Welcome all to my first Divergent fanfiction (original novel by Veronica Roth.) This story is rated T for moderate violence, language, and sexual themes. Please review; I'd love to read your feedback.

Ciao, Gabrielle.

Chapter 13: Chill

Getting onto the train without getting caught was as simple as Nina could have hoped. The sole Dauntless guard standing watch over the exterior of the compound was easy enough to distract with a rock thrown in the distance; when the guard went to investigate the sound, Nina and Q used the opportunity to lithely leap onto a train compartment.

As they were whisked away into the darkness, they huddled together in one corner of the compartment to block the wind; a fierce cold front was moving through the area. Nina's eyes gradually adjusted to the heavy darkness, and for a few minutes, the rumbling of the train and the whistle of the wind were the only sounds.

"Thanks for coming with me, Q," said Nina.

Q gave his characteristic nod and listened carefully as Nina explained her plan.

They waited patiently for the train to reach Amity headquarters, which was the furthest from Dauntless. As they passed Abnegation, Q stood and looked at his old home until it faded into the distance. A lump formed in his throat, and Nina knew he was thinking of his family, of his sister, whom he lovingly called his "little mouse."

Nina stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You'll be reunited with her, one day…"

Q gave her a long, solemn look that indicated he didn't believe that was true.

She shrugged. "Things are changing…" She wasn't ready to reveal what little she'd learned about the coming political struggle, but she knew she could trust Q.

The sounds of music and laughter cued their approach to Amity. They stealthily rolled out of the compartment and waited a few moments to make sure they hadn't been seen.

Nina cautiously moved forward, with Q trailing her. The breeze carried the sound of her voice to him. "That's the atrium," she explained, nodding her head towards the large, open-air wooden structure. "And over there," she pointed to an area a short distance from the atrium "is the lodging, and behind are the orchards."

They moved carefully past the atrium, doing their best to stay in the shadows the whole time. Their footsteps were masked by the sounds of a banjo being plucked and jovial singing. Q moved as quietly as a snake, and Nina tried her best to mimic his light steps.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she spotted her old house, the place where she'd been born and raised. It was warm and inviting, its exterior lined with potted plants, flowers, and rows of vegetables. Fond memories came to mind: her mother humming as she tended the garden; her father reading to her at bedtime until her eyes drooped; her first kiss under the flowered tree in the front yard. She forced herself to look away and continued onwards to the house next door.

The narrow house was two-storied, and on the second floor, near the branches of a tall Maple, was a dark window. Nina knew it would be unlocked, and that the branches of the tree would hold her weight well; Maddie had climbed in and out of this window many times in the middle of the night for their secret midnight rendezvous. Nina and Q looped around the house, peeking through windows to see if anyone was home. The house was dark as expected; Maddie's family would be present at the nightly Amity gathering.

Q stayed by the base of the trunk to keep watch and promised to alert Nina with a whistle if someone approached. She nimbly climbed the branches of the tree, the bark warm and familiar against her palms. When she reached the window, she reached over to slide the glass open, the same way she'd done a million times before. This time, it wouldn't budge. "Dammit," she whispered down to Q. "It's locked!"

Without warning, Q tossed a knife up to her; it flew through the air and wedged itself firmly into the bark of a branch nearby. Nina used the knife to pry open the backside of the window latch then slid the window open with a single push. A screeching sound accompanied the movement, and Nina paused to make sure no one was around to investigate. After a moment, she tumbled into the room, landing lightly on the balls of her feet.

Instantly, Nina knew something was missing. The space above Maddie's bed, still unmade from weeks ago, was bare. Where there usually hung an intricate wooden bow, a gift from Maddie's carpenter grandfather for her 13th birthday, there were only nails.

'It's gotta be in here,' Nina thought to herself. She got down on her hands and knees and reached under the bed. In the shadows she saw a leather quiver filled with arrows, but there was no sign of the bow. She shimmied her way partially under the bed and grabbed the quiver. Dust that had accumulated under the mattress flew into Nina's face, coating it with a grey layer; she let out a tremendous sneeze.

Suddenly, the light in the room was switched on and a foot planted itself heavily on her lower back. "Not so fast, thief."

Nina immediately recognized the voice of Maddie's father. "It's me, Mr. Wolff, it's Nina!"

"Nina?" Benjamin Wolff's voice trembled with incredulousness.

"Could you please take your foot off me?" Nina coughed, expelling some of the dust that had found its way into her throat.

"Yes, of course, sorry," Benjamin complied.

