CHAPTER THIRTY

Tobias

Caleb has been glaring at me all night, but now, sitting in a corner of his jail cell at Candor, hugging his knees to his chest, he just looks defeated. His eyes aren't narrowed now; he's just studying me, though I have no idea what conclusions he has come to. A part of me hates him for what Tris told me he did to her, but this Caleb hasn't done all of that, and I know Tris still loves him. She would want me to show him at least some kindness, so I will.

"I sent word to your parents," I say, breaking the heavy silence. "I'd expect that at least your mother will be here soon. Your dad might be too busy with council business to come right away, given the circumstances."

Caleb shakes his head. "They won't come. They didn't even come to Visiting Day."

I snort. "I guess Jeanine didn't tell you that she banned Abnegation members from entering the Erudite compound." He looks at me in surprise. "Yeah, your mom visited Tris, so I'm sure she would have come to see you if she had the chance. Tris even said that your mom asked her to go see you when she could, since she wasn't able to."

Caleb shakes his head. "I didn't know. I thought they didn't care about me any more."

After another minute of silence, I sigh. "If there's anything you want to say to me without your mother here, now is the time. With the way you glared at me all night, it seemed like you had something on your mind."

He bites his lip. "I'm behind bars and I know I won't get out of this situation, so there's really no point in me making threats. I just don't want her getting hurt. You're older, you're Dauntless… it's different in Abnegation, you know. She's not used to… how things are there."

I laugh. "I'm not Dauntless born, Caleb. I'm not used to that either. She assumed I was experienced at first too, I guess, but I'm not, and I'd never push her into anything she wasn't ready for." He doesn't need to know how much she has been ready for, though.

Caleb's mouth drops open in shock. "Where are you from then?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm Dauntless now." People ask me my real name frequently and I have never caved in… but this is Tris's brother, and the point of this conversation is to be on good terms with him for Tris's sake, so when he gives me that irritated look… I actually answer. Maybe it's time I stop guarding that secret so fiercely, anyway. "Fine. I was from Abnegation. My name is Tobias."

I can see Caleb working it out in his head, Erudite mind at work, and before he can shout it out, I interrupt him. "I know you know who I am now, Caleb. I left for a reason, and I'd rather leave that behind. Like I said, I am Dauntless now, and my name is Four, but I didn't show up there any more comfortable with physical affection than your sister."

Caleb nods. "Well, there's nothing I can do about you two together, anyway, and I'm sure she'll never speak to me again, so just… take good care of her, okay?"

"Tris can hold her own, but I'll always look out for her. And she doesn't hate you. She'll be mad for a while, but she could never hate you."

Before we can say anything else, Natalie's voice is ringing out down the hall, bringing Caleb immediately to his feet. "Four," Natalie says as Caleb crosses his cell floor and grips the bars with both hands. "Thank you so much for sending word, dear. Where is Tris?" She reaches out and takes my hand for a moment- the most affection she can really show, as an Abnegation, and even this is questionable.

"Uriah was seriously injured," I explain, "so she and Marlene- Uriah's girlfriend- took him back to Dauntless. We didn't want to trust the Erudite hospital right now, not with him. I think he'll survive, they should have been able to get him there in time."

She nods, satisfied with my reply, and turns to Caleb. "Your father is with Jack Kang and Marcus Eaton right now, organizing additional arrests that must be made, and the trials. Are you alright, Caleb? Are you hurt?" She reaches out through the bars and gently places her palm against the swollen bruise on his left temple, and she frowns at the cuts on his lip and cheek.

"I'll live," he answers, looking down, unwilling to meet her eyes. "I deserve much worse." I'll drink to that, I think.

"Tell me," Natalie says. Two simple words, but they convey it all. She is asking for his full confession of everything he did and planned to do, an explanation for how he could make these choices. I back away and lean against the wall, but I don't leave. I'm sure this is where Tris will go when she arrives. As angry as she is at her brother, she loves him, that much is sure- even after he betrayed her far worse than this, she literally died for him. I can't help the resentment that boils up when I look at this coward, knowing that she chose him over me, over us. I'm not angry with her any more- I know she thought she would survive, and I know she is sorry. But I wish I didn't have to worry that she might make a choice like that again. She promised… but from all I've heard, her promise might not mean much when the moment comes that she must choose between herself and another.

