Here is the next up date. I hope you all like it. More brother and sister bonding and stuff like that.
Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent and Insurgent.
Chapter 10: Controlling.
We walk to the table and I chose to sit on the other side of Bass, who sits next to Tris. Uriah sits next to me with Lynn and Marlene. Caleb sits next to Tris and Bass.
"I overheard someone talking about Eric's interrogation in the lunch line. Apparently he knew almost nothing about Jeanine's plan." Uriah announces before sitting down. He's upset. I lower my head and start eating the sandwich.
"What?" Lynn drops her fork. "How is that even possible?"
"I'm not surprised." Caleb says and everyone stares at him. "What? It would be stupid to confide your entire plan to one person. It's infinitely smarter to give little pieces of it to each person working with you, that way, it someone betrays you, the loss isn't too great." He explains.
"Oh." Uriah says.
"Eric said the same thing." I state once I swallow. Everyone looks at me and I look up barely.
"You were in there?" Lynn asks.
"What happen to your arm?" Marlene asks concerned. I look at her first.
"I'm fine. A shoulder wound that they decided to bind." Then at Lynn. "Yes, long story but I was in there for a little bit. Nothing important that he didn't tell me before going under." I take another bite of the sandwich.
"So are the rumors true?" Caleb asks. I glace at him and scoff.
"I don't know many of them so how can I know that, you're the genius. Figure that out on your own." I grumble and Bass steps on my foot. "GOD!" I look at him. "You know how I hate pointless questions." I seethe through my teeth because of the pain.
"I heard the Candor made Ice cream." Marlene speaks up. "You know, as a kind of 'it sucks we got attacked, but at least there are desserts' things." I smile a little bit and hold in a laugh.
"I feel better already." Lynn jokes dryly.
"Probably won't be as good as Dauntless cake." Marlene is upset with that thought. So am I.
"We had cake." Tris tells Caleb.
"We have fizzy drinks." He tells her.
"Ah, but did you have a ledge overlooking an underground river? Or a room where you face all your nightmares at once?" Marlene asks him with a smirk.
"Oh, God. They are not nightmares. Its fears. If they were nightmares, I would be screwed." I speak up and the Dauntless at the table laugh.
"No, and to be honest, I'm kind of okay with that." He tells her.
"Sissy," Marlene mocks him.
"All your fears? How does that work? I mean are the fears produced by the computer or by your brain?" Caleb asks.
"Oh God. Here we go." Lynn took the words right out of my word.
000
I stand in the group of Dauntless, next to Bass and I feel a little better. We are in the interrogation room with Jack Kang. He had just quieted everyone down. A loud sound comes from outside and I grip Bass's hand in my left one. I hate lighting. He doesn't fight me and accepts it.
"I know many of you are confused and shaken by what happen yesterday." So I was only out for a few hours. That's good. "I have heard many reports from a variety of perspectives, and have gotten a sense for what is straightforward and what requires more investigation." Jack says. I hold in a shutter when a clash of thunder hits outside. "What seems to me to require more investigation, is the divergents." Jack looks around the room and I see him finally, fully. He hasn't slept at all. "If you're a divergent, please step forward so that we can hear from you." I feel my hand being pull by Bass I look at him and he is walking forward. So I follow. He would have let go of my hand if he wasn't sure. He has to wedge his way through, but once people notice I'm coming, they move and clear a way for us. His shoulders are back and I let go of his hand and follow close behind him. People around us start to move and more people join us. I feel Tris grab my hand and I look around for Uriah, but he remains with the rest of the normal people. "You, Marcus?" my head snaps to the side and I see my father a few feet from us. I let go of Tris's hand and grab Bass's again. More for his sake than mine. But it helps me.
"Yes." He says. "I understand that you are concerned –that you all are concerned. You had never heard of the divergent a week ago and now all that you know is they are immune to something to which you are susceptible, and that is a frightening thing. But I can assure you that there is nothing to be afraid of, as far as we are concerned." He speaks with sympathy. I know that man has none to speak of. I think I get my acting abilities from him. The only thing from him.
