Work has been kicking my butt and I've been traveling; Updates might not happen on Sundays for the next month until things settle down for me, but I'll get them up as soon as I can and I'm still trying to keep them weekly. Thank y'all for reading and leaving reviews. And I love how y'all are analyzing what's happening, trust me there is a reason for everything and lots of drama coming!


When Visiting Day comes around in Abnegation, Caleb is a little relieved that Andrew is pleased when Caleb says he would like to spend the day handing out supplies in the Factionless section stating that he and Marcus would be working that day and into the night on a project. Ms. Haskins informed the group the night before that she would be going to visit her family in Amity that day. Susan shared that she would be helping her mother make quilts for the Factionless and Miranda that she and her mother, brother, and two sisters would be making bread and other things. Marlene tried to hide her excitement to hear Caleb ask if she would like to join him in the Factionless.

"Good morning" Caleb calls as he knocks on the door to the girls' side of the dormitory. Susan, Miranda, and Ms. Haskins had left earlier. Caleb knows that normally it would have been frowned upon for him and Marlene to be left alone together without a chaperone but Mrs. Haskins had already given them strict instructions to be on their best behavior and she trusted them to do the right thing.

"Hi," she grins peaking her head out from under her blanket.

"I started making us breakfast if you would like to join me," He smiles coming to sit on the edge of her bed.

"That sounds amazing" Marlene groans as she stretches. It felt so good to sleep in and have the dormitory to themselves so they could just relax and be themselves.

Caleb grabs her leg to tickle her, and Marlene shrieks with laughter. Caleb was letting his walls down with her and she liked it.

"Come on, get dressed" Caleb laughs after a few minutes. He loved hearing Marlene laugh. It was quickly becoming his favorite sound.

After a quick shower, Marlene joins Caleb in the kitchen fully dressed for the day.

"Caleb" she sing songs while smiling when she sees the wildflowers from the field outside the rows of Abnegation houses tied with a small piece of fabric sitting next to her plate.

She bounds over and wraps her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips. "Thank you" she whispers as she pulls away.

Caleb smiles and leans down to kiss her again. A warm feeling flooded through him, as he thought about getting to do this every morning just the two of them.

"So, are we going to visit Natalie today?" Marlene asks as she sits down and digs into the eggs and toast he had prepared for them.

"Would you like to?" Caleb wanted to make today special for Marlene. He wasn't sure about what kind of gesture he should make for her but judging by her reaction he did good.

"Yes, I would, she's amazing, I've enjoyed the days we've spent with her, so I don't mind but as long as I get to spend the day with you, I'll be happy "

"Good" Caleb nods as he pours himself a cup of tea.

The two talk over breakfast and then gather their supplies to hand out. The day spent with Natalie is wonderful and Caleb and Marlene spend some time in their special place alone, just kissing, talking some more about what it was like for Marlene growing up in Dauntless, their favorite subjects in school. Caleb feels freer than he's ever felt before. For the first time since Choosing Day, he doesn't feel the weight of having to play along with the plans Andrew and Marcus had for him.

"No one's back yet?" Marlene asks when they return to the dormitory around dinner time.

"Susan and Miranda will eat dinner with their families. Amity is so far away I wouldn't expect Ms. Haskins until later.

"Good" Marlene grins as she pushes Caleb into the men's bunk room.

Caleb laughs as he falls back when his knees hit one of the beds and he sits down on the bed. Marlene climbs up to straddle his lap. It had been too long since she had been with anyone. The past few weeks since she and Caleb had started making out, it was driving her insane. Caleb clutches her hips as their kisses intensify and he moans and feels himself start to harden. Marlene shifts her skirt up and she moans as she presses against his crotch seeking friction against her core.

"Mar, I…think we should stop" Caleb breathes out after a few minutes and held her hips to still the way she had started grinding against him.

"Oh God, I'm sorry…. I just thought…You're right…" she says taking a deep breath and climbing off him while trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Wait, Mar, this, being with you is… well it's amazing but…" Realizing that she was thinking the worst as the pulled her skirt down and looked ready to bolt out the door.

