Back from the dead like Buffy Summers holy shit. Yeah, I know it's been a hot minute guys and I'm not gonna waste your time writing some stupid excuse so here is the chapter 25 of "Turbulent" after a long hiatus. Another will be up soon and by soon I mean like two days. Here's to the people who have stuck with it since the beginning and I plan on finishing this bad boy soon.

Some ideas are mine. Everything else belongs to Veronica Roth.

Curbstomp, Meg Myers

The last time I was on the tracks, I was sprinting for my life from an oncoming train while my brother shouted at me from the side that I was going to get killed.

Now, it's a very different story.

I was being led blindly into a conflict I didn't know existed until a few hours ago. The brother who told me I was going to be killed was now bringing me into a situation that made that a definite possibility. It could be terrifying for someone else. But for me?

Oh, please.

The wind was whipping and the air was thick with the smell of gasoline mixed with that distinct smell of fall. It was fresh and almost cleared my mind to more simple things. Like how nice the walk along the tracks stepping on the rust colored leaves could be if my mind was occupied with a whirlwind of thoughts. Like if little Genny can be trusted or why Nash was so intent on being involved. And, especially why he never mentioned it to me. If this was as serious as Beck was explaining to me, why would Nash never tell me that something was brewing with the Erudite while we were doing our best to avoid them during Stage 2? Because maybe it was my cynical nature, but this whole "busy with initiation bit" is getting very old at this point.

"Are you stopping to smell the fucking roses, Theo?"

I was interrupted from my own thoughts by Beck who I noticed was a good deal ahead of me. And he was joined with a group of other people around his age, but dressed in all the colors of the rainbow.

I jogged to catch up and was met with a good amount of stares from everyone in the group. There were more guys than girls, most dressed in Candor black and white with a few other Dauntless born that I couldn't recognize. But what the girls lacked in number, they made up in intimidation. The four that I saw were at least 6 inches taller than me, with scowls that could kill if you looked for too long.

"Who invited the primadonna?" A redheaded Candor girl with an unbelievable amount of freckles asked making sure to say it nasty enough where I wanted to hit every single one.

"This is my sister, Theo. She's here to help," Beck replied.

A Candor guy snorted. His hair was cropped clean to his skull and the blue bags beneath his eyes made it look as though he was a lot older than he actually was.

"Like little sis is really going to get something done. She looks like she doesn't know the difference between a Steyr GB and a Walther P99," He took a step towards me and took a firearm from the back of his waistband and waved it in front of my face, taunting me.

"Sweetheart, dig into that pea sized Dauntless brain and show me how to use a gun,"

Oh, that was it.

I laughed a bit, fake of course. "That's a tough one," I said as I took a step towards him and before he could retract, I grabbed the wrist with the gun and quickly disarmed him, twisting it into an awkward position judging by the groan of pain he emitted. Using the leverage of my left arm and a swift sweep with my leg, I landed him on his back.

"You see the funny thing is, this pea-brained Dauntless just put you on your ass with some simple moves while you were still racking your nonexistent brain to figure out a good insult," I bent down to look him straight in the eyes.

"The main difference between a Walther P99 and the Steyr GB is the action, you know? The Walther has a short recoil with a barrel length of around 100 mm while the Steyr has a longer one at 130 mm and change but it has gas-delayed blowback. Not my personal favorite; I'm more for the short recoil in a Steyr M," I took his gun and pointed it dead in the center of the crease in his eyebrows.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, shitface," I released the magazine of his unimpressive Glock and waved it in his face, watching the color drain from his cheeks. "Guns only work when there are bullets in the mag," Quickly, I shoved the mag back in and tossed the useless gun next to his horizontal body.

It was silent when I got back up and I was met with the whistle of the wind.

Now they had a better idea of who they were messing with.

"Does anyone else have any questions that I can promptly answer with or without violence?" I asked the group of them.

"Yeah, why now?"

At first, I couldn't tell where the voice came from. I only could infer it was a girl and one that wasn't one of the ogres in front of me. The familiarity of it gave it away in the end, however, when before my brother stepped aside to reveal the thin frame of Genevieve walking towards the whole group, wearing a long black duster coat wrapped around her waist to fight the steady wind. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a sleek ponytail, flattering her high cheekbones. For a second, I was envious of how she commanded the attention of everyone in the group with the simple chirp of her voice and a damn good entrance.

"Why now?" I repeated as she came closer and surprisingly stood close next to Beck.

And by close, I mean close.

Looks like I'm not the only brunette who's been busy with a blonde.

"This isn't a new thing. It's been going on since before initiation and there are people who have been working hard to get a position in this ring we have set up. People who have already dedicated their lives to defend what we are trying to do," She narrowed her eyes at me. "So yes, I have a reason to ask why now because while we were working hard researching and investigating and breaking into compounds to discover information, you were dicking around in Dauntless. Now that all the hard stuff is done, you just want to hop aboard for the creds?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes at me and I felt myself beginning to understand why I thought she was a bitch the first time I met her.

"Just because you're fucking my brother doesn't mean you get a free pass,"

And these are the moments when I regret doing nice things for people. It didn't take long for Beck's mouth to drop open in shock.

"That is not true-" I started.

"Wait, what about you and Ky?"

"No, Beck, there never was a Ky and I. Oh God, that rhymed and just made the whole thing sound so much worse. Listen, Genevieve-"

"My mom is the only one who calls me that,"

"Well it is your fucking name, isn't it?"

She looked taken aback. And for a Candor, that's pretty unusual.

"Anyway, Gen, Ginny, Viv, I don't know. I was never with your brother. I only did that as a favor for him to make the visit with his parents and you a little more bearable and now that I've spent a solid five minutes with you, I understand why,"

It seemed a little harsh, I know. But the thing was, it I showed up with my tail between my legs to this whole thing, there is no way in hell they were going to take me seriously. That, or they would just kick me around like a can in an empty parking lot.

And Theodora Eaton is no can.

I knew what Gen wanted to hear. She didn't want some girl to show up and say "I'll do this" and "Sure! I'll count every piece of paper of the Erudite daily agenda because I'm just here to say I was a part of a revolution!". Judging by the other people here, they meant business. And nothing says business like a little bit of Candor.

"And even if I was fucking your brother, it would be none of your business anyway,"

I took a step towards her, not to intimidate her. More to establish me. Give them an idea of what I actually was here for.

"Face it, you need numbers. All the research is done, you said that. You don't need people to crunch numbers and hypothesize. You need people who will fight. I have friends in Dauntless that might freak if you gave them a pencil but would raise hell with an AR. I may be almost done with my initiation and have no clue of all the work you have already put in, but I'm not useless. Not by a long shot,"

The wind was the only sound that followed. But I couldn't care less of what anyone was saying. I only cared about one reaction. And when it came, I knew I was in.

She smiled.

"Why didn't you bring her sooner?" Gen turned to Beck and gave him a shove with her shoulder. Of course, the size of him didn't budge. "She definitely knows how to plead her case,"

He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin that I haven't seen in a long time. "What can I say, us Eatons are pretty gifted with our mouths,"

I choked on the wind.