"It seems clear to me, that we were attacked so that the Erudite could find the divergent. Do you know why that is?" Jack asks him. That man isn't truthful.
"No, I do not. Perhaps their intention was merely to identify us. It seems like useful information to have, if they intend to use their simulation again." Marcus says with eloquences. Erudite born, there is no doubt.
"That was not their intention." Tris snaps and I grab Bass's hand tightly. "They wanted to kill us. They've been killing us since before any of this happened."
"That sounds very much like a conspiracy theory." Jack says. "What reason would the Erudite have to kill you?" He is getting on my nerves.
"I…" Tris can't answer and I start.
"Why don't you ask the divergent hunter you have kept alive." I snap. "I'm sure he can prove to you that it isn't a conspiracy theory." Bass lets go of my hand and rests a hand on my shoulder and I shut up.
"We don't know why. But there has been nearly a dozen mysterious deaths recorded among the Dauntless from the past six years, and there is a correlation between those people and irregular aptitude tests results or initiation simulation results." Bass takes over explaining and there is a crash of thunder.
"While that is intriguing, correlation does not constitute evidence." Jack says firmly. Like we are children and don't know what we're talking about.
"A dauntless leader shot a Candor child in the head."Tris snaps as frustration rises in me. "Did you get a report of that? Did that seem 'worthy of investigation'?"
"In fact I did." Jack says calmly. "And shooting a child in cold blood is a terrible crime that cannot go unpunished. Fortunately, we have the perpetrator in custody and will be able to put him on trial. However, we must keep in mind that the dauntless soldiers did not give any evidence of wanting to harm the majority of us, or they would have killed us while we were unconscious." The room gets louder. Majority? What about everyone? "Their peaceful invasion suggests to me that is may be possible to negotiate a peace treaty with the Erudite and the other dauntless. So I will arrange a meeting with Jeanine Matthews to discuss that possibility as soon as possible." I can't handle it anymore. I shake Bass's hand off of me and glare at Jack.
"Majority!? Are you kidding me? Because he didn't hurt the Majority of the people here means that their intentions were Peaceful. Because we were able to stop it before more blood was shed that their intentions were Peaceful. I get it." I shout over the thunder and point at the people that didn't say they were divergent. "Because the majority was not threatened with their life, that things are fine. Eric only killed one little child. But because he wasn't a part of the majority, it's okay." I scoff and shake my head. "But what about that little boy's family? They aren't thinking this was a peaceful invasion. His parents are suffering a lost and your say evidence shows that's was a PEACEFUL INVASION! Those words cannot go together. Ask any Erudite here. Invasion, The word you used, means Attack and Assault. Those two words you will never find in Amity, the peaceful." I take in a deep breath. "Just because there was no evidence of it, thanks to an Erudite, doesn't mean that it wasn't the intention. And it's not right to single a group out because we are different. Just because one of us died today, doesn't mean that you are safe." I look Jake dead in the eye. "Ask Eric about the murders he done during the last two years, then asks him about the murders that happen before he became a leader. Dauntless, one thing we do great is being loud." I turn on my heels and walk out of the room. I'm done. There is another crash of lightening and the room goes dark and I'm out of the room and heading to the elevator. I press the third floor and I'm going to go take a nap.
000
"There is a hot girl in your bed." I hear someone's voice above me. "And she's injured."
"Enough, she's tired. Let her sleep, man." That's Uriah's voice. I move my left hand from underneath my head and reach out and try to find his hand. I grip it and pull it down weakly.
"Uriah, don't talk about me when I'm sleeping. I wake up." I mumble out sleepily as I pull him down. "I'm cold." I tell him as I move over a bit. "Join me."
"Damn, is this Andy?" That voice seems familiar. I open my eyes and see the hand isn't Uriah's. I look up the arm and blink.
"Zeke." I yawn out. "Get out of here you dirty traitor and get back to spying." I mumble as I let go of his hand and sit up. Uriah is sitting on the very end of the bed. I lean on his shoulder and shut my eyes. "Why is your spy for a brother here?" I yawn.
"He wanted a bunk and there was one open next to mine." He informs me.
