Chapter 21
Kazana has lived factionless her entire life, having been found by the rebels who strive to live without the faction system she becomes their new secret weapon. The plan is clear, choose dauntless, pass initiation, infiltrate the system, but what can she do when a certain leader sees through her façade? AU No War, One year after Tris' initiation.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has given positive feedback on the story so far, I absolutely love hearing what you all have to say and seeing reviews really motivates me with writing.
You will recognize scenes from all of the books as I have merged them together to serve the story. This is Kazana's tale though not Tris' so I won't bore you with details you already know ;)
I'm listening to Sia's 'Fire meets Gasoline' and the lyrics fit Kaz and Eric perfectly. For those who haven't, check out the story's playlist on my profile.
I took a quick break from S.A.W to write 'Chromatic' an Eric/OC Oneshot if you'd like to check that out. It was a bit strange because I am invested in Kazana's character now but I'd love to see what you guys think of it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, nor can I pull off Veronica Roth's spanking pixie cut, haven't the cheek bones for it.
BUREAU BUYS RIGHTS TO THE RUSSIAN PRECINCT OF TIME AND SUSTENTATION.
More than 10 million people tuned in to watch the emergence of Mr Toma Volkov after his company was bought by the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. Apparently his condition is stable but there are fears he will not recover completely from the trauma of his premature removal!
Which begs the question, what next? :O :O
Mr Volkov's hardcore design has pretty much ensured his own damnation and scientists are reluctant to move on to the second subject.
Until then the second evacuation had been postponed until its official date.
That's all from me today guys; check back on my blog later this week to hear more!
BigBrain X
One month ago
"You're going on a field trip today," Eric announced, a towel thrown casually over one shoulder as he strolled out of the bathroom. Kaz's dark eyes flicked up from behind heavy weight pages, reading in bed was a luxury she would never tire of, amongst other things.
"That's a nice thought," her gaze remained fixed on the book. "But I'm working, so no."
She was thrown in to pitch black when a bundle of fabric was thrown on to her head, Kaz spluttered indignantly from beneath the towel.
"We leave in an hour, get dressed."
Dragging the thick material from her face, she glared at him from behind mussed locks. Inky dark waves rippled down her naked shoulders as she sat immersed in satin sheets.
"Mmm, I think I'll stay here," she smiled sweetly, watching on in appreciation as the muscles in his back stiffened beneath taut skin. Intricate black shapes wove down past his shoulders and came to a narrow point at the tailbone. Her lips pulled up in to a mischievous grin as he turned his head slowly with a cold glare.
"Are you arguing with me?"
"I prefer to call it selective hearing," she nodded thoughtfully.
"Would you prefer I carry you to breakfast in that bed sheet? Because that's what will happen if you don't move," he warned lowly. His glacial stare caused a flaring of goosebumps along her flesh, but she wouldn't call his bluff.
Kazana snorted and snatched the book up to continue her perusal; a startled yelp tore through her throat when a pair of solid arms scooped her up roughly.
"Eric! Put me down this instant!" she scolded in a struggling frenzy on his shoulder, her legs kicked out wildly from beneath the sheet and he tightened his hold beneath her bum to cease it.
"This isn't funny! Let go right now!" her cries fell on deaf ears as he threw open the door and ascended through the corridors. Dawning terror clawed through her as busy shadows interweaved up ahead, she was practically naked!
"I'll throw all of your protein in the bin! So help me I will!"
Dropped jaws and arched brows followed her journey all the way down in to the food hall, yet he did not react in the slightest. Eventually she gave up in her struggles, and slumped angrily on to his shoulder.
"I'll pour lye on your piercings," she muttered, thudding her head against his back irritably. It felt like head butting a brick. A dark red blush of mortification diffused over her face and neck as he deposited her none too lightly on to the bench beside her friends.
"Eat your breakfast. Put some clothes on. And get on the train," he said coldly as though addressing his evening patrol and then stalked off.
An odd silence fell upon the group as she tried in vain to tie the sheet in to a makeshift toga.
"…Kinky," Turf grinned.
"Shut up Turmeric."
Kaz sat with her chin tucked firmly on to her knees as she glared out from the moving train cart. Curiosity tugged at her like a petulant child when she scanned the myriad of black clad bodies around her, some recognizable, some not, none she could call acquaintances.
Standing at the open door with his trademark brooding expression was Eric. Part of her wanted to join him in watching the fading landscape but her stubborn side, the stronger side, decided his actions that morning would not go unpunished.
