A/N: Hello, as everyone hopefully knows I own nothing except new characters and ideas and such. I know I am posting this quite soon after finishing up the first story but that's because the first one ended up being so short and I thought that was a little unfair but I couldn't change that.

I stare at out, the sky is now dark and twinkling with stars. Tris has fallen asleep, that I am thankful for. She has lost so much today, first her mother then her father. It is shining beacon of her character, she has not broken down more than just crying, she will at some point, but maybe she won't, I can only guess.

"You look tired, Ava," Tobias stands looking out of the train car "I am but I'll rest once we are safe," I got to my feet, we should be there soon.

"This is far from over Tobias,"

"I know, but now we have to deal with the matters at hand," he agreed, he walks over to Tris crouching down. He touches her good shoulder, waking her "Tris, Come on, we have to jump," his voice soft.

He helps her up then they walk to where I stand with the others, it's dark but we can tell that we're close to the fence now. "I will go first," I jumped, landing on my feet only stumbling from lack of sleeping but Peter fell "Come on, can't have you dying now,"

I helped him up, my arm under him, each member of our group jumped safely "Tris are you okay?" I ask, the girl had a damn bullet removed from her shoulder "Yeah Ava, Tobias you okay?" she called "Yeah," I noticed him in the long grass brushing his knees off.

"There are supposed to be Dauntless guards here," says Marcus. "Where are they?"

"They were probably under the simulation," Tobias says, "and are now …" He pauses. "Who knows where doing who knows what."

"I can imagine its Chaos, Dauntless turning against the other," I gave a look to Tris "I hope our friends are okay," Tris says.

We stopped the simulation—the weight of what is on that hard drive reminds me—but we didn't pause to see the aftermath. What happened to our friends, our peers, our leaders, our factions? There is no way to know.

Tobias approaches a small metal box on the right side of the gate and opens it, revealing a keypad. I stand next to him, watching learning, picking up any information, soaking it up like a sponge.

"Let's hope the Erudite didn't think to change this combination," he says as he types in a series of numbers. He stops at the eighth one, and the gate clicks open.

"How did you know that?" says Caleb. His voice sounds thick with emotion, so thick I am surprised it does not choke him on the way out.

"I worked in the Dauntless control room, monitoring the security system. We only change the codes twice a year," Tobias says.

"How lucky," says Caleb, he gives Tobias a wary look, I turn towards Caleb my eyes narrow "Watch yourself Caleb," I snarl.

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Tobias says. "I only worked there because I wanted to make sure I could get out." He places a hand on my shoulder.

We walk in a small pack, pinpricks of light are the first sign that we are nearing Amity headquarters. Then squares of light that turn into glowing windows. A cluster of wooden and glass buildings.

Before we can reach them we have to walk through an orchard. My feet sink into the ground, and above me, the branches grow into one another, forming a kind of tunnel. Dark fruit hangs among the leaves, ready to drop. The sharp, sweet smell of apples mixes with the scent of wet earth in my nose. I missed this smell, it wraps around me and reminds me of happier times, more peaceful times. Even though I didn't know who I was at least I was safe.

When we get close, Marcus leaves Caleb's side and walks in front. "I know where to go," he says.

"That doesn't matter, Ava show us the way," Tris snarled out at him. I push past him, nearly knocking him over. I lead us past the first building to the second one on the left. All the buildings except the greenhouses are made of the same dark wood, unpainted, rough. I hear laughter through an open window. The contrast between the laughter and the stone stillness within me is jarring, but it still feels like home, a home away from home.

"I think I am more important than some child," I hear Marcus talking. I steadied my breath, if I didn't I would turn around and hurt him. That would be frowned upon here.

I open one of the doors. I would be shocked by the lack of security if we were not at Amity headquarters. They often straddle the line between trust and stupidity, I now think that because Dauntless has ingrained such things. I stop before an open room, taking a deep breath "It's okay," I felt Tris hand on my shoulder," it's where Johanna Reyes, representative of Amity, sits, staring out the window, my mother.

