Bobby turns to Inez in silence, his shoulders tense. She returns his look evenly, giving every appearance of enjoying herself. Looking at her, you'd assume this is an entertaining social call for her if you didn't know there was a concealed weapon right where her right hand is resting so casually on her hip.
I draw in a breath to say something to break the standoff, when Bobby's hand suddenly shoots out. I hear a safety being flipped off a gun over near the stairs.
But he just chucks Inez on the shoulder and barks out an odd, harsh laugh. "Always wanted to be Dauntless, didn't you, Inez? Looks like you get to play at it now," he shakes her shoulder a little, and she shrugs with that little half-smile springing up on her lips. "Better than playing Abnegation," she retorts pleasantly, eyes sweeping the room.
"Soon enough," he responds softly, "we won't have to play at anything." He looks at her intently. "You should stay with us, Inez. With me. They can't offer you anything but pain - it's a lost cause." His eyes flick to me. "Sorry, man," he mutters. "But it's true."
I draw in a breath, but this time, it's Tris who speaks up before I can respond.
"I wonder how many times my parents heard that," she says quietly, "whenever they did something to help all of you." Tris looks around the room, and most people look back at her. Some drop their gazes. "They never accepted that the Factionless were a lost cause. And I don't accept that our mission is, either. In fact, I think going outside the fence is the only way to save the life of every single person in this room, every person inside the fence, no matter what faction."
I look at Bobby, and wait until he feels my eyes on him.
"Will you help us?" I ask, when he finally turns toward me.
His jaw is clenched, and the stare he gives me is not especially friendly, but after a brief hesitation, he nods. "Wait here," he says, before turning on his heel and walking out the front door, bodyguards in tow.
Everyone in the room instantly goes back to business as usual - playing cards, dice, eating, talking. Whatever they were doing when we walked in. Inez, Tris, and I retreat to a corner to wait. I notice Tris casually flip the safety back on the gun in her waistband, and raise my eyebrows at her.
"That was you?"
She just looks at me. I nod. Good. That's progress; she was ready to shoot if she had to, even if that wouldn't have been a smart choice in the circumstances. We were outmanned and outgunned, but the fact that the instinct is still there is a relief.
"Okay. What now, Inez? Is he going to come back here with Evelyn or Marcus or - God forbid - both, and we're back at square one?"
"Don't think so."
I stare at her pointedly. Eventually, she relents.
"Leadership is actually pretty decentralized in Factionless. If he said he would help, he meant it. If he thought he needed someone else's permission, or if he already had orders on this, he wouldn't have put himself out there." She pauses, taking out a knife and starting to pare her fingernails. "Bobby was a leader here long before Evelyn showed up."
"And we just happened to find him?" Tris says skeptically.
Inez shoots a glance at her before turning back to her nails. "Nah. I knew where he was and figured he'd help. You guys are pretty easy to steer sometimes."
"You could have told us," I say coldly.
Inez shrugs with that half-smile. "You think too much sometimes," she offers. "And Factionless have pretty good shit detectors. You got to keep it real here." She glances at Tris. "I shoulda told you it was your parents' house, though. Sorry."
"It's okay," Tris answers quickly. "It doesn't bother me." Inez nods.
"I used to help your Mom distribute stuff," she says quietly, watching Tris closely.
Tris's mouth drifts open. "You knew her?"
Inez clears her throat. "Her mother - your grandmother - was a Dauntless leader. Did you know that? Well, that's who kicked me out of Dauntless. She probably saved my life. We talked about it a little, your mom and me."
Tris is standing stock still, mouth still hanging open.
"I think they got her pretty soon after that. Your mom wasn't sure what happened - just that she died. I hope it wasn't because of me." Inez has gone back to her fingernails.
I move behind Tris and put my hands on her shoulders. "Inez," she stutters, "I...I don't know..."
"It's okay, Tris," she says, looking up. "Pretty sure we're going to have a lot of time together to talk about it."
Tris doesn't say anything, but she does lean back into me, and I can't help smiling. I'm glad she's finally looking to me for comfort, that's she's showing some trust in me. I tighten my hands on her shoulders a little and brush her hair with my lips.
Then I look up and see Inez watching me appraisingly. She meets my eyes, but her expression offers no clue as to what she's thinking, beyond the fact that she's thinking something. From what I've seen of her so far, Inez will no doubt let me know what's on her mind in her own good time. I return her neutral look.
We both turn away, though, when we hear the door open. Bobby walks in, followed by his phalanx of guards, and then three new people. As they come into the room, one of them looks straight at me, and I freeze, dropping my arms to my side in shock.
Laila Sadawy looks exactly like her brother.
Bobby hands me back my list. "Four dead, two missing, one doesn't want to talk to you. These three have agreed to at least hear you out," he hooks his thumb back at Laila and the two men with her.
Laila is sort of average height and lean, with dark, smooth skin and long, black hair twisted back in a braid. She looks young - maybe in her early 20s, the age Amar was when he died. But as she meets my gaze, the tired, hard look in her eyes makes me think she's quite a bit older than that. One of the men is definitely older - tall and stooped, with graying hair and glasses. He has a scar on his face that runs from his ear over to his jaw. But the most jarring thing about him by far is the kindly look on his face and wide smile. "Ralph," he says, sticking out a hand, "but you can call me Rat. Everybody does." He shakes each of our hands, even Inez's, with great enthusiasm.
"Hey, Rat," she says, smiling at him - an actual, full smile.
"I'm Jeb," the other man says, or rather, boy. I frown at him. "How old are you?" I ask severely.
"16," he shrugs. "I'm from here," he adds, gesturing around the room. I know he doesn't mean Abnegation.
"How is that even possible?" I ask.
"People do have babies here, too, you know," Bobby says coldly.
"You grew up in Factionless?" Tris asks him, startled. Jeb nods, looking a little annoyed.
"Okay," I exhale. "Listen, the three of us are the leaders of a new Divergent team," I can feel amusement rolling off Inez at her sudden promotion to leader. "I'm Tobias, this is Tris, and you probably all know Inez." I pause, picking my words carefully. "We're all Divergent, and we believe the three of you are, too."
"And what makes you think that?" Laila asks quietly. Her voice is low and musical, and it almost hurts to hear the familiar cadences.
"We stole some records from Erudite," Tris says matter-of -factly, "when we were destroying their computers. They had all of you on a list of known Divergent."
Rat and Jeb look at each other uneasily, but Laila never even blinks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a woman slip in the front door and approach Bobby. She whispers in his ear and then leaves as quickly as she arrived.
"What do you want with us?" Laila asks, crossing her arms.
"I suggest you think about the answer to that as you leave," Bobby says smoothly. "Unless you'd like to discuss what you're doing here with Marcus and whoever it is he has with him."
Inez is the first to move, so smoothly and quietly it takes me a minute to realize she's gone.
"Take the tunnel, Inez," Bobby calls after her. "And you're always welcome here once you get tired of pretending to be Dauntless."
Inez never slows down or looks back, and we hurry after her. As we cut across the lawn of the house behind the Prior's, I'm relieved to realize all three of the Divergent Factionless are following us. I have no idea if they're really Divergent, since we didn't have a chance to test them yet, and even less of an idea as to whether we can trust them, but at least they're with us.
For now.
