*waves again*

Okay, guys... I lied. There will be another chapter to this story. This is only because the last chapter is too long for it to be on one page.

How long? Well, in my Word document, it is almost 45 pages long. So, I've decided to split it up and make it into two chapters.

Consider this page to be 'Last Chapter, Part One'.

Alrighty, let's go through the regular spiel.

Warning: This is Rated M. For adult language, adult language. There is no lemon in this chapter.

Disclaimer: All original characters from the Divergent Series do not belong to me. They belong to Veronica Roth.

Please rate and review.

I would like to give thanks to every one who have read this story and left reviews. Or even 'favorite it'.

Enjoy!

Ten months, three weeks and six days later

It was approximately seventeen minutes before Nasira could view Dante's version of Heaven. Dawn was approaching and she was still awake. Her case of insomnia didn't stem from a late night feeding for Lucien, a ten-month old little boy was asleep in his crib at that particular moment. No, its formation hailed from a mild sense of anxiety that started to develop on the previous week. A split second after her Aunt Eula reminded her that she was going back to Dauntless in a few days. Dauntless, a place that she didn't think about during her ten-month sabbatical, here in Amity. The moment her sneaker-clad feet touched the infamous red clay that made up the roads in the faction, she stopped thinking about Dauntless. She stopped thinking about the home of the warriors with their dilapidated structures, the dirty air, the dark underground dwellings, the toxic machismo that ran through the men's veins along with their blood, the fighting and the short tempers. She didn't miss any of it. Sure, she indeed miss the members of her intermediate family: her mother, her uncle, her brothers and cousins. But if she had to choose between the choices of staying in Amity forever or going to back to Dauntless, she was sure that her family would understand.

The sounds of sleep-induced cooing pulled her out of her stream of sub-consciousness. She peered down at the plastic, white box that her left hand was holding. She listened to the sounds that came from the baby monitor for a few seconds before coming to the conclusion that Lucien was still asleep. 'Lucien,' her brain sang, which made her heart released a few hard poundings against her breast bone. Her belly shivered, in response. A smile was drawn on her lips, in reaction to the mere mentioning of his name. 'I still can't believe this is real,' she inferred.

The 'this' being the act of feeling the intense level of love for another human being. She had never experienced this type of love for anybody. Not even for the five men who were boyfriends, during past moments of her life. According to Nasira, it was an amazing but scary sensation. She knew that she was in love with her son after the split second she saw a tiny orb on that ultrasound screen. By the time he was expelled from her body and his naked, squalling form was placed on her stomach, she was in 'unconditional love' territory. She made a wordless promise to her baby boy that she would always protect him and support him in any of his decisions. Well, the ones that are within reason. She knew that she wouldn't have any qualms with the notion of whipping his ass, if he even thought about pulling some of the shit that his father had pulled.

'Eric,' her brain groaned. She grimaced and then rolled her eyes, when a snapshot from a memory popped up in her mind. 'Ugh, I said that I wouldn't think of him. No… That's a lie. You've been thinking of him since Lucien was born…' Nasira leaped off of the wooden porch's stairs that led to her small cabin, her temporary home. "He looks just like him. A slightly tanner version of him, but still, he looks just like him," she mumbled to herself.

She strolled in the generous, grass-covered territory that was in between her cabin and the large farmhouse that was directly across. As her feet walked through the grass, she continued to think about her son, and regrettably, his father. She thought about Eric a few times during her first week in Amity. She expected for him to show up in the faction of peace, ready to give her a piece of his mind. She expected to come home on one evening to find his black, formidable truck parked in Aunt Eula and Uncle Silas' driveway. But all of those negative thoughts were built for nothing, because he never appeared. The only black, formidable trucks that shown up, belonged to her mother and brothers.

Once Lucien was born, she ended up thinking about Eric very frequently. It didn't help that her son was the spitting image of him with a few minor features. His skin tone was slightly different than his father's tone. For the first few weeks of his brand new life, he was pale and ended up naturally developing a toasty tint to his skin. His lips were fuller than his father's lips, a feature that she was sure that he inherited from her. His eyes were a darker shade of grey. His irises reminded his mother of a cloudy, overcast sky. Otherwise than those differences, he resembled his father.

"You're up early!"

Once again, she was lured out of her sea of thoughts. She looked up from the grass and looked towards the back of the farmhouse. She noticed her Uncle Silas standing on the porch. He was staring at her and was in the process of buttoned up his shirt.

"You're excited about returning to Dauntless?"

She was secretly pleased to hear her uncle say 'Dauntless' rather than 'home'. She gave a weak smile and shrugged her shoulders. She approached the porch's steps. "I don't know, if I am honest…" She climbed up the first three steps. "…I do miss my mom and my brothers. But I don't think that I miss the faction… at all," she confessed as she sat on the top step.

She heard footfalls against the planks of wood. "What about the boy's father? Do you miss him?" he asked seconds later.

Nasira grimaced. "To be quite honest with you: No, I don't."

"Why not? He wasn't nice to you or something?"

She was about to answer his question as she turned to face him, but she came to a halt once she saw his face. Her uncle's voice remained neutral of emotion, but his eyes told another story. There was a malevolent energy swirling around in those orbs.

