To Forge Forever

by My Writing Is This

Just when one fight ended, another began. Having found each other, our family was whole again. I had Eric back and we were free to be together and happy. But the war was far from over. Breaking free of it all, we were still on the path of discovery, pain, and loss. Holding on to the little happiness we could find and the hope for a better future. A forever with the man I loved.

22. Play Their Game

Chapter Twenty-two: Play Their Game

It didn't take long for the sound of commotion to filter into the room. There was yelling and the sound of fists against flesh. Listening to it was like music to my ears. Smiling, I listened as it got louder the closer he got to me. I could hear running and more yelling before there was the sound of someone landing on the ground. There were even gun shots that momentarily made me panic, but there was one voice that never stopped.

Eric's.

And he was pissed.

I knew I shouldn't condone him fighting and hurting soldiers just because I was detained for doing the same thing. I had wanted to destroy anything that mattered to David and this place. I never got that chance. I only hoped that Tris would come up with some sort of plan to fix this. We couldn't let David release the memory serum on the city. Not ours or any of the others.

"Pen!" Eric's voice screamed.

Getting to my feet, I rushed to the door, slamming my hands against it, "Eric! Eric!"

"Pen!" His voice yelled, closer now.

Pounding harder, I took a deep breath, "ERIC!"

Then he was pounding back, "Pen! Baby, I'm here."

"Eric." I said with tears in my eyes. "I'm sorry."

Hearing his steps move away from the door, there was a yell, and then the sound of a body being dragged. "Please don't. Please just stop. I was just doing my job."

"Open the door." Eric told him harshly.

"I don't have the key." He replied with fear.

"Then who the fuck does?!" Eric screamed at him.

"Baby." I said softly through the door.

Hearing him yell, there was slamming against the door, making me jump back. The door vibrated but it didn't give against him. "Damnit!" He yelled.

"Baby." I repeated.

"What the hell happened, Pen?" He replied.

"Talk to Tris." I told him. "I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm going to get you out of there." He told me with conviction.

Shaking my head, a tried not to sound like I was crying. "Eric, I'm going to be okay. Just go talk to Tris and make a plan. I know you'll get me out when it's time to act. And if you can't, I won't hold it against you. I did this to myself."

"Pen, I'm not going to leave you here." He told me sadly.

Laughing lightly, I nodded to myself, wiping the tears from my eyes, "Yes you are, baby. You're going to leave me here and go deal with that's going on. You know where to find me."

"I'm not leaving you here!" He yelled through the door, slamming his hands against it again.

"I love you."

"Knock it off." He shot back almost instantaneously.

Smiling, I ran my hand along the spot where I thought his might be. "You knew I was going to say that."

"Of course I did." He replied. "I know everything about you."

Putting my forehead against the door, I shut my eyes, tears falling down my cheeks. Furrowing my brows, I took a deep breath. "It's not like this is the end." I told him. "I'm not going to be killed or imprisoned for the rest of my life. I'm just…stuck." There was silence from the other side but I could faintly hear him breathing. "You're not going anywhere, are you?" I smirked at him through the door.

Hearing him slid down it, I knelt, turning and leaning my back against the door as well. "I am where you are."

"You should go, baby." I told him even though I wanted him to stay.

"You're supposed to say it back." He replied and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

Laughing lightly, I nodded, "I am where you are too, Eric. But this isn't your fault. This is my fault. I overreacted without thinking and landed myself in here. I tried to shoot up the lab so I'm pretty sure they're not going to let me out any time soon."

There was a long pause before he replied. "You what?"

"I know, I know." I told him. "But I'm not going to explain what we found out through this door. I need you to go to Tris and Four and make a plan."

"Not without you."

"Yes without me!" I unintentionally yelled at him. "Eric, you can't stay here. You need to go make yourself useful. Part of the plan has fallen through and you need to stay away from me until they decide what they're going to do with me."

"Pen, they know I'm with you. Everyone knows what happens when they mess with one of us. The other always comes running. There are still soldiers waiting to be brought to the hospital. I'm pretty sure they'll do the same thing to me that they did to you just for precautions. If they try and do anything to you – I mean anything – they will have to answer to me and you know how that will go."