"Oh, thank God," she rushes towards me her arms tight around me "Mother," I whisper "My child, I am at peace knowing you are here, safe,"

"The other members of your party got here a few hours ago, but they weren't sure if you had made it," she says "Good, I am glad they made it safe," Marcus said drawing mother's eyes.

"Hello Marcus," I know she could feel my body tense up. "Oh my," she says, her eyes lingering on the blood soaking Peter's shirt. "I'll send for a doctor. I can grant you all permission to stay the night, but tomorrow, our community must decide together."

"Of course mother, thank you for everything. I hope they will not take us being Dauntless against us," I gave nod "But I must ask you hand over your weapons, we don't allow such a things here in Amity," I was afraid of this. I gave a look to Tobias, he gave a nod getting my message.

Tobias hands over his gun, I hand over mine next "My name is Johanna Reyes," she says, extending her hand to Tris and then Tobias. A Dauntless greeting.

"I am Four, this is Tris and Peter, thank you Johanna not only for this but all you have done for Ava, for my sister," Four said as mother smiled, it was warm and comforting.

"Welcome to the Amity compound." Johanna's eyes fix on my face, and she smiles crookedly. "Let us take care of you."

"Oh mother, I am glad to be home," I kissed her cheek.

We do let them. An Amity nurse gives Tris a salve—developed by Erudite to speed healing—to put on her shoulder, and then escorts Peter to the hospital ward to mend his arm. Johanna takes us to the cafeteria, where we find some of the Abnegation who were in the safe house with Caleb and Mr. Prior. Someone named Susan is there who Caleb was rather happy to see, we sat on the rows of wooden benches that were almost as long as the room.

"AVA!" Hailey in all her Amity glory calls me her bright yellow now seems too bright, Tris clings to my brother "Hailey," I smile.

"I am glad you are here and unharmed, after seeing the brute man with you last time." Her eyes move to my friend and brother "I am sorry Hailey, this is Tris my best friend from Dauntless and my older brother Four,"

"Oh my good god, peace and love to you both." She hugged them, I sighed but after her Robert put his arm around Tris too "Hello Beatrice,"

"Just Tris," she said "Hello Robert,"

"We should eat," Tobias steered us away

We sit "Here Tris drink this," I poured her a drink shoving it under her nose "Drink this. It will help you sleep, it helps some of the others sleep. No dreams."

She drinks it without questions, I hope it's because she trusts me not to poison her "She needs sleep, take her to my old room. Mother said it was still mine," Hailey smiled "Johanna left it for you, we will have another bed brought in," I smiled "Thank you Hailey," I watched Tris being led away.

I sit with Tobias "Do you think they will let us stay?"

"Yes, for some time, but we will have to stay in line. And with Peter that is rather hard, we should have just killed him."

"I agree, but you never know when he will be use full," Tobias said looking at me "Come on let's get some sleep," he said helping me up.

I lay in bed seeing Tris sleeping as I let the tears fall, I miss Eric, miss the feel of his arms, the sound of his heart beat. I don't know when but I fall asleep, I bolt upright in bed and I almost scream his name.

I am covered in sweat, my body shaking as I sob, I can't stop it anymore. But warm arms wrap around me "I bet he misses you too Ava, I mean its Eric. He let you go when he was hunting you. I bet right now he is thinking about you too," heart wrenching sobs filled our room, I felt so weak.

"I hate that I miss him Tris, I hate feeling weak,"

"Love isn't weak, look at my parents Ava. Love drove them to do what they did," I gave a nod, trying to clean my face.

"Where is your gun?" I ask "Under my bed," she smiled.

"I hid my dagger too, I wasn't about to give it up. Mother can be mad later," but deep down, I knew it would come in handy.

I stood in a top as we made our beds someone knocks on my door. I sit on the edge of the bed and try to smooth my hair down.

