Hello again my lovely readers! I still haven't seen Insurgent because the people I was going with keep canceling. I meant to have this up sooner, but I've been sick (shocker, right?) and I found out that I have an autoimmune disease; basically the rest my body has decided that it no longer wants to be friends with my thyroid and therefore my thyroid must die. So yeah, tons of doctors' visits and me sleeping a lot does not equal fast updates.
***Announcement*** - So, I have no idea if you guys care enough to be interested, but I decided to make a Tumblr blog for my fanfic account. I'll post stuff like cover art, playlists, and other graphics for my stories. Again, you guys may not be interested at all but I thought it would be cool. It's still under construction but the link is on my profile if you are interested.
Welcome to everyone who is new, I don't think a day has passed since I posted chapter 6 that I haven't gotten a notification, so thank you guys!
BK2U – I guess 'mad' wasn't the correct word to use. I know that when I finally watch it, the changes will annoy me while I watch, but that won't stop me from re-watching or buying the movie. I have just stopped looking at it as Insurgent the book being made into a movie and trying to look at it as a fanfic version of Insurgent in movie form. And yeah, sometimes you need to take a moment to move from one setting to another, hopefully this chapter is more interesting. :D
catch39 - Glad you liked it! And both of those are very likely predictions/observations. ;)
Chapter 7
Gabby's POV
"My name is David. As Zoe probably told you already, I am the leader of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. I'm going to do my best to explain things."
As David begins his lengthy explanation of why our city was founded I find myself tuning him out. It's the same speech that I heard a little over a year ago, most of the questions that the others are asking are ones I asked, and with the exception of a few sarcastic comments from Eric it's the exact conversation that I had with David and Alvin when I woke up here.
My legs are already sore from the increase in physical activity tonight, I can only imagine how miserable I'm going to be tomorrow. I'm exhausted, between worrying about Four getting Eric out safely and getting up early to say goodbye to my family before we got things together to leave, I barely slept last night.
I have been ignoring the others for a few minutes now, lost in my own thoughts as I worry about what David will say when he dismisses the others. I hear Caleb asking a question and it pulls me back to the conversation.
"So what you're saying is that if we're not Divergent, we're damaged?" He asks, sounding like he is completely crushed.
I am expecting a snarky remark from Eric, a 'Well, we all knew there was something wrong with you' or a 'I don't know about everyone else, but your brain is definitely damaged', but it never comes. When I look back up at Eric he looks about as deflated as Caleb sounds.
It occurs to me now that it must be so much worse for him than it is the others. Like everyone else, he is going through the pain of finding out that his entire life up until today was a lie, but on top of that he has just found out that one of the main beliefs that Erudite drilled into him was the opposite of the truth. Not to mention that along with finding out that was he wrong about Divergents he also just found out that because he isn't one he is damaged.
"Genetically damaged, yes," David replies after a moment, before launching into an explanation, which apparently he thought was helpful, of how the faction system helped to disguise the behavioral issues normally associated with damaged genes.
"I'm smart," Caleb begins, still sounding like he is crushed, "So you're saying that because my ancestors were altered to be smart, I, their descendant, can't be fully compassionate? I, and every other genetically damaged person, am limited by my damaged genes. And the Divergent are not."
I can still see the gears turning in Eric's head and the shock in his grey eyes. He told me once, while he was helping me get through the fear sims without getting myself killed, that his aptitude test result was Dauntless. I don't know why it never occurred to me that this would be this painful for him. It wasn't that big of a deal to me because I was being told that being Divergent didn't make me weird or mean that my brain wasn't working properly, I was being told that it made me pure and meant that my brain was functioning like everyone's brain was meant to.
Eric, on the other hand, was being told that he was broken, damaged in a way that he could do nothing about. That he was brave, but at the cost of being cruel and unable to properly show compassion.
"Well, think about it," David replies to Caleb's statements with a shrug.
"Genes aren't everything," Amar adds, "People, even genetically damaged people, make choices. That's what matters."