"All the more reason to go talk to the others and make a plan."

"You can be so infuriating!" He yelled.

"So can you!" I yelled back. "Seriously, Eric. For once, just do as I'm asking."

"And just leave you here." He said with annoyance.

"Yes!" I shot through the door. He sighed and I could hear small pounds on the door, his head hitting it. Sighing as well, I ran my fingers down the door. "I know this isn't what we had planned. But I'm okay. You're okay. We'll figure it out." I told him, being met with silence. "But you need to get up and you need to walk away from me. Leave me here. Maybe they'll let me out before it all goes down."

"What's going down?" He shot at me through the door.

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?" I shot back at him.

"Yeah, yeah." He replied and I heard him get up. "Go talk to Tris."

Swiftly getting to my feet, I turned to the door, "Are you going to?"

"Yeah." He replied.

Taking a slow breath, I nodded, "Okay. Be careful, baby. I love you."

"I'm not saying it back." He replied.

Feeling emotion start to sink in, I whispered, "Why not?"

"Because…" He replied.

"Please?"

I heard him laugh lightly, "I love you, Pen. More than anything."

"Good. Now go get 'em tiger."

There was a pause before he laughed, "Seriously?"

"It's all I've got right now." I replied lightly.

He sighed, "Just try and keep your head and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'd like that."

Hearing his steps retreat, I felt the first wave of fear. I didn't know what was going to happen and I hated being forced apart from him. There wasn't a window to see him through or bars so I could touch him. I just hoped that he would talk to Tris and they would figure out a way to get me out of here.

It hadn't quite been an hour when there was commotion once again in the hallway. There were groans and the occasional exclamation of pain. Getting to my feet, I faced the door, listening to try and figure out what was going on. Then there were voices outside my door, hearing David's voice order it to be opened. Stepping back, I crossed my arms, frowning as the door swung open and David wheeled himself in. For a long moment, we just looked at each other. I didn't know what he was thinking and I didn't want to make a bad situation worse by letting my temper flare again.

"Have you calmed down?" David asked kindly.

My temper spiked again, but I managed to keep myself under control. "Yes."

"Do you want to tell me what you were thinking?" He asked.

Sighing, I took a slow deep breath, "I was surprised about your plan to reset the city. I know I overreacted, but I don't agree with it."

"You don't have to." He told me sternly.

I nodded at him, "I know."

"So what do you intend on doing now?"

"I know there is nothing I can do. You're the leader of this compound and will have the final say. I just wish you'd consider the consequences of what resetting them would be."

He was as calm as ever when he replied, "I have thought of them. I've also accepted them and deemed them worth the risk versus losing all the experiments and the generations of life's work we have put into this compound."

"I have friends and family in that city." I frowned at him.

"And I am deeply sorry about that. But you are here and you need you respect the decisions of this compound."

"We were delivered false pretenses."

"Be that as it may, you're here." He told me. After a long pause, he raised his brows and looked at me, "But I suppose I could consider letting whoever of you who wishes it to return to the city and be reset with the rest of them."

"No." I replied quickly. "I appreciate the gesture but I'd like to keep my memories."

"And Eric's no doubt." He added. I couldn't help but glare at him, getting a smile in response. "I like to know my enemy."

"Am I your enemy?" I frowned harder at him.

He held my eyes for a long moment. "No, Penelope. I don't believe you to be my enemy. You just don't understand enough about what's going on to form a proper opinion. You're blinded by your feelings, and you should be, but as I said, you need to respect this facility and not interfere."

After a long moment where we just stared at each other, I finally sighed and nodded, "I understand. I apologize for my reaction."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

"What now?"

"You're free to go."

Frowning, I didn't move, not quite believing him, "This isn't a trick or anything, is it?"

He smiled at me, "No, Pen, this is not a trick."

"Thank you." I told him.

"No more meetings for you." He smirked before rolling himself out of the room.

The door was left open and I waited a few long moments for him to leave. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly as I stepped toward the door, peering around the corner. Soldiers were still being picked up from the floor, being put on gurneys or assisted by others as they were taken to the hospital. Eric had done a good job at tearing them apart. There was blood on the floor and the walls, some unconscious while others were groaning, swiveling their heads as they lay in pain. Others just looked pissed off. But if anyone attempted to seek retaliation, they'd only get hurt twice as badly.

