Hello. I am sooooooooooo soooooooooooooorry about the long wait. Hope it wasn't especially painful. but I started this fic when I had way too much time and now i have way too little. Sorry. ya'll are so patient, its great. also, i broke my computer and never got a new one and I'm doing this on my tablet oops. then school happened and i reawaked my social side and started watching merlin and also Supernatural, and oh god(or should i say chuck) it is beautiful, and hw is hell, and soccer is pretty great and viola must be continued, and so i will now present the long-awaited CHAPTER 10!
sorry gotta disclaim: ALL RIGHTS TO V ROTH!
(and here it is:)
TRIS POV:
I am awake long before the cafeteria is open. I ready myself and leave Tobias a note. I wait on one of the benches outside of the cafeteria. The sun has not yet peeked over the horizon, and all is quiet. The Dauntless are many things, but early-risers is not one of them. My thoughts are with Mary and Clare. I know how hostile the factionless can be, and I know that Clare and Mary might try to make it on their own, away from factionless warehouses. I know they are struggling, I know they hate me with a burning passion. After all, I pushed them out, decided the ranks, decided they were not "fit for Dauntless life."
Now, my thoughts return to the initiates that remain. In a few short hours they will be exposed to Uriah's greatest fears. I had originally volunteered, but Uriah was eager to show the initiates the inside of his mind. So now, the initiates that are left will face kidnapping, death of a loved one, abandonment, being killed by someone who they trust (ha i feel evil and its great), empty spaces, greatest secret let out, becoming blind, being trapped underground, killing or causing the death of loved ones, clowns(sammy, anyone?), being kicked out of Dauntless, and spoons.
"What can I say?" Uriah had said when we asked him about the spoons. "The whole cake-stealing experience really scarred me." We all laughed. But that was before everything became strange, before I questioned anything. Now, two people I had been in charge of were sent to a life where no one fit, and the others I had charge of were in line for a hellish experience.
But there is nothing I can do. I am nothing in the face of this, I can accomplish nothing. I know that no matter what I do, my initiates will feel pain. They will be kidnapped, abandoned, chased off with spoons, today. They are all sleeping peacefully. None of them know what they're in for. None of them are prepared.
I sigh, feeling the weight on my shoulders grow heavier. I have always felt that weight, and only have I realized its presence when I came to Dauntless. Abnegation would have been blissful, living life happily, never realizing that I was carrying something more. But I chose this life, I chose the hard path. Though it is paved with broken glass, I walk it with the people I love. Love? Do I love Tobias? Yes, I decide. I do.
Heavy footsteps echo in the silent hallway, and I look up. It is Tobias. It's obvious he has just woken up, thrown some clothes on, and come down to meet me.
"I can't stop thinking about Jesse Owens." He says as he sits down next to me, without a greeting. I am startled, as Tobias's words are such a stark contrast to what I have been thinking.
"In all that's been going on, you've been thinking about an old track star?" I ask, incredulous.
"Well, no, of course I've been preoccupied, but it's been nagging me, at the back of my mind ever since Rudy mentioned him." Tobias pauses. "I mean in all the biographies I've read, which is more than you'd think, because when you're scared to come out of your room, you don't have a lot of options as of what to do, the faction was the first thing mentioned, right after whatever the person is famous for." He says, all in a rush. I nod. I know why he was scared to come out of his room, and I don't want to mention it, so I ask a question.
"Okay, so what makes this Jesse Owens guy different?" I ask.
"Well, I found some time last night and went to the Dauntless Archives," Tobias says, referring to the sort of library of the Dauntless compound. "I looked up Jesse Owens and the only thing that was different was that Jesse Owens lived and died way before any of the people in the other books. Like, hundreds of years before. And I thought, well, what if Jesse Owens doesn't have a faction? What if, when he was alive, there were no factions?"
I shake my head, unbelieving.
"Tobias, are you hearing yourself? No factions? How did they live?"
"I don't know but-" He is cut off by footsteps. A cafeteria worker is walking toward us. She nods in greeting to us, and pulls out a key. She is unlocks the cafeteria door and gives us a pointed look before entering.
"You can't come in here yet." She says in a raspy voice. She sends us one last glare before walking in, slamming the door behind her.
Tobias looks at me.
"You think she's the one who chased Uriah off with a spoon?" He asks in a low, serious tone.
"Probably," I respond. I grin, and when he grins back, I lean into him, giggling. I give him a quick kiss just as the rest of the cafeteria workers come into sight. They all glare at us. As the last worker enters the cafeteria, he props the door open.
"You wanna go in?" Tobias asks. He is holding my hand and I am leaning into his chest.
"Not yet," I say. I want to stay here, where I feel safe, where everything makes sense, in Tobias's arms. "Not yet."