"Come in," I say the door opens, and Tobias steps halfway in, the door dividing his body in half. He wears the same jeans as yesterday, but a dark red T-shirt instead of his black one, probably borrowed from one of the Amity.

"The Amity are meeting in a half hour." He quirks his eyebrows and adds, with a touch of melodrama.

"To decide our fate"

"Great, we better dress and head to the dome,"

"Have you been crying Ava," Tobias comes in touching my shoulder "It is nothing," I look away.

"Tobias, its fine. We will talk later," Tris says. "Oh Tris, I brought you something." He unscrews the cap of a small bottle and holds out a dropper filled with clear liquid. "Pain medicine. Take a drop full every six hours."

"Thanks." She squeezed the dropper into the back of her throat. The medicine tastes like old lemon, I have had it many, many times. They hug as I just watch "I'll let you ladies get ready," he smiles walking out.

She has on yellow shorts with a red top, I laugh putting on a yellow pair of light weight shorts with a matching yellow light knit tank top with brown and yellow sandals. "Tris, take any clothes, they are mine and we are the same size or near enough." My chest size is just a few sizes bigger.

"Thanks," she had a pair of brown sandals on as we walked out he women's bathroom is two doors down. The floor is dark brown tile, and each shower stall has wooden walls and a plastic curtain separating it from the central aisle. A sign on the back wall says

REMEMBER: TO CONSERVE RESOURCES, SHOWERS RUN FOR ONLY FIVE MINUTES.

I wait as Tris showers, I hold a towel before we head back to my room and she redressed. She just looks at herself "Cut my hair,"

"Are you serious?" I looked at her "Do it now," I grabbed scissors her blonde hair falling as I cut using her jaw as a guide, the back is shorter, I like it, a warrior cut.

I stand back cleaning all her blonde locks of hair as she just stares at herself, her friend Susan comes to talk so I leave them, even though Tris doesn't look as if she wanted me to leave.

I just wait outside the door watching, I feel more like an outsider now, even though as a two year old I ran the halls screaming and laughing with others. It doesn't take long before Susan walks out looking at me before walking away, I just walk back in.

But we are ready when Tobias comes, but Caleb and my brother stare at Tris as if isn't the girl she was before, but my brother likes it you can see it in his eyes. "You cut your hair," says Caleb, his eyebrows high. Grabbing hold of facts in the midst of shock is very Erudite of him.

"Yeah," Tris says. "It's … too hot for long hair."

"Fair enough," Tobias says with a cheeky smile.

"Are you going to butcher your hair?" Caleb asked "I rather like mine, I grew up in Amity so the heat doesn't bother me. I like her hair, I was the one to cut it. Have a problem with it?"

"Oh…no" he stumbled over his few words.

We walk down the hallway together. The floorboards creak beneath our feet. I miss the way my footsteps echoed in the Dauntless compound; I miss the cool underground air.

Caleb frowns at him. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Eighteen."

"And you don't think you're too old to be with my little sister?"

Tobias lets out a short laugh. "She isn't your little anything." But pain is all I feel hearing Tobias saying that to Eric 'Get away from my little sister,'

"Stop it, the both of you," Tris smiled, she was amused.

A crowd of people in yellow walks ahead of us, toward a wide, squat building made entirely of glass. The sunlight reflecting off the panes feels like a pinch to my eyes. I shield my face with my hand and keep walking.

The doors to the building are wide open. Around the edge of the circular greenhouse plants and trees grow in troughs of water or small pools. Dozens of fans positioned around the room serve only to blow the hot air around, so I am already sweating.

But that fades from my mind when the crowd before me thins and I see the rest of the room. In its center grows a huge tree. Its branches are spread over most of the greenhouse, and its roots bubble up from the ground, forming a dense web of bark. In the spaces between the roots, I see not dirt but water, and metal rods holding the roots in place. I should not be surprised—the Amity spend their lives accomplishing feats of agriculture like this one, with the help of Erudite technology. It was like I had forgotten all these wonderful little things in just the few weeks I was gone, but seeing them brings everything reeling back.

