A/N: This took longer than it really should have to get written up. I apologise for that. I've been super busy recently and honestly haven't been able to get much of a break.

CarBarrier - Where Liz and Meli go is gonna be a big surprise! :D

Till next time,

D.L.D

*I do not own Divergent or any of its character and plot work. This is simply an adaption*

Chapter Three: Conversations

That evening I return to my room and slide my hand beneath the mattress to check that the gun is still there. My fingers brush over the trigger, faintly, and my throat tightens like I am drowning or facing an allergic reaction. Gasping, I withdraw my hand and sit on the edge of the bed, taking hard swallows of air until the stifling sensation fades away into nothing. It lasts for too long; it lasts for many moments, so long that I cannot recognise myself anymore.

'What is wrong with you?' I shake my head. 'Pull it together.'

And that is what it feels like: pulling the different parts of me up and in like a shoelace. Altogether, I feel suffocated and stifled, but at least I feel somewhat stronger, more supported and structured than I was moments before.

I spot a flicker of movement in my periphery, and look out of the window that faces the apple orchard. Nadja Liones and Damon King walk side by side, pausing by the herb garden to pluck mint leaves from their stems. The sight, the meeting of two influential faction members, intrigues me, captures my attention. Then, before I can even process or fathom why, I am on my feet, out of my room, determined to follow them.

Hurriedly, I sprint through the building so that I don't lose sight of them, not once stopping to consider what other's thought. It was only once I am outside, in the open, that I remember that I have to act and move more carefully. I have to be discreet. Casually, I walk around the far side of the greenhouse and, after I see Nadja and Damon disappear down a row of trees, I creep down the next row beside it, hoping that the branches will hide me if any of them happen to look back.

"...been confused about is the timing of the attack," My aunt's voice breaks through the leaves. "Is it just that Vivian finally finished planning it, and acted, or was there an inciting incident of some sort beforehand?"

I spot a glimpse of Damon's face through a divided tree trunk. He presses his lips together and says, "Hmm."

"I suppose we'll never know," Nadja raises a brow, questioning her fellow faction official. "Will we?"

"No, perhaps not."

Nadja places a gentle hand on his arm and turns toward him. I stiffen, afraid for a moment that she will turn and instantly recognise me, but she only looks at Damon. Carefully, I sink into a crouch and crawl toward one of the trees so that its thick trunk will hide me. It's uncomfortable, the bark itches my spine and a few stray leaves tickle the top of my head, but I don't move. I can't afford to move and be caught.

"But you do know," Nadja accuses, narrowing her eyes. Subtly, her soft voice has risen from curious questioning to blatant knowing, suspicion. "You know why she attacked when she did. I may not be Abnegation anymore, but I do remember the secrets my father told me. I still remember why I had to come here and I can still tell when someone is trying to withhold the truth."

"Inquisitiveness is self-serving, Nadja," Is all Damon responds with, shutting her down.

If I was Aunt Nadja in this instance, I would snap at him for a comment like that, but only she says kindly, "My faction depends on me to advise them, and if you know information this crucial, it is important that I also know so that I can share it with them. I'm sure you can understand that, Damon."

"There is a reason why you don't know all the things I do. A long time ago, the Abnegation were entrusted with some sensitive information," Damon speaks, condescending as ever, as he refuses to level with Nadja. "Vivian attacked to steal it. And if I'm not careful, she will destroy it, so that is all I can tell you."

"But surely- "

"No," Damon cuts her off, something threatening passing through him. "This information is far more important than you can ever imagine. Most of the leaders in this city risked their lives to protect it from Vivian and died, I will not jeopardize it now for the sake of sating your selfish curiosity."

Nadja is quiet for a few seconds. So quiet that I am afraid that they have left or even realised that someone is watching. However it's so dark now that I can barely see my own hands. They surely can't see me. Just in case, I try not to breathe too deeply or loudly; the air smells potently of apples and dry earth, and the scent makes me feel choked.

"I'm sorry," Nadja eventually says, her voice quiet. "I must have done something to make you believe that I am untrustworthy. But, honestly, it's not for my own curiosity. It's simply because I know more than you could possibly imagine."

"The last time I trusted a faction representative with this information, all of my friends were murdered," Damon speaks, his voice low. "I don't trust anyone anymore. Not even the daughter of Abnegation's former head Councillor."

I can't help it - I lean forward so that I can see fully around the trunk of the tree. Both Nadja and Damon are too preoccupied to notice the movement. They are close together, but not touching, and I've never seen Damon look so tired or Nadja appearing so angry. But her face soon softens, and touches Damon's arm again, this time with a light caress.

"In order to have peace, we must first have trust," Nadja says gently, smiling innocently. "An old friend told me that. So I hope you change your mind, Damon. Remember that I have always been your friend, even when you did not have many to speak of."

She leans in and plants a light kiss on his left cheek, before walking to the end of the orchard. Damon stands there for a few seconds, apparently stunned, and only after pausing for a little longer, starts toward the compound.

