Thanks for the reviews! JLG - that's a compliment that will stay with me for a very long time...
I tuck one gun back under my waistband and keep the other in hand as I heave the cabinet out of the way with my shoulder. Christina is first through the door, hurling herself into my arms, shaking and gasping. Then she pushes me away, holding me at arm's length and frowning.
"You look terrible!" she blurts out. "What the hell did they do to you?" She turns on her heel and glares at Leo and the other Dauntless.
"Did you do this to him? Did you?" She shoves Leo hard, but before he can say anything, she whirls around to me again. She's opening her mouth to say something else when she sees what's behind me on the table and freezes, her hand halfway to her face.
"Is she…"
"She's OK," I say quietly. "Well, not OK, but alive. Just unconscious – you can go see her." Christina charges over to the table.
I look at Leo, who shrugs at me, smiling wryly. "Gotta love Dauntless women," he remarks. He comes over and grasps my fist in his, giving me a rough half hug, much to my surprise.
He does not apologize for beating me or keeping me captive, nor do I expect him to. I do not thank him for helping me escape, either. The other two guards, who offer that their names are Darius and Sam, clap me on the back, too.
"How is she?" Leo says, forehead wrinkling with concern.
"I don't know," I respond slowly. Leo did help me escape and did capture Jeanine, but do I really trust him now? Can I ever see him as an ally?
"I know it's hard," the Erudite woman says softly, watching me intently. She looks so familiar. "But we have to learn to trust each other again, or there really is no hope."
"You're Cara," I suddenly realize. She's the one who risked her life to warn all of us about the attack on Candor. And, if I recall, she is Will's sister.
She looks at me expectantly, and after a brief hesitation, I nod.
Leo suddenly slumps against the wall, and I notice that he's wounded. Darius and Sam rush to help him into a chair as he shakes his head at them. "I'll be fine. I'll be fine. Dari, I need you to stay here, keep an eye on the monitors and the door."
"Sam," he says wincing. "Go to the cell we put Jeanine in and make sure she doesn't get out – and that no one gets in. Be careful." Sam nods and promptly leaves.
I glance back at Tris and up at the real-time screen. She's still asleep, and Christina is leaning over her, running her hand over Tris's hair and talking to her quietly.
"Let me see," I say looking at the blood soaking through Leo's jeans.
"I'll take care of it," Cara says briskly, pushing me out of the way. "Pants off," she orders Leo.
He raises his eyebrows at her and glances at me.
"I'd do what she says."
Cara rolls her eyes at us, but is all business when she sees the deep slash down Leo's leg. "Four," she says, pointing across the room, "there should be a first aid kit along the other wall – can you get it?" I nod as she applies pressure to the wound.
Leo is closing his eyes, his face pale.
"Now, tell us while I work on him," Cara says, pulling supplies from the kit. "Tell us what happened to her – and what you've figured out so far."
Christina looks over her shoulder at me, listening, but does not move from Tris's side.
I clear my throat and rub my fingers across my scalp – I'm not sure what I have figured out, or what to say first.
"Just start talking," Cara says. "Don't worry about making sense right now – just talk."
