Hi All, Things are a little crazy in my life right now. I'm going to be having surgery in a few weeks and I wanted to put out this chapter before then. I hope to post one more before then too. It might be a while before I can update again but I'll see how I'm feeling. I hope you enjoy this one. Thanks so much to the few and mighty who are still reading. This story has been tough for me to write along with a lot of personal challenges and a crazy work schedule. I've wanted to scrap it so many times, but I'm determined to finish it! Love ya'll!
Tori wakes up and stretches smiling. She starts to frown when she realizes she's alone. She reached over and the other side of the bed was cold.
What time did Zeke leave? Was he upset that they didn't have sex the night before? She'd made the first move; the shower had been fun and sexy. She'd really been shocked when all they did was cuddle and go to sleep afterward, especially with him being naked and pressed up against her.
Tori flops back on the bed frustrated. Maybe he expected something different or for her to take the lead again. She's running over what she could have done wrong when she hears the door to the apartment open. She sits up again and breaks out into a big smile when Zeke comes in with a takeout bag from the dining hall and dressed for the day.
"Ah, I thought I could make it back before you woke up"
Tori just giggles as he comes and sits down on the edge of the bed.
"I wanted to wake up next to you" She whispers when he leans in to kiss her.
"I'm sorry, I have a meeting to get to and some work to do. I needed to get changed and I grabbed you breakfast from the dining hall since you didn't have anything to make breakfast with in the fridge"
Tori smiles and takes the coffee he had in his hand.
"Thank you. Where did you learn to be this sweet and thoughtful?" She asks already knowing Hana was probably the answer.
"My mom, I guess I finally found someone I want to make feel special every day"
Zeke leans in and gives her a kiss.
"I may not see you tonight, but I'll try and stop by the tattoo parlor if I can"
"Okay, maybe you could leave a change of clothes here…. you know just in case we go running again"
Zeke grins.
"Sounds like a plan" he gives her one last peck and then the wink he usually did that made her clench her thighs together as he got up and headed out the door.
Tori can't stop smiling as she takes another sip of her coffee. Zeke had come out of nowhere and surprised her. She tried to fight it, but he had wormed his way into her heart.
Zeke adjusts his weapon as he and Max leave their truck and walk towards Candor. Things were moving along with the evacuation plans nicely. Harrison and Uriah were working diligently on new weapons and securing the lines around Dauntless all the way to the northwest wall. The question was how long could they withstand an attack and be able to move Candor and Abnegation behind their lines knowing Erudite and Faction would be looking to take control of Amity to ensure they had a food supply.
"What if they don't believe us, Uncle Max?" Zeke asks as he and Max walk.
"Then we do what we can to make sure they do" Max had worried about the same thing, but he couldn't keep Candor or Amity in the dark anymore.
Max nods to several people as they approach the Merciless Mart where Niles, Jack Kang's second in command, is waiting for them.
"Max, good to see you as always" Niles greets them and extends a hand to offer them a Dauntless greeting.
"Niles, good to see you too, this is my nephew Zeke who also works in Faction Relations"
Zeke smiles and shakes his hand. He always felt nervous around Candors, it was a bit unnerving to have them always inspecting if you were telling the truth.
"Jack is waiting for you; I'll escort you to his office"
While Max had been to Candor many times during his tenure in Dauntless leadership, this was Zeke's first time. He watched the people mill around in their black and white attire. While Candor wasn't as stuffy as Erudite or Abnegation, they still saw Dauntless as reckless and wild.
"Max, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit outside of a council meeting?" Jack asks as Max and Zeke make their way into the small conference room next to his office where he is waiting.
Max looks around and asks Niles to shut the door.
"Jack, I need to know that you and I can speak freely"
"Of course, we do not hold secrets in Candor as you know, but confidentiality is always necessary in leadership"
Zeke pulls out all of the information on Erudite and the simulations that Dauntless had gathered from his backpack and passes it to Max.
Jack and Niles listen intently as Max explains the situation the city is in. Zeke looks at the two of them as Max speaks. He could tell they were studying him just like Christina did when she was trying to get a feeling that someone was lying.
"Why not bring this to the council?" Niles asks when Max is done speaking as Jack looks through the files.
"How? With Jeanine and Marcus in on this?"
"I understand your position, Max," Jack states, putting the papers down. He looks out the window of the conference room as he gathers his thoughts.
'You believe us?" Zeke asks as the silence lingers.
