This chapter was slightly harder to write as I am not quite sure how the simulation affected Four during this time. I thought about it and figured even if he was taken over by it, there would still be glimpses where he remembered if only fleeting so I wanted to write it that way. Anyway I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a review to let me know how you like it. It's almost finished! I think I am going to expand my story, Everything They Wanted, next and then maybe do Insurgent if people would want that from his POV as well. Let me know!
Four feels Tris lean into him and he takes as much of her weight as she needs to give him. All he can think about is the blood trickling down her side and wants to get her medical help as soon as possible. They are lead into an Abnegation building, Four recognizes it as the old headquarters, and as they enter Four sees a blonde woman behind a desk and assumes this is Jeanine Matthews. She hangs up the phone and narrows her eyes at Tris. Four slides his body slightly in front of Tris, still trying in any way to protect her from what he assumes is death.
She points at Tris, "You I expected after all those test result malfunctions but Tobias Eaton, or should I call you Four, were able to escape me. You performed perfectly on all your tests, yet here you are, wide awake. Can you explain that to me?"
Four narrowed his eyes at her, refusing to give her any more information than he had to, "You are the genius, you tell me." She smiled at him and it sent a chill down his spine, "Well I assume your Divergence isn't as strong as this one." Four feels Tris tense and he applies some pressure with his hand that is still on her back, warning her to stay put. He turns back to Jeanine, spitting venomous words at her, "Your powers of deductive reasoning are stunning, I am awed by your brilliance." Four was pushing his luck but the anger coursing through him at the thought of this woman endangering Tris' life was too much to handle.
He felt Tris look at him and he realized he hasn't shown this side of him in a while. He would rather fight Jeanine than sit here and die and with Tris standing next to him, he wasn't going down without a fight. Four turned his attention back to Jeanine, never liking the "talking" part of a life threatening situation. He wanted to force her to act, because he knew he could win that fight. "Now that your intelligence has been verified, you might as well get on with killing us." Jeanine doesn't even react to him and he feels the white hot anger pooling inside of him but he has to keep a level head. Just as he thinks that, he feels Tris slump against him and his heart races at the thought of her bleeding out just standing here. He moves the arm that was on her back around her waist, holding her up completely at this point.
"Don't be silly, there is no rush. You are here because you are important, extremely important. I've been so confused at how the Divergent were immune to my serums so I've been working to remedy that. This latest batch was supposed to have been the answer, but as you are standing here, that obviously wasn't the case. Luckily I have another batch."
Four had no idea how to get him and Tris out of this but maybe if he kept Jeanine talking he might get an opportunity. With how much blood Tris has lost, his other plan of fighting wasn't going to work, he couldn't leave her defenseless while he took out Jeanine. "Why bother with the serums?" Tris asks weakly.
Jeanine smirks, "I have had a question since I began the Dauntless project. How could all these Divergent come from the weak willed Abnegation faction? Of all the factions to produce rebels, why yours?"
Four couldn't stand her arrogance, "Weak willed? From what I know, it takes a strong will to be self-sacrificing, think of others before youself. If you are looking for weak willed, let's look at the people currently mind controlling an army to get the results you want."
Jeanine laughed again and Four felt Tris shiver beside him. "I am not a fool, a faction of intellectuals is no army and we are tired of being dominated by a faction of self-righteous idiots who reject wealth and advancement. We couldn't do it on our own so we enlisted the help of your faction, which your leaders were happy to hand over the necessary force in exchange for a place in our new government."
Four heard Tris try to speak and he squeezed his arm around her tighter, wanting her to save her strength, but he knew that wasn't the type of person she was. "At whose expense? All that wealth doesn't come from nowhere." Jeanine smiled at her, Four noticed her eyes dart to Tris' shoulder, analyzing the wound. "Well Tris, the factionless are a drain on our society, after we deal with your old faction, I'm sure Candor will follow along behind us."
Four could feel the forward progression of this conversation and knew their time standing around was coming to an end. He tried to find a place in the room he could quickly shove Tris to protect her before he began his assult on the others here. He turned to Jeanine with a threatening look, "Let's get on with this. I promise you, you will be dead before the day is out."
She clicked her tongue at him and said, "If you could control your temper, you would not be in this situation Tobias." He narrowed his eyes at her, "I'm in this situation because you orchestrated an attack on innocent people."
