Authors Note: As some of you know, this is, like, the third time I've rewritten this, so I hope to stay with this version. This idea was bouncing around in my head for a while and I needed to get it done. Please do review, they're like my driving force, and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: The Divergent Series and the characters do not belong to me; they belong to Veronica Roth, whom I am grateful to for writing these books.

Thank you for reading, enjoy!

NATALIE

"Mom," she says to me, "you were Dauntless."

Her voice is shaky from fear, as well as fatigue. But even then, she is able to sound confident and sure. Her tone implies that she knows it's true. It's the statement of a fact that she's been curious of ever since visiting day. And since she knows it's the truth, I'm not about to lie. Not anymore,

I turn to her, smiling. It's a genuine smile. It's a smile that I hope can communicate that she will get her answers later. "Yes, and it has served me well today," I say, while I create a makeshift sling for my daughter's arm.

My brave, brave girl.

Once I'm happy with the sling, I turn and say to her, "Your father and Caleb and some others are hiding in a basement at the intersection of North and Fairfield. We have to go get them."

I know she has questions, and I can feel her eyes burning the back of my head. I know how betrayed she feels, but we can talk later.

"There will be time for questions," I say as I lift my shirt up so that I can reach the extra gun I grabbed from one of the Dauntless guards.

I look into Beatrice's eyes when I hand her the gun, and I can't help but see so much of me. She has come so far from where she was. I caress her cheek, "Now, we must go."

Beatrice nods, and runs to the end of the hallway. I follow her, and now, we're in the basement of Abnegation Headquarters. She slows down, and I take lead. We go down a few dimly lit hallways, up darkly lit staircase, and into daylight without being attacked. Only Abnegation members know this way through headquarters, which is why there are no Dauntless Soldiers.

"How did you find me?" Beatrice asks suddenly. I realise she was in as deep a thought as I.

"I've been watching the trains since the attacks started," I pause so I can glance over my shoulder to see her reaction, and it dawns on me that she doubts I was ever going to come. "I didn't know what I would do when I found you. But it was always my intention to save you." I can see hesitation in her eyes.

"But I betrayed you. I left you."

I almost smile at her selflessness. "You're my daughter. I don't care about the factions. Look where they got us." I have to muster almost all of my self control to stop myself from sounding angered. "Human beings as a whole cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again."

I stop at the alley intersection. But I can hear the unspoken question in my daughter's head.

"Mom, how do you know about Divergence? What is it? Why…?" She trails off because she notices I am busy reloading my bullets. I try to take as much time as possible, but still move quickly. I take a deep breath.

"I know about them because I am one." That is true. I continue.

"I was only safe because my mother was a Dauntless leader." Lie. David had to erase the memory of the Dauntless leaders so that I could join, then I could be safe, though the only person I had told about that was Andrew.

"On Choosing Day, she told me to leave my faction and find a safer one." Not exactly a lie.

"I chose Abnegation." With Andrew. I finish in my head. "But I wanted you to make the choice on your own."

"I don't understand," she says, I can hear fear in her voice. "Why are we such a threat to the leaders?"

"Every faction conditions its members to think and act a certain way. And most people do it. For most people, it's not hard to learn, to find a pattern of thought that works and stay that way." I touch her shoulder and smile. "But our minds move in a dozen different directions. We can't be confined to one way of thinking, and that terrifies our leaders. It means we can't be controlled. And it means that no matter what they do, we will always cause trouble for them."

I give her time to collect her thoughts, then I look around the corner. "Here they come." I see a few Dauntless soldiers with guns, moving at the same pace, like a dance. They are mindless drones, and I don't want to kill them, but if I am going to protect my family, I must.

I look back, it was always Dauntless procedure to look in every direction. There is another group of Dauntless behind us. I know we can't both survive.

"Go to your father and brother. The alley on the right, down the basement. Knock twice, then three times, then six times." I cup her cheek. "I'm going to distract them. You have to run as fast as you can."

Her expression changes from scared to determined. "No," she says, "I'm not going anywhere without you."

I smile. That's the girl I know. "Be brave, Beatrice. I love you." I kiss her on the forehead and I run into the middle of the street. I fire thrice into the air, and the Dauntless are coming for me. I manage to shoot four or five times, but then they start shooting.

I feel a bullet lodge itself into my thigh, and then I hear a scream.

A gunshot.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Six gunshots.

I turn, and see my daughter.

"Mom!" she cries. "Mom!"

I hear more shots, and then silence. I feel arm wrap around me, dragging me up. I think of Beatrice, being so brave, and of Caleb, being true to himself, and to Andrew, who loved me even for my flaws, and somehow, I find the strength to stand.

"Beatrice," I whisper. My voice sounds fragile, as if it may break. "You have to leave. There will be more."

She shakes her head. "No, Mom. I'm not leaving you again," With that, she hauls my arm onto her shoulder, and she starts jogging.

After a while, I see three more Dauntless soldiers, and I lift my arm, and make a petty shot. Surprisingly, I shoot straight, and the bullet finds its mark in the target's neck. I was able to shoot him before he shot us so that my can daughter pull us into a corner.

She closes her eyes, and then shoots blindly into the alley. One of them make it. She chances a glance at the alley. Her eyes widen. I can see that she recognises him, because she closes her eyes, and then shoots. It hit him right in the head. Where she aimed it. Beatrice is shaking, I can feel it, but now, she has to be strong.

And I am very sorry for that.

We stumble away from the alley, and I point Beatrice in the direction we have to go in. I know that she can't concentrate now. The loss of a friend is terrible, even more so when it is by your own hands.

She walks over to the door, and falls onto her knees. She screams, muffled by her hand, and then it turns into a sob. I kneel down next to her, as painful as it may be, and I rub her back, soothing her as much as she can be.

Time passes, and we turn to the door.

Beatrice pounds on it twice, then thrice, then six times. The door immediately opens, and I am greeted by the sight of my husband. "Beatrice!" And then he pulls her into a hug. Beatrice is shocked at first, but then I see her gladly return the hug.

Acts of affection were not encouraged in Abnegation.

She smiles and says, "Hi dad," then she turns to me, "Mom needs help."

Once Andrew sees me, I see his face morph from euphoria to worry. He automatically slips into his 'very worrisome and overprotective husband' mode and quickly sits me down onto the bench.

It's here where I realise just how exhausted I am, and how grateful too.

Andrew stands up to retrieve the medical kit that is stored for emergencies, and I glance around. I see Caleb, Marcus, and a few others I am too tired to name.

My husband speaks and my attention is drawn to him. "Nat," he says, "this might hurt. But probably only a little more than you're used to." He smiles, and I know he's right.

I am used to having bullets removed from my person. During my time, the Dauntless used actual bullets for games. I can feel our children's eyes studying us, and not for the first time, I am sorry for not telling them our history. And I know that we will have questions to answer.

"You know how to take out a bullet?" Beatrice asks.

"There's a lot of things that I know how to do that would surprise you." And with that, he pulls the bullet out, and I can only feel a slight tinge of pain.