"I do believe you are being truthful, even though I'm having a hard time believing the level of deception of my fellow council members"
"We have people who will attest to what they have witnessed and seen," Max explains and Jack nods again.
"When do you think this attack will occur?"
"I'm not sure, now that we know Erudite and Factionless are working together, we've been making plans but Jack this is going to tear the city apart."
"What are you proposing?" Niles asks, still unsure, if he believed that Abnegation of all the factions was involved in this.
"The best way to stop all of this is to take out Jeanine and the Factionless leader. I will put together a special ops team but strategy-wise, to gain control of the situation it is a necessary evil. We also need to get our hands on whatever this serum is and stop her from injecting people with it"
Jack shifts uncomfortable with the idea. Of course, Dauntless would want to muscle their way through this.
"I know that's not what you want to hear but there may not be much time for talking"
"And what happens if Jeanine gets to you?" Jack asks and Zeke snaps his eyes to Max.
"Dauntless will function as it is prepared to do but Jack you need to consider she might come for Candor too"
Jack scoffs at this.
"We have nothing to offer them, Amity is where she will have her eyes after Dauntless"
"That's true, but you do have something to offer…" Zeke interjects.
"And what would that be? An alliance?" Jack asks intrigued by the boldness of the young Dauntless man sitting at the table.
The corners of Max's mouth turn as he looks at Zeke. His nephew was much smarter than he let on.
"People. If Jeanie's goal is domination, she's not going to stop with injecting the Factionless, she's going to turn to Candor eventually. You can't' stay out of this"
"Zeke is right, I know you aren't prepared to fight Jack, but you may not have a choice"
"And what do you propose we do?" Niles asks more concerned now.
"Dauntless can't protect all the factions at the same time. Dauntless and Amity need to be the priorities because that's where the food and weapons are. We are setting up a perimeter behind this line" Max draws a line on a piece of paper that shows a map of the city and slides it over to Jack and Niles.
"The city is already walled in; you expect us to divide it again?" Jack asks.
"If we want to win the war that's coming, it's what needs to happen unless you want to live under Jeanine's dictatorship"
Jack and Max discuss a few more things about how to move forward and decide it is best that Jack and Max go to speak to Johanna, the leader of Amity, together but they need to be as discrete as possible to not tip off Erudite that they were on to them.
"We'll give you some time to think but if things escalate quickly, you need to be prepared Jack" Max tells him as he and Zeke prepare to leave.
Jack nods still unsure of what was the best course of action for Candor.
Tris looks over at Lynn and bites her lip. This was the first time she'd seen her in a week and things were tense. As soon as Lynn had seen Tobias leaving her apartment after they had been working on evaluation plans for Candor and Abnegation. She was beyond pissed off. This is not how she envisioned spending her Friday night.
"Lynn…why are you saying this? You know Four is my best friend and we work together, we are going to spend time together alone. We weren't doing anything!"
"Why are you two working in your apartment? You're always with him; I see the way he looks at you and I don't like it" Lynn yells as she glares at Tris as she paces in front of her couch where Tris is sitting.
"There are things I can talk about with Four that only he understands," Tris says as she bounces her leg. She had no idea how to handle this. She wasn't supposed to tell Lynn about the task force, but all the things she was keeping from her were creating so much tension between the two of them.
"How do you know I won't understand if you don't tell me?" Lynn huffs she was tired of begging Tris to let her in.
Tris bites her lip again. Lynn had a point. She didn't confide in her and they were never going to move forward if she didn't start trusting her.
"Four and I are close. I trust him with things that I can't share with anyone else…It's not that I don't want to tell you things but…"
Lynn rolls her eyes and goes to grab her jacket. She was done with this conversation.
"Don't go, Lynn…Please just give me a chance.…"
"I've given you chances Tris, and you just keep saying the same thing over and over. I don't understand, you and Four have a special bond…Why are you with me if you won't open up to me?" Lynn snaps.
"I'm divergent Lynn…" Tris blurts out as she grabs Lynn by the arm to stop her from leaving.
Lynn gasps and stops dead in her tracks. This wasn't what she was expecting to hear.
"It's nothing to be scared of," Tris says quietly as she reaches out and grabs Lynn by the hand.
Lynn pulled back as if she had been burned, snatching her hand away as everything her mother had ever said and every Erudite article she ever read ran through her mind.
"I gotta go…" Lynn tells her barely above a whisper.
Tris feels her eyes burn as they well up with tears. She was so tired of hiding and it wasn't as if she didn't want to tell Lynn the truth.
