AN: Punzie, you're the best!
Darius runs to the stairs at the back of the Pit and heads down through heavy metal doors, which stand unlocked and wide open. Of course, I know there are catacombs under Dauntless, but the computer intelligence group didn't have much reason to go down there, so I've only seen them a couple of times.
"They actually have him in a holding cell?" I grunt, surprised that they would have Uriah in such an obvious place.
"Yeah," Darius answers as we sprint down the stairs. "We knew Harrison had a couple of people down here, we just didn't know it was Uriah."
"You knew about Harrison?"
"Suspected," Darius answers. "Leo never liked him much. Put a tail on him," Darius is breathing hard, one hand pressed to his side. I had forgotten about his injuries.
"You okay?" I ask, because I'm not at all winded.
He shoots an annoyed look over his shoulder. "Fine," he says shortly, as we stop down the hall from the highest security holding cells. "We're walking into a standoff, Four," he whispers. "We need you to try to talk them out."
"I'm coming back," Darius shouts down the hall. "And I have someone with me - it's a friend of Shauna's."
"Throw your weapons down and put your hands in the air!" a female voice shouts back.
"You know I can't do that," Darius calls out, as we near the door. "But we'll just stand here where you can see us," he says, as we flank the open door.
It's dim inside the room, and it takes my eyes a minute to adjust. When they do, I don't like what I see. Uriah is tied to a chair behind a table in the middle of the room, and his head is slumped forward. I guess he's alive and just unconscious, or there wouldn't be anything to have a standoff about. An older woman has a gun pressed to his head, and I recognize her as Shauna's mother; Shauna is across the room back behind the table, balancing a shotgun on the arm of her wheelchair. There's a man face down on the floor behind her, and from the amount of blood pooling around him, I'm sure he's dead. There are two other people in the room - Leo, just inside the doorway, pointing a gun at Shauna's mother, and a woman I don't recognize, who is slumped against the wall near the door, pressing a trembling hand just below her shoulder, but still managing with her other hand to aim a gun at Shauna.
"Don't come in here," Shauna's mother warns, "or I will kill him."
"Do what she says," Leo warns. Darius nudges me sharply with his elbow.
"Shauna," I call out. "Shauna, what are you doing? That's Uriah - Uriah, not some stranger. He's like a brother to you. Why are you doing this to him?"
"Shut up!" her mother calls out furiously. Shauna won't even look at me, but I can see from here she's crying.
"You don't understand, Four," she starts.
"Don't say anything, Shauna," her mother says. "He's one of them - he'll just twist your words and trick you. You can't trust him."
"How about me?" comes a new voice from behind me. "Can you trust me?"
Shauna gasps as Zeke shoves me out of the way and walks into the room, holding his hands out to his sides to show he isn't armed.
"You get out of here, Zeke!" Shauna's mother screams. "This isn't your fight. You're not one of them. Get out of here right now!"
"Not my fight?" he says, voice low and dangerous. "That's my brother. My brother!" He's shouting now, but he pauses, and his voice drops back down. "You made this my fight, Bethany."
There's a long silence; we're on dangerous ground, here. There's no way she can win, and she knows it, so the question is whether she wants to survive more than she wants Uriah dead.
"My brother," Zeke repeats, in a level voice, taking a step further into the room. "You held him when he was a baby and were there for his naming day. That time he broke his arm, you were the one who carried him to the medic." He pauses, and I can see this is working. "You watched him grow up, Beth," he says softly, taking another step towards her. "This is Uriah we're talking about."
"You stay over there," she calls out, voice shaking. "Don't come any closer."
Zeke spreads his hands out wide. "Okay, okay. Come on, Beth. Is he hurt? Can I see if he's okay?" She shakes her head. "Bethany, come on. Look at him. It's Uriah, the guy who used to carry Hector on his shoulders. Pretty much the only person who can make Lynn laugh."
I can see right away that mentioning Lynn was a mistake. Bethany's expression hardens.
"Lynn is a traitor because of him, and people like him," she rasps, and at first, I have mental image of Lynn, lying on the ground and mortally wounded. But then I realize that was Tris's simulation. Last time I saw Lynn, she was helping train Divergent. "He is an abomination," Bethany screams, "and he can't be allowed to live."
