Thank you SO MUCH to Bamberlee for editing this chapter so quickly after returning from Paris! I'm sorry it took me a minute to get it updated!

Also, I had only planned on this story being twenty chapters long, so we're getting close to the end. There may be a few more, but we'll see how this one goes over. This should answer some questions and start to wind it all down. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing or gave this story a chance!

And also, thank you to buried-in-books for your help!

Dauntless is quiet.

Violet walks in right along with me, her arm touching mine, as she carefully steps over the rockiest of all the pathways. Bringing her in through the back of the compound was a smart move, but it meant we were walking through the roughest part of the faction. I watch her carefully, every step of the way, certain something will go wrong. One misstep meant she'd trip and wind up falling further than she could see, and one twisted turn meant she'd be lost in an underground maze, stuck in frozen hallways until I could find her.

"It's really… dark in here."

She is careful and quiet as we head further beneath the ground. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust, and her dark hair bleeds into the background.

"Is it always like this?" Violet asks when I don't answer, and her words have more meaning than she knows.

She's right. Dauntless is a dark place. Despite being protectors of the city, it is just as corrupt as the rest. Easily influenced. Easily manipulated, all for the sake of power. For years now, Dauntless had had the wrong people in power, myself included. I'd done the dirty work to further myself, and in a way, to keep my faction alive. We were less likely to be blindsided by what Jeanine wanted if we knew what she was doing, and our allegiance to her was the only thing that had kept us one step ahead.

Not anymore.

Now there was no one in charge. There was a chance if that got out, we'd be left behind as the factions quickly regrouped themselves. Missing leaders meant uncertainty. Rebellion. The tiniest cracks would shatter everything we knew.

I'd done a number to the factions in a short amount of time. Despite the blood that was shed and the chaos that was about to come, I could feel something stirring that felt right. Like we were bringing forth a rebirth that felt appropriate. Necessary. I could almost taste it, the feeling right in front of me, that things might just be okay, if I could just hold it together that long.

"It lightens up in a bit. Keep close to the wall." I guide Violet up higher, then lower. The walkways make little sense, and I think of the way they were carved out. Forced by the pressure of the Earth, of water that once rose this high, of us -trampling through here endlessly. I catch her wrist when she stumbles, the shoes Natalie had given her far too large, and she looks up at me quickly.

The expression on her face tells me this isn't at all what she expected, and as we pass what looks like a hallway to nowhere, I can tell she finds this place nightmarish.

She's right.

I know it well. To anyone walking in here from the outside, this was far more dangerous and deadly than one would expect. A quick scan of the area reveals there are few railings, few lights, and even less of a human presence. The walls are slate and high, skating up to invisible ceilings made of darkness, and cutting away to slices of alcoves and caves. Sounds echo and travel, and the blackness seems to stretch around every corner in a never-ending blanket of unease.

I'd thrived here.

For years.

The thriving was subjective; I'd lived here, spent my days working away, experiencing a few moments of pleasure mixed with doing my job. But I'd liked the dark. It was comfortable and heavy, and it held every single secret I'd carried along with me.

Even now, I can feel it wash over me. Faint, flickering shadows. Dim lights that buzz with effort as we walk beneath them. Metal staircases that spiraled and groaned when you climbed them.

Violet's eyes take it all in. She sweeps her gaze up as high as she can, to a slanted ceiling that drips icy droplets when it rains. She follows it all as we walk, her arm still brushing mine, and occasionally, her fingers grazing my own. The apprehension is all over her face, and I can't tell if it's a trick of the serum, or her logical mind hinting that I'm dragging her deep below the Earth's surface and no one knows.

"This way." I instruct her, taking great pains to make sure she notices the steps. We've been walking for a while now, just her and I. Four had vanished, headed off to find Tris and fill her in on what was going on. I imagined he'd told her what I'd done, and I imagined he'd want to bring her to meet Violet. He wasn't at all pleased that she kept her distance from him, and his fragile ego wouldn't be able to handle such a delicate creature disliking him.

That was my doing, and it had made me smirk.

"We're almost there. Watch your step through this part."

I reach for her, the action unconscious of my desire to keep her alive. Irony would be her falling into rushing waters or slipping down a crumbling stairwell all because I'd brought her here. So, I hold onto her tightly, one of my hands finding her waist, and I walk us slowly down what seems like an infinite number of steep stairs.

"Are you sure?" Violet looks up at me, and her expression is hesitant. She looks all around, and there is a sudden, bleak aura of panic radiating from her. "I didn't know Dauntless was so far underground."

I nod wordlessly.

Natalie had touched my arm as we left. She'd stopped me before I walked out her door, and she'd pressed a piece of paper into my hand. It had a phone number written in very small print, and she'd whispered it was the number to the clinic. I wasn't aware they had a phone, but Natalie spoke before I could make such a comment.

"Take this. She might have a tough time. They said she was fine, but they expect there to be some sort of side effects. Anything. She could be fearful. Terrified. Angry that you've taken her. They said it would be strange not to and if they become too much, to call them. They will help you, no questions asked."

Her hand had stayed on mine, pushing the paper at me like she knew I didn't want it.

"You can't do this alone. I'm willing to come help you if you need it. Or she can come back here. You have to promise me you won't give up on her."

I'd thanked her.

First, I'd looked for Four, out of habit now, but he was starting the truck, staring at something on his phone. I'd taken the paper with me, shoving it in my jacket pocket, and I forced myself to nod at Natalie. She was wrong but right. I couldn't do this alone, but with every person I involved, I sunk a little bit deeper into a tangled web I couldn't get out of. I supposed it was my gratefulness for what she'd done, or maybe what she'd offered, but I'd been reluctant to involve Natalie Prior any more than I already had.

Still, I'd agreed. There was a large chance Violet wouldn't adjust just like Dr. Erin had told me. Maybe she had been telling the truth. I hoped Violet would be fine, but having a back up plan wasn't a terrible idea.

"We are. But it's safe. No one can get in here if they don't belong."

