A/N:

Sorry it took so long to get the next chapter up! I was busy the last few days celebrating my birthday but I buckled down today and cranked it out. :) Please, let me know what you think in a review as always. Thanks again for reading!

Tris

At first, it all feels like slow motion and then suddenly, we're racing through time at top speed. Everything is happening so fast that I feel like I don't have time to breathe and then Tobias' gun goes off and Cara hits the floor.

I see the look on his face.

I know he is reeling…Cara being hurt by his own hand…I shudder just thinking of his thoughts right now.

This is too much for him. I know it, but we don't have time to focus on his emotional state right now.

We have to get out of this situation and now.

My brain is buzzing and as the men are closing in on us, I close my eyes tightly. When I open them again, I see that I've managed to freeze the scene once more.

There are bullets in mid-air and the men are just…frozen in place.

Tobias looks at me for a about a millisecond before he tears off in Cara's direction.

I know he still cares about her, I know there will always be some feelings there and I've accepted that. It just doesn't get any easier to watch his love for her play across his face in about a million different emotions every time she gets hurt.

I watch him scoop her up and then Uriah grabs my hand and pulls me out of the laboratory and down the hall.

We run for a long time, hallway upon hallway, stair cases, and elevators until finally we reach a tiny room.

It looks like an office, but Uriah leads us inside anyway.

It's empty.

I silently thank god for granting us this one moment of solace.

Tobias lays Cara across the desk.

He is covered in her blood; it is all over his T-shirt and his hands. He is shaking and I want to comfort him so badly but I can't. I know if I start that, I'll never be able to stop.

Cara is shaking too, and there is so much blood coming out of her that I don't see how she will survive this. My heart breaks for Cara….and Tobias, because if she dies he won't come back from it.

I just know it."Cara…" Tobias says, his voice is shaky and it comes out in one big huff of breath.

It sounds so unnatural.

He is hurting so much.

Cara's eyes shift towards him.

"I'm so sorry." He touches her forehead and a little bit of blood smears where his fingers touch.

She shakes her head a little, swallowing hard, her breath coming out in large gasps.

"I…can't…" she starts, but her voice trails off. She doesn't finish the sentence, probably because she can't breathe enough air in to make the words come out right.

Tobias takes her hand and squeezes it hard.

"I'm right here with you; I won't leave you. I promise. Just breathe the best you can, okay?" He touches her shoulder, lightly.

"...You can fight this, Cara. You're so strong. You're the strongest person I know. Don't give up now. Please."

He is pleading with her like he is seconds away from falling apart and I realize that he probably is.

This is one of his worst fears.

Killing an innocent.

Cara nods a little bit in response to his words, but I can see the shallowness of her breaths, the way her face pales, and the shaking of her hands.

She doesn't have long and I have no idea what we're going to do.

It is only now that I realize exactly where the bullet had pierced her.

There is a little red circle gushing dark red blood right in the middle of her back.

Tobias' bullet had pierced her spine.

I didn't notice before, but I see now that her legs are spread out at an awkward angle. I realize that she probably can't feel them anymore, which means, even if by some miracle she makes it through this…she probably won't be able to walk.

I swallow hard as I watch a tear leak out of the corner of her eye.

"Am…I going to die?" She chokes out.

Tobias shakes his head.

"No, don't think like that. Don't talk like that."

His voice sounds dry, like it aches to even make words come out. This is the one time I wish I felt less connected to him. His pain is my pain and I don't want to have to deal with hurt like this, but I don't have a choice and neither does he.

Cara ignores him.

"Will…it hurt?" she asks

I don't know who she is talking to, but I am the only one that can answer her question with any sort of truth.

I'm the only one who has had the experience of death.

Yet again, I can feel Cara's pain easily because I know exactly what she's going through.

The bullet wound itself only hurts for a moment, after that your whole body just feels numb and light.

I walk over to her; my hand moves to smooth out a fly away hair of hers.

It is the only soothing gesture I can think of.

I shake my head, a little smile playing across my lips.

