Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Divergent. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Veronica Roth.
Writer's note: Thank you for all the support! I am mobile at the moment so it's hard for me to swap back and forward so for those that left reviews thank you! To all my new followers, also thank you! I couldn't do this without all of you! Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review!
Bella walked to Max's office at five in the morning. Eric had sent her a reminder to the palm pilot and so had Max. She was nervous about being around Max for anything. She felt uneasy about the entire situation. How did Max go from wanting her killed to wanting her in leadership? It's like he has an ulterior motive and she was going to figure it out, because if she didn't then her life was at risk and so was Tris's.
Eric was already in the office when she arrived. There were two people there. They were young and in her head she wanted to scream at how heartless Max and Jeanine were. But she kept her face impassive as she joined Eric.
Eric didn't look at her just yet. "Max, we'll be back. I have Four set up for running the first stage of training and Lukas will be joining him later. We'll be ready for the expedition tomorrow." He relayed and Max nodded.
"Safe travels." Max said and looked at the young children. "Eric and Bella will take care of you on your journey." He lied to the kids.
The kids looked at each other nervously. They were likely between ten and twelve. They wore Erudite clothing, so Bella figured that's where they came from.
"Alright let's go." Eric said flatly and the kids followed Eric and so did Bella, but Max stopped her briefly. Eric looked back at him, irritated, but he shut the door and left Bella behind against his better judgement.
"I wanted to speak with you briefly." Max said and stood, walking over to her.
Bella nodded, looking at Max. "Is this a talk that requires more than sixty seconds?"
"Yes, but I will be brief. Watch Eric. I want a report on his mental state when you return from disposing of the Divergents." Max said pointedly.
Bella nodded. "Alright." She said. "Anything else?"
"No. I'll see you when you return." Max said and dismissed her and so she left.
Bella walked over to Eric, who had paused to wait for her. "Let's get moving." She said, not meeting his gaze yet.
Eric just nodded and they walked out. Leading the two Divergent Erudite children to the train. It was slowed down enough for Eric to push the kids up onto the train without issue and Bella hopped on with them.
They were silent for some time, the kids were really nervous, but they hadn't said anything either.
Eric looked at his watch. "What are your names?" He suddenly asked.
The older looking one of the two swallowed. His hair was red and he had brow eyes and dark freckles that peppered his face. "Danny." He said. "This is Sarah." He motioned to his friend. "We're twelve in case you were wondering."
Eric nodded. "Okay. You're Erudite." He said and crossed his arms. "Do you know why you're here?"
"Yes. We're Divergent. Jeanine wants you to kill us." Danny said matter of factly.
Bella was shocked that the boy was so blunt about it, but she just looked up at Eric.
Eric nodded looking at Bella and then back to Danny. "Do you fear death?"
"No." Danny said. "I am a corruption to the faction system. It's my duty to-"
"It's bullshit. The whole thing." Eric cut him off. "Don't let Jeanine's twisted words get under your skin. What do you really feel. Don't regurgitate that bullshit back at me. I was Erudite I know how it goes."
Danny swallowed. "We don't want to die." He admitted.
Bella looked at Eric, seeing Sarah quiver a little. She was scared. "Don't be afraid." Bella finally spoke. "I want you to trust Eric and I. We're not going to kill you."
"You're not?" Danny asked.
Eric shook his head. "No." He said and looked out the window. "Take a deep breath." He said, grabbing Danny's arm. "Kick your legs and swim up the best you can to get to the surface."
"What?"
"No time." Eric said. "Trust me." He said, staring at the boy in his dark green eyes. Eyes that reminded him of Lukas. "Hold your breath." He said again and Danny nodded and then Eric pushed Danny out of the traincar. He looked at Sarah. "Come on."
Sarah was scared but Eric grabbed her arm and he instructed her to hold her breath and do the same as Danny, and he pushed her out of the car.
"Let's go Bella." He said quickly and he jumped out.
Bella hated water and she really didn't know how to swim. But she didn't hesitate. She jumped from the car and she took a big breath as she hit the water below. She kicked out her feet and used her arms to swim up. She saw Eric, as he made it to Sarah first. Danny was doing well swimming on his own, so he doggy paddled around in a circle until Eric made it to him with Sarah.
Bella was doing her best to swim and she wasn't doing too bad, but Eric was obviously the better swimmer. Her heart pounded in her chest as she swam out in the open water. It was one of her biggest fears and she was having to be forced to face it without melting down. It was hard, to keep swimming when you barely knew how, but eventually she made it to shore. Eric was standing there waiting with the kids.
"You good?" Eric asked her, concern in his eyes.
Bella was out of breath. "Yeah, no worries. Just one of my biggest fears is water." She said and straightened a little. "I'm okay. I'm alive." She grumbled and looked at the kids. "You guys okay?"
Danny and Sarah nodded, shivering a little.
