Tobias
We hear Tris knock at a door. She's there.
"Ah, Tris. Lauren found you," Eric's voice crackles through the speakers of Zeke's computer.
"Hi Eric."
"Come in."
There's shuffling as Eric offers her a seat. I can see them sit down in front of my inner eye.
"So why did you want to see me?"
She's trying to stay on top of the conversation. Very Tris-like.
"Getting straight to the point, are you? I thought you learned about exchanging pleasantries in Abnegation instead of diving right in."
I can hear the smirk in Eric's voice all the way from there to here.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not Abnegation anymore," she snaps at him. Careful, Tris.
But Eric just laughs. "Your position in the rankings suggests that. — You don't know it yet, but you'll end up first."
I expected it from the data Lauren and I passed over to leadership, but we never got any information about this year's results.
"Wow, first? I didn't know that. I mean, thank you."
I snort. There's nothing to thank Eric for. I know Tris is just trying to react as expected, but I don't like to hear that.
"Why do you think you made it to the top?" Eric asks, and I hear the screeching of a chair drawn back and muffled footsteps.
"Hard work. Lots of extra training early in the morning."
"Lots of initiates work hard, but they don't make it into Dauntless at all."
We listen to liquid being poured into glasses. I sigh in frustration. Tris won't like that, and neither do I.
"I came here knowing I'd have to work hard to make it, so I did additional training right from the start."
"Explain how you managed the simulations so quickly," Eric demands, and before Tris can answer, glasses clink.
My heart is pounding heavily. I know why. Tris knows why. Does Eric know, too? Or suspect it?
"I don't know, I just happen to have little fears. I struggled with them during training as much as everyone else, I think. And then I decided that I had to be stronger than my fears to beat the rest of the transfers, so I spent a lot of time going through the simulations in my mind to develop good strategies. It was the same as it was in stage one, I knew I had to work extra hard."
I exhale my breath.
"She's good, Four, so determined. Is that how it was?" Zeke says admiringly.
"Yeah, she's always done extra training."
Zeke doesn't know she's lying about the sims, and I want to keep it that way.
"Too bad she doesn't mention how your extraordinary talents as her instructor helped her through it," Zeke jokes.
I signal him to be silent again, so we can hear what is spoken next.
"I see. Looks like you approached your problems strategically. Most initiates are too blinded by their fears to think like that."
Eric pours more liquor into the glasses. I clench my hands into fists. He wants to loosen Tris' tongue, get her to talk.
"Allowing your fears to blind you is a sign of weakness," Tris replies, stressing the Dauntless perspective on the simulations.
"Let's drink to that," Eric says, and there's a pause before the glasses are set back onto the table.
"I guess you didn't invite me to come here to get me drunk, Eric."
"You wouldn't be the first I get drunk," Eric chuckles darkly, and his laughter is disgusting. I feel bad for Tris, I'm sure she'd love to smack the smirk right out of his pierced face.
"I have no doubts about that. But I won't be one of them."
"Nice punch, Tris," Zeke shouts at his computer.
"Get yourself together, I'm not interested in taking advantage of you," Eric clarifies.
"How convenient that we share the same opinion on that matter. So I'm asking you again, why am I here?"
"How many times have you been to the Amity compound?"
"What?"
"You didn't understand the question?"
"I did, I'm just surprised by it."
"You can be surprised all you want, just don't let it stop you from answering."
I exchange a glance with Zeke. He shrugs. We both are as clueless as Tris. Then we hear her speak after a pause.
"About five times."
"What for?"
"Harvesting crops. When all fruit and vegetables are ripe at the same time, the Amity need some help, so nothing is wasted."
"Tell me how that worked."
"Usually the volunteers drove there in the morning and were assigned a task for the day. Amity decided where they needed them."
"How come that you've only been there five times then?"
"I accompanied my mother there a few times, when I didn't have to go to school."
"So Abnegation children don't usually work at Amity."
"I didn't."
"I was asking that in general."
