Sorry for the silence - life gets in the way sometimes. So, I was a little taken aback by the negative review. Is this really confusing? Is that why there aren't more readers? I figured anyone who had read Insurgent wouldn't have any trouble following the plot, with half in the simulation and half in reality. I'd rather not to work with a beta - just want to write what I feel like writing. Anyway, here's a long chapter, for anyone who does want to read it! Theo

The morning light hurts my eyes for a few minutes when I first open them the next morning, and my mouth still tastes vaguely of ashes, but other than that, I feel okay. If there are any other lingering effects of the gas, I can't tell.

"We should get up," I yawn to Tris, nudging her in the side. "It feels late."

She groans and squints up at me through her hair. "Don't talk so loud," she grumbles. "My head is killing me."

I don't say anything right away, and she shoots me a dirty look. "Don't you have a headache?" she demands.

"No," I shrug. "My mouth is a little dry and the light bothered me at first, but I feel fine now." She's pressing her fingers against her temples and blinking rapidly.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she mutters.

It's not actually that easy to jump out of a sleeping bag, but I manage it. Tris glares at me.

"Thanks for caring."

"Do you want me to get the trash can?" I say, trying to sound apologetic.

"Just go away," she answers, closing her eyes and groaning again.

"Didn't you take that charcoal stuff?"

"What charcoal stuff?"

"The pills Lou gave us," I say impatiently.

"I don't even know what you're talking about," she snaps back.

"Okay, okay," I say, backing toward the door. "I'll be right back with something that will make you feel better. Don't move."

"Not moving," she says through clenched teeth.

I nearly trip over a package sitting outside the door. It's two more bottles of the treated water and a smaller container. There's a note on top. "Four," it says, "Forgot to give you the anti-cholinesterase for Tris, but you were occupied when I came by. Have her take these in the morning and she should feel better, though it sounds as though she is feeling quite fine at the moment. Lou"

Ah, I think, this could be a really long day.

I back into the room, glancing warily down the hall, but fortunately no one seems to be around. When I turn into the room again, I see that Tris is gripping the seams of the sleeping bag tightly, eyes screwed shut. I kneel next to her, shaking the pills out of the small container.

Tris opens her eyes in surprise. "You're back already?" she says, voice squeaking in confusion. "Or did I pass out?"

"Here," I say, holding the pills out, "Lou left these at the door for you."

"Oh," Tris says in relief, struggling to sit up. "That was nice of her." She takes the pills and raises them to her mouth, frowning at me before she puts them on her tongue. "Wait. When did she leave them?"

I just look at her.

"Oh," she says in a small voice, closing her eyes. Then she sighs and takes the pills, accepting the water bottle I hand her.

"I'll wait for you."

A little smile flits at the corner of her mouth. "No, no. That's okay," she says. "You go on ahead."

"Ah, well, I think it would be better if I waited. You know, make sure you're okay."

"Oh, don't you worry. I'll be fine," now she has a full-blown smirk and she makes a little shooing motion with her hand.

"Be brave, Four," she calls out after me.

"Brave, my ass," I grumble as I walk down the hall.

"Did you say something about your ass?" says a voice so close to me I actually jump.

"Crap, Inez! Stop sneaking up on me like that," I snarl. But she just smiles sweetly up at me. Far too sweetly.

"I am so sorry, Four," she says. "I wouldn't want to startle that ass of yours, which I'm sure is super tired this morning."

'Okay, fine, let's just get this over with. Let it all out."

"Let what out?" she says, with exaggerated puzzlement. "I just came to get you and Tris, because we have something important to discuss."

"Fine, then let's go. Tris will be down in a few minutes."

"Yeah, you see," she continues, as though I haven't spoken, "I drew the short straw. No one wanted to come anywhere near this wing of the house today. You know, just in case."

I cross my arms and just look at her, waiting. Then I see the coldness in her eyes, and it dawns on me that she might actually be mad at me about Laila.

"I'm sorry," I say softly,

She doesn't respond.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I swear."

Inez looks up at me now.

"It's not okay, Tobias," she says in a low voice, her face as blank and hard as a cement block.

"I didn't know. I never would have tried to get between you and Laila."

Inez snorts air through her nose and narrows her eyes. "You couldn't, even if you wanted to. That's not my problem."

"Then just what is your problem, Inez?" I say, finally losing my temper.

"You're supposed to know yourself," she suddenly shouts. "We're fucking following you - you can't just decide to be all lost and confused!"

I look at her in shock, but at the same time, I can feel the anger rising up from my gut, and I know if it spills out, I will never get it back.

"Well, get over it, Inez. I'm 19 years old, and I'm human," I say, clenching my fists so tightly I can feel my fingernails cutting the skin of my palms. "I made a mistake. And it probably won't be the last one I make."

