She walks through what seems to be a maze of endless corridors and rooms with her focus singly on her destination. She's aware of the numerous stares she's receiving and she doesn't care. She has to talk to him. She has to know why he chose to follow the woman who tried to not only overthrow the government, but to also eliminate an entire population just because she was afraid of what she didn't know. Above all else, she needs to know why he never breathed a word about what he was involved in to her.
She opens the heavy door leading to the prison and walks inside with an outward appearance of confidence. They've made her a leader, and even though she's certain that people would like to rescind that appointment now that she's drawn her lines in the sand.
"Ma'am, I have to get your information and assign a visitors badge." A guard calls out as she walks past.
"You know exactly who I am and you also know who I'm here to see. Don't waste my time." She says angrily.
"Yes ma'am, um I can escort you back." He replies.
She keeps walking, making the nervous guard almost jog to catch up to her. She abruptly stops walking and turns to face him.
"I know you have to observe, but you can give us a bit of privacy." She says calmly.
"Yes ma'am. He's four cells down on the left. I'll wait right here."
She walks to the cell he specified and stands in front of it.
"You lied to me." She says firmly as she looks at the man on the other side of the bars.
His cot is strained against his large body and the clothes he's wearing are stained with dried blood from the struggle he put up in the efforts to capture him. His usually perfectly styled hair is disheveled, and the curls he tries so hard to tame are on full display.
"I never lied to you; I just didn't tell you things. That's different." He argues.
"Omission is a lie too!" She yells.
"If that is your definition it means you lied too." He replies as he stands up and walks towards where she stands, on the other side of the metal bars separating them.
"That's your answer Eric? You are going to just gloss over the fact that you were helping a mad woman commit a fucking genocide?" She spits.
"I was following orders." He argues weakly. "I didn't know Tris."
"You didn't know what? That murdering innocent people is wrong? Or that wiping out an entire faction using mind controlling serums wasn't ok?" Tris yells.
This is why Four warned her against going there to see Eric. He'd been warning her about Eric all throughout her initiation. He told her that Eric was an Erudite plant, that he was put in place to hunt and kill divergents and that he was just as sadistic as Jeanine Matthews. He told her that once Eric found out what she was he would kill her.
Tris didn't believe him, and yet she never told Eric about her divergence. She thought Four was just jealous.
Eric, the same cruel leader who tormented her throughout her training, the same angry man who hung her best friend over the chasm and who ordered knives thrown at Tris when she was insubordinate was a different person behind closed doors.
It started as harmless flirting, although being from Abnegation made it very hard for Tris to even understand that the youngest Dauntless leader was in fact flirting with her. Eric would often catch the Abnegation transfer in the training room after hours and instead of punishing her for being out after curfew he instead began to help her to get stronger and better. He wanted Tris to stay in Dauntless, and at first she had no idea why.
Tris learned a lot about Eric in the time they spent together training. He was extremely intelligent and he was dedicated to making the initiates the strongest soldiers he could. He was passionate about his work and he had high expectations of himself and others. He hid his insecurities well, just like she did, but for some reason they were comfortable exposing them to each other.
Their first kiss was unexpected but not unwanted and when the leader who was well known for his "womanizing ways" actually asked for permission to kiss her she was shocked. Eric had a reputation that Tris later found was almost completely false. It was assumed that he whored around and slept with anything that moved, but in reality while he may have done some public making out while he was under the influence he was fairly inexperienced sexually. He'd received oral sex on occasion, and he'd had only three sexual partners before her and not the multitude that people assumed.
If Tris were to tell anyone that Eric confessed his love for her before they'd ever been intimate no one would believe it. He wasn't known to be an affectionate or loving man, the tough leader shell was all people knew of him and he didn't mind at all. He actually had only a few close friends who saw past his persona and enjoyed his company. Eric cooked for Tris, he would massage her sore muscles after long hours of training and physical fights, and they would often spend their evenings curled around each other while he read one of his many books out loud. Even though neither of them were virgins when they began seeing each other, they didn't rush into a physical relationship. Tris was honest with Eric about the sexual relationship she'd had with Four while they were both in Abnegation, and while it caused some pretty severe jealousy on his part once he knew, he managed to find a way to deal with it when she pointed out that he also had a past as well and she was not judging him for it.
This was the Eric behind closed doors that Tris always wished people could know.
"Tris, I didn't know. I'm telling you the truth now. She and Max beat it into our heads that divergents were this awful thing that needed to be destroyed before they destroyed us. They were the enemy. That's all I knew." He sighs.
"I was the enemy?" She asks.
