A/N: I feel bad that I left you with a cliffhanger, then took a little longer than usual to update- not too long though, right? I'm having some technical difficulties. (Literally... computer problems.) So just know it's possible that updates will be slightly slower than usual, but don't worry, I pinky promise that I will not abandon this story! xoxo

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Uriah

"So are you gonna tell me how you saw my sim, or what?"

The city flies past in a dark blur out the open door of the train car. The zip tie securing my hands behind my back digs into my wrists and Eric watches me like a hawk to make sure I don't try to make a run for it. I won't. Not with Marlene's safety on the line.

Eric smirks. "Simple. I programmed the computer we run the sims from to send them straight to my personal computer electronically, the moment they finish recording. That idiot Four" -he spits Four's name like it's poison- "can delete sims all he wants. It doesn't keep me from seeing any of them."

Simple as that. There was no way for Four to protect us. I was screwed from the moment I stepped into that simulation room for the first time. I sigh and look away. There was nothing I could do to prevent it, and now I'm going to be forced to help that demon-spawn Jeanine, only to be executed in thanks.

But, why didn't this happen last time? Something changed. Something one of us did… changed everything.

"What made you decide to do that? And when?"

Eric scoffs. "I already answered what I agreed to, I told you how I found out. Why should I tell you anything else?"

I contemplate that for a while. I don't have a reason to give him. He has no reason to indulge me. Eric is an Erudite deep down, all about logic and strategy. But… one thing Erudite and Dauntless have in common? We're prideful. And Eric has pride for his Dauntless persona, too.

"Why not tell me? I'm never getting out of this hellhole you're taking me to, right? Indulge me. At least let me understand why I'm here. You know, unless you're afraid for some reason. That would be pretty pathetic, wouldn't it? Big, bad Dauntless leader Eric, Erudite spy, faction traitor… afraid of an initiate whose hands are zip-tied behind his back and who will never see the light of day again."

I see something flash in Eric's eyes and I know I've won. Yep, insulting Eric's pride is the sore spot, the psychological kick in the nuts. I raise my eyebrows as he glares at me, waiting for him to start speaking. Because I know he will.

"Fine," Eric says, feigning boredom. "It was the Stiff. She was like a puzzle. Showed up fresh out of Abnegation, feisty and confident from day one. It didn't make any sense, it still doesn't. She intrigues me."

"Okay, so?" Maybe there's a little Erudite in me, too, because I'm definitely brimming with curiosity tonight. I mean, hey, this is probably the last time ever that I get something I want, and what I want to know is exactly how I ended up here. Exactly how I have been ripped away from the girl I love once again by these monsters.

Eric shrugs. "So, I wanted to see her fears, and I also wanted to see if divergence was the key to that puzzle. But then her fears, specifically the one Four deleted, just showed me I didn't stand a chance with her. He'd won already, like always." The look in his eyes is murderous. I knew he hated Four but I'm not sure I realized just how much until this moment.

"And? Is she?" I ask, hoping to hear that Tris, at least, is safe. You know… unless she acts like Tris and does something stupid and selfless. Who am I kidding? There's no way she won't. She had better not drag Marlene into it. My head starts feeling all floaty from anxiety just thinking about it. Eric looks at me like he has no idea what I'm asking him. "Tris. Is she divergent?"

"Nope. Just you." He leans out the open door, then pops his head back in. "Well, looks like we're just about at our stop. I kept my part of the bargain, now all you have to do is cooperate and I'll leave your little slut alone. Besides, think of it this way." Eric grimaces. "Despite your defective brain, you get to do some good in the world by helping science rid the world of divergent scum like you."

It takes every ounce of me not to push him out of the train, but with my hands tied up like this, there's too great a chance I'd lose. And if I did, it would all be for nothing. I know he wouldn't hesitate for a moment and Marlene would be dead.

So I just glare at him, hating him in this moment more than I have ever hated anyone, more than I ever knew I was capable of hating. I hate Eric the way the bastard himself hates Four.

But it doesn't matter now. It's time to jump- time to jump to what is very likely to be a slow, painful death.

Zeke

The minute hand on the clock is moving so slowly, I could swear it's broken, but it still matches the time on my watch so i guess it's just me. At this rate, the ten minutes left in my shift will feel like hours.

