Hello again lovelies! Moving is horrible. I'm exhausted and the only chance I've had to write was today while I was driving my sister around, when I was waiting in the car. I'm really stressed out. My tea kettle betrayed me/tried to kill me in a tidal wave of boiling water. I'm editing this at 12:50 am, sitting in a sea of boxes (some of whom I suspect are sentient because they always seem to be in just the right place to trip me) but I wanted to get this up because you guys always make me feel better when I read your reviews.

dvgt – Thank you for the suggestions!

534667lc – Thank you for reading! And for the suggestions!

Guest – Ahhh, thank you! You made me smile so you get a virtual slice of Dauntless cake. ;) I'm glad you liked it and thank you for the suggestions.

hazu23 – Glad you liked it, I was worried that no one would!

catch39 – Yeah, he was originally more sarcastic but it seemed like a little bit too much. In his defense he has a lot on his mind right now, so she caught him at a good moment. I can promise you he won't let it happen again. ;)

I still don't own Divergent or Eric, but if someone can arrange that they'd be new best friend. ;)

Chapter 9

Gabby's POV

Once Eric has followed the others I decide to go to the control room for a while. When I walk in there are the usual clusters of people gathered to watch the screens. A few glance my way but most are too entranced by whatever is going on. I glance down to see who is monitoring the stations in the middle of the room, spotting a familiar face I cross to one of the desks at the back.

"Hey Paula," I great as I come to a stop next to her chair.

"Gabby," She says with a smile although she doesn't look up, "I heard you were back."

"Yeah, last night," I reply, watching over her shoulder.

She nods, "Congratulations, I was watching when you found out about the baby. Bet you're happy to be back out here and away from the craziness."

"Yeah, it was a rough couple of months," I respond, fighting the urge to correct her and tell her that it's babies, not baby. I don't though. I don't want to tell anyone just yet, Eric and I still need more time to process. I watch over her shoulder for a minute or two as Evelyn paces back and forth in the room where Marcus' trial is being held, gesturing enthusiastically as she talks. After a moment I snap back to reality, "So, I wanted to ask if you've heard anything about my dad or Carl's trials."

"Nothing about your dad so far, but Carl's trial is next week," She responds, glancing over her shoulder at me, "They've got the whole thing on video, him trying to shoot you and killing Jessica. It should be a fairly open and shut case."

"Yeah," I hear myself mumble. I hate Carl with a fiery passion for killing Jess and I want him to suffer; but a very small part of me misses the Carl I knew before. The Erudite I watched slowly become a Dauntless during initiation. The guy I watched get his first tattoo. The boy who kept my secret when he found out about Eric and I. My friend. I guess another part of me still wants to know if it was all a lie. Was he ever really that person or was it all an act?

When I phase back in, Paula is studying me curiously, "You alright?"

"Yeah," I say again, smiling down at her, "I'm just tired. I'm going to head back to the dorm, but will you let me know if you hear anything else?"

Paula nods, "Absolutely, go get some rest."

I give her another smile before starting back toward the dorm. When I get back everyone is still gone. I try to lay down and take a nap, but it's too quiet and I end up lost in my thoughts instead of sleeping. After another ten minutes of trying to sleep, I get up and decide to go for a walk.

I find myself at one of the gates that is less used and still looks like it did before the Purity War, for the most part. No one seems to be around so I decide to go watch out the wall of windows for a little while. I am crossing the room when I realize the Four is sitting on one of the benches that I couldn't see at first.

"Hey, Four," I greet as I get to where he is sitting.

He glances up, clearly so distracted that he hadn't noticed that I was here until I announced my presence.

"Hey," He replies halfheartedly.

I think about continuing on, but he seems upset, so I find myself sitting on the bench that faces his. "What's wrong?"

He opens his mouth to reply and for a moment I think that he is going to just brush me off or tell me he wants to be alone, but he closes it again and gives me a curious look. He looks down at his feet for a few seconds before looking back at me, "I guess of anyone I would want to talk to knows about this stuff, it's you." He takes a deep breath, "Tris volunteered me to go with her for some genetic testing this morning, turns out I have the markers for simulation awareness, but I'm… I don't have healed genes."

"You're not actually divergent," I respond softly, he nods and we fall into an awkward silence. "What did Tris say?" I ask after a few minutes.

He scoffs, "She said that it wasn't a big deal, that I'm the same person. That the truth changes nothing."

I nod, "It's true that you're the same person, but it doesn't feel like nothing when you're the one it affects."

He nods, "I know that what she's saying is true, at least to some extent, but not being divergent, it…"

He trails off, shaking his head like he doesn't think I would understand. "It was what identified you in the city, made you unique." He nods again and I smile at him, "I know that right now, this feels like it's going to change everything, but you're still Four. You're still Tobias Eaton."

"I don't know who that is right now," He replies.

"You remember last year, during the fear sims, when you told me that Eric murdered Amar?" I ask after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I know I was…." He starts but I cut him off.

"That's not what I mean," I say, shaking my head, "I believed you, I trusted you, because I respected you. If some random guy had just walked up to me and told me that Eric was a killer, I would have laughed at them and walked away." I take another deep breath, "I respect you, as a teacher and a friend, because of who you are. You're tough but fair and not unnecessarily cruel. You're intelligent, you're good with computers, and you have a drive to find the truth when something doesn't sit right with you. You're quiet and you push people away, but you're also loyal to the people you do let in."

I smirk at him, "David and the others want to tell you that something about you is broken? So what! Screw them! You are you, no matter what the computer says. The people who care about you and look up to you aren't going to stop just because some dude in a lab coat says there's something wrong with you. They wanted you in their lives before because of the person that you are, not because you were divergent. Who cares about the people who do look down on you because of that?"

Four stares at me for a moment, "When you first got here, and they told you that you were 'genetically pure' and that Eric was 'genetically damaged', did it make you look at him any differently? Does it bother you that people out here view him as damaged?"

"No," I respond with a chuckle, "Does it annoy me that they think less of him for not being divergent? Yes, but it doesn't make me love him any less that these idiots see him that way."

He nod, "It's still really weird to hear the name Eric and the phrase I love him in the same sentence."

I laugh and he smiles for the first time, "He's an idiot sometimes. He's sarcastic and has a tendency to act before he thinks. He's definitely not perfect, but neither am I, and I love him, flaws and all." I feel myself blush, I glance away for a moment, "Tris loves you. I see the way she looks at you, she isn't going to give up on you just because you aren't perfect."

"Thank you," He finally replies.

I smile at him again and stand up, "I'll let you get back to thinking. If you need someone to talk to, let me know."

He nods and I start walking to the dorm to see if Eric is back. Maybe I can finally take that nap.

Short, I know, but I just wanted to get Gabby and Four's side of the conversation. Hope you guys liked it. You still have until tomorrow (today?) night to give me suggestions for baby names. Hopefully everything will be calm by Sunday night and I can write more. Next two chapters are going to jump forward a bit, for reasons.

If you read my story 'Monsters Aren't Born, They are Created' new chapter should be up either tomorrow (today, Friday) or Saturday night, depending on when I find time to edit it.

(I realize that I'm jumping around a lot in these author's notes, it definitely has nothing to do with vodka… definitely not)