A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you also to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie!

Chapter 30: Tobias – Therapy

Amar is clearly getting bored with his therapy sessions. He only gets two of them a week now – a Dauntless one with me and an Erudite one with George – but lately he's started complaining about them.

"Can't we work on Candor, or Abnegation?" he asks in frustration as he sits down in the reclining chair. "I mean, I know Amity is out, but I've kind of had it with the other two."

Instinctively, I shake my head. "We should really keep reinforcing the Dauntless pathways," I tell him somewhat apologetically. After all, that's his other main aptitude besides Amity, so it's the one that most actively counters the Amity part of his brain that's still on overdrive. "But we could alternate the Erudite sessions with something else."

He sighs, running a hand through his hair and not meeting my eyes. And I know that something else is bothering him.

"What is it?" I ask, turning to face him fully and waiting for him to look at me.

He still doesn't as he speaks. "Don't take this the wrong way, Four. You're a good friend. You always have been. And I really appreciate everything you've done for me." He pauses, clearly uncomfortable. "But I'm tired of seeing your thoughts."

That's not an easy comment to answer. I've been doing these sessions from the beginning, since it was my broadcast that caused his brain damage in the first place, and Cara felt I was the best person to reverse it. And there's no way to deny that the therapy has helped him. But I certainly can't blame him for being sick of it by now. I certainly am, though I would never admit that – I don't want him to ever feel like he's a burden. Especially not when I'm the one who did this to him.

"Would you be offended if Tris did some of the sessions?" Amar asks, his voice an interesting mix of hope and guilt.

For a second, I simply stare at him, shocked that the idea never occurred to me. Of course Tris should try this. She was incredibly good at the broadcasts we practiced in the bomb shelter at the start of our mission, so I know she can do it. And Amar is particularly sensitive to her, since my broadcast made him see her as a role model. How could I possibly have missed this for the last seven months?

I guess I just always assumed this was my duty alone.

"That's a stunningly good idea," I remark. Amar's eyes finally rise to mine, and he grins sheepishly as I add, "I guess your Erudite sessions have been paying off."

"She's home now, right?" he asks hopefully. "How about I go ask her?"

But I shake my head again. "She'll have to observe at least one session and practice with me a bit first, so she won't be able to do today's. She could watch, though, if you're willing?" At his enthusiastic nod, I add, "Okay, let me go get her."

It's no surprise that Tris is receptive to the idea. Cara isn't here right now to run it past her, but I doubt she'll object – and today will just be an observation anyway. So, I lead Tris into the room and connect another set of receiving wires to the computer for her.

She looks at the setup more warily than I would have expected, given she never used the real broadcasting equipment, the way I had to. We only ever practiced with this equipment, back when it was in the bomb shelter. I don't know why that would make her uneasy.

Regardless, she lets me connect her, watching me intently as I attach Amar's wires too before taking my seat and beginning my usual routine.

As always, I focus on my good memories from Dauntless during the time Amar was there. The goal is to remind him of what his life was like then without overwhelming him with the violence that would trigger flashbacks of what he had to do during our mission.

I start with my landing in the net, allowing a little of the fear I felt from falling to seep into the message. Small exposures to that help him build up a tolerance. My first time through the fear landscape is harder for him, so I skip most of it, though I do broadcast the last part, when he accepted me despite my troubled background – and when he gave me my nickname.

After that, I focus on the fighting skills he taught me, without showing the actual fights in which I used those skills. As I typically do, I skip most of stage two and three from initiation, except the part where Amar discovered my Divergence and hid it to keep me safe. That part demonstrates the best of Dauntless, in my opinion, so I make a point of including it in almost every session.

Moving on to the year after that, I show a few memories from life in my new faction, as well as some of our work to train the next year's initiates together. And then I do something I don't generally do, but something that should help prepare Tris to do a future session. I show some of my memories of her initiation.

We climb the Ferris wheel, as I showed briefly during my real broadcast, but this time I give more detail about the rest of the Capture the Flag game. I watch Amar's face carefully during it, to make sure the paintball guns aren't bothering him, but he looks thoroughly captivated by the images.

