"That is the last time I let you make the plan." Eric growled as Four carelessly, and pain medicine free, dug the bullet out of Eric's shoulder.

"You're lucky I let you live." Four scoffed as he dressed the wound in Eric's shoulder. "Besides, I had to fire the gun, there had to be blood, and they couldn't exactly find the bullet in the wall if we want Erudite to think you are dead."

"Gee thanks. Your girlfriend stabs me and then you shoot me… really letting me live aren't you. And I didn't want Erudite to think I was dead. Your stupid idea has possibly just killed Dresden!" Eric was pissed, if Jeanine thought he was dead nothing was going to stop her cutting Dresden's life support so she could start dissecting her. In fact, why would she even wait until she was dead? Why not just carve her up while she was still breathing, better results from live tissue samples anyway.

"You said Dresden is in trouble, start talking." Four snapped throwing the supplies back in the med kit and stepping around to the other side of the table where Tori and Harrison had already taken seats. Tris stood in the far corner, she shouldn't have been there but no one was going to stop her. Tori and Harrison hadn't been overly impressed by Four's decision to spare Eric and bring him back to Dauntless. They'd both agreed Eric was just playing with his emotions, but Four hadn't been so sure. Eric had seemed truly desperate. He'd had a look in his eyes that Four had only seen once before when he'd tried to follow Dresden into the burning building.

"Abnegation was hiding a box; Jeanine now has it. It holds some important message and she is desperate to hear it but it can only be opened by a Divergent."

"That's what she has in her lab? That's why she is hunting Divergents?" Tori interrupted Eric and despite him technically having no power in the room, the look he threw Tori shut her up.

"Jeanine thought all Divergents were the same. Turns out there are different percentages of Divergence."

"The scanner?" This time it was Harrison that cut Eric off and again Eric gave him a nasty look but at least this time he answered the question.

"It tells us the percentage of Divergence. But Jeanine didn't work this out until she'd already put Dresden into the sim to open the box. This sim though it's not like the fear sim in initiation. If you get hurt in this sim, you get hurt in real life. This sim can kill you." Fuck, Four thought sitting back in his seat running his hand over his face.

"Dres?" It was Tris that asked this question stepping forward, concern on her face. Eric wanted to scream at her that it was all her fault. He didn't even get why she cared, they'd spent some time together in Amity but so what? It can't have been that big of a bonding exercise. Dresden just wasn't that nice of a person. She was bitchy, snarky and very closed off and Eric doubted she would have just let Tris in. But instead he just took a breath and told them what had happened to Dresden.

"During the Amity simulation, she began drowning in the blood of people she blames herself for the death of." He felt there was no need to elaborate any further than that, "I managed to get her out of the sim before she died and she's in the hospital at the moment. But as soon as she wakes up Jeanine has other tests she wants to perform on Dresden. She won't survive long. Jeanine won't touch her until I get back, she won't kill her while my threat still stands."

"Jeanine is scared of you?" Tris looked confused. Hell, only Tori understood why Jeanine would be scared of him.

"A lot of people are scared of me."

"Jeanine isn't scared of Eric, she's scared of losing her longest running science project – her son. She is married to Doctor Henry Coulter and together they had one child, Eric. He was the perfect Erudite top 3% of all his classes a genius. Then come choosing day, he picked Dauntless."

"Erudite was boring and dull." Eric would never admit that he picked Dauntless because he wanted to get away from his mother and he wanted freedom. His test result had been Erudite but he couldn't face the idea of staying under her power. Little did he know, defecting to Dauntless had always been part of her plan for him.

"Bullshit! Your mother planted you here. She's been planning this for years. Ever since her son started developing skills that might get him through Dauntless initiation and into a leadership position." As Tori was arguing with Eric, Four, Tris and Harrison were still having a hard time digesting what they had been told. Eric was Jeanine's son. In a way that made his loyalty more understandable, but now he was ready to betray his own mother. Something Tris couldn't even begin to understand. "You've been a leader for three years though, what took her so long to enact her plan? … Dresden. You stopped answering to Jeanine when you married Dresden, you thought she died and Jeanine got her lap dog back and could continue with her plans."