Nina stood and brushed the dust off her pants and then the two stared at each other awkwardly.

Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms sternly. He had entered 'Papa Pear Mode,' as Maddie would have called it. Whenever she came home to her father standing that way with that look on his face, she knew she'd been caught … sneaking out, failing a quiz, skipping school, whatever she'd done that time around to merit reprimand. His voice brought Nina back to the present. "Nina, are you even allowed to be here?"

Nina bit her bottom lip and hesitated. "No, I'm not. But… Maddie needs my help."

Benjamin's face broke the mask of disapproval as he was filled with concern for his daughter. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"

Nina shrugged. She was a terrible liar, and she knew she could never convince Benjamin, a former Candor transfer. "She will be okay, if she gets her bow immediately. Where is it?"

Benjamin flushed deeply. "We had to sell it."

Nina recoiled with hostility. "How could you? That was her most prized possession."

Benjamin began pacing the small bedroom, his stature tense. "We haven't been doing well financially… we needed the money, and bows of such high caliber are rare these days." His hair was lined with grey strands that hadn't been there the last time Nina had seen him, and frown lines aged his once handsome face.

She breathed in sharply. "What do you mean, you haven't been doing well? Everyone is supposed to get allocated provisions weekly!" Concern for her family and friends rolled in the pit of her stomach.

The sound of feet rushing up the stairs paused their conversation. The door slammed open, and Maddie's young twin brothers hopped in, their bright, red hair matching their bubbly personalities. They ran forward and embraced Nina, babbling at the same time with such excitement that she couldn't understand a word they said.

"Hi, boys. I've missed you," Nina gave a hesitant smile, pressed the boys against her stomach, and covered their small ears with her hands. She turned to Benjamin and awaited an answer.

He sighed and nodded his head solemnly. "The rations are getting smaller and smaller each week," his voice was grave. "There are rumors… Nina, I'm worried."

She bit her lip nervously. "So am I. Listen, I've got go. I can't stick around here any longer. The thing I came here for is gone." She pulled open Maddie's desk drawer and grabbed a pen and paper, writing out a quick note for her parents. "Will you give this to them, please? Tell them I love them." She bent down to kiss each boy on the forehead and walked quickly to the window to depart.

Benjamin gave an impish smile. "Of course. And Nina?"

Nina turned and looked back, her body half out the window already. "Yes?"

"There is one other bow… but you'll have to go to great lengths to retrieve it."

The exterior of the Candor compound appeared to be clear. Still, Nina and Q crouched behind some bushes for a while to double check. Their efforts were rewarded; at the 15 minute mark, a heavyset guard emerged from the side of the building. The guard circled the compound slowly, swinging a flashlight back and forth, and then turned the corner to continue his rounds.

As soon as the guard disappeared, Nina and Q rushed forward to the front of "Merciless Mart." The white building was enormous and impressive; it loomed above them like a modern castle. One side of it's gigantic doorway was decorated with a large scale made of glass. The opposing column was decorated with a bow made of fibreglass. The dim light from the night sky sparkled in the laminated surface, beckoning Nina.

Q put up his finger, signaling her to stay put for a moment. He lifted the hem of his shirt to partially cover his face and walked beneath the arch of the grand doorway. He reached up and smashed a security camera with the butt of his knife. Then he returned to Nina and cupped his hands together, motioned for her to climb into them. She quickly did, and he lifted her into the air effortlessly, placing her feet onto his massive shoulders. He walked close to the column, until Nina could reach the bow, which she took down with care.

"Got it!"

Q placed her to her feet, and they paused to inspect the bow. The side had an inscription in it, but before they had the chance to read it, the light from a flashlight bounced towards them.

"Who goes there?!" roared a male voice.

Q and Nina looked at one another in panic, and began to run simultaneously back to the train.

"Hey, you there, stop right now!"

The initiates' athleticism enabled them to sprint to the train and escape the reach of the Candor guard. There was a brief moment of panic as they watched the next train approach at a short distance, and they had to listen to the guard's heavy breathing come closer and closer. They pulled themselves up to the first available compartment, and Nina fell onto the floor laughing with exhaustion.

Despite the chill, Nina and Q were sweating, a result of adrenaline and their quarter-mile sprint. They sat on the edge of the compartment, legs swinging, letting the breeze cool them off. They inspected the bow, turning it to-and-fro to check for marks.

Q traced the inscription lightly with his thumb. The words were flowery and delicate. Nina leaned her head on Q's shoulder and read the inscription aloud: "May truth fly as swift as an arrow."