Eric nodded. "Alright, we have a hike. Let's keep moving." He said and they all started hiking to the hidden Divergent society that George Wu was in charge of.
When they made it to the spot, Eric whistled out and a short while later, an Asian man appeared.
"You brought two more." George said, his eyes studying the two children. "They're so young. Is Jeanine checking all the children? How is she able to figure it out?"
Eric shook his head. "I don't know, but they're figuring it out earlier and earlier." He said. "This is Danny and Sarah. Danny, Sarah, this is my friend George. You can trust him. He's just like us."
Danny looked at Eric shocked. "You're Divergent too?"
Eric nodded. "I am and so is Bella. We want you to live and we want you to learn. George is going to take care of you. I know it's going to be hard not seeing your parents again, but this is how you stay safe."
George smiled and looked to Bella. "Bella Prior. It is very nice to meet you."
Bella smiled at George and went and shook his hand. "Likewise. I have something for you too."
"She brings gifts." George said with a chuckle.
"Well, I sketched it. I figured a hydroponic system will help with your water issue." She said and took out the other sketch that she sketched extra. It was more elaborate. She handed it to him. She was glad that her cargo pant pocket kept it dry and she realized that the pants were waterproofed. Which was pretty cool.
George took the sketch and looked it over. "Wow. This is… we didn't think of this."
Eric smiled. "Can she see the ones that are sick?"
"Of course. It's been a while since you've taken the time to stay to see the people."
Eric looked at his watch. "We have a little time to spare we can't stay long."
Bella smiled and they followed George into the Divergent city with the two kids.
Bella was amazed at how they were living. The old ruins of outside of Chicago. There was plenty of greenery at the entrance, and there was water coming in from a stream that looked like it came in from the mountains or something. As far as Bella knew, old Chicago didn't have any mountains like this. That this happened after the war. That the bomb that was dropped created the mountain somehow. How there was running water, it didn't make sense, but it was coming from somewhere. More North of Chicago. Perhaps a lake up there.
"Eric!" A boy ran up to him, Eric smiled and picked the boy up as he ran to him and he hugged him when the boy hugged him. It was a beautiful moment to witness and it touched Bella's heart.
"Oliver, how are you doing?" Eric asked and sat him back down.
George smiled and looked at Bella. "This way." He said, Bella left Eric there with Oliver and some other kids that were coming up to Eric now. "We don't know what the sickness is." He said and Bella followed him into their own sick bay. It was cots with people laying in them, weak obviously.
Bella studied them, looking around. "It's oxygen deprivation." She said.
George frowned. "But not everyone is being affected."
"You are. You just don't realize." Bella said. "Let me see your hands." She said and George showed her. "See your nailbeds. It's blue. Low iron. Anemia comes with oxygen deprivation. The children are getting sicker right?" She said, noting that there were more kids sick than adults.
George nodded. "Yes. But how…"
Bella looked back at George. "The hydroponic system is going to help. There's more greenery towards the entrance. The rest of the city looks barren. It's closer to the toxic fields it seems. There's a little bit of everything going on here. I would start building the hydroponic system closer to North side. Replant the plants. Use the roofs of these buildings if you have to. It'll also create a better cover. I know we're far from Chicago here, but it's important to keep better cover." Bella explained.
George listened and nodded. "Were you Erudite?"
"No. Abnegation before Dauntless." Bella said.
George nodded. "We don't have books here. We only know what we know from our times in our factions."
"How many of you are there?"
"60." George said. "62 now." He said and sighed. "Sadly, there are more children than normal. We have some medicines and supplies, but it's been rough. We can hunt and gather food. We have two hunters that make it closer to Chicago to hunt the three horned deer."
Bella nodded. "Transplanting more plants will bring more wildlife too. I think you can build this with what you have. Those old cars can be of some use."
"Cars?"
"Yeah, the things with wheels. They're metal. They're about half a mile from here." Bella mentioned.
George thought about it and nodded. "Oh okay. Yeah, we'll salvage some more from there. We used batteries from them to help with the solar. We have some houses with power and some without it."
"Hydroponics can also be used to convert energy." Bella said and then looked around, finding some sort of paper and a pen. "Here." She said and she started sketching something on the small square. She handed it to George and he studied it.
"This is amazing." George murmured. "You are a genius."
Bella smiled. "I read a lot. I'll try to get some better details to you. Who is supposed to see you next?"
"Carlisle." George said.
Bella nodded. "I'll send it with him then. Until then. I would move your sick to the houses towards the entrance. Set up a better field hospital there. You have more oxygen that way. The air is thicker there. It's too thin here and the kids need that denser oxygen." She explained.
George nodded. "We can do that. It will make them better?"
"Oh absolutely. Other than that. The water filtration system. What do you do now?"
"Boiling it." George said. "We have a reservoir, but we have had issues with it leaking."