I squeeze Eric's hand and reach over with my free hand to rub his arm, knowing that there isn't much more I could do in this setting without making him feel weak in front of everyone else. Eric doesn't turn to look at me, he continues to stare at one of the blank screens, his eyes glazed over as he thinks.
"This is a lot to process," David finally adds. I hear Christina snort at the older man's understatement and I would normally expect a sarcastic remark from Eric, but he is still silently staring at the screen. "And you've been up all night," David continues, ignoring the reactions of the others, "So Zoe will show you to a place where you can get some rest and food."
"Wait," Tris interjects. I can tell from the way that she is looking at the screens what she is going to ask, "You said you've been observing us. How?"
This seems to bring Eric back from wherever his mind has been. He shakes his head ever so slightly, his eyes focusing on David once again. David nods to someone at one of the desk and all of the screens light back up, each showing a different area of the city. Eric's eyes scan the screens but he doesn't seem anywhere near as surprised as the others, probably because he worked for Jeanine for so long. He knew that the Dauntless monitored the city and the fence, he also knew that Erudite used cameras all over the city to watch us. This just adds another set of people to the list of groups who have invaded our privacy.
As if he is reading my mind, David adds, "You've always known that the Dauntless observe the city with security cameras. Well, we have access to those cameras too."
After a moment of stunned silence, Zoe steps forward, "Let me take you to where you'll be staying so that you can get some rest and let all of this sink in."
The others follow her toward the door in stunned silence, except for Alvin, who David told to stay, and Eric. He turns to look at me finally and I smile up at him sadly, hoping that he isn't upset with me for not telling him sooner.
"You can go with them as well, Eric," David instructs, "I need to have a word with Gabriella."
His tone is deceptively pleasant, but I can tell that David is definitely mad. I squeeze Eric's hand, trying to reassure him, but he shakes his head, "I'm not leaving her."
"I'm afraid that I'll need you to," David replies stoically.
He opens his mouth to say something but I turn and gently place a hand on his chest, "It'll be okay, I'll be right behind you."
He gives me a look, before looking back at David, "Alright, but I'm waiting outside."
David nods his approval of this compromise, watching Eric as he leaves before turning back to Alvin and I.
"I'm not even sure where to begin," He says giving us both a look that reminds me of my father when I got a lower score on a test than he thought I should have. "Your escapade endangered the entire experiment." He turns, focusing his full attention on Alvin now, "Not only did you interfere in the delicate eco system of the city, but you also endangered the live of one of the Divergents from inside. Not to mention that by taking her back in there with you, you have exposed us to the possibility of having to reset Chicago."
My eyes widen at his last words, my mind immediately flashing back to those I left behind. I think of my parents and Andrew forgetting who I am. I think Meghan and Justin, I think of Zeke forgetting his brother.
I turn to look at Alvin, he is staring at his shoes and I feel a pang of guilt. I don't regret going back for Eric, but I do feel bad that it has put Alvin in such a bad position. I also can't lose everything I left in the city permanently. I take a step forward, ready to defend Alvin and argue that there is no reason to rush to reset the City. "David, he-" I begin, only to be cut off by the older man.
"Don't try and defend him, he is just as responsible for this mess as you are." He pauses taking a deep breath, "Do you have any idea what you've done by telling people within the city about even small parts of what is beyond the fence?"
"I only told Eric and Tori," I reply, my voice coming out much smaller and weak this time. "Eric is here now and Tori…"
He takes another exasperated breath once I trail off, "Yes, but we have no idea what they have told to other people." He stares at me for a moment before glancing back at Alvin, "I'm placing you on suspension, and don't try to argue with me about it, I should fire you."
"Yes, sir," Alvin replies.
"I'll have to have you closely monitored until I have evidence that I can trust you again," He says turning back to me. "I've arranged for you to meet Celeste at her office at eleven tomorrow morning to run some tests, I believe you know where that is."