Things get confusing from there. Someone starts firing, and Darius and I immediately stand to the sides of the doorway, pointing our weapons in. But we can't take a chance of taking a shot - I'm confident Leo will stay out of our sight lines, but we might hit Zeke or Uriah. In any case, it's over before we can decide to do anything.
"Leo?" Darius shouts.
"Good. I'm good. It's clear."
I relax a little, but I don't lower my weapon as we step cautiously in. Shauna's mother is sprawled on the floor, with a gunshot wound to the head and obviously dead. Zeke is crouched over Uriah, covering him with his own body - I can't tell yet if they're hurt. Leo is over with Shauna, who I can hear sobbing, so at least I know she's alive. The shotgun is on the ground in front of her.
Darius quickly kneels next to the door to check on the woman.
"Leo," his voice sounds loud in the now quiet room. "Sabrina's hurt pretty bad."
Leo looks up at us. "Four," he points at Shauna, "can you get this? Darius can't carry Sabrina by himself right now." I nod but hold up a finger, asking him to wait just a minute, and he nods back.
"Zeke," I say, approaching him warily. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah," Zeke answers shortly. "He'll live."
Leo comes up behind me and grasps my shoulder. "I'll be right back," he says softly. "She's not going to do anything," he jerks his chin at Shauna, "but keep an eye on her."
Shauna reaches out blindly for me when she sees me coming, much to my surprise. I let her cling to me, but I don't - I can't - reciprocate.
"I never thought it would go this far," she whimpers. "I didn't think they would hurt real people."
I stiffen. "Real people?" I say incredulously. "You mean, it was okay as long as they were killing people you didn't care about?" I give her a little shake. "Was Amar real enough for you, Shauna? Did you care about him? Because they killed Amar, you know."
That just makes her cry harder. "Lay off, Four!" Zeke yells at me. "She just shot her own mother, godammit. Leave her alone."
"You did?" I stare at her stupidly.
Shauna drops her head into her arms, dry heaving and moaning like a wounded animal, and I step back from her, not knowing what else to do. It's hard to believe this puking, shattered woman in front of me is the pretty, Dauntless-born girl who could outrun and outshoot almost everyone in my initiation group. She was so mad that Eric had beaten her - in and out of the ring - that she trained secretly with me every night after everyone else was asleep, utterly determined to stand up to him. She was the first girl I ever kissed, though I never did again once Zeke confessed he had a thing for her.
That was only three years ago, and that girl still has to be in there, somewhere. I step forward uncertainly and start to rub her back.
"Shauna..." I start. "Look, I don't like the choices you've made, but I am sorry. For you. For all of us."
That seems to help, or at least she stops moaning and leans her head against my chest, gasping and hiccuping.
"We'll get through it," I whisper to her. "We'll find a way."
A few hours later, Gordon gives Uriah a clean bill of health. More or less. He says things like "soft tissue damage" and "unevacuated chemical contaminants," but he clears Uriah to leave the clinic after a day of observation and recovery. Uriah is subdued, but also restless.
"How soon can we leave?" I hear him ask Tris at one point.
He tells us very little about what happened at Amity that we don't already know or suspect. He won't talk about Glory at all, other than to point out the obvious, which is that we shouldn't trust her.
Jeb is not as fortunate as Uriah, and we will have to leave him behind. The good news is that Gordon and the Dauntless medics were able to stop his internal bleeding and they do expect him to recover, but he will need at least three weeks of bedrest.
"He should be safe here now," Rat murmurs, when we're all together.
"You really think so?" Tris asks, and Rat quirks an eyebrow at her.
"I mean, I know we've rooted out the traitors here, but with Johanna still out there operating freely, no one is really safe, right?"
"What do you suggest?" Leo asks coolly. "An assault on Amity?"
"Yes," Tris says simply.
At first, everyone looks at her as though she's crazy, but pretty soon, no one is looking at her as though she's crazy.
"I think that's exactly what Johanna wants," I note. "Anything to stop us from leaving."
"I know," Tris says. "But this is important. We should be working with Dauntless and our allies in the other factions to take her down. We can't just abandon everyone here."
Tris has her arms crossed and her jaw set, and she's giving me a mutinous look. I grind my teeth.
"Going outside the wall was your idea," I point out to her coldly. Much to my irritation, she just shrugs.
