This is a really short one. Its more of a set up for the next chapter but some important things are happening. Thanks so much to those who have left reviews. I got the loveliest pm about the story after uploading the last chapter which really made my day! Also super excited to have reached 100 followers! You're all wonderful xx

Chapter 21

Eric didn't sleep well. Between the discomfort he felt sitting upright in an awkward chair for hours on end and his mind whirring with grief over Uriah and uncertainty over Four, Eric felt like he'd go crazy if he had to stay in that room for much longer. Something didn't add up and he wanted answers. The only thing keeping him from leaving at once to interrogate control room members was knowing that any time now, Maggie would wake up and although she had Zeke there with her, he just couldn't go until he'd spoken with her.

She still looked so peaceful, untroubled by bad dreams thanks to the sedative she had been given. When Eric saw Zeke wake after a short slumber, he kept quiet and pretended to still be sleeping. As much as he wished he could be good at comforting right now, he knew he'd be using all his empathy up on Maggie soon enough.

Zeke was laying on his back, examining his ferris wheel tattoo when Maggie's eyes fluttered open. She looked around until her eyes landed on Eric slumped and sleeping in a chair beside the bed. She turned to her other side to find Zeke watching her and took hold of his wrist silently, tracing her fingers over the freshly inked flesh. Zeke slid his hand up until their fingers laced together and gave her hand a squeeze.

"It wasn't a bad dream was it?" Maggie whispered out in desperation. Zeke breathed out a heavy sigh and wrapped his arms around her.

"No. I wish it could be. It just doesn't feel real yet."

Maggie's eyes welled up and overflowed with silent tears. The two of them lay in the quiet, Eric's steady breath the only sound in the room.

"I can't remember the last thing I said to him." She continued on in a vague voice. "I can just see myself throwing bacon at his head as he left the mess."

Zeke let out a small chuckle which quickly turned to sobs as he too began to cry. They rested their foreheads together, holding on tight as they struggled through their heavy emotions. All the while, Eric sat in his chair as still as he could manage, not wanting to break them apart.

They spoke little after that. Their time filled with tears and Eric was glad to see Maggie acting more calmly but he also felt a pang of jealousy that he couldn't provide her with that form of comfort the day before.

When Dieter entered and switched on some lights, Eric used that as his queue to pretend he was waking up. He opened his eyes again and stretched his uncomfortable limbs, too long folded up in a much too small chair.

"Hi." He whispered to Maggie uncertainly. To his relief, she sat up and reached over to embrace him, clinging to him tightly. He in turn held on for dear life, not yet having been comforted himself. Zeke politely looked at his tattoo again not having a chance to move away yet. With a hand pressed firmly against her jaw, Eric looked at Maggie.

"Are you ok?"

Maggie was spared having to answer as Dieter knocked on the wall beside her curtain. He opened in slowly, peering in through the small gap.

"Morning." He greeted more seriously than Maggie could ever remember seeing him. She supposed that she had made quite a scene yesterday and frightened more than Eric.

"How is everyone doing today?"

He was answered with a round of non-committal sounds from the three of them. Busying himself with checking over Maggie after being so heavily sedated, they all went quiet again. Once Dieter was satisfied, he broached the subject of Uriah.

"I know this is the last thing you want to think about right now "He began slowly "but Zeke has requested that Uriah be cremated. Do you want to see him one last time before I go ahead?" he had said the words kindly but Maggie was still surprised and felt her stomach tighten at the prospect.

"It's alright if you don't want to." Dieter hastily added.

Eric, who was now seated beside Maggie on the bed squeezed her leg gently.

"I can go with you if you want?"

Maggie could feel herself shaking. Was it only yesterday that he had left the compound, his usual cheerful self? How come the world had to fall apart so suddenly all over again?

"I'm not – I don't think I can." She began crying again and felt frustrated at her own weakness. "I'm sorry." She said to no one in particular.

"It's ok." Eric whispered, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear.

"Alright. Well, is his memorial still to be held at sundown today?" Dieter asked Eric who confirmed with a nod.

"Well then, I'll make sure its all done before then. I will see you all there."