I feel my hand instinctively move to my stomach, my protective instincts coming to the forefront as my hand graces the small baby bump. "Why would I need to meet her at her lab?" I try to ask calmly, although it comes out as a growl. I try to ignore the memories of Jeanine's endless tests and my nightmares. I feel a shiver run down my spine.
David seems to realize what he has done, putting his hands up defensively, "We just want to have someone check on the baby's health. An ultrasound and some blood work just to make sure that everything's okay after all you've been through. We have some information from tests Jeanine ran, but you weren't far enough along for her to do a lot of testing on the fetus and quite a bit of what she did manage to get was corrupted or deleted by your brother before it could be properly examined."
I feel a familiar pang of lose go through me at the mention of Andrew, I knew that he had helped Eric hide who the baby's father was as best he could but I didn't know that he had done it on more than one test.
"Just an ultrasound and blood work?" I ask slowly, studying his face carefully.
"You have my word," He replies, before giving me a look, "Unless of course you volunteered for some genetic testing on it, but that wouldn't be quite yet, we wouldn't want to run the risk of you miscarrying."
"Absolutely not," I reply without a moment's hesitation.
He nods, "I figured you would say that. I would feel a lot more secure in knowing that the child will have healed genes if you had picked a man who wasn't genetically damaged to have a child with."
I can feel my hands beginning to tremble, I need to get away from here before I punch him for talking about Eric that way and for insinuating that I would pick a significant other by their level of genetic purity, even if that is how people out here think.
I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I think about trying to reason with him about the city while I've got his full attention tonight, but I am already exhausted and I know that he won't reset the experiment on impulse. He'll wait as long as he possibly can in the hopes that it won't have to be done. I'll talk to Eric and Four about it before I try to argue with David.
"Am I free to go now," I ask, the irritation coming through in my tone. He nods and I turn, heading for the door. I enter the long hallway that leads back to the main lobby, finding Eric leaning against the wall a few feet from the entrance.
"Hey," I say with a small smile, "Are you okay?"
He stands up straight, studying me for a moment before shrugging, "Yeah, I'm great."
I close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around him. "I should have told you everything, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to put you in more danger."
He shakes his head, "Again, a heads up would have been nice, but you didn't mess with my genes. You didn't take away my ability to show compassion correctly." He pauses, pulling back slightly and running a hand through his dark hair, "You didn't make me choose the wrong side in all of this."
I pull back a little bit more, just until we are far enough apart for me to look him in the eyes, "Eric, I-"
He shakes his head again before cutting me off, "No, I screwed up. I picked the side I did for selfish reasons. I wanted to protect you from Jeanine no matter what that meant that I had to do, and then later when I thought I lost you, I stayed on that side because you were the only person who saw me and not the monster that they made me into. Amar was right, it doesn't matter what genes I inherited, I made those decisions." He pauses for a moment, staring down the hall toward the front lobby. After a minute or two he turns back to me, "I don't regret anything that I did to protect you, and everything else is in the past, I can't take it back now. I don't get a do over, I have to live with what I did and the blood on my hands."
I have no idea what to say or what to do. I want to try to deny what he's saying, but it would be useless trying to lie to him now. I've always made it clear that I don't agree with some of his actions and there are decisions I wish he hadn't made, but I've always known that my Eric was still in there behind the harsh facade he puts up. Since I don't know what else to do, I lean back into him and wrap my arms around him.
XXXXXXXX
The next morning, I wake up in one of the beds closer to the dorm's door with Eric's arms wrapped around me. He is still snoring softly, which doesn't surprise me since we stayed up until learly this morning talking. About the city being reset, about this place, about the baby; a little bit of everything. I fell asleep around three but he was still awake when I got up to use the restroom at six. I am still laying with my eyes closed, listening to the sounds of Eric breathing and hoping that I can fall back asleep, when I hear a familiar voice.