Caleb hangs his head. "Jeanine wanted me to be an important part of her… project. I agreed to have a tracker implanted in me to lead them to you, and any other refugees. I'm so sorry, Mom," he sobs. "She convinced me that the government was unfair, and I still think maybe it is. And she made divergents sound like monsters- she said they want to destroy the faction system. I don't know what to believe any more. Though I know Uriah is certainly smarter than he looks. He certainly knew how to read me, what to say to make me lose control." I chuckle slightly at that.

"Jeanine doesn't understand how divergents minds work," Natalie says in a gentle, soothing tone. You would never guess, looking at and hearing her right now, that her son just admitted that he was going to help with the murder of her and her husband, and all their neighbors. "She is afraid of what she doesn't understand."

"Why are you here, Mom?" Caleb tearfully asks.

Natalie sighs. "I love you, Caleb. I always will, nothing can change that. I love you no matter what faction you choose, no matter what horrible things you have done. I don't condone or accept your choices, but I could never stop loving you."

The very next moment, we are both distracted by the slapping of boots against tile as Zeke appears, running toward me down the hall. "Four, we need you, NOW."

Zeke wouldn't tell me anything during our rush down the halls. He leads me to the elevators and punches the button for the eighteenth floor.

"Zeke, just tell me! What's going on? Where is Tris?" He gives me a somber look, then stares straight forward again, and my stomach drops. This- whatever it is that went wrong- this can't be happening. We were about to put all this behind us- we were a day away from living normal, quiet lives. I swallow hard as the elevator doors open. "Please tell me she's alive."

"I hope so. Come on."

It's hard to take in a full breath and there is a dull ache in my chest as Zeke leads me down a black marble hallway on the eighteenth floor, then we turn and go down another hallway that looks exactly the same. Through the double doors, we enter a room that also has marble floors, but here the floors are white. The room is filled with benches, tiered in a semi-circle, and instead of windows there are openings in the walls with no barrier from the elements. This is the room where trials are conducted with peace serum, but there are no candor here now, in the middle of the night.

A group of mine and Tris's friends speak to each other in hushed voices, then all go silent when they notice Zeke and me approaching. I'm startled when I realize that Al is among them, and though I feel the blood drain from my face and my body begins to feel numb, my conscious mind can't process what it means for Al to be here. Deep inside somewhere I know, but it is someplace that I can't access right now.

Marlene isn't here either.

"What happened?" I demand. "Where are Tris and Marlene? Uriah?" I knew Uriah wouldn't be here- he won't be leaving that infirmary anytime soon, assuming he even made it there. Everyone stares at me for a moment, then jumps as I roar, "Answer me, damn it!" My breathing quickens and I run my hands through my hair.

Everyone looks to Al. He gulps, then shakily begins to speak. "They got a flat tire in the factionless sector," he explains. "I saw some of Evelyn's men put out something in the street just before the car came. Some sort of spikes? She and Marlene were trying to figure out how to change the tire and they- they took her, they took Tris. Four men." I begin pacing, my head in my hands. "I got Uriah and Marlene back to Dauntless, regrouped, and we all came here."

"Do you know where they took her?" I demand. "Or why? What Evelyn wants?"

"Myra was following them, she will know where they are, if we can find her." I nod- that's at least a bit of a relief, we may not have to search the entire factionless sector- that would be impossible. I look at him expectantly. Al frowns. "Four, I think you know why she took her."

I drop to the ground and rest my head in my hands, with my elbows propped on my knees. "What do I do? I can't- but I can't let her have Tris- damn it!"

"Fill us in on what it is that Evelyn wants, and who the hell Evelyn is," Christina demands, as loud and obnoxious as ever. But if these people- my friends, Zeke, Shauna, Lynn- and Tris's friends as well, Christina, Will and Edward- are going to help get Tris back without sacrificing Dauntless, they deserve the truth.

I don't look up, I don't want to see their reactions. "Evelyn Johnson- formerly Eaton- is the leader of the Factionless," I tell them. "She's also my mother. She faked her death and abandoned me to my father, who is not a good man, when I was nine years old. I believed she was dead until she contacted me two years ago." Shauna moves to the floor and sits next to me, only a couple of inches space between us, and places a hand on my shoulder. Surprisingly, the gesture gives me strength. I look up to see a mixture of reactions- shock, anger… only Christina gives me the kicked puppy look. "Don't look at me like that, Christina," I spit. "I don't want your pity." She looks down.