"Now, now, lovebirds," Christina coos, "no need for a spat. It's getting late - let's all just sleep on it, and we can figure it out in the morning, okay?"
No one moves for a moment, and then Rat stands up and stretches his long frame. "That sounds like a good idea," he yawns. "You have rooms for us, Leo?"
The two of them head off together, and I suspect they will be up all night catching up and comparing notes. And figuring out who they want to get elected as the next Dauntless leader.
"Want to go with us to get a drink?" Darius asks, one arm around Christina. I raise an eyebrow at her, which she acknowledges with a toothy smile and a light flush.
"No, thanks," I mutter. "I'm a little tired."
"I'll go with you," Tris says brightly. "You don't mind, do you, Four?"
"No," I say shortly. "Of course not."
"I'm coming, too," Uriah declares.
"That's not a good idea," Gordon quickly cuts in. "You still have trace amounts of chemicals in your system. There's no telling how they would interact with alcohol. Not to mention that they're probably still affecting your behavior. You really shouldn't even be here."
Uriah crosses his arms and giggles. I'm sure they gave him truth serum, but sounds like they mixed in some peace serum, too. "Look, I'm lucky to be alive, and I just don't feel like being cooped up in some hospital bed all night. I promise not to drink, and I won't stay up late."
Gordon purses his lips. "Well, I suppose that sounds reasonable. In fact, I think I'll come with you." Uriah wilts slightly, but recovers quickly and pretends he doesn't mind. I'm liking Gordon better and better all the time.
I turn and walk away without even making eye contact with Tris. I don't understand what's going on with her and why she needs to show me up in front of everyone like that, and it seems to be happening a lot. But I'm honestly just too tired to care right now.
They haven't gotten around to reassigning my old room yet, so I not only take the first real shower I've had in weeks, I get to sleep in my own bed. Maybe it's the hot water, maybe it's the hard day, but for whatever reason, I fall asleep immediately and deeply, and I don't wake up until early the next morning.
The first thing I notice, squinting through the dawning gray light, is that Tris is not next to me. I get up and dress quickly and try to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut.
Leo and Rat are already up and in the control room.
"Have you seen Tris?" I ask them, trying not to sound worried or desperate.
"No," Rat frowns, "not since last night."
"When did you see her last?" Leo asks.
"Last night - she went out with Christina and Darius, right after you guys left. Did you hear them come in?"
Leo shakes his head. "I haven't been back to my room."
"We've been here," Rat yawns.
I have a strong sense of deja vu and then the dread grips me by the throat. Did she go to Amity? Could she still be that reckless and self-destructive?
"Let's go down and check Darius's room. Maybe she didn't want to wake you and she stayed there."
I nod distractedly, and Leo pats me on the back. "I'm sure she's fine," he reassures me.
"I'll stay here," Rat says cheerfully.
When we get downstairs, Leo takes Darius's spare key down from the door frame and quietly opens the door. It's dim inside, but I can tell there are several people sleeping in the living room. As my eyes adjust, I see that Gordon is on the couch, and Tris and Uriah are on the floor. Uriah is spooned up behind Tris with one arm over her waist and the other under her neck.
I stand there, staring at them for a moment, and then I back out of the room. Leo follows me silently.
Once we're out in the hall, he puts his hands on my shoulders and guides me into his rooms. Once the door closes behind him, he looks at me intently.
"Don't jump to any conclusions, Tobias," he says. "I'm sure it doesn't mean anything."
I start at his words and look up at him, mouth open, as the truth dawns on me. "She's getting back at me," I say, incredulous. "I kissed Laila, you know. It was no big deal, but I told her about it. She must be getting back at me."
"You kissed Laila?" Leo says in disbelief.
I wave my hand at him, feeling sick. "It's a long story, but it's fair to say I wasn't in my right mind. Anyway, I thought we worked it all out. I thought we were okay."
"Hey, look, I'm sure you are. Just give her the benefit of the doubt, okay? Don't give up on her the first time there's trouble."
"That's just it, Leo. It seems like there's always trouble."
Leo looks at me closely. "Well, I did notice that she kind of got up in your face last night. That been happening a lot?"
I nod miserably. "I'm trying really hard not to be too...you know..."