"It doesn't hurt. It's just like going to sleep." I nod. "Just relax and breathe, and it'll be like…going to sleep after a really long day. I promise."

My words seem to comfort her a little but she's still shaking and breathing, trying her best to hold on.

I understand.

I know how hard it is to let go.

Tobias grabs my arm abruptly and pulls me away from Cara.

I look up at him, confused.

We don't have time for this, we should be with Cara.

"What?" I say somewhat annoyed.

"Why would you say that to her?" Anger laces his voice.

I blink.

"Say what? That it's like going to sleep? It is."

"You're letting her give up." He says shakily.

I shake my head.

"I'm not letting her do anything. She asked. I just wanted her to know the truth. Tobias, I'm just being realistic."

He looks away from me, but I use my other hand to bring his face back to level with mine. He has to accept this. He needs to understand.

"Tobias…I…I don't think she's going to make it."

He lets go of my arm as if my words have defeated him.

There is a bloody handprint on my arm now, where his fingers had been.

Uriah walks over to Cara and takes her hand.

"You're the bravest person I know, you know that?" He says softly.

She manages to smile at him but it turns into a grimace rather quickly, and then her lips start to shake.

She probably only has moments left, maybe seconds.

Uriah smiles down at her. "It's okay…just breathe…" He strokes her hair.

I close my eyes.

"Tobias…"

I am trying to be as gentle as possible.

"She's only got a few minutes left at most…"

"No." He says softly. "She's going to be fine."

I shake my head.

"I'm so sorry. I wish she was, but she isn't…You have to accept that."

I glance over at Cara and Uriah,

"..Even if she makes it through this…the bullet hit her spine, Tobias."

Uriah walks over to us then, head tilted slightly.

"What if you froze her?"

I look up at him, shaking my head just a little. "What do you mean?"

He shrugs. "What if you froze Cara? The way you froze those guys back there and Marcus?"

I shake my head, confused.

"You know…like if we could keep her injury contained long enough to get to a hospital…"

I let out a worried sigh.

"I don't even know how I did that…I don't know how to control it. I don't even know how long I could keep her frozen for."

There was more than that behind my hesitation. My head felt…tired. There was no other way to explain it. It was like I'd over-stretched my super power for the day and my body was revolting.

"Would it hurt to try? She doesn't deserve this."

He's right. I know he is. If I can save Cara, I have to try. I walk over to Cara and I take her hand.

"I'm going to try something, alright?"

She looks up at me, her lips are turning blue, but she still manages to nod a little.

"Be brave, Cara." I whisper and then I close my eyes and squeeze her hand momentarily.

I try desperately to channel my newfound ability.

I am the only thing that can save Cara and that thought is what's driving me.

That, and the thought that Tobias will not be able to get through this kind of pain.

I open my eyes and she is frozen.

Her lips are still blue, but she isn't bleeding out anymore, or shaking.

She's stagnant.

If I could keep her this way until we were able to get to a hospital, she just might survive it.

"You did it…" Uriah says in a quiet voice.

My head feels heavy and light all at the same time.

I sway just a little but Tobias arms are there to catch me.

"Are you alright?" He asks

I nod. "Yeah…that just… sort of takes a lot out of me I think."

Tobias nods, "Okay…Why don't you rest for a while?"

I stare up at him and then I shake my head slowly.

"Because we don't have time to rest for awhile. I have no idea how long Cara will be frozen and every second we wait, we're that much closer to her dying."

Tobias closes his eyes for a moment like my words really hit home and then he slowly opens his mouth to speak.

"I know that…." He's quiet for a moment, "But I think I have a plan."

I raise my eyebrows. "Well, would you like to share with the rest of the class?"

He looks down at the floor and then back up at me. "Yes, but you aren't going to like it."

At this point, a plan is a plan whether I like it or not, I shrug and then cross my arms waiting.

Tobias looks like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world right now than be in this room with me, telling me his plan right now.

"I have to kill him, Tris."

The air in the room changes shifts into a darker, harder to breathe in aura.

"Excuse me?" I breathe.

"It's the only way…" he says so quietly, like if he says it in a softer voice that will make it okay.

