Chapter 25

The following week goes by much too fast for my liking. Most of our time is spent with our teams. We train and go over possible situations we could find ourselves in. Because my team entering through a different area than most we're never really with anyone but each other.

I try my hardest to stay mad at Caleb for everything that he has done to me. But after spending so much time together, I am starting to tell how much he regrets his actions. He apologizes to me daily and is constantly trying to help us figure out ways to make this attack as smooth as possible. How can I stay mad at him when he is trying to hard to protect my family and my faction?

The downside of the constant time spent with my team is that I only see Tobias during meals and before we collapse into bed together, too exhausted from the day to say more than a few words to each other.

It is the day before we are set to attack Erudite and the incessant ring of the alarm wakes me up. My hands fumble around with it on our small table next to bed until I give up and just swipe it so it falls to the ground. Thankfully, once it crashes to the floor the sound stops.

I feel the bed behind me shake with Tobias' laughs. I spin around and wrap myself around him as close as possible. Our legs quickly become tangled and my face is pressed into the crevice of his neck.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence I whisper, "Do you think this will work?"

Tobias sighs and thinks for a few moments before he answers. "I think it has the potential to work, yes. Once we've got Jeanine I think the rest of Erudite will be easy to stop and see reason."

"So you're saying that the fate of our city rests on whether my team accomplishes our mission or not? No pressure."

I feel more than hear the deep laugh that shakes Tobias' body. I press my body even closer to his just to try and feel more of his skin against mine.

"You'll get the job done."

"We'll see."

The warm quilt is suddenly thrown off of my body. I make a sound of protest before I reach for it. Before my hand can wrap around the quilt my body is lifted off of the bed and Tobias has me thrown over his shoulder.

"Um. Excuse me," is all I manage as Tobias walks me over to our bathroom. My feet finally hit the floor and I look up and see Tobias smiling down at me. He says nothing as he turns on the shower and starts to remove my clothing.

~.~.~

A few hours later we find ourselves situated comfortably in Zeke and Uriah's apartment surrounded by our friends. I am situated comfortably against Tobias as we sit on the couch with Christina and Will next to us.

We've spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing of importance and it has been spectacular. Spending time not worrying about what the future holds is just what we needed. For the most part I am able to forget about everything. But then I look around the room at all of my friends.

I see Lynn and Marlene laughing in the corner at something Uriah said. I see Will whispering something to Christina that makes her laugh. I see Zeke toss his arm around Shauna's shoulders with a big smile on his face. Then I look up at Tobias. I see the tattoo that covers his back peaking up through the neck of his t-shirt. I see the small smile on his face as he talks to Zeke. And I can't take it. What if this is the last day I see some of these people alive?

I detach myself from Tobias and make my way out of the room as quickly as possible. I can feel my breathing start to pick up and my ears are suddenly ringing. I make it around a corner before I have to lean my back against the wall for support. My legs start to lower me to the ground when Tobias finds me.

"What's – " he doesn't have to finish his questions though. As soon as he looks at me and sees the tears threatening to spill out of my eyes he knows.

"How can everyone be so calm? Tomorrow we're – people could – " Tobias' arms are wrapped around me then. So tight it is like they are holding me together when I feel like I am falling apart.

"Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me all alone." I sob into his shoulder.

"Never. I'll never leave you."

~.~.~

I wake up and press my body even closer to Tobias. I can tell it is too early to even think about getting up, probably around one or two in the morning. I know I won't be able to get to sleep anytime soon, though. I was lucky to fall asleep at all, earlier.

My fingers start to trace the warm skin of Tobias' back while I try to relax. It helps calm me a little, but not enough to actually fall asleep.

I start to place light kisses across Tobias' chest before making my way up to his neck. I spend some time there before I make it to his lips.

"Tobias," I whisper. I didn't realize how desperate my voice would sound.

His eyes pop open so fast that I know he has been awake for at least the last few minutes of my ministrations. His eyes look down at me and their normal dark blue seem almost black in the dim light.

Now that I know he is awake I don't hesitate to press my lips to his. My kiss is frantic and needy but I don't care.

Tobias rolls onto his back and brings my body with him, situating me on top of him. His hands make quick work of the large t-shirt I have on and then gently trace up and down my back. The feel of his fingertips along my skin create goose bumps all over me.

My hands fumble beneath me to try and rid Tobias of his clothing but don't make much progress. "Off," I mumble against his lips. Tobias quickly gets the remainder of our clothing out of the way.

I am suddenly on my back with Tobias resting above me, his weight resting on his elbows on either side of my head. His lips meet mine in a sweet, soft kiss as he slowly enters me.

His rhythm is soft and slow and perfect. My arms wrap around his back and my head burrows into his neck. With each thrust my fingers tighten their grip on his until my hands are straining with the effort.

"I love you," Tobias whispers into my ear as his thrusts become more erratic and suddenly my climax takes over my body.

