Hey, readers here is the next chapter. I hope everyone is doing well. I don't own Divergent, the only thing I own is the plot of this story, any military-related mistakes are mine, I did take some liberties in terms of the military. Thank you to everyone who continues to read and support this story. Happy Reading!
Chapter 14: Torn
The ringing of my cellphone brings me from my dream-like state, groggily, I answer, "Hello." Silence, then an automated voice speaks, "Will you accept the collect charges from Andrews Military Prison." What the hell, Christina? "Yes," I reply, trepidation evident in my voice. Suddenly, a scared voice breaks through the speaker of the phone, "Tris, can you come to bail me out of here?" Quickly, I ask, "What happened, Chris?" She cries, "I was arrested. Will's commanding officers didn't take too kindly to finding me on secret training grounds. I didn't even have a chance to find Will. To make matters worse, Will is getting a demotion in rank because they believe he told me the location of where he was training. Even though I told the arresting men, we broke into a building, offices, and found the maps, all in an attempt to keep Will out of it. Will is going to hate me when he comes home." I gulp, " I guess my situation could have ended up worse, I ended up conscripted, if you want to call it that, into the Air Force until Tobias deploys." Christina interrupts, "What, how?" Sighing, I reply, "One word, Asshat. I'll explain it all later. We should have never gone to that building to find the maps. We should have gone paintballing instead. I'll be right there to figure out a way to get you out of this mess."
Running out the door, I race on foot to the prison. Slamming through the door, my eyes fall onto the one bored military cop sitting behind the desk, I ask, "I'm here to barter for the release of Christina Vega." The cop raises an eyebrow at me, "Sorry, she is only to be released to Sergeant William Kennedy in the US Army, and you, young lady, don't look like him."
"Can I at least see her?" I ask, knowing the answer before it leaves his lips, "No. She is being held for breaking into a federal office and isn't allowed any visitors at this time until she is released. Honestly, she will be lucky if she doesn't end up behind bars for a few months, once the judge is done with her," he narrows his eyes, continuing, "In my opinion, you belong behind bars with her as well, considering you forgot you are a grown woman, who is married to a captain, in the Air Force." My eyes slide to the ground, my lip quivers on the verge of tears at this man's true words, I whisper, "Will you tell her, I tried at least to get her out of here?" The man nods his head as I turn to walk out of the building without Christina.
I don't hear another word from Christina until I get a text message almost a week later, reading: Thanks for at least trying to get me out. I'll be on house arrest for a while with Will, who isn't speaking to me. Tobias walks through the door while I'm reading the text, his tired-looking eyes meet mine. I smile at him, but he doesn't return my smile. Instead, he tosses his heavy green duffle bags onto the kitchen floor, marches over to me, and throws his two silver bars onto the coffee table. Anger laces his voice, he snaps, "If you ever pull anything like that, ever again, I will let them, drag you from this house to take you to the brig as they did, Christina. I hope you know how much I care for you." My eyes stay on his silver bars not attached to his uniform, unable to look at him. I can feel his anger radiating off him in waves. Taking a deep breath, my eyes glide on his collar to find the wrong device attached. My heart plummets in my chest seeing one silver bar instead of two. Tobias was demoted because of me. "I'm sorry," I whisper, standing to wrap my arms around his waist, trying to comfort him. He whispers painfully, "Tris, I wish I'm sorry was enough right now, but it isn't," his arms remain at his side, not touching me. My eyes connect with his weary filled ones while I ask, "What happened?" Removing my arms from around his waist.
"What do you think happened? I was demoted because of the incident. Will's commanding superior contacted Asshat about the incident. Christina sang like a bird once she was arrested explaining everything. Will's commanders demanded I be demoted like Will to make it fair, even though I had already been given a punishment and chosen one for you. I was given a temporary demotion by another officer in front of all the men. Asshat toyed with the idea of sending men to the house to come to arrest you, but I stood up to him, refusing to give our home address when he asked, earning myself a permanent demotion in rank and a few days in the brig for insubordination with Will and Christina after training was over." Tobias growls, picking up his duffle bags, storming into the bedroom, slamming the door. Quietly walking over to the door, I listen, my ears pick up on items angrily being tossed around. Knocking, I ask, "Tobias, can we talk?" He doesn't answer.
Suddenly, a crash erupts from behind the closed door. I try the door handle. It's locked. "Tobias, open the damn door," I yell, banging on the door. The door swings open immediately. Tobias marches back to the closet, I follow him to find all of our clothes on the floor with the wooden bar snapped into two. I had seen the bar bowing under the weight of his uniforms. I was going to ask him to change it to a steel rod whenever he got home. Quietly, I begin to pick up clothing from the floor, handing it to him, he folds, setting it onto a bench. He snaps, "Tris if this marriage is going to work, you are going to need to learn to conduct yourself properly like an officer's wife." Quipping an eyebrow, "What the hell does that mean?" I ask, taken aback by his 'if this marriage is going to work comment.' He kneels next to me, staring at me, "It means, I love you, and I don't want anything to happen to you. I'm trying to protect you, but when you do stupid things you make my job hard. It means, please, don't follow any more of Christina's stupid plans because her plans have a habit of backfiring." Finishing, picking up the fallen clothing in silence, Tobias sniffles, "I'm going to take a shower," he shuts the bathroom door, and the sad, angry silence can be felt throughout the room.