"Alright listen up," he said and turned to them as he leaned on the door panel. Kazana wanted to shake her head; he was standing at the open entrance of a speeding train and still looked nonchalant.
"In case you haven't realized already, we're heading towards the fence. Tech discovered a fault there 5 days ago and it's our job to get it fixed. You've got 10 hours; you'll be sorted in to groups and work from there. Am I clear?"
Murmurs of ascent rose up though Kaz's expression remained one of bewilderment. What good could she do on a job like this? Sure she was strong but Wes had the muscle power, the decision hardly seemed tactical.
An uncomfortable silence fell amongst the ranks as they came to a direct stop and she realized then that by 'fault' Eric actually meant agiant wreckage. Charred wires and shrapnel hung dangerously from where a chunk of the structure had collapsed.
A steel plank teetered dangerously on the edge before falling down to the ground with a reverberating crash. Long strands of grass could be seen on the other side, and a sweet humming filled the following quiet as a cheerful Amity skipped through with a basket.
"Who wants cupcakes?!"
A Dauntless born turned to her with a derisive laugh, Vesper might have mentioned him once or twice in the past. 'Ah yes, the initiate asshole, every year has one.'
"You hear that Kaz? Cupcakes? Bet you're missing home already," he then proceeded to flutter his hands and skip dreamily; it had the other members keeling with laughter.
Kazana waited for them to die to down before releasing a joyful giggle and approaching the Amity girl, they smiled at each other as she took one of the delicious cakes.
"You know I think you're right, I've been really nostalgic for these," she took a delicate bite and moaned as the vanilla icing coated her lips. The boy smirked as she approached him but did not back away. "These really are fantastic, you have to try them!" Despite his confusion he opened willingly as she held it up to his mouth.
Kazana then proceeded to smash the cake in to his face.
The laughs increased tenfold then, and Kaz maintained an innocent expression as the boy spluttered white butter cream on to the ground. It was at this moment that Eric, who had been checking supplies on the track, returned to see the commotion.
One pierced brow rose in an unimpressed arch as he took in the boy's ridiculous appearance, and with one cold look towards the remainder of the group, they fell silent once more.
"This is how it's going to work, you all get a number. The numbers determine your job. You do that job well and then we all leave. Any questions?"
Not a peep.
"Good," he turned to the Dauntless born with the caked face, "Get that shit cleaned up."
As the pack dispersed into assigned groups Kazana glanced up to see Eric regarding her with a knowing look. She simply gazed back with a mischievous grin.
"What?"
Present day
It should have been disbelief. When the girl with whom he'd shared his bed, his home, his life, declared herself their leader. He shouldn't have been able to believe it.
But when she stood before him, before the crowd who gazed up at her with ardent familiarity, eyes black as the clothes on her back and coated in the blood of another. It was as though something slid in to place. The puzzle, the mystery, the fucking enigma that was Kazana, it all made sense now.
And he wasn't thinking in those few fleeting seconds of the ease with which she'd held a gun, or the prowess of her flourishing knife. He did not even think of her fights.
Eric saw in those few moments a girl on a rope. His Little Bat. The very first time, when the mind had been so lost that it was simply her body reacting to the music. She didn't know he'd seen it all, watched her twist and turn and climb and fall, the question had been sparked then. He knew, it was then, in that exact moment, she'd told him then that it had been the trees.
She Climbed. A lot. Of. Trees.
He hadn't been able to believe her then. The doubt had eaten away at him.
But he believed her now.
When those brave enough asked him what he had seen in his fear simulation, Eric did not answer. His reason being the very same his fear existed in the first place.
Humiliation.
It was the very enemy of a cool, logical man. His cold leadership could only derive from self-confidence, he needed to know he was better. Better physically, better mentally, he needed to be the best.
And to feel shame searing through his body, flaming skin and burning ears, the feeling was unacceptable. When faced with his fear, he had summoned his indifference. If he did not care, then it did not hurt.
Eric wanted her to hurt; he wouldn't be able to feel the pain. But she could.
Say something.
Desperation began to filter in to her gaze, his words she could handle, his voice she knew. But this silence, it was unbearable.
Say something, please.
"Well, you certainly had me," a false smile curled his lips.
Her stance stayed strong, Kaz lifted her chin to meet his stare square on. Her eyes however, they faltered, she could feel it, because she was searching his own so desperately for something. A tangible emotion, a sentiment, something she could familiarize with. They scanned urgently, constantly…and found in him, a chilling amusement.