We stop in the middle of a vast space, and the light filters down in sporadic, lazy beams. I watch things float down from the ceiling. Dust, specks of snow, drops of dirty, melted water. Violet stands right in front of me, and her eyes are darker than ever.

"Not even the people from…" She pauses, and I nod.

I know what she's worried about.

But they won't find her here.

They wouldn't make it this far.

And if they'd try, I'd hide her. I had other options now, and even if I didn't care for all of them, I would use them if it came to it.

"No. Even if they try, I'll keep you safe. You can stay here as long as you'd like." I raise my eyebrow at her, and my stomach tightens.

The side effects that Natalie spoke of start slowly, as Violet's shoulders begin to shake and she nods her head.

Four manages to wait a whole five minutes before he calls.

I don't remember ever giving him my phone number, but he has it, and he utilizes it the minute he deems it necessary. Which is far sooner than I'd like.

He asks that I meet him and Tori sooner rather than later, and he insists on sending Tris to stay with Violet.

I hate all of his words with a burning passion, but I'm pacified by the thought that I was right.

He'll do his best to make himself the hero of his own story, even if it means helping me.

Our tour of the faction is brief.

Mostly because the side effects that Natalie warned me about kick in, just enough for me to pick up on them.

Violet sways between wanting to be as close to me as possible and looking like she might bolt. I remain as patient as I can, though I want to scream that she'll be fine. Running in the opposite direction won't do her any good. She'll only wind up lost, sucked into the deepest parts of the compound where not many venture. She'd be lost, and while I wouldn't hunt her down like a criminal, I'd have to find her at some point.

I do my best to show her what I can, with the minimal time I have. I point out the Pit, the mess hall, an entire floor of shops and small, edgy businesses that fulfill any desire one could possibly have. I show her the fastest way to get to the stairs, the fastest way to find someone if she gets lost, and I cut our tour short when she wraps her arms around herself and steps so close to me that I nearly trip over her.

Her expression is overwhelmed, but perfectly understandable.

Coming from a hospital where she rarely left a single floor, having an entire compound at your fingertips would make anyone's head spin. She's suddenly careful not to touch me, but she sticks by my side as we walk up the stairs, and I show her which apartment is mine.

She feels like a ghost as I unlock the door, and I step into the dark apartment I'd left days ago.

My bones ache as she follows slowly, so slowly, I'm not certain she will.

"Who are you going to kill next? Tori? Johanna? Me?"

Four starts the meeting with a bang. I had little desire to be here, because it had taken everything in me to leave Violet behind. She'd become nervous, her limbs shaky and her movements slow. She'd taken in my apartment with wide eyes, looking terrified to touch anything. Like this was all a trap. A bad dream. A trick of her mind. It was obvious she was afraid, but every so often she'd look up at me, and her eyes were clear. She'd blinked when I told her Tris would be there in a few minutes, and promised she wasn't anywhere near as terrible as Four.

It was fleeting, but Violet had smiled. Slightly. Almost. Her lips had done their best to turn up, and I was rewarded with a glimpse of the girl who'd sat next to me, reading a book in the safety of my shadow. The one who'd tricked me into falling asleep next to her because she had all the blankets. The one who'd given me a friendship bracelet, her fingers skimming over the skin of my wrist as she tied it.

This fear wasn't her.

It was a chemical product of the serum, and we'd have to ride it out until it was gone. Hopefully, this was it, but if it wasn't, I'd work through them.

The way she looked at me told me she expected otherwise.

I'd left her sitting on the couch, just as Tris knocked on my door. I'd opened it unenthusiastically, to the pale stare of Tris Prior. If I had to rank someone I disliked just as much as Four, it would be Tris. It was fitting they had found each other. Both seemed to think highly of themselves, and despite choosing to come here, they'd tried to change everything about it they could, growing irritable when it hadn't worked in their favor.

Even then, on a mission to help me, Tris frowned. Her lips pressed together tightly as she tried to look past me, and her bug like eyes blinked in annoyance. When I didn't let her in, she sighed and told me Four was waiting.

Then, she'd looked right at me, and I swear, she'd looked like she wanted to punch me.

She probably did.

For a few reasons.

The first would be for involving her. Then for dragging Four along with me. I want to grab her by the throat, pressing my fingers in tight enough that the life would slowly drain out of her eyes, and point out that unfortunately for me, I had no desire to involve her. None of this was my own idea. She was simply another person added to the mix, sticky fingers in my business because Four had insisted.

"Fuck off."

I'd hissed at her, just as her eyes found Violet sitting on the couch. I suppose anyone would have been concerned; Violet looked nervous, and she was staring at Tris suspiciously. I knew right then and there Tris wouldn't be staying, and Four's grand plans for them to be friends were a flop.

I'd made the decision to tell Tris to leave. There was no point in forcing an introduction, and there was no reason the Stiff needed to hang out in my apartment. I'm sure she'd try to lure Violet back home with her, thinking she knew better than I did, but she was wrong.

Oh so wrong.

I had promised Violet I'd be right back. I told her she could do whatever. Take a shower. Take a nap. Sit on the couch and read whatever she could find. Go through my cabinets. I wasn't well prepared for a visitor, but it didn't matter.

She was welcome to whatever I had, and I'd make sure I wasn't gone long.

She'd nodded and her stare was glued to me. Tris had left with one deeply concerned scowl on her face, and I'd locked the door behind me.

"Eric!"

Tris had called out my name, but I ignored her.

"Hey!"

She'd followed me until I reached the stairs, then gave up when I didn't answer her. I watched her backtrack, and there was no doubt she'd go back to my apartment and try to get Violet to open up the door. I didn't have time to kill her, nor did I think Four would still help me if I did, so I let her go. It was unlikely Violet would open the door, but if she did, it would be her own choice to talk to Tris.

That felt better to me.

Once I arrived at the conference room, Four had wasted no time getting started. I'd taken a seat in the same chair where I'd once critiqued his every move. I'd plotted his downfall. Mocked his trainings. Now, I sit across from him, wearing the same jacket he has on, and I listen to the words he blurts out as quickly as he can. He's antsy, worked up at the events that played out before him, and it shows on his face.