"No! No, that is not the only way, Tobias! You're playing right into his hands! You're becoming exactly what he wants you to be!"

Tobias is shaking his head, like what I'm saying is wrong and it makes me want to cry.

I grab his face in my hands, forcing him to look me in the eyes.

"Listen to me, I LOVE that Marcus is trying to re-create you. Do you want to know why? Because that means you aren't what he wants. Do you understand? You aren't something Marcus Eaton wants. That is a good thing." I touch a hand to his heart.

"You're such a good person, Tobias. You have an amazing heart. Please don't let him turn you into a carbon copy of who he is."

He closes his eyes, "Tris." He whispers. "There is no other option. He's going to keep doing this, over, and over again. He's going to keep ruining our lives unless we stop him. Permanently."

I know that to an extent, he's absolutely right, but I can't lose him to this.

I shake my head, "Tobias, you won't come back from this."

"So be it." He says in a tired, defeated voice.

I barely even think about it, I simply slip the ring he'd given me off of my finger and hold it out to him.

"What does this mean to you?"

"Tris…"

"No, answer me." I say, every emotion under the sun running through me.

"We don't have time for this." He whispers.

I shove the ring into his hand.

"If you do this, we won't be okay. I know it." I am trying so hard not to cry that it's giving me a headache.

His hand closes around the ring for a moment, and then he takes my hand, slipping it back on my finger.

He bites down on his lip. "I made you a promise." He touches my cheek. "I don't take those very lightly." He pauses for a moment.

"If I thought there was another way, you know I'd do it in a heartbeat. I am protecting our future. Please understand that."

I feel like I can't breathe. It isn't fair. He rubs my cheek with the back of his hand for a moment and then he turns to Uriah.

"Uriah, will you stay with Cara?" He asks.

Uriah nods, "Yeah, of course."

"Tris, I need you to come with me. I might need your super power."

I shake my head, "I'm not going to help you kill a man."

He lets out a groan. "He isn't an innocent, Tris!"

"What qualifies as an innocent these days?" I say, slightly hysterical. "Would you just as easily murder Christina, or Matthew? Things aren't black and white anymore!"

He stares at me. "If it came down to your life, or mine? Yes. I would."

I shake my head. "This is wrong!"

"What exactly is your moral compass Tris, because you didn't seem to have a problem when I blew Eric's head off!"

I am silent then. I don't know what to say, and neither does he.

For a moment we just stand there and stare at each other.

We are both so emotionally charged.

"He isn't just anyone Tobias. He isn't your asshole competitor from dauntless. He's your father."

He flinches at the word.

"What do you want me to do?" He says so quietly I barely hear him.

"Find another way." I say

He shakes his head, "Tris. There isn't one."

I close my eyes. "You don't know what it feels like…"

"What what feels like?"

I take a deep breath. "To feel like your parent's death is your fault. I don't want that for you."

He tilts his head a little and then shakes it. "This is very different."

I nod, chewing on my bottom lip. "Maybe."

"I'm sorry, Tris. This is the way it has to be."

I am silent.

I have lost the battle, he is going to do it with or without my consent.

I try not to show the disappointment in my face.

After a moment, he lets out another sigh, "Please, help me get out of the building."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Why?"

He shrugs. "I have to draw him out. I want to fight him where I have an advantage. If I take the fight outside, I have Shauna and Zeke to help."

I can't refuse him help. If something were to happen to him, I would never forgive myself, I just nod refusing to give him the satisfaction of my verbal consent.

He watches me for a moment and then his eyes drift over to Cara still frozen on the desk. He looks at me again and I can almost feel how torn he is.

He wants to make me happy, but he feels like he needs to do this.

The final showdown with his father.

I want to scream.

It's too dangerous.

If he manages to kill him, what does that mean for him morally?

And what if he loses? What then? I can't lose him.

He is stronger than me, he could survive without me.

I don't think I can survive without him.

He holds a hand out towards me.

He wants to do this with me, as a team, but I don't know if I can.

I take his hand anyway, because I believe in him and that's all I can do right now.