when she finally felt Tobias' arm wrap around her waist and pull her back to her feet. Annabelle let out a pained groan as he did so, but Tobias couldn't let her give up now. He had to get her out of there one way or another. Annabelle looked to find that Tobias had acquired an automatic rifle, one which kept the remaining insurgents away from the siblings as they walked through the cleared path out of the compound. Before leaving its sight, Tobias shot out the control panel to the main gate, knowing that in doing so he would be buying himself and Annabelle some time before they could get the gate operational again.
The pair walked back towards the train tracks slowly, Annabelle growing weaker with every movement made. Tobias came to a halt as they reached the tracks and waited for the train to ride past them. But Annabelle knew that it would do them little good.
"You have to leave me behind. There's no way in hell I'm jumping onto a moving train."
"I've got you, Anna."
"No. You can't get us both up at once. Even if you could, I can't run to keep up with the train. You have to leave me. Come back with some help. Bring one of the trucks. I'll be okay."
"Annabelle, I'm not leaving you out here in their territory by yourself. It'll take me at least two hours to get back to you."
"Then move fast! Cause if we can't slow this bleeding, I'll be dead by then anyways."
The sound of an approaching train tore away Tobias' attention for only a moment before turning back to his sister. Tobias debated any other possible option in his mind as quickly as he could, but could find no better alternative. Most begrudgingly, Tobias moved Annabelle over to a rotting tree stump for her to lean up against and took off his jacket to press roughly on Anna's wound.
"You hold this as tight as you can to slow the bleeding. I'll be back as soon as I can. Do you have any weapons on you?"
"A few knives left. I'll be okay. Go."
Tobias stayed by Annabelle's side for as long as he could before knowing he couldn't wait any longer and began running alongside the train then swiftly jumping into one of the train cars. Annabelle watched him go before finally allowing herself to deflate entirely while she rested in the field, praying that Tobias would make it back before she died.
-----
Darkness. Annabelle was surrounded by it. She panicked for a moment as her senses came back to her, feeling the soft and cold texture of her bedsheets, hearing the familiar noises of the Dauntless infirmary. But her eyes refused to open, and her body was frozen in place. It wasn't until her mind registered that something was touching her hand that she began to feel a sense of calm again. She knew that feeling. She recognized the soft, calloused hands that were so much larger than her own but held hers as if they were meant to fit together. Eric. She felt as he stroked his thumb along the back of her hand and then pressed his lips to each knuckle in his hold. She didn't need to have her sight to know he was nervous. To know that he was terrified beyond belief about Annabelle.
Eric had still been out on his assignment in the city with Max when Tobias had gone back and returned with an unconscious and essentially dead Annabelle. The man had been smart enough to grab a medical transport vehicle to pick up his sister in, allowing the med team he'd also dragged along with him to provide the necessary care on the drive back to Dauntless that would inevitably save her life. From there, it had been a whole lot of anxious waiting on Tobias' part. Anxiety regarding an update on Annabelle's condition and also anxiety at the prospect of having to tell Eric what had happened when he returned with Max. Fortunately for Tobias, Eric had been far more concerned with seeing Annabelle than with killing him and so while Eric dashed to the infirmary, Tobias had been taken away by Max to debrief on the situation. That was two days ago, and Eric had yet to leave Annabelle's bedside for even a minute.
Annabelle listened as Eric breathed deeply beside her, the man focusing intently on his breaths in order to keep himself from losing his composure entirely. Her heart broke when she heard his voice, hoarse and quiet from the crying that had occurred over the past days, as well as lack of use.
"Please wake up, baby. I need you to wake up. I just got you back, I cannot lose you again. Please, Belle, please."
Annabelle tried with all of her might to give Eric a sign that she was hearing him. That she was alive, and she was going to be okay. But try as she might, her eyes refused to open, and her hand refused to squeeze his back in return. The room resumed its previous silence and so Annabelle at least let herself revel in the knowledge that Eric would be right by her side when she did wake up. She just hoped for his sake and her own that the time would come sooner rather than later.
"Get out."
"Eric--"
"I said get out. You have no right to be here."
"She's my sister!"
"And you almost got her killed!"
The feeling of her hand slipping from Eric's as he stood from his seat sent Annabelle's heart racing. She could only imagine the altercation happening right in front of her between the two men and she was beyond irritated at being left helpless to stop it.
"I didn't do anything! Look, I'm not stupid. I knew part of her assignment from Max was to find Evelyn's base of operations. So, when Evelyn reached out about wanting to meet again, I brought Annabelle with me. I was trying to help."
"It was reckless. You should have gone in there with a plan, with back up. Belle could have gotten Black team positioned to handle it and this whole thing could be over now."
"It wouldn't have done anything. Maybe Annie wouldn't have gotten hurt, but Evelyn's operation is so much larger than any of us could have ever imagined. We would have been outnumbered even with Black team on location."
Eric didn't have a decent enough response to give, nor the energy to give it. He merely shook his head at Tobias and returned to his seat next to Annabelle, placing her hand in his once more. With Eric no longer fighting him, Tobias also took a seat next to Annabelle on her other side, taking her other hand in his as he did so.
Annabelle hoped that the two men might see the small smile she was trying to wear on her face. She knew that Eric and Tobias would never get along the way they used to and they would certainly never be friends again, but the one thing that hadn't changed was how much they both cared for her. Despite all of her hardships, Annabelle knew that she was loved and that was more than the girl could ever ask for.