After that, Dieter made himself scarce as Maggie, Eric and Zeke gathered their belongings to leave. Maggie could see how wrecked Zeke looked.

"Do you want me to go with you to your apartment Zeke? I could get you something to eat if you like?" Zeke hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he pulled back.

"Thanks but I haven't really been alone since – everything. I'm gonna try at get some more sleep."

Eric held out his hand for Zeke to shake.

"If you need anything, let me know alright." After that they parted ways.

"Do you think you could eat before you go home?" Eric realised it had been over a day since Maggie would have gotten to eat anything. Maggie just shook her head.

"I don't think I could stomach anything yet."

Eric was just as quiet as Maggie while he walked her home. As they reached her door her hands were shaking again so he took the keys from her hand to unlock it for her. As the door swung open, Maggie walked in slowly, she moved toward the couch and sat down slowly and began staring, unseeingly at the opposite wall.

Eric went to the coffee bar in the corner to get her something to drink. When he returned to her, she hadn't moved from her spot. Sitting down beside Maggie, he handed her the coffee cup and wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into him, sipping the drink steadily as they both sat together.

At least twenty minutes passed before either made to talk. It was Maggie who broke their silence.

"Do you have to work today?"

Eric, who had been running his hand up and down Maggie's shoulder and arm paused to think.

"There are a couple of enquiries I have to make but then I can have the rest of the day."

Maggie felt as though an oppressive weight was coming down over her. She leaned heavily into Eric, turning her face into his chest.

"I don't want to be alone."

Eric simply held her tighter.

"Do you want me to call Ro to find out when she'll be back? Or you can come with me."

Maggie thought about it for a moment. She didn't want to become Eric's burden.

"You go. I can wait for Ro to come back too."

"Are you sure?" he sounded sceptical. "I can wait for her to get here before I go. Or call her or something."

"Its ok." She tried to reassure him. He didn't say much else and then he left. Maggie stood looking around her apartment. Before long, she could picture Uriah bounding through the door. She could see him lounging on the couch. Then she remembered the days she Uriah and Ro would lie on her bed and look out at the gates of the city.

The only place in her whole apartment she couldn't vividly picture him was in her bathroom. So she sat, fully clothed on the floor of her shower, curling herself up as small as she could. It was there she stayed.

. . . . .

Four's head was pounding. He could feel the blood pumping into it with every heartbeat, increasing the pressure and making it feel likely to explode. He was standing outside on his balcony and was vaguely aware of Tris and Ro talking in hushed voices inside. He knew he'd been an asshole to Tris the night before which added to all the shit he was piling on himself. He couldn't bring himself to look at her because he was too ashamed. Once they all knew what he'd been keeping from them, he'd lose everything.

He wanted to make it up to Tris but he didn't know where to start. Having Ro there made it that much harder for him. As much as she was helping Tris, he just needed his home back. By the time she finally left, he'd been standing out there for over an hour. Tris didn't come to him once Ro was gone. He thought maybe it would be for the best. He'd likely not be a free man soon and she would be able to move on without him dragging her back.

. . . . .

Eric let himself into the control room. He glanced around and found an older woman working alone. She was watching several screens and was so focused she hadn't noticed Eric enter.

"Where is everyone?" he demanded roughly causing the woman to break her concentration. She looked around at him scathingly before grunting and turning back to the screens.

"A couple of people have taken the week off. I don't have any replacements." She sounded bitter, practically spitting out the words.

"Are those cameras back up and running again." Eric demanded, ignoring the lack of respect she was showing towards him.

"What cameras?" her rough voice growled out. It sounded like she had spend the better part of forty years chain-smoking.

"The ones out near Candor. You had someone go out to fix them yesterday."

She now looked at Eric like he was crazy.

"No cameras have been down since the Factionless attack. I would have reported it if there were!"

With Eric's suspicions confirmed, he now really needed to know why Four had lied to him about it.

"Did you see Four at all yesterday?"

"He didn't show up for his shift. Figured it was because of that Pedrad kid. 'S why they're all slacking today."

"I need you to find him for me on yesterday's surveillance."