'You can take the man out of Dauntless, but you can't take the Dauntless out of the man.' She shook her head. "No. He didn't 'hurt me' hurt me. He was a…" Then she paused. 'Should I tell him?' her conscience whispered, contemplating. With a sigh spilling from her mouth, she made a decision. "Uncle Silas, if I tell you something—

His hand sliced through the air in front of him, horizontally. "I'll take your secret to the grave, if you want me to," he promised her.

A huge cloud of relief filled her spirit. She changed her position of sitting: she swung her legs to the top step and brought her knees up, close to her chest. She placed the baby monitor next to her left hip and then her arms wrapped around her knees. She gave her uncle a glimpse before speaking. "Lucien's father is a man that I had a 'one-night stand' with. He's…" She tilted her head. "…a Dauntless soldier, a very prominent one in our faction. We only ended up together because he wanted to make his girlfriend jealous…" She scoffed and released a joyless chuckle. "…Shit, he even said her name while we were—You know what, never mind that part." She flexed her feet. After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "I should be use to this kind of treatment by now," she said softly. She looked at the sky. She took note of the lavender and the streaks of pale pink. Her vision was becoming blurry and her eyeballs were starting to sting as her mind opened the container that held memories that pained her.

"I'm… I've been used… By men, before. I'm just a girl who men use for the time being until the better one comes along. Or, they're waiting for their dream girl to become single again and they don't want to keep their dicks in their pants in the meantime," she confessed. She looked towards the cabin. "First, there was Derek. He was my first love..." She recalled the young teen's handsome face. "I was fourteen at the time and he was fifteen. We didn't… do anything, but he was my first love. Well, I consider him to be my first.' She felt her chest tense up as she recalled their break-up. 'He went running off to Candor, on his Choosing Day to chase after this girl that he really liked...' She shook her head softly. '...A fucking girl that he only liked and never dated!" she harshly murmured. She sniffled. "Well, that one hurt badly."

A strong, warm breeze flew into the backyard, making wind chimes sing and the trees' branches sway. The warm air slightly dried her tear-stained cheeks. "Then there was Micah. He was an Erudite-transfer, who I met during my initiation trial. He was in my class. We were both sixteen and he was definitely my…first." Her cheeks blushed in mild embarrassment at having to admit that fact to her uncle. "He just used me. He knew that I was a part of the Dauntless founders' families and he thought that I could help him from being factionless. He already had a girlfriend in our faction. She was older than us." She pursed her lips. "That was another one."

"Baby, you don't have to tell me anymore, if you don't want to," Uncle Silas reported. "If you're going to feel sad—

"No, I want to tell you, Uncle Silas" she said with a head nod. "I haven't told anybody this. Not even my mother." She shook her head. "Not even my mother," she murmured. She stared at the third step. "Shooter came along, two years after the second one. He was an accountant…" She glanced at her uncle. "…He was Max's accountant. So of course, he was an older man. He made me feel beautiful…and smart… and mature, like a woman who runs a big company or something like that. You know?" She smiled. She felt her face scrunched up. "He was separated from his soon-to-be ex-wife at that time. She left him to go be with some fence watcher. He was destroyed by her. He was single for a year and then he met me. I was sent to his office, one day, to fix his copy machine. He was flirtatious and I was just plain ol' stupid." She scratched at her scalp. "Long story short, his wife returned to claim what was hers and I was pushed to the sidelines." She stretched out her legs and placed her hands on her lap. "There was Landing, the fourth guy. He ended up knocking up some initiate on her graduation night and ended up marrying her." Her top lip curled. "Then there's Prairie."

"Something tells me that Prairie is the one that you don't like the most," Uncle Silas pointed out.

"You're correct," she told him. She folded her legs and sat cross-legged. Her fingertips danced on her thighs. "I met Prairie when I was…" She paused. Her face contorted into an expression of contemplation. "…uuuuhhhh…Twenty, I think." Her features smoothed out and gone back to normal. "Anyway, he was another Dauntless-born. I've known him all of my life. He was older than me, so he knew my brothers as well. We met in a tattoo parlor. In our first conversation, he told me that he was named 'Prairie' because he was conceived in an Amity field…" She looked at her uncle. "…He didn't use those exact words, Uncle Silas, but I am trying to be respectful."

Her uncle chuckled.

She smiled. "I should've known then that he was a piece of shit."

Silas laughed louder and more boisterous.

"He was very handsome. He looked like he could've been one of those comic book characters that were in those books that Hansen liked reading. Remember those?" she pointed out. She viewed her uncle nod his head, remembering his son's pastime. She sighed. "We were good, up until six month in. That's when he cheated on me and I caught him… For the first time."

"For the first time; how many times did he cheat on you, Nassy?" asked her uncle.

"From what I remember… Twelve times. Four of them were with the same trashy-ass woman. She was the one that he left me for," she confessed.

"Why did you stay with him?"

'That's the "One Million Dollar Question" right there.' She stared at her uncle. "Because I wanted to be with somebody, that's why. I wanted to be in love with somebody, a man who wanted me back. He always told me that he loved me, even though he had a wandering eye. I did loved him. He told me that he wanted me and no one else. When he finally did leave me, we were living together in an apartment. I came home to find my belongings in trash bags, out in the hallway. I wanted answers, so I confronted him. He told me that he wanted me out because he didn't love me. He never loved me. He was always in love with her. He only stayed with me because he needed a place to stay until he got back on his feet. Then he slammed the door in my face."

