Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, any of the characters or any of the dialogue that comes directly from the text.

A/N: Brief mention of suicide. Please note: the views of the characters do not necessarily reflect the views of the author.

Chapter 33

Three Dauntless soldiers pursue us. They run in unison, their footsteps echoing in the alley. One of them fires and I duck as Tris dives. The bullet hits the brick wall to our right, and pieces of brick spray everywhere. Tris throws herself around the corner and I follow suit.

"We aren't going to be able to outrun their bullets," I say. "I know these are our people, but we're going to have to fight back if we want to make it out of this alive."

She nods her head and clicks a bullet into the chamber of her gun as I pull out my own.

I dart out into the alley, quickly aiming and firing at two of the Dauntless soldiers. I try not to dwell on the fact that I know them. Kendra is one and the other a man many years my senior who works in the dining hall. My bullets hit their targets and they fall. The third picks up speed.

Will.

Dull-eyed and mindless, but still Will.

Will who I helped train.

Will who has barely had a chance to be a member of my faction.

My pause gives him time to raise his gun but before he has time to pull the trigger, a bullet flies passed me and hits him in the head.

When I turn around, Tris is stumbling away from the alley.

I blink. Tris killed Will.

Simulation or not, this war will turn us all into murderers one way or another.

Tris picks up speed and I follow.

We stop a few yards from the building that Natalie directed us to, and I jump slightly as a scream rings out next to me.

I clamp my hand over Tris' mouth and look around to check that no one is nearby. She continues to scream into my hand until her scream turns into a sob.

My heart once again breaks for her, and I can't help but feel angry.

They did this.

They attacked her home. They took her mother away. They turned her into a murderer. My anger multiplies and I'm surprised my teeth haven't shattered from the force at which my jaw is clenched.

They will pay.

I take a deep breath and try to steady myself. Tris needs me.

"Tris," I start sympathetically.

She stops immediately at the sound of my voice, almost as though, despite my hand on her mouth, she had forgotten I am here.

She blinks and suddenly all emotion disappears from her face. Her eyes go blank and her mouth slack. If I didn't know any better, I would think she was under the simulation.

A vision of the Tris that left my apartment less than 24 hours ago flits through my mind. The Tris who was nervous about passing her final test. The Tris who didn't know murder, who didn't know death or loss in this way.

Something about her face right now tells me that, that Tris is gone.

My heart sinks.

Before I can say anything, she walks past me.

Tris pounds on the door – twice, then three times, then six times as her mother told her to.

"Tris…" I start to say as she wipes the tears from her eyes. There's so much I want to say to her, but I don't know where to start. The door in front of us swings open before I have a chance to get my thoughts together.

A tall, gangly boy with dark hair and green eyes, around Tris' age stands before us. He stares at Tris for a few seconds and then throws his arms around her.

Caleb. I vaguely recognize him from Tris' fear landscape.

Tris groans loudly at the contact and the boy yanks back.

"Beatrice. Oh God, are you shot?"

"Let's go inside Caleb," Tris says weakly.

Caleb doesn't budge, instead he looks briefly in my direction and then back at Tris.

"He can't come in," he says firmly to Tris.

"She needs help man, just let us in," I reply impatiently, putting my arm around Tris' waist as she starts to sway unsteadily.

"We can't trust him Tris," he says, ignoring me.

"Caleb," I say exasperated. "We can't stay out here. It won't be long before the wrong people see us and either way your sister is close to passing out. Let us in before I make you let us in."

Threatening someone who already doesn't trust me is probably not the smartest way to go, but I can't care about that now, I need to get Tris to safety.

"Eric," Tris says softly, placing the palm of her hand on my chest. "Let me handle this."

She straightens herself out and steps forward, gently putting her hands on Caleb's upper arms.

"Do you trust me?" she says to him.

"Of course I trust you, Beatrice. It's him I don't trust. He's a Dauntless leader and I've seen him at Erudite…with Jeanine," he whispers the last part, as though that would stop me from hearing him.

"He's not like the rest of them Caleb," Tris replies.

"You're right. He is the worst of them," Caleb counters.

I let out a loud sigh and scratch at the back of my neck in frustration.

Tris lets go of Caleb and takes a step back shaking her head. "There's not enough time for me to list all of the reasons why I trust him and why you should too. I'm going to need you to either trust me and let us in or we're leaving."

"No," I say firmly. "We're not leaving. I will physically move him out of our way if I have to. You need help and there's a room full of Abnegation members behind that door. I'm sure at least one of them will be compelled to help you no matter what."

"Eric..." Tris starts, but I ignore her.

"What's it going to be Prior? Are you going to move out of our way or are we doing this the hard way?" I say threateningly, glaring at him.

He takes a deep breath and glares back at me before looking over his sister and sighing. Turning around, he walks back through the door, leaving it open for us to follow.

I close the door behind us.

