AN: Happy Divergent Eve, UK! (I'm sorry for the big AN below, but please bare with me, it just answers some reader queries re the previous chapter.)
Firstly, for those concerned, Tris will not die, this will not be a retelling of Insurgent, and definitely not Allegiant (because I refused to read it, for one haha. ) Tris and Four apologise for the angst, but they're both new to being in a relationship, and Dauntless can be a hard place in which to forge a relationship. An once again, I really and truly promise that they won't be apart for long, and they will work things out :) (Plus, one guest reviewer mentioned that my mentioning the relationship angst being short lived wasn't realistic, so please let me clarify. Their problems aren't going to just go away, they will be talking, and working things out, while Tris is away. She will be away for at least a few chapters, and they won't stay mad that entire time, they will be working towards working things out. Things won't instantly return to moonlight and roses. So, fear not, there will be plenty of relationship development, I just won't spell it out any further in ANs.)
Also, Four is acting out of hurt, he feels like the only person he loves is leaving him, because she doesn't care enough. Both he and Tris have a lot of developing to do as two people in a relationship. Tris probably could have spoken to Four alone, but she tried to make the best choice for her job as well as her relationship. She's still only young.
Lastly, this chapter doesn't have much Fourtris, but it has a lot of crucial details about what is to come! I hope you enjoy that aspect at least, and know that the next chapter will have some Fourtris. (Oh, and thanks for all of your fantastic reviews, thoughts and remarks. You are all amazing! Thanks to those who were happy to work with me on a few ideas, I'm all ready to write the next few chapters!)
Chapter 32
Tris sat on the plane, looking through the case file the Harrison had handed her as she'd boarded their private plane half an hour ago.
They were flying out from the aerodrome that they always used near the compound, headed straight for the commercial airport in Geneva, Switzerland. The flight was just under 12 hours long.
They had left The States on Friday evening, and would arrive in Switzerland on Saturday morning, the last day of November.
The further Tris got into the file, the more her brow furrowed. Harrison had assigned her a hell of a mission, that much had been evident from the second she had first looked at the file. She could not believe who her target was, she had sat stunned, for five full minutes, after reading the name and seeing the picture.
She had yet to brief Uriah on their mission. He would not be privy to all of the details, she was to brief him on what she needed to know.
Forty five minutes later Tris was familiar with the entire case and had made detailed notes on the most important things that she needed to tell Uriah, as well as a brief outline of their plans for the next couple of weeks. She and Uriah had also been provided dinner, and had eaten, she working, he researching their destination.
"Uriah, I'm ready to brief you," Tris said, waving him over.
Uriah jumped up from where he'd been sitting a few seats over and joined Tris in the seat next to her.
"So, we're headed for Pully, Switzerland," Tris began. "As you already know, we'll fly in to Geneva where there will be a car waiting for us. We'll drive to Pully, it's about an hour to the north east, on Lac Léman. Now what you don't know is that we've got a suite booked at the Angleterre & Résidence Hotel, in Lausanne, right next to Pully. We'll be posing as a young, wealthy American couple, so staying in such luxury is necessary."
"Are we married?" Uriah asked with fiendish curiosity. "Mar and Four aren't going to be keen on that idea."
"Well, they'll never know," Tris said with a shadow of a smile. "We are married. I'm guessing that there'll be a suitable set of rings for us in the supplies in those trunks Harrison mysteriously referred to in the car. I guess there will be some appropriate clothing in there, to help us appear as a wealthy couple."
"Do we get new names?" Uriah asked, grinning. "Please let me be Matthew or something. Most people want a new, cooler name. I'd just like a normal name for once in my life."
"We're keeping our first names, but our surname will be Murray," Tris told him. "I'm afraid you'll have to just hope you get another mission where you can have a normal name."
"So, these details are useful and everything, but what are we headed to Pully for?" Uriah asked. "I can see why Harrison wanted me along, seeing as I speak French and German, my Russian might even come in handy, Switzerland is so diverse when it comes to languages."
"Our target is involved in illegal trafficking of priceless artefacts and artworks," Tris explained. "They are very slippery customers, they have quite a large and seamlessly functioning organisation, known as The Factionless, by those who are aware of them. The FBI branch in Bern has been working with Europol and Interpol to get close enough to them to get enough evidence with which to arrest them, but the leader got wind and Interpol and Europol had the FBI pull out. That's why we're going in. Interpol thought it would be best if an American couple, with the cover story we have, tried to get access to them, and they thought Dauntless agents would be a good option. Our target is American, but has been living in Europe for over a decade now. That is why both the FBI and Europol are involved."