"Some do. It depends on where their parents usually volunteer."
That's a lie. Abnegation children normally help inside the fence, as it's considered safer.
"That's interesting."
"Why is it important to our faction what the Abnegation do?"
"Because they've been acting strange. There are a lot of stories going around, you know them. I heard you defended your birth faction before."
"I defended truth, not Abnegation."
"Right," Eric snorts, "just make sure you know where your loyalties lie."
"They lie with Dauntless, of course."
"You'll be able to prove that in the future."
"I hope so. Anything else you wanted to know from me?"
"Actually yes, your opinion on the following: Why do you think Abnegation sent their children to Amity for a week-long work camp yesterday?"
Zeke shoots me a questioning look.
"I think it's an idea from Tris' mum to keep the Abnegation children safe. As far as I know, there has never been such a collaboration before," I whisper.
"Now I see where Tris got it from."
"Got what from?"
"Her guts, man. Her mum is the same, they act instead of overthinking things too much. They take risks protecting others."
There's no time to deepen this topic, as Tris starts speaking again.
"I don't know that. I'm not in contact with my former faction. Probably it's a new idea to teach their children an extra lesson in selflessness by making it a whole week away from their parents and school. It fits that their leadership would be looking for possibilities to expand their variety of volunteer work."
In the silence that follows her statement, I can literally feel Eric and Tris staring each other down over their empty glasses. I'm proud of her and how she manages to speak up against Eric, although it must cost her a lot of mental strength.
"Okay Tris, you can go."
Chairs move and footsteps fall. Then a rustling, followed by a loud sneezing, more rustling and a bang, makes us put more distance between our ears and the speakers.
"See you around," Tris says, now from further away, but before she can leave, Eric interrupts her one last time.
"Just so you know, I was told it was your mother who initiated this work camp. — I'll keep an eye on you."
***
I hold a shaking Tris in my arms for a long time. We're sitting on Zeke's couch after he went over into his bedroom to give us some privacy, not without congratulating Tris for placing the bug in Eric's trash can first.
I keep stroking Tris' hair and whispering reassuring words into her ear. She's scared, and so am I. Eric must sense that something is going on, that this is not a coincidence, and the shortest connection he could find was that between Natalie and Tris.
"You did so well with him. He can't know you lied. He doesn't hold anything against you, or he would have said it. He wouldn't hold back accusations."
"He must suspect I'm Divergent," Tris whispers to me, her pale face staring at me.
"Even if he does, he doesn't have any proof. We'll stay safe. I promise I'll do everything that I can to protect you."
She buries her face in the fabric of my sweatshirt again, and I tighten my arms around her, pressing her close to my chest. I'll hold her like this as long as she needs me to. I'll never let her go.
Tris
When I've calmed down again, I am more focused than I was before. I plan my next steps in my head, something that helps me regain control over this mess.
I quietly explain Tobias my suspicion that our vaccine caused Divergents to have nightmares without mentioning other names. I ask him to think about if he's ready to share his secret with two more people if they admit to being Divergent, too. It would be a mutual confession for each of us, but it could be useful to know who else might be aware during an attack simulation.
He's not convinced, as I expected, but he promises me to think about it.
I sit down with Lauren during lunch and explain the same idea to her. She's hesitant, too, but not as much as Tobias. In the end, she accepts to meet other Divergents.
As she is free this afternoon, I arrange a meeting with Caleb for her, trusting her with a handwritten letter to my brother that confirms she's part of the Allegiant now and explains why I can't come to meet him personally because apparently leadership is watching me. I'd love to go and talk to him myself, but it would be stupid to risk being seen sneaking out for that. Tomorrow, I'll have to go anyway, and that's enough of a risk, but one I have to take because Jack specifically asked to see me.
In the afternoon, I go looking for Uriah. I can't find him anywhere outside, so I go to his apartment. He's not alone there, though. Marlene is with him, looking shocked, and I assume he told her, like he intended to. That's probably why they didn't show up in the cafeteria for lunch.
