Chapter Twenty: Choices

Knowing we were just a few minutes from Erudite, I took a series of slow deep breaths, my hands slick with sweat. Gripping the gun tighter, I didn't want to drop it, making sure my finger wasn't on the trigger. Leave it to me to be the one to freak out, pull the trigger, and announce out arrival before it was time. The more breaths I took, I could hear the shudder in them, feeling unwanted shaking start to come over me. I wasn't afraid. I didn't want to be afraid. But I was. I was terrified. I should be here. I should have come. Eric was right. Part of bravery is admitting when you can't do something. The closer we got the more I realized that I didn't want to be here. I couldn't do this.

"I can do this." I whispered to myself, attempting to sound convincing but it wasn't working very well. "I can do this."

"Hey." Eric said making me jump.

"What?" I asked, my eyes darting around me.

"You gotta calm down. If you don't, mistakes will be made and you already promised me that you wouldn't do anything stupid." He frowned down at me.

Sighing, I nodded, "Easier said than done."

He moved closer to me, his arm touching mine, "Pen, look at me." He said softly. Meeting his eyes, I took a deep breath. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're going to be okay."

"I know." I replied more air than sound, fighting the emotion that wanted to take hold of me. "Promise me that you'll be okay too."

He smirked, making my stomach flutter with happiness versus anxiousness, "I promise. You're stuck with me for life." Laughing lightly, I nodded, gripping his jacket, and pulled him down to me. His lips met mine before he pressed a kiss against my forehead. "Time to focus, baby."

"Okay." I nodded.

Then Four was next to me as well, giving me a curt nod. Smiling, I nodded back at him, looking ahead as we closed in on Erudite. The sun was down plenty to hide us amongst those entering the building. I was pretty sure the three of us, as well as Tori and Zeke, were going to be recognized on the spot. It made me wonder why we were at the head of the group. Only it appeared that Tori had the same thought, a group of Dauntless stepping in front of us, ready for what was to him.

"Eric, as soon as we make it through the lobby –" She started.

"We split up. Just remember the route and get it done." He replied with a hard tone.

"I will." Tori nodded. Then her eyes fell upon me. I attempted to avoid looking at her, but I could feel her eyes boring into me. "You're gonna keep her safe, right?" She asked with a hushed tone but wasn't low enough for me to not hear her.

"Of course." He told her sternly. "Nothing is going to happen to her."

"Can she even shoot?" She asked even lower.

My head jerked to her and all my fear was being replaced with anger and annoyance. "I'm standing right here." I told her before swinging my rifle over my shoulder, grabbing my handgun at the same time, swinging it up and pointing it at her head. Her eyes looked to my hand, seeing the steadiness of it. "Do not think that I'll let what happened to me cloud my judgement or make me unable to do what I must. I am as dedicated to this mission as you or anyone else. Don't ever presume differently."

She smiled and nodded, "Alright then."

Lowering my gun, she stepped away from me. It was then that I noticed the guns aimed at me before they were lowered and they continued on their way. Taking a steadying breath, I looked up at Eric who was now standing in front of me.

"I'm sorry." I told him quickly.

He just smiled, bringing his hand up to my face, "Don't be."

Taking a deep breath, I pressed my forehead against his chest. "I don't know if I can do this." I whispered to him.

"It's a little late for that." He replied.

I could hear the smirk in his voice. I knew he was saying it to lighten the mood, but all it managed to do was annoy me. "I know." I told him, meeting his eyes. "But I went through hell in there. You died in there, Eric. I don't know if I can face that. Again."

"It's a little late for that too." He stated.

"Eric." I frowned at him.

"Do you want to go back?" He asked. "Do you want to tuck tail and just runaway?"

I glared up at him, "That's not what I'm saying."

"Then what are you saying, Pen? You want to leave all those Divergent in their cells, where they're more than likely going to die?"

"Stop it." I shot at him. "The only reason I'm going at all is for them. It's not about me. I –" Only then I realized what he was doing. "Not nice."

"Less afraid?" He smirked at me.

For a moment I just looked at him. "Asshole."

He laughed and pulled me into him, kissing me passionately. "But you love me anyway."

Melting against him, I sighed, looking up at him, "More than anything."

He kissed me again, pressing me tightly against him. "I love you, Pen. We're nearly there. I need you to have your head in the game." He told me with worry.

"My head is officially in the game." I smirked up at him. "The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get out of here and I can ravage you like I never have before."