"Sounds like there are a lot of people invested in this mission. What's the name of the woman we're all after?" Uriah asked.
"Evelyn Johnson, she's married to Simon Geisert, he's a wealthy businessman. He's involved in the organisation, but she's the real leader of it," Tris explained. "Their main way of operating inconspicuously is by regularly hosting a variety of balls, galas and fundraisers at their estate on Lac Léman in Pully."
Tris tried to keep her tone as even as possible when she had said the words, Evelyn Johnson. She had recognised Four's mother when she had first glanced at her photo in the file. Certainly she was at least ten years older than the photo Tris had been familiar with from investigating Eaton, but her name, and her face, made her unmistakable.
"I sense we will be attending one of these little events," Uriah said wryly. "My finely honed senses also guess that this will involve me wearing one of those suffocating tuxedos. That's what's in those suitcases, right? A multitude of evening wear?"
"I haven't looked, but I'd put money on you being right, and I don't like it any better than you," Tris said firmly. "But it's the job. And yes, we'll be headed to a fundraiser, next weekend. Interpol arranged for tickets for us to attend, they'll be facilitating some of the necessary arrangements while we're here in Europe. Hence, they've also had a contact of theirs feel out Evelyn and her associates regarding obtaining a valuable piece. We'll be attending the fundraiser, making contact, and then hoping arranging for a further meeting, to procure the item. Or rather, the evidence to get them locked up for good. I'll do most of the talking, you're to be my arm candy, and the muscle, if necessary."
"If we're not headed to the fundraiser until next weekend, then why did we have to leave today? We'll have a week of kicking around Switzerland, freezing in the European winter," Uriah pointed out.
"Well, you're right about us having a week, what with the fundraiser not being until the Saturday the 7th," Tris agreed. "But we need that week to acclimatise, and 'see the sights' as we're supposed to be a couple on holidays. We'll also need the time to get into character, according to our cover stories. Plus, apparently we need to make sure we can dance convincingly, so we have to go to Geneva for at least one extensive lesson. I will have a few meetings to take, but I can't discuss them at this point."
"Dance lessons?" Uriah echoed, looking a little green. "Great."
"Just think, if we get back in time for the Snowflake Ball, you'll be able to impress Marlene," Tris pointed out.
"Why wouldn't we be back before the 23rd? That would be over 3 weeks already," Uriah pointed out, confused.
"Well, the fundraiser is a week away, and will be the first time we make contact. We then have to try and tee up another meeting with Evelyn and her Factionless, in the hope of trapping them into doing something incriminating. Once we get something on them we can turn them over to Interpol," Tris explained. "If we don't get anything on them after the second meeting, we'll need to try to keep drawing it out further, looking for more items, but without creating suspicion. It would make my life much easier if we get this done by Christmas, I can promise you that."
"Well, we're both pretty determined, so I'll be doing my best to help you so that we can get back by Christmas," Uriah said seriously. "Whatever you need from me this mission, just say the word. I know I muck around a lot, but when it comes down to it, I know what's important."
"I know you do," Tris said, with a grateful smile. "This will be a big test, but I know we can do it. Now, I think we should try to get some sleep, or at least relax a bit."
They separated again, both spreading out in their comfortable flying seats, putting on headphones with the intention of finding something to watch.
Tris tried to focus on watching Catching Fire for the second time, but, excellent though it was, she couldn't stop thinking about Evelyn Johnson. Four's mother was alive, and Four didn't know, and she was sure she wasn't supposed to tell Four. It was obviously a big part of the reason that Harrison hadn't wanted to Four to have anything to do with the case. She was to be responsible for sending Four's other parent to prison. Four at least hated Marcus, and was in favour of his downfall, and even participated in his take down. But this was different, Four had loving memories of Evelyn, her name was tattooed on his body. He thought she was dead, when really she was living a luxurious lifestyle in Europe, married to another man, who was also a criminal. She'd left Four alone, at a young age, to deal with an abusive father. Tris wasn't completely sure how to process her emotions regarding her discovery, let alone wonder about whether or not she should try to convince Harrison to let her tell Four what was going on.