"Controlling?" He supplies with a mild smirk.
"Yeah, that," I say, irritated.
"Well," he says, scratching his head, "honestly, the two of you are the most independent and frankly ornery people I've ever met in my life.I'm not surprised there would be sparks flying - all kinds of sparks, I bet."
I give him a little half smile.
"Yeah, I figured," he chuckles. "I mean, you're either going to kill each other or conquer the world together."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand.
He spreads his hands out apologetically. "Look, you're young, and she's even younger, and you've both got some issues to get past. But you know, you've already changed more than you realize." I scowl at him. "Just stop holding on so tightly and trying so hard. Give her a little room, but at the same time don't let her walk all over you. Maybe she's scared, you know? She just lost everyone she cared about, right? She might be worried about losing you, too, and frankly, she probably should be."
I nod uncertainly.
"I'm sure it'll work out, Tobias," he says.
"What else have you been sure about lately?" I scoff.
He shakes his head "Give a guy a break, okay? I've done some terrible things, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that. But I haven't always been a total fuckup, either." He sighs. "You want to just go get some breakfast?"
We spend the next hour talking about Cara and then what to do next once Rat joins us. Tris, Christina, Darius, Uriah and Gordon don't show up until we're leaving the dining hall.
"Well," Leo says briskly. "I can't say I think it was the best time for you to be up all night partying, but I guess everyone has to blow off steam sometimes."
"We weren't partying," Tris says quietly.
"You'd better sit back down," Christina adds.
I sit as far away from Tris as I can get.
"Well?" Leo says, arms crossed.
"We went to Candor," Darius says.
"And Abnegation," Christina adds. "Gordon went to Erudite."
"And why," I finally say into the silence that follows their pronouncements, "did you feel the need to do that?"
"We gave Rowena, Marcus, and Oscar, the new Erudite chief, the lists of Johanna's agents and explained to them what was happening," Tris says, voice still subdued. "This is how we're going to fight her: everywhere, with everyone. It's the only way to win."
I spread my fingers out and count them slowly.
"There's just one problem with that," Rat finally says. "She controls the food supply."
Tris nods. "We thought of that. It's why we need to go to Amity now."
"You didn't talk to Evelyn," Rat remarks.
"No," Tris agrees. "We were hoping you and Tobias would go talk to her this morning before we make our move."
I get up and walk away.
I head up to the control room, knowing that I won't be able to escape for long from whoever they're sending to placate me. I'm relieved to see it's Rat and not Tris who soon steps into the room.
"You don't have to go with me," he offers. "I'm fine talking to her alone."
"It's okay," I say tonelessly.
He looks at me closely. "Are you sure about that?" I nod. "Then let's go and get this over with."
There's a strong breeze blowing, and I pull my coat tight against the chill. The new headquarters for Factionless - Freedom, I suppose - sits on the edge of the marsh, where it seems a cold wind is always blowing. But I can't blame them for choosing this building; the side facing the marsh is almost all glass, and it's all intact. Every room in the place is full of light. I guess the Factionless really are tired of hiding in the shadows.
We're stopped at the front doors, but the guards recognize Rat, of course. He embraces all of them, thumping them on the back, and sends one in to let Evelyn know we've come to see her. We spend a few moments catching up with them, and then there's another round of hugs, once the guard comes back to get us.
I loot at Rat, eyebrows raised. "Hugger," I mutter under my breath. He just smiles at me an puts an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me.
"Stop that," I growl, trying not to laugh. The guard scowls slightly at me.
It's bad enough that I have to talk to my mother, but even worse when we are ushered into what might as well be a throne room and I see who she has with her. It's fine that Lynn is there - she turns out to be the Dauntless and Divergent rep to Factionless now - but I dread having to tell her about her mother. Therese and Bobby are there, and that's fine, too, but she also has Edward and Peter, of all people. The guy is like a cockroach. Someday, we will all be dead, and he will still be scuttling around, looking for something to hide under. Or someone, more likely.
"That's quite a delegation, Evelyn," I point out.
"Since I have no idea why you are here, it seemed prudent to be prepared," she says coolly.
Rat is delighted to see Bobby and Therese, but he just ignores Peter and Edward.
"Never thought I'd see you two, you know, bury the hatchet," I say to them. They both scowl at me, and I can't help but smile. I guess Evelyn has her hands full.