"What did you think it would stop now?" he took a menacing step forward, and still she could not see him. He wasn't there. "Thought you'd charge in with what?-" Eric glanced down at the plastic gun in her hands and smirked. "A few tranquilizers and save the day?"
"Eric," she saw his eyes flash then. As though the name made it all too real, that this was really happening, and it was happening between them.
"Stop the simulation."
"This is much bigger than you Kazana," he warned. "It's too late now."
Too late to save the Abnegation? Too late to save herself? She looked in to his glacial stare.
No. Too late to save their-
To save what they'd-
Too late for them.
"As it stands there are almost 50 of us and less than five of you," she spoke calmly, though adrenaline gushed through her veins like wildfire and Kazana didn't know whether she wanted to collapse or throw up. "Your odds look grim if you don't."
"We have guar-"
"Dead," Kazana cut him off coldly. If Cain was the man she knew him to be, then not one single guard outside that room was alive.
He inhaled sharply, eyes glinting with rage. Though she knew it was not in mourning, no. It was simply an inconvenience. Every life wasted was an inconvenience to Eric.
"Well at any rate," a new voice spoke up. This was a higher tone, cool and calculating. Kazana watched as blue heels ascended in to thick calves, a tight dress and pursed lips. Jeanine Matthews, the brain of the operation.
"You cannot stop the simulation. In a few short moments the Dauntless will have eradicated the first hindrances to our city and when that's done we'll deal with you," she explained it calmly, as though explaining a medical procedure.
Kazana heard muted gasps behind her, stuttered breaths and trembling forms. Her eyes flicked to the entrance, and it took every iota of willpower not to react when she saw not Cain standing there, nor Mia.
It was Tris.
Tris was otherwise hidden from view to the others; she held up two fingers and mouthed 'wait.'
"Admirable though really, your passion to survive," Jeanine began, her voice was slow and deliberate, expectant that all should hang on her every word. "Even after you've all failed at initiation you're all still so convinced that you belong."
Kaz scanned the room with hungry desperation in her eyes. Eric zeroed in on the action like a hawk, and she knew, she knew he could feel her vulnerability. He drew on it, fed upon it, that dynamic had always been, he the sly predator and she, his willing prey.
It proved a succinct distraction, whatever it was Tris had planned. They had time.
"The people who stand behind me are fathers Miss Matthews," Kaz snarled, "fathers and mothers and children, some of whom did pass their initiation before society deemed them disposable."
"Your sentimentality blinds you Miss Thomas." Kazana almost blanched, Thomas. The persona she had once considered her anchor, it just sounded wrong now. "Society can only benefit from those who play their part. An automaton if you will, we are the nuts and the bolts of a machine. And when that machine breaks, it is our job to fix it."
She allowed herself to laugh scornfully at the older woman, Kaz dragged a deliberate hand across her cheek. A dirtied streak of sweat and blood smeared along her face, and in her wilderness she became the polar opposite of her stone cold adversaries. So Jeanine wanted to teach her a little lesson in reality? It was time to give her a bitter dose of her own.
"Amazing," Kaz smiled and a wicked glint entered her eye as she took a slow step forward. "A machine? Really? That's brilliant. Tell me, does it work for you too?"
Small eyes narrowed behind the frames of her glasses, but the woman remained otherwise unmoved.
"The excuse I mean. I suppose your logical brain and stupendously high IQ deems it a fantastic reason not to have friends," Kazana arched a brow as she quirked her head to the side. "Or a lover maybe? A family? How about someone who wants to be within a mile's radius of you without snapping your neck?"
She saw then how Jeanine opened her mouth to interrupt, to spout some bullshit excuse about the merits of her aloof lifestyle and disparage theirs.
But she wasn't finished.
"You're smart, not heartless. Don't you for a second try to argue otherwise, you feel just like the rest of us and it hurts doesn't it? Oh you can isolate yourself and say it does you a world of good but we both know that's a lie don't we? Loneliness really is the bitterest of feelings isn't it? I should know, I FUCKING LIVED IT."
No, she took a calm breath, no, this would not work if she lost control. It would prove nothing.
"So who was it Miss Matthews, Miss? Jeanine? Who destroyed your heart so badly you had to convince yourself you like solitude?"
They were small things really, perfectly manicured nails digging in to flesh, the slight twitch beside her left eye. Mild creasing around her pursed lips. And it was all Kazana needed to see to know that Jeanine Matthews was pissed.