She had left things in a little bit of a state with Four, which she regretted, but she was unsure what else she could have done to make their parting easier. In the back of her mind she had worried that the issue of her safety might crop up at some point, but prior to her leaving, they had not really discussed it. Four had been pretty understanding, he did after all, have first hand experience in the nature of their work. Still, their relationship was ever developing, so at some point it was going to come to a crossroads with their work, and it had, rather explosively. Both of them were new to being in a relationship, both were feeling their way through it, so they were bound to have some rough patches, particularly in the world they were living in.
Tris picked up her cell, preparing to draft an email to Four, to send whenever was appropriate, but quickly put it back down, not knowing what to say to him.
"Hi, I miss you. We're safe, or as safe as we can be in an undisclosed destination on a stop secret mission. By the way, your mom's not dead. Wait, I can't tell you that. Um, so, how's the weather there? I wish we hadn't fought. Oh, and by the way, your mom's not dead, and she's my target on this mission. Wait, still can't tell you that, or the second part."
No, she'd have to process her emotions on that matter before she could email Four. Maybe she'd call Harrison once they landed, and speak to him about the situation. Surely he could appreciate that the situation was more than just their romantic relationship complicating a mission – Four's mother was alive, something he deserved to know.
Eventually Tris drifted off, sleep allowing her a surprisingly peaceful reprieve from her overwhelming thoughts.
Sometime later, Uriah was shaking her awake, saying, "Tris, wake up. We've landed."
"What time is it?" Tris asked, not too groggily, trained to become alert quickly.
"Well, my world clock app tells me that it's 1pm on Saturday afternoon here, while it's 7am Saturday morning, back in Pennsylvania," Uriah told her. "Suddenly, we lost six hours."
"Suddenly," Tris said with a snort. "More like over twelve hours, we lost half an hour every hour, except, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that."
"The pilot says it's pretty cold out there, about 35ºF," Uriah said. "So, I'd be putting on as much warm stuff as you have access to. It's not snowing though, which is good. I'd rather not be driving in snow, and in an expensive, high powered European car, to start with. Apparently they had a little snow a week or so ago, but none since then."
"As pretty as snow is, it is good to only have the cold to contend with for now," Tris agreed. "And what makes you think you'll be driving? And in an expensive European car?"
"Well, we're a wealthy American couple, who just arrived on 'their' private jet. I'm a young, red blooded male, with cash to burn, it would be weird if I wasn't driving an impressive car," Uriah pointed out, and rather reasonably too.
"Well, we'll just see what's waiting for us," Tris said with a smile. "Now, let's get our stuff together, get rugged up, and find someone to carry our luggage to our car, where ever that may be, like the snooty Americans we are."
Not too long later, they stepped off the plane, to a few snowflakes falling around them.
"I think it's snowing now, Uri," Tris said, giggling.
"Well, not much, I'm still happy to drive the cool car," Uriah said serenely. "Let's go find it."
Tris and Uriah went through customs, after which they spoke with a staff member at the airport car hire place, mentioned in Tris's notes, who directed them to where they could find their car.
Uriah repeated the instructions he'd been given to the man carrying their copious quantities of luggage, and together he and Tris headed for their car, their helper in tow.
They where outside, where the snow at already stopped, in fact, it was hard to tell there'd been any snow at all.
"Now this is exactly what I had in mind," Uriah said gleefully to Tris, as they stood, looking appreciatively at their car.
"Well, good thing its black, that is our signature colour, after all," Tris said, grinning, knowing Uriah would understand her reference to their Dauntless colour.
"Forget the colour, this car is perfection, Harrison is the best," Uriah said, practically drooling. "Oh, it is so good to be me!"
Tris laughed, a rather tinny, false laugh, and said, "Oh honey, your excitement over cars is something I'll never understand, but at least your personal assistant does."
Uriah gave her a benevolent smile, realising she was slipping into her character of Mrs Beatrice Murray.
But really, she was just as excited over the shiny Audi R8 as Uriah was. It looked like the mission was going to be as exciting and enjoyable as it was dangerous and difficult.
AN: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought :)
The next few chapters will be a mix of mission and emotional stuff (Fourtris, of course). Some of it has been alluded to above, as a consolation for the lack of actual Fourtris.
Please review!