"Nassy," she heard her uncle sigh.

She felt his compassion. It caused an already-crumbling wall of resolve to break down. She bowed her head, when her mouth allowed a sob to escape. She hands planted themselves, palms down, across her mouth. She sobbed into her hands as her skin was soaked in salty water. She didn't hear her uncle walk over to where she was sitting. When she felt the old man gently pull her into his embrace, she fell into it. She cried into the man's right shoulder. Silas, while squatting, allowed her to empty out her grief.

"I was pregnant," she confessed in a soft murmured, after her moment of crying.

"Nassy, what happened to the baby?" he queried, fear lace in his voice.

She sniffled. "I got rid of it," she cried. "I ended up getting it terminated."

She heard Silas hiss. She knew how Amity members felt about abortions. There were some faction members that reminded Nasira of those wayward groups from many centuries ago.

"That's why, when I found out about Lucien, I knew that I was going to keep him."

"I would be lying to you if I said that I don't feel supportive of your previous decision. But I am happy that you have realized that that was something that you never want to do again," Silas told her. He sat on the top stair. He looked out into the field of grass. "I hope everything will work out for you, Nassy. Because you deserve it."

"Thank you, Uncle Silas."

*~oMLo~*

'It's time to go,' her brain reminded her.

She watched her aunt and uncle stand by her Jeep Wrangler while her young cousins chased each other around her vehicle. Her Aunt Eula recently strapped a sleeping Lucien into his car seat, in the backseat. Unlike the first time she had her vehicle packed, she packed light for this trip: a pair of suitcases and a diaper bag. Over the past ten months, Nasira managed to accumulate more items, which led to her choosing the option of having all of her possessions mailed to her apartment in Dauntless.

"Kids, come over and say 'goodbye' to your cousins!" announced Eula.

A pair of identical twins stop chasing each other and then ran over to the driver's side of the jeep. The children ran up to an approaching Nasira and immediately hugged her legs.

"Goodbye, Cousin Nassy!"

"Bye-Bye, Cousin Nassy!"

Both boys said their farewells simultaneously, which added to their charm and upped the levels of adorability. Her cheeks blushed and her skin grew warm. She planted an affectionate pat on each of their heads. "Bye sweethearts! I'm gonna miss you both! You two were my best helpers, when I needed you guys! Thank you, okay?"

"We're going to miss you," her cousin Silas Junior stated.

"Me too!" his brother Wyatt added. "Can we go over and say 'goodbye' to Luke?"

Nasira smiled. "I don't see why not. Go ahead!" She viewed the boys scamper off to the vehicle.

Her Aunt Eula immediately began to fuss. "Now boys, don't get in Luke's face! He is still sleeping!"

The new mother strolled up to the back of her jeep, where the family was huddled. Each parent held a child up, so they could peer at the sleeping toddler. Each boy whispered their farewells to the baby. Once freed from their parents' grasps, the twins ran off to play. The adults were left to say their goodbyes to each other. Silas Senior was the first person to speak. His farewell was short and surprisingly unemotional. He gave his niece a stiff hug, which was a deep contrast to the affection that he gave her earlier. Once he was free, he notified his wife that he was going off to help one of their neighbors. Then he walked away.

As soon as he was out of hearing range, Eula turned to her niece and said, "He's really going to the shed and be sad for a few hours. He hates saying goodbyes".

Relief cooled Nasira's shoulders. "Oh," she sighed. "Well, I hope that you don't hate saying goodbyes because I don't think that I could handle another stiff goodbye right now."

Eula laughed and then smiled. "No, of course not! I don't mind them because it's never really…" She proceeded to embrace her niece. "…a goodbye. I will eventually see you again."

"Goodbye, Aunt Eula. And once again, thank you for your hospitality!"

"Like I told you before, the pleasure was all ours," was Eula's response.

The two women parted. Eula closed the rear passenger door while Nasira climbed into the driver's seat. The older woman strolled up the driver's side.

"Don't forget to call me, when you get home," the woman alerted her niece.

"I'm promise you that I won't," Nasira said to her with a smile.

The aunt took a few backward steps away from the jeep and then waved. Nasira reciprocated with the wave for a few seconds before she started up the engine and pulled off. The wheels of her jeep crushed the soft red clay that made up Eula and Silas' driveway while her eyes did a brief scan, in the rear view mirror. Just like suspected, Eula's image was in the center of it. The older woman stood in her driveway, staring down at the departing car and waving with a big smile on her face. When she peeled her attention off of the mirror and back on the road, her cheeks were wet with tears. Her right set of fingers quickly wiped away the tears.

"Now, I see why Uncle Silas goes to the shed," she mumbled to herself, before proceeding to drive out of Heaven.

*~oMLo~*

It was in the early stages of the afternoon, when Nasira and Lucien departed from the farm in the southwest sector of Amity. When she reached the city's limits, it was mid-afternoon and it was approaching dusk, when she arrived into the Dauntless sector of Chicago. As her jeep pulled up alongside the curb that sat across from her apartment building, it was certified nighttime. She knew that she would've arrived home at an earlier time, if she didn't have to stop to give an impromptu diaper change for Lucien.