And I show the day I had the initiates fight me, as an excuse to teach them techniques that Eric wouldn't have allowed normally. I go through what I showed each of my students, particularly Tris, allowing my feelings for her to permeate the memory. She smiles, her gaze on me as she sees that scene from my perspective for the first time. Amar clearly enjoys it, too.

By the end of that, I realize we've filled our standard amount of time. It seems like a good stopping point, anyway, so I ease out of the signal and then click the keys to shut it down for now. I keep the software running, though, so Tris can practice in a little while. And then I disconnect Amar, making sure he's steady on his feet before he heads out.

George is waiting just outside the door, to go to the exercise room with Amar. We discovered some time ago that he could reinforce the Dauntless pathways by practicing martial arts right after a session, so they always work out together when we're done. I often join them, but today, I instead return my attention to Tris. She's been uncharacteristically quiet through all of this, and it concerns me a little.

Closing the door behind me, I cross the room to crouch in front of her chair.

"You all right?" I ask as I tuck a few strands of hair behind her left ear.

"Yes." But her voice is small, and she clears her throat before continuing. "I was just remembering a few things…." She gives an uncomfortable half-smile. "It's been a while since I used equipment like this."

For a few seconds, I'm silent as the discomfort in my chest grows.

"Like this?" I finally ask. As far as I know, she's only ever used this specific set of equipment, albeit in a different location. She hasn't used anything else like it.

Her eyes meet mine for a long moment before she nods. Her expression is sad. "Yes, like this." She sighs, and it twists my insides a little more. "I had to do a couple of broadcasts when we were trying to clear out the remnants of NUSA."

My eyes close as it's suddenly difficult to breathe. I thought my broadcast was enough to eliminate that threat. I really did. It never occurred to me that I was leaving danger behind – and leaving Tris to face it without me. That assumption seems incredibly naïve now.

"Tobias," she says softly, but somehow firmly at the same time. She takes my hands in hers, holding them tightly. "I'm fine. Honest."

"Tell me what happened," I whisper.

She's quiet as she considers that. "A little later." Her voice quivers very slightly. "But…for now, can we just focus on how to do Amar's therapy sessions? I think it will be good for me to send something like that. A helpful message."

I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. I wonder if I'll ever stop feeling guilty about everything I've put Tris through?

We start slowly, with her showing me memories of Dauntless from times when she felt like she truly belonged there. We stop after each, so I can give her feedback on how it's likely to affect Amar.

I watch her excitement the first time she jumped onto a train, and off of it. And I feel the same thrill she did as she jumped off the building into the unknown, laughing when she hit the net. She focuses a great deal of attention on me as she recalls the first time we met, and I have to admit it's exhilarating to see myself from her perspective. She sees me as far more handsome than I've ever felt.

She continues through her best memories of our second faction, and I see myself teaching her to fight, and picking her first for Capture the Flag, and climbing the Ferris wheel with her despite my fear of heights. At that time, I was so worried about letting her see that I was afraid, but now I realize it made her think of me as stronger rather than weaker.

It becomes trickier for her to pick good memories as she goes, since she has to skip everything that Peter and Molly and Drew did to her, as well as most of Eric's actions. Those are all too violent for Amar.

She also, wisely, chooses not to show our more intimate moments. As much as I might like to see those from her point of view, they definitely wouldn't be appropriate to transmit to Amar, and that is after all what we're practicing here.

Unfortunately, between all of those restrictions and the fact that she doesn't seem to want to show her fear simulations or landscape, there's not much left. It's strange to realize that I actually have more positive memories of Dauntless than she does. Yes, I was there for a lot longer, but that still surprises me.

She finds a few things to show, though. I watch as she goes with her friends to get tattoos, and I feel how much she loves heights as she goes zip-lining for the first time. It's almost enough to eliminate my remaining fear. Almost.

And I see her pride and feel her joy when she found out that she'd ranked first, and that her friends would be in Dauntless with her.

She seems to think for a bit, probably trying to come up with other appropriate memories, before she shifts to a paintball fight that she had with Zeke when they were trying to cover the cameras so Erudite couldn't spy on us. There's an edge of sadness to that memory, and I know it's because they missed one camera – and Marlene died as a result.

Still, she focuses on the fun of the moment, and it works.