"Amazing, isn't it?" I pointed to Tris who was looking at it to.

"Truly,"

Standing on a cluster of roots is mother, they are like many parts of a single mind, and Johanna is their mouthpiece, their leader. The Amity sit on the floor, most with their legs crossed, in knots and clusters that vaguely resemble the tree roots the Abnegation sit in tight rows a few yards to my left.

I sit seeing Tobias whispering to Tris, she smiles and she sits next to me but leans into him his arm around her.

By the time Mother Johanna lifts her head I am worn to the bone.

"We have before us today an urgent question," she says, "which is: How will we conduct ourselves in this time of conflict as people who pursue peace?"

Every Amity in the room turns to the person next to him or her and starts talking.

"How do they get anything done?' Tris questions.

"They don't care about efficiency," Tobias says, I hit him.

"They care about agreement. Watch." I add, I have seen it a couple times I point out.

Two women in yellow dresses a few feet away rise and join a trio of men. A young man shifts so that his small circle becomes a large one with the group next to him. All around the room, the smaller crowds grow and expand, and fewer and fewer voices fill the room, until there are only three or four. I can only hear pieces of what they say: "Peace—Dauntless—Erudite—safe house—involvement—"

"This is bizarre," Tris says, I stifle a laugh, it can be to an outsider.

"I think it's beautiful," he says.

When everyone has said his or her piece, they sit down again, leaving Johanna alone in the center of the room. She angles her body toward us and folds her hands in front of her.

"Be calm Tris" I grin.

"Our faction has had a close relationship with Erudite for as long as any of us can remember. We need each other to survive, and we have always cooperated with each other," says Mother Johanna. "But we have also had a strong relationship with Abnegation in the past, and we do not think it is right to revoke the hand of friendship when it has for so long been extended."

Her voice is honey-sweet, and moves like honey too, slow and careful. I wipe the sweat from my hairline with the back of my hand.

"We feel that the only way to preserve our relationships with both factions is to remain impartial and uninvolved," she continues. "Your presence here, though welcome, complicates that."

I sigh.

"We have arrived at the conclusion that we will establish our faction headquarters as a safe house for members of all factions," she says, "under a set of conditions. The first is that no weaponry of any kind is allowed on the compound. The second is that if any serious conflict arises, whether verbal or physical, all involved parties will be asked to leave. The third is that the conflict may not be discussed, even privately, within the confines of this compound. And the fourth is that everyone who stays here must contribute to the welfare of this environment by working."

Her stare drifts to Tobias, Tris, and me, and stays there, I smile.

"You are welcome to stay here if and only if you can abide by our rules," she says. "That is our decision." I only feel half bad about the gun and dagger we have hidden.

"We won't be able to stay long, it just wouldn't be wise," I say to Tobias under my breath.

A moment ago, he was still faintly smiling. Now the corners of his mouth have disappeared into a frown. "No, we won't," he agrees with me as Tris just watches us talk. She looks thoughtful and sad.

"Let's go," I stood walking out giving a nod to my mother, chores would be assigned later "So, soon we will know what we will be assigned to do," I watched as people started their daily routine.

We spent the day picking fruit, Tobias was loading trucks, and Susan was a shy girl. Hailey tried to talk to her many times, I gathered she was dating her brother Robert. Tris wouldn't have made a very good Amity, I think I have told her that many times over the course of today. But now people head to wash before supper we have about an hour, I pull her out into the fields.

We train, not letting our skills go to waste, she moves gliding to the right avoiding the stick, time goes by, my knuckles raw "Dinner time ladies," I know his voice, Tris turns her face always lights up when my brother arrives.

"We are coming," She says as we make our way.

Thank you for reading, leave a review if you'd like or pm me with any questions that would need a detailed answer.