"Lynn…. You beg me to let you in and confide in you and you run away" Tris choked out, the hurt evident in her voice.
Lynn swallows hard as she looks at Tris. She wasn't sure what to do but she still felt uneasy. Tris wraps her arms around Lynn, pulling her into a hug. It takes a minute, but she slowly wraps her arms around Tris who was shaking like a leaf and still crying.
Tris could feel the tension in Lynn's embrace. They stand there like that for a while and Tris wonders if she just made a huge mistake.
"Fuck" Shauna gasps as Tobias trusts hard and fast into her as he held her legs spread wide for him. In the few months that they had been sleeping together, she had to give it to him, he was a quick learner.
"Don't stop, I'm coming" She cries, gripping his shoulders.
Tobias grunts as he comes not long after her, smiling and giving her a quick kiss before rolling off her.
"Mind if I take a shower?" she asks. Tobias nods and stares at the ceiling.
It was late Saturday morning, normally they didn't spend the night together but after the game of Candor and Dauntless the night before, they had gone for two rounds, and both passed out afterward and had round three just as the sun was coming up. Tobias had to admit he did like morning sex.
Tobias rummages around the kitchen while Shauna is in the shower, one thing he likes about Dauntless is eating in the dining hall. Dinner always felt so isolated in Abnegation except for when he and Marcus dined at the Priors. Dauntless apartments had a small kitchen, and he kept some small things for breakfast for when he didn't have time to make it to the dining hall. He pulls out some eggs, fruit, toast, and orange juice.
"Oooh, you making me breakfast now?" Shauna teased as she emerged from the bedroom with only a T-shirt and reached for the glasses to pour the juice.
Tobias shakes his head in laughter as she reaches into the cabinet and catches a glimpse of her black panties. It amazed him how comfortable she was. He still didn't like walking around with no shirt on. He was thankful Shauna didn't say anything about the scars on his back even though his tattoo kept them from being seen but he figured there were some things from his Abnegation roots that wouldn't leave him. She plops down in one of the chairs around the table and snags a piece of toast from the plate he sets on the table.
"What are you doing today?" he asks as he sets the plate of eggs and fruit in front of her before claiming his seat.
"I think I'm going to spend some time with Hector and my mom, I've been so busy I haven't seen them. What about you?"
"Zeke, Uriah, and I were talking about going to do some target practice, depending on how hungover they are after last night"
Shauna snorts with laughter. She was shocked she wasn't hungover herself.
They talked over breakfast about Shauna's work in the food service department. It was nice being with Shauna, just talking, but Tobias couldn't ignore the fact that he felt like something was missing. Shauna helps him clear the plates when there's a knock on the door.
Tobias looks at Shauna whose eyes are wide. Neither one of them wanted anyone to find out they were sleeping together.
"Wake Up you Pansycake!" Uriah yells as he bangs on the door.
"Come on Four!" Zeke laughs as he bangs on the door too.
Shauna scrambles into the bedroom shutting the door and frantically tries to get dressed.
Tobias races to the door, only opening it to stick his head out.
"Hey, what's with all the noise? I thought you two would be sleeping it off" He stammers.
"We've been talking about going shooting all week, don't tell me you forgot" Zeke whines.
"I didn't, I just Umm was about to take a shower, I passed out when I came in" Tobias explains and slides out into the hall but keeps the door closed.
"Oh, we can just wait for you to get dressed" Uriah shrugs as Zeke goes to push open the door.
Uriah and Zeke furrow their eyebrows when Tobias stops them from opening the door.
"How about I catch up with you guys, I'll be right behind you" Tobias deflects.
Zeke narrows his eyes at Tobias and then looks at Uriah.
"Why don't you want us to come in?"
"Ummm, I mean, why have you wait here when you can go ahead..."
"Holy Shit, Four, who is she?" Uriah grins as Zeke tries to peek over at Tobias and get a glimpse into his apartment.
"Well, it's about damn time," Zeke says excitedly.
"I don't know what you two are talking about. Just give me 15 minutes and I'll meet you in the Pit."
Tobias quickly closes the door to Uriah and Zeke making catcalls through the door and locking it to make sure they didn't get slick and try to come in.
Shauna emerges fully dressed but still with a look of panic on her face as Tobias places a finger to his lips and points for her to go back to the bedroom.
"What do we do?" Shauna whispers as Tobias turns on the shower.