A few hours later, Eric emerged from the control room thoroughly frustrated. He'd seen Four leaving Dauntless and jumping on a train but they had searched and searched and couldn't spot where he'd gotten off. The cranky old bird in there didn't make matters any better. He was glad to get away from her in the end.

Surely, Four didn't have anything to do with what had happened to Uriah. But Eric couldn't help but feel that it had everything to do with the factionless. Four was certainly acting like someone overcome with guilt. The conundrum over Four was at the front of his mind as Eric went back to Maggie's apartment.

He could hear Ro's voice which made him feel better about having to leave her alone for so long. Letting himself in, he looked around for the girls but they weren't in the living area. He followed the sound of Ro talking until he reached Maggie's small bathroom. The pair of them were sitting cross-legged on the floor of her shower with their backs leaning against the wall.

"Uriah is everywhere in this apartment." Ro answered his questioning look before he could say a word. At once he understood. They had spent a lot of time with their fallen friend in this place. Of course they would remember him everywhere. He sat on the floor opposite them, thinking deeply. There was so much he didn't know about grieving. He'd never lost anyone he'd cared about before.

The hours passed by in a blur. Eric went down to the mess hall and brought the girls up some lunch which Ro accepted gratefully while Maggie picked at hers. She had at least eaten a little which made Eric feel better.

With sundown fast approaching, they left the quiet apartment for the busy chasm. It was overflowing with people who were almost as sombre as the girls had been through the day which made the space feel oppressive and uncomfortable. Eric was anxious to get the memorial over with so they could have their space back again.

They found the rest of their circle already waiting at the front of the pack and Eric noticed that Four didn't look much better than he had the night before. Tris looked miserable and was obviously trying not to look at him. Will started passing around a hip flask and when Eric took a swig he fought back a laugh. They were sharing around their favoured 'Uri special'. It seemed appropriate.

It was, as always, his responsibility to say something about the fallen soldier. He walked over to a group huddled around sharing a bottle of bourbon and snatched it out of their hands before returning to the edge of the chasm. He climbed halfway up the railing and the already mostly quiet crowd hushed completely seeing him towering over them.

He looked out at them all, then back to Maggie and beckoned her forward. She hesitantly stood beside him and he held onto her hand tightly. The crowd, now curious at Eric's display looked on with rapt attention.

"As you know, we are all here to say goodbye to one of our own. Uriah was a good soldier. He never shied away from a fight or from doing the right thing. But I think we will all remember him most as the life of this place. Every day he brought us laughter and friendship and he will be severely missed." his voice boomed out and he could see Maggie standing firm beside him. She was brave in that moment, looking stoic and strong even though he knew the depth of her pain. He raised his voice even louder with a passion as he continued his speech.

"The truth is that Uriah was killed in a senseless act by an enemy who have been terrorizing this city for too long. I have no words to show you how angry it makes me that they are still out there destroying the peace that we all deserve to live in." The crowd collectively began murmuring their agreement at his words. Zeke stood just a little bit taller, his eyes making contact with Eric who nodded.

"I stand here before you and promise that we will cut them all down one by one if we have to until every one of them is gone. We will make those factionless assholes pay!"

The crowd all let out almighty cheers as Eric lifted the bottle he was holding up. Maggie continued to stand tall and proud, her face showing strength although her heart was racing. She believed Eric completely. They would win this fight. She couldn't bear the thought of losing another person for nothing.

Four alone stood quiet through the cheering crowd. He didn't give any emotions away even when he saw Eric leer at him triumphantly. Before the noise began to dim, Four turned from them all and left, ignoring Tris and Zeke calling after him.

After the crowd had begun dispersing to the pit, Maggie turned and threw herself at Eric as he was jumping down from the rail. He almost lost his balance and had to steady himself for a moment before he could react to her small display of affection.

"Easy there, woman." He smiled, kissing the tip of her nose. He was aware that half the faction was still nearby and many were watching them with interest but right then, it didn't matter.

"You really meant that right? We're going after them?"

Eric pulled back so that she could see his face.

"We're going after them. They're gonna regret what they've done. I promise."

Maggie felt a surge of gratitude for him and kissed him fervently. She needed this glint of hope if she was going to survive the pain.