"My bunk now." I mumble as I snuggle my head into his shoulder. "You can sleep with me though." I hear Zeke laugh. That's when my mind processes it. Zeke is back. I wake up instantly and stand up and hug him as tight as I can with one arm. "I'm glad your back." It takes him a moment to hug back with my one arm.
"You missed me?" He asks confused. I pull back and smile.
"Of course, you might be a pain in the ass, but you are still a part of my family group." I tell him as I sit back down on the bunk next to Uriah.
"That's touching." Zeke laughs. "Never thought I would see you in such a short skirt and tight shirt." He smirks. Just like Will.
"You can thank Marlene and Lynn for that. I haven't got a chance to change yet from yesterday…?" I look at Uriah.
"Yeah, just a few hours ago you stormed out of the meeting." He says as he nudges me. "The dauntless seem to agree with you and Tris." I nod.
"That's good. I think the lightening was a great touch." I laugh and push him back. "Anyway, have you seen my brother any where? I was going to spend the day with him." I look around.
"Wait, wait, What? You stormed out of the meeting? You yelled?" Zeke asks. I don't think I ever yelled around him. Only Uriah, in this little group I think.
"Yeah. Jack was being rude and only caring about the majority." I shrug my shoulder and look at Uriah. "So do you know where?"
"Said something about fourth floor. Kang is planning on the meeting." I nod.
"I will find him." I stand up and hug him gently before walking off to find Bass. The trip is faster than normal. There seems to be no people on the fourth floor. Looking around, I notice this is the floor with the medical wing. I'm really getting annoyed with the bind, but I will worry about that later. So I walk around quietly until I hear or see my brother.
"Seven." I hear a low voice from around the corner. So I plaster my back to the wall and peer around carefully.
"In the morning, there will be a representative." A female voice now. I see three people. One of them is my brother. The older male worked in the tattoo place with Tori and the other woman I'm not sure I seen her before. I look at Bass. His arms are crossed and he is listening intently. "Jeanine will not show up herself." He nods. I move away from the wall and over to the private conversation as if I belong there.
"It wouldn't be smart of her. Not with part of Dauntless here who are willing to take a shot at her." I interject. The two turn around and look surprised. But Bass doesn't. "You shouldn't have a secret conversation out in the middle of the hallway. Good thing Candor doesn't have cameras." I smirk as I join the group.
"How long were you there?" The female asks. I shrug my shoulders and look at Bass.
"Doesn't matter." I say. "Anyway, you and I planning to sneak behind them and spy on them?"
"Not you." Bass states as he glance at my right arm. I roll my eyes.
"This is just a stupid thing they decided to do. I will be able to get it off and be able to go. Besides, you need someone that can have your back if something goes down." I protest. "My aim is still better than anyone else you decided to let come with you." Bass glances at the man and the female.
"If you can get the doctors to get it off… without threatening them… then you can come." I groan and roll my eyes.
"Whatever." I mumble.
"Are you coming along, Bud?" Bass asks the male.
"I will do anything I need to do." He says and Bass nods. "I think he is having me as one of his guards, so I will inform you if there is anything new."
"I will too." The female adds and they walk off, leaving Bass and I in the empty hallway.
"You look like crap." He says as we start walking the way I came.
"Of course I do. I need to shower and change my clothes." I tell him. "But first I need to get this thing off." I move my right shoulder. "Can't I just take it off?"
"Let them take it off." He states in a bored voice. "I won't let you come unless they take it off."
"I don't want to talk with any Candors right now and definitely not a medical person." I grumble. "Can't Hailey take it off? Where is she anyway?" He shrugs his shoulders.
"Haven't seen her, now let's go." I hang my head I start to regret coming to see him. This is the last thing I want to do. Bass leads me into the room I dread and a nurse come right up to us.
"Everything alright?" She asks before looking up and looking at me.
"She wants to know if she can take the brace off." Bass states when I just swallow and walk closer to him. The woman shuts her mouth and looks at me up and down. My mind starts to remind me how the belt feels on my bare back and I twitch every so often.
"Oh, her!" the woman groans as she rolls her eyes and walks off. I'm offended, but can't bring myself to protest. Bass looks at me and takes in a deep breath in. He is silently telling me to breathe, so I slowly start. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I gasp a little bit.