Jeanine just laughed, "Innocent people? What about your father? Would you be upset if you found out he died today?" Four thought about it for a second but realized as much as he hated his father he wouldn't want him killed this way, no one deserved to be murdered in cold blood without a chance to fight back. "No Jeanine, even though he is evil, at least he hasn't attempted to murder an entire faction."
"Well let's move forward then shall we? I am going to be in charge of a large number of Abnegation very soon and I can't have you running around stirring up trouble. My new serum should be just the cure we are looking for. You may be strong willed, I cannot control that, but I can control a few other things."
As she moved closer to us, Four felt Tris lean into him and he felt blood run over his arm, she needed medical help soon. Unfortunately he doubted Jeanine was rushing to stitch up her wound. She pressed her hands together, glee warping her mouth into a terrifying grin. "I can control what you see and hear in a way that my new serum manipulates your surroundings and your will. You get to be the first test subject Tobias, sadly you are too injured Beatrice to be much use to me for anything so your execution will occur right after we depart."
Four's body reacts and terror washes over him. There is nothing he will be able to do to save her, his mind races through possibilities but all of them end up with both of them dead, which may be the better option. He meets Tris' eyes, trying to hide the fear in them but failing, and sees the same fear in her eyes. It isn't so much a fear of dying as it is a fear of losing each other so early on. Four has to fight back, not for himself but for her.
"No. I would rather die." He stands firms but Jeanine has all the power and both of them know it. She smirks, "That's sweet, but sadly you don't have much say in the matter." Desperation fills Four and he has to feel her touch, her lips one last time. He grabs Tris, still aware of her shoulder, and kisses her roughly. He pours every ounce of his soul into her, a promise that he will find a way to solve this, no matter how empty that promise is. He ends the kiss and places her against the wall, substituting it for his support. His body screams out for her but he has to give her a fighting chance. Every fiber of his being tries to keep him near her and then desperation takes over again. He looks her firmly in the eye before launching himself across the table and grabbing Jeanine's throat. He attempts to crush her windpipe as fast as possible but her Dauntless soldiers are faster. Guns press against his body and he hears Tris scream which makes him immediately stop. Two soldiers grab him and pull him off from her, his body becoming slack, giving in. He is shoved to the floor and his face is violently shoved into the carpet. From where he is, he sees Tris' feet fly at his attacker and he wants to scream out, tell her to stop but her body is slow and weak. She barely makes a scratch before a guard shoves her against the wall. He sees her hold in a scream from the pain in her shoulder and he is drowned in grief that this is the last time he is going to see her.
Four has no idea how he is going to escape and free her before her execution, he can barely breathe at the thought of a gun by her head. Four sees Jeanine gather herself and grab a black box from her desk. His face pales and has no idea what to expect. A horrible thought floods his brain, Are they going to make me kill Tris?, and his stomach drops. He can't allow for his face to be the last thing she sees on the other side of the gun.
Four grits his teeth and elbows one of the guards holding him down in the face, attempting one last time to get them out of this situation but doesn't make it far as a gun is slammed into the side of his head. As he feels himself slipping into unconscious he feels the needle pierce his neck and hears the moan escape Tris. He holds on for her but feels his body slipping into the serum. As hard as he tries to fight it, he can't and suddenly he is a prison inside of his brain.
He stands and scans the room. He sees Jeanine and feels wary of her but his brain is telling him she is a friend, someone to trust. He hears his name being yelled out, "Tobias! Tobias", and hears Jeanine comment to the person about not knowing them. As he turns, his brain send a signal to his muscles to react, the same reaction he felt during training. His eyes locked onto the target and swiftly moved toward her, his hand snapping up and closing around the enemy's throat. He could feel the life draining from her and he tightened his grip.
Jeanine stood behind him explaining something to the traitor, "The simulation manipulates how he sees the world. He confuses enemies with friends." Four becomes aware for a millisecond, realizing Jeanine is the enemy not this girl….trying to remember her name, the serum takes hold again and he tightens his grip. A guard pulls him off from her and he sees the fire leave the traitor's eyes. He sees her give up hope and wonders what she has lost. Again he hears Jeanine talking behind him.
"The advantage to this simulation is he can act independently and is therefore more effective than the others." Why was she telling the traitor so much information, Four struggled to connect the missing information but his brain kept confusing him. Jeanine continued, "Send him to the control room, we'll want someone watching things there and I believe he used to work there. And take this one to B13, I have something special planned for her." With that Four walks out of the building without a backward glance at the traitor, she is getting what she deserves for defying the government, and heads back to the headquarters.