The door opens and Four comes in, dropping into the seat next to me. "Man, am I glad to see you! Entertain me, bro!" I say as I fist bump him. "Where have you been, anyway? I saw you on the monitors, hopping out of the train."

"I had a thing to take care of," Four says, not making eye contact with me. I love the dude like a brother but he's so secretive sometimes. I don't really bother wondering any more- that's just him, I guess.

"Hey, what are you doing the rest of the night? I gotta find Uriah first, the little shit never brought my key back, but then we could hang out. We haven't had enough bro-time lately," I say as I skim my eyes over the monitors real quick then turn back to my buddy.

Four's face stays all serious and it takes me a minute to see that he actually looks worried. "He was supposed to return your key? When?"

"Uh… whenever he was done there with Marlene. But you know, it's Uriah. He probably just got all caught up with his girl and forgot. He's irresponsible like that."

I don't know what the hell is going on with Four tonight but he's freaking me out. He pushes me out of the way and starts typing like a madman and pulls up a screen I recognize, it's the hallway my apartment is in. "When did you give it to him?"

"Uh… around seven, I guess." It's almost midnight now. Four's whole body looks tense and he's concentrating so hard I think his head might explode. I watch the monitor that he's looking at as he starts reviewing the footage in reverse, from now back, until I see someone exit my apartment and call out. "There!"

Four pauses the footage and we look at the time stamp. 10:15 PM. That was an hour and forty-five minutes ago, almost. Four starts it going forward again at regular speed and he looks almost scared now as he pulls up camera after camera, following my brother who appeared to be coming right to the control room. Seriously, I don't even recognize this look on Four's face. "What don't I know, Four? Is something going on with my brother that you haven't told me?" If he's keeping something from me about Uriah I swear to God…

"There!" Four shouts, and the other guy working, James, glares at us- he heard Four over whatever noise is in his headphones. Four backs it up about 30 seconds and I watch in slow motion as someone grabs my little brother and pulls him into a stairwell… and he doesn't come out.

Something is definitely wrong, and Four definitely knew Uri was in trouble. And he didn't tell me.

The stairwell he was pulled into leads to the train tracks. Four pulls up the camera for the tracks and backs it up. About five minutes after Uriah was grabbed in the hallway, we see two figures in black hoodies exit. One looks like Uriah's build, and his hands are behind his back. The stance of the other looks very familiar but I can't quite place it.

Four must see it in the look on my face- how mad I am, all the questions in my eyes- main ones being, what the hell is going on with my brother, who did he get on that train with, and why didn't you tell me? "We can't talk about this here, Zeke," he mutters. "Come on, we're getting Tris and then we're gonna figure this out."

I don't say anything until we are in the hall, then I glare at Four. "You know what, Four? No. We're not going to get Tris. What the hell do you think your little Stiff initiate girlfriend is gonna do?! We're not wasting time going down there."

"Yes we are, Zeke," he practically growls. Seriously, for real, dude? I don't think he has any right to be upset with me right now. "You just need to trust me on this, okay? I'll- we'll- we'll try to explain when we get back to my place but just trust me. Uriah would want Tris to help us with this. She will know more than anyone."

I shake my head and keep shooting him glares, but I can tell he isn't going to help me until he has Tris with him. He's probably just worried something will happen to her, too. I don't see how on earth she could possibly help us.

Tris

I knew what had happened the moment I opened my eyes to see Tobias and Zeke staring at me. I'm glad Tobias doesn't have carpet, because I'd probably have worn a hole in it by now with my pacing. Tobias is sitting in a kitchen chair with his head in his hands and Zeke is pretty much just scowling at me; I feel like I need to prove that I will be an asset in getting Uriah back from Erudite, because he definitely seems to be irritated at my presence. That's hard to do, though, when I haven't the slightest clue what to tell him about how I know about what Jeanine will do to Uriah in her lab, about where exactly the cells and labs are that we will need to find, or even just about everything related to this impending war- not in the detail I know about all of it, anyway.

Zeke barely knows me, what is he going to think of me? Something tells me Zeke will not be as willing as my parents were to accept that I 'just know' things. They accepted it on faith in my character; Zeke is more likely to just think I am mentally ill. I don't think Tobias' and Uriah's (presumed) trust in me will be enough for Zeke with his brother's safety and probably even life on the line.