"Pen." Heath said, passing one of his comrades off to another.

"Was anyone killed?" I asked him.

"No." He said shaking his head. "Your boyfriend was very calculated." Smiling, I nodded at him. "Seeing it made me think of you. I'd hate to fight against the pair of you."

Laughing, I nodded again, "You'd definitely lose."

"And he did this just because you were arrested." He said and shook his head, a look of both awe and shock on his face. "What the hell would he do if you were hurt?"

Putting my hand on his shoulder, I smirked at him, "You don't want to know."

"I'll be sure to keep my head down." He replied.

"Do you know where he is?" I asked.

"Here." Eric replied from behind me.

Turning, I grinned and opened my arms as he reached me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, his were around my waist, lifting me off of the floor. Wrapping one arm around his head, I buried my face in his neck. He did the same and I could feel how tense he was.

Pressing my lips against his neck, he put me back onto my feet, gently taking my face in his hands, "I love you."

"I love you." He replied and kissed me deeply.

Heath cleared his throat, making us both look at him. His brows were raised and several soldiers were glaring our way. "You should probably get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Eric replied, gripping my hand and swiftly moving down the hall.

Gripping his arm, I pressed my shoulder against the back of it, "Did you talk to Tris? Where is everyone?" He didn't say anything. "Eric."

He kept looking over his shoulder, his grip on my hand tight. He was worried. Not the usual worried. Something had been decided, something that clearly made him anxious. Keeping quiet, I kept glancing over our shoulders every time Eric did. At one point two soldier's looked at us suspiciously, starting to follow us. Eric started to walk faster, practically shoving me around the corner and into the nearest room. Pulling me tightly against him, we kept our breathing shallow, not moving as we waited for them to pass. Staring into Eric's eyes, he slowly started to relax, cracking the door open before slipping out. Doing the same, we looked down either end of the hall. Taking my hand again, we started down it, taking several turns until we were near the labs.

"I shouldn't be here." I told him.

"You're fine." He replied looking over his shoulder before pushing me through the door.

"Opie." Four said moving to me.

Embracing him, I sighed, "Hey."

"You okay?" Tris asked.

Nodding, I took a deep breath, "Sure."

Eric wrapped his arm around me, pressing his lips against my hair. "You're okay."

"What's the plan?" I asked as I leaned into Eric.

"We're turning their plan against them." Tris told me.

Frowning, I looked at everyone in the room, "You mean wipe their memories instead?"

"Exactly." Tris smiled, then it faltered. "You don't look happy about that."

"We're here." I stated.

"There's a vaccine, remember?" She replied.

"Do we have access to it?" I asked next.

Then Matthew spoke, "Of course we do."

"How exactly does it work?" I asked him.

"We just went over this." He sighed.

"I wasn't here!" I told him, raising my voice.

"Okay." He nodded. "The memory serum targets explicit memories, like your name, where you grew up, your first teacher's name, and leaves implicit memories – like how to speak or tie your shoes or ride a bicycle – untouched."

"Okay." I nodded.

"Inevitably, some important memories will be lost." He went on. "But if we have a record of people's scientific discoveries or histories, they can relearn them in the hazy period after their memories are erased. People are very pliable then."

Looking up at Eric, his brows were furrowed. Meeting my eyes he leaned down, kissing me sweetly before putting his forehead against mine. "It's gonna be okay." He whispered to me.

"I know." I smirked, wrapping my arms around him as I pressed myself against his chest.

"Wait." Tris said. "If the Bureau is going to load all of those planes with the memory serum virus to reset the experiments, will there be any serum left to use against the compound?"

"We'll have to get it first." Matthew stated. "In less than forty-eight hours."

"That's not a lot of time to figure out how to do it." I told him, letting Eric go.

"After you erase their memories, won't you have to program them with new memories? How does that work?" Cara asked.

"We just have to reteach them. As I said, people tend to be disoriented for a few days after being reset, which means they'll be easier to control." Matthew replied, sitting and spinning in his chair once. He's too calm about all this. "We can just give them a new history class. One that teaches facts rather than propaganda."