"I didn't know you were one! If you had of told me I'd have a whole different opinion!" He shouts and she steps away from the bars. He puts his hands through and reaches for her. "Please, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm sorry for all of this. Tris I didn't fucking know and I hate myself for it now. I was following orders."
"I watched you shoot a man point blank Eric, just because he was awake during the simulation." She says, not caring that her voice is rising.
"I know Tris. You heard Max tell me to shoot him. You heard him." He replies while hanging his head.
"If I hadn't of played along would you have shot me too?" She finally asks.
Eric's jaw drops a bit and he just stares at her. It's almost as if this thought never once occurred to him and Tris can see the conflict written plainly across his face.
"Tris, no… you have to know I would never hurt you…" He stops talking and looks at the floor.
"They want to execute you." She replies.
"I deserve it." He says quietly while resting his head against the bars. "I love you." He whispers.
Her resolve is breaking. She doesn't see him as a cold blooded murderer, she sees him as a confused twenty one year old who thought he was doing the right thing by following the orders of the superiors that he trusted. He's the youngest leader ever to rise to power in Dauntless and he worked his ass off to prove he deserved to be there. He's not the killing machine that the surviving members of their faction make him out to be. He's human and he's made mistakes, grievous mistakes, but he feels guilt for them.
People would probably assume that it's only the soft and gentle Eric that she loves, and their assumptions would be wrong. While she does love who he is when it's just the two of them, she also loves everything else about him, including his faults. She may hate what he has done, but it will never stop her from loving who he is.
"Let me in with him." Tris commands the guard who is sitting several cells down from them.
"No can do, I have strict orders from Four that he has no contact." The guard replies.
"I'm a leader too, just like Four, and I am commanding you to let me in to see my prisoner. Now." She growls.
"Whatever, I'm not getting in the middle of a pissing contest between two leaders." He grumbles as he unlocks the cell door. Tris walks inside and immediately embraces Eric.
"I'm so sorry." He whispers against her and she nods her head.
"I know." She replies.
Eric leads her to his cot where they lie down together. They wrap around each other like they've done so many times before. This is the man she loves. He's not a monster.
"I won't let them kill you."
"How will you stop them? There are three Dauntless leaders and two want me executed." He breathes against her hair. "That doesn't even take into consideration Candor, Amity or Abnegation. Tris, there's no way your father will vote to allow me to live. I participated in an attempt to not only overthrow his government but also eliminate his faction."
"It has to be unanimous, if the other leaders leave it up to Dauntless at least, for us to execute you and they won't ever get me to go along with that." She replies.
"Maybe you should..." He begins but Tris doesn't let him speak.
"If you're going to try to rationalize why you should die you need to stop right now. I am going to ask that you go under truth serum, so you need to tell me everything right now Eric. I need to know what I'm up against here. Do not leave anything out." She replies.
She can feel his body tensing next to her and she runs her fingers through his hair and along his scalp in an attempt to relax him a bit.
"Do you still love me?" He asks softly.
"Of course I do. I have to know everything though." She replies.
"Please, just say the words." He replies.
"Eric, I love you." She whispers and she sighs against him.
"I don't know where to start." He mumbles. "You're going to hate me."
"Tell me everything." She urges and he takes a deep breath and begins.
There isn't a defining moment in the story when Eric decided between good and evil, there isn't actually a choice at all. Eric knew some things about the war, but it's obvious from his explanation that he didn't know everything. Orders were issued, and in Dauntless you didn't have a choice on whether or not to follow orders, you did as your superior commanded.
Eric had doubts along the way, but he didn't have anyone he felt he could talk about them with. He would have loved to have told Tris, but how does one explain to their then initiate girlfriend that their faction was not only participating in a coup to overthrow the government, they were doing so by mind controlling their own citizens.
He was afraid if he did tell her she would leave him.
He's strong physically; he's a tough and formidable leader. He's hard on the initiates because he wants nothing but the strongest in Dauntless. He's brilliant with a mastery of strategy and planning, but matters of the heart were unchartered territory for him.
Until she came along.
He doesn't believe in love at first sight, but the Abnegation woman who ripped her skirt off and jumped first down the rabbit hole threw the stoic leader for a loop. She didn't have the same features that some of the Abnegation that Eric had seen all seemed to share. Her hair was light brown, her skin tan and her eyes green. She wasn't the frail looking dependent that was typical in a faction that views even eating a normal portion as selfish, she instead had curves and muscle tone. It was obvious to Eric that this woman had found a way to train well before she ever jumped onto their roof.
She may have caught his interest, but it didn't turn romantic until he found her after hours training. He found her determination and defiance attractive, and he began to train with her to make her stronger.