"Four, did we go get your girlfriend just to watch her pace your floor? I thought you said she could help? We're wasting time, man!" Zeke sounds the angriest I've ever heard him. I have to come up with something, I can't keep him waiting any longer.

Tobias tries to start explaining. "Uriah is divergent. Eric has taken him. Tris, where is he?"

"How would she know?!" Zeke exclaims, before I can answer.

I sigh. That is the burning question- how do I know? I still don't have an acceptable answer, so I ignore Zeke and just answer Tobias. "Jeanine Matthews has him. She needs a divergent to run tests on, study how his brain works, divergent-proof her serums. She'll start by imaging his brain, then probably do other tests too while they work improving their serums to target divergents. The labs and cells are on the same floor, it's the ninth floor at the Erudite Headquarters. It's huge and kind of a maze, but I think I can remember where to go, pretty much anyway."

Tobias nods but Zeke stares at me with his mouth open. "How do you know any of this?" he explodes. "Are you some kind of double agent or something?!"

I have to lie and I have to do it now. I don't even know where the next words out of my mouth come from but I hope he'll believe them. "My mother helps divergents escape the city when they're in danger. Tori's brother, for example. My father was Erudite-born. I've overheard things. That's all I can tell you."

Zeke glares. "Then why didn't you help my brother escape, if you knew he was in trouble?" Zeke says through gritted teeth. "If your mother knows how to help them, why didn't she help Uriah?" It's a fair question.

"He wouldn't have wanted her to," Tobias says, shaking his head. "There's a war coming. Max and Eric are working with Erudite. They'll be putting us all under a mind control serum in just a few days, but it won't work on divergents. We need divergents here to stop it. Look, man, Tris and I are divergent, too- we know what it is to be in this kind of danger, but we have to stop Dauntless from mindlessly killing the entire faction of Abnegation, and your brother is committed to that cause."

Zeke's eyes widen. He stares at Tobias with his mouth dropped open for awhile- long enough to make me really nervous- and finally says, "Look, Four, I'm pretty pissed that you have kept all this shit from me, and right now, you and me? We're not okay." Tobias looks down and nods. "But right now, we are going to put that aside and save my brother. Either of you have an aptitude for Erudite?"

I raise my hand, and Zeke nods. "Figures," he mumbles. "Okay then, Tris is in charge of forming a plan. Make it good, Tris. We are not losing my brother."

Uriah

The cell is small- maybe six by six feet at best. So small, in fact, that I can't stretch all the way out on the narrow cot to sleep. Even if I could, it's too bright; the lights may be somewhat dim, but they come from all around- the walls, floor and ceiling are all made of light panels. It almost reminds me of coming out of the blackness to see Tris and her parents in, I guess, Heaven. There, I was entirely surrounded by white light. But here, I just feel like I'll have a new fear if I make it out of this- claustrophobia.

All I can do is sit here. I tried pacing, but every two steps I had to turn around and I got dizzy soon enough. In a way, though, the dizziness was a welcome distraction. I'd exercise, but my only option is sit-ups and after a couple hundred of those I couldn't push myself to do any more. Push ups are out of the question for the same reason I can't stretch out to sleep: the room is simply too small.

When Tris was imprisoned here, I'm sure there were tons of Dauntless guards- after all, this is where the Dauntless Traitors were based. This time, though, I've only seen one. I suppose Dauntless probably keeps a guard or two at all or most of the factions at all times. At this point I'm sure they don't want to cause any suspicion of what they're about to do, so none have yet been sent here. Erudite has their own guards, and several of them helped to escort me to my cell, but they're all a joke. They wouldn't be hard to beat. The question is, is it even worth it to try? I might not make it out of here, and I'd put Marlene at risk once again.

They took my shoes, and for some reason I cannot fathom, my socks. My feet are cold. They did let me keep my hoodie, clothes and watch, though. It was half past eleven when they shut me in this cell last night, so I'm exhausted, since I wasn't able to fall asleep scrunched up and surrounded by light. My watch reads 7:14. I'm sure Jeanine will come to start her tests on me very soon- wouldn't want to interrupt the demon's beautyrest, of course.

I pace again, until I get dizzy. It's now 7:17. Welp, that killed three minutes. Boredom was actually a fear in my fear landscape. If I get out of here, it will either be something I've conquered and out of my landscape entirely, or it will move to the very end, my worst fear. It's impossible to predict.