"No," she shakes her head. "As a matter of fact, you don't get to make mistakes. We don't have time for that. You have to be a grown up, or people are going to die."

"Well, you know what? I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for any of this - I don't even want you to follow me. You can all find someone else to fucking follow!" I shove her hard out of the way and turn to go down the hall.

"Hey, hey! Don't you walk away from me!"

I turn and look at her, and there must be something in my face that scares her, because she stops so fast she sways on her feet.

"Leave me alone," I say quietly, and I go, right out the front door, without looking back again.

I just walk. I don't think about where I'm going or what I'm going to do next. For once, I don't want to solve any problems or save anyone or worry about someone else's feelings. It all used to be so much easier when I was alone, and I just want to be alone again. I walk for a long time.

So I'm not even sure where I am when I nearly trip over Glory. I don't realize it's her at first, I just see a hand on the ground, sticking out from under the bushes I'm shoving my way through. I barely miss stepping on it, in fact, before catching my breath and crouching down. I peer through the branches and see that it's Glory, asleep - or unconscious - under the brush.

I look around nervously over my shoulders, but there's no sign of anyone. It's nearly silent, though I was making a fair bit of noise stomping through here; anyone tailing her certainly would have heard me.

"Glory?" I whisper, shaking her shoulder gently. "Glory - wake up."

She moans, and I see that she has a black eye.

"Four?" she breathes, and then starts and sits up, tangling her hair in the branches. "Where am I? Are they still after me? We have to run!"

"Shhh, shh," I say, finger to my lips. "I don't think there's anyone here, but let's get moving. Can you walk?"

She nods and crawls out from under the bushes.

"This way," I whisper, and we head back the way I came. My trail serpentines around, but it's all too easy to follow. I try to obscure the signs as we walk back through, but I imagine it's not enough. We're probably going to have to move - one more thing for everyone to resent, I guess.

I realize Glory is not keeping up and see that she's limping. "You okay?" I ask quietly, nodding at her right foot.

She grimaces. "Twisted my ankle, jumping from a wall." She pulls up her pant leg, and I can see her ankle, purple and swollen, bulging out above her shoe.

"I'll carry you," I say, holding out my arms. "It's not too much farther."

"No, it's okay. I can do it."

I shake my head. "You don't want to risk more damage, and you're slowing us down. We still have some walking to do, and then we're all going to have to move."

She nods, and I scoop her up.

"Do you really think we're going to need to move?" she says, leaning her head against my shoulder, her breath tickling my ear. "I don't think there's anyone following us. And," she clears her throat, "I couldn't really remember where it was - I was lost when you found me, so I led them astray by accident, if they were behind me."

"Where are Martin and Uriah?"

She doesn't say anything. She looks up at me, and I raise my eyebrows in question, before stumbling a little. The ground is uneven here, and there's a lot of debris, so I need to keep my eyes down.

"Martin's dead," she says softly. "They killed him."

"Who?" I say more sharply than I mean to, staring at the ground. "Who killed him?"

"It was fine at first. We set up a drop site with Christopher, and he gave us some food to take back - just enough to fill the packs. We stayed the night, but when we left early the next morning, there were Dauntless there, waiting for us. Martin and Uriah had the guns, so they focused on them and I was able to get away. I know the orchards - I grew up in Amity, you know."

"Uriah?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"I think they captured him - that was the last I saw. I don't know. I'm so sorry, Four. I know he's a friend of yours."

I shrug, lips pressed together. I can see the tower now, which is good, because even Glory can get heavy after awhile. Plus she's crying, and I'm just not in the mood to try to come up with something to say that she might find comforting.

I see as we get closer that Laila and Rat are waiting for us at the gate - they must have been on watch. Why does it have to be Laila?

"Let me help you," she says quietly, holding a hand out.

"I have it," I say shortly. "Get everyone together," I add. "We have to talk."

"We're already gathered," Rat says, serious for once. "We were just waiting for you." He claps a hand on my shoulder, very briefly, and walks beside me into the building.

"She's got a hurt ankle," I say to Laila. "Could be broken - we need to get her to Lou first."

"I'll take care of her. You just go to the meeting room. Don't wait for me."

I frown at her. "What about Lou?"

"She has something else to take care of. Glory, can you walk if you lean on my shoulder?"

Glory nods. I set her down gently and turn away without another word, wiping my hands on my pants.

"Four," Laila calls out after me. I look over my shoulder.

"Glad to have you back." I give her a little nod.

"Hold up here for a minute," Rat says to me. As soon as Laila is out of sight, he turns and stares at me.

"What?"

He holds out his hand, and I see he has two more of Lou's gray pills. "Lou ran tests on Fernando all night, and confirmed a few hours ago what was in the gas. She improved the medication and this should do the trick. For Inez, too, by the way."