When he found out she wasn't a virgin it didn't upset him because he wasn't one himself. What bothered him was the relationship she carried on with Four while the two were in Abnegation, and they continued to carry on when he'd sneak out of the compound to train her. Four and Eric were never friends, both entirely too competitive to ever get to know the other, and Eric too singly focused on becoming a leader. Eric found out that Tris had ended things almost six months before she transferred to Dauntless because she was determined to make it in on her own merit and not because she was Four's girlfriend. She also couldn't say she loved him no matter how many times he'd say it to her.
Four never got over their breakup. Eric knew that the instructor was pining for the girl he left behind in Abnegation, but he didn't know it was Tris until it was too late. It wouldn't have stopped him, but he was determined to make Tris believe that his interest in her had nothing to do with Four.
They were happy. For almost the entirety of Tris' eight month initiation and training Eric and she were a couple and no one was the wiser. Even Four, who spent all of initiation warning her to be careful of Eric had no clue that his ex-girlfriend and bitter rival were not only together, but in a committed and loving relationship. In the four months since the training portion of initiation ended, Tris and Eric's relationship only got stronger and their commitment to each other deeper. She was an official member once training had ended, although all initiates spent the last four months of their first year in Dauntless on probationary terms. They were members, but one infraction could cause their membership to be revoked on the spot and them to become factionless. Even though during this probationary period it was perfectly acceptable for Eric and Tris to be involved in a public relationship, they continued to keep it quiet at her request. They were days away from the probationary period ending when all hell broke loose and their faction went to war.
It wasn't until they had captured and arrested Eric did anyone find out there was anything between Tris and him. When Tori had argued that they just execute him on the spot instead of turning him over to Candor the small group of Dauntless cheered. They had Eric on his knees with his hands zip tied behind his back when Tris threw herself in front of him and refused to move when Four had his gun pointed at her.
She said it then and she says it now. He is not a monster.
"I'm sorry Tris." He whispers.
"I know you are." She whispers back.
They hear a disturbance in the hallway outside of his cell but neither move.
"What the fuck is this? I said he was to have no contact. Did you not fucking understand my direct order?" Four shouts at the guard.
"Yes sir, however another leader overruled. I shouldn't be put in a position where I have to decide which leader is right or wrong, sir." The guard answers.
"Get her out of there." He commands and they hear the jingling of keys.
"No. I'm not leaving him." Tris replies defiantly.
"He's a murderer." Four argues. Tris unwraps herself from Eric's embrace and approaches the bars that separate her from Four.
"So am I." She spits. "So are you."
"We killed in the name of war Tris..." Four begins but she cuts him off.
"So did he! He followed the orders he was given. He didn't have a choice either." She replies angrily.
"Tris." Eric whispers. She feels his arms wrap around her waist and his breath on her neck. "It's ok. I love you." He says softly. He presses his lips to the bare skin of her neck. "I love you so much." He whispers.
"I won't leave him. For as long as he's locked in this cage I'm here with him. He needs a trial with truth serum. That's what my vote is, and if you and Tori can't get on board with that then you might as well execute both of us." Tris demands.
"Tris..." Four begins.
"No, I won't argue about this and I won't back down. He did things, terrible things and he feels guilt for them. Look at him for fucks sake. He's a human being. He's the man I love." Tris pleads.
"You love a man who shot someone point blank for being exactly what you are Tris?" Four hisses.
"I love a man who thought he was doing the best thing he could do to protect his city. I love everything about him, even his faults, because he's a good person who made a terrible mistake." Tris replies.
Eric tightens his grip on her and she leans back into his embrace. "I love you too Eric." She says softly and presses a kiss to his jaw.
Four stares incredulously at Tris and Eric. How the hell can she just forgive him for the atrocities that he was a willing participant in? He didn't realize he was vocalizing his inner thoughts until he hears Tris speak again.
"I forgive him because he's not the monster you and everyone else make him out to be." Tris says angrily.
"Tris please just come out of there and talk to Tori and me." Four says evenly.
"You know what my vote is already. Just leave me alone." Tris says firmly.
"Tris, you don't get a vote." Four finally says firmly.
Tris angrily launches towards the bars that separate her from her ex. "You can't do that Four, you can't take away my vote. I'm a leader too!" She shouts.
"Tris, I didn't take your vote away, Jack Kang did. You didn't think it was important to tell anyone that you are married to him? Were you ashamed Tris? Is that why instead of getting married in your own faction you came to Candor to have Jack marry you in secret?" Four spits.
