They had every entrance guarded with soldiers loyal to Dauntless in anticipation of Jeanine's arrival, and Tris, along with Four, were well hidden within the residential area of Erudite. The two had spent several hours in an apartment, worried for the people they cared about outside of these walls, just to find out that Jeanine had once again outsmarted them.
Peter and Cara had tracked that small blip on the screen, relaying as much information as they could to their teams in order to catch Jeanine with as little violence as necessary so that she could finally stand trial for her crimes against humanity.
The person who ultimately was captured was not Jeanine, it was Caleb Prior, and he seemed to have absolutely no idea how he was being tracked. Once he was apprehended and searched, the watch was found buried deep in a knapsack he had had been given to use for transporting supplies that Jeanine had specifically sent him to Erudite to retrieve.
Four could tell this news had opened a barely healed wound in Tris. She had known this entire time that her brother had been working for Jeanine. Although Caleb's whereabouts could never be confirmed, great lengths were put into place to not only change Tris' appearance so she was not as easily recognized, but also extra attention was in place to ensure her path never crossed with Caleb's. Once again the city had to arrest someone from within Jeanine's inner circle instead of Jeanine herself, and it felt like they were still always several steps behind the elusive leader.
Caleb's interrogation under truth serum revealed where Jeanine and Max's were hiding, and a surveillance team sent to that location eventually turned up a huge win, Max himself was finally apprehended once he had returned to the hastily abandoned camp. The rest of Caleb's testimony was much like Eric's in other aspects, where he was following the orders of the mad woman without knowing all of her plans and intentions. The glaring difference was Caleb did so willingly, whereas Eric did so because it was expected of him as part of his chain of command.
Caleb believed in Jeanine's cause, and he also believed that their partnership would ensure his parents were kept alive when she carried out her attacks. He had no idea how wrong he was, but it was evident during his interrogation he finally realized he had been used.
Max's testimony under the truth serum was much more detailed, as everyone had expected. He was Jeanine's second in command, and his arrogance never allowed him to not be involved in all decisions. Jeanine didn't know for sure, but she had suspected her watch was being used as some sort of tracking device when it began emitting noises and even an extreme amount of heat when she wore it. She had purposely dropped it into the knapsack she gave to Caleb Prior in order to throw anyone who may be attempting to track her off of her trail. Within minutes of Caleb leaving their camp, Jeanine, Max and the handful of loyal followers they had, packed as much as they could carry and began to head to the east. What many did not know is that Jeanine is a type one diabetic, and in their haste to leave they had left her insulin at the camp. Max turned back to retrieve the necessary medication only to be arrested by his own former faction's soldiers.
Max testified that their plans were to move east, and that they knew that the divergents were hiding in the once former thriving city of New York, the closest in structure to their beloved Chicago.
It appeared they had no idea that the city of Portland existed.
Jeanine and Max believed that they could convince these factionless divergents to work with them to reclaim the city of Chicago, and to put Jeanine squarely in charge. Jeanine's obsession with Tris and Eric was explained to Max as she felt the two of them were her biggest competition when it came to ultimately running the city. Tris, the daughter of a prominent Abnegation leader, along with Eric, who had the highest IQ recorded in Erudite history were a force together. Loyal to no one, in Jeanine's eyes, and she easily convinced Max of the same. Divergents like Beatrice Prior could not be controlled, and if she were so easily able to manipulate someone like Eric, she could also get others to gather in numbers, band together, and rule the world one day unless Jeanine was able to convince them that following her lead was in their best interest.
It was more than just power, Jeanine also became obsessed with a safe that she believed was being hidden within the faction of Abnegation, and Max was convinced that its contents were what ultimately drove Jeanine to start her mind-controlled killing spree using his own faction. Jeanine had used Caleb to find the safe, and once Max had finally earned her trust, he found out for himself that the contents of this safe proved that the city of Chicago was indeed the last surviving city of a war that wiped out the entire country, however it also proved that the only lineage that could legally govern the people were the Priors, the descendants of Edith Prior, who had last led the city before being assassinated during the war.
Jeanine wanted Andrew dead, and she knew she needed to keep Caleb alive long enough to use to ensure that all of the Prior lineage had been removed, clearing the path for Jeanine to take power. Caleb had no idea what his parents were hiding in that safe, but what he did know was the location of the safe. He also knew the location of their living relatives, and when she had tasked him with building a detailed map before the war he had labeled each home with the name of the inhabitants, unknowingly sealing the fate of his own extended family when he believed he had been making sure they were left unharmed by Jeanine's soldiers.
Max testified that Jeanine's plan was to head to New York City, where she had claimed to have made contact with a group of detractors who were willing to listen to what she had to offer. He believed she was currently on her way to Indianapolis, as that was where they had planned to meet in the event anything went awry with Max's attempt to retrieve Jeanine's necessary medication. She knew she only had enough insulin on her personally to last a day, so if Max was unable to reach out once he had made it back to their camp in Indiana they would head to the nearest major city in order to get the healthcare she desperately needed.