"How's the leg, Edward? I understand Christina shot you. And poked you in the eye, maybe?" He actually growls at me.
"That's enough, Tobias," my mother snaps.
"Why are they here?" I ask, voice low. "A nutcase and a sociopath? That's the best you can do?"
"They are highly reliable bodyguards," she insists.
"Uh huh," I say, "as long as you don't turn your back on them."
"Shut up, Four," Peter shouts.
"You may both wait for me outside," Evelyn says, finally getting the message. With a lot of grumbling and angry looks at me, they comply.
"So, what's so damn important?" she demands. "And where have you been, anyway?"
"First things first," I say. "Let's talk about your team, there. How much do you actually know about them? I mean, did you ever think to ask Edward what happened to his eye? How he became Factionless?"
"He said it was a training accident," she responds, and when I snort, she lowers her eyebrows and frowns at me. "He was not the first maimed Dauntless initiate to come to us, Tobias."
"Four," I correct her automatically. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it an accident. He passed Peter in the ranks, so Peter stabbed him in the eye with a fork from the dining hall." Evelyn looks shocked. "I guess your bodyguard didn't confide that in you, did he? Peter probably also forgot to mention that when Tris started to move up in the ranks, he molested and beat her before he tried to throw her into the chasm," I can hear Lynn gasp across the room, and Evelyn's face darkens.
"Ask Peter to come in here," she barks at Therese.
Peter enters, shooting me a sullen look.
"Peter," Evelyn begins, "tell my son," she pauses on son, and I see Peter's eyes widen, so I guess he didn't know, "how you came to Freedom."
He fidgets. "Uh, well," he starts, clearing his throat, "after they took you and Tris prisoner, and, uh, killed Tris, I decided I didn't want anything to do with Erudite. So I escaped and came here." He tries to look innocent and concerned. "How is Tris? I hear she escaped, too, that she's actually okay."
I just watch him. Sweat is starting to bead up on his forehead, and he turns to Evelyn, trying but not entirely succeeding to keep the desperation out of his voice.
"Was there anything else you needed?"
"My son," again, she pauses for emphasis, "tells me you stabbed Edward in the eye because you were jealous of him. Is that true?" Peter gapes at her.
"It was an accident," he says quickly. "We were just wrestling, fighting like they wanted us to."
"With a fork?" She inquires politely. Peter says nothing.
"And he also insists that you assaulted his girlfriend," she says the last word with some distaste. "Is that true?"
"No," Peter responds calmly now, though the sweat has started to roll down his face. "I don't know what he's talking about. It wasn't me. It was that guy, Al."
"Are you saying," Evelyn interrupts him, "that my son is a liar?"
I'm not sure where this is going, and I guess Peter isn't either. He examines me and then Evelyn with a calculating look and then says the one thing he should not say:
"You've met her. You know what kind of person she is. She was asking for it."
Evelyn nods slightly to Therese, who immediately grabs Peter and disarms him, shackling his hands behind him.
"Get him out of my sight," Evelyn says coldly.
"Wait, I don't understand!" Peter cries. "You told me you didn't like her!"
Evelyn does not seem the least bit embarrassed to have this confidence betrayed, but she also doesn't look at me.
"You're an abuser," she says calmly. "That is unacceptable." She nods to Therese, who pushes Peter out the door with her gun in the small of his back.
"You'll pay for this, Four!" he shouts as she shoves him into the hallway.
"What will you do with him?" I say, keeping my voice neutral and my face blank.
"We will eliminate him. There is no room in Freedom for his kind, and he's too dangerous to let go."
"Freedom's not for everyone, huh?"
"Tobias," she says pointedly, "I assume you didn't come here just to mock me."
"We found it, Evelyn," Rat says softly. I'm surprised to see that he has not shed his Dauntless persona; he looks commanding and dangerous.
"My God," she breathes, and I look at her stunned face. "Who is he?"
What are they talking about?
"She," Rat corrects gently. "It's a she. It's Johanna Reyes."
Evelyn is shocked speechless.
"I told you," Rat says, though his tone is more gentle than reproving, "that it would be someone hiding in plain sight."
"All this time," Evelyn marvels, "and she was right in front of us."