The room is dimly lit, but I can see a number of people, dressed in grey, huddled together. They all turn to look at us as we enter.

I recognize a few of the council members, Tris' father and Four's father are among them.

Marcus and Andrew stare at me. I ignore their looks and hope they aren't about to throw me out.

"Beatrice," Marcus speaks. "Where is my son? Where is Tobias."

Four. I had almost forgotten about him.

He and Khloe must have made it halfway to Dauntless by now. At least they're both safe while alone in the truck…as long as Four's programming doesn't cause him to turn on her.

Tris looks to me to respond.

"He's safe," I reply vaguely. "At least for now."

I figure it's best to leave out the part about him being under a simulation and on his way to do the enemy's dirty work. Luckily Caleb starts talking before Marcus has a chance to ask anymore questions.

"How did you know about this place?" Caleb says. "Did mom find you?"

Tris nods.

"My shoulder," she says.

I look over at her as she nearly falls to her knees next to me, catching her just in time, I pull her against my side.

A woman in long grey robes rolls out a pallet. Someone else brings a lamp over so we have light. Caleb produces a first-aid kit, and a teenage girl hands Tris a bottle of water.

The speed at which everyone comes together to help Tris takes me by surprise. Aside from council meetings, I haven't spent much time among the Abnegation. I know they are meant to be selfless, but I've always been told it's just for show. With the articles Jeanine released I became more and more wary of their true nature. But the way in which they are helping Tris makes me question my preconceived notions.

Tris' dad walks over to us and supports Tris from the other side. Together, we help her across the room.

"Why are you wet?" Caleb says to Tris.

"They tried to drown me," she replies. "Why are you here?"

Tried to drown her? Leave it to Jeanine to use one of Tris' own worst fears against her. The anger I felt earlier returns.

Caleb looks at me wearily as though scared to answer Tris' question.

"Caleb," she says softly. "Anything you can say to me you can say to him. I promise."

Caleb, his dad and Marcus all look over at me.

"I'm on your side," I say to them simply.

"Why should we believe you?" The question comes from Andrew. "You've made it very clear at all the council meetings where your loyalties lie. How are we supposed to believe that all of a sudden you give care what happens to us…to Abnegation?"

"Dad," Tris starts.

"It's okay Tris," I say before looking Andrew in the eye. "I wouldn't trust me either if I were you."

"Then how do you expect us to speak freely in your presence?"

I could start listing all the reasons they can trust me. I could go into detail about all the things I've learnt recently, and I could explain how I feel about Jeanine and Max and this war, but we don't have time for that.

Instead, I take a deep breath and say, "I'm in love with your daughter."

Andrew blinks and looks back and forth between Tris and me.

Tris' eyes dart towards me and I break my gaze on Andrew to focus on her.

"I love you Tris," I say, this time directly to her.

I've never said those words to anyone aside from my mother. The vulnerability I feel in this moment is unmatched and a giant knot takes up residence in my stomach as I wait for her to react.

At first, she just stares at me seemingly in shock. Then, she lifts her arm slowly, brings her hand to my cheek and a wide smile breaks out across her face.

"I love you too, Eric."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and lean in towards her. I want to pour everything I'm feeling right now into kissing her, but remembering we are surrounded by her Abnegation family I stop myself and softly kiss her forehead instead.

When I pull away, everyone's eyes are on us. Most of them wear a look of surprise while the young girl who gave Tris the water looks amazed.

Caleb, on the other hand, looks as though he's about to try to fight me.

Tris and I both look over at Andrew. His lips are pursed, and he doesn't look impressed, but he turns to Caleb and says, "Answer her question son."

Caleb stares at his father for a moment before complying.

"I did what you said – what Mom said. I researched the simulation serum and found out that Jeanine was working to develop long-range transmitters for the serum so its signal could stretch farther, which led me to information about Erudite and Dauntless. I came here when I figured out what was happening. I would have warned you, warned everyone, but it was too late," he says.

"When did you get here?"

"I left Erudite this morning, thinking I could get here in time to find mom and dad, but the Dauntless were already arriving. I was trying to find somewhere to hide when I ran into Susan," he looks over at the young Abnegation girl. "She brought me here. Anyways, I guess I am factionless now."

"No, you aren't," Andrew says sternly. "You're with us."

There is a moment of silence before Andrew continues. "Now Tris, lets get you fixed up."

Tris kneels on the pallet and Caleb cuts a piece of her shirt away from her shoulder with a pair of medical scissors, revealing her Abnegation tattoo as well as the three birds on her collarbone.

Tris lays down on her stomach and I hold her hand. Her father gets the antiseptic from the first aid kit.

"Have you ever taken a bullet out of someone before?" Tris asks, a shaky laughter in her voice.

"The things I know how to do might surprise you," Andrew replies. "This will hurt."

As Andrew inserts a knife into Tris' wound, she lets out a scream and crushes my hand in hers. I lean down and kiss the tears that are running from the corner of her eyes, trying to distract her.