Max freely admitted that Jeanine had become increasingly erratic, paranoid and her small troop of loyal followers had even begun to question her mental health. She was no longer stable, and he couldn't say with certainty that she would stick with any of their plans once she realized he had been captured.
Dauntless leadership, which now consisted of Christina, Will, Lynn and Zeke had asked for Max to be held instead of carrying out an immediate execution. They believed having him alive could be helpful in bringing Jeanine down, and with Eric still recovering from the surgery to repair the damage to his heart caused by the implanted tracking device, the only true inner circle member left that could force Jeanine's hand would be Max. The terms were stringent: he would be implanted with the same device that almost killed Eric, so that he could be monitored or disabled as needed. Since the implant offered no type of mind control, they had to have a separate meeting with him, also conducted under truth serum to see how cooperative he would be. It was during this closed door meeting that Dauntless could see how weary their former leader truly was, and how he realized that his insatiable hunger for power turned him into the type of person he hated the most: a traitor. He asked for no favors or special considerations, and offered to provide the assistance to bring Jeanine in since he no longer felt the need to continue to fight her war for her.
He knew he should die for his crimes, and accepted his fate.
There was another blow to Tris, Eric and Four from Max's interrogation, he testified that the wanted trio were being hidden in Erudite due to a health scare for Eric. Even though great efforts had been made in keeping Tris and Four hidden from view, Caleb himself had given Max and Jeanine the update that they had been smuggled in to see Eric due to his precarious situation. Jack had indirectly helped Eric escape when he turned the other cheek and had dropped an access card to allow them out of the compound and he had no desire to pursue them once they had left the city. Now that they were all within his jurisdiction, he had no choice but to send someone to Erudite to extract them, however as a man who truly believed that Eric was being railroaded for the much more serious crimes of Max and Jeanine, he did get word out to Four to give them a head start in leaving the city.
This time, when Candor showed up to arrest Tris, Four and Eric, they were already gone, and they had Cara, Fernando, Milagros and Peter with them.
Eric's recovery was once again in peril as he had to be packed into the back of a large utility vehicle for a trip halfway across the country to get to Portland. He had already been deprived of proper medical care since they had to keep him out of the main hospital in Erudite, and he had not been able to receive any of the healing serums his body desperately needed to recover from the trauma to his heart. There was no way Cara would allow her best friend to leave without medical assistance, and Fernando easily agreed to finally leave the damaged city behind. Mila decided to leave to follow her brother, and also to continue to pursue the budding relationship that had begun between her and Four.
They had been alternating drivers, with one passenger always sitting in the back compartment with Eric, who had been given a sedative to help him rest during the long trip. She had put it off as long as possible, but now it was now Tris' turn and she settled in next to him.
She watches as he sleeps, the oxygen mask that covers his nose and mouth showing condensation with each breath he takes. She looked over the portable machines that Fernando and Cara had carefully hooked Eric up to, and saw no warning lights on any. Tris knows exactly how dangerous it is to move Eric, but they were left with no choice once they'd heard from Jack. The Candor leader needed more time to pursue a pardon for the trio, and he knew the only way he would have the backing from the leadership council is if both Max and Jeanine paid for their crimes. The testimony from Max had been enough for at least the first few murmurs of a pardon to begin to form, especially since the council couldn't vote for an execution for Caleb Prior, but it wasn't enough, and he wanted to keep the three alive until they could legally be cleared.
"Finally. I've been waiting for you." Eric says quietly, startling her. He pulls his mask away from his face to speak, replacing it when he's quiet.
"They said you were sedated." Tris says with wide eyes.
"It's mild." He replies. "You ok?"
"You need to rest." She retorts.
"I'm good. This monitor isn't going crazy, that's good right?" He replies easily.
The two sit in silence for several minutes, with Tris gazing out of the dark tinted back window. In the small space, her legs are pressed against him, and she feels his hand graze against her thigh.
"Can we please talk?" He asks quietly. Much to his surprise, she nods her head. "Tris, saying that I am sorry to you is never going to be enough."
"You had to follow orders." Tris interjects.
"I didn't have to bring you down with me. I wish I could have just left you alone. God, I wish I could have just turned away from you. It was never an option for me. I was in love with you. I never once thought I would meet someone who fucking completes me the way you do, Tris. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I was able to separate the two worlds I was living in. The shit with Max and Jeanine didn't have you. When I was with you, the war, being a leader, none of that shit existed. I wanted this life with you, Tris. I wanted to have our baby and get the fuck out of this city and never look back. I thought that once Jeanine had her way, we could leave it all behind. She would have gotten whatever the hell it is that she wants, and I could disappear. We were so close. I hate myself for taking that away from you. I should have never brought you into this. I should have pushed you as far away from me as humanly possible."
Tris is sitting against the back door of the compartment, resting her head against the panel and staring up at the ceiling. She looks at Eric with tears in her eyes, but once again she surprises him by grasping his hand.
"That was never an option. I never would have given up in my pursuit of a future with you. It took both of us for this to happen." She whispers though tears. "I'm mad at you for not telling me what you were involved in. I'm so hurt that your involvement ultimately led to us losing our baby, and to where we are right now. I'm fucking angry because the only choices I was left with had everything to do with distancing myself as far from you as possible, when my only fucking crime in all of this was being with you!"