P/B
At breakfast, Christina is unusually happy. She can't seem to stop grinning, and she keeps scooting closer to Will. He wraps an arm around her and presses a quick kiss to her temple. She smiles up art him, and laughs. I can't help but grin at their happiness. I take another bite of my muffin and feel Tobias grab my hand under the table. He looks at me, and I can't help but think that things are good again.
"Hey, Four, Tris," Will says suddenly. "Do you want to come around for dinner at me and Chris's apartment tonight?"
"Sure," I say. "Four, you up for it?"
He nods. "That sounds great, yeah."
"Great!" Christina says, absolutely glowing. "Six okay?"
I smile, nodding. "Okay, see you later, Four and I've got to go wake up those initiates in four minutes." I say, glancing at my watch. I stand , and Tobias follows. Chris gives me a little wave.
When we reach the dormitory, I stop Tobias. We stand in front of the door. I take a deep breath. When we open that door, the initiates will be exposed to a world of nightmares, and I must steel myself for it. I look at Tobias. I nod, and we push open the door together.
In that instant, everything springs back to normal. Tobias is yelling for them to wake up, and they are opening their eyes, disgruntled. Olivia is instantly alert, but Em has pulled her blanket over her head. Rudy groans, rolling over in his bed.
"Up, up, up!" I yell. "Stage Two starts today!"
Once all the initiates are all more or less awake, Tobias and I make for the door.
"Training Room, thirty minutes," I yell, and Tobias shuts the door behind us.
P/B
Tobias and I are waiting in the Training Room when Jack saunters in. He sits down on a bench, and grins at us. Moments later, Em storms in. Jack smiles at her as if to say "Hey," and Em looks infuriated.
"Jack Harkness, you cheating little bastard, how could you?! I thought we had something special, I really did, you had to go and f-" Em spews curse words left and right. "And, damn you, Jack Harkness, damn you, I found out that you were cheating on me from Olivia, Jack, Olivia. A- a- and, oh Jack, you couldn't cheat on me with some random slut, oh, no, Jack had to sleep with a guy! Yoto , or something! Honestly, Jack, I've got nothing against it, but oh god, you take him over me? I mean, we were great together, and-"
"Ianto." Jack says.(Pronounced yan-toe for all the other Welsh-challenged folks out there)
"'Scuse me?"
"His name is Ianto." Jack says, with a slight grin on his face. Em's face is turning red with anger.
"Is this some joke to you, Jack? Is the matter of you cheating on me funny?"
"Em, it was never going to last. I mean, honestly, I kind of did us a favor. It was going to fall apart."
"Well, Jack, you threw away our relationship for some fling."
Jack's grin fades. "Ianto wasn't 'some fling,'"
"Whatever." Em rolls her eyes, sitting down as far as possible from Jack.
By this point, more initiate s had arrived. Rudy looks uncomfortable, Jonathan is eyeing Em, and Olivia is looking between the two. Ethan bursts in, three minutes late, flustered, the door slamming shut behind him. I can see him measuring the situation.
"Okay," I say slowly, testing the amount of tension in the room. "As you all know today marks the beginning of Stage Two." I let Tobias explain what will happen in this next stage , and I begin to think. In just a few hours we will know who in this room is Divergent. Tobias told me he would stall for as long as he could in telling Eric who the Divergents are, but I know this problem cannot be avoided forever.
". . . So now please follow me to the Simulation Room." Tobias finishes. I see the initiates glancing uneasily at each other. They're nervous, and they have a right to be.
P/B
Em is first. The list is alphabetical, and Em is first. She does not seem scared, but I can see her trembling ever so slightly. We hook her up, pressing the gadgets to temple. She draws in a shaky breath. When Tobias pulls out the serum and the syringe, Em gasps.
"Dont worry, you'll only feel a pinch," I assure her, and she shakes her head. "Hold still." I say. She complies, and as Tobias inserts the needle and presses the plunger, the computer randomly selects one of Uriah's fears. Abandonment. Tobias and I have agreed to switch off in accompanying the initiates, and I have volunteered to go first. Tobias hooks me up and I am rushed into Em's nightmare.
Em is in a train car, with the doors open on both sides. Wind is whipping her hair back, red tendrils everywhere. A red-haired woman and two equally ginger children are with her, and I assume they are her family.
"Mom?" Em shouts, and the woman nods. She hugs Em, and Em seems to melt into the hug. Her mother shoves Em away, grabs her two children, and gripping them tight, she jumps off the train. Em tries to follow, but the walls solidify and she can't leave the train car. She is completely alone. Em looks crestfallen. She tries the walls of the train car, but she is trapped.
"No," Says Em. "No, I'm not alone. No, Mother did not just leave me here. You know why? Because. This. Isn't. Real." With each word, Em shoves the wall of the train car, and then. . . it breaks. The simulation ends and I am left with a sinking feeling in my gut.
Em sits up, ripping the equipment from her face, and tries to push past me to leave the room.
"Em," I say, blocking the door. She ignores me. "Em, does anyone know what you are?" She pauses, but quickly goes back to trying to get to the door. I send Tobias a glance, and he understands. He grabs Em, whirling her to face him.