"You knew?" I say, a little stunned, myself.
"We have long suspected someone was manipulating the situation here," she responds, "but we were never sure if that person - if she - were actually living amongst us. I can't believe it, Ralph." She shakes her head. "And Amity, of all places."
"It's brilliant, when you think about it," Rat reasons. "They would not be inclined to suspect anyone, and if any of their number did seem the suspicious type, she could either dose them with peace serum or make sure they met with some kind of accident. That does happen out in the fields sometimes, so no one would think much of it."
Evelyn is nodding thoughtfully.
"You have a few of her agents here, other than the ones we suspected."
"I'm not surprised," Evelyn notes. "Give the names to Therese when she comes back and she'll take care of it."
"How did you know?" I finally ask.
"I think we'd better sit down," Evelyn says crisply. "It's a long story."
"We don't have time," I say.
"Make time," she retorts sharply. "You need to hear this." I sit down and wait, trying to keep still.
"Ten years ago," Evelyn starts, "Abnegation leadership received a message from the outside. We had a special emergency communication channel that had been established when our grandparents were all sent here. It had never been activated before." She pauses and looks at me closely. "We were warned that something had happened in their world, and we were about to be cut off - the experiment was being shut down. They told us that they had taken steps to protect us and hide us, and that we should safeguard the Divergent at all costs."
She looks down at her hands now.
"We knew that many Divergent were in Factionless, and agreed that we would try to funnel more there, where we could keep them safe. We needed someone to go and keep an eye on the situation." Now she looks at me, straight into my eyes.
"I volunteered," she says. "So did Ralph."
I am stunned. And my shock soon turns to anger, and it gets away from me. "You didn't leave to escape him?" I ask, keeping my voice even. "You volunteered to go on a mission?"
"I volunteered so I could escape him," she corrects me.
"And you just went off on a mission and left me there? Just like that?"
She looks down again. "I thought you would be safe," she says. "I knew you were Divergent, and I thought he wouldn't hurt you. That you would be sent to Factionless, as we agreed."
She's looking at me again, but there are no tears. No expression at all.
"I came back, demanding that he send you to me, but he refused. He refused every time. And the Abnegation leaders wouldn't do anything about it. They said the mission was too important, that they would keep an eye on you."
I snort and cross my arms. "Well, they didn't."
"I regret any sadness or pain you endured, Tobias. But you have grown to be a strong man," she says cautiously.
"Is that what you tell yourself?" I ask her quietly. "There's something I want you to see." I take off my shirt and turn my back to her.
"Take a good look, mother," I spit the word out like it's an insult. "Even a back full of tattoos can't hide the six years of torture I endured after you left." I want to tell her more, about being locked in the closet and the basement. About the humiliation and the harsh words. But a cool draft blows on my bare skin, and I suddenly feel self conscious. There is no point to this. It might make her feel worse, but it will not make me feel better.
I put my shirt back on and without facing her, I ask, "Did the Priors know all of this?"
"Of course," she says, her voice thin and high, as though she might crack and shatter at any second. She clears her throat, and I can hear her stand up, too. She starts to pace around the room. "They were an important part of the underground network that moved Divergent into Factionless and kept us supplied."
"So what went wrong?"
"Someone betrayed us," Rat interjects smoothly. "Someone told Jeanine about the Amanda Ritter file and what we were doing."
I close my eyes. "Marcus," I say flatly.
"I'm afraid so," Rat answers. "For what it's worth, we all believed him when he said he was hoping to recruit her to the cause; they had been childhood friends."
"Rather more than friends," Evelyn harrumphs. I did not need to know that, I think.
"And that's when the real trouble started," comes a voice from across the room. It's Bobby. I had forgotten he was here. "We had been gathering Divergent for years and keeping them safe, but then Jeanine, well, Johanna, I guess, began to hunt them down. Every move we made, they countered."
"They thought they did," Rat said mildly.
"We saved a lot of people," Bobby acknowledged.
"Well, then, where are they?" I demand.
"They're around," Bobby says casually.
"What?"
"We have them in a safe place," Evelyn reassures me.
"You don't keep any records on computers, do you?" I ask, a trill of fear shooting up my sternum.
"No," Evelyn answers. "The emergency communication told us not to."
"Did they tell you anything else? Who they are, for example?"