"It's not what's expected of Abnegation" she finishes looking down at the floor. This was one of those moments where she never thought she would fit in here. Her instincts weren't to forget herself and even with how close she had gotten to Caleb there were moments when she felt so insecure.

Caleb quickly got up and grabbed her hand pulling her in front of him and then gently taking his other hand to tip her chin, so she had to look him in the eye realizing that she wasn't understanding what he was trying to say.

"No, it's not Abnegation, you've made me see there's so much more to the world. Everything was grey for me before but now it's in color. I want to experience everything with you, but I want to do it right… I don't... "

She cocks her head to the side seeing he was flushed trying to explain himself. She grabs his other hand and looks at him thinking she understood what happened now.

"I'm sorry, I got carried away, I keep forgetting all this is new to you…" She starts.

"Don't apologize, I just want to make sure you aren't disappointed, and we aren't rushed and…"

Marlene smiles and bites her lip. Never had she had anyone think of her like that. It was refreshing that he wasn't experienced and wanted to make sure she was happy. She had never experienced that before.

"Are all the guys in Abnegation this sweet and thoughtful?"

Caleb sighs in relief, still nervous but moved by the way she was looking at him.

"We can go slow, I'm okay with that. I mean I'm sure there's a reading about sexual pleasure being self-serving coming soon"

Caleb chuckles having listened to that sermon from Marcus several times.

"Yeah, but when you and I are alone, I don't want to be that way, I want to learn how to please you. I don't want to be selfish with you" Caleb tells her in a low voice that sent a shiver through Marlene.

She could feel her body heating up again. If she had learned anything in the weeks she'd been in Abnegation and spending time with Caleb, he wasn't the straight as an arrow Abnegation prodigy that everyone thought he was. He seemed alive when they were alone together and breaking the rules.

"Tonight, when you take your shower, I want you to touch yourself and think of me" Marlene whispers slowly running a hand down the front of his pants up and down until she feels him harden again.

Caleb swallows hard. This was so far beyond anything he had ever thought about before but now he was second-guessing his plan to take things slow.

He presses his hand harder on the small of her back and pulls her closer, loving the small moan that Marlene emits.

"And are you going to do the same thing?" He asks as he places a soft kiss on her neck.

"Is that what you want? Me thinking of you?" She challenges, whispering it in his ear and then tugging his earlobe with her teeth.

"Yes, God, yes" Caleb moans. The thought of Marlene naked in the shower flashes in his mind and he feels his knees go weak as she continues to lightly run her fingers over his body.

"How many more weeks until initiation is over?" Marlene whispers, placing a soft kiss on each corner of his mouth and then his lips between each word. Caleb thinks he might lose all his resolve at her question.

"Five weeks," Caleb says in a shaky voice as her hand returns to the bulge in his pants and then swallows hard.

"Good, now let's make dinner," she tells him giving him a wink as she backs away to head to the kitchen.

Caleb throws his head back and looks at the ceiling smiling before following her into the kitchen. He was nervous but excited about him and Marlene being intimate and there wasn't anyone else he wanted to explore with.

As they chop vegetables together to make dinner Caleb looks over at Marlene and smiles and she smiles back at him. He wondered what things would be like if he and Marlene had met in black clothes instead of grey ones.


Jeanine tightens her robe around her as she walks toward her bedroom from the bathroom.

"Don't you think you should be leaving?" She asked Andrew who was still in her bed.

She didn't care for all the socializing that occurred on Visiting Day. It was a wasted day for people to hold on to familial attachments that they should be letting go of. Even though her parents were dead, and when they were alive, they were both Erudite, she preferred to spend the day working on her research projects.