The revelations of the past half hour buzz in my skull, filled with endless questions and thoughts and theories. I thought that Vivian had attacked Abnegation to gain more power, but in reality she attacked them to gain information - information only they knew. To the Erudite, withholding information was like withholding their livelihood, their existence. It is no wonder why she decided to execute the faction as a whole.

Then the buzzing stops as I remember something else that Damon said: Most of the leaders of this city risked their lives for it. Was one of those leaders my father? Did my father die to ultimately protect Abnegation's biggest secret?

I have to know. I have to find out what could possibly be important enough for majority of Abnegation's leaders to die for - and for the Erudite to kill for.

I don't know why but after overhearing Damon and Nadja's conversation, my feet carried me to Meliodas. They always do. Whenever I am lost, confused or just even nothing, I find myself drawn to Meliodas. No matter how I am feeling, no matter what feels wrong, I always feel like going to him first is the natural thing to do. However, just as I'm about to knock, I pause by Meliodas' door and listen to what is going on inside.

"No, not like that," Meliodas says, laughter breaking his speech.

"What do you mean 'not like that'? I imitated you perfectly," The second voice belongs to Veronica, annoyed, indignant. No doubt she was a bit embarrassed, her shame being translated into a frustration that she uses to hide it.

"You did not," Meliodas continues to laugh, not at all intimidated by Veronica's threatening tone. I would even go as far to say that he was amused by it.

"Well, do it again, then," Veronica huffed.

I push open the door just as Meliodas, who is sitting on the floor with one leg stretched out, hurls a butter knife at the opposite wall. It sticks, handle out, from a large hunk of cheese that they positioned on top of the dresser. Veronica, standing beside him, stares in disbelief with her jaw agape, first at the cheese and then at me. Her expression is completely awed, no doubt impressed, and I recognise it as one she wore whenever she saw something cool.

"Tell me he's some kind of Dauntless prodigy," Veronica says, her voice raised much higher than normal. She blinks, looking at me carefully. "Can you do this too?"

Better-rested and happier, she looks much better than she did earlier; her eyes aren't red anymore and some of the old spark of curiosity is within them, like she was interested in the world once more. Her magenta hair was tousled - and I now noticed cut short to match mine, but up to earlobes instead of the chin - and her shirt buttons are buttoned up in the wrong way. She is gorgeous in a careless way, my sister, like she has no idea how she looks most of the time. It is an odd change from her usual Abnegation look, following the regime but still somehow looking a bit scruffy.

"With my right hand, maybe," I shrug a little. I grow a smile as I glance at Meliodas. "But yes, Dragon is some kind of Dauntless prodigy. Can I ask why you're both throwing knives at completely defenseless cheese?"

Meliodas' eyes catch mine at the word "Dragon". Veronica doesn't know that Meliodas wears his excellence all the time in his own nickname. Barely anyone does.

"Veronica came by to discuss something," Meliodas says, leaning his head against the wall as he looks at me. He shrugs. "And knife-throwing just came up somehow."

"As it so often does," I say, a small smile inching its way across my face.

He looks so relaxed, his head back, arm slung over his knee. Meliodas had never looked this relaxed back in Dauntless, he was always on edge, always watching out for something. Back in Dauntless it was like Meliodas was always watching for invisible enemy. But here, in Amity, it was different. There was something about Amity, something about its orchards and apple-scented air, that made people relax and feel better. Meliodas and I both stare at each other for longer than is socially acceptable. Eventually, Veronica clears her throat.

"Anyway, I should be getting back to my room," Veronica announces rather loudly, glancing toward Meliodas to me and back again. "I don't know why but some kid was telling me about the water-filtration system and it kinda hooked me. Now I'm reading through the repair manual like a maniac." She pauses. "Sorry. You probably think I'm crazy. An Abnegation acting like an Erudite, spending all day reading away at manuals."

"Not at all," Meliodas says with mock sincerity. A grin grows as he raises a brow. "Maybe you should read that repair manual too, Liz. It sounds like something you might like."

"Yeah, it would be cool to compare opinions," Veronica grins, her eyes filled with excitement. "Maybe Aunt Nadja could let us fix it up too! I'm dying to pick one apart and see how it really works."

"Maybe later," I say, feeling a blush climb to my cheeks. I was never good at being placed on the spot. Pressure always made me panic, forget what I should say, and instead I would just do what others thought was best.

When Veronica closes the door behind her, I give Meliodas a dirty look.

"Thanks for that," I sigh, shaking my head. "Now she's going to talk my ears off about the water filtration system and beg me to help her fix it up. Though I think I might prefer that to what I think she actually wants to talk to me about."

"Oh and what's that?" Meliodas quirks his brows, his grin never dying. "Aquaponics?"

"Aqua-what?" I blink, not even having the slightest clue about what he was talking about. If anything, it was like he spoke a made up language to me, filled with fancy words and sentences that I would never be able to understand.

"It's one of the ways they grow food here," Meliodas sighs, shaking his head. He looked very tired as he explained it all. "You really don't want to know more. It's a long story."