He laughed again, bringing his lips to mine but didn't kiss me. "I think you have that backwards." Attempting to kiss him, he pulled just far enough away to stop me. Practically attacking his face with mine, I gripped his bottom lip between my teeth. He just chuckled and kissed me again.

Hearing the clearing of a throat, we looked at Four who was smirking at us. "Sorry." I told him moving to his side.

"Let's get this over with. I do not want to be there when you two decide you can't keep your hands off of each other anymore." He replied as we started to move to the front of the group. They'd easily gone a block while we were preoccupied with each other.

"You can't tell me that you wouldn't want to do the same thing with Tris if she were here." I smirked at him.

"That's the difference between our relationships. Tris and I have kept ourselves pretty private. You and Eric are officially very much out in the open." He smiled at me.

"Something Jeanine will exploit." Eric frowned. "You need to be careful." He said looking at me.

"Fine. No more PDA. But I'm never leaving your side. Whatever happens to one of us happens to both of us." I stated.

Four sighed and gently gripped my wrist for a moment. "That's what I'm afraid of, Pen." Then he looked to Eric. "You both need to be careful. I refuse to have anything happen to either of you."

Smiling, I swiftly gripped his far shoulder, pulling him to me, and placed a kiss against his cheek. "Thank you." I told him. "And nothing is going to happen. All of us have already gone through more than we should. I'm done with drama and fighting. As soon as we do this I'm looking for a nice, normal life back home."

"Dauntless?" Four asked.

"That's home."

"What if the factions completely fall apart? Then where would home be?"

"With Eric." I smiled.

He just smiled and shook his head. Before he could say anything else, Erudite headquarters came into view. "It's time." He told me, his tone now somber.

In the next moment Eric had my hand, his grip almost painful. Looking up at him, his jaw was clenched and he was taking deep slow breaths. He had just told me how it was too late to go back. We had a mission and we had to see it done. Only now I could see the doubt, almost feel it, making me now worry for him.

Pulling from his grip, I wrapped my arm around his waist, "Hey, we don't have time for doubt." I told him. He met my eyes and nodded, though his brows were still heavily creased. "I love you, Eric. Everything is going to be fine. I promised I wouldn't do anything stupid. So have you. So let's get this thing done."

"Eric." Tori said stopping and looking back at us.

She said his name again before he turned his head and looked at her, "I'm second-guessing this mission."

"Too bad." She smiled at him. "We're here and it's time. Pen, you okay?"

"I'm good." I nodded at her, taking Eric's hand, meeting his eyes. "We are good."

He held my eyes for a long moment before nodding, looking at Tori, "Yeah, we're good."

"Then you're up." Tori nodded at him.

He met my eyes again, kissing me hard, whispering into my ear, "I love you."

"I love you." I whispered back.

For a moment he rested his forehead against mine. Hearing him take a deep breath, he leaned away from me, rolling his shoulders as a determined look crossed his face. We had no idea what to expect once we entered. Either way we were going together. Taking a deep breath, I nodded, falling instep next to Eric as he moved forward. He spoke with the few who were going to be sent to disable the elevators. Listening to his authoritative voice made me smile at him. His expression was focused and his words were sure. He had given us everything we needed to succeed. Seeing the few run off, we gave them five minutes before we moved forward. Keeping to the shadows, we watched anxiously as Dauntless traitors walked by us. We only needed a few more minutes before we'd be on the move. There were a few soldiers making their way back inside while the sun set. Eric motioned us all forward, following the stragglers toward the building. We followed them through the front doors before opening fire on them.

Once inside, it seemed as if they were expecting us. Staying next to Eric, we shot anyone in our path. Ducking as shots flew past us from behind, I spun, pressing my back against Eric's, shooting them as they came up behind us. As soon as the lobby was cleared, Eric nodded at Tori, Four, and Evelyn, breaking apart into four groups. Before Four was out of sight, he gripped my arm, and met my eyes.

"I know." I nodded at him. He nodded in return before rushing off, his group following him. "Stay safe." I said as I watched him go.

Then Eric said my name, making me refocus, rushing to his side as we moved on. It seemed as if traitors were lurking around every corner. Some of them we knew and yet we fired on all that appeared in front of us. We gave those who hesitated the option to surrender, but none of them did. We shot every last one of them. I was right there, shooting and killing and all the while I felt like I was on fire. These people were the reason I nearly lost Eric. These people were the reason that the Abnegation died. These people were the reason I was nearly executed. These people were the reason that the Divergent were afraid. I was done being afraid. I was done with this place. I was just…done.

