Tris stares at the man in front of her, regarding him as if he were a stranger. He may as well be, because as soon as she had dropped her blood over the hot coals that symbolized Dauntless, she had symbiotically made an oath that day that Faction would always come before blood.
Andrew Prior returns the stare of his only daughter, although to look at her now you would have never thought she was raised by him in Abnegation. He knows the light blonde hair color was in an effort to fit in to Erudite, but her tattoos, dark clothes, makeup and the way she carries herself now has left almost all parts of Abnegation behind.
Andrew was not in the city of Portland on a social call, instead it was out of necessity, and it took almost a full two weeks to make this visit even possible. Max's testimony detailing Jeanine's plans were spot on, and Dauntless' decision to track him proved to be wise. Max led them straight to Jeanine, and she was taken into custody with much more peace and dignity than she had ever afforded any of her victims.
However, a trial for Jeanine was never conducted, because she had quietly taken a pill form of the death serum once she was locked in her cell. Her death was immediate, and she took all of her secrets to her grave.
After her death, Max led them to her belongings. Candor searched and the legal documentation that had been under the protection for so long was finally in their possession. The law teams there pored over these documents feverishly, along with a recorded message left by Edith Prior herself, and the teams found the documents to be legal and bound. Andrew Prior was immediately recognized as the head leader of the city of Chicago, and it was left completely up to him to appoint a leadership council at his discretion.
The only two other surviving Prior's were his children, Caleb and Beatrice, and both were considered war criminals.
"If you're here to arrest me I wish you would just get on with it." A clearly exhausted Tris states evenly to her father.
"Defiant until the bitter end." He sighs. "Beatrice…"
"Tris." She hisses.
"Tris", he corrects, "I am not here to arrest you. I'm here to help." Andrew says gently.
"Help with what? You wanted my husband to die for his crimes, and he did. Your help is not the kind I need." She spits.
He doesn't respond to her anger, but continues, "I don't have a full council in place as yet, only Jack, Marcus, Johanna, Christina and myself, but we have unanimously voted to execute Maxwell Powell for his help in orchestrating the war. Several others have been captured as well, all due for execution within the week. As for Eric…"
"Eric is already dead." Tris replies with venom. "Don't fucking speak of him."
"I've checked with his medical team, and he remains on the heart bypass, why did you lead me to believe he had succumbed to his injuries?"
Tris stares hard at her father. For all intents and purposes, Eric was dead. When they arrived in Portland two weeks ago, Eric was taken to the hospital, and their trained medical professionals took over CPR for Fernando and Cara. He was rushed into surgery, where it was revealed that his heart was damaged beyond all repair. Cara still had power to make all of Eric's medical decisions, however she made sure she also spoke for Tris as well. They legally may not be married anymore, but it was blatantly obvious that Tris' divorce was only for show, and the young woman was utterly devastated at the potential loss of her ex-husband. Together, they made the only decision they could that would keep Eric with them. They had his damaged heart removed, and placed him on an external heart bypass machine in the hopes that they would either find a living donor heart, or develop a true artificial heart to implant.
He doesn't have much time at all. The human body is not designed to function this way.
"Eric, Tobias and you have also all been pardoned, and this was a unanimous decision as well." Andrew continues. "As for Eric, we have found a match for heart donation. Caleb is a match."
"Caleb?" Tris asks. She is unable to hide her astonishment. "I thought he would have been pardoned…"
"The council did not come to a unanimous decision with Caleb, so his sentencing has been ongoing. He had heard about Eric's prognosis and had specifically asked to be tested to see if he was a blood and tissue match. He is an exact match, as close as one can be without sharing DNA. He has volunteered to donate his heart to Eric."
"Only if he is executed." Tris whispers.
"No, he has volunteered no matter what the council finds. It is unprecedented, and Jack's team investigated this situation thoroughly, they can find no legal way to stop him. If Caleb, as a prisoner, requests an execution we as the council can carry it out. Now that you are pardoned, you are an automatic member of the leadership council because you are also a Prior. I needed to meet with you to inform you of Caleb's request, and request that you officially vote."
"I can't vote to kill my own brother to save my husband…. I can't vote at all… not when it comes to family…."
"Beatrice, err my apologies, Tris, Caleb is no longer considered your brother due to the faction before blood rules. Eric is legally no longer your husband. There is no conflict here." He replies.
"I love them both. No matter what Caleb has done, I still love him. I also love Eric. And mom…. And you…." Tris cries out. "I cannot vote without bias."
Andrew's stern expression changes for the first time since they've sat down together and his eyes soften.
"I love you as well." He replies quietly. "My love for Caleb and you has never once faltered, no matter what decisions the two of you made. Caleb willingly participated in Jeanine's genocide. He made decisions based on his own selfish wants to become a larger part of the leadership team. He could have chosen the longer, and honest path to it, but he didn't. Eric was following the orders of his leader. While morally we may never be able to understand such blind devotion, I have learned from this investigation that Dauntless legally could not question orders. With Eric's pardon, we also can change the laws so that our military branch does not feel that their morals have to be sacrificed in order to uphold the law."