"Jeanine has Dresden who is fighting for her life and could kill her at any moment. The only thing keeping her alive was Jeanine's fear of losing her son and we've just made her think you're dead." Four decided he needed to pull this meeting back on track.

"And that is why you shouldn't be allowed to make the plans." Eric seethed.

"So how do we get in to save her?" Four pressed, obviously trying to ignore his comment but Eric could see the cracks in his perfect façade. He was getting to him.

"You don't." Lifting his hands in a shrug, "You won't get within a hundred feet of Erudite."

"Well then what the hell is the plan?" Four's patience was wearing thin. He understood Eric might be the only way to save Dres, provided she was even still alive. He wouldn't put it past Eric to concoct this entire elaborate plan to trap Four and the rest of the rebels, knowing that his friends were his weakness.

"She does." Eric nodded his head towards Tris. The former leader didn't even flinch as Four slammed him into the wall pinning him by his throat. The threat to Tris had pushed him over the edge and he was done playing around.

"NO. You leave Tris out of this." Tori stepped forward and told him to let Eric go as he'd begun to turn blue.

"She is it the perfect Divergent, the one Jeanine has been looking for. The only way anyone is getting past security and into Erudite is if they are Tris Prior or an Erudite."

"Absolutely not! Come up with a new plan."

"We don't have time for a new plan, every minute here is more time Jeanine has to test on Dresden! If it was Tris in there you'd stop at nothing… she is your best friend and you are leaving her to die."

"Take Eric back to his rooms and dead lock it so he can't get out. He'll be safer there than in a cell." Tori stated, recognising that nothing more was going to get done right now. Eric and Four in the same room was only going to lead to a fight. They'd heard what Eric had to say, heard his plan, and now they needed time to amend it. Thankfully Eric went willingly enough, only escorted by one guard. Tori knew it was only because Eric needed them on his side to take down Erudite, the enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of thing.

"I want to do it." Tris spoke the moment it was just the four of them in the room.

"No fucking way." Four snapped, "We'll come up with another way in."

"You heard Eric, there is no other way!"

"Four, you weren't with the Dauntless traitors and the Erudite security team, that place is a fortress. It would take a huge force to get in and we don't have the numbers. We need someone inside the building to disable security systems. Eric is the only one but he can't get in empty handed, he needs to take Jeanine a prize. He needs to take her Tris."

"What about the sewer, the old subway network?"

"It's all blocked off with big heavy guarded doors under Erudite. Jeanine has been planning this for years."

"What about our numbers with the Factionless?"

"We can't trust them and even with them I doubt it would be enough. With the security disabled we might have a shot but they have sensors, cameras and trip wires set up everywhere. An invading force wouldn't get close enough."

"It's like you want this to fail."

"I want to win! I want Jeanine gone but that's not going to be possible if we don't stop and think about this. I love Dresden, and right now she is the leverage we need to control Eric. I understand delaying is putting her life in danger but right now we don't have a choice. We can't just run in there without a solid plan. You don't want to use Eric's plan, okay, but we need another option and so far you aren't coming up with any viable ones."

"As soon as this is over I plan on putting him down once and for all. His crimes are enough to warrant the death penalty and he's already been judged in front of the Dauntless. Once this is over, I intend on carrying out his sentence so we won't need to control him. As for viable plans, Tris being bait is not part of any plan. He doesn't care about her, and he'll let Jeanine kill her while he saves Dresden without a second thought!"

"Right now we need to work out a way to get these implants out of you guys safely. Until then, we don't even have a handful of people ready to face Erudite. I am going to talk to Eric and see what he knows." Tori ran her fingers over the implant in Tris' shoulder as she spoke before turning to leave the room.