Rounding a corner, we shot three Dauntless before another appeared. A pretty blond stood before us, her gun lowered and a look of shock on her face. "Eric?"

Looking up at him, he clearly knew who she was.

"I thought you were dead." She grinned at him.

"I'm not." He replied.

Then she looked at me, her brows furrowing as she looked back at Eric, "What are you doing?"

"What I always planned on doing." He stated.

Her eyes moved to me again. Something seemed to click in her brain. "Isn't she the one Jeanine had?"

"She doesn't have me anymore." I shot at her.

Then her gun was raised. Eric's was raised just as quickly. "Don't." He told her.

"Her kind is the reason that this is happening." The blonde told him. "They all need to die."

In the next second, a shot rang, pain in my arm, making me spin and fall onto my stomach. Another shot went off and the woman screamed. Getting to my hands and knees, I put one hand over the wound as I turned to see Eric stepping up to her. She was clutching her stomach as she asked him why. Only then, without hesitation and with a blank expression, he shot her in the head. It was cold. It was merciless. It was how I had always perceived him to be. Only then I knew him. I knew who he was. This part of him had always been there. It had just been a long time since I'd seen it. Then he looked at me, the expression gone from his face, worry replacing it as he rushed to me.

"I'm fine." I told him as I got to my feet. His fingers brushed just under the graze wound, his fingers smearing the blood. His expression was pained and his mind was moving a mile a minute. "Eric." I said making him meet my eyes. Smiling, I put my hand against his face, "I'm fine." Then shots went off and we watched traitors fall to the ground.

"We need to keep moving." He nodded at me.

I nodded back, "Focus, baby."

He nodded and took a deep breath. Starting to move again, we'd barely gone a few yards when we were interrupted again. Only this time it was from behind us. And this one was for me.

"Pen?" A soldier called. Eric locked eyes with me as we kept on moving. "Pen!"

"Nathan." I said softly to Eric as we kept moving.

There was commotion and we turned to see him attempting to push through, two of our people grabbing and holding him. "Wait, please." He pleaded.

For a moment I just looked at him. Then anger started to boil and I rushed to him. Grabbing his arm, I slammed him against the wall. "Shut up." I told him. Four soldiers appeared from around the corner. Raising my gun, several shots rang and they all fell to the floor. Then my gun was underneath Nathan's chin. "If you draw more attention to us then I will kill you myself."

"Please." He told me softly.

"What do you want me to do, Nathan? We're here to kill everyone. I should kill you right now."

"I can help you." He told me.

"I don't need your help." I shot at him with disdain. "I needed it when she was torturing me and you did nothing. Now you want me to help you? You are out of your fucking mind."

"Pen." Eric said with an anxious tone.

"I can get a key to the cells. I can help you get your people out of here." Nathan told me.

"Pen!" Eric yelled.

"Once you get far enough she will send soldiers to kill them." Nathan stated.

"Pen." Eric said stepping toward me.

I met his eyes before looking back at Nathan, "She needs them. Why would she kill them?"

"She wants them dead. She'd rather execute them in their cells then let them escape. She'll just find more and keep going."

"She won't live through the day." I shot at him, pressing the gun deeper into his skin.

"It doesn't matter." Nathan stated. "Her soldiers are loyal to her. Once the order is given, they'll see it done. Even more so if she's killed. She has more power than you realize."

"Pen." Eric repeated, his hand gripping my arm.

Staring at Nathan, I thought of the girl I had seen, knowing that there were a least a dozen innocent people in those cells. Probably more. Finally meeting Eric's eyes, I forced a determined expression, even though I was terrified to leave his side. "Get it done."

"Pen, I'm not going without you." He told me as his grip tightened.

"You're wasting time." I replied. "This isn't me going against you. This isn't me trying to hurt you. And god knows I don't want to leave you. But I can't let them all die because of us."

"We have a plan." He stated.

"And now we need to improvise." I told him. The others were calling his name. I glanced at them, licking my lips as I shifted. "Eric, you need to get to the control room. They need you. I'll find you. Don't worry about me."

He stared at me for a long moment, his jaw tight. One of our soldiers grabbing his shoulder. Eric looked at him before he met my eyes again, finally nodding, "Get it done."