"We could use the fringe's slide show to supplement a basic history lesson." Tris suggested. "They have photographs of a war caused by GPs."

Nodding, I met her eyes, giving her a smile.

"Great." Matthew nodded. "Big problem, though. The memory serum virus is in the Weapons Lab. The one Nita just tried – and failed – to break into."

"Christina and I were supposed to talk to Reggie, but I think, given this new plan, we should talk to Nita instead." Four replied.

"I think you're right." Tris agreed. "Let's go find out where she went wrong."

The pair moved to the door, Eric and I quickly following. There was no way in hell I was going to separate from them if I could help it. Everything was coming to a head and I didn't want to be split up from anyone. We now knew we had less than forty-eight hours to formulate and execute a plan to stop them from resetting the city. It left little room for error and we had to act quickly if we wanted to succeed.

"What's wrong?" Tris asked Four. "You hardly said anything during the meeting. None of you did." She added looking at us.

"I just…" Four started, shaking his head. "I'm not sure this is the right thing to do. They want to erase our friends' memories, so we decide to erase theirs?"

Tris stopped and turned to him, touching his shoulder lightly. "Tobias, we have forty-eight hours to stop them. If you can think of any other idea, anything else that could save our city, I'm open to it."

"There isn't one." Eric told her, getting a nod from her in response, then her eyes are back on Four.

"I can't." He told her, his voice sounding defeated. "But we're acting out of desperation to save something that's important to us – just like the Bureau is. What's the difference?"

"The difference is what's right." Tris told him firmly. "The people in the city, as a whole, are innocent. The people in the Bureau, who supplied Jeanine with the attack simulation, are not innocent."

"She has a point, Four." I told him gently. "In the grand scheme of things, they are the more guilty party."

He doesn't look convinced.

Tris sighed. "It's not a perfect situation. But when you have to choose between two bad options, you pick the one that saves the people you love and believe in most. You just do. Okay?"

Eric and I watched as our unofficial leaders decided what to do. Then I couldn't help but smile as Four reached for her hand, "Okay."

"Tris!" Christina pushed through the swinging doors to the hospital and jogged toward us. Peter is right behind her, his dark hair combed smoothly to the side.

"Something's wrong." I frowned.

"I just spoke to one of the doctors." She told Tris, breathless and a bit frantic. "The doctor says Uriah's not going to wake up. Something about…no brain waves."

Feeling my chest grow tight, I looked up at Eric, "That could have been you."

"Or you." He said sadly.

Giving him a small smile, I leaned against him, taking his hand again, "I love you."

"I love you." He replied and wrapped me in his arms.

"They were going to take him off life support right away, but I pleaded with them." She went on, wiping one of her eyes with the heel of her hand, catching a tear before it fell. "Finally the doctor said he would give me four days. So I can tell his family."

Zeke and everyone is still in the city. They were there and he was here, dying, and they didn't know about it. And if David got his way, then they would never know. They wouldn't even remember having a brother or a son. We had to win this. We had to get to the serum before the Bureau did.

"They're going to reset the city in forty-eight hours." Tris blurted out. "If we can't stop them, that means Zeke and his mother will forget him."

"What?" Christina demanded with eyes wide. "My family is in there. They can't reset everyone! How could they do that?"

"Pretty easily, actually." Peter stated.

"What are you even doing here?" Tris demanded of him.

"I went to see Uriah. Is there a law against it?" He shot back at her.

"You didn't even care about him." She spit back at him. "What right do you have –"

"Tris." Christina said shaking her head. "Not now, okay?"

"We have to go in." Four told them. "Matthew said we could inoculate people against the memory serum, right? So we'll go in, inoculate Uriah's family just in case, and take them back to the compound to say good-bye to him. We have to do it tomorrow, though, or we'll be too late." He said and paused. "And you can inoculate your family too, Christina. I should be the one who tells Zeke and Hana, anyway."

"And we'll take care of yours." Eric told me. Smiling, I nodded, tilting my chin up. He smiled and kissed me.

"I'm going too." Peter stated. "Unless you want me to tell David what you're planning."

"Blackmail. Seriously?" I frowned at him. But we didn't have a choice.