Eric feels Tris tremble against him. Their getting married certainly wasn't a decision made lightly, but it wasn't planned when he asked Tris to accompany him on an unscheduled trip to interrogate a prisoner in Candor. Tris was in training to be a faction Ambassador, and Jack Kang had taken an immediate liking to the spirited Abnegation transfer so he had personally requested that Tris be assigned to Candor once her training was over. Eric brought Tris with him as a training exercise, and later when the three were talking causally in Jack's office Eric did something he'd never imagined doing, he asked Tris to marry him on the spot. In the back of his mind he knew the war was coming, and when all was said and done he wanted Tris to be with him. He wanted her to know that he loved her with all of his being, even though he was going to be forced to become someone he's not.
"I would never be ashamed of marrying Eric. I asked that we keep it quiet until after I was off of my probationary period. I didn't want anyone to believe I had married him to keep myself in Dauntless." Tris answered.
"What were you thinking? That has to be the most idiotic thing you've ever done Beatrice. You married someone you know nothing about. He probably only married you so you couldn't testify against him for all the shit he's done." Four spits.
"Enough!" Eric shouts, causing Tris to jump and Four to stop his relentless pacing in front of his cell. "You're right, she didn't know everything about me, nor did I know everything about her. We hid the parts of ourselves that we thought would hurt or endanger the other. At the end of the day it's up to us to forgive each other, not you or anyone else. I love Tris more than fucking anything and I married her for that reason. I married her because I want to live my life with her. Don't punish her for being my wife. She knew nothing about my orders or involvement in this shit."
"So, when you married her you never thought about how it would essentially trap her? It never crossed your mind that it'd be much harder for her to leave you if she was married to you when the shit hit the fan? You never thought to yourself 'hey, a war is coming that I'm a willing participant in, maybe I should go ahead and get her to marry me now before she sees who I really am and hates me'?" Four spits.
"That's a very narrow minded way of looking at it Four. Of course I knew the war was coming when I married her. I also knew that there was a chance that she'd not understand my involvement in it. I didn't even understand my involvement in it. I didn't marry her to trap her into anything." Eric answers.
"Do you think so little of me? Do you think I'm not capable of discerning between real love and when someone is using me for their benefit?" Tris asks Four angrily.
"He's a great actor. He almost had everyone fooled Tris, even you." Four replies.
"I love her and I married her because of that. Believe whatever you want." Eric finally says to Four before turning away from him.
"You disgust me." Four spits at Eric. Eric turns slowly to face the other man and Tris takes in a sharp breath before wrapping her arms around her husband. She's waiting for the fire she's seen time and time again when words aren't enough between these two men.
"That makes two of us then." Eric says quietly. Tris' heart is breaking at the vulnerability in his voice.
There is no way for Four to hide the shock on his face at Eric's unexpected reply. He watches as Tris whispers in Eric's ear and runs her hands up and down his back. Eric has no hold on her. It's quite obvious to see that it's actually the opposite; she has a hold on him. He truly does love her, and Four is completely thrown when he realizes that Eric sincerely seems to feel guilt for what he's done.
"I'll talk to Tori." Four says quietly, feeling almost intrusive at this point.
Tris' watery eyes finally meet his. "Thank you." She whispers.
Four nods, knowing that if he were to actually speak right now every emotion he'd ever felt for her would come pouring out. He didn't lose Tris to Eric because he now knows she was never his to lose. She gives herself to Eric in a way she's never been able to with Four, and he knows this moment he's witnessing is what will help him find closure and move on. He watches as Tris runs her fingers through Eric's hair and continues to whisper comforting words to him as he finally allows himself to relax into her arms.
"Tris, do you want to come with me when I talk to her?" He finally asks.
She shakes her head. "I trust you. My place is here with him, he's my husband and I won't leave him."
Four looks at her one last time before turning away. As he approaches the guard desk he pauses and turns towards the other man.
"She has any and all access she needs to him." Four commands and the guard nods at him.
"Yes sir."
Four walks out of the door to go find Tori. He wonders if he can change her mind. The better question may be should he change her mind?
He's never liked Eric, and it's not just because of Tris. Hell, he never even knew that Eric and Tris were together until she jumped in front of a loaded gun in an attempt to save his life. He knows that he just witnessed the other man showing true guilt for what he's done, but is that guilt because he got caught? How long would he have kept on killing had they not captured him in Candor? Would he have killed his own wife if Jeanine had issued the order? Did he know that Jeanine was after Tris?
That last thought makes him stop dead in his tracks. Could it be possible that Eric married Tris to ultimately bring her to Jeanine?
These are questions he needs answers to and the only way he will get complete honesty from Eric is if they allow him to go under truth serum. He knows that Tori wants him executed without a trial, and she has successfully convinced many other faction leaders to go along with her wishes. There's one leader he knows will want a trial so he begins walking in that direction. He mentally prepares himself and then takes a deep breath before knocking on Jack Kang's office door.