Smiling, I nodded at him, gripping Nathan's collar and pulled him back down the hall. He broke into a run with me right behind him. Taking turn after turn after turn, I had no idea where he was going. My stomach dropped and I realized that I may have just killed myself. I didn't know if he was telling the truth and now I was following him.

"Nathan." I said with a hard tone.

"I'm not tricking you, Pen." He told me over his shoulder. We slowed when we were outside some sort of common room. He put his arm across me, pushing me against the wall. "Wait here." He told me and slipped inside.

Looking down either end of the hall. Before there was commotion and sound. Here there was nothing. I had assumed the alarms had already been sounded and that the traitors would be flooding the halls. But there was nothing. There was even laughter inside the room. They were oblivious to what was going on around them. It didn't make sense. It didn't feel right. Something had was going to happen. This was going too well.

Panic was starting to fill me, only then gunfire sounded in the room next to me. Steeling myself, I rushed into the room, watching as Nathan shot two Dauntless traitors. One was already on the ground while the last was getting up, their gun aimed at him. Quickly shooting them, Nathan quickly spun toward me, relaxing when he saw that it was me.

"You got it?" I asked him. He nodded, holding up a key before tossing it to me. "Let's go."

Darting out of the room, gunfire was now starting to sound. It was the sounds I'd been waiting for. I only hoped that it meant the control room had been reached and the time had come to eradicate. For a moment fear filled me, worried for Eric, as well as for the rest of my family. I had purposefully sent Henry with Evelyn and Claude with Tori and Terra with Four. Together we were distracted. Apart, we wound have more focus. In this moment it wasn't helping.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on the Divergent we were rushing to save. Knowing that they couldn't save themselves. Staying close to Nathan, the fighting was starting to spill into the halls. More and more soldiers appeared. Keeping my gun up, I shot any blue banded Dauntless, Nathan doing the same, as we kept moving forward. At this point I knew that there was only one thing that he was concerned with. And she was in one of the cells we were rushing toward.

I knew what he was feeling. I had been there before. It empowered both of us to keep shooting and to keep moving. Only it wasn't just soldiers anymore. It was Erudite members. Many were simply running for cover, only others attempted to fight back, giving us no option other than to take them down as well. But I spared as many as I had shot. If they cowered and surrendered, they were left alive. Though I found it easier to shoot them than I thought it would be. I actually took a small level of pleasure in it. They had nearly taken everything from me. They would have killed me and now it was either us or them. I sure as hell wasn't going to let it be me. Not this time.

"Here." Nathan said and pointed toward an upcoming hall.

We were at the cells. Only there were gunshots and screaming. We looked at each other before rushing forward. He had been right about Jeanine's orders. Two Dauntless soldiers with blue banded arms were opening and shooting whoever was inside. Rushing toward the closest one, Nathan went for the other. I went to make a shot only to have him avoid it, his fist coming in contact with my abdomen, momentarily lifting me off the ground. Slamming my arm into the crook of the arm that held me, he jerked forward. Swiftly grabbing his head, I snapped his neck, pushing him away from me. Rushing to the nearest cell, I fumbled with the keys, finally getting it open.

"You came back."

It was the same girl I saw when I came for Eric.

Smiling, I nodded, "I told you I would."

In the next second I was being grabbed, a shot ringing, watching as it hit the girl in the neck. Her body arched as blood spurted from her mouth and the wound in her neck. It felt like slow motion as she fell backward. Yelling, I turned my gun and shot the soldier who had shot her. It would have been me. Rushing into the cell, I fell to my knees, putting my hand over the wound as she coughed and chocked on her own blood.

"It's okay. It's okay." I told her as I forced a smile. She met my eyes, panic and fear in them. "I'm sorry." I told her as emotion started to take over. "I'm so sorry."

Then she stilled.

"Pen." Nathan said gently.

Looking up at him, I nodded, getting to me feet. I couldn't help but look at the bodies that were partially in and out of cells. The floor turning red from all the spilt blood. This was war. I understood now.

Nathan was already moving down the hall, looking inside the cells till he stopped in front of one, a broad smile moving across his face. Starting to ricochet from side to side, I unlocked every cell I could find. Getting to where he was, I opened it to see the light brunette that he'd told me about. Kendra. Looking at him, he moved around me, opening his arms as she launched herself into them. The commotion around us was starting to get louder. We were running out of time. I didn't know what to say to those I'd already set free, sticking to just telling them to keep their heads down and to run.