"Did you hear me? Is it me? Marcus? Andrew? Am I missing anyone or did you already kill every leader you could?"

I listen to him, squawking away, and I sigh heavily.

"Eric?" He barks at me when I don't answer, and I shrug my shoulders.

"Nah, you're good for now. Remember, I still have one more thing I need your help with." I pause, forcing myself to smile brightly. "But then I'll kill you. Is that okay? Does it make it better if you know ahead of time?"

His face turns red at my response, and every ounce of politeness in him vanishes. "You son of a-"

"Okay, both of you knock it off. This isn't going to work if you can't put aside whatever it is you two are having a pissing contest over." Tori flashes me a dirty look, and I roll my eyes.

"He started it." I point out as pettily as possible, and Four turns bright red as the rage becomes too much. "I was answering his questions. I can kill him later. I still need his help." I pause and look right at him. "For now."

"I quit." Four slams his fist down on the table and I can't help but laugh. "I'm not helping you anymore."

"Fine." I answer easily. "I'll let Violet know you don't want to help. She'll be crushed, but you do whatever helps you sleep at night."

He visibly flinches, and I smile in faux innocence at him. My words were only to piss him off. Violet wouldn't care if he dropped over dead. While his help will make things easier for me, at the end of the day, I'd do it all myself if I had to. But for him, refusing to help the very girl he's suddenly crusading for, makes him look like an ass.

Tori is not impressed with either of us.

"Both of you shut up. You're acting like idiots. Eric, on your orders, we brought Max here. Harrison is dead. Jeanine is dead, obviously. Her body was taken to the asylum. Jack is there with her, and I'm assuming he's alive. You went and got Violet, now please, fill us in. We have multiple factions that will eventually realize they don't have anyone in charge. I know you want to…do whatever you're doing with Violet, but we have to have a plan before this gets out."

Beside her, Reggie nods. "Come on dude. You gotta tell us what's up. You need something else? Then just say the word. We got you."

The room falls quiet. Tori nods her head, but Four shoots him one clearly disapproving look. I can't figure out if it's Reggie's enthusiasm, ready to kill at my command, or his involvement that pisses him off. Or this entire past few days.

It's probably everything.

"Do tell us. What's next Eric?" Four asks, and I recline back in my chair.

"Fine. You and I are leaving tomorrow. In the morning. We'll be in Candor for most of the day. I'll need you armed, and ready to shoot on my command. The rest of you can oversee Dauntless. We'll need two leaders to replace Max and Harrison, though you may want to hurry up and get started on the selection process now." I watch all of them and I think fast. "Candor will hold an election once Four and I leave. I'll make sure they know they'll be forced to find a new leader, though I suggest we take a long hard look at the candidates and see if any of them will be easy to work with. Maybe tell them we'll have a hand in it to ensure we don't have a repeat of Jack's ulterior motives. Until then, we'll oversee the factions if needed. After tomorrow, I predict things will be quiet."

"Oh really?" Four snaps, not liking my plan at all. "Tomorrow will be quiet?"

"Yes." I stare right at him. "They'll work to find someone to take over. Nothing will happen."

"They won't notice they don't have someone in charge? Or ask where Jack went? Why he resigned? Did you have him turn that in?" Four looks angry enough that he could levitate out of his seat.

"Would you?" I snap right back at him, and I could murder Tori for asking for his help. "If you woke up tomorrow, and Max and Harrison were gone, would you notice things were different? No. You wouldn't. You'd go about your day just like normal, until something happened that made you realize you hadn't seen them. Unless Jack was hosting daily, factional meetings or making hourly announcements, no one will realize he's missing until I tell them. No one's said anything so far, have they?"

I hiss the last part, and he sulks in his chair.

"Fine. What about Erudite?" Four sighs. "Jeanine's emails are still coming to my phone. We can oversee it remotely, but didn't anyone notice they took her body from her office?"

"Actually, no." Reggie helpfully and rather cheerfully offers up. "The asylum came and got her not too long after we called them. Covered her up. No one really knew who they took out. We took her keycards and locked her door once they were done."

"Send me Jeanine's emails." I instruct, and Four still doesn't look enthused at my suggestions. "The ones that require her response. Let's keep her alive in Erudite for a few days longer."

Reggie doesn't even bother to hide his grin.

"You gonna play Jeanine? Like a zombie puppet?"

"Sure. I can tell you what she'd approve or not approve. They won't notice. She spent plenty of time locked up in her office. It wouldn't be unusual for her not to be seen."

"Are you sure no one noticed it was her?" Four doesn't look convinced. "No one found it suspicious someone came to get a dead body out of her office?"

"No." I answer flatly, sounding irritated and impatient. There's a lot he doesn't know, despite what he thinks. I just don't have the luxury of filling him in at this second. "Trust me on this. You don't know what she did behind closed doors. That isn't the first dead body that's left her labs or her office. It's routine for them to see people come in alive and not leave. You don't have to worry."

"Oh." Four answers, and he sounds surprised. Then disturbed. He looks right at me, and I can see his brain whirling as he finishes up his mental debate, and I can see the exact moment he gives in. "Alright. So, you and I are leaving tomorrow? In the morning?"

"Yeah." I look right at him, and I make sure he doesn't look away. "I'll fill you in tonight. Or tomorrow morning."

"Why me?" He demands. "Why not have Reggie help you?"

I smile.

Widely.

"You gave me your word you'd help. After we're done, keep your jacket on." I cock my eyebrow at him, and he narrows his eyes at what I'm implying. "Actually, keep the whole uniform. You'll need it. You can pick whatever office you want."

"Oh no." He shakes his head a few times, and stares darkly at everyone in the room. "I don't want that. I have no interest in overseeing this faction with you. You and I both know…"

"You will soon." I slide my chair back, and I make sure he's looking right at me. "Just wait."

