Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Twilight and Divergent. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Veronica Roth. I do own the original characters created for the storyline. Please support the official release.
Writer's Notes: I hope everyone is well. It's Friday and I'm trying to catch up on some chapters. I decided to post them as they come. I have a couple more to post up. I want today to be a great day! There will be other updates to follow. Stay tuned. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review!
Bella swore that she wouldn't step foot back in Abnegation, but here she was, staring at the drab buildings around her. She sighed and walked towards her house. She did this quickly so she wouldn't gather too much attention. She stopped at her old house and she looked at the plain wooden door. The last time she saw her parents, they were devastated by her actions. She knew that she had to act tough for them. She swallowed, blowing out a breath, before she knocked. She waited a moment and heard footsteps. The door opened, and her father stood there. Andrew Prior. His dark hair was greying and Bella realized that he had more wrinkles that he used to.
"Isabella…"Andrew murmured.
"Dad. I need to talk to you." Bella said, her tone serious, but low.
Andrew nodded and let her inside. They walked into the kitchen, where Natalie Prior was sitting, peeling potatoes. "Natalie." He said and she looked up, seeing Bella. Her dark hair was highlighted with blue like the last time she saw her and her face was slightly worn, like she'd been through battle. Her clothing was tight, but her arms were covered this time. Dauntless gear strapped to her and the red stripes on her sleeve reminded her that her daughter was leadership now.
"What are you doing here?" Natalie asked, her voice was a little clipped, but she was holding back emotion from seeing her daughter like she was. She wasn't like her old daughter. The one that seemed to smile all the time.
"I'm here about Caleb." Bella said and looked at Andrew. "Dad, this is important."
Andrew nodded. "Okay. Let's sit down."
Bella swallowed, but she sat down at the table. Natalie stopped peeling the potatoes to look at her.
"I never thought I would look at you and feel so much remorse." Natalie said, her dark eyes staring at Bella.
"Natalie…"Andrew said softly. "She's Dauntless now. She's not Abnegation. We knew that when the girls transferred that there would be drastic changes."
Natalie looked back at her potato she was peeling. "Appearances change Andrew, but personalities."
"I've always been this way. I only pretended to be cheerful around you guys." Bella said and sighed. "Listen, I'm not here about me. I'm here to get information on Caleb."
"Why? So you can get him killed too?" Natalie said harshly.
"Natalie." Andrew snapped out. "Tris died because she couldn't keep up in Dauntless. It's dangerous."
"I almost died four days ago." Bella said, trying to change the subject. She pulled her bionic hand off. "I lost a hand." She said and waved it a little. "I've got battle scars that will make you puke. But, I'm alive because I fought. Tris didn't." She lied. She could never tell them that Tris died by her own hands.
Natalie covered her mouth with her hand, tears coming to her eyes seeing Bella in this shape. "What happened?" She reached across like a mother would, but Bella moved her hand away, connecting her bionic hand again and flexed it.
"Too many things to even begin to discuss." Bella said and looked at Andrew. "Dad, when we were growing up, you taught me martial arts, why?"
Andrew looked to Natalie and then back at Bella. "You needed to learn to-"
"No, don't give me something you think I want to know. You taught Caleb too. I specifically remember sparring with him in the basement that we're not supposed to have. I need answers."
"I can't give those to you." Andrew said.
Bella nodded. "Is it because of what I am?"
"I don't-"
"You do know." Bella cut him off. She could read him really well and she saw in his face, that he was relieved that she figured it out.
Natalie was quiet a moment. "We needed to protect you. They were hunting your kind down." She said quickly.
"Natalie."
"No Andrew. She obviously knows."
Andrew sighed. "Divergents have been hunted for about a decade now. Jeanine Matthews-"
"I know she's behind it. I kill Divergents because she orders me to."
"You kill… people." Natalie shook her head in obvious shock.
"She doesn't actually kill them." Andrew said, staring at Bella. "She takes them to George."
Bella frowned a little, looking back at her dad. "You know." She murmured.
"Of course I know Bella. I haven't been there in a couple months, but I have been to the city." Andrew said and swallowed. "Jeanine has been wanting control over the faction system for about ten years now. She wanted to eradicate the Divergent because they don't conform. It's obvious that they're a real threat to her overall plan. We know that she's starting a coup. Caleb informed us four days ago that she overrode the perimeter commands and shut off a section of the wall's sensors."
"So Jeanine is distracting Dauntless with these ravager attacks…"Bella murmured and sat back in her chair. "We knew it was someone in Erudite, we just didn't know who." She said and ran a hand over her face as she thought. "She's planning something. Max isn't telling me. I might have to take more drastic measures." She blew out a breath. "Okay, can you get a message to Caleb?"
Andrew nodded. "I can."
"Tell him, that we need any information he has on Jeanine. He can send it to me through a paper transmission. There's a factionless-"
"We know the one." Andrew said with a nod.
Bella nodded back. "Is Caleb… is he…"
"Yes." Andrew said. "He knows what he is. He knew before he went to Erudite. He's part of my mission to make sure Jeanine doesn't take over. He's my mole."
"Does George know?"
"No. I don't want it to widely known." Andrew said.
Bella nodded and her palm pilot beeped. She pulled it from her belt and looked at it. "Hmm. Okay." She said and looked up at Andrew. "I've got to go. I've got three Divergent children to take beyond the wall in the morning and I'm being summoned." She said and stood.
"Eric. He's doing okay?" Andrew said and stood.
"Yeah. He's fine. Why?"
Andrew shook his head. "I knew… I knew his mother and so." He shrugged.
"Wait, what happened to his mom? Isn't she alive in Erudite?"
Andrew frowned. "No. She died last week. Cancer finally caught up."
Bella didn't know. She didn't know that his mom was even sick. "I don't think he knows." She murmured. "He would have told me." She said and felt some nausea roll over her. She immediately went to the trashcan and threw up. Natalie got up to go rub her back. "I'm okay." She said, taking a couple deep breaths. She closed her eyes and stood there a moment.
Andrew brought her napkin and she took it, wiping her mouth. "Are you sick?"
"Yeah, I got stabbed by a ravager a few days ago." Bella said and straightened. "My body is fighting infection. I'm good." She said with a nod.
Andrew wasn't so sure that she was okay, but he let it go. "I'll send your message to Caleb. Be careful." He said and then he embraced her.
Bella stood there a moment before she realized that her dad hugged her. She hugged him back, feeling like she wanted to cry, but she pushed back the emotion. How could she really ever face them fully when she killed Tris? When she took away their biological daughter? She did something so heinous, even if it was to protect the 62 souls that were living outside Chicago. She took a life, her sister's life. But she pushed back the emotion, gave him the hug before he stepped back and she was being hugged by her mom. She hugged her back, but she couldn't stay too much longer. She needed to make it back to Dauntless, to see Max.