It's also pointless to predict, because who am I kidding? I won't ever be getting out of here. I will die here. I'm not like Tris- she always knows what to do. She knows how to think like an Erudite, and I don't, so she can manipulate them, and I can't.

I sit on the floor, lean my head back onto the cot, and close my eyes. I picture Marlene dancing, and I smile. I hum the song that was playing, I imagine the feel of her skin under my fingers-

The door swings open. "Hello, Uriah." I recognize the voice, I've heard it before. Jeanine Matthews. Maybe I'll just ignore her and pretend to be asleep. But I'm dying to get out of this tiny room, and she would make someone drag me, anyway. So, slowly, I lift my head, open my eyes, and glare at her.

"Hello, Spawn of Satan," I reply, making no effort to get to my feet.

She purses her lips. "I take it Erudite was not one of your aptitudes. Come along," she tuts. I roll my eyes as I pull myself up. My body is aching and fatigued, right down to my bones.

"Is there any way I can get you to turn down the damn lights in there? Between how small the cell is and all that light, I didn't get a second of sleep all night."

Jeanine smiles, but she's either not much of an actor or looking like the fakest bitch this city has ever seen was her intention to begin with. "I could do that, but I don't see how it would be to my benefit to waste time doing so." I just want to punch that woman literally every time she opens her mouth.

The room she leads me into has a big weird contraption made of metal and plastic. I think I've seen one in a textbook before, but I can't remember what it does, probably because I never paid much attention to begin with.

There are a half dozen other people in this room, all wearing glasses and white lab coats. I scan the room and when I reach a certain familiar face, I narrow my eyes. He notices my glare and shifts uncomfortably. I laugh slightly. "Scared of me, Caleb?" Caleb looks away. "Pansycake," I mutter.

Jeanine clears her throat then starts her little lecture, making me feel like I'm back in school again. I hated school. I thought I was done with that for good, but apparently I get to die feeling like I am back there again.

"Today we have a rather unconfirmed divergent with us," Jeanine begins. "My liaison within Dauntless insists that he is in fact divergent, but is excellent at hiding that fact in his simulations." Well, at least that's a little praise. I continue to glare at Caleb and he looks more and more uncomfortable the longer I stare. It's the one bit of fun I get to have today.

"Uriah," Jeanine says and I automatically turn my head toward the sound of my name. Dang it! She distracted me from making Caleb uncomfortable! "I have reviewed your aptitude test. You received an aptitude of Dauntless without any manipulation or signs of simulation awareness."

"Yep," I say. "I've never said I was divergent. Eric did. And considering he threatened my girlfriend, it's not like I wasn't gonna come here." I scowl.

Jeanine taps her fingernails on the counter. "Hmm, I see." She motions to her minions, who lead me to the human-sized tray in front of the giant machine. "This is a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, Uriah. You will need to lay completely still until-"

"This is a what?" I interrupt, not knowing what the heck a magnetic whatever is.

"Magnetic resonance imaging," she says very slowly, as if I were a three year old. "More commonly known by the acronym MRI." Then why didn't she just say that? She's so snooty and pretentious. Yeah, I know big words, too. I roll my eyes at her; she notices and scowls at me.

Jeanine continues, "you will need to lay completely still until the scan is complete."

They try to pull me down onto the tray but I refuse to budge. "Why?"

"So we can get a clear image."

"No." I shake my head. "I meant, why are you doing this scan?"

Jeanine sighs. "I don't believe that is your concern. You are here to cooperate, not to ask questions."

Some of the transfers and I discussed the faction manifestos once. I remember Will telling me how to get information out of an Erudite- use her own manifesto against her. "Every question that can be answered must be answered or at least engaged," I retort, trying to create a telepathic connection with Will so I can fist bump him in my mind. Which, of course, doesn't work.

Jeanine's face scrunches up in a very satisfying way and she pinches the bridge of her nose. There's no way she can deny my request for information in front of all these people. She sighs. "This scan will provide us with images of your brain. We will compare them to typical brains and look for anomalies."

I shrug, having received the answers I wanted, and lay on the tray. Leather cuffs are wrapped around my arms, legs, chest, and shoulders and everyone clears out of the room before the giant tray begins sliding into the big machine. I close my eyes as the loud pounding noise begins and daydream about the girl I love- the girl I will never see again.