"I just got back," The voice says between gasps for air and I suddenly feel like I'm going to be sick. "They told me my sister set out with you guys, and –" George cuts himself off when he sees me sit up, "Gabby, you're back." He smiles at me and I can feel my eyes welling up. Not so much because I knew Tori that well, but because I know how learning that Andrew was dead would absolutely shatter me.
He begins to glance around the room at the other's faces and I climb out of bed, taking a couple steps toward him, "George, I-"
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" George cuts me off, he looks back at me for a moment before shaking his head, "No."
I shake my head, feeling a tear roll down my cheek, "The factionless attacked us as soon as we left the city, she… she didn't make it."
"No," He says again, looking like is trying to pretend he heard me wrong.
"She gave her life defending us," Tris adds in gentle tone I have never heard from her.
After a beat Four adds, "Without her, none of us would have made it out."
"She's… dead?" George asks and I close the distance between us. George and I weren't super close, but we had bonded in the year I was here over the loss of our respective siblings who were still inside the experiment.
"I'm so sorry," I say softly, wrapping my arms around him, even though he is too shocked to hug me back. After a moment I pull him toward the door where Amar is now watching.
"I tried to find you earlier to tell you," Amar says once we are in the hall, someone else must have told him, probably Four.
I hug George again before pulling back and whipping my eyes with the sleeve of my, well Eric's, sweatshirt. "I was with her when she died," I say softly and both men look at me. "I had told her that you were still alive a couple months ago," I say and George nods that he knew that. I smile at him sadly. "She just wanted me to make sure you knew how sorry she was that she didn't make it here to see you again. I know that she would have done anything to get here."
George mumbles thank you, his eyes glassing over with tears as Amar pulls him into a hug before leading him back down the hall.
Once they have disappeared I find myself still standing in the hallway, tears rolling down my cheeks. I can't imagine what he must be going through and it makes me sad for him. It also makes me wonder if I'll ever see Andrew again, which makes me cry harder. I'm sure the pregnancy hormones aren't helping either.
I am still trying to calm down when I feel Eric's muscular arms wrap around me. I turn myself around to face him and bury my face in his neck. Once I have finally calmed myself down I pull away. He wipes a stray tear away with the pad of his thumb. "Are you hungry?" He ask, trying to change the subject to something that won't make me cry more.
I nod, although I don't actually feel like eating right now. I follow him back into the dorm and he grabs two muffins out of the basket someone brought for us. We sit at the head of the bed with our backs to the wall and eat. I've been picking at my muffin for a while when it hits me just how tired I still am.
I glance at the clock, it's 9:50 which means I still have over an hour before I need to meet Celeste. I set the muffin down and rest my head on Eric's shoulder. I must fall asleep because the next thing I know I hear Uriah's voice and someone touches my shoulder.
"Gabby," He says softly, trying not to startle me.
It doesn't work. I jump slightly and my eyes fly open, a second later Eric, who must have fallen asleep too, does the same thing. "Hmm?" I ask once my eyes have focused on my friend's face.
"Sorry," He replies, looking rather tired himself, "There is a lady at the door looking for you. She said something about you missing an appointment."
I glance up at the clock on the wall, it's nearly 11:30. "Dangit," I growl, sitting up and looking for my shoes. I glance over my shoulder at the exhausted man behind me, "We were supposed to be at the doctor's office half an hour ago."
He nods, yawning as he climbs off the bed and grabs his own shoes. When we are both as ready as you can be when you have only been awake for five minutes, I lead Eric out of the room and we follow Celeste back to her lab.
When we walk in, she has everything already set up and ready to go. She has me step onto a scale, making a note of my weight before motioning for me to sit down on the edge of the examination table. "Can you take your sweat shirt off for me, please?" I comply, tossing the shirt to Eric and pulling the tank top I am wearing underneath down self-consciously. She studies me for a moment, before turning to grab a few things off of the counter. "You're what, approximately thirteen weeks along by your own calculations?"
"Yeah," I reply after a moment, running a hand over my stomach.