"Eric, get rid of her."
She laughed again, the sound was more wild this time. Fear and fury and regret fusing together as a choked giggle.
"Yes Eric, do be a good pet and shoot the damn girl," Kazana mocked and saw as dark rage swam in his grey orbs, an incensed reflection of her own gaze. A fleeting image came to her then, a vision of their first fight, it was the first time he had come to recognize her as a worthy opponent.
It wasn't clear who drew their weapon first, but breaths fell as silent pants when the two foes held their guns in steady hands. Eric and Kazana stood side on from each other, eyes locked in a burning battle and neither dared say a word as they aimed for the other's head.
One month ago
Streaks of gold and burnt orange filtered in to the evening sky, it appeared a false sense of warmth in the approaching winter. Reprieve could be found in the painstaking task of repairing the heinous damage done to the fence, it at least kept out the chill.
A sticky film of sweat coated Kaz's body as she worked alongside the others, a soldering iron clasped in both hands and a clouded mask guarding her face. They had managed in quick succession to form a basic structure, but something did not sit well as she glanced over at the other group.
Whilst some had been tasked with the preparing of materials, cutting and measuring, Kazana worked steadfastly on fusing the following pieces together. A frustrated groan tore from her throat as she tried in vain to make them fit, incompetent idiots. She switched the iron off and exhaled noisily to stare at the sunset through misted glass.
"-I hear she practically fucked her way through initiation," a female voice from the other group sneered. Kaz's ears pricked up at the sound, leaning in closer to catch the conversation.
"Yeah well it's not hard to believe is it? The way she looks at him like a needy puppy. Probably begged him to let her stay."
"Why her though?" the girl spoke in hushed tones "He had a pick of the lot, and that's the best he could do?"
"I dunno," another guy in the group laughed, "I'd fuck her."
They broke out in to a myriad of guffaws and arguments, Kazana knew she was at the centre of their jeering and all she had to do was turn the iron on. Drown them out. Their voices would become nothing but muted blurs, but damn if she was going to let that happen.
"Excuse me?" she called and watched as they stopped to turn to her cautiously. Kaz pushed the mask up to rest on her hair and brushed a drop of perspiration from her head. "I just wanted to know what pattern it was you were using?"
They exchanged confused glances before the girl looked up at her in bored disdain.
"What?"
"The pattern," Kaz repeated slowly as though to a child, "For the fence? I'm having a little trouble attaching the pieces over there and I hoped you could help me?"
"There is no pattern," another boy snorted and grinned at his friend. "You just fucking cut the pieces and fill the gap, is that difficult?"
"Oh no it's just. You see the bars holding this fence up? They're criss-crossed, intricately. It's a sound structure designed to maintain the sturdy defence. Because you see," she smiled, "Should we not carry on that pattern it would create a little something called an inconstancy, a weakness. And if something were to I don't know…attack? That weakness? Then the entirety of this structure would crumble and destroy everything in its wake. Leaving the city vulnerable and defenceless…oh, and of course killing thousands of guards in the process."
A heady silence followed.
"So I'll ask you again," her voice took on a darker tone, "What pattern were you using?"
"W-we…we weren't,"
"That's right," she snarled, "You weren't. Maybe you should focus on doing your fucking job instead of discussing my sex life."
Kazana ripped a scroll of paper depicting the design from the inner lapel of her jacket and threw it within their seated circle.
"Get to work."
She watched as they scrambled for the sheet and satisfied, turned swiftly on her heel to finish her soldering. The mask was halfway down her face when she looked over to see Eric regarding her with dark amusement. He had seen everything, and judging by his dilated gaze and sensual smile, he had very much enjoyed it.
Present day
Frightened cries and muffled sobs crackled through the air, the sounds came directly from the speakers as soldier after soldier forced a grey clad innocent to their knees. Kazana's eyes however were not on the screen, they remained fixed on the man before her. Within the room itself, it was deadly quiet.
What she wanted more than anything, in that exact moment, was to see a murderer.
Her finger hovered on the trigger, as did his. Were he a murderer, a sick twisted killer, a villain, a tyrant, the enemy. She could pull it, and he would die, and maybe so would she.
But he was Eric.
And she fucking couldn't.
Kaz prepared to close her eyes; if she could not see him as a target then maybe eliminating the image altogether would help her shoot.
A heavy weight pressed down on her stomach, fear and desperation clawed at her throat, madness tore within her mind, a raging battle between anger and anguish. They were on the very verge of death, the teetering ledge between living and dying, and a twitch of a finger away.
