Tris calls a Divergent-only meeting, though I ask Cara to stay. Leo gives me a funny look, but leaves the control room without protest. Fernando stays, and when I turn to him to tell him to wait for us downstairs, he holds up a hand.
"Okay, this is something I've been hiding my whole life, and I haven't been eager to put myself under a death sentence," Fernando shoots a look at me, which I'm guessing means Linus had confided in him, too, "or permanent exile from my faction," he begins. "But there's no time like the present, I guess: I am Divergent," he states dramatically. "You can test me," he adds, holding a finger out with a flourish.
I test him myself; it's positive. Cara recently added a blue dye to the kit that can detect relative strength of divergence, with a spectrum ranging from a watery sky-blue for Cyd to inky, nearly black for Tris. Fernando is royal blue - not all the way at the Tris end of the scale, but one of the strongest Divergents we have. I raise my eyebrows at him, and grins maniacally.
"Okay, people," I say, calling everyone to order. "You need to know what Linus told me just before he died..."
"You mean before he was murdered," Fernando grumbles.
"Settle down, Divergent," I say sternly. "We all saw what happened."
I wait for everyone to be quiet before resuming. "He knew we were all in danger, and he told me we need to get to a safe house. Zeke and Uriah have been scouting locations..."
"But Zeke isn't even Divergent! We can't trust him!" one of the Candor Divergent shouts.
"He's my brother, idiot," Uriah growls.
"We can trust Zeke," Tris seconds, and that ends the argument. People seem to have no problem calling me out, but no one ever questions Tris. I try not to let myself be irritated by this.
We spend the next couple of hours arguing and planning, and then disperse to quietly gather supplies. We're going to leave in groups of three at different times from different exits and rendezvous near the Ferris Wheel. When I suggest that location, Tris, who is standing next to me, presses into my side, and I allow a smile to pull at one corner of my mouth.
Later, I'm in the Control Room copying some computer files we're going to need and erasing others I don't want anyone else to have when Leo comes to find me. He pulls a chair up next to me, straddling it backwards and putting his arms over the back.
"So, Four. What's up."
"Nothing. They all needed to talk about Linus and how we're going to look out for each other."
"Sure. Which explains why you're here alone, past midnight, pretty much in the same spot where Linus was when someone blew the back of his head off."
I shrug, never taking my eyes off the screen.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on or not?" Leo's voice is even, but I can tell he's angry, and maybe even a little hurt.
"Nothing is going on."
"Four, you haven't even been able to look at me - all night. Starting with when you came down to the training room, before Linus died."
"He didn't die, Leo. He was murdered," I say, turning to face him.
"You think it was me?" Leo asks quietly.
"No," I answer, looking at him closely. "But Linus did."
"What does that mean?"
"He found a kill list. He thought you were behind it."
"He was at the top of the list?" Leo asks, now all Dauntless efficiency.
"No. Cara is."
He stares at me coldly. "You think I would hurt Cara?"
"Linus thought so. He said someone was transmitting her movements."
Leo doesn't move or speak for several minutes. "I guess I can see why he might suspect me, then. But not you, Tobias."
I sigh and rub my hand over my forehead. "Well, considering that I'm on the list, too, I guess I'd be dead now you if it really were you. But okay, I don't believe you would do that. On the other hand, I honestly don't know what to think anymore."
"Okay," he sighs, "I guess I can live with that. You take her away with you and keep her safe." I raise an eyebrow at the fact that he's figured out what we're going to do, and he smirks back at me. "But I will have your back here, whether you want me to or not, and I'll figure out what the hell is going on. Christina and Darius can help me - they'll be back tomorrow, and I assume Zeke, Lynn, Shauna, and Fernando are staying."
"Fernando turns out to be Divergent, actually," I say.
"Yeah, no surprise there," Leo notes. "You fight for us out there, and we'll fight for you in here. We're still going to work together to rebuild this place, okay? Now, how will I know if you need to reach me? Or how will I tell you if I find out something important?"
I think about it for a minute. "Christopher in Amity. We'll give him a message drop site and get him to check it every couple of days, okay?"
Leo nods, and then grips my shoulder. "You take good care of Tris, and tell Cara I love her." He gets up and walks to the door. "And Tobias?" He says, waiting for me to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful."
"You, too, Leo," I say softly.
"Four?"
"Yeah?"
"Lock the door."
A couple of hours later, well before dawn, Tris and I go down to the rocks by the river, along with Elsa. We don't see a single person in the Pit as we walk silently through Dauntless, sticking to the shadows. Tris stops for a few seconds, and looks all around. I know she's wondering if she'll ever see it again, and when she glances up from under her lashes and sees me watching her, I nod. She smiles at me sadly, and we move on.
Our packs are already hidden down in the rocks, along with one of the computers and two duffel bags with supplies. The packs are heavy, but the computer and the duffels aren't too bad, though the computer is awkward to manage as we climb down the rungs into the tunnel. I'm pleased to see that Elsa manages the load and the climb with no problem.
We follow the map Rat made for us, and after nearly an hour of twists and turns in the tunnels, we meet up with Inez and two of the Candor - one's named Martin, I think, and I can't remember the other. Amazingly enough, no one says anything, even though we now have four Candor-born in our group. In fact, now that I think about it, it's hard for me to imagine Inez ever being a Candor. She's not one for talking. Maybe that's why she left in the first place. Or maybe a decade in Factionless took it out of her.
She holds up a hand, and we all stop moving. I listen hard, and the silence seems to almost press in on us. Then I hear it - a rustling, swishing sound. We're not alone down here, and we should be; the other groups are all above ground.
Inez and I look at each other, and we know what to do. I hand the computer to Martin, who is a big man and should be able to manage the extra load for some time. Tris gives her duffel to the other Candor, and Tris and I drop back, weapons out, pressing against the wall. Inez continues forward, but now she turns away from our destination. If we are being followed, we don't want to lead them to the rendezvous site. She picks up the pace. We follow, but slightly behind and pressed against the wall, walking sideways. We don't see anyone following us.
Inez finally takes us up, above ground. We jump out of a pipe and land right in the marsh. It's mostly frozen, and our feet make crunching noises as we land, but at least we don't break through into the mud.
"You take them to the rendezvous site," I whisper to Tris. She shakes her head. "If something happens, we can't both be lost," I whisper urgently, taking hold of her arm. She stares at me fiercely, and finally, much to my relief, nods. She grabs my head and pulls me down for a fierce kiss, and then spins on her heel as quickly as her heavy pack will allow and melts into the night, the others close behind.
Inez and I do our best to cover their tracks and then find a good spot in the marsh. We're not visible, but with the light from a sliver of waning moon, we can see the end of the pipe.
"How long?" I whisper.
She splays out her hand, contracts her fingers, and then flexes them again twice. 15 minutes. I nod. That's enough time for Tris to get some distance, and if anyone really is trying to follow us, they won't be able to put much more than 15 minutes between us without risking losing our trail.
I crouch down to wait.