"Just hang out here, for like 30 minutes to give us a head start, then you can slip out"
Shauna blew out a breath, she didn't know if she could keep up with all the secrets and lies. Maybe it was time she and Four had a talk about taking their relationship to the next level.
Natalie pulls her pistol as she hears a noise in the distance. After everything that she and Evelyn had been through together, she never thought that it would come to this, her ducking corners and hiding.
She sees Cara looking around nervously and Natalie keeps her finger on the trigger. She had anticipated this was a setup.
"You can put your weapon down," Cara tells her and places her hands up in surrender.
Natalie narrows her eyes and looks around. Cara looked nervous.
"Yeah, thanks but no thanks" Natalie keeps her hand on her gun. "So, you want to tell me why we are here?"
Cara takes a deep breath through her nose. She was in over her head and knowing that Evelyn was willing to sacrifice Natalie made her feel as though Natalie might be the only one that could help her.
"Evelyn is not who you think she is, she sold you out to Jeanine"
"That bitch" Natalie swears and lowers her gun. She didn't think Evelyn would go this low after everything they had been through together.
"Jeanine knows about your daughter with Max, but she had no idea that you were alive. Evelyn happily filled her in."
'And why are you telling me this?" Natalie could sense the tension off of the woman in front of her. She didn't think she was lying.
Cara bites her lip and wipes a tear away that rolls down her cheek.
"I should have never helped her, all the people that have died. I never thought there would be a war…I just lost myself and I need to try and fix it…"
"The war is coming, with or without Erudite"
Cara's tears fall more freely now. She was too late.
"If you want to help people, you need to start talking, now"
"Evelyn and Jeanine are about to move forward with testing the Factionless tomorrow. Jeanine needs divergent for her army."
"I thought she needed their stem cells?"
"That's how she started but she realized that her serum worked more effectively on divergent and gave them enhanced abilities. The more people she can inject and keep on the serum, no one will be able to stop her"
"How many?"
"20 right now, and they are lethal, and as soon as she increases her numbers with divergent from the Factionless, they will easily take down Dauntless by themselves."
Natalie nods as she takes in the information. Jeanine had no idea what was coming, Evelyn would turn on her too. The question was just when.
"How long after being injected are the people under her control?"
"It takes two doses. We've had the most success when the doses are administered four weeks apart. Anytime Jeanine tries to increase the dosage or shorten the amount of time the subject dies. We've been injecting the subjects we have every four weeks consistently. I don't think Jeanine will try and speed up the process because it creates more bodies to hide"
So, we basically have a month before this attack is coming?" Natalie squeezes her forehead with her middle finger and thumb and closes her eyes trying to focus.
"Yes, maybe unless something happens, the plan was to start with Abnegation. With no one in control of the government, she thinks the other factions will fall in line easily."
Natalie paces a few steps. Caleb and Marlene needed to be prepared, and so did Max.
"What about Candor?"
"I'm not sure, with Candor being larger than Abnegation, and the numbers she will have with Factionless, she could easily box Candor in. Dauntless has been the thorn in her side, I would expect an attack to try and cripple Dauntless before she moves to Candor, and it would also give them complete access to Amity and food supplies..." Cara whispers.
Natalie paces again, this was the part that she anticipated for the plans based on what the Factionless were planning.
"Is there an antidote for the serum?"
"No...but I think one could be engineered by looking at the compounds"
"Could you do that?"
Cara thinks about it for a moment and nods.
"I made a copy of all of the files on the serum and Jeanine's research"
Natalie noticed how Cara's hand was shaking as she passed her the thumb drive. She knew if she sent them to Max, Jeanine would find out. This was her only option to get the information out of Erudite quietly.
"Does she know you made this copy?"
"No… I don't think so. Your family in Dauntless needs to be careful, Eric has turned people against them, people who think divergent are dangerous"
"Find out what else you can and if you think anyone is on to you run, don't take any chances, go to Dauntless; Max will protect you and give you asylum. We need this antidote and any of her attack plans if we want a chance at stopping her"
Cara could feel her hands shaking. What was she thinking? She knew Jeanine wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
"You can do this Cara" Natalie reassures her.
Cara nods and then takes a deep breath. The two women stand there for a moment. The weight of the impending war sitting on their shoulders.
"Be careful Natalie, Jeanine will try to come for you to keep Max in line" Cara tells her sincerely.
"Don't you worry about me, you stay safe too," Natalie says with a nod before she turns to head back to her home so she can radio Max.