"Thank you." Tris whispers and Andrew nods.
"My vote is to allow Caleb to donate his heart as part of his execution. My vote has always been to execute, even before I knew about the match. Johanna was the lone holdout on his fate, and after a deep discussion she agrees that Caleb should be allowed his choice."
"How will this work? Will he suffer?" Tris asks shakily.
"He will go to sleep for his surgery, and never wake up." Andrew replies stoically.
"Can I talk to him before I vote?" She asks.
"Of course. Since Eric is in no shape to travel, and it wouldn't be wise for you to leave him, we can arrange for Caleb to be transported here. You can talk to him, and if the decision is made to move forward we can be here with him as he is prepared for surgery."
"As he is prepared to die. What does mom think?" Tris asks suddenly.
"Your mother is deeply conflicted, Tris. I think we all are. We raised you and Caleb in a way that our hope was you would have all of the tools you needed as adults to make the best decisions possible." He replies.
"You both were deeply disappointed in both of us." Tris retorts.
"Initially, yes. However, I do want you to know your mother has been instrumental in making me understand the complexities of how the Dauntless chain of command works, and how it was near impossible for Eric to not follow the orders he was given. Natalie has always vouched for that Tris, she was steadfast in her belief that Eric was innocent based on the fact that he had to follow his orders. It was Marcus and I who were too stubborn to listen to her."
"She was Dauntless." Tris replies in awe. Her father nods his head again to affirm. "This is all so much to take in. Did you know what was in that safe?"
Andrew sighs and his brow furrows, both are signs that Tris is familiar with from her childhood. She has always been able to tell her parents were not Abnegation born, however they have both always kept their home factions to themselves, preferring to fully indoctrinate with Abnegations teachings of being selfness. Hanging on to a faction they left behind would have been selfish, and talking to their children about their upbringing could have tainted their future decisions.
It's times like this that Andrew's Erudite upbringing does peek through. The way he is careful to school his features, the care he puts into thoroughly thinking a question, and its answer through before speaking is something that Erudite is taught from a young age. Tris has always recognized the traits in her ex-husband, but she also sees the same in her father.
"Yes." Is the simple answer he gives, one Tris was not expecting.
"You knew you were the only true leader of our city, and yet you did nothing?" Tris accuses.
"It's not as simple as that. The city was running smoothly with the faction system in place. Even you have to admit there was a quiet order, and there were no true issues. There was hardly any crime, and even if someone did not fit in with a faction, they were taken care of by the Abnegation. What good would have come from me attempting to disturb a system that was working?"
"It was working until it wasn't." Tris replies angrily. "Why did it take Jeanine stealing that safe for you to admit any of this? Why wouldn't you have volunteered that information to stop all of this from happening? You let Caleb become a criminal? You voted to kill my husband! You had this power, the entire time, and you chose to sit on it! Why?"
"My decision to not take control of the city is my own, Beatrice. I have to live with seeing what happened once Jeanine became hungry for power. As for the aftermath, she needed to pay for her crimes, as did anyone else who willingly worked with her to overthrow the government, including Caleb. Jeanine had absolutely shown signs of instability, with her nasty propaganda against the Abnegation. I tried to be as diplomatic as possible to resolve what I thought were differences in opinion on the factionless and the divergent. I had no idea she had approached Max, and I certainly did not think she would have the power to start a war against me. In hindsight, the signs of her desperation were there, however I would have never guessed to what extremes she would go to in order to usurp us."
"No one seemed to know, except Max. She had so many people working on serums and devices, but no one ever thought she would use them for anything so drastic."
"These are the lessons we will take with us." Andrew agrees.
After talking for almost another full hour, Andrew retires to his guest apartment for the evening, with a promise to make the necessary arrangements to get Caleb and Natalie to Portland, and another promise that he will get to know Eric without prejudice. Tris makes her way back to the hospital, and travels through the ICU department until she gets back to Eric's room.
She pulls her chair close to his bed, and pushes his curly hair from his brow. He is once again intubated, in another forced coma to allow the machines to keep him alive until the next steps are in place.
When she and Eric were first reunited, she avoided being with him because she was too angry. She made excuses to stay away, and she isolated herself until she could find some way to forgive him for everything that had transpired.
She also needed to find a way to live with the blood on her hands from her own mistakes.
Since arriving back in Portland, she only leaves his side when forced. She knows he's not truly alive, since he no longer has the most important organ in order to actually survive outside of these four walls. Yet, this time she talks to him. She tells him about his condition, she talks about their day, and she talks openly about the pregnancy they lost.
Today, she fills him in on the visit from her father, the first since he cast the deciding vote that sealed Eric's fate. She tells him that they are no longer criminals, that Jeanine committed suicide, and that all of their family secrets were now out in the open for the entire world to see. She tells him that her father is finally ready to put their differences aside and to give Eric a true chance.