"What does she want, and what does Tris have to do with it?" Zeke prompts me.

"What she wants," I explain, "is power. She wants to abolish the faction system and make herself a dictator, basically. She wants weapons, but she needs information about Dauntless security, and I happen to be one of the people who could give her that." I take a deep breath, because I know Christina is probably going to flip out. "The reason she took Tris, is because I'm in love with her. She's my weakness. I don't know how she found out about me and Tris, but just a couple days ago I lied to her about whether I had a girlfriend, and I don't think my attempt to protect Tris from her is going to help anything now."

Christina and Will stare at me with their mouths hanging open, then Christina starts her freak-out. "Wait, wait, back up. WHAT?! You and Tris?! Since when? Why didn't she tell me?"

"Uh… yes, me and Tris. The night before Visiting Day… and she didn't tell you because I'm her instructor and we weren't supposed to be together. She didn't want anyone to think her rank was because of favoritism- and it's not, it's all her."

Outside of Christina's babbling about how she can't believe Tris didn't tell her, no one says anything for a minute, and I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. Tris is out there held hostage by my cold, power hungry mother, everyone is just sitting here thinking over my shitty luck in parents, and Christina just won't shut up.

Lynn finally interrupts her. "Okay, okay, we get it, Christina. Anyway...Four, it took you two years as Dauntless's Most Eligible Bachelor to finally ask a girl out, so we'd better not let her go. Let's go show that bitch what happens when you mess with Dauntless."

Getting our search party into the factionless sector is tricky, because I want Evelyn to think I have come alone. Al can easily move around undetected as he actually is factionless, but Evelyn has eyes everywhere, and the others would not go unnoticed for long. We choose an abandoned building just at the edge of the factionless sector and I travel to the safe house my mother is usually at- where I know she will expect me to look for her- alone. Al will try to find some clothes to make the others blend in with the factionless, but he also much search for Myra.

When I reach the side door of the safe house, I knock four times, then twice, just as I did last time. A woman I recognize as Therese, one of my mother's top people, opens the door and smirks. I don't wait for her to speak as I push past her and walk purposefully down the hall to my mother's office with my fists clenched at my sides.

I barge through the door to her office without any warning, my jaw clenched. Evelyn looks up and says in a nauseatingly sweet voice, "Son, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you back so soon? I thought you didn't want a thing to do with me."

"You know why I'm here," I say through gritted teeth. "Let her go! Leave her out of this."

Evelyn laughs lightly. "It's very interesting that just two days ago, you didn't have a girlfriend, yet today, this scrawny little spitfire my men… helped away from a stranded vehicle… seems to be very important to you. And I never would have thought my big, scary Dauntless son would look twice at little Beatrice Prior."

I'm seeing red. She's as bad as Jeanine Matthews. "If you love me at all," I say quietly, "If you ever loved me… you'll let her go and let me finally have a normal life for once. Just let her go… just let us be." I know it won't work, but I have to try. She is my mother- can she really be this cruel to her own son? Though I suppose I know the answer to that- she did leave me with that monster, after all.

"Oh, Tobias. I truly wish that you would have cooperated more willingly- I dreamed of you by my side governing this city. I'm sorry it had to come to this." She stands and leans toward me, her arms straight, her palms flat against the old desk. "I will be happy to let Beatrice go free as soon as you provide us the security codes and schedules we need to get into the Dauntless weapons storage. We will, of course, need to verify that the information is accurate before releasing her. You have not proven yourself honest in recent meetings."

I sigh. I expected it to go this way, but I had hoped it wouldn't. One more try… "Evelyn… you understand that you lose me as a son forever if you make me choose between my faction and Tris?"

Evelyn huffs. "She's a silly infatuation, Tobias. I am your mother. I am confident that eventually, you will see that what I want is best for everyone." In that moment I hate her. I hate her even more than Marcus, if that's possible. Marcus doesn't love me, Evelyn doesn't either, and now she is holding the one person who ever truly made me feel like I mattered.

"Fine," I spit. "Give me a pen and paper."