He watches me leave with a heavy expression, and I do my best to pretend I can't see him. He'd been offered this job long ago, and he'd have been smart to take it. I never thought there would be a day when I'd want to see him step up, but I also never thought there'd be a day when I actually needed his help. I grow angry as I walk out of the office and realize that while I can force him into it if I push hard enough, my words are a sort of kind gesture.

If I were capable of such a thing.

He's seen enough to know there's more going on than he'd ever thought, and this is his chance to fix it. He'll have a voice in this position of authority, one that'll have an impact. If he can pull his head out of his ass, he'll realize I'm giving him his second chance, and he better not blow it.

I can hear him yelling in the background, and I have little doubt he'll wind up taking it.

I return home to a quiet apartment.

I half expected Violet to have fled, her fear stronger than her willpower. Fear was a rotten feeling, and it was the same as the peace serum. Slow and heavy, easy to give into, unrelenting- no matter how much you resisted.

To my relief, I find her sitting on my bed.

In my shirt.

She looks up at me in surprise when I walk through the door. Her hair is wet, and my shirt doesn't fit, but she looks a thousand times better. She'd looked alright at Natalie's house, panicky once we entered Dauntless, ill while we walked through the compound, but now, she looks like Violet.

Her eyes are still too wide and too dark, but I can no longer tell someone had hacked the end of her hair, and her limbs aren't as ghostly as they once were. There is a quiet determination behind her eyes, even if it's mixed with the worry that this might not work.

It might not.

I'm not stupid.

She might not want to stay in this cold, dark place. I couldn't keep her here if she didn't want to stay, but I wanted to. I wanted her to slide beneath my sheets, to sleep next to me, until the memory of where we'd both spent time was gone forever. I wanted her to be just fine, no lingering side effects and no drawn out complications. There was a lot I wanted, and the reality of the situation was I could do whatever I pleased, and she knew it.

I'd be no better than those who sentenced her, or the boy in the forest who tried to take what wasn't his, but here, no one would stop me. I had authority in Dauntless, spoken and unspoken. I could never let her leave if that's what I thought was right, and there was no one who'd tell me otherwise.

These thoughts felt familiar; an Eric who took what he wanted without thinking. I didn't feel like that anymore, but I couldn't deny that if she left, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep fighting the fight I'd started.

"You're back."

She speaks first, and her voice is much stronger than before.

I step closer to her, away from the door frame and into my room. I notice she's turned every light on in an attempt to drive away the darkness. She watches me shrug off the uniform jacket and toss it onto the dresser without looking. The shirt she had on earlier is there, neatly folded, and her borrowed shoes sit next to my closet.

"Yeah. I tried to keep the meeting short. Four will talk all night if you let him, which is why no one ever does." I reach for the belt on my pants, and she cocks her head to the side.

"You guys don't get along at all, do you?" She watches me unbuckle it, and I toss it next to the jacket. It lands with a thud, loud in what suddenly feels like a small room, and she blinks at the noise.

"No." I answer, and I kick my boots off with ease. "He and I have some history. Tori got him involved when she pretended to be my fiancée, and now I can't get rid of him."

"I remember her. He's still helping you?" In this low, warm lighting, Violet looks absolutely normal. Her hair falls to her shoulder, and her gaze is innocently glued to me. I feel embarrassingly relieved that she seems to have moved past the shaky waves of terror, and I thank a nameless deity that that was it. What I am assuming was the worst of it.

"He is." I watch her as I pull the black shirt over my head. "He's going to help me with a few more things, then we can part ways until absolutely necessary."

"You talked about him back at…" Violet pauses, the word too painful to actually say. "Back where we were."

I smirk, because she's right. I had brought him up. I'd felt it a suitable setting for him, and had the roles been reversed, I would have found the situation hysterical. Appropriate. Just what he needed to work through his issues.

"It bothers him that you don't seem to like him. He's waiting for you to acknowledge how kind hearted he is." I walk toward the bed, and Violet sits up straighter.

"I don't even know him. I don't have a single reason to trust him." She looks up at me, and her shirt shifts as she raises her hand. I'm surprised when her fingers touch mine, and she pulls me toward her. "Do you trust him?"

"No."

I answer firmly, but it's not entirely true. I have no choice but to trust that he'll stick to his word, because of who he is.

"But I'm trying."

I tighten my fingers through hers, and we stay there, until my phone begins to ring.

I break away to answer it, and I'm rewarded with paranoia at its finest.

Four refuses to speak to me over the phone, even though he's the one who called. I grit my teeth as I watch Violet climb beneath my covers, until she's swallowed up by the dark fabric of the comforter.

"Can you just meet me? This could be…tapped."

"By who?" I ask dryly, not even wanting to think about who would suddenly have bugged either of our cell phones, especially in the past hour. I wander into the bathroom, and I brush my teeth while he tries to come up with a reason why he can't just tell me what he wants. It takes him minutes to get out that he thinks someone watched us when we left, and I roll my eyes while I spit out my toothpaste. "Spies from Erudite? You're starting to sound a little crazy, you know."

"Funny." Four answers just as dryly, and he sighs. Loudly. "Look, it'll take ten minutes. Meet me in the Pit. I want to know what you have planned for tomorrow."

"Fine." I snarl at him, and I hang up before he can say anything else. I glare at the phone, then I turn it off completely, walking back into my bedroom. I set it on my nightstand, and I feel marginally better knowing he can't get ahold of me.

"Was that…him?" Violet asks, and I smile at her refusing to call him by his name. "What did he want?"

"It was him." I answer easily, and I unzip my uniform pants. "He thinks we should meet. But I'm not going anywhere. I don't answer to him. He can wait until morning."

I walk over to my own bed, the same place where I'd had several nights of shitty sleep while I wondered if she was still alive. Where I'd wondered what I could have done differently. Wondered why she'd chosen to befriend me, out of all the people in the asylum. I wondered where Pete and Bobby were. Where Aidy had run off to. I wonder if any of them are still alive, and a heaviness washes over me.

I hadn't known them long, but it bothered me that they might not have made it.