"Em, if anyone knows what you are, you may as well be already dead. Now, we need to know. Does anyone know what you are?" Tobias says in that low, dangerous tone of his.
"No," she says quickly. "Well no one except for the woman who did my aptitude test."
"And who's that?" I ask.
"I don't know, some Abnegation woman. Prior, or something." Em says. My heart quickens.
"Was she okay? How did she look? Was she healthy? Was she happy? How is her husband?" I ask, all in a rush, before I can stop myself. It is the first word I have had of my mother in almost a year. Em looks at me strangely.
"How should I know?"
"Well, the point is, you're safe as long as you don't tell anyone." I say. Em nods. "Okay, you can go." She rushed to get out of the room. Tobias glances at me.
"You okay? Your mother-" he tries.
"Im fine. Ready for the next one." I cut him off. He goes out to call Ethan up, and I think of how now we have one more person to protect.
Tobias tests Ethan without a problem. He is normal, faces clowns without too much hassle.
Before I know it, I'm testing Jack. He is losing a loved one.
"Grey! Grey! Where are you, Grey? Little brother?" Jack yells, among yellow dunes. He finds a little body in the sand, and his cries of anguish fill the barren desert. He wakes with tears streaming down his face. But he isn't Divergent.
Next, Tobias tests Jonathan, who makes snarky comment, after snarky comment, until he is kidnapped in a simulation. But he is normal.
Now, I have to test Olivia.
She complains about the needle and the electronics that go on her face, but she is going under, and I have barelry enough time to read the fear before I was sucked into it. Olivia was going to have her greatest secret revealed to her world.
Olivia is is a plain wooden chair, a spotlight focused on her figure. She's at the center of a stadium and every seat is taken. There is a row of people directly in front of her, including people wearing crowns, furs, and even Jeanine Matthews. A voice echoes around the stadium, and Olivia stiffens.
"Welcome to Olivi- pardon, Seraphina's Secrets. All of her secrets will commence. She slept with a stuffed dragon until she was fifteen. She.. ." A monotonous feminine voice drones on and on, spilling each secret Olivia has. Olivia tries to get up, but her chair grows shackles around her wrists and she is left struggling. The voice continued.
". . . In the sixth grade, she kissed Luke Thomp-"
"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID MACHINE!" Olivia has had enough. She effortlessly rips through the shackles and stands up. "First of all, get better sources. It was Alan Stone that I kissed in sixth grade. Luke was just a stupid rumor Clare started to get back at me for insulting her brother. AND HONESTLY I AM NOT SCARED, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!"
Instantly, Olivia wakes from the simulation. She looks at me.
"I know, I'm Divergent, don't tell anyone, and all that crap." She says, rolling her eyes.
"No, hang on, Olivia!" I say, as she walks out the door. I try something new. "SERAPHINA." She stops instantly.
"Call me that again, and I'll shoot you." She says, and promptly shuts the door behind her. I turn to look at Tobias. He looks amazed.
Finally, it is Rudy's turn. He faces blindness. When he and Tobias are finished, Tobias looks at me, and I know. Rudy is Divergent. Tobias tells him of all the dangers of being Divergent, who he must watch out for, and why.
"They want the kill you, Rudy, they are going to, if they found out. That's up to you now." Tobias warns him. Rudy swallows, looking pale.
"Okay," he says. "Okay, I understand. I, I just don't think i-"
"That doesn't matter, Rudy. Not anymore." TobiaS says. "Go," Rudy nods and leaves the room. As soon as he's shut the door behind him, I melt into Tobias.
"Three," I say, my voice muffled by his shirt. "Three,"
He doesn't respond. He only wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer to him.
P/B
The hours have passed and it is time to go to Christina and Will's apartment. Tobias and I stand outside their door and seconds after I pressed the doorbell, I am greeted by Chris's smiling face.
"Come on in, guys!" She says, lead us into her apartment. I've been her what seems like thousands of times. "We made Italian!"
"Sounds delicious, Chris!" I say, trying to inject my voice with enthusiasm. Tobias nods.
"Anyway, sit, sit!" Christina says, ushering us to the table, where Will is setting out napkins.
"Hey, guys," he says in greeting. We nod back. "Have a seat," Will beckons to the chairs. I smile.
"Thanks!"
Before I know it, we all are sitting around the table, generous helpings of spaghetti carbonara on our plates. Christina's grin is infectious, and soon we're all smiling, talking about initiates, and training, until Chris sets down her fork.
"Well, I guess I should tell you the real reason we invited you here," she says. "Will and I are engaged!"
well that's it. Hope you enjoy. Again, typing this from my tablet, so autocorrect will probably have messed it up (that's me trying to blame a device for my own mistakes). Anyway yep sorry. Please tell me if I should continue this cuz I'm really not sure. Ok bye
bog3