Tris followed Tori out of the room back into The Pit. She didn't want to be around Four right now when he was treating her like a child. "On a scale of one to ten, how likely do you think it is that Eric would help us with these implants?" Tori asked as they walked into The Pit together.

"Why Eric?"

"He's been beside Jeanine through all of this, he must have some idea of what is in the tech and he is the type of guy to always have a back-up plan. He'd have worked out a way of getting these things out safely in case he ever got hit by one. Like he'd tell me though, that's a stupid thought. 'You're supposed to be smart work it out yourself Wu!'"

"I'd say he might help us considering he needs us to help him. He knows that it's a two way street, we aren't just going to give in to his demands."

"What do you think of his plan?"

"I think it's our best option right now."

"You'd do it? Put your life in his hands?"

"I am only out here alive today because of Dres. I owe her my life… we owe her our lives. She gave herself up to stall Eric so Tobias, Caleb and I could get away."

"Sounds like Dresden saw a way out of a situation and took it without thinking about the consequences to herself. It was what made her such a great Dauntless. But she was smart, knowledgeable and inquisitive too, not to mention self-sacrificing. Guess you understand better than most just how Abnegation she is."

"How did she even end up with someone like Eric?"

"Many of us have asked the same question Tris, it's not even like he's that different with her. But he does love her even if he's won't say it. His actions have said it for him." Tori stopped walking as they reached the stairwell up to her apartment. "You should get some food and sleep, we sent some of the guys to find whatever food they could in the kitchens."

Tori had been right, there was hot food in the dining hall. Grabbing some, Tris headed up to the initiates dorm room. She hadn't been assigned an apartment and wasn't really sure where things stood with Tobias right now. Not to mention her mind was spinning from everything with Eric. Partly him been Jeanine's son, but mainly him showing just how much he really did love Dres. That had shocked her, just how far Eric was willing to go to save her. She hadn't thought he had a heart yet here he was wearing it on his sleeve for the world to see. Despite feeling full and comfortable for the first time in ages, it took Tris a long time to finally drift off to sleep. Eric's words, his declaration of her being the very thing Jeanine was searching for had hit her hard and scared her.

The guard had dropped Eric off at his own apartment which had surprised him. He'd expected to go to the cells, but then anyone in Dauntless could get to him there. No one would think to look for him locked up in his own apartment. It was smart… clearly not Four's idea. If he had to guess, he thought it was probably Tori's idea. She was the smartest of the new leaders and she was the one who had listened to what he was saying. Four was too emotional.

"Don't bother trying the door, your codes have been overridden." Alec, Eric thought the guards name was, told him before leaving him in peace with all his old things. It was stupid no one had swept the apartment before leaving him alone there. Within the first two minutes he'd already found six of Dresden's knifes, not to mention their safe still held most of his hand gun collection.

Part of him wanted to hope they weren't really this stupid and it was just to see if he would try and kill them. But in reality, he doubted any of them would have thought his apartment might be stocked with weapons he could use. Instead of taking any of the weapons, Eric headed to his room to find the photo hidden under his pillow opened his bedside table to find the cigarettes stored there.

He'd never been much of a smoker. To some Dauntless it was considered sacrilege to have a habit that made you less able to perform physically. But for him the nicotine had been a stress reliever when he'd had a shitty day. Heading out to the balcony, Eric just jumped straight up onto the wall and leant against the building. Lighting a cigarette, he threw the pack on the balcony floor and looked at the picture in his hand. It had always been his favorite photo of her.

She had been standing in the middle of the training room, a bo staff in one hand and her other hand holding her sweat drenched hair away from her skin. Her clothes were dripping with perspiration but she had a huge smile on her face. She'd just taken Four down for the first time and Lauren had taken a picture to celebrate the moment. It used to have Four lying on the mats at her feet but he'd cut that section away. He loved this picture not just because Dresden was beautiful, she did look beautiful and fierce, but because she looked completely at ease. Still strong and dangerous but in this photo the world was getting to see a little bit of the Dresden behind the armour, behind the thick skin and pissy attitude. The Dresden that laughed and smiled and joked with her friends. Despite the blotchy red face and split lip this picture was his favourite because it was the real her.