I push that shitty string of thoughts away, and I climb into bed, keeping a good distance away from Violet. I'm fully prepared to give her all the space she wants. I'd slept with her against my chest in Abnegation, but that feels like years ago. I'd watched the slow effects emerge, and even now I can feel her heart racing. I close my eyes, and I try to ignore the fact that my hands have balled into fists as I resign myself to just going the fuck to sleep and dealing with everything tomorrow.

They unclench when she moves over, and her head finds my chest.

Just like in Abnegation.

Her hands find mine, her legs twist and push until she's close to me, and I swear neither of us stay awake longer than another minute.

I fall asleep with one of my hands in her hair, and the other on her back.

To no one's surprise, Four looks livid when I see him.

"I waited for you." He grits out the words between clenched teeth, and he looks like he might shoot me. "For an hour. I tried to call you. I-"

"Sorry, I was busy." I tell him, and I grab his arm. I yank him forward with me, and he jerks his arm away from me immediately, throwing me one nasty look right back. "I'll explain everything on the way."

"Oh great." He mocks me, and he stares darkly as we walk past the guards waiting for us. They wave us through, not even asking for identification or clearance. "Wonderful. This just keeps getting better and better."

I ignore him.

I decide to drive, and I smile when he climbs in the passenger side and slams the door as hard as he possibly can.

Candor is quiet.

The silence is heavenly, though odd for a faction who can't shut up.

I park the truck close to where Four parked last time, and we get out wordlessly. He nods in my general direction, and points to the large, glassy building. The air shifts, and the breeze feels dry and brittle.

"You ready?" He asks when I glance over at him.

I wasn't, but I'd never let that stop me before.

Derek does not appreciate our visit.

He doesn't appreciate the way we walked right in, throwing his office door wide open, nor the way we took seats right across from his desk without bothering to say a single word to him.

He immediately looked uncomfortable.

I'm sure, that as the son of Jack's right hand man, he'd noticed things weren't exactly right in Candor. Jack was gone, last seen walking out of the building in defeat, or maybe getting shot if you'd watched closely enough. I'm sure he noticed that Jack hadn't returned, his office dark and silent since he was last in it. I'm positive he realized the faction had just been existing in lawless order, and his own father hadn't shown up to work in a few days.

I'm sure he knew our arrival wasn't good, but he pretended otherwise.

"Can I help you?"

He narrows his eyes at us, and he sounds nothing like I'd imagined. Violet had described him as being older than her, but he looks far older than she does. Older than me. Like keeping the secret of what he'd done had taken a toll on him. His eyes were rotten, a dull brown color that darkened when Four shifted in his seat. His skin was pale in a sickly way, and though he was fit, his desk job had worn away at the youthfulness he once had.

As much as it pained me to admit it, I had feared he would remind me of myself.

Not that I'd ever harm Violet, nor anyone in the way he had. I'd taken plenty of things that weren't mine, but I drew the line at assaulting women who wanted nothing to do with me. It was with great, heavy relief did I realize I'm nothing like him, that despite all pretenses and the hellish acts I had committed, I wasn't him.

I was my own monster.

But there was a chance to fix that, if I wanted to.

Somewhere.

But there is none with Derek.

I can see it in the way he immediately sits up straight, dismissing Four and I as he reaches for his phone.

"I don't know who you are, but I'm very busy. I don't have any scheduled meetings with anyone from Dauntless, so I'll have to ask you to leave and come back when you're on the books." His voice is slick, wavering only when Four smiles. "Who let you in here? Where's the receptionist?"

"Put the phone down. Now. You'll have your chance to make a phone call." Four says the words slowly, and to Derek's credit, his fingers leave the phone in place. He focuses on the both of us, weighing his options. His eyes flick from the heavy doors we'd walked through to Four's gun, and judging from the way he leans back, he's unarmed.

"Alright. I suppose there's a reason you just…stopped by. If you could be so kind as to clue me in…" Derek stares at me, and his eyes narrow. "Aren't you…"

"We're here to talk about Violet. I suggest you answer everything we ask, and we'll make this as quick as possible." I smile tightly, and Four cocks his head to the side as Derek freezes.

Four had read her file.

I'd thrown it at him in the truck, and he'd thrown it right back at me, hissing that he knew all about Violet. He'd snarled that he knew everything, that Tori had given him all the info she could. That he'd done his own research, and because we'd involved him, he was forced to mull over this act of violence that had no consequence.

Until now.

But he'd missed something, something I had missed as well, until I'd really thought about it.

Derek was alive.

I'd almost missed it when we spoke with Jack. Jack had brought him up easily, too easily, slipping up as he told us Derek was working in Candor. That the man who was responsible for Violet being committed was alive and well. Sitting in an office, working his days away like nothing had happened. I'd listened as he said it a few times, until I was certain he wasn't lying.

I had my suspicions, especially considering Violet's version of the story was filled with shock and terror and an unreliable memory after years of therapy and treatment, that there was more to it. But I had no reason to doubt her. She was honest with what she told me, and she had been since the very start.

When we'd come to talk with him, he'd told me everything I needed to know. Through my own research, I'd figured out how simple this all had been, and how easily Jack had swept it under the rug.

Violet had been attacked by Derek, all while Owen watched. She had pushed him away from her, and he had hit his head. The medical records I'd managed to find, all thanks to Jeanine's log in, showed this as an unidentified male suffering from an unknown accident. Things were kept vague, only documenting his treatment and the recommended after care.

After Owen had fetched Niles, Jack had a dilemma on his hands. Niles had been not only a confidant and illustrious work colleague, but a faithful friend. Jack's morals swung from side to side as he was presented with the worst scenario possible; he'd either prosecute his friend's son for assault – ripping off the neat and tidy reputation Candor had, or he'd let the blame fall to the hysterical girl who was brought before him.

At Nile's pleading, Jack had allowed her to believe she'd committed murder. It wasn't hard; she'd been worked up beyond return at what had happened and seeing an unconscious Derek only furthered her belief that he was dead.

In return, her story cleared Derek from his charges.