The people around her are finding their new normal, and even a bit of happiness now that Jeanine and Max have been brought down. Peter and Amar can finally live a life outside of the shadows, and they no longer are afraid to pursue the relationship they'd always been too afraid to try. Four had slowly moved on from Tris when he found out about her relationship with Eric, and they had comfortably moved into a close friendship that both cherished. His new relationship with Mila was unexpected, but very welcomed and the two were enjoying their time together. Cara and Fernando's already strong marriage only grew stronger outside of the confines and stress of being in Erudite.
When all you've ever known is a tightly governed city with walls, it can come as a complete surprise how good it feels to be free.
"Hey there." Fernando says as he enters the ICU room.
"Did my father talk to you?" Tris asks.
"He did." Fernando replies in return. "I'm here to answer your questions."
"I just want to know what you think. What are his odds?" Tris asks.
"There have been major developments in serums to help the body to not reject a natural organ. Even with those in place, the first year is critical. We will watch him carefully to ensure his body's immune system doesn't reject the new heart. Caleb is as close to a DNA match as I've ever seen, and his blood and tissue type will be an almost perfect match for Eric. With regular care, our serums, and Eric's cooperation he can return to a pretty normal life, Tris. It'll take him several months to recover, but again our serums will cut the normal recovery time by quite a bit." Fernando answers.
"If his body rejects..?" Tris begins.
"Cara and I are still working on an alternative. We care about Eric, we'll never stop fighting for him." Fernando replies easily.
Several days later, after an earnest conversation with Caleb that included her parents, Tris finally cast her vote to accept Caleb's proposal to be executed. He was of sound mind, and he had accepted his fate. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was voted to be executed anyway, Johanna had been the sole holdout but even she had been wavering once she read the transcripts that were kept of every meeting Jeanine had ever conducted.
Caleb had willingly followed Jeanine, and like Max he realized how wrong he was to pursue power over the people that he cared about. He wanted his family to know he was sorry, and he especially wanted his sister to know he regretted his callous treatment of her, and people like her. Caleb always knew that Eric wanted nothing to do with Jeanine, and he knew that Eric's life was worth saving.
The Priors were a united front when Caleb was being prepared for his surgery. They said their goodbyes, and Natalie and Andrew supported Tris as she waited hours to hear from the transplant team regarding Eric's surgery.
Once the transplant surgery was finished, and Eric was out of the recovery bay, Tris was able to return to his side. He still had many monitors and tubes, but somehow she knew that he had been given a chance to finally live the life he had envisioned for them. He was finally free.
Tris spent the first few minutes just looking at him, fussing over the tubes and trying to make sure nothing touched the large surgical dressing over his chest. When she finally sits down, she begins to speak.
"You almost died, more times than I can even count, in an attempt to get that damn thing out of your chest. Peter Hayes, of all people, called me on my bullshit and laid it out for me…that everything you had done in our relationship was in order to keep me safe. Four tried telling me the same thing for months, and at one point, as you know, he didn't even like you…"
"He's still a prick…." Eric sighs. His silver eyes meet hers.
"Eric!" Tris wraps both of her hands around his free one.
"I love you too. I would never leave you…" He breathes out.
"You heard me?"
"Yes in the truck and here. New ticker," He gestures towards his chest, "from your brother. Are you ok?"
"I'm ok. I have you, I'm more than ok." Tris smiles.
Fernando and team check Eric out, and are incredibly pleased with all of his progress. Eric learns through his medical team that he'll need to spend a little more time in the hospital for observation, but he can expect to be able to return to full activity within the next three to six months barring any post-transplant complications. He has quick visits from Cara, Amar, Peter, Four and Mila, all of which he questions about what happened with Jeanine and Max. The leader in him will never die, neither will his Erudite way of thinking.
Tris' father, true to his word, arrived with her mother by his side to visit Eric once their friends had left. They stayed for several hours, getting to know the man their daughter, and eventually their son sacrificed everything to save.
The conversation was serious, but had in a calm and respectful way in order not to strain Eric. It was a start, and more than anyone could have imagined possible after all they had been through.
Tris observes and listens from her place at his side, her hand never leaving his. Once everyone has left for the evening, Eric turns to look at Tris.
"That went much better than I had expected." He says.
"It did. My father promised me the day we first talked that he would get to know you without prejudice. He's a man of his word." Tris says. "There's something else you should know."
"What's wrong Tris?" Eric asks. She shakes her head.
"There are no more factions. No more faction before blood. Everything is done, Chicago is going to be like Portland." She explains.
"Do you have to go back?" He asks.
"No, not right now. There's a lot we need to work out, with everything that came out with that safe that Jeanine had, but right now my focus is on your recovery."
"Did you mean what you said about our future?" He asks quietly. "Back in the truck..." He trails off.
"Every word." Tris replies.
"I want to get married again, but this time I want to have an actual wedding. We have six months of recovery to work through before it could happen. Maybe your friends will have accepted me by then, and maybe this time your father will actually walk you down the aisle. I want to live a life that neither of us are ashamed of. I want forever with you. Tris, would you marry me again?" Eric asks.
"Of course I will."