Eric didn't know how long he'd been on the balcony, his cigarette had long turned to ash when he started to hear the screams and shouting on the roof above him. He nearly fell from his seat as someone tumbled past his balcony. Jumping down, Eric walked to the edge and leant over to see a woman's body unrecognisable smashed into the concrete below. Looking up Eric couldn't see anything on the ledge. But the commotion up there told him this likely wasn't a suicide. This was Jeanine. She'd used this woman to send her message.

His mother thought he was dead and now the rules had changed. For all Jeanine was a shitty mother, Eric knew that somewhere deep down inside she did care about him. Maybe she even loved him in her own way. It was a crappy kind of love but it was her way. Now that she thought her son was dead, she was grieving and that made her unpredictable. Eric had no doubt she would throw herself deeper into her work and become more determined to find Tris Prior. But her grasp on reality was slipping and she was more dangerous now than ever.

Tris wasn't sure how she ended up outside Eric's apartment opening the front door. Stepping inside she couldn't immediately spot Eric. Glancing around, she was shocked at the apartment in general. There were so many books lying around the place, art work and pictures piled up against the walls. Poking her head into a room, she found a half set up nursery and what must have been Eric's bedroom. Through the bedroom she noticed balcony doors open and walking out she found Eric sitting on the balcony holding a picture and smoking.

"People are dying because of me." Tris stated, breaking the silence as she stepped up to the balcony edge looking over the view of the city.

"Yes." Tris let out a short humourless laugh at Eric's bluntness.

"What is your plan once we get inside?"

"You'll be brought to a cell. If Dresden is awake, you'll probably be put in a cell with her. I'll have to spend time convincing them I haven't switched sides. Once that's done, I can disable the external security in the old subway system so the Factionless and Dauntless can enter into the building. I'll follow you when they bring you into the sim room and the Erudite will be focused on you. That should give me a chance to take control of the room and subdue Jeanine…"

"Will you kill her?"

"Jeanine has done a lot of terrible things but she is my mother and I still have some honor left."

"Once we have control of Erudite, I will get Dresden out and bring her back to Dauntless, where she will be safe."

"And the box?"

"I don't give a shit about the box."

"How do I know you aren't lying and won't leave me to die once you have Dres?"

"I know the Erudite security systems like the back of my hand but right now I don't know where Dresden is being held. Finding her would take time. Getting her from the cells is a near impossible task without being caught. Getting her from the hospital, especially if she is unconscious, is an impossible task. I need to bring down Erudite to get Dresden out."

Tris just looked at Eric. She'd seen him bleeding out on the floor at her feet, and in the middle of an interrogation room with a gun in his face and in both situations he'd just smirked. Like it was all just a bigger part of a plan that only he knew. Now for the first time she saw defeat on his face, resignation as though the end had come and he'd lost. She'd never thought Eric Coulter capable of an emotion like love but it was so painfully obvious that he was crazy about Dresden. She'd hurt him in the worst way imaginable and yet he was still willing to fight to protect her. Maybe Eric wasn't all bad, maybe he was just damaged.

"Stop looking at me with pity. I know you're wondering if I am not as bad as I seem. I am. I am cruel and selfish and I like making others suffer. That's just who I am. I am a bad man, but sometimes you need a ruthless killer to get the job done."

A/N I am back from an amazing 10 days in the lakes with my brothers we literally had every kind of weather imaginable but it was so great to spend time with the two idiots. Thank you too musicluver246 and AriesPrincess-Slyffindor for the comments I love love love reading your comments. And of course a huge thank you to my proof reader I honestly think sometimes I send her the longest rambling piece of crap and she always turns them into these great chapters.