I'd never know for sure, but there was little doubt he'd drugged her until she told him the truth, and when he realized he had something to work with, Jack had neatly cleaned it up to make it work for his friend. He sent Violet away, taking great pains to ensure she she was out of sight and out of mind, and other than the few involved in making sure she no longer existed, no one knew.

He made sure of it.

Once he was sure Owen and Derek were onboard, the file was sent to Dauntless. Had anyone really looked through it, they would've noticed it was missing huge chunks of information, and because it landed on an overworked soldier's desk marked as resolved, it was quickly passed on. No one in Dauntless would care too much about a mundane accident that affected a single person, and with Violet gone and Jack's silence on the matter, it was buried beneath other paperwork.

The only hang up had been the struggle of her mother and father to sign her over.

Their shaky signatures told me this had been hard for them. Perhaps they'd thought it over for some time, but ultimately, they'd still done it. On Jack's insistence, they turned on their own child, leaving her to fend for herself in a place where she had no chance of survival. They'd sworn her off, pretending she had never existed, and never looked back.

Further digging had shown that they were paid off. That Violet's father was given quite a few bonuses during his time working in Candor, and her mother no longer worked. They lived in a nicer area of Candor, reaping the benefits of what Derek had done.

They'd lived normal lives since then.

So had Derek.

Having gotten away with everything, he lived a routine life in Candor. On paper, his existence was black and white. Once his head had healed, thanks to an anonymous trip to an anonymous surgeon to take care of any lingering issues, and a few years of therapy, he'd gone on to be absolutely fine. He had a wife. Two kids. An apartment with a nice view. A cushy job, working as a processor for all of Jack's trials. He was neatly tucked away into the folds of the faction, living out a lie, signing his name on the legal documents just as easily as they'd signed away Violet.

I'd wondered if his wife knew what he'd done, or that beneath his dark hair, lie stitches that hid the fractured story he'd woven.

"Violet?" Derek repeats, and his face relaxes considerably. "I haven't heard that name in years. Did she finally…" He pauses, making a slicing motion across his throat. "Did she lose it? For a long time we got the updates on her, but I never thought anything would come of it."

It takes everything in me to stay seated.

"You uh, you know her?" I play dumb, leaning back in my chair to force the appearance of not wanting to rip his throat out. "You know where she is?"

"Yeah, the fucking nuthouse." Derek laughs, and he shakes his head. "I'm assuming they sent you here because she's dead. We all knew it would happen eventually. Are you here because they need to contact…someone? They should have some sort of information for her."

"No." Four answers sharply, and I throw him a dirty look. "Who would they try to contact? Doesn't she have-"

"Right." Derek interrupts quickly, reaching for his laptop. He opens it up, hesitating when Four leans forward, and shakes his head. "Relax. I'm looking up her parents. They're both alive. I don't think they'll want to know what happened or see her. But uh, you could always call them. They might want to know she didn't make it out of there. They have another daughter now. She's..."

"Was she ever going to get out of there?" I ask before I can stop myself. I find him disturbingly slimy, especially when he lets out a huff of laughter.

"Wait…do you know her?" He pauses, leaning forward. "Hold up, aren't you… aren't you the one Jeanine sent out the alert about? A while ago. Were you there? You were, weren't you?" Derek pauses to stare at me, and the discomfort from before creeps back in. "You look different now than you did in the photo, but it had to be you. They said someone from Dauntless was sentenced there, and you were a highly wanted criminal for your crimes against the factions. Is that how you know her?"

I smile tightly.

His words are ironic, all things considered.

"I was there." I inform him, and I cross one ankle over my leg. "And yes, I knew her well. I mean, as well as you can know someone…in an insane asylum."

Four clears his throat.

"Yeahhh. That's rough you were there. I got the email that you'd been rehabilitated." Derek smiles, and clicks out of the screen he'd been on. "Were you on the same floor as her? I'm sure you read the files once you got out."

"I did." I watch him, and Four seems to have forgotten he's supposed to be breathing. "We both did. Which is why we're here. We have a few questions over some discrepancies in what happened."

Derek's head snaps over at me.

His gaze grows dark, as the secrets of what he's been hiding slowly crawl their way up his neck.

"What kind of discrepancies?"

"There were a few holes in the story. Enough that we felt the need to come and find you."

"I'm sure she told you some crazy shit. Because she was crazy." He insists. "What does this have to do with me?"

"I think you know." I stare at him until he flinches. "How does it feel to have risen from the dead? Want to tell us how you nailed that little trick?"

His fingers reach for the phone. The action is reflexive, and he stops when Four tilts his head at him.

"Look…okay, yeah you got me. I know what she told you. I wasn't dead. But that wasn't my doing. I wasn't even conscious. The last thing I knew, she was shoving me away from her and I was bleeding from my head. I wasn't there when they sentenced her." His defense is half hearted, an easy way out of a situation he'd caused.

"You didn't dispute it, though. At some point, you were well enough to hear the outcome of what had happened? You must have been alright with it." I shrug slightly, waiting for Derek's answer.

"She would have ruined my life." He says lowly, doing his best to remain calm. "I'm sure you can understand. My whole family would have been affected. My father, my mother-"

"All because she said no?" Four's spine is straight, and his tone is sharp. "You ruined her life because she turned you down?"

"What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you I'm sorry? I'm not. She deserved it." Derek suddenly laughs, whether out of nervousness or pure vileness. "She made a fool out of me. She was no one important and she had no right to do that. I gave her another chance and she fucked it up. She ruined her own life."

His logic makes perfect sense to him. I can tell.

"When you were there with her, did she tell you I came to see her? Several times." Derek's face lights up, and he snickers "I went to see if she was really there. I thought they were shitting me when they gave her that sentencing. But I went, and oh did it fuck with her. The first few times she didn't see me. But then, one visit, she did. You should have seen the look of horror on her face when I walked in. The panic when they let me talk to her. Alone. Just her and I."

He stops, and he tilts his head to the side like he's just thought of something.

"How long were you there?"

"Long enough." I retort.