"Home, sweet home," she said softly as she stared out of her window, at the façade of the building. She fetched her phone from off of the front passenger's seat and aptly dialed Rogue's telephone number.

He answered after the first ring. "You outside?" he greeted her.

Nasira chuckled. "Well 'hello' to you too, Rogue. And yes, I am outside, waiting."

Rogue scoffed. "Well, someone sounds a little cranky."

She rolled her eyes.

"Don't leave your jeep yet. Wait for me. I'll see you in a second," he commanded.

"Alright, see you in a few," she spoke into the talk piece. She disconnected the call and placed the phone underneath her shirt, tucked away in her nursing bra. Her tender left breast resented the action, causing tiny fissures of discomfort to radiate. She slightly grimaced. 'Speaking of soreness, Luke is due for another feeding soon.'

Rogue soon joined her. After having a multi-second, tender reunion with each other, he helped her unpack her vehicle and carry her belongings to her apartment while she handled a slightly cranky Lucien. A typical ten-minute trip to her home had taken a little longer due to a few other tenants who wanted to make conversation with the new mother. After all, the last time they've seen her, she was still pregnant with her son. Being the proud mother that she was, Nasira stopped and spoke to each person, as they fawned over her son. Once she arrived to her apartment, she was officially tired. She was also grateful for her brother, who upon his arrival had managed to put away most of her belongings.

Before she could cross the living room to get to the sectional, the soon-to-be toddler began to paw at the front of her shirt and become fussy. 'Like clockwork,' her brain mumbled. She quickly made it over to the couch section and proceeded to nurse her son.

"So, I— WHOA!"

Nasira eyed her brother as he immediately slapped his right hand over his eyes.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he shrieked in horror.

The new mom took a peek at her son, who was still nursing but he had a curious glare at his uncle.

"Rogue, keep your got-damn voice down, you'll disturb my neighbors!" she chastised him with a much lower and softer voice than his.

"Nassy, what-the-hell are you doing?!" he responded with an equal softer tone.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she uttered to him.

"I don't want to see what you're doing right now! I just want to know why you're still giving that big ass boy the titty!" he pointed out.

"For someone who is smart enough to be a nurse, you act soooo dumb," was her response.

"I am not a nurse, I am a clinician's assistant!" he corrected her with an indignant tone in his voice.

"You're a nurse, buddy-boy…" She stared down at her son. "You should know that there are mothers out here, who will breastfeed babies up until they're one years old," she informed him.

"I know. But why are you breastfeeding a kid, who clearly looks like he could put away a Dauntless 'Double-Trouble' cheeseburger, a medium-sized fries and a slice of Dauntless cake, by himself?!"

A soft smile touched her lips after her brother made his joke. Rogue was right; Lucien was bigger than the average ten-month old boy. Currently, he appeared to be the size of a one-and-a half year old toddler. She remembered the times when some Amity members would assumed that Lucien was a one-year old boy in a stroller. But she knew that those types of reactions and assumptions were going to be made. She knew as soon as her midwife's assistant told her his weight and height, after he was born.

"Then, you would know that he is not getting his nutritional intake from my breast milk only…"

"Uuugggghhh, you just mentioned your breast milk," groaned Rogue, with a mixture of sadness and disgust in his voice.

"…I am feeding him food, just like the other babies eat. He may eat a little more than the average baby…"

Her brother snorted, in response.

"…But, he is being fed." She looked at the brother. "He's just nursing off of me because it is a coping mechanism. It's kind of like a pacifier or a toy for him," she further explained.

"Well, you have some huge knockers, so I know that he has a fun time playing with them," jested Rogue.

Nasira looked at the contents on her couch, looking for a suitable one to throw at her brother. When she didn't find one, she settled with tossing him an insult. "For a nurse, you're such an ass!"

"I'm not a nurse!" A moment of silence had passed before he spoke again. "Please, don't turn out to be one of those moms who allow their ten-year old sons to suck on their nipples."

Nasira snorted. "I don't think that I will go that far, Rogue. It's bad enough that he will be the only Dauntless kid being raised by a single mother. I don't want him to have any more…quirks about him."

"Good, because I don't want to have to beat up a bunch of ten-year old boys because they're making fun of my nephew because he is still breastfeeding," he pointed out.

Nasira laughed. She felt a strong nudge against her collarbone. She looked down to see Lucien push at her chest and turn his head away. It was his sign of saying that he had his fill and he was feeling calm. She watched him sit up in her lap and rub at his eyes, before he had taken a curious glance at his new surroundings. She then fixed herself up and then gave her brother the notification that he could look around.

Rogue peeled his right palm away from his eyes and opened them. He did a few blinks before settling on the sight of his sister and his nephew. His facial features morphed into a mask of excitement. "Hhhheyyyy Lucien!" he cheered in a soft voice, attempting to retrieve the child's attention. He walked over to the sectional and sat down in an unoccupied space that was closest to the baby.

Nasira viewed her son's reactions. He gave Rogue a glimpse before giving his mother a glance. She knew that he needed her validation that his uncle was a safe source to go to. She giggled and nodded her head. "Yeah, you can go to Nurse Rogue," she announced in high-pitched, jovial voice.