The wall collapsed.
This was not a clever metaphor, not an intricate detailing for the inner goings of her mind. No.
The wall in which the entrance stood, was literally obliterated before their very eyes and fell with an almighty roar.
The room fell in to chaos, bodies scattered in search for safety as blocks of rubble catapulted in all directions. Blackened, crumbled stone littered the floor and Kazana watched as the very corridor in which she had stood became openly visible. There in the vast hall above The Pit, clad in thick goggles with her jaw practically to the floor, was Lisa.
And she was currently stood in a very large, very armed, great black tank.
Kaz had no time to waste; she watched as Jeanine clambered on her knees towards the screens, pristine blue attire smudged with dark stains. Eric was already on his feet and reaching for a gun, the guards continued to struggle on the floor.
"GO! NOW!" she roared and shoved forcefully at the swarm of bodies that descended back down the hall. They had a chance. They actually had a chance. Whatever happened to her now it didn't matter, because they would survive.
Their time was fleeting however, slipping rapidly through their fingers as stray bullets whizzed past her ears. Kazana dived to the ground and picked up the plastic gun, one guard had already begun to chase after the crowd with vicious determination. She rolled on to her back and shot three darts in his direction, two hit the wall opposite and one hit him right in the arse. He keeled over in seconds.
Suddenly Tris was at her side, wrenching her by the arm as they sprinted towards the screens.
Kaz watched in dismay as she saw Eric was now engaged in a different fight altogether…with Cain. Her eyes darted back and forth as the two men forgot their guns, tearing violently in to each other, and the dark figures on the screen raised their weapons to begin the massacre.
"How's the scar?" Cain yelled as he sunk his fist in to Eric's jaw. The Dauntless leader who had the advantage of muscle on his side threw the older man to the floor and stamped on his ribs.
"What makes you think there is one?" Eric sneered and a fleeting realization hit her as she remembered his stab wound…the one she had fixed.
Her trainer's reply went unheard as she surged forward to hold off Jeanine, she did not take in to account the second guard trailing her every movement.
A sharp pain blossomed in the right side of her abdomen, Kazana crashed to the floor with a gasping cry. Fresh crimson stained her fingers as she grappled at the bullet wound.
The strangled scream had both men halting in their tracks; everything passed her by in a searing blur as Cain called her name and Eric stood frozen, unable to move, unable to comprehend.
Squinting through desperate eyes she saw Lisa and Mia running towards her, wrapping one arm over each shoulder to haul her away. But Kaz could not leave, not yet, and the pain, it was white hot stabs of agony in her side. She wasn't done, not yet.
"H-how, t-the tank…h-how," she mumbled, fabric was being wrapped around her torso, suffocating in its grip.
"Not me," Lisa explained frantically, dragging her to lie beside the truck.
"W-wh," she flicked out her tongue to wet dry, cracked lips, "Who?"
The answer came to her in an incomprehensible blur. Tori.
Tori tore from the truck and bypassed the girls, both men, the screens, dismissed it all as only one target lay before her eyes. Kazana's shock could only come in choked, confused gasps as she watched the woman knock Jeanine Matthews to the floor.
The hissed exchanges were barely visible, a distant haze but where once the Erudite leader was very much alive and in control, she now lay on the stone slab, a sharp blade protruding from her stomach as her glassy eyes stared up in to nothing.
Every screen covering the breadth of the wall turned to black as Tris emerged from behind them, eyes wide and frantic, Four stood at her side.
Kaz was overcome with bewilderment, and she wanted so badly to question, to run, to move, but she was so damn weak and her body burned from the pain.
"Er-" she inhaled a straggled breath, white dots blurring her vision. Was it over? Had the simulation been shut down? But all she could say was, "E-Eri-"
And then a door was opening, and bodies were holding her, lifting her, she was being crammed in to a dark space and it smelt like leather and gas and smoke. A vicious roar tore through the air and seared at her skull, she cried out but it was faded, muted even.
Kaz's head dropped hard and heavy on to cool surface, her chest rose and fell in struggling pants as she stared out through dimmed glass. Everything jolted beneath her, a sharp backwards, forwards motion that she recognized all too well, and then she was moving.
The truck pulled away, descending through the vast corridors in search of an exit. Her half lidded gaze stared out but she didn't see, all she saw were the cold grey eyes that had burned in to her as she drove away.
One month ago
She still wasn't speaking to him.