-----
Two weeks. Annabelle had been lying in a damn hospital bed for two weeks. Her patience was wearing ever thinner with each passing day. The torment that came from listening to Eric and Tobias begging for her to come back to them was becoming more painful than she could bear. The two men had taken to watching over Annabelle in turns so the other could take some time to rest, eat, and shower before returning to the girl's bedside. Eric was currently with Annabelle while Tobias went to get a couple of hours of sleep. He leaned on the side of Annabelle's bed with her hand cupped between his two while his eyes stared longingly at her sleeping face. The man hoped that if he stared long enough, Annabelle might sense it and peek an eye open, suggesting to him that she had been awake the entire time and was simply trying to torture him. But his girl did nothing of the sort.
"Belle. Baby, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I need you to wake up. If these past two weeks have taught me anything, it's that I cannot live without you. I've completely lost myself since you've been in here. I can't focus on work, I don't want to see or talk to anybody. Even going back to my dorm hurts when you're not there to greet me. The place feels so lifeless without you. I don't want to go back to the way things were before you joined Dauntless. I want my girl with me. I want you, Annabelle. I need you. You bring out the best parts of me, and I'm afraid of what I'll become if I don't have you to bring out the best in me. Not to mention just how crazy I would go if I lost you. I love you, Belle. Please come back to me. Come back to me so we can spend the rest of our lives together. So I can marry you one day and call you my wife. So we can have kids and start a family like I know you've always wanted. I want to do it all with you, Belle. But you have to wake up. My beautiful Belle, please wake up. Please."
Annabelle wasn't sure what had changed within her, but it felt almost impossible not to tell Eric she was listening and agreed with every word he had said. Annabelle wanted everything Eric had mentioned; a life, a marriage, a family. As if her body demanded to listen to Eric, Annabelle felt her eyes flutter behind her eyelids as they fought to open for the first time in weeks. She blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the bright light and was even able to turn her head to find Eric sitting beside her, his head resting atop their joined hands as he looked down in agony. Annabelle focused intently on the hand within his and forced the muscles to squeeze one, two, three times. Eric's head immediately shot up and looked in astonishment at the sight before him. Once his mind had finally processed that what he was seeing was real and not his mind playing tricks on him, Eric leapt from his seat and found himself standing over Annabelle's figure, his hands dropping her own in order to cup her face so he could look directly into those dark eyes that he had missed so much.
"Annie? Baby, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I can hear you. I've been hearing you for weeks. Sorry I couldn't talk back."
Eric laughed in relief. Eric wasn't sure any moment in life would ever top this one right now. Eric would never be so relieved or happy ever again in his life. He was sure of it. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to his girlfriend's lips, pulling back quickly so he could keep looking in her eyes as he stroked her hair back from her face.
"I was so scared, Belle. You almost died. The medics weren't sure you were going to make it."
"It's okay. I didn't die. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise, Eric."
"Good because I can't lose you. I'm serious, you are never leaving my side ever again."
Annabelle laughed at Eric's dramatics, but they quickly turned into a wince as her side throbbed in pain at the action. Eric gently placed his hand over the wound, helping Annabelle ease back into her bed to stop any further potential damage.
"Careful, baby. Doctors said you're going to be sore for a while. And you'll have one hell of a scar."
Annabelle scoffed at the remark, as if another mark on her body would affect her at all.
"Add it to the collection. So long as you still think I'm pretty."
Eric smiled warmly down at his girl and placed a loving kiss to her lips.
"Always."
Not wanting Eric to be so far from her, Annabelle slowly shifted further to one side of the bed, showing Eric that she wanted him to lay beside her on the bed. The man eagerly complied, his arms instinctually wrapping around her waist while being mindful of her injured side. The couple laid facing one another, their foreheads connected, and their arms and legs entwined together.
"So, what happened to Evelyn? Did Tobias lead them back to the compound?"
"Yeah, Max took Black team two days after it happened. The place was empty. They had left a lot behind in terms of weapons and supplies, but everyone was gone. They must have places all over the city."
"Great. So, we're back to square one."
"Hey. You're going to get her. I know you will."
"I've nearly had her three times now and I've failed each time. Maybe I should resign. You can take my place as head of security and I'll handle the training this year. You'd do a better job."
"No. I'm not taking the position. I told you that I believed in you when you got the job in the first place, and I still believe in you now. If anyone can take down this group of rebels, it's you. Besides, if you didn't deserve to be the one to do it before, you definitely deserve it now. Those bastards almost killed you."
"I killed the guy who did it."
"That's my girl."
Eric and Annabelle returned to a comfortable silence once again, each smiling at one another to make up for weeks of lost time not seeing one another's face. When Annabelle did speak up again, it was in the softest of whispers so that only Eric could hear.
"I want to marry you, Eric. Not now necessarily. But I heard everything you said. About getting married and having kids and spending our lives together. I want that, all of that, and I want it with you. One day."
Eric smiled wide at the woman in front of him and brought up a hand to stroke her face while she looked back at him with all of the love in the world. Eric knew in this exact moment that he would never set eyes on anything as beautiful or perfect ever again. Annabelle topped anything the world had to offer, and he would do everything in his power to make her the happiest woman in the world. She deserved nothing less.
"One day. I promise."