She pauses again after that, and I see a small smile cross her face before she shows me the time she and her friends were passing through the Pit, and I called to her. Drunk.

I've never been able to recall what happened that night, and the surveillance tapes didn't capture our conversation or exactly what I did when I leaned close to her. So, I've always wondered. Now, for the first time, I find out as I watch myself talk to her and hear the words I said, while feeling her reaction to them.

"You look good, Tris."

The statement makes her heart leap, and mine with it, and I can't help the smile that forms on my face as I realize how that moment made her feel. And suddenly it no longer bothers me that I got drunk that night. It gave her hope that perhaps I liked her, too.

The memory leaves a warm glow, and we both bask in it for half-a-minute before her expression turns serious again. She locks her gaze with mine as she bites her lip thoughtfully, and I can feel her internal debate as she considers showing me something else. Something that's not at all happy.

I know without being told that she's thinking about whatever upset her earlier – about the broadcasts she had to give. And no matter how much I dread seeing that, I have to know what happened.

Looking her straight in the eyes, I nod my head slowly. She does, too, before taking a deep breath. And then she begins.

She's standing in front of a crowd, talking to them as her brother and bodyguards stand nearby, when a gunshot rings out. It makes me flinch automatically, desperate to find the shooter even though I know this happened in the past. But of course I'm not really there, and all I can do is watch in horror as she and Caleb are captured, and as their captors torture him to make her cooperate.

She shows me the broadcast they made her send to the residents of Greensburg – and the hidden message she placed in it. I can't help but admire her for being collected enough to do that despite the terrible circumstances. I doubt I would have thought of it.

And I see that it worked, as she stares out a bathroom window at a police officer who emerges from the shadows in a nearby building. It's difficult to see his face, but the image stirs something in me – a sensation of familiarity that's gone as soon as it comes.

But I see the message he sends her, and that he's offering her a potential way to fight back. That possibility turns into a reality the next time Tris returns to the bathroom – and pulls a gun from where her helper hid it. And in that moment, I feel her thoughts turn to me.

Between growing up in Abnegation, and with my father, I always felt like I was less than everyone else. Less loved. Less selfless. Less intelligent. Less capable. Less attractive. Less everything.

But as I watch Tris struggle to face whatever horror is coming, it's clear that she doesn't see me that way at all. Instead, she draws strength from me, the way I so often do from her.

In her eyes, I'm strong and confident and capable of doing anything to protect those I love. And she models herself after me as she returns to the room and does what it takes to save herself and Caleb from their abductors.

And she succeeds, somehow taking out four of them single-handedly and then broadcasting messages to eliminate the rest of the threat. By the time help arrives, she barely needs it anymore, but I watch as Lauren enters the room to "rescue" her.

My entire body freezes when I see the man behind her, and abruptly I understand why he looked familiar when I saw him in the other building. Micky.

Lauren hired him because he was resistant to the broadcasts. That resistance must have allowed him to hear Tris' hidden message – and to get the gun to her that saved her life.

There's too much shock going through me to form a clear train of thought, but one concept manages to make its way deep into my core. He was there because I tracked him down to retrieve Anna's ring. Lauren never would have met him otherwise.

And if none of that had happened, Tris would probably be dead.

I can't breathe.

A/N: A guest (Tabitha) asked me a question in a review of "Determinant." Since I can't respond directly to guest reviews, and since that story is completed, I'm going to answer the question here and hope that she sees it. The question was what the mini-factions' source of income is. The answer is that the city as a whole shifted their monetary system. They used to bring all resources into one pot and then divide them evenly among the factions. The factions then used some of those resources (such as food) for everyone in their faction, and they divided the rest among their members as credits, which were given out based on the job each person worked.

Now, the city instead takes most of that pot and divides it directly among the jobs that people work all around the city. This effectively spreads the resources around the entire city, including among the new factions and the factionless. They still divide some resources (again, use food as an example) by faction, but they include the new factions and the factionless in those splits as well (essentially, it's divided by population size now).

Separately from this move, they also shifted from using credits to using cash when they joined the UCA. That allowed them to use a standard currency.

Hopefully, you see that answer, Tabitha, and it explains the shift adequately.

To everyone else, please take a moment to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Your reviews really do motivate me and always make my day!