"You're right, I don't," I agree, noting how tired he looked at the memory of it. Knowing Veronica, she most likely chewed his ears off before deciding to move onto me. Speaking of, why did she come here in the first place? Veronica didn't show a big liking toward Meliodas. "So what did my sister come here to talk with you about?"

"You," Meliodas answers easily enough. "It think it was meant to be one of those big sibling talks or something. 'Don't mess around with my little sister' and all that. She came in here all frustrated and scary, ready to rant at me for the smallest problem."

He gets up.

"What did you tell her?" I ask, my eyes wide. If Veronica had truly come here in that sort of mood, then it was a miracle that Meliodas came out alive. Well, not really he would survive her anger. But still, it was shocking to see her looking so calm and good-humoured after coming here with that sort of purpose. Not much could dissuade Veronica once she was set into a fury - not even myself or Margaret pleading with her.

"I told her how we got together - that's how knife throwing came up," Meliodas shrugged. "And I told her that I wasn't messing around with you."

I feel warm everywhere. He wraps his hands around my hips and presses me gently against the door. His lips find mine.

I don't remember why I came here in the first place.

And I don't care.

Pulling him against me, I wrap my uninjured arm around him. My fingers find the hem of his t-shirt and slide beneath it, spreading over the small of his back. He feels so strong, so warm, so safe. He kisses me again, more insistent this time, his hands squeezing my waist. His breaths, my breaths, his body, my body, we are so close there is no difference. Yet, like a bubble bursting, Meliodas pulls back, just a few centimeters. I almost don't let him get that far.

"This isn't what you came here for," He says, clearly having much better self-restraint than myself. Unlike me, Meliodas doesn't forget about what needs to be done. He never forgets about what needs to be done. Maybe that is why I always find myself running to him for advice.

I bite my lip, "No."

"What did you come for, then?" He's creating more distance, distracting me.

"Who cares?" I huff, pushing my fingers through his hair and drawing his lips back to mine. Meliodas doesn't resist, but after a few seconds he mumbles, "Liz", against my cheek. That meant I couldn't just brush what needed to done aside. I had to actually address it.

"Ok, fine," I close my eyes. In actuality, I did come here for something very important: to tell him about the conversation I overheard in the orchard. Even though I want to just ignore that issue, yet another thing that demands severity and a clear head, I have to remember that it is very important. Much more important than just saving it for tomorrow; much more important than how I feel right now. I had to share this as soon as possible.

We sit side by side on Meliodas' bed and I tell him everything from the beginning. I tell him about how I had followed Damon and Nadja all the way into the orchard. I tell him about Nadja's question about the timing of the attack, and Damon's cryptic response, and the argument that followed. As I do, I watch his expression. Not once does he look at all shocked or surprised or even curious. Instead, his mouth works its way into the bitter grimace that accompanies any mention of Damon.

"Well, what do you think?" I say once I finish, waiting for his opinion on it all.

"I think," Meliodas says carefully, as if one word could change his entire perception of it all. "That it's Damon trying to feel more important than he really is. He's trying to regain some of the control he lost when Abnegation fell."

That was not the response I was expecting. At all. With how Meliodas saw everything else to do with this world, I'd thought that it would be something more complex than this. He was the same person who knew that we were being watched in Dauntless, the same person who was able to evade being detected as Divergent. So why would he give such a simple and vague answer to something like this? Wouldn't he also see that there's more to this than just talking for the sake of it?

"So you think that he's just talking nonsense?" I blink, entirely taken by disbelief.

"I think there is some information that Abnegation knew that Vivian wanted to know, but I think he's exaggerating its importance," Meliodas admits, still being entirely careful with his wording. "Honestly, I think he's just trying to build up his own ego by making Nadja think that he has something she wants and he won't give it to her. It wouldn't be anything new from him if that's what he's doing."

"I don't..." I frown, not at all getting anything logical from this. "I don't think you're right. He didn't sound like he was lying and Nadja - she knew something about it. She said that my grandfather told her something about it. I don't think Damon is lying about this."

"You don't know him like I do. He's an excellent liar."

He's right - I don't know Damon and definitely not as well as Meliodas does. But, at the same time, my instinct says to believe Damon's words and I usually trust my instincts. They haven't failed me yet and I doubt they ever will.

"Maybe you're right," I murmur, my teeth catching my bottom lip. "But shouldn't we find out what's going on? Just to be sure? Maybe none of us are right about this."

"I think it's more that we deal with the situation at hand," Meliodas sighed. "Go back to the city. Find out what's going on there. Find a way to take Erudite down. Then maybe we can find out what Damon as talking about, after this is all resolved. Ok?"

I nod. It sounds like a good plan - a smart plan. But I don't believe him - I don't believe that it's right to just keep pushing forward than to find out the truth. When I found out that I was Divergent... when I found out that Erudite would attack Abnegation... those revelations changed everything. The truth has a way of changing a person's plans. It can completely up-tip everything you have ever known, forcing you to find a new normal.

But it is difficult to persuade Meliodas to do something he doesn't want to do, and even more difficult to justify my feelings with no evidence except from my intuition.

So I agree. But I do not change my mind.