"She wasn't exposed."

"Yes, she was. Twice." I raise my eyebrows at him.

"Once when she stood near the door of the monitoring station, and once when you went into the storage room. We think there was gas in there, too. Those ancients didn't mess around; that was some strong stuff."

"Oh." He hands me the pills and a bottle of water. "Is Tris okay?"

"Yes. She's fine. A little worried, I imagine. But she was sure you'd come back. That's why we're all sitting around waiting for you. She knew."

"Did she? That's interesting. Because I didn't."

Rat is looking at me intently, and he grips both my shoulders. "Yeah. Just take the pills now. It won't fix everything, but I promise it will make things better."

"Aren't we supposed to be in a hurry?"

"Pills first, man." I take them, and he looks down at his watch.

"What?"

"Lou said to give you 15 minutes before bringing you in."

"It's really that bad?" I say, crossing my arms uncomfortably.

"Absolutely. In addition to the physical stuff, it induces rage, confusion, depression, and uh, sexual aggression."

There's a pause.

"Sounds like that last part wasn't as bad as the rest," Rat says mildly.

I shoot him a sharp look. "You're lucky this stuff works fast."

"Don't I know it," he says, chuckling. "Inez was a real pain the ass until we got her to take them." He glances back at his watch. "A few more minutes. What happened to Glory? Unless you want to save it for the group."

"She says they got ambushed in Amity."

Rat nods thoughtfully. "You sound like you don't believe her."

I rub the back of my neck, shuddering as a strange buzzing sensation passes through me. Rat puts a steadying hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, I believe there was an ambush," I answer, with an appreciative nod for his hand, "but the story doesn't totally add up. Something's not right."

Rat nods slowly again. "Then it's just as well that she's out of the way while we do this."

"Do what?"

"We have to interrogate Fernando. It's the whole reason Caleb is here - he found out Fernando was a spy. Worked for Jeanine. Still working for someone, apparently. Fortunately, Lou and Cara brought truth serum back with them from Erudite's labs." He looks at his watch. "Okay, you should be good to go now. Good enough, anyway."

We start to walk. "I wouldn't tell Tris you weren't sure you were coming back," he says, looking sidelong at me.

"She would have come after me," I respond.

Rat smiles. "Glad you're feeling better."

When we walk in, I see Fernando lying on a couch, unmoving but eyes open. Everyone else is sitting or standing, mostly silent. I don't see Tris at first, but I finally pick her out across the room, sitting next to her brother, who is holding her hand. Our eyes meet. She gives me a weak smile and I give her a slight nod.

"Oh, Thank God. You're really here," Cara says, running over to me and throwing her arms around my neck. "Are you alright?" she says in my ear. I nod and pat her awkwardly on the back.

She lets go of me and clears her throat. "Rat told you what's going on, right?"

"A little."

"Okay. Caleb, why don't you tell him."

Caleb gives Tris a little squeeze and stands up, shuffling his feet a little and wringing his hands. "I, uh, I decided to go back to Erudite, that it was the best way to help you. I knew it wasn't just Jeanine, and you would need someone on the inside."

"Who knew?" I interrupt, and Caleb licks his lips nervously.

"Just Cara." he says.

"And Leo," she adds, in a defiant tone.

"Jeanine knew Cara was planning to defect, and she had long suspected Linus was working against her. So she planted Fernando in Linus's clinic to keep an eye on them."

"How did you find this out?"

"One of her people told me; they think I'm part of their conspiracy."

"Well, are you?"

Caleb returns my look steadily. "No. And you can give me the serum next if you want to be sure." Well, so maybe he did inherit a little of the Prior backbone, after all. Good. I nod at him.

"Okay. Let's get started," I say, moving next to Fernando, where Lou is waiting with a syringe already in her hands.

"Don't do this," Fernando begs, looking at me, sweat running down his face. "You don't understand; they have my family. They're going to kill my wife and my little girl."

I look at Lou and nod, but I can hear some rustling and murmuring around the room.

"Lift his arm up for me," she says, voice flat, "he still doesn't have full muscle control."

I lift his arm up. "Please, please Tobias," he whispers. "They'll kill her. Like they were going to kill Tris. As soon as they know I told you anything, they'll kill her."

Lou injects the serum into his vein, and I wait for a minute for the drug to take effect.

"What's your name?"

"Fernando," he mumbles.

"Your full name."

"Fernando Banta."

"That's your real name?"

"Yes."

There's so much we need to know, but I have to start with his family, given the unease in the room. Because I also know what we're going to have to do with him, once we get the information we need. And everyone has to be at peace with it.

"Will Erudite really kill your wife and little girl if you talk to us, Fernando?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't have a wife or a little girl."