"Fine." Four told him. "But if you cause any trouble, I reserve the right to knock you unconscious and lock you in an abandoned building somewhere."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"Don't push us." I frowned at him.

"How do we get there?" Christina asked. "It's not like they just let people borrow cars."

"I bet we could get Amar to take you." Tris told her. "He told me today that he always volunteers for patrols. So he knows all the right people. And I'm sure he would agree to help Uriah and his family."

"I should go ask him now. And someone should probably sit with Uriah…make sure that doctor doesn't go back on his word. Christina, not Peter." Four said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "And then I should figure out how to tell Uriah's family that he got killed when I was supposed to be looking out for him."

"Tobias –" Tris said sadly, but he held up his hand.

He started to move away from us. "They probably won't let me visit Nita anyway."

"Me neither." Eric said looking down at me. Four stopped and looked at him.

Looking between them, I sighed and met Eric's eyes, nodding, "Okay."

He nodded, his brows furrowing, "Okay."

Smiling, I took his face in my hands and kissed him deeply, "I love you."

"I love you too, woman." He smirked.

Laughing lightly, grinning, I kissed him again. "I love you more than anything."

"I know you do." He nodded.

Four said his name at the same time Tris said mine. We both looked at our respective party before each other again. "We're holding up the team. Again."

He grinned and kissed me again, slowly starting to walk away with me still against him, his tongue slipping into my mouth. When he finally pulled away from me, I was breathless and eager for more. He simply winked at me and fell in step with Four, Peter following them.

"Sorry." I told Tris as I did the same.

"Forty-eight hours, Pen. Then you two can take a nice long vacation." She told me.

Sighing, smiling at the thought, I looked at her, "God I hope so."

"Come on." Christina told us. "Visiting hours are almost over. I'm going back to sit with Uriah."

Tris followed Christina to Uriah's room, leaving me to linger in the hall. I was never close with him and I didn't think I was very welcome. Though it would appear that I wasn't welcome here at all. Soldiers were moving up and down the hall and in and out of rooms, all of them glaring at me as they passed me by. The ones with slings, cuts, bruises and everything in between glared even harder. If looks could kill I would have been dead a long time ago.

"Kid." Doc said appearing from a room.

"Hey." I smiled at her.

"How are you? How's Eric?"

"He's good." I nodded at her. "We both are. Thank you."

She shook her head, "Don't thank me. I'm just happy it all worked out. And I should be thanking you and him for keeping me busy." She added with a grin. "You two are definitely not high on the popularity list around here."

Shrugging, I nodded, "Yeah, we have our moments."

"What brings you here?" She asked.

"Nita." I replied.

Her smile fell and she stepped closer to me, "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" I frowned at her.

"She's a traitor. There's only two reasons someone would want to talk to her and something tells me you don't want to offer her your sympathy."

"How do you feel about the Bureau?" I asked her. She subtly shook her head. I subtly nodded at her. "Then it's all good."

She nodded again, "Be careful, Kid. I don't want a repeat of what happened before. Not to you and not to him."

Smiling, I put my hand on her arm, "Don't worry. We've got a plan."

"That's not very comforting." She replied.

Nodding, I sighed, "Yeah."

"Pen." Tris said finally reappearing.

Doc gave me a stern look. "Be careful."

"I will." I nodded and followed Tris. "I promise." Stepping next to Tris, I looked at the guard in front of her room. "We have ten minutes."

"I know." She replied before we stopped in front of the guard. "Can I go in?"

"Not really supposed to let people in there." He replied.

"I'm the one who shot her. Does that count for anything?" Tris told him.

"Well." He shrugged. "As long as you promise not to shoot her again. And get out within ten minutes."

"It's a deal."

He made Tris take off her jacket to make sure she wasn't armed. He patted me down as well, satisfied, before he let us walk into the room. Nita jerked to attention, though it's poorly done since half her body is encased in plaster. One of her hands is cuffed to the bed, and I can't help but think how redundant that is since there is no way she'd be able to escape even if she wanted to. Her hair was messy and knotted, but she was still pretty. I knew there was no reason to feel threatened by her but I couldn't help it. She was still the girl that my boyfriend was running around with in the middle of the night. He would never be unfaithful, but it still bothered me.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Tris didn't reply, both of us moving to opposite sides of the room, checking for cameras. Tris snapped at me, pointing at one across from her, pointing at Nita's bed.

