Thanks for the encouragement... I'll take a stab at more. Some wrap up and set up in the next couple of chapters, and then off we go...

For a minute that seems to last an hour, no one even breathes. Tris just stares straight ahead, wide-eyed. I decide to break the tension.

"Tris?" I say tentatively, touching her arm carefully.

She turns her body stiffly to look at me, and I think even my heart stops beating for a moment. She puts her fingers on my face.

"Tobias," she breathes. "I heard you. I heard your voice. You brought me back. You brought me back."

I groan and pull her into my arms, saying her name over and over. She is gasping, laughing, crying, her arms weak around me.

"When she put me on the table," she says pulling back to look at me, "when I thought I was going to die..."

"Shhh, Tris. You don't have talk about it now. There will be time for all of that."

"No, I want to. I need to tell you. You were right. You were right about me. When I was lying here, about to die, I realized that I had been all wrong. My parents, Will – I wouldn't have been honoring them by dying. Only by living. And then I realized it was more than that - I wanted to live! I want to live, Tobias!" She is holding me by both arms, staring at me fiercely.

I cup my hand around her face, and she leans her cheek in, pressing her lips into my palm." You are very, very alive!" I say, a slightly hysterical noise bubbling up from my guts. Then I lean in to kiss her, and she throws her arms around me, kissing me back and sliding off the table into my arms. I cradle her against my chest, my arms under her knees and her arms around my neck.

Suddenly, she peeks over my shoulder, her eyes growing wide. "Ohhh," she exhales, as she realizes there are other people in the room.

It's all the permission they need. Christina and Uriah fold us both into their arms, laughing because they don't know what else to do. Tris is gulping air, saying thank you over and over.

Christina cuts straight to the chase, of course. "How much do you remember? Do you know what happened to you?"

Uriah punches Christina in the arm, hard. "Christina! Give the girl a chance to wake up!"

Christina shrugs unapologetically, rubbing the bruise Uriah just gave her. "Well?" she asks Tris.

"I...I'm not sure," Tris says. "I know I was in a simulation - but I'm not sure... I don't know..." She sees Cara some distance off, standing with Leo and watching quietly.

"I want to try to stand," Tris says to me. I nod and put her down carefully, keeping an arm around her waist as her knees buckle and she grabs the edge of the table.

"We'll help you sort through it, Tris," Cara says gravely.

Tris nods, her eyes filling with tears as she holds her hand hesitantly out to Cara. Cara comes over and takes Tris's hand, pushing a strand of hair gently off her face. "This part was real," she murmurs, and I know she's talking about forgiveness.

Tris closes her eyes and lowers her head, whispering, "thank you." She takes a deep breath. "Did Fernando really die?" she asks without looking up.

"No," Cara reassures her. "Well, not as far as I know," she adds, less reassuringly. "There really is a Fernando, and he did leave Erudite with me - he was at Merciless Mart after the attack. You must have met him there?"

Tris shrugs her shoulders helplessly, "I don't remember."

"Interesting," Cara responds. "You certainly seem to know him - how he was in your simulation is how he is."

"I know there's a lot to talk about," Leo breaks in, "but we should really get out of here." he turns to Cara, "Can you destroy the mainframe from here?" Her eyes go wide, but she purses her lips and inclines her head. "Anything we should keep?"

"Yes!" Tris all but shouts. "My simulation data, my brain scans - I want it all.". Everyone stares at her and she flushes when she realizes it. "They shouldn't know more about what's inside my head than I do," she mutters. "And it will help me sort out what's real," she adds more firmly.

Cara sits down at the computer and starts to work.

Tris eyes Leo warily. "I remember you. You brought me here to Jeanine, to my execution."

Leo does not look away. "Yes," he answers grimly. "Not very Dauntless of me."

"But then you helped us?" she asks in disbelief. Leo nods. "You helped me," this time it's a statement. He nods again, never breaking eye contact. Tris just looks at him steadily.

"I hope you will be able to forgive me – to forgive all of us," Leo says. "All the Dauntless – we belong together now."

"Oh yeah?" Uriah says calmly. He's examining the weapons locker, and smoothly catches the key I toss him. "And what makes you think you can speak for all the Traitor Dauntless?" Uriah is regarding the contents of the locker with satisfaction and begins passing out guns.

"I was elected leader when Max died," Leo says evenly. "I do speak for all the Dauntless here, and not just because I am their leader. None of us knew what we were signing up for – Max did not tell us everything, and none of us is proud of what we've done. I realize we have a lot of blood on our hands, and some of it is yours," he says, now looking at me, and I understand he is addressing me not as an Erudite victim, but leader to leader. "But I hope we can all go home together and rebuild. Go back to the Dauntless we were meant to be."

"Home," Uriah snorts. "And what does that even mean anymore?"

"Well, what do you want us to do, Uriah?" Christina asks impatiently.

"We have to go outside the fence, of course." Tris says calmly.