"Is there any more?!" I yelled to Nathan without looking at him.

A shot rang and a woman screamed.

Spinning around, I watched Nathan shoot the soldier before he stumbled backward, slumping against the wall.

"Nathan!" Kendra screamed.

Rushing to him, I pulled his jacket away from his body, seeing the blue of his shirt darkening with blood. Swiftly pulling it up, I took in the wound in his left side.

"Are you in any pain?" I asked him.

"No." He replied, a glistening entering his eyes. He smiled, gripping my wrist, gently rubbing it with his thumb. "It's okay. I deserve it."

"Nathan." Kendra sobbed gripping his head and pressing her forehead against the side of his. "Please."

"Nate…" I said softly.

Then Kendra was in my face, "Do something!"

Thinking as fast as I could, there was only one thing I could think of that we could do. Looking at Kendra, I knew what she was feeling. I knew exactly what was going through her mind. The fear. The agony. I hated him for what he had done. He should have helped me. If he had maybe I could have helped him and avoided what was happening. But I understood why he did it. I understood it and I couldn't watch her go through it. Not if there was something I could do to stop it.

"Help me get him up." I told her. Still sobbing, she didn't hesitate to help me hoist him to his feet. "Nathan, where is the med area?" He lifted his hand slowly and pointed.

Following his direction, Kendra had to shoulder Nathan's weight as I cleared our path. In all the chaos and commotion and with Nathan already losing too much blood, we took a few wrong turns, losing us precious minutes. When we finally found it, I helped Kendra get him onto a table. He was already starting to lose consciousness. Rushing to the case with the heavy duty drugs, I found it locked. Without hesitating, I punched through the glass. I felt the glass go into my hand, shaking as I fumbled until I'd found the morphine. Once in was in my hand, I opened up every drawer until I found a syringe. Holding up the bottle, I started to fill it, my own blood running down my hand and arm as I finished. Finding a vein, I gave him as high a bolus as I thought he could handle. Looking around the room, I tried to recognize anything that would be useful right now. I needed to know what was going on inside. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. Maybe he wasn't in pain because it didn't hit anything important. Either way, it was too many maybe's to simply start either bandaging him up or trying to go inside.

My eyes finally fell upon something I was somewhat familiar with. The only reason I knew anything was because of the Dauntless med area. If I had never worked there then all of this would have been foreign to me. Pulling the portable ultrasound, I swiftly gelled his skin, the blue turning purple as it mixed with his blood. I didn't know what I was doing and I couldn't tell what the hell I was looking at.

"This isn't working!" I yelled, tossing the machine away from me.

"Pen." Kendra said as she held tight to his hand.

Looking at her, I darted to the drawers nearest me, digging through them and throwing them open as fast as possible until I found what I was looking for. Grabbing as many instruments as I could, I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I needed to try. Tossing everything onto a floating tray, I pulled it to Nathan's side, picking up a scalpel. Squirting betadine onto his skin, he groaned with pain. If he thought the betadine hurt, he was in for a rude awakening. This was the biggest mistake I had ever made. I shouldn't be doing this. This was so not okay. I should simply be telling Kendra to say goodbye, sitting with her until he died. But I didn't listen to reason.

"Nathan, you're Dauntless." I reminded him. "I need to you hold as still as possible." Gripping the giant light attached to the ceiling, I positioned it over his side. "We don't have time for anything to kick in. If we're doing this we're doing this now. And it's going to hurt like hell."

He held my eyes for a long moment before he looked at Kendra. "Do it, Pen." He told me. "I'm not ready to die."

Taking a deep breath, I made the first cut.

This was a mistake.

I needed to stop.

I shouldn't be doing this.

The thoughts kept moving through my head over and over again. I wasn't a doctor. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I had a general idea of what I was looking for but actually succeeding in helping him? I didn't think it was possible. I was not the person who should be doing this. But he would die if I didn't try. He would probably die anyway. There was no winning scenario here. In the end I realized that all I was doing was buying him a little more time to say goodbye.

He had heavy internal bleeding. I found it relatively obvious where it was coming from. There was a clear splenic laceration. The bullet went straight through it. Using forceps, I managed to stop the bleeding for now. In the end I made that my only goal, to simply attempt to stop all the active bleeding. Before long there were half a dozen forceps attempting to keep his blood in his body. As soon as the bleeding had lessened, I started to ligate as many as possible. After the first few, he seemed to start to stabilize. But he had lost a lot of blood. Leaving him momentarily, I found blood bags in a cooler, grabbing O since I knew it was universal. Despite everything, I had managed to keep steady hands, putting an IV into his arm, and an IV of saline into the other.