By the time I can move again Tobias has moved to lie next to me. One of his arms wrap around me as I situate myself next to him.

"I love you, too," I mumble before I finally fall asleep.

~.~.~

Everyone is ready, or at least as ready as they'll ever be. We've all gathered in the pit, similar to how we gathered before the Abnegation invasion. Everyone, including the Abnegation and Amity trainees, are wearing Dauntless black.

Tobias and I enter and I immediately go to find my parents while Tobias talks to his team. He's with Will and Uriah and a few others. Zeke is the reason Uriah is with Tobias; he said he was the only one he trusted to look after him.

My mother says nothing as she pulls me in for an embrace. I squeeze her back before I turn to my father and hug him as well.

"Everything will work out," I say to them but I am saying it more to comfort myself. I know everything won't be okay. Not everyone in this room will make it back.

"Yes, it will," my mother says with a soft smile on her face. One of her hands comes up and cups my cheek. "We're very proud of you, Beatrice."

My eyes shift from my mother's face to my father's. Both of them are smiling down at me with pride radiating out of their eyes.

"I love you," I tell them both before I throw my arms around both of them one last time.

A few minutes later everyone is broken up into their teams. Christina, Lynn, and Caleb surround me. We're the smallest team. Nobody but the leaders and us know that we have a separate mission, so we get a few curious stares from the others.

We jump into the train that will be taking us to the Abnegation sector. My team will get off there to head to the building we need to get to while the others ride for a while longer to get closer to Erudite before jumping off.

As soon as everyone in our car is settled Tobias pulls me over to a corner of the car. This car only has our two teams on it so it is fairly empty.

My back hits the cool metal of the train before Tobias places himself in front of me. My arms wrap around him and my head buries itself into his neck. That is how we spend a majority of the train ride until we see the Abnegation sector approaching.

"Everything will be fine," I mumble to myself as I force my arms to drop from around Tobias.

"Everything will be fine," he repeats to me. Both of Tobias' hands cup my face and his lips press into mine. It is a kiss full of passion and love and promise. Promise of a better tomorrow after all of this is done.

"I'll see you soon," I tell him

"See you soon."

"Let's go!" I shout to my team before we start to jump. I look back at Tobias one more time before I jump off of the train after them.

"This way," I tell them before we start making our way through the empty Abnegation sector. The sun is just starting to set as we make it to our building. It is one of the closest to the main Erudite building, but a good 10 stories shorter than it.

Once we get to the roof I look over at the Erudite building, trying to find Oliver. I don't see him yet but I know we are a few minutes early then our scheduled time.

When I start to pace Lynn steps right in front of me, halting my movements.

"I don't know why you're so nervous. One way or another, this will all be over in a matter of hours. That's a good thing, right?" Lynn tells me.

I never thought of it like that. One way or another, this will all be over soon. All I've wanted since that first night in Erudite was for all of this to be over.

I take a deep breath before I answer her, "You're right, I – "

"There he is," Caleb says and points to the roof of the Erudite building.

I look up and see a figure standing up on the roof. We wait a few more minutes until a rope is suddenly thrown across the roof and lands perfectly in front of us.

"Impressive," Christina mutters.

"He transferred from Dauntless," Caleb tells us.

Christina works on securing the rope to this building while each of us pull out our special clamps and get ready to climb. We'll have to wrap our legs around the rope and use our arms to pull ourselves up.

"Caleb, you first. So Oliver knows he can trust us," I tell him and motion to the rope. Only one of us will go across at once, so the rope doesn't snap under too much weight.

I watch Caleb's movements carefully. Once he makes it to the other side Oliver helps him up and I see them shake hands and then motion for the next one to start. Lynn steps forward and starts to make her way across.

"So. This is it," Christina says from her spot next to me.

"It's not like we're dying, Christina. We'll be fine. Like Lynn said, it will all be over in a few hours."

"Well aren't you little miss optimist now."

"I really do think this plan will work. It's just a lot to take in," I shrug.

"Yeah, I know. You're good at this though, you know. Being in charge and looking out for everyone."

"Lucky for you you're on my team then, huh?"

Christina laughs and nudges me with her shoulder. I look back up and notice Lynn has just reached the Erudite headquarters roof.

"Your turn," I tell Christina and watch as she starts her climb.

I get both of my clamps ready in my hands as I watch Christina make her way carefully across the rope. Once she's on the other roof I start. It takes a lot of upper-body strength but overall it isn't too hard.

I drop my clamps on the ground when I reach the Erudite roof.

"Now, the fun part begins," I mumble under my breath. I look around and see Oliver. He's tall, probably almost six feet with shaggy blonde hair. I hold my hand out for him. "I'm Tris. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," he says as his hand gently squeezes mine. That's when the first gunshot rings out. We all make our way over to the edge of the roof and look down to see a herd of black covered bodies making their way into the building.

