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Max, Tobias, Amar, and Zeke hop into a truck to start on their journey to Candor to speak with Jack Kang again. Zeke was driving and Tobias kept his gun out as did Max.
"Keep your eyes open" Max instructs. He didn't trust Erudite or the Factionless to take a shot at him if they had the opportunity even though the roads were clear.
Natalie had provided him with a breakdown of the weaponry and supplies that the Factionless had stored up and Tris was piecing together maps based on her knowledge of the Factionless sector. Trying to fight them on their territory was suicide, the plan to wait for them to make a move was their best option.
"Uncle Max, I want to tell Tori everything. I was hoping to bring her to dinner on Sunday for Mom's birthday…."
Max sighs. He knew how keeping secrets could destroy a relationship and that it was hard being in a relationship with someone you couldn't tell everything.
Tobias continues to look out the window, as he listens. He and Zeke had talked about this before. Even though no one knew he was sleeping with Shauna, it had been difficult not to tell her everything. Even though he and Tris still weren't sure what they were doing, he felt a weight lifted that he could be honest with her about everything.
"Are you sure she's the one?" Max asks.
"Yes," Zeke tells them without hesitation. He hadn't told her he loved her yet but he knew how he felt. She was the one for him.
Amar smiles. He'd seen a change in Tori since she and Zeke started dating. He was a good guy, with a good heart. He was happy for both of them.
"Tori's one of the good ones" Tobias adds as she smiles. He was happy for his best friend.
"And you know you can trust her?" Max asks turning to look at everyone else.
"Without a doubt" Amar adds. He did know that eventually he and Zeke would need to tell her about George. He imagined she had theories about George's disappearance knowing that Erudite was hunting divergent.
"She's smart, Erudite born. She runs aptitude testing before Choosing Day. She also knows so many people from working in the tattoo shop. She has an ear on the ground inside Dauntless. Maybe she could be of help…" Zeke reasons.
"Good thinking" Max praises as Zeke pulls the truck to a stop when they reach Candor. "We'll discuss it later"
The four make their way into Candor and wait in the conference