No one answers me right away.
"We have a location and a passcode," Evelyn finally admits. "But nothing more than that, I'm afraid."
I swing around and glare at Rat. "You knew? And you didn't tell us?"
"Of course, I was going to, Tobias," Rat says dismissively. "It just wasn't time, yet. The fewer people who knew, the better, until they needed to know. I almost told you when you went to the monitoring station, but Inez was there, just in case."
"She knows?" I say, stunned.
"Yes," Rat answers.
"They told us to guard the information carefully," Bobby interrupts. "And to find them when we had enough Divergent, but that we would be unable to reach anyone until then."
"So, how many do we have?"
"About 1,000," Bobby says.
"Wh..What?" I stutter. "But that's...that's..."
"Around one third of the remaining population," Evelyn confirms.
"Where are they?"
"Most are in Factionless," Bobby says. "When the other Factions were accusing Abnegation of diverting too much food, they were not wrong. But there are others hiding in the Factions, with the exception of Dauntless, of course." Bobby glances at me. "It was the one place where a Divergent would generally be discovered," he explains, "because of the initiation test."
"You and Tris caught us by surprise," Rat notes, "we didn't expect you to choose Dauntless."
"And they got Amar before he could send you to us," Evelyn says softly.
"He was part of your network?" Evelyn nods, and I guess I am not really surprised, but it brings an entirely new wave of grief over me, as I realize how much I didn't know about him.
"He was watching for Divergent initiates. We had no one inside anymore, once they killed him. No one in the leadership or initiate training," Bobby adds.
"So, look," Rat says crisply, standing up. "They can take care of Johanna, with Leo's help. I see no reason for you to be a part of that fight. It's time for us to go find the people behind this mess. I personally think they'll have no idea what to do with us, but others are more optimistic." He shrugs. "In any case, we need to know."
"I want to hear what Johanna knows before we go out there," I say grimly. "We're pretty certain she was part of the experiment staff, working at the monitoring stations."
They all look at me eagerly, leaning forward.
"What makes you think that?" Evelyn exclaims.
"We were able to get into the monitoring station. Someone had mostly cleaned out the place, but must have been in a hurry. We found some hidden records - we have someone looking at them now. They're in hiding," I add. "We've had several attacks and lost a few people."
"Then let's get going," Bobby says briskly. "We have a battle to plan. Okay with you if Edward comes along? He's not like Peter, you know."
I shrug and start to head for the door.
"Tobias," Evelyn says softly, and I know she wants to talk to me alone before we go. It's possibly the last thing I want to do right now.
"Yes," I answer through gritted teeth, as Bobby and Rat move hastily to get out of the room.
She waits for them to leave, but does not attempt to approach any closer.
"I realize there is nothing I can say to make it better, but I just wanted you to know that...that I am sorry. I guess that won't mean much to you, but if I could undo it, I would."
"Would you?" I ask, giving her no quarter. "Knowing what you know now, you wouldn't have made the same choice?"
She doesn't say anything at all.
"Yeah," I finally say, "I thought so." We stand there in silence for a moment, and then I take in a deep breath and make a decision.
"Look, Evelyn," I start, and she watches me, carefully schooling her features, "there's nothing you can do to fix it. I know why you left, and I can't say I blame you - I left as soon as I could, too. I guess what I really don't understand is why you stayed."
She starts to talk, and I hold up a hand. "That wasn't a question. I don't want to know." I sigh and rub my forehead, closing my eyes. "There was a time, after I thought you died, that I would fall asleep at night promising God I would do anything, give anything, if I could have you back. Even if it was only for a day." I pause and look at her. "And here you are."
Even Evelyn can't quite stop the look of hope that invades her face.
"I'm not going to be able to forgive and forget, that's just not going to happen. But we can move on, okay?"
"Okay," she breathes. "Okay."
We walk together toward the door.
"There is something you can do for me, mother," I say, drawing out the unfamiliar word. "You can be nicer to my girlfriend."
She shoots me an amused look and shakes her head. "That's an awfully steep price to pay, darling," she says in a mock syrupy voice.
I raise my eyebrows to show I'm not actually kidding.
"No promises," she huffs, "I'll try. But I don't think she's good for you."
"Be careful what you wish for," I mutter under myself.