"Did you fuck her while you were there? You did, didn't you?" He winks at me, and my skin feels like it could crawl right off me. "I'll bet you did. I'm sure you were lonely in that shit hole. When I went to visit, there were a few others who were hot, but they're all insane. Every last one of them. I get it, though. Lots of guys liked her there. But she was too lost in her own mind to notice. I told her she should take some of them up on their offers. Live a little. She was so uptight, even there."

I reach the end of my patience. I'd been sitting here nicely this entire time. I could understand his logic of not being awake while she was sentenced, but the more he speaks, the more I realize she had every reason to be afraid of him. He was the worst kind of monster, one who'd never truly understand what he'd done.

"Do you think it was because you attacked her? Maybe that's why she had a hard time…living a little." Four says the words before I can, and his knuckles are white. "Or maybe it was whatever they gave her to prevent her from telling anyone what you did and how you got her locked up there."

I give Four credit, because Derek freezes. His expression changes slowly as he realizes we aren't here to report her death. He'd been assuming we were here to find the last link to Violet, but he's slowly figuring out we are not.

We're here for him.

"What? I…I told you...that wasn't my doing…" He fumbles over his words, looking wildly left and right as he picks up his phone. "Who let you two in here?"

"How's Owen?" I ask, and he blanches. His phone slips from his fingers and hits the floor with a thud. He struggles with the decision to pick it up, but I wag my finger at him. "He said to tell you hello."

I lie easily, but it works. Derek jerks himself upright, like he's seen a ghost.

"Owen…that guy's not right in the head. I'm telling you, none of them are. Did you come here because of some story she told you? You really believe a mental patient? One who…who…" He pauses, and his next words are frantic. "She was drugged. Heavily. Every report came back with an increased dosage that they recommended. Jack told me she never got better. But Owen…was my friend. He did nothing wrong. But now, now he's nuts. He believed her."

"He covered your ass." I smile. "Until the guilt got to him. Did you visit him there, too?"

"Once." Derek answers and his skin takes on a shiny, sweaty sheen. "Just once. He uh, he wanted to talk with Jack. He wanted me to bring him there. For some session."

"Did you?" Four snaps, and I silently tell him to calm the fuck down. "Did you take Jack there?"

"No." Derek shakes his head furiously. "Look, I served my time, okay. You want answers, here. I'll give them to you. She was young, I was young. I liked her. I thought she liked me. I guess I misread the signals. I ran into her in the woods and she pushed me…and I…I'm the one who wound up half dead. So yeah, she deserved to be sentenced. I did my own time. Two years of hell to remember my left from my right. Two years of doctor's visits and therapists and people wondering what had happened to me. Two years before I got to come back here."

"How horrible for you." I mock him. "While she was rotting away in a mental institution, you went on just fine with your life."

"Look, if you're trying to reopen this case, I can't allow that. I'll shut it down and Jack will back me. She's been there forever. She wouldn't even remember…"

"Does your wife know?" I ask, leaning in toward him. "Does she know that you have a history of violent assault? That you went after a thirteen year old girl, and when she turned you down, you lost it?"

Derek's face turns red, the anger seeping up as he realizes he's trapped. "No. She has nothing to do with this."

His answer is hoarse.

Four shakes his head and looks over at me before looking back at Derek.

"Why did Jack cover for you?"

"It wasn't me, I told you. It was my dad. He was there when Jack fucked up. Jack was working on something with Jeanine and he liked some ideas she had. He wanted…more power, I guess, so he agreed to send her anyone she asked for without question. My dad said he sent her people who needed her help. At first, it was just a few people here and there. Some ladies who had nervous breakdowns at work. People who…who felt like life was overwhelming. People no one would notice. A receptionist. The guy who works as our security guard. The girl who types all our notes. For a while, it was good. But eventually, Jeanine wanted more. She wanted ten, fifteen people a day and Jack couldn't do it. Our members were getting suspicious, and…my father figured out what he was doing when his own secretary returned in a daze and told him she'd been shocked until she couldn't remember her own name. My father told Jack if he didn't help me, he'd let everyone know what was going on and Jack would lose everything."

Derek stops, and his eyes find mine.

"I'm sure you can guess the rest. He agreed. Shortly after, Jeanine eased up on Jack. Turned her focus elsewhere. I forgot all about it, honestly. I came back to Candor and was offered a job. I took it. I didn't know what else to do." He pauses to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, and his inhale is shaky. "Where's Jack now? Do you have him?"

"He's being taken care of." I answer, and my tone is dark.

"What does that mean?" Derek shoves his chair back abruptly and the panic is clear as day. "What did you do to him? Why are you two here?"

"To find you." I answer quickly, and Four and I both stand up. "To make sure you pay for what you did. It's only fair, isn't it? Jack's serving his time for covering for you, but now it's your turn. I'm sure Violet will appreciate your sacrificing yourself so she can move on."

Derek reacts instantly. He moves to flee from his office, but I'm faster. I'm in front of him before he can utter a word, and my fist finds his face.

"Fuck." He swears loudly, recoiling back in an attempt to get away from me. I give him half a second to regroup, before I grab him by his neck.

"Did it feel good? When you went to visit her?" The words come out of my mouth before I can stop myself from making this personal. It was personal, and it had been all along. The minute Violet had helped me survive my time in the asylum, it had become personal. Even if she'd gotten out, she'd never be able to find him, never be able to get him to admit what he did, but I would.

And I'd make sure my face was the last thing he saw.

"Fuck, let me go." Derek writhes, doing his best to elbow me. He throws his limbs wildly, untrained and sloppy attempts to hit me. "She's not worth it."

He gasps out the last part, right before his face smashes into his desk.

The blood splatter is immediate and artful; it sprays across his papers, seeping onto whatever he'd been working on. I pick him back up, the blood trickles down his face and onto the collar of his pristine white shirt.

"Sto…ppp." He gasps, but I don't.

His fingers claw at me, blunt nails trying to scrape at my skin, but I feel nothing. Only a blind rage that soothes my urge to rip his head off instead of dragging this out.