"Let's go. Remember, Jeanine is our only mission. Nothing else." I tell my team.

Oliver stays on the roof while we enter the door that leads us to a stairwell. We take quiet, calm steps as we make our way down so that we don't alert anyone who may be lingering in the stairwells that we're here.

"Here we are," Caleb says as we reach the floor where Jeanine's office is located. I peak my head out the door and look both ways down the hall. I don't see anyone so we all enter the hall.

"This way," Caleb says as he makes a right and leads us down the hall to another door.

"This is her personal lab. This is where I would assume she would be," Caleb says as he starts to open the door. "There's some pretty heavy security around. Simulations and – " his voice cuts off as he sees an ordinary looking lab in front of him, with Jeanine nowhere to be found.

"Well, where else would she be?" I ask him, panic starting to rise in my voice as the gunshots in the background start to get louder and louder.

"I don't – maybe in the main lab downstairs?" Caleb asks as if any of us would have a better suggestion.

"Let's go, then. Stairwell?" I ask Caleb. Once he nods I carefully open the door and look both ways to make sure no one else is out there before I lead everyone back to the stairwell we were just in.

We make our way down as quietly as possible. All of us freeze when we suddenly hear a door a few levels below us open and close.

"She's here somewhere and we need her either disposed of or locked up. Jeanine is working on what she says will be the simulation that will work on the Divergent. Then, with the Abnegation out of the way, the Factionless will control the government."

I look at the three people behind me and hold my hands up, telling them to stay where they are as I carefully lean over the banister to look down and see who is there.

Evelyn. Of course. She's been leading the Factionless ever since she faked her death and left Abnegation. Has she been working with Jeanine since the beginning under the illusion that Jeanine will let her and the Factionless run the government? I may not like Jeanine but I know she's not that stupid.

The one surprise I see, though, is Edward. The same Edward that Peter stabbed in the eye with a butter knife, the one whose blood I had to clean up off of the floor. Apparently now he's Evelyn's go-to boy.

The only real question left is the 'she' Evelyn has Edward looking for.

I turn back to my team and look at Christina. "Edward," I quietly mouth to her. She's probably the only one out of all of them who would know who he is. Her burrows furrow at the name.

I hear a door slam and look back down at where Evelyn and Edward were standing and see an empty space now.

"Well, things just got more interesting," I tell them.

"They're looking for you. We need to be more careful," Caleb says.

"Me? How do you know?"

"You're the 'she' they were talking about. Your Divergence is stronger than anyone Jeanine has ever seen. She's got some strange fascination with you. She'll either want you dead or want you to run more tests."

I think about that for a moment. Wondering if this will make our mission even more dangerous but I decide there is nothing I can do about that now. "Let's keep moving."

We continue moving quickly but quietly down the flights of stairs before Caleb stops us.

"This is it. Its one giant lab, so once we open this door Jeanine, if she's in there, will know we're here."

I nod. "Okay. I'll go first, Lynn you go right, and Christina left. Caleb, stay behind me. Remember, we're just taking Jeanine into custody."

I take a deep breath before I quickly open the door with my gun at the ready. My eyes quickly scan the room and find Jeanine standing at a table surrounded by test tubes and other supplies. Her appearance is nothing like the woman I remember from my time at Erudite. She looks disheveled and like she hasn't had a decent nights sleep in days.

"Clear!" I hear both Christina and Lynn shout.

"How do you do it? How?" Jeanine shouts at me. Her eyes are wild and frantic. I'm surprised she doesn't have any guards around her. I would have thought she would have constant protection around herself.

"It's not a choice Jeanine, it just happens," I say, knowing what she's talking about without any further explanation. I'm hoping that if I play this the right way Jeanine will come with us, almost willingly.

"No! There's something you're not telling me! Something about you that makes it so the simulations – "

"I'm Divergent. You know that."

"There's more and you're not telling – "

"Beatrice Prior. Just the girl I was looking for," Evelyn's cold voice echoes throughout the open lab as she makes her way over to us with her own gun aimed at me. There must be another entrance on the other side of the room.

"It's Eaton now, actually," I tell her. I keep my gun trained on Jeanine. Evelyn is not my mission.

I hear Evelyn's soft gasp at my admission. She must not have known Tobias and I got married.

"You've caused quite a few problems for us, Beatrice. With you out of the way and Jeanine . . . like this I'll be able to fix this city and restore it to how it should be. Make Factionless something to be proud of," restore the factions and the mind control. That can't happen. I won't let that happen.

"I don't know if your son would appreciate you killing his wife," Christina says from my right. I take a quick glance in her direction and notice that she has her gun trained on Evelyn. In those few seconds when I look at Christina I hear a shot ring out in the air and then I feel the pain start to spread.

A/N: Surprise early posting! This and the next chapter are the last before the Epilogue. Next chapter is already up – see you there!