"Why must I face this now?" I whisper to him.
"Have to face it sometime, and the Dauntless med bay didn't count." He tells me as I watch the nurse talk to a doctor and pointing to us. I twitch again.
"It's more mental than anything." I wince out as if I was just hit with the belt. "Its pain. That beating is what I'm afraid of, I think." I tell him quietly as the doctor comes over. He doesn't says anything as he pulls back the right sleeve up and looks at something.
"The risk of infection is gone. The worst you can do now is ripping the stitches, but you dauntless don't seem to care about that." He states bluntly. I feel his fingers untie something and I feel my right arm fall. "If it rips, I'm not fixing it." I grab the fabric and go to hit him with it, but Bass's look stops me.
"I don't need you to fix shit." I snap. "I only wanted the bullet to be removed." I turn on my heel and storm out of the room with Bass in tow. "I'm done with them." I tell him once we leave the room. "I am done with them all."
"I don't blame you." Bass says as we get to the elevator. "Are you going to shower and change before we met them in the gathering place, or what?" I roll my eyes and shove him with my newly freed arm.
"Of course, I hate wearing that." I scoff.
000
Having control of my right arm and having pants on with both guns in their place feels so good and safe. I'm not as upset as before. We walk into the room and I am attacked by a piece of fabric. I finally find the edge of the curtain and throw it aside.
"Stupid thing to have. It's really pointless." I grumble as Bass walks past me.
"Some people like it for how it looks." He states as he walks. I find everyone sitting at a table near us, so we walk over. I sit on the other side of Bass as he sits next to Tris.
"Kang is going to meet with a representative of Jeanine Matthew at seven in the morning." He says.
"A representative? She's not going herself?"Zeke asks confused. He didn't get the brains.
"Yeah, and stand out in the open where a bunch of angry people with guns can take aim?"I smirk at Uriah's sarcasm. "I'd like to see her try. No, really, I would."
"Is Kang the brilliant taking a Dauntless escort, at least?" Lynn asks.
"Yes, some of the older members volunteered. Bud said he would keep his ears open and report back." Bass tells her.
"So I guess the real question is if you were Erudite, what would you say at this meeting?" Zeke says as everyone looks between Tris and I.
"What?" We say at the same time.
"You're both Divergents." Zeke states. I shake my head. What?
"So is Tobias." Tris protests.
"Yeah, but he doesn't have the aptitude for Erudite." Zeke tells her.
"And how do you know we do?" Tris asks and then points at me. "She doesn't even think she is one."
"Seems likely." He looks at me and laughs. "There is no way you're not. Doesn't it seem likely?" He asks the group and I lower my head. Uriah and Lynn nods.
"You all have functional brains, last time I checked." I scoff at Tris's comment. I don't. "You can think like the Erudite, too."
"You hadn't checked Tris." I state.
"You know what I mean." She retorts.
"But we don't have special Divergent brains!" Marlene speaks up. She reaches over the table and places a hand on each of our heads. Why is Marlene putting her hand on my head? "Come on, do your magic." I slowly lift my hand and grab her wrist gently.
"I don't have magic." I state as I remove her hand.
"Even Andy doesn't think there is such a thing as Divergent magic, Mar." Lynn says.
"And if there it, we shouldn't be consulting it." Shauna says.
"Shauna…" Zeke starts.
"Don't 'Shauna' me!" she snaps. "Don't you think someone with the aptitude for multiple factions might have a loyalty problem? If they got aptitude for Erudite, how can we be sure they aren't working for Erudite?"Shauna glares at Zeke.