The remainder of the evening had passed in quick succession, but a heavy sense of dissatisfaction weighed heavily in her gut. Eric dismissed them all at 8pm that evening, by which time the fall skies had already filtered in, casting the city in to darkness.
But 9 o clock had come and gone and Kazana did not leave, she had a job to do after all. There was a pleasant ambience as flickering candles glowed in the distant fields, guards on night duty chatted amiably above and the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread wafted through the air.
She worked quietly, finding a gentle rhythm as she hammered newly soldered planks in to the fence. Sweets songs sounded from over in the Amity houses, and though she had never truly appreciated their lifestyle before, it seemed in that moment, like perfection.
Kaz had just begun to hum along when a wave of awareness passed over her, she felt him first. Before his voice fell hot and tantalizing in her ear, his solid chest was pressed against her back and even the warmth of his body could not stop her shiver.
"I thought I told you to leave," he murmured. His low breaths tickled her ear.
"I wasn't done."
Kazana exhaled shakily as his solid arms came to wrap firmly around her waist, dragging her back in to his hard chest.
"Always trying to defy me," he growled against her neck, lips brushing the skin beneath her ear tantalizingly soft. She wanted to fall against him completely, tilt her head to allow him full access, desperate to feel hot kisses against her flesh. But when had she ever made it easy?
"They ruined it you know," Kaz's breath hitched as his tongue flicked out to draw a gentle line along her jaw. "The urm, t-the fence, th-the design is weak."
Eric's hum against her jaw was another exhale of smoky sweet breath; she could feel his lips curving in to a smirk. "Why do you think I brought you Little Bat?"
Kazana could not even muster up a sense of guilt as she dropped the hammer to cross her arms over his, even through the layers of clothing; she could still feel the delicious heat of his body behind hers. When he spoke again, she closed her eyes, and savoured the deep sound.
"You're quite the little mistress aren't you?" he teased, and trailed his palm slowly down her stomach to rest on her hip, he brought her further back until she felt the unmistakable hardness of his erection.
"You feel what you do to me?" he hissed gently, and damn she could only moan in response. "Seeing you rip in to those nobodies made me want to fuck you against the fence then and there."
Kazana's breath stuttered, and then he was pressed hot open mouthed kissed down the smooth skin of her neck, his tongue teasing lines against her collar bone.
"Is that what you want?" he questioned softly, his lips brushing her shoulder. "Do you want me to take you right now?"
"Mmm," she moaned and rolled her hips, revelling in the hiss that sounded against her skin, "Anyone could see."
"I don't care," he growled and she could not help a breathless laugh at his impatience. Kaz turned to face him and felt the grip tighten; his eyes were dark molten silver boring in to hers. Eric's palms slid in slow heated movements to the backs of her thighs and lifted her up to wrap her legs around his waist.
She was slammed in to the barely repaired structure just as his mouth fell hot and desperate against hers, a muffled groan escaped them both, an animalistic sound of need. He was impossibly hard for her and damn if she couldn't feel it pressing so deliciously between her thighs, oh fuck, right there.
He tore the band from her ponytail, dark waves fell down to her hips and covered them both, a carnal growl sounded against her lips as his hands buried themselves tightly in her hair and tilted her head back to deepen the kiss.
Kazana could have lost it right there, her mind was hazed with desire and the friction just felt so perfect… but she was still aware. Her eyes cracked open ever so slightly to see the curious gazes of the guards above; with great reluctance she broke away to murmur in his ear.
"Take me to bed, you Neanderthal."
And soon the evening ambience was filled with her elated laughter as he hauled her over his shoulder for a second time that day.
Present day
"Well we can't stay in the city!"
"Of course we can! We have the upper hand now, when the Dauntless revol-"
"They won't revolt, are you kidding? We'd have nothing left. The syst-"
"The system is finished. Done, fuck they just tried to kill an entire faction!"
"What and you think we'll actually find anything out there? It's a wasteland!"
"Better to actually try then stay here and get slaughtered, Eric will have the entire city on a manhunt."
Voices, voices, indiscernible voices. Kaz had not given in to the darkness, not yet. But there she lay in the midst of light and dark and it all passed in a blur, a truck, a train, a fence.
"With what army? Erudite? They'd probably hold the gun backwards and shoot themselves in the face!"
"Hey!"
"Sorry Cal."
Tris, that was Tris' voice. Kazana sucked in a sharp breath, searing agony shot through her lungs, it hurt to even breathe.