Keeping Andrew entertained had been a necessary evil to keep her experiments going, knowing when she figured out that Abnegation held a large population of divergent. The relationship had proved to be mutually beneficial, with Jeanine developing a serum that Marcus and Andrew could slip to the other Abnegation council members to make them susceptible to suggestion. Marcus and Andrew had been able to effectively hide whatever they wanted from the council members, which Jeanine had benefited a great deal from too. Mainly pushing for Erudite to not have to obey city ordinances because the Abnegation wanted to force their minimalist attitudes on the entire city.

"I should be getting back" He agrees moving to the edge of the bed. "But I could be convinced to stay if you want me to"

Jeanine rolls her eyes before she turns around. Andrew was a means to an end, and their sexual escapades were hardly satisfying. She had been surprised when she walked into a council meeting and found him with the Abnegation. She was two years older than him; he annoyed her growing up, always following her around and offering to help her with her research experiments. Her original plan had been to get to Marucs but when he approached her, she took the opportunity and ran with it. She listened to all the boring conversations about how selfish he thought his wife was and she didn't understand him and then when she died, he was left with two kids. Once his wife died, she had him eating out of the palm of her hand.

"I need to check in on my test subjects. Do you need more serum?"

"Yes, I do, if we are going to get the council to agree to support the testing of the Factionless, yes. Once initiation is over and we install Caleb as a council member, we'll be in a better position" Andrew tells her as he pulls his pants on and reaches for his shirt.

Jeanine walks over to the desk and pulls out two vials and plops them in his hand after he pulls his shirt over his head. She couldn't wait to be free of this, sure it was easy to keep Andrew in line, but she didn't need Abnegation, their faction served no true purpose to keep their way of life intact. Soon with her divergent soldiers, the entire city would be under her control.


"Where are we going?" Natalie asks Evelyn as they make their way through the abandoned streets of Chicago to what looked like it was closer to Erudite.

"A meeting, I want your opinion," Evelyn tells her vaguely. She truly did want Natalie's opinion, but she also wanted to gauge Natalie's reaction to see if she was still loyal.

"Who are we meeting?" Natalie probes and Evelyn keeps walking without responding.

"Evelyn…" Natalie knew Evelyn was a bit blinded by revenge. After all her years being Factionless, she agreed that the way they were treated in society wasn't right. She was pleased with how they had banded together to offer things that the factions had like security, creating better housing, and providing as much care to those that were sick. She had even started a small class for younger kids to teach them basic reading and writing. It wasn't much but it was something. It was better than feeling like they were forgotten and discarded.

"Erudite" Evelyn finally says.

Natalie stops walking and Evelyn groans and turns around when she realizes Natalie is no longer keeping pace with her.

"Come on Nat, hear me out"

"Why, they are dumping bodies, Evelyn, what could we possibly have to talk to them about?" Natalie argues. She didn't like this. Of all the factions, Erudite and Dauntless were the two that held no support for the Factionless. And knowing what she knew from Max, she wouldn't trust anything from Erudite, but she had to be careful not to let Evelyn know that she had information from Dauntless.

"Let's just listen to what they have to say…If we can be of value, this might be an opportunity for us, we could get on level playing field with an alliance with one of the factions"

Natalie shakes her head but starts walking again, still feeling uneasy about the meeting.

They reach an old building where the sign is half visible and faded. Natalie thinks this building is one that they inspected to possibly fix up for housing. It was in good enough shape and far enough away from the populated part of the city to draw attention.

Evelyn looks down at her watch and leads Natalie to the doorway of the building to stay out of sight for the time being.

"Do you want to tell me how you set up this meeting?" Natalie probes looking out to the street to see if she saw anyone coming.

"I happened upon two gentlemen dropping a body. They weren't keen on being shot, so I had them take me to their boss"

"Hmmmm" is all Natalie gives in response. "And who did they take you to?"

"Right on time" Evelyn murmurs not answering the question. Natalie follows her eyes and sees a young woman, thin, tall with long dirty blonde hair. She wore a typical Erudite blue dress and glasses. There were two men with her, one that was dressed as an Erudite but there was something off about him as they got closer.