"Why did you tell us you did?"

"I thought you might feel sorry for me, let me recover, and then I might be able to get away."

"Are you really Divergent, Fernando?"

"No."

"Why did the test say you were?"

"I faked it. I ingested a chemical dye before you tested me."

"Why did you fake it?"

"Because I thought it would make you trust me."

"Then why didn't you do it sooner?"

"I had to wait until Linus was out of the way, because he would not have believed I was Divergent and could have exposed me."

"Out of the way? Did you kill Linus?"

"Yes. Those were my orders. But I wanted to, anyway." I hear Cara gasp. "He was dangerous; he was helping the Divergent and destroying our society. I had wanted to eliminate him for a long time."

"Who are you working for?"

"I don't know."

"Oh come on, Fernando. You were working for Jeanine."

"Yes, I was. But she's dead."

"Who took her place?"

"She was never really in charge. It's someone in Amity."

"Who?"

"I don't know. We never actually saw him. We communicated through the computer system and intermediaries. We just called him Chief."

"Was he from outside?"

"Yes. He was at the monitoring station and crossed the fence a long time ago. He said there was no one else left, that a terrible biological catastrophe and a war wiped out humanity, and we are the only ones left."

"Did you know about Bruce?"

"No. That troubled me."

"Why?"

"Because the Chief never mentioned that there had been someone else with him in the station. And that power plant was still standing and functional; if everything was destroyed, why is it still there?"

"Is there another spy with us here?"

Fernando presses his lips together, and the sweat pours down his face. I can feel the tension in the room, beating at my back.

"Answer me."

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Glory."

"Just her?"

"Yes," he says, but it's drawn out, as if he's suppressing something.

"Are they watching us another way?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"They were watching you through the computers at Dauntless. Now it's just the tracking devices Glory and I are carrying."

"They know where we are? How many are there?"

"They have a general idea, but the range is not great - they can tell within a mile. We were compartmentalized; I assume only the Chief really knows how many of us there are. I knew of ten in Erudite and ten in Dauntless. I know there are some in Factionless."

I turn to Rat and Cara, raising my voice to make sure everyone can hear me. "Anything else we need to know before we clear out of here?"

"Do they know the location of all the safe houses we picked?" Rat asks quickly.

"No," Fernando responds.

"They might," I cut in, "because they have Uriah. Go get Glory. We need to question her, too."

Rat nods grimly and sprints out of the room.

"Is Leo part of the Chief's group?" I ask Fernando.

"No," he says. "But we wanted you to think so."

"Why?"

"So you wouldn't trust him. The fewer allies you have, the easier it is for us to eliminate you."

"Did you know we were part of an experiment?"

"Yes. But it wasn't truly designed to produce Divergence. It was designed to be an ideal society, a safe haven as the world fell apart. The Chief told us that Amanda Ritter was a rebel leader before she joined and had her memory wiped; we weren't surprised that her progeny would be rebels, too. Guess it's in the DNA."

"Did they know about Linus's files?"

His face darkens noticeably. "No, they didn't. It's a bunch of lies."

"You don't sound sure."

"I'm not sure of anything, anymore, except that you all have to die or everyone else in this city will."

"Are you really so sure of that, Fernando?" Cara says softly. He just looks at her, unable to disguise the fear and guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispers to her.

"Sorry that you betrayed Linus?"

"No," he says. "I'm sorry for you. I love you."

Cara recoils, her face pale and her hands shaking.

"You...you what? You love me? But you killed my brother, my grandfather, and you were going to kill me?"

"I would never hurt you, Cara. I would not have let them kill you. You're not Divergent."

Cara gives him a grim smile. "Oh, my dear man, you are not the only one who knows how to fake a test. I am Divergent. My mother was one of the people Linus protected, and she fell in love with his only son, my father. I only wish it had been my brother instead of me who inherited the trait, because then he might sill be alive today."

Fernando is staring at her in horror.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" I ask Cara.

Before she can answer, Rat comes running into the room.

"She got away. She must have known what we were doing in here."

"Laila?" I ask, fear rising like bile in my throat.

"She's unconscious, but alive. Glory hit her in the back of the head with something."

Inez jumps up, but Lou puts a hand on her. "Jose and I will take care of Laila - you need to go find Glory."

"She's injured, so she can't have gotten too far," I call out, raising my voice. "Split in half and work in pairs - no one should go anywhere alone for now. Inez, you take half outside and fan out. Don't go too far, though. Better to let her get away than to lose anyone else. Tris, organize everyone else to search inside. Rat, Mary - start packing up. Nothing too heavy, beyond what we can fit in the carts. We're going to need to move fast."

I turn back to Fernando, but he's unconscious. "Cara, stay here with me so we're ready with more questions. Go, everyone."