"Woah there girl, don't try and sit up," Cain's fatherly drawl was an instant relaxant but that soon gave way to confusion.
"Evelyn," Kaz wheezed, a choked, useless noise that sounded more like 'Evnih'
"She's safe, we got her in the truck just before you passed out."
"I didn-" she couldn't waste her precious breaths, but she hadn't, she hadn't passed out. Her throat felt painfully dry, her tongue flicked out uselessly to lull on her lips. "Whurmy?" Where am I, she had meant to say where the fucking hell am I.
"Amity safe house for now, we sent Mia out to find your friends. Wes is it? They should be back soon."
Her eyes cracked open a bare sliver, a blurry haze of green confirmed his words but she just needed to see faces. Something to accompany the voices. There were so many voices.
Jack Kang was a bare wisp of a man, all watery eyes and trembling lips. But he was the best Eric had. The Dauntless Compound was at present, a ghost town. He had no doubt in his mind that many would return and when they did he would make sure they were a force to be reckoned with.
It was in that moment quite impossible, even for a cool, sharp thinker like Eric, to understand the gravity of what had just happened. He glared in to the rushing waters of The Chasm where they currently resided and tried to break it down.
The simulation had failed, the Abnegation remained alive.
Jeanine Matthews, Leader of Erudite and his former associate, was dead.
Thousands of Dauntless, Abnegation and Factionless were currently scouring the city purposelessly.
One of three leaders had turned traitor.
Kazana was leader of the Factionless.
And she was…gone.
A tall, hollow figure was making his way towards them; heavy steps fell with echoing creaks on the bridge but his mind remained numb.
"Well that was a fucking disaster," Sloane slurred, he had in his hand a large bottle of gin and drank from it leisurely as the two men leaned on the railing. Kang of course, stayed well away from the edge, wiry limbs quivering in the cave's chill.
"Still managed to kill a few before they got away though," the older man grinned widely even as Eric did not reply, did not even spare him a single look. "Hey've you seen my girl? She disappeared when we got to Abnegation."
"She's gone," Eric said coolly.
"Gone? Really?" Sloane pursed his lips but seemed otherwise unbothered as he took another swig.
"Managed to take a piece of Jeanine with her too,"
"No way! Tori?" The older man released a hysterical sort of laugh, the odd sound bounced off the walls menacingly. "Guess we'll have to kill her then," he shrugged, not the relaxed movement one would expect from a man who had just announced the execution of his partner.
A tense silence fell over the three as Eric was lost once more to his thoughts, aching calm was giving way to resentment and it wouldn't be long before that too turned to searing rage.
"So I didn't see Kaz anywhere tonight, think she might be Divergent?"
Eric stiffened but still his glacial stare remained fixed ahead.
"No. She didn't get the chip. I locked her in."
"…So that means-is she still…," Sloane drifted off, but Eric knew. Was she still up there? Had she stayed? Well…no. He did not speak straight away, the words felt foreign on his tongue
"She was the rat."
There was a shift in the air, a cold wave of realization. But Eric was already cold, and he did not see Sloane's eyes darken at the words.
"Factionless?" he sneered.
"Their leader."
A sharp intake of breath, a clenching of fists.
Eric did not see. Blue tinted shadows passed over his face in rhythmic waves.
"In order to regain control we have to get rid of the ones who hold the power," Eric spoke.
Sloane scrutinized his expression for a few moments, but found, to his satisfaction, no signs of affection. No mourning over love lost.
"So if we see the perpetrators…?"
Eric stood to his full height and looked down at the man with steeled eyes.
"Then we kill on sight," he finished, and turned away to walk out of The Chasm.
He did not see Sloane's lips curve in to a slow grin.
Slabs of sickly sweet dough were poking her lips, an unwanted intrusion against her mouth but she was powerless to stop it. Kaz's weak eyes gazed up to see Wes, the big bear, hovering above her with a sad smile.
"Hey there your highness," his voice was softer than she had ever heard, and it broke her heart. "Thought you might want something to eat after the most traumatic day of your life."
If she hadn't been in paralyzing pain, she'd have laughed. Of course anything could be fixed with food. Her face broke in to a shaky smile, but it may have appeared as more of a grimace. Kazana shook her head, once, twice and swallowed, her throat really was on fire.
"W-wat, W-wat," she stammered
"Warts?" he questioned, "Don't worry, they're not bad, your face will be fine in a few days!" Wes grinned and she didn't know whether she wanted to laugh along or punch him in the face.
"Wat-watuh."