"HEY!" I slam my hands on the table to get her to look at me. "Don't you dare question our loyalty. First of all that's not how it works." I stare right into her eyes. "I only got Abnegation on my test, but it doesn't mean that I'm loyal to Abnegation, How can I be loyal to them? I'm Loyal to DAUNTLESS." I glance at Tris real quick and then back at Shauna. "Tris." I shake my head. "She is loyal to dauntless. Even more than you ever could be. She was even willing to sacrifice her own life to save your judgmentally sorry ass. Your aptitude test told you that you were Dauntless. Mine told me I was Abnegation, Hers told her she can fit in three. But let's look at it this way. I am a perfect fit for Dauntless because I don't take people's crap and I stand up for myself and people I care for, Tris isn't selfless enough and is the second bravest person I know and you…" I laugh. "Are as judgment as a Candor. So I would keep my mouth shut if I were you. Because just looking at that little bit of the test, proves that it's flawed." She presses her lips together and looks back at me. "You are a great person, but you can't be start judging people on something so stupid. Divergent means different. She and Four and I are different from you and the others at the table. But really no one is like you. No one is like Zeke, or Uriah or Lynn or Marlene. So really? What are you concerned about?" She just stands up and walks off, even with Zeke's silent protesting. Everyone is silent for a moment as they look at me. "I will not let anyone judge me or my friends, even if it's a friend." Tris shakes her head.
"It's not magic." She moves on. "You just have to ask yourself what the most logical response to a particular situation is." Nobody seems to understand it. "Seriously, if I were in this situation, staring at a group of Dauntless guards and Jack Kang, I probably wouldn't resort to violence, right?"
"Well, you might, it you had your own dauntless guards. And then all it takes is one shot, bam, he's dead, and the Erudite's better off." Zeke says as if I didn't have my little out bust, Dauntless are single tracked minded.
"Whoever they send to talk to Jack Kang isn't going to be some random erudite kid; it's going to be someone important." Tris continues. "It would be a stupid move to fire on Jack Kang and risk losing whoever they send as Jeanine's representative." That makes sense.
"See! This is why we need you to analyze the situation." Zeke laughs. "If it was me, I would kill him; it would be worth the risk." I roll my eyes. Sounds like him.
"Fine." Tris sighs as she pinches her nose. She seems annoyed, so I speak up. What does she want the most?
"Jeanine isn't going to look for peace, she is looking for the divergents," I glance at Tris and Bass. "And me. So she is going to do whatever it takes to get us, even threaten Jack." I state and then pause and look between Lynn, Uriah, Zeke, and Marlene. "He would do anything to protect the people here." I look around the busy room. "She is smart enough to know that and if she is willing to kill almost an entire faction, then she will not hesitate to do it here to get want she wants."
"So we need to hear what they have to say in that meeting." Tris speaks up. That's when Uriah and Zeke look at each other and Lynn smiles mischievously.
"So we listen in." Lynn states and I glace at Bass.
"I thought that's what we were going to do anyway." I tell him and laugh a little bit. "At least we're on the same page."
"Good, someone else that's going can babysit you." He mumbles and I punch him in the arm with my right hand.
"Looks like she capable of defending herself now." Uriah laughs a little bit and I flash him a smile.
"But I will babysit her, if you're offering." Zeke jokes and I gag and Uriah punches him in the shoulder.
"In your dreams, man." He tells him and I smirk.
"Thanks Uriah."
000
After leaving the Gathering place, Bass takes me aside and looks at me with that look he does when he's proud. Why is he proud?
"What?" I ask him confused. "Did I do something right, for once?" he smirks.
"You're working on your temper." He states. What?
"I exploded twice today and you're saying that I am getting better?" I ask.
"There were a lot of things you could have said for either one. Kang was being a fool and you were right to defend us. Shauna," Bass shakes his head. "Needed to understand that we're not something to be afraid of." I just stare at him.
"What? I was just being myself. Jack was saying because the majority wasn't threatened that it was okay and Shauna was questioning our loyalty. Who is she to judge us? I expect it from the Candor, but not from a friend that gave me a hair band when we zip lining." I tell him. "I wasn't under control. I was in fact piss beyond belief, but I still consider her a friend. So I'm not going to cuss and scream at her. I'm just going to tell her how things are." I explain. "I think it's a byproduct of being here." I motion around us. "I hate it, when can we leave? It's driving me nuts."
"Soon, maybe." Bass says as he starts walking. I follow.
"Good, because I don't think I can handle being here." I tell him again.
"I heard you; don't need to tell me again." He mumbles and rubs his temples. "It gets annoying."