I ask him for a private word, but he looks back and forth between me and his girlfriend, and tells me he can't leave her at the moment, but maybe a little later.
I let him know where he can find me and give Marlene a hug before I go. It just seems the right thing to do. She looks so lost, and the soothing closeness of Tobias' embrace from earlier is still soothing me.
Then I do what Tobias often does to channel his emotions: I go to the training rooms. He once showed me the small and usually empty one he always goes to, and now I enjoy its loneliness to kick the punching bag with full force.
It's Eric instead of a punching bag, his arrogant smirk, his cold, menacing eyes. Kicking him feels good.
His poor attempts at getting me tipsy. I kick harder, but don't acknowledge the pain in my feet.
His unspoken threats disguised as superficially harmless questions. I accompany my kicks with wild screams, then move on to punching my fists against him.
This fucking asshole!
This powerhungry maniac!
This cold-blooded murderer!
I punch and scream and kick like mad until a male voice interrupts me.
"Tris! You're hurting yourself!"
I don't need to turn around to see who it is. I freeze, my gaze falls onto my bleeding hands that don't seem to belong to me anymore. They must hurt, but I can't feel it. I catch my breath and collapse against the punching bag, suddenly exhausted.
A sob escapes me, and then another.
"Tris, hey. You're not alone."
Uriah comes closer and puts a hand on my back. I like it there, but then I think of how I must feel to him.
"I'm sweaty," I protest and try to step away, but my legs are too weak.
"As if I would care. I'm Dauntless."
"You're impossible," I shake my head as a sad chuckle forces its way out of my throat. He's probably the only person in the world who could make me react like this at this moment.
"I know it's against everything you grew up with in Abnegation, but would you let me hug you?"
I nod slowly and turn around, but I can't make eye-contact as I let him put his arms around me and lay my hands on his shoulders for support. My knees are shaking both from the exhaustion and the fear running through me when I think of the war.
It's the first time I find myself in the arms of another man than Tobias. Surprisingly, I'm fine with it. It's my friend, Uriah, who I probably have more in common with than I thought. I need to find out.
"Feeling better?" he asks after a while.
"Yeah, I guess. I've had a bad morning," I begin and tell him about my visit to Eric's office.
He, in turn, tells me how he informed Marlene about everything, and how difficult it is for her to believe and accept it.
"We both had a pretty messed up day," I conclude dryly.
"I think so. You should go and clean your knuckles."
"First I have to ask you something."
"Sure."
"We are friends, right?"
"Of course. Why, what is it? This question scares me."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It's just... I have a secret, and I suspect you might have the same," I begin. It's harder to say it out loud than I thought it was.
"I actually only have one secret," Uriah admits, and for the first time I see fear flashing across his features. I think I'm right.
"Are you Divergent?" I whisper, afraid someone could hear the word while passing outside the door.
"How would you know that?" His voice is equally low, and cautious.
"Four didn't tell me anything, if that's what you're thinking. I assume that's what he was helping you with. You said he'd helped you a lot during initiation. And I remember how you came out of his apartment one night, I think it was when you were there to let him draw your blood. And I found a connection between the Divergent, the control serum caused us to have nightmares."
"Us? You too?"
"Yes, me too. That's why your secret is safe. I won't tell anyone."
"Me neither," he promises. "Who else? You said there were more."
"I happen to know two others. I offered each of them to meet at my apartment tonight after dinner, as a group, so that each of us knows who we are. It might be helpful. I swear the other two would keep the secret, as they'd rely on you to keep theirs."
I can't tell Uriah that one of those two already knows about him, or I'd give Tobias' identity away.
"Can I think about it?"
"Yes, it's up to you if you show up or not."
"I'll make up my mind until then," he promises. "Thanks for inviting me, and for trusting me. You needn't have had to tell me about yourself."
"You're welcome. It's only fair that you know about me in turn."
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DISCLAIMER: I own neither the Divergent world nor the characters, they belong to Veronica Roth.