His two silver bars stare at me from the dresser taunting me. Unable to take my guilt of what I caused to happen to Tobias, I grab my nightshirt, pillow, and blanket to sleep on the couch. I toss and turn, my brain won't shut off, and finally, I fall into an uneasy rest. Movement in the bedroom above me rouses me, and when the door creeks open, "Tris?" A hushed male voice whispers awakening me, Tobias's body wash wafts through the house stirring my senses, my ears peaking from his quick footsteps, moving down the stairs. He whispers, "Tris, thank goodness, you are still here," breathing a sigh of relief. His fingertips gently touch my hair, his gentle hands slide around my shoulders and upper legs hoisting me against his bare chest, kissing my forehead, he carefully walks the stairs with me, placing me onto the bed, crawling next to me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and pulling me tightly against his chest.
Feeling his body lay next to mine again is comforting, but Tobias's sleep is uneasy: he talks, tosses, turns, and kicks, pulling me tighter against his chest. He settles when he breathes in my hair, and his eyes squint open, whispering, "Tris, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I was so angry about the demotion. I have always been a captain, my entire career in the Air Force, I was excited to earn the rank of major, to be able to provide for you and our future children, and all in an instant, everything was ripped away from me, for something I had no part of, well, other than back talking. I was angry about having to spend time in the brig, but that was my own fault. I took my anger out on you, I'm sorry."
I mutter, "No, Tobias, I'm sorry, I wish I had a time machine to go back, to not go along with that stupid plan, to not drink as much wine as we did." He sighs, "I'm sure Asshat, would still have figured out a way to demote me even if you weren't involved. He figured out a way to turn the demotion permanent, thanks to my mouth. You aren't going to leave me because I'm no longer a captain, right?" Rubbing his hair, his head falls peacefully against my chest, I respond to his resting form, "Never, pay and rank means nothing to me, you are Tobias Eaton, the man who saved me from Peter, who I love more than anything in the world."
Sleep fills his voice, he whispers, "I love you, but there is something else I need to tell you. My deployment has been moved up." I ask, shock filling my voice, "What do you mean?" Tobias doesn't answer my question. Instead, he quietly snores. My mind reels at the revelation of his news. What does this mean for him and me? I have been ignoring the news since the day we married. The United States going to war is effecting his deployment date as I feared. Letting out a breath, I didn't realize I was holding, my fingers find my phone on my side table, to call the one person who has a ton of experience when it comes to dealing with their loved one deploying. Tip-toeing from the bed, I shut the door as the phone dials, and cry, "Christina!" into it. She asks concern lacing her voice, "What's the matter, Tris? Why are you calling at this hour?"
"His deployment got moved up-" I can't finish my sentence, the tears rush down my cheeks. Chris sadly confirms, "I figured as much, the whole base has been a buzz about who is going next and where. I knew it would only be a matter of time before Four got his orders early. Where is Four going?"
"Syria," I cry, the tears sliding down my cheeks, images of Tobias's plane being blown from the sky fill my mind, Chris sadly says, "At least it wasn't Dauntless. All in a day, Will got his orders to there, his transfer order to Virginia, and he got approved for leave to attend your wedding. We both agreed not to speak of his orders on the drive down. We didn't want to ruin your wedding with talks of war or an impending deployment."
"How long?" I ask, thinking of one of my best friends in Dauntless, the war-hungry nation, taking lands from the US, with weird laws, and the nation Congress has labeled as an aggressor. "I don't know, Tris. You know Will, he is in and out all the time, with only a note left on the counter anyway. His orders weren't very specific, but, even if I knew, I couldn't talk about it over the phone." Numbness can be heard in Christina's voice as she continues, "His orders never have a specific end date. He will come home once his job is done. All I know is, from what he has shared with me, his commander has told him to start growing his beard."
A movement from behind startles me. Tobias wraps his arms around me, whispering, "Who's on the phone?" I reply, "Christina." He grabs ahold of the phone from me, saying, "Chris, this is Four, Tris is going to hang up now because she needs to be up early to do PT with me." A grin tugs at his lips while he informs Christina, "Oh, she was serious when she told you, she was conscripted into the Air Force until I deployed. That plan landed me in a world of trouble, and my commanding officer made me give her a punishment. I hated it. Now, she is going to get to see what I do every day at work, or what an airman does every day." He grins at whatever Chris says, replying, "Goodnight Chris. Tris will call you tomorrow if she makes it out of group PT alive with me." I smirk playfully and roll my eyes at him, not wanting to hear any more of Tobias's evil plans for group PT tomorrow. Lying there in our bed, my eyes feel heavy, but it isn't from sleep; it is from tears that are threatening to fall, my brain drifting to all the unoccupied space I will be living with once Tobias is deployed for who knows how long to Syria.
Thoughts? Opinions? How do you think group PT is going to go with Tobias for Tris? What do you think about what happened to Tobias, Chris, and Will? The next chapter will be updated at some point on the weekend of July 18th, but it will be either on the earlier or later side as that weekend is my 5 year wedding anniversary.