A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I appreciate your support so much. Thank you also to Rosalie and BK2U, who both reviewed this chapter at different points in time. Your feedback really helps!
Chapter 19: Anna – Security
I have to keep reminding myself of what Lauren said – that Tris and Caleb are safe now – to keep myself sane through the long drive. There's nothing like six hours in a car to make one imagine all the worst-case scenarios.
For the first two hours, Peter tries to reassure me, repeating his proposed changes to Tris' security over and over in answer to my increasingly belligerent questions. Eventually, we reach the point where we can't deal with each other anymore, and we sit in agitated silence for the rest of the way. It seems a miserable eternity.
We're both glad when he gets out at Greensburg. He'll supervise the rest of the cleanup while I continue on to Pittsburgh with Tris' new security contingent. I'm not sure how she'll react to having four full-time bodyguards from now on, but at the moment, that number seems far too small to me.
The hospital is relatively quiet. A nurse leads us through the tiled hallways to where she says Tris and Caleb are sleeping. She isn't part of their medical team, so she isn't any help with my questions, but at least she seems to know where she's going. She stops outside a door when a young man with a gun blocks our way.
"Who are you?" he demands, looking between us distrustfully as his index finger hovers over the trigger of his weapon. The guards I brought with me immediately reach for their own guns, but I wave them down. It's clear from his protective posture and rumpled police uniform that this man is here to defend my grandchildren. I certainly don't want him to be shot for that.
"I'm Anna," I tell him. "Tris' grandmother."
He narrows his eyes at me suspiciously, and I carefully extend my identification card, holding it out so he'll have time to examine it thoroughly. But his gaze only flicks to it briefly before returning to us. He's obviously not willing to trust us based just on uniforms and cards. Given what Lauren said about how the abductors disguised themselves in Greensburg, I can't blame him.
"You must be Micky," I continue, keeping my voice calm. "Lauren said she sent you here with Tris and Caleb."
That appears to help, because he relaxes very slightly. His gaze moves over me again, focusing for a moment on my left hand.
"Where's your ring?" he asks abruptly. The question takes me aback.
"The one Tobias retrieved for you," he adds in the same sharp voice.
For a long moment, all I can do is stare. How could he possibly know about that? But nevertheless, it's a form of identification I can provide.
Very slowly, I reach for the chain around my neck, pulling it out and extending the rings for Micky to see.
He takes in the sight for a couple of long seconds before he nods. "Sorry," he says as he lowers his gun. "I just had to be sure."
"Understandable." The side of my mouth quirks upward. "Though I would like an explanation of this a little later," I add as I lift the rings toward him before tucking them back in place against my heart. "After I see my grandchildren."
A small smile shapes his lips as he nods again. "Yeah, that would be fair." He steps out of the way, the light shadowing his face with the movement, and for the first time I realize just how tired he looks. He's probably been guarding the room all night.
"They're finally asleep," he comments. "If you can avoid waking them up, that would be good." I give him a gentle smile, letting him know I share his concern.
"I'll try, but I have to see for myself that they're all right."
Turning to the guards I brought with me, I say, "Position yourselves so you cover the hallway as well as the door." And then I slip quietly into the room.
I see Caleb first – or more accurately, his bed. He's surrounded by medical equipment, but nothing that looks overly alarming. They seem to be the standard devices used for any patient who stays overnight.
My eyes hang on him in the dim light, and for a long moment, I just watch him breathe, reassuring myself that he is indeed safe and alive. When I finally get my fill, I move on to Tris. She's lying on her side, her brow furrowed and her breathing quick from whatever dream she's having. Not surprisingly, it doesn't appear to be a good one.
But as Micky pointed out, at least she's asleep. Even with nightmares, that's better than nothing, so I let her be.
Sliding back out the door as soundlessly as I entered, I catch Micky's gaze. "They're still asleep," I reassure him, and he smiles a little.
Resting a hand lightly on his arm, I add, "Let's talk, shall we?"
"Okay," he says without complaint, despite how exhausted he obviously is. "But it's a long story."
"I'll make the time," I answer.
He does, too, as we chat in an empty part of the hallway where we won't be overheard. It's difficult to know exactly what to make of everything he tells me, but gradually two things become clear.
First, Tobias put considerably more effort into retrieving my ring than he indicated to me. And second, if he hadn't done that, Lauren never would have hired Micky, and Tris and Caleb would probably be dead now.