"Watermelon? I'm not sure if they grow that here; maybe try the next field along?"
She found her voice then, with a deep shaky inhale.
"Weston, b-bring me water now or so help me I'll kick your arse all over again."
"Ah there's the girl we know and love," he winked.
"Are you terrorizing her already? Girl's just got shot and you still find time to crack jokes," Vesper's husky drawl was a welcoming blanket of reassurance. They were safe.
"Turf?" she gasped. Her eyes darted down to see thick white bandages covering the breadth of her torso. When had that happened? She didn't even remember falling asleep.
"He's fine, everyone's fine…well I mean, I don't know about your…people-" Vesper broke off and the two came to sit on either side of her soft mattress.
"Yeah thanks for telling us you're a badass, undercover spy, rebel leader," Wes huffed with mock annoyance.
"M-must have s-slipped my mind," Kaz smiled, though really her heart was pounding, none of it was sinking in. The scratchy ache came back full force, she coughed violently and cried out as the force sent new waves of agony rippling down her spine.
"Fuck! Kaz, Kaz! It's okay, damn it Wes go get her some water!"
"There isn't any, I've searched everywhere,"
"What do you mean there isn't any?! Ever heard of a tap?! Fuck I-"
"There aren't any taps in this place," Wes gestured around; Kaz barely registered the walls floating out like sheets. It must have been a tent of some kind.
"I've got some," a new voice chimed in, soft and lilting. A kind face with bubble-gum pink hair came to stand at Kazana's side and never had she looked as appealing as when a cool refreshing bottle of water was in her hand.
Sophie unscrewed the cap and held the bottle to her lips, the chilled liquid was a fountain of gold as it wet her lips and soothed her throat. She glugged the water with weak, clumsy motions but did not stop until every drop was gone.
"T-thank-"
"Hey don't worry about it," she smiled but her face turned serious all of a sudden as she regarded the other two in earnest. "We have to move her."
"WHAT!"
"NO!"
Vesper and Wes stood with shouted protests, only stopping as they saw Kazana wince at the piercing sounds. Sophie shook her head sadly, "That Cain guy said the wound needs cleaning, if we don't get her to med it'll infect."
Kaz did not concern herself with words such as 'wound' and 'infect', she felt impossibly high, all she wanted to do was sleep.
"We'll help you then-"
"No! No, that's alright I've got it," Sophie laughed shakily and grasped the steel bars of Kazana's bed frame, they wheeled out of the tent and a fresh breeze tickled her hair. Serene bodies floated by, they were weaving in and out of linen structures, tepees, tents' she could not really discern.
"Mmmmnnnn," Kaz moaned dizzily and lulled her head back, she could see right up her pink haired friend's nose, how funny, she wanted to chuckle.
"W-what a m-mess."
"Right?" Sophie concurred; they were entering in to a new tent. Kazana preferred the word tepee, it sounded cuter, the pain was beginning to give way to a delicious numbness.
"Hummm," Kaz smiled dreamily, "Maybe I should have listened."
"What was that?" Sophie went to the open entrance and pulled the fabric aside, they were closed in. Closed in an adorable tepee, Kaz wheezed with laughter.
"To Max," she sighed, "Well…not Max, really, I don't know," she snorted. Her friend's hazel eyes were narrowed as they regarded her swaying form.
"About what sweetie?" Sophie murmured distractedly.
"Mmnngghh," Kaz mumbled, "about staying away, taking them, about stopping," a hysteric sort of giggle sounded then, a laugh verging on a sob, "N-now I'll never s-see him ag-ain."
A cool hand pressed against her forehead, a soft caress, she leaned in to the touch.
"Hey, hey Ssshh, it's fine, everything's fine, it's good you took the serums," Sophie cooed.
A warm feeling washed over her, sweet and numbing in its embrace. Her blurry, glazed eyes barely caught the dark silhouettes hovering outside. Something nagged at her, an unwelcome pinch, a thought, her deadened mind sought desperately to place it.
"I-,"
Shadowed figures were ascending in to the tent…tepee? Damn she didn't care anymore.
"I- didn't-"
The thought was escaping her, what was it? Why was it so important anyway? Why couldn't she just let go. The soothing hand on her forehead was…shaking. The sick churning of fear suffused through her consciousness.
"I didn't mention a serum," she whispered.
Large amber eyes were full of regret as they gazed down at her, but the drug was already in place.
"I'm so sorry Kazana."
That's the last thing she heard before it all went black.