"There aren't microphones. They don't really do that here." She told us.

"Good." Tris said and pulled up a chair to sit next to her. I lingered behind her, crossing my arms. "I'm here because I need important information from you."

"I already told them everything I felt like telling them." She glared at her. "I've got nothing more to say. Especially not to the person who shot me."

"Then tell me." I shot at her.

"If I hadn't shot you, I wouldn't be David's favorite person, and I wouldn't know all the things I know." Tris told her, glancing at the door. Her paranoia quickly moved to me, making me move to it, double-checking that no one was listening. "We've got a new plan. Matthew and I. And Tobias, Eric, and Pen. And it will require getting into the Weapons Lab."

"And you thought I could help you with that?" She said shaking her head. "I couldn't get in the first time, remember?"

"I need to know what the security is like. Is David the only person who knows the pass code?"

"Not like…the only person ever." She replied. "That would be stupid. His superiors know it, but he's the only person in the compound, yes."

"Okay, then what's the backup security measure? The one that is activated if you explode the doors?"

She pressed her lips together so they almost disappear. It made her less attractive which made me feel better about her for a moment. She's staring at her cast, mulling over if she should tell us or not. "It's the death serum." She finally told us.

"Excuse me?" I frowned, fear filling me as I took a slow step toward her.

"In aerosol form, it's practically unstoppable. Even if you wear a clean suit or something, it works its way in eventually. It just takes a little more time that way. That's what the lab reports said."

"So they just automatically kill anyone who makes their way into that room without the pass code?" Tris frowned.

"It surprises you?"

"No." I said and started to pace.

"I guess not." Tris told her, balancing her elbows on her knees. "And there's no other way in except with David's code."

"Which, as you found out, he is completely unwilling to share." She reminded her.

"There's no chance a GP could resist the death serum?" Tris asked next.

I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at her as I waited for her to reply.

"No. Definitely not."

Lifting my eyes to the ceiling, I started to pace again, "Damnit."

"Most GPs can't resist the truth serum, either. But I can." Tris told her.

"If you want to go flirt with death, be my guest." She replied as she leaned back against the pillows. "I'm done with that now."

"One more question." Tris told her. "Say I do want to flirt with death. Where do I get explosives to break through the doors?"

"Like I'm going to tell you that."

"I would if I were you." I shot at her, feeling a little panicked. Two words kept repeating over and over again in my mind.

Death serum.

"I don't think you get it." Tris told her. "If this plan succeeds, you won't be imprisoned for life anymore. You'll recover and you'll go free. So it's in your best interest to help me."

Tris and I both stared at her and she stared back, weighing the odds in her head. Her wrist tugged against the handcuff, just enough that the metal carved a line into her skin. She sighed and looked at Tris.

"Reggie has the explosives." She told us. "He can teach you how to use them, but he's no good in action, so for God's sake, don't bring him along unless you feel like babysitting."

"Noted." Tris replied.

"Tell him it will require twice as much firepower to get through those doors than any others. They're extremely sturdy."

Tris and I both nodded. Her watch beeped, telling us it was the top of the hour and that our time was up. Tris stood, pushing the chair back to the corner she had got it from. I was already at the door, anxious to leave and find our men again. This wasn't what I had expected and the thought of trying to get into the lab now seems impossible and not worth the risk. If we got enough of the vaccine, maybe we could inoculate enough of the people we cared about until a different plan could be made. But this? We didn't have time and someone was more than likely going to die.

"Thank you for the help." Tris told her.

"What is the plan?" She asked. "If you don't mind telling me."

Tris paused, hesitating as she tried to figure out if she should tell her or not. If it all went well, she wouldn't remember any of this anyway.

"Well, let's just say it will erase the phrase 'genetically damaged' from everyone's vocabulary." She finally replied.

The guard opened the door, more than likely about to tell us to leave, only I'd already walked through it, thanking him for opening the door. Looking over my shoulder, Tris was following me, both of us looking at Nita before the door closed, seeing a small smile on her face. Even if she didn't remember any of this, we were still completing her plan, just not the way she intended.