It's a startling conclusion, yet I have to admit it seems fitting somehow. Whether or not he's there in person, Tobias always seems to find a way to help Tris when she needs it most. And honestly, I doubt that will ever change.
By the time Peter and Lauren arrive, Micky has gone home to sleep and Tris and Caleb are both awake. They're doing better than I expected, though I know it will take time to work through all the effects of yesterday.
There's a small scowl on Peter's face as he gives Tris an evaluating look.
"Exactly how did you do that?" he demands. She has to arch an eyebrow at him before he specifies, "Reprogram that Larimer guy's staff? I didn't think the NUSA leaders or their workers ever had receivers injected into them."
Tris' mouth flattens, probably at his use of the term "reprogram." I'm sure she doesn't want to think of her broadcasts that way, even if it's true.
"Well, if what I did worked," she begins, annoyance clear in her tone, "then they do." She exchanges a glance with Caleb, who nods in agreement. "And really, it seemed obvious from their behavior that they were receiving some kind of messages – just not the ones the rest of the population heard."
She shrugs. "So, I assume that there's a way of changing what frequency each receiver picks up. And that the different NUSA families used different frequencies to send private messages to their staff."
The words floor me, because when she says them, they seem so obvious that I don't know how we missed the concept for so long. But by this point in my life, I know that everything is clearer in hindsight, so I swallow my frustrations and listen as she continues.
"In terms of how I actually sent them a message, there was a knob on the equipment that…." She pauses, her mouth forming a bitter expression before she spits out, "Our abductor kept adjusting, so I decided that it probably controlled who the broadcast went to. And I transmitted to the different settings on it."
Caleb smiles, looking proud of his sister. "Clearly, it worked," he says.
We're all silent for a few seconds as we digest that. Finally, Caleb speaks again, looking thoughtful – and perhaps a bit apologetic.
"In fairness, it was probably a lot easier to figure all of that out after seeing the whole thing in action." He glances between Peter and Tris, lifting his shoulders in a small movement. "I mean, I didn't guess any of this until then, either, but when I watched the broadcast that they forced Beatrice to do, it was obvious."
"Yeah, I suppose so," Peter mutters, still looking irritated that we didn't discover this months ago. He's never liked being shown up, and he probably feels as if that just happened. But I can also tell that he's already thinking about how to use this new information for his job. Whether Tris admits it or not, he really does take his work very seriously.
"Anyway," Caleb says quickly, trying to defuse the tension, "this opens up some new options." He sounds excited. "If we still have the original equipment that NUSA used for the whole population, we can modify it to send a broadcast on all of the frequencies except the one the general population hears."
He looks at Tris as he adds, "And then you could send a message to everyone who didn't hear Tobias' broadcast. You could get them to turn in the people they've been protecting."
Tris looks thoughtful, but I find myself nodding in agreement. There's no way that any remaining NUSA leaders or prominent families could have avoided custody for this long without help. And if we can get those helpers to turn against their bosses, we should be able to capture them all in one fell swoop.
"Do we have enough of the equipment left?" Tris asks, her eyes moving between me and Peter.
"We disconnected it all," I answer, "and dismantled the key components. But we kept the pieces. So, yes, we could put it back together if we want to do this."
For a long moment, Tris considers the idea, and I understand her hesitation. The country got into this mess in the first place because of that equipment. Putting it back together, for any reason, is risky, though I still think it's worth the chance.
Finally, she looks at her brother. "Can you assemble it differently than it used to be?" she asks. "So, it could only be used for the other frequencies? And no one could ever use it for the whole population?"
A smile grows on his face as the words sink in, and I find one growing on mine, too. Sometimes, I forget just how smart my granddaughter is.
"Yes, I can do that," Caleb says firmly.
He squares his shoulders proudly, and it's easy to see why. For the first time, I see complete trust in the way Tris is looking at him. It's a beautiful sight.
A/N: This is the end of the "action sequence." The next chapter is with Tris again, but it starts the sequence of her returning to Chicago. She and Tobias will get back together shortly after that, in Chapter 22. I'm currently drafting some of those chapters, and I must say I'm having fun with them. I should warn you, though, that Anna doesn't tell Tris about the ring or about what Tobias did. Tris does eventually find out, but I want to save that for later. :-)
Anyway, please take a moment to let me know what you thought of this chapter. I know it's short, but hopefully it's satisfying anyway. Thanks!