She nods, before coming back to where I am sitting. She taps the inside of my elbow a couple of times before she sees a vein that will work. She ties a rubber band around my upper arm and grabs a syringe and a couple of vials.
"What are you testing for?" Eric asks through another yawn.
"Just the usual," She informs him while she waits for the first vial to fill, "Checking for any medical conditions that might endanger the fetus and making sure that all of Gabby's levels are normal." She next takes my blood pressure before she has me lie down and pull my shirt up so that she can examine my stomach. She feels around for a moment, making sure that nothing feels abnormal before listing with her stethoscope.
"So far, so good," She advises with a kind smile.
I feel myself start to loosen up a little now that I know that she hasn't noticed anything majorly wrong so far. She gets her equipment ready and begins the ultrasound, squeezing cold gel onto my exposed stomach.
She has been rubbing the transducer around on my stomach for a while when I hear her mumble, "Interesting."
"What's interesting?" Eric asks from the side of the table where he is holding my hand.
"Well, this," She replies moving the wand around for a moment before pointing to something on the screen that means absolutely nothing to me, "This is a placenta." She pauses for a moment scanning the screen before pointing to another spot, "And that, is a second placenta."
"That's ridiculous," I mumble incredulously, "Wouldn't I be bigger than I am if I was having twins?"
"Not necessarily given that you're a first time mom and the amount of stress you've been under," She replies.
I glance back at Eric, his face has completely drained of color, his eyes bouncing between the two spots on the screen, "I think I misheard you."
Celeste chuckles, "It's actually not that surprising, given your family history, Gabby." I stare at her for a moment and my confusion must be obvious because she gives me a sympathetic look. She grabs a tablet from the counter, tapping the screen a couple of times before handing it to me. "I pulled up your chart, including your family tree, before your visit. Just to check for history of genetic disorders and any medical problems you might have."
I scan the screen for a moment before my eyes land on my father's name, Martin Lester EE, and a horizontal line connecting it to Madeline (Wilson) Lester CE, my mother.
"Candor born, chose Erudite," Celeste advises, pointing to the CE next to my mother's name.
I nod before looking back down at the tablet. A line drops down from that line to Andrew and I's names, but it is the line going up from my mother's name that catches my eye now. I can only remember one time that my mother spoke about her childhood. When I was seven or eight I was helping her clean our apartment one weekend when she came across a small bracelet that had fallen behind her dresser.
When I asked about it she had chuckled, "It's just a silly trinket." She had paused, studying it for another moment before adding, "A gift from someone back in Candor." She had a tendency to speak her mind and was sometimes brutally honest, so this didn't surprised me, but hearing her talk about the past was so strange that the memory stuck with me.
The line going up from my mother's name connects to Jarrod Wilson CC and Margaret (Blanchard) Wilson EC, her parents. Another horizontal line also connects to the name Marie (Wilson) Burrows CC.
I glance back up at my doctor and she leans closer, tapping Marie and my mother's name to show more information. The birth dates are the same. I stare at the screen for a while longer before looking up at Eric who has been watching over my shoulder, "She had a twin."
"Fraternal twin," Celeste adds with a smile, "Just like yours."
It's such an odd feeling, learning something from a complete stranger about someone that you lived in a three bedroom apartment with for sixteen years. "Twins," I say, my eyes still glued to the screen.
I thought that Eric could never look more terrified than he did the moment Jeanine told him I was pregnant, but I was wrong. When I look up he is staring at the screen vacantly but after a moment he turns his attention back to me, locking his gray eyes with mine before murmuring, "Twins."
Okay, so before the naysayers come and give me crap for the whole 'twins' thing being overdone in fanfic, I have my reasons. And I don't think that there are many plot points that have never been done before in fanfiction. I didn't choose this because other people have used it, nor would I have even considered that at all when I was planning out my story.
Any-who, let me know what you thought in the review section if you have a moment. I will talk to you guys next time ;) Have a great rest of your week!