"Got it," Andrew says suddenly, dropping the bullet on the floor with a ding. He starts cleaning off the wound with a wet cloth before adding, "stitching time."

Tris stays quiet as her father stitches up her wound, ties it off with thread, and covers the stiches with a bandage.

When he is finished, Caleb and I help Tris sit up.

I look at Tris' ripped shirt and it reminds me of the night I found her hanging from the chasm. I shudder at the memory but wish I had a hoodie to offer her now.

Caleb, who is wearing more than one layer, pulls off one of his shirts and offers it to Tris. I help her navigate her arm through the sleeve and pull it over her head then nod gratefully at Caleb.

"So," her father says quietly. "Where is your mother?"

Tris looks down at the ground and stays silent.

"She's gone," I say to him. "She saved us."

Caleb closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Mr. Prior looks momentarily stricken and then recovers himself. His eyes glisten as he nods his head.

"That is good," he says, sounding strained. "A good death."

At Dauntless, we call suicide brave. I think we do it so that we don't have to think about what lead to someone taking their own life. So, we don't have to feel guilty for not seeing the signs. But death by suicide is not brave, sacrificing yourself for someone else the way Natalie did for Tris…for me…that is bravery.

Tris starts to stand up and Andrew and I both reach to help her.

Marcus speaks. "We are only safe here for so long," he says. "We need to get out of the city. Our best option is to go to the Amity compound in the hope that they'll take us in. Do you know anything about the Dauntless strategy? Will they stop fighting at night?"

He looks to me, but Tris is the one who responds. "It's not Dauntless strategy," she says. "This whole thing is masterminded by the Erudite. And it's not like they are giving orders."

"Not giving orders," Andrew says. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Tris continues, "ninety percent of the Dauntless are sleepwalking right now. They're in a simulation and they don't know what they are doing. The only reason I'm not just like them is that…"

She hesitates. It's smart of her not to say the word. Maybe if it was only her family in this room it would be safe. But with this many members of Abnegation, and Marcus no less, it's better not to share.

"I was able to fake her injection," I jump in. "I changed her information in the system to make it look like she had received it. It was the only way to save her from their mind control."

"Mind control? So, they don't know that they're killing people right now?" Tris' father asks, his eyes wide.

"No."

"That's…awful." Marcus shakes his head. His sympathetic tone sounds fake to me. "Waking up and realizing what you've done…"

The room goes quiet.

"And what about you?" Caleb says, addressing me directly for the first time since our arrival. "Did you change your information too? Is that why you aren't being controlled?"

He already knows the answer, but for some reason he needs my confirmation.

"I was never going to be injected. They trust me. They think I'm on their side."

"So what? You're playing double agent?"

"I guess."

"And how do we know you aren't actually playing double agent for their side?"

"Caleb, we already went over this," Tris says.

"But why should we believe him. He could be playing us. Playing you."

"But what purpose would that serve? It's not like I have any useful information. I didn't even know about the attack until Eric told me."

"I don't know. But I don't trust him."

"You've made that abundantly clear Caleb," Andrew cuts in. "But we can't keep arguing about this. I trust your sister and she trusts him. He claims he loves her and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. It's been over a year since you and your sister left Abnegation. We don't know what she's been through or what brought them together, but here they are. Now we must move on from this if we are going to get everyone to safety."

Caleb glares at me before looking at his father. "Fine. What do we do?"

"We have to wake them up," Tris says.

At least her and I are on the same page.

"What?" Marcus says.

"If we wake the Dauntless up, they will probably revolt when they realize what's going on," Tris says. "The Erudite won't have an army. The Abnegation will stop dying. This will be over."

"It won't be that simple," Andrew says. "Even without the Dauntless helping them, the Erudite will find another way."

"You're right. Even if we wake them up, it will only stop them temporarily. But hopefully it can buy us enough time to come up with another plan," I say.

He nods.

"And how are we supposed to wake them up?" Marcus says.

"We go to the computers that control the simulation. We shut down the program and destroy the data," I reply. "We have allies on their way there now."

Tris turns and looks at me curiously. "We do?"

"We do," I reply firmly.

"Easier said than done," Caleb says. "It could be anywhere. We can't just appear at the Erudite compound and start poking around."

"It's not at Erudite. It's at Dauntless. It's being run from the control room where we monitor the city."

"Four…" Tris whispers, eyes wide as the pieces fall together for her. I nod at her in return.

"Are you sure?" Andrew asks.

"Before we came, Jeanine sent one of our members back to the compound to monitor the program."

"Then we will have to decide who goes and who continues on to Amity," he says. "What help do you need?"

"Anyone who can fire a gun," Tris responds, "and who isn't afraid of heights.

Hello lovelies! Kind of a bridging chapters but hopefully it still kept your attention! Thank you to everyone who is following along, I appreciate each and every single one of you. 3