Natalie and Evelyn move out in the open approaching slowly. Natalie made a habit of keeping her gun on her whenever she was out of the main factionless section. For as much community building as they had done, there were still people who took matters into their own hands. She could tell by the way the jacket Evelyn was wearing moved in the back, she also had her weapon.

"Evelyn," The woman says.

"Cara…"

"I see you didn't come alone" Cara states looking at the woman next to Evelyn.

"Well, that wouldn't have been smart now would it" Natalie shoots back, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Seeing as we didn't come here to banter, let's get to the point" Evelyn interjects. "Erudite seems to have a problem with doing illegal experiments"

"You don't have any proof," Cara says coolly.

"Oh, the bodies are plenty of proof" Natalie replies with a wave of her hand.

Cara narrows her eyes and pushes her spectacles up on her face. This new woman wasn't tough, she sensed she had been Dauntless at one point based on her stance and how she wasn't backing down.

"Look, you didn't come all the way out here to argue with us about what you have and haven't been doing. Now if you don't think you're capable…" Evelyn says a sympathetic look.

"You talk to me, that's the deal" Cara snaps.

"Well, we know you want something, or else you wouldn't have agreed to this meeting…" Natalie hedges. She didn't like this woman, and she could tell the feeling was mutual.

"We are in need of subjects for an experiment that will enhance the life expectancy of individuals," Cara explains wanting to get this over now.

"But you're killing your test subjects" Natalie hedges.

"There are risks with medical research, there is a small percentage of test subjects that don't react well to the serum," Cara states simply.

"So why would we volunteer people for this experiment" Evelyn counters.

"We could make life easier for you, this serum would reduce sickness" Cara states, trying to regain control of the conversation.

"Yeah, elongate the life where we are thrown away and forgotten about," Evelyn asks and gives Natalie a look.

Cara looks at the women and realizes she needed to change up her tactics a bit.

"We would be willing to come to an arrangement that would increase the supplies available to the Factionless in exchange for volunteers. Increased supplies and reduced chance of illness could make life much more comfortable for you"

"And how many people are you asking to…volunteer," Natalie asks.

"As many as we can get," Cara tells her confidently.

Natalie takes a breath through her nose.

"Let's cut the bullshit, Cara, you and I both know that Erudite isn't going to increase resources to the Factionless. I'm betting you've left out some details of what this serum is really for"

Cara scolds herself mentally and realizes she underestimated the two women in front of her. They had gathered more information than she had thought.

"The serum will also increase the physical strength of the test subject" She adds.

"And what would Erudite want with people with increased strength" Natalie hedges. She knew from the information Max had given her; Cara was holding back information.

"Increased strength means an increased lifeline." She tells them. Natalie still doesn't look impressed and keeps a cold stare on Cara. She was lying, she didn't have to be Candor to know that. Erudite was looking to build an army and if they couldn't get Dauntless on board, Factionless are their next best bet.

"There are certain test subjects that have a higher value to us, those who are divergent," Cara now offers.

"And why would you come to us?" Evelyn asks curiously.

"We believe the largest population of divergent could be factionless, and they are vital to getting the serum to work. We would just need access to administer testing to confirm. Subjects could then volunteer to be a part of the study."

Natalie purses her lips, knowing that once they identified the subjects, they would have a target on their backs. What she doesn't expect is the response Evelyn gives.

"And if we allow this testing to occur, what is Jeanine willing to give?"

"What do you want?" Cara inquiries looking to the man to her left.

As Natalie takes a closer look at the man to the left of Cara, he was dressed in a blue Erudite suit but there was a piercing in his eyebrow. He was Dauntless, there was no way he was Erudite.

"A place on the council, and equal resources," Evelyn says without hesitation.

"I'll take your request back for consideration. Meet here again, next week, same time" Cara says flatly.

Evelyn and Natalie both nod. Cara turns and she and her companions walk away as Natalie and Evelyn don't move.

"We get that serum, and the city is ours," Evelyn says before turning around to walk back to their compound.

Natalie follows but her mind is turning. She needed to talk to Max, one way or another he had war coming, and she wasn't confident it was one he could win.