"She is worth it. That's why you did it, isn't it?"

I slam his head down again, and this time, there is a satisfactory crack. His muffled gasp of 'help' or 'please' is lost when it comes down a third time, and my hands are wet and sticky when his eyes shut.

Four watches the entire thing from the doorway, making sure no one comes in.

"Is he dead?"

"Almost." I answer easily, my heart beating too quickly for my liking. I was about to kill him in cold blood, his murder determined before I'd even arrived here. He deserved it, far more than anyone I'd ever met, and Four had agreed with me.

Surprisingly.

I didn't need his reassurance on such a matter, but there was some justice in the fact that he'd sided with me.

I can still see the look on his face when I told him I was going to kill Derek, and he'd nodded his head.

"Then we should go. Finish what you're doing, and let's get out of here." Four instructs, and I smile.

I slam Derek's face down one more time, hard enough that his neck snaps with a pop, and his fingers twitch. The desk is now a complete disaster. His blood is everywhere, his papers have been knocked all over the place, and his laptop has blood dripping down the screen. I nod at Four, and he stalks over, picking up the laptop and quickly folding it shut. He puts it under his arm and looks right at me.

"One more time. Just for good measure."

The last slam does it. Derek's hair is soaked and damp, once again with his own blood, and his body lies lifelessly across his desk. I leave him there, making sure his breathing has stopped completely before I step away.

Four and I leave in silence. He shuts the door behind us, the laptop still under his arm, and we walk down to the lobby of the quiet office building.

There is hardly anyone here. Almost everyone is at lunch, and the receptionist, a blonde haired girl with a bored look on her face, is oblivious to the violence that has occurred upstairs.

She's talking with Niles, batting her eyes at him as he returns to work after using his last remaining vacation days. I hear her warmly welcome him back, asking him how his vacation was. His gaze skates over us curiously, our presence of mild concern to him, and I only wish I could be there when he finds his son in his office.

"What did you do?"

Violet stands with me in the bathroom, helping to deftly scrub the blood off my hands.

She hadn't batted an eye when I walked back in, but I suppose a lifetime in a mental institution had made her resilient to such sights. She'd followed me into the bathroom, watching as I took off my uniform, and tossed it on the ground. There was blood all over it. It was easy to miss on the dark fabric, but I could feel the dampness of it as I drove back.

I'd kicked off my boots and pants, and I'd turned on the faucet to the hottest setting possible.

"Who…who did you…did you kill someone?" Violet asks softly, helping to lather the soap as she works it against my skin. There is no horror in her question, for my violence pales in comparison to someone thinking her life was worth so little. She looks up at me curiously, and I force myself to smile at her.

"Yeah. I did. But he deserved it."

My answer is all she needs. There is no point in telling her that it was Derek. Four and I had argued over this on the way home. He thought I should tell her, I thought I shouldn't. I saw no benefit to her knowing Derek had been alive and well. That he had the life in Candor that she had been robbed of.

Four pressed on, saying she'd seen him, and she must know he was alive.

I'd shaken my head.

Violet's stay in the asylum had been far longer than mine. I had the feeling she'd been treated to think he was dead, furthering the reassurance she belonged there. That she had hallucinated the sight of him. I tried to think of what she'd gain by knowing he'd been alive this whole time, or if it would only make it worse.

I could always tell her. When she decided where she wanted to stay, then I'd let her know. Now that I'd taken care of Derek, she'd be safe in any faction, no matter where she chose.

I look at her, her hands on mine, her gaze calm as she touches my wrist. There is a mark on my knuckles, and the reddened bubbles swirl over it as she scrubs higher.

"I should take a shower." I tell her, feeling the urge to wash this day away.

I'd walked with Four to his apartment. I hadn't gone in, but I'd stood there, while he told me he wanted to go through Derek's laptop. I had no idea what he could possibly hope to find, but I didn't stop him. I'd roughly thanked him for going along with me, and for keeping an eye on the door. I knew that had I asked him to, he'd have shot Derek without question.

I hadn't been surprised to want to do it myself.

I had been surprised when I didn't feel the same warm, fuzzy satisfaction that I'd always felt. Instead, I'd felt a sense of closure, of justice and relief, far unlike the previous times I'd ended someone's life.

Four had nodded and retreated into his apartment without saying goodbye.

"Okay. I'll um, I'll just wait for you. I was thinking maybe you'd want to eat dinner. Tori came by." Violet pauses, and she looks up at me. "She said we could join her for dinner if you were back in time."

"Yeah, we can." My answer is rough, especially when Violet doesn't let go of my hands.

"Can I ask you…did you kill someone…for me? Or not for me, maybe not for me. But you look like this was personal."

Her question is appropriate, and I nod immediately.

"It was for you. You won't have to worry about anyone finding you. Ever. Even if you don't stay here."

My words echo in the bathroom. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and I realize there's blood on my neck. On my cheek. On my collarbone.

"Oh."

I find myself right back in the asylum, standing in a bathroom with her while she watched me towel myself off after showering. I slowly pull my hands away from her, moving to rinse them off and turn off the water.

"Eric…I…"

Violet starts to say something, but she doesn't finish.

I lunge for her.

I claw her to me, my hands damp and my skin covered in her attacker's blood. I pull her flush against me, the slight form of her warm against my chest, and I tilt her head up to look at me. My heart beats differently than before, the same desperate way it always had, but only for her. Only for what she had never asked me for, even now.

This time, I'm the one to press my lips to hers.

I kiss her slowly, so slowly, until her hands find my hair. They dig into the back as she pushes herself closer to me. I can feel her nose against mine, her arms working to pull me close, and the stretch of her calves as she rises up to sink into my arms.

I kiss her gently, the action of her lips on mine pleasant and inebriating, until my chest is tight and tricky, making it hard to keep the air in my lungs.

She only breaks apart when I mumble her name, whispering it against her lips as my forehead finds hers.

We stay there, the bathroom warm and bright, until I've convinced myself she'll stay with me.