"The hydroponics will filter your water for you. Make sure it keeps running, don't dam it up and make it stagnated. Drinking stagnant water will make you sick." Bella glanced at her own watch. "I don't have enough time to go into full details, but I will send more knowledge with Carlisle."
George appreciated everything. This was enough to get them started. "Thank you. This is… this is truly amazing."
Bella smiled. "Of course." She said and then she hugged George. "By the way, your sister is doing well. I don't know if Eric tells you or not."
George hugged her back. "He doesn't speak of too much from Dauntless. I figured it was for my own good. But it is good to know that she is doing okay. I miss her greatly."
"Oh, she misses you everyday. She thinks that you're dead, but Eric said that-"
"It's important she doesn't know. At least not yet." George said with a smile. "Now go. You've spent enough time."
Bella nodded, bowing slightly to him before she left and headed back towards Eric. He looked up at her and when he did, Bella saw how happy he was around the kids. How he was here in this place. He seemed not as stressed in this moment. "Alright," She said when she reached him. "Let's get going."
Eric nodded and looked down at Oliver. "Keep out of trouble. I'll bring you something next visit." He said and ruffled the boys hair and the boy hugged him one last time.
Bella smiled and they waved their goodbyes before leaving the Divergent city. They were quiet for a few moments during their hike until she spoke. "I gave George the plans. They have what they need to get started. I hope that it makes a difference."
"It will." Eric said as they hiked. "It's more than what they're doing. Their city is growing because the rate of Divergent discovery is picking up. If Jeanine is finding Divergents as young as the others, then they have some sort of special device that is doing it."
Bella nodded. That was exactly what she was thinking. "By the way. Max is suspicious of you. I have to talk to him when I get back… alone."
Eric frowned and stopped moving to look at her. "What?"
"Before we left, he told me I had to report back on your mental state." Bella said.
"My mental state?"
"Yeah. I don't know what Max is getting at. Why he's trusting me because I'm a Prior."
"I don't know. None of this makes fucking sense." Eric grumbled. "I'm fine."
Bella raised a brow. "I know you're fine. I guess he wants to make sure you're still sound mind after murdering Divergent children."
Eric sighed. "He's got something else planned."
"Oh he definitely has something else planned. I will find out what it is. You're not going to like what I have to do though." Bella said and started walking.
Eric frowned. "What does that mean. What are you going to do?"
"What I do best Eric." Bella said and looked back at him. "Seduce him."
"What the fuck Bella." Eric said, shocked, but started walking after her, grabbing her arm to turn her to look at him. "You're not going to fuck Max."
"I didn't say I was going to fuck him Eric. I said I'm going to seduce him. I am very alluring." Bella pointed out.
Eric shook his head. "It isn't worth it."
"Eric, there are a lot of lives at stake. 62 people are depending on us and even more Divergents back in Chicago. I am not going to pretend that I can't get it out of him. It's either that or we torture him and kill him. The first way will be less risk and I'll likely get more out of him." Bella explained. "Anyways, we can't stand around and argue about this. I've made up my mind about it."
Eric didn't like this idea at all. "This is ridiculous."
"You may think it's ridiculous Eric, but it's what we have to do if we want to figure out what the hell Jeanine is planning. If I can get more information then I'll do it. He obviously is losing his faith in you."
Eric shook his head. "You don't know that."
"Oh I know. You've been doing this a long time Eric. Maybe you don't see the signs, but I do. Max already thought you were being too easy on the recruits. At least my way, I can get inside his head. The best way to fuck with someone is catch them with their guard down and he's not going to let his guard down unless he thinks he's getting something out of it." Bella said and started walking again.
Eric wanted to hit something. "You're putting yourself in danger too. You don't get what Max is capable of. He's not going to just easily hand over top secrets just by you batting your eyelashes and acting all nice to him."
"Who said that's Max's preference?" Bella said.
"How would you know. You've met him what, three times?"
Bella smiled. "Eric. I'm not going to explain how I know how to push the right buttons. I pushed yours, didn't I?" She said, looking over her shoulder at him.
Eric blinked a few times. "That's not fair. We're in love with each other." He pointed out.
Bella laughed a little. "I know, but it didn't start that way. You know I'm sorry about that and that's not how I feel now. You're literally my world, but I do know how to manipulate."
Eric sighed. He didn't like to be reminded of that part. He was so angry with her then, but everything was like a whirlwind then and she was hurt and just, so much happened, that it didn't even matter because he loved her more than anything. "Fine. How are you going to seduce him?" He asked, curious.
"I guess you'll just have to find out." Bella said then stopped and looked at Eric, reaching for him and pulling him against her, her mouth finding his immediately. It calmed Eric down instantly the moment their mouths touched each other. She broke the kiss to look up at him, his steel eyes a mix of worry and curiosity. "I'm going to be fine. I love you." She said then patted his cheek and started walking again. They had a good hike ahead of them. They obviously couldn't enter the train from the water, so they had to hike farther.