Nina smiled and squeezed Q's hand. "Thanks for helping." After a brief pause, she asked what she'd been meaning to for a while. "Hey, Q? What's your real name, anyways?"

He looked at her and grinned. "Quentin. It's Quentin."

When they got back to the Dauntless compound the night sky was dark blue with hints of twilight on the horizon. They entered silently through a side door they'd left propped open, and Q returned to the dormitory to get a few hours of rest. Nina hastened to the training room and left the bow in the corner where all the specialty weapons were stored.

Nina groggily made her way back to the dormitory. The sounds of a commotion alerted her to stand still in the shadows. A door slammed and re-opened, then someone sprinted past her, a stack of papers in his hands. She recognized the figure as Max, and thanked her lucky stars that he had remained oblivious to her presence. She peeked her head around the corner and saw that his main office door, which customarily remained locked and guarded, was wide open.

Her breath hitched in her throat and she licked her lips nervously. 'Now or never,' she thought, and without hesitating a moment longer, she rushed into the office. Her heart raced wildly, drumming loudly in her head as she glanced around with panicked uncertainty. The office desk was lined with stacks of papers, and a filing cabinet domineered an entire wall of the room. The other wall had a door with a small window looking into an ample hallway with a vault at its end. The remaining wall was a large, touchscreen monitor with icons she didn't recognize.

Nina approached the door leading to the vault and peeked through the window. The hallway was lined with video monitors and electronic equipment, but the door to enter was locked with a facial recognition technology pad. She turned away and approached the cabinet; she ripped open the first cabinet, and in it were folders with names and years. 'It's initiate names, and the year they arrived...' Nina realized. She closed that cabinet and opened one below it; her year. She recognized the names of the initiates in her class; the names she didn't recognize she assumed were the Dauntless-born initiates, who were trained separately. The files were mostly empty, but some had a single sheet. She thumbed through to the folder with her name. The paper inside had one word, handwritten with neat print: Maybe. She thumbed to Maddie's: There was nothing in it, and Amir's was the same. Quentin: Maybe. Tae: Maybe. The other files were all empty.

Nina groaned with exasperation and closed the cabinet. A bright splash of color on the desk caught her eye; a red laminated folder. It was filled with too many papers to flip through at once, so she decided to grab one sheet from the center and take it with her. 'What are the chances Max will notice one paper missing...' Nina attempted to reassure herself. 'Alright, I've been here long enough.'

She took one last look around to make sure nothing seemed out of place then rushed out of the office, leaving the door open the way she'd found it. The lights were dimmed in Dauntless during night hours, so she walked towards the chasm, the area containing the most natural lighting. She leaned against the main rail there as she studied the paper before her. "Confirmation of delivery… Approved by Jeanine Matthews..." she muttered, attempting to make out the small print. She brought the sheet closer to her face and squinted. "Tamper proof vials… Subcutaneous injection..."

A voice broke her thoughts. "Curfew was hours ago. What are you doing up?"

Nina jumped and dropped the sheet of paper. It flew over the rail and onto the soaked rocks at the bottom of the ravine, where it was pulled into the dark, swiftly running water.

She looked with wide eyes at Eric, who was standing before her with his arms sternly crossed.

He reached out and turned her cheek towards the moonlight that glittered on the water. Nina's heart began to beat erratically in her chest… until Eric opened his mouth. "And why are you so filthy?"

Nina pulled back from him and brought up the hem of her shirt to wipe the dust off her face. "Fuck curfew," she said, choosing to ignore his latter question. "I'm 17, I don't need a bedtime."

"Are you sure? You're throwing a tantrum like a toddler," Eric smirked. "Maybe you need a nap."

"You weren't so quick to question my age when you were running your lips down my neck," she snapped. Heat rose to her face as she recalled the vivid sensation.

Eric frowned and pulled away. "That was a mistake. I'm your superior."

"Oh, that's all it was to you? A mistake?" Nina's voice trembled with anger.

Eric's fists clutched the rail tightly, his muscles straining with tension. He looked away for a moment, and then back to her. "Nina-" he began, his steely gaze captivating hers.

"No, it's cool," she said coldly, not allowing her voice to betray her emotions. "I'm glad we're on the same page." Then she returned to the dormitory, willing herself to believe that she didn't feel anything for him at all.

Voila! As always, I appreciate your constructive criticism; if there's something you loved, or hated, or something you want to see, please don't hesitate to let me know in a review or via PM :)