"Now, that's just plain ol' mean of you, Nassy" her brother told her. His sister's barb was all soon forgotten, when a laughing and smiling Lucien crawled into the space that was in between them, before settling onto his lap. The uncle peered down at his nephew. "Hi, buddy-boy! Hi, man!" The boy just giggled in response, which made the adults laugh. Then the baby began to have a conversation with his uncle, using his babbling. Rogue, being the naturally nurturing person that he was, proceeded to follow. After a moment of stimulating conversation with his nephew, he turned to the boy's mother and said, "Ssssoooooo… Who's his father?" He received a firm punch on the arm for his troubles, which garnered a laugh from Lucien. He gave his sister a look of disbelief. "What?"

"That was a rude question, Rogue."

"How is that a rude question?! I just want to know because I care about you and Luke, here… Plus, I would like to know who the guy is, so I can beat-the-shit out of him for missing out on this boy's life," he reported.

Another soft smile touched her face. 'Yeah, I would definitely like to see you try to do that, Rogue.'

"So, who is he?" her brother questioned. "Is it someone that I know?"

'Shit, a lot of people know him.'

"Is it someone from Dauntless? Or was Dante right that time: it is someone from Erudite?"

"Yes, he is from Dauntless," she sighed, finally speaking to him.

"Well judging from Luke's appearance…" Both adults stared at the baby, who was now in rapture with his own fingers. "…I can rule a lot of guys out," Rogue pointed out. He stared at his sister. "So, who's his pappy, girl? Who's the one that got you into this here trouble?" he inquired, using a mocking American Southern dialect.

"Okay, Foghorn Leghorn," she grumbled. She settled deeper into the sofa.

Rogue chuckled. "Come on, Nassy, tell me the truth. It's not like I am going to tell anybody. Right now, the only thing that I can do is draw conclusions and I don't want to," he reasoned.

'He's right. He's like The Mind, when it comes to keeping secrets.'

"Is it someone famous, here in Dauntless?" he asked. "Is this why you haven't said anything? Cause this is the only reason that I could understand, is your purpose for not saying anything. If it was a regular, Joe Schmoe, then you would've told us by now. So, this guy: is he a big-wig around here?"

She sighed and then stared at the ceiling. After a time passed, she said "Yes".

"Is he married? Is this why you haven't said anything?"

She looked aghast. "No!"

Rogue nodded. "Does he have a reputation around these parts?"

Once again, she said "Yes".

"So, if everybody knows him, does that mean he is well-liked by people?"

"No, he isn't. Maybe by a few people, but not all," she reported.

"Okay, so he is an asshole, got it. Now, how huge of an asshole is he?"

Nasira contemplated. "Well, he's an asshole to a certain demo around here. The older Dauntless people don't give a shit about him. But for the people around our age, or the ones who are the same age as us, he is an asshole that they wouldn't give a shit about if he took a slip into the Chasm."

Her brother sung a hymnal of contemplation. "I only know a few people who fit that bill. There's Carl, who works with Junior, Trigger and Samson, out of the Defense Department. He's a major asshole to everybody. Then there's Rafe McDaniels, your boss." He looked at his sister. "Please, don't tell me—

Nasira cut him off with the point of her index finger. "Don't you dare finish that statement."

He smiled. "I don't know, sis. Maybe one night, his face tattoo and that skinny-ass body that he has did something for you."

A mask of mortification took over her face while the meager contents of her stomach curdled.

"Maybe there was a bottle of Red Rose Tequila involved, along with a Prince mixtape and you two just…" He clapped his hands together. "Plus, the night sky could've added to the romance."

Nasira gave him a dead-panned glare. "Rogue?"

"Yup?"

"If you're going to continue to do the Devil's work by bringing up me and Rafe, then I'm going to need for you to leave my home," she told him.

Rogue broke out in a cackle, but quickly snapped his mouth shut, when he realized that his nephew was still sitting there. After his laughing fit was extinguished, he took a gander at his sister. "So, who-in the-hell is there left, besides one other person that I know?"

"Who's the—

"Other person?" he asked. Once she nodded her head, he answered. "Eric Coulter, the leader who…" He paused in his speech. He turned away from his sister. Rogue turned his attention towards his nephew. The boy was playing with the shoelaces of his sneakers, so he was unaware of his uncle's observations.

Nasira became a spectator for her brother's actions. Rogue stared at his nephew's mop of soft, sandy brown curls that rested on the top of his head. He took in the appearance of the chubby cheeks, the ears with subtle points on the outer curves, his nose and the shape of his eyes and color of his irises. Rogue even brushed the sides of Lucien's hair back, leaving the tufts of curly hair on top unscathed. Then took another look. The toddler, in reaction, glared at his uncle with annoyance blaring in his dark grey eyes.

"Oh. My. God," sighed Rogue. He turned his attention to his sister, with the expression of awe. "Nnnnnooooooo, you didn't!" he said in a shocked whisper.

His reaction caused her cheeks to burn. She pursed her lips and continued to view the spectacle.

"Eric Coulter?! Eric Coulter, of all people?! You slept with Eric?! Eric Coulter, a Dauntless leader, for flipping sake! How-in the-hell did that shit happened?!" he inquired.