All the while Kendra was talking to him. He had somehow managed to remain conscious, and they were telling each other everything they needed to know. I still clung to the hope that I might be able to save him, but the longer I worked the more I realized that even if I managed to close the damage, he'd lost too much blood and the shock would take him. But he'd lasted longer than he would have in the hallway.

Still working on him, they had been repeating 'I love you' over and over again, until he stopped midsentence. Freezing, my eyes darted to his face. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started to convulse. Swiftly packing the wound, I took his head, ready to wait it out. The seconds ticked by, Kendra was sobbing louder than ever, while I just stared at him, praying that his heart could handle the strain.

But it couldn't.

When he stopped convulsing, his heart stopped as well. Attempting to keep him alive, I had to force myself to drown out Kendra's screaming from behind me. Minutes passed and nothing happened. He was gone. At least I'd tried. Looking at Kendra, she threw herself over Nathan's body, sobbing into him. Going to the sink, I washed the blood from my skin. Turning back to her, she looked like she was pulling herself together.

"Kendra, I am so sorry." I told her.

She met my eyes and smiled at me. "You tried, Pen. I appreciate that."

Smiling, I nodded at her. Only in the next second she had his gun at her temple. I attempted to yell 'wait' but the word was only half out when she pulled the trigger. The sound made my ears momentarily ring, and watched her fall to the side, hearing her blood hit the floor just before her body. For a moment I stood there, shocked about what had just happened. Before it could wear off, there was an explosion and I was thrown backward. My back hit the counter, my arm sliding across the counter, glass containers shattering with the force, cutting into my skin before I crashed to the floor. Staggering to my hands and knees, fire started to spread through the room.

Getting to my feet, I put my arm across my face, looking at the damage. Knowing that I needed to move, I started for the door, stopping just long enough to give Nathan and Kendra one last look. Moving to the hallway, it found it on fire. Looking either direction, all I could see was fire. I hadn't paid a lot of attention in getting here and I wasn't sure which direction would lead me where I needed to go. Picking the direction with less fire engulfing it, I hoped that it would lead me toward the control room closest to me. Coughing, my lungs tried to expel the smoke I was inhaling, climbing over rubble to get as far away from here as possible. I needed to find Eric. I needed him. That had officially become all that mattered to me. Falling against the wall, I stumbled forward, falling around a corner.

Ahead of me was a dead soldier, their gun lying near their hand. Stumbling forward, I picked it up, forcing myself onto my feet. I had to keep moving. Eventually I would run into someone I knew. The further I got from the fire, the clearer my lungs became, despite the hacking that seemed to hit me every few feet. Rounding a corner, I came face to face with an Erudite soldier. She quickly surrendered to me, falling to her knees. Nodding, I knocked her out before moving on. And it wasn't just her. Every Erudite I came across surrendered to me. The Dauntless traitors were the opposite, still attempting to kill me. None succeeded.

Relief filled me when I came across the control room. Rushing forward, I slid into the room only to find it empty. Momentarily falling to my knees, I felt the weight of everything on my shoulders. Looking at the screens, most were broken but there were still a few that were functioning. Getting to my feet, I moved to them, seeing a group of people on their knees in the lobby. They were taking prisoners. Rushing from the room, I ran down the halls, making my way toward them. Now that I knew where they were, I felt like I was controlling myself pretty well, only then Eric appeared around the corner. His relief was obvious and tears immediately filled my eyes. Meaning to run to him, I made it only a few steps before I fell to my knees, my gun clattering to the floor.

"Pen!" He yelled rushing forward and sliding onto his knees in front of me.

Gripping him as he took me in his arms, I sobbed into him. He held me tightly against him, his lips against my ear as he whispered to me comfortingly. Shifting, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my face into it.

"Baby." He whispered.

Swiftly letting him go, I started to run my hands up and down him. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He took my head in his hands, his thumbs wiping the tears away, smiling, "Not a scratch."

Laughing, I kissed him deeply, "I love you, Eric. I love you so much."

"Are you okay? What happened?" He asked, touching some blood on my clothes. "Your hand." He said quickly taking it in his.

"I don't think it's broken." I told him. "Just cut and bruised."

"Pen." He frowned as he looked at my arm, seeing shards of glass still imbedded in it.

"I'm fine." I told him. He gave me a questioning look. Shaking my head, I took a deep steadying breath. "Nathan was shot. I attempted to help him but he died anyway. I punched through a glass case so I could get him some morphine. And if him dying wasn't bad enough, his girlfriend Kendra shot herself in the head after he was dead. Then there was an explosion that sent me flying." I frowned as I shook my head. "My arm hurts but otherwise I'm fine."

He pressed a kiss against my forehead, pulling me into him, "As long as you're safe."

"I am, baby." I told him, feeling content. "As long as I'm in your arms."

"We can fight about you leaving me later." He replied as he pulled me away from him, tilting my head back with the side of his finger. "I love you." He said and kissed me deeply.

Helping me to my feet, I wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing him in. "I love you, Eric." He smiled, hugging me tightly as he laughed lightly. "What happened? Where is everyone else?"

He sighed. "Four found Tris in Jeanine's lab. Tori killed her."

"Tris?" I frowned at him.

He smirked at me, "No, Jeanine."

"Okay. Good." I told him. "How mad is Four?" He shook his head. "Did Tris get what she needed?"

"No." He stated.

Frowning, I felt anger start to boil. "So it was all for nothing? Her plan? Lying to Four? It was all for nothing?"

"Four is going to have the information taken from Jeanine's computer." He told me. "He's ordered Caleb to do it."

"Where is Tris?"

"She's in the lobby with the rest of the traitors."

"She's not a traitor." I frowned.

"I know." He said rubbing my arms. "But he's our leader. So is Tori. Tris attempted to stop Tori from killing Jeanine. She almost took it too far. They're protecting our people."

"You're a leader too, Eric." I shot at him. "They may have taken the title from you but it's still who you are."

"I trust him." He told me. "You should too."

"I do." I stated and sighed. "I just trust you more."

He smiled, gently putting his hand against my face. "Come on, let's get to the lobby."

"Yeah." I nodded and picked up my gun. "Let's go."

Leading the way, I walked at his side, holding myself as high as I could. I'd done what I had come to do. The Divergent were free. I'd lost some and I didn't know whether the ones I did set free survived or not but at least they weren't in cells anymore. As we entered the lobby, I put my gun in the back of my pants. I'd barely gone two feet before I heard my name and Claude came rushing into sight.

"You're okay." She said as she embraced me.

"So are you." I smiled back at her.

"Pen!" Henry's voice came next.

Opening my arms to him, he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the ground. "Hey." I smiled before letting him go. There was heavy bleeding down the side of his head. "You okay?"

"I'm good." He smiled.

Looking behind him, the factionless were surrounding a group in the center of the room. Tris and Christina were amongst them. Rushing forward, I was stopped with a gun in my face. Swiftly grabbing the barrel, I punched them in the face, only to have two more guns on me. In the next second my gun was out and aimed at the head of one, my knife at the groin of the other.

"Leave her alone." Tori's voice entered.

Turning, I momentarily forgot about Tris as I rushed to her, throwing my arms around her neck, "Tori."

"I'm okay."

Then I noticed Jeanine's body being tossed on top of a table. "You killed her?" I asked as I put my weapons away.

"For Georgie." She told me matter-of-factly.

Nodding, I smiled, "For Georgie. Are you sure you're okay?" I asked her as she sat down, quickly checking her leg.

"I'm okay." She repeated.

Seeing the wound broken open, I swiftly called for a med kit. Out people were being tended to while the traitors and Erudite were groaning and crying and bleeding. Unable to care about that right now, I grabbed the kit that one of our soldiers handed me, rewrapping her leg after cleaning it.

"We can't have one of our leaders acting all gimpy. You need to set an example."

She laughed lightly. "Stop mothering me."

"Then stop acting like a crazy bitch." I smirked at her, though I was being very serious.

"Penelope!" My name was called.

Recognizing the voice, I turned and saw a drenched Johanna walking toward me. "Johanna." I said and rushed toward her. Throwing my arms around her neck, I hugged her tightly. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

"Oh, Penelope." She replied affectionately. Letting me go, she cupped my face in her hands. "It's so good to see you alive and well."

Grinning, feeling emotion clench in my chest, I nodded at her, "You too."

"I'm so sorry about Maggie." She frowned at me.

"Me too." I nodded.

"Baby." Eric said barely above a whisper, his hand finding my waist.

Johanna looked up at him with an expression I couldn't read. "Eric." She said and then held out her hand.

"Johanna." He smirked, shaking it.

"You seem better." She stated with a cock of her head.

I frowned, "Better?"

"Yes." She told me. "The last time I saw him was when Maggie was killed. I've never seen a man so broken."

He bowed his head and nodded. "It was a bad day."

Turning, I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, my other moving to the back of his neck as I pressed a kiss against his temple. "It's over, baby. Worse things have happened since that day." He wrapped me in his arms, burying his face in my neck. "I love you." I whispered into his ear.

"And now I've never seen a man so whole." Johanna smiled at us.

Feeling a blush rise in my cheeks, I let him go, keeping his hand. "Sorry." I told her. "And thank you."

"No thanks needed. He did all the work." She replied. "Alright, let's go talk to your leader."

I nodded at her, "Okay."

Walking back to Tori, Harrison was standing behind her. Johanna looked at them, greeting them, "Hello. What is it that you want?"

"Did they summon you?" I frowned at her.

"I asked to speak with her." Tori nodded. Then her eyes are on Johanna. "I didn't know the leader of Amity would be so curt. Isn't that against your manifesto?"

"If you were actually familiar with Amity's customs, you would know that they don't have a formal leader." Johanna replied, sounding as gentle as always and yet firm. "But I'm not the representative of Amity anymore. I stepped down in order to come here."

"You what?" I frowned at her. "Johanna…"

"Yeah, I saw you and your little band of peacekeepers, getting in everyone's way." Tori replied.

"Yes, that was intentional." Johanna replied, almost sounding smug. "Since getting in the way meant standing between guns and innocents, and saved a great number of lives."

"Johanna, you don't understand." I frowned at her.

"Since you are still so very generous, I wonder if you might carry a message back to the Amity." Tori stated.

"I don't feel comfortable leaving you and your army to dole out justice as you see fit." Johanna told her. "But I will certainly send someone else to Amity with a message. Perhaps Penelope and Eric would like to go."

"Something tells me I'm not welcome there." Eric frowned at her.

"They're staying here for the same reasons you won't go." Tori told her. "Tell your messenger that a new political system will soon be formed that will exclude them from representation. This, we believe, is their just punishment for failing to choose a side in this conflict. They will, of course, be obligated to continue to produce and deliver food to the city, but they will be under supervision by one of the leading factions."

Johanna frowned and looked at me. I just shook my head, "This is the first I'm hearing about it." Glancing up at Eric, he had a set jaw. "But apparently not yours."

Watching Johanna control herself, she met Tori's eyes again, "Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Fine. I'm going to go do something useful. I don't suppose you would allow some of us to come in here and tend to these wounded?"

Tori gave her a look, making me sigh at her, "Tori, come on. The wounded can't hurt us anymore."

"I didn't think so." Johanna stated. "Do remember, though, that sometimes the people you oppress become mightier than you would like." Then she turned and left the lobby.

"Johanna!" I called after her. Then I turned to Tori, frowning at her, "Really?"

"The loyal need to be tended to before the traitors. That's already happening. I will not let her help those who fought against us. If she hasn't realized it yet, they were fighting against her as well."

"She's about peace and kindness. Maybe we need a little of that right now." I replied sadly.

"You're all the kindness I can take." She smirked at me. Sighing, I bent down and looked at her leg again. "I'm fine, Pen."

"You raised your blood pressure and you're starting to bleed through."

"It's fine." She told me again.

"I'm running out of family, Tori. Let me make sure you stick around for a while."

"Stop it." She frowned.

"Pen." Eric said stepping closer to me. He looked anxious.

"What is it?" I asked standing and followed his line of sight. Eric held tightly to his gun, but the factionless were closing in around us. "Tori." I said reaching out for her.

"Back up." Eric told one of them, his expression dangerous.

"Take him." Evelyn told her men.

Swinging my gun up, I was hit from the side, the gun being ripped from my hand. Gripping my knife, I sliced an arm, then a leg before I was hit to the ground. Eric yelled, only in the next second he was on the ground next to me.

"You sons a bitches!" I shot at those who hit us. The I stopped and looked at Eric. He wasn't moving. "Eric?" He was unconscious. "Eric." I said again, putting my hand against the back of his head, feeling wetness under my palm. "Baby?"