"I deserve the anger." He replies. "I deserve all of it. You did nothing wrong Tris."
He puts the mask back on and Tris can see he's in much more pain that he cares to admit to her. She rubs the back of his hand with her thumb and he closes his eyes briefly. She can see a steady flow of tears running down his face, and she moves her other hand to wipe them.
"Deep down inside, if I'm being honest with myself, I know that you never meant to hurt me. Everything that went on was beyond your control, and us sitting here rehashing it is getting us nowhere. In hindsight, we may have both made different decisions, but I believe that we would have always chosen each other." Tris says.
"I couldn't stay away from you, even though I knew there was a shit storm heading straight for us. I'm so sorry."
"I'm sorry too." Tris replies wearily. She knows she shouldn't, but she has to ask the one question that has been eating her alive. "Eric, if I had of told you I was divergent, would it have changed anything?"
"I've asked myself that same question so many times. I think, at that point, I was in too deep." He slips the mask back into place.
"I should have told you when we first started this." Tris replies. Eric shakes his head, but she places her hand gently against his mask to prevent him from removing it. "I had a chance, when we were sure of each other, to tell you these things. Had you known that what you were led to believe about divergents just wasn't true, maybe we could have found a way to stop this."
"I didn't know enough about what she had planned to stop anything. I was just a fucking lap dog, following orders. I was weak." He argues.
"We both were weak. We have a chance to change that now." Tris replies. "You need rest, Eric. This conversation is too much."
Eric knows she's right, and as much as he wants to finish hashing out their issues he knows he's in no shape to do so. He puts the mask in place and scoots closer to the side of the compartment. They had made it as comfortable as possible by lining it with a soft feather mattress, which takes up the entirety of the back of the oversized utility truck. He gestures for Tris to lie down.
"You're exhausted too, please lay down with me." Eric begs.
"I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you." She argues. She can see he is in pain, and the exhaustion on his face is evident.
"I'm fine, the machine monitors my vitals, and I'm okay." He argues. "Please."
Tris doesn't argue, she moves so she can carefully lay down next to Eric. It's a lot different with his injuries, and the wires monitoring his heart and an oxygen mask on his face, but there's nowhere else he'd rather be than next to the woman he loves more than life itself.
When he feels her entwining their fingers together gently, he has a sense of peace he hasn't felt since waking up in Erudite so long ago. They both know they have a long road ahead, starting with ending this war of Jeanine's while continuing with Eric's recovery. He doesn't know what their future holds, but he wants to have Tris back as his wife, and he will do anything to prove himself to her again.
"I love you." He whispers, unsure if she's heard him, before exhaustion wins the battle.
Tris is not aware of how long they've been asleep when there is a noise emitting from one of Eric's monitors. She sits up quickly, and she can also feel the truck slowing down as well, meaning Fernando got the same alert.
"Eric…" She tries to wake him but his head rolls limply to the side. "Oh my god… Eric…."
The back doors are thrown open and Fernando jumps in. Cara reaches for Tris and helps her out of the vehicle so that she can enter and assist her husband in his efforts to rouse Eric.
"What happened?" Cara shouts at Tris.
"I don't know. We had fallen asleep…" Tris stammers. She feels a gentle hand on her shoulder and turns to see Four, Mila and Peter. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep…"
"We've all dozed off while sitting with him, the monitors did what they're supposed to do." Mila says from Four's side. She moves closer to the truck to take orders from Cara and Fernando.
"Peter, how far are we from Portland?" Mila asks.
"Less than an hour." He estimates.
Tris watches the portable oxygen mask over Eric's nose and mouth, and she realizes it's not filling the condensation as it was before.
"He's not breathing properly." She cries. Cara glances over at her and gestures for her to come closer.
"His breathing is shallow and pulse is too low, hence the alert, we do not know if it's only from the sedative. It's safer that that we remain with him." Cara explains.
"Peter, let's get to Portland, he needs to be back in the hospital." Fernando commands. "He absolutely needs healing serums."
"I need to tell him something." Tris says. "He could hear me before when he was under sedation… please, I need to tell him something. Please."
"Here, switch with me." Cara says as she slides out of the compartment. Tris crawls back to Eric's side.
"I love you, Eric. No matter what we have gone through, or what's yet to come, I will always love you. I need you to keep fighting, I need you to live for me, for us. One day, when this is over, we will have each other, and we will have a family again, if you'll still have me. You don't give up. Please don't leave me." Tris begs him while clutching onto his limp hand.
"We need to go." Cara says gently and Tris slides out. She is led back to the vehicle, sitting up front with Peter while Mila and Four climb into the row behind them. Peter makes contact with Amar on their secured channel, and Amar promises to have everything arranged for Eric's arrival at the large medical facility in Portland that Tris and Four also recovered in.
Cara's voice crackles over the handheld radio. "We have started CPR, Peter do everything you can to get us there now!" She shouts.