'Should I even tell him?'

"I mean, you and him… Y'all are two different peas in two different pods. Y'all don't even mix with the same social circles. So, how did the two of you even meet up?"

Nasira sighed. She kicked off her shoes and then stood up from the couch. She walked in the direction of the kitchen. "If I am going to tell you, then I might as well eat something because right now I am starving," she informed him, from over her left shoulder. She entered the kitchen. "Do you want anything to eat?" she asked him.

"Nah, I'm good," he called back. "Mama brought some leftovers and meals over here today. They're in the fridge," he informed her.

'YES!' she silently cheered as she made her way to the refrigerator. She scoured the inside of the fridge for food.

"So how did you guys hook up?" Rogue inquired from the living room.

"We managed to do that on the night of the Diplomatic Banquet," she confessed.

"Aaaahhh," he hummed as a case of enlightenment struck him. "So, he was the one that took you home on that night." There was a second of silence from him. "And then, he took you," he said with a case of mocking disgust.

Nasira looked away from the fridge to glare at her brother. She was greeted with a toothy smile from him. She flipped him off. Then she gone back to searching for food. "But we've known each other for a while, before that night." She spotted a clear plastic food container that held roasted chicken. Her stomach rumbled in reaction. 'Ah, this it'll do.' She turned her attention back to her brother. "A year ago, Eric asked me—

"Eric Coulter doesn't ask people to do things for him. He orders them to do it, for him," her brother corrected her.

Nasira chuckled. "You're right about that." She proceeded to fix herself and her son meals. "Eric needed my help to sabotage some girl's relationship with another dude, so he could swoop in and take her. It just so happens that this other guy is my co-worker."

"So you two decided to scheme together?" queried Rogue.

Rogue's thinly-veiled accusation caused her shame to rise. Her full cheeks burned with guilt. However, she knew that her younger brother was correct with his assessment. She did scheme like she was a villain from a movie. She peeked at her brother and nodded her head.

"So, if he was lusting after some other chick, then how-in the-hell did you two hook up? Don't you think it kind of defeat the purpose of his scheming?" he asked.

"I don't know why it happened, to be quite honest with you. I know from my end of why it happened. I was slightly tipsy. He's an attractive guy and I was horny at the time. But when it comes to Eric, I don't know why he decided to shoot for the stars—

"And for your uterus," Rogue interjected.

She snarled at him. She gone back to scooping up cold mashed potatoes into a plastic bowl. "I mean, I've seen the other chick and she's… Very beautiful. And I'm…ordin—

"Gorgeous," her brother added, cutting her off from making a self-assessment. The finality and seriousness in his tone made her glance at him. He held a look of seriousness in his eyes. "I've seen the other chick that you're talking about. Yeah, she's pretty, but she doesn't hold a candle to you. She can't even compete. She looks like any typical chick that lives in here, if we're being quite honest."

Nasira sighed. "You're just saying that because you're my brother."

"No, I'm not. Nassy, if you only knew just how much trouble me and the rest of us had gone through, when we were younger… And still do. If you paid any attention, when we were growing up and you didn't have your head in the clouds, then you would've noticed," he pointed out.

"I would've noticed what?" The topic of Eric was forgotten. She was intrigued with what he had to say.

"You would've noticed how all of the boys, and even the men, stared at you. Even now." He took a breath. "You remember how when Pops used to discipline all of us boys, when we would misbehave in school?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, some of those times were due to us beating some boys' asses because they were disrespecting you like you were some meat-trap or something. Pops knew, but he felt like we were still wrong. He said that just as long as they didn't try any unwanted, physical advances on you, then we should've let that shit slide. But back to what I was saying, you're gorgeous and better looking than most of the women that live in this faction. Well… except for the ones that I deal with because those ladies are…" His voice trailed off and then unleashed a wolf-whistle.

She laughed softly. "You're a trip. You say that I am pretty—

"I said that you were gorgeous, get it right."

She deeply exhaled and smiled. "Gorgeous, you said that I was gorgeous and that there are guys out there who wanted me."

"And they still do, baby or not."

"But they didn't make me feel pretty. There were girls—

"Who were jealous of you, which was why they teased you and made you feel like shit," her brother pointed out.

"But, there were boys who also made me feel like shit as well," she pointed out.

"Well, I can't speak for all of them, but I can tell you that a lot of them were just frustrated that they couldn't get with you because if they did try…And we found out… There would've been problems."

The conversation was put on hold, so Nasira could finish preparing dinner, courtesy of a microwave. Once she was finished, she brought both meals over to the living room's sectional. She passed her brother a small spoon and the bowl of mashed potatoes. She gave him the order of feeding her son while she ate her meal.

"So… You were the one that caused that big fight?" he asked her after a time had passed.

She looked up from her plate. "What big fight? What are you talking about?"

"Ohhh, so you don't know about it? Oh, okay. From the way people were talking about here, I would've thought that they would've been gossiping about it in Amity as well."

"Rogue, why would the people of Amity prefer to gossip about a fight? It's the faction of peace," she pointed out before taking a mouthful of chicken.

"Well…" He gave his nephew a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "…I figured that it would've juicy enough for them, ever since the fight involved a certain Dauntless leader."

She swung her attention back on her brother so fast that she was sure that she would physically feel it. 'Fight?! Eric fought Patrick?! Oh God, I hope Patrick is alright?' She swallowed the contents that were in her mouth. "Wha-What happened?" she asked, concern swirling around in those words.

"Eric ended up getting his ass whupped," he answered as he placed a hefty spoonful of food into Lucien's mouth. "Ever since you had mentioned your co-worker, I am going to assume that it was him that gave him the ass-whupping."

Her eyes grew wide while her jaw dropped.

"It's on tape, courtesy of the Control Room's surveillance cameras. I saw it. I'm pretty sure everybody in Dauntless has seen that tape. I still think that it was Four who sent it off. But, of course, he denies it."

"Rogue, what happened?" she said softly, still in awe.

"Okay… There's no sound, so I could only speculate what was said. On the tape, your co-worker goes into Eric's office to hand off something…"

'The new e-tablet,' she quietly answered.

"…He is talking to the secretary, when Eric's door opens and out he comes with the chick practically all over him. The guy must've called her name because she turned to him. She looked shocked. I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head…"

Nasira wondered if Anissa's reaction was genuine or did she pretend.

"…The guy doesn't say anything else. He just leaves. The girl, of course, goes after him. Then the video cuts to the footage that is recording the hallway. The heartbroken dude walks down the hallway. The girl follows him and Eric follows her. The guy stops and proceeds to yell at the girl. Then Eric butts in, but he must've done it so he could brag because the next thing I know, guy jumps up into Eric's face. Eric still talks shit, probably reminding the dude that he is a leader and shit. Dude says something to Eric which causes Eric to hit him. So the fight is... ON! This dude is hitting Eric... And Eric is hitting him. They both are slamming each other into the walls. He—

"So, what is the girl doing?" Nasira asked.

"She walked off to the side because she wasn't in the frame anymore. She probably went back to Eric's office," informed Rogue. "Anyway…"

Nasira noticed that her brother became so enthralled with his storytelling that he neglected his responsibility of feeding his nephew. So, the young boy took the responsibility in his own hands. The mother watched her son clumsily scoop up food from his bowl and stuff it into his mouth. She smiled.

"…They are just beating the hell out of each other and then ol' boy broke out a roundhouse kick on Eric, like he was Jean-Claude Van Daame. Remember him? We used to watch his movies on Dad's old vid-con, when we were kids?" She nodded her head. "Eric's non-fighting ass had gone through the glass door of another office…"

Her eyes had gone even wider.

Rogue nodded his head while he gave her a smile. "Yup, through a plate-glass door, just like in the movies. Then the dude proceeded to beat the shit out of Eric as he laid on the floor. The security guards had come soon afterwards to take dude off to the holding cells."

At the mentioning of the holding cells, her heart began to pound. Her appetite disappeared just as her sense of fear filled up her belly. "What happened to my co-worker?"

"Him? According to Trigger, he was kept in the cells for a few weeks before being released. I know that Eric was sent to the infirmary, where he was treated for his injuries. I didn't work on him. My homegirl Charlene had the unfortunate honors. She said that he acted like an asshole throughout the whole time," her brother answered.

"Do you know where he's at now? Is he faction—?

"Factionless? No! He's not factionless. He's been transferred, I think. To the wall, where Dante is. I heard that ol' boy requested to be place at the wall because he couldn't stand the sight of the city anymore. I don't blame him," stated Rogue.

"So, he's not factionless? That's good." Then she thought about the situation. "I mean, how could he—? He had beaten up a leader, so how—

"Because that leader was too busy fucking his girlfriend, that's why. Nassy, just because a person is made into a leader, it doesn't mean that they're exempt for any wrong-doing. Sure, the guy didn't have to beat Eric up. But Eric had no right laying his hands on a subordinate first. Eric has a bigger responsibility than that guy. Here in Dauntless, we may always talk about being warriors and being brave and doing fun-dumb shit, but we do have morals here. Eric fucked up too. I guess that is why Max decided to give the guy a slap on the wrist."

"What about the girl?"

"Ever since she didn't raise her hands to anyone, she didn't face any punishments. But the tribe of the well-known meat-traps around here are besmirching her name and reputation like no other," he reported.

'Something tells me that she doesn't care about what others think about her. Especially if they are other women.'

"What about Eric? What happened to him? Did he get punished for his participation in the fight?" she asked.

"Not that I know of. I'm sure Max chewed his ass out for being so careless. I do know that he was the topic of discussion for many-many months after that day. I think that was enough of a punishment for him." He noticed the question lingering in his sister's eyes. "Imagine being a leader, who is known for being brave and slightly psychotic and having your ass kicked by an underling. It's like the biggest and scariest-looking bully being beaten up by the pipsqueak nerd, in the playground. Imagine how it would feel for the bully, days after? Aaaannnndddd it doesn't help that he was walking around with cuts and a bruised up face, for weeks afterward. Eric was definitely-definitely-definitely embarrassed."

Nasira had done just that: she allowed herself to imagine what it was like for Eric during those days. But she thought of those imagined scenarios with the mindset that was similar to Eric's. She knew a little bit about his character, thanks to the previous interactions with him. He was egotistical and he loved to push his level of authority onto others. Thanks to her initiation period, she also remembered the fringes of sadism that would show as he trained would-be Dauntless members.

'He must be fucking pissed and enraged. I bet, most of it is aimed at me.'

"Do you know if Eric is with that chick?" she asked.

"I see them together from time to time, when I hanging out in Club Inferno. I've seen them in the cafeteria once," he told her. He shrugged his shoulders. "So, I guess that they are."

A stream of babbling floated in between them and garnered their attentions. They looked at Lucien, whose face was covered in potato residue. He was waving his spoon around.

"Hey whatta know, he ate the entire bowl of mashed potatoes," Rogue explained as he peered into the bowl.

She giggled. "Yeah, he can't eat," she told him.

"I kind of figured that," he uttered. "He looks like he could eat. Now all he needs to do is lay off sucking his mama's titties and we'll…" He was subjected to a punch on his arm. "Ouch! You hit hard!"

"Good! Now, stop teasing me about the fact that I breastfeed," she explained.

Rogue did a quick sweeping glance at the living room. "Well," he sighed. "It's time for me to go now. I have business to attend to," he announced.

"What's her name?" she teased.

"I'm not telling you," he sang. He picked up his nephew and placed him next to his mother. "The last thing that I need is for Mama to find out about her and to do a background check on the girl, by the way of Atlas."

"It's usually Pollux that does her dirty work," Nasira corrected him. She peered at him as he stood up and took Lucien's eating utensils to the sink in the kitchen. He proceeded to wash the bowl and spoon. "You don't have to…" She glanced at her son who was gnawing on a sliver of roasted meat, from off of her plate. "…do that."

"It's no problem. Besides, you're tired and you've just traveled from faction-to-faction. Relax, sis." He approached her. He bent down and gave his nephew a kiss on the top of his head, which was followed by a kiss to his sister's cheek. He fixed the collar of his jacket. "Mama, before she left, told me to remind you to bring Luke by her department tomorrow."

"I remember. It's one of the first things she told me, when she called me this morning."

His left index finger jabbed the air as he recalled another thought. "She also told me to tell you to make sure that Luke wears an outfit that she bought him." He held a bewildered look on his face.

She giggled. "I know which outfit she wants him to wear."

"And she told me to remind you to wear something very pretty tomorrow because she is tired of seeing you in sweatpants, looking like you don't wash your ass."

"She…" Her left leg violently swung across her prone right leg and collided into Rogue's right calf, in the form of a kick. "…did not say that, Rogue!"

*~oMLo~*

Something was off, according to Nasira as she stepped into the hallway. She just exited the bathroom with her son in her arms. She was about an inch away from the threshold, when she felt the energy in the hallway. There was a nameless, odorless and invisible energy floating around and it just made her perception feel… off-kilter. Something like…

"Rogue?!" she shouted into the hallway.

…Someone was in her apartment with them.

"Rrrrrrooooooovvvvvvveee," her son jovially babbled, attempting to mimic his mother's call. She did a quick glimpse at her boy. She gave his a kiss on the temple.

She clutched Lucien closer to her towel-clad chest. She walked to the exit of the hallway, which was the entrance to the living room. Her dark brown eyes scanned the spacious room in a grand sweep. Nothing was out-of-place and no one wasn't in the room.

'No one. But maybe Rogue came back to pick something up while I was in the shower. Maybe that's what I am feeling,' she silently concluded.

"Ma-Ma," Lucien called out. She peered down, into the face of her baby.

"Yes, my big boy?" she said sweetly into forehead. She planted a kiss there.

She listened to her son monologue as she turned back around and walked into the hallway. Both mother and son strolled into the bedroom that was facing the corridor and the living room. Once in the master bedroom, she deposited her son onto the center of her bed. She fetched nightclothes for the both of them. She prepared her son for bed and then threw on a flimsy tank top on. She decided to lull her son to sleep, a process that caused him to fuss.

"Yeah-yeah-yeah," she said softly to the cranky boy. "You don't like it when its bedtime, I know." She held onto him as he squirmed in her arms. Eventually, he found a comfortable position and relaxed. She gazed at him as he focused on the ceiling. "What are you staring at, Lucien?" she asked in a soft playful voice. He cooed in response. His full, pouty lips curved into a smile. "Are you smiling for your mommy?" A gentle chuckle fell from his mouth. An idea popped up into her mind. "Do you want mommy to sing you a song?" This time, his grey eyes darted over to her face and his left eyebrow flickered involuntarily.

This particular physical tick caused her to think of his father. It was something that his father's eyebrow would act out, whenever he was talking. She recalled that his eyebrow would twitched after the third or fourth word into every spoken statement. During their secret meetings, she would silently play a game with herself, in which she would count the twitches.

"Ugh," she scoffed. "You look more like your father, whenever you do that, Luke" she explained to the baby. "I don't mind that you look like him though. Just don't be a scheming, manipulative, over-achieving douche-bag like him. Please?"

"If I was a man that had a weak ego, I would've felt insulted by your statement."

Fortunately for Lucien, his mother had very strong reflexes and a tight grip on him. Out of instinct, she yelped and jolted out in fright. Her heart felt like it had missed a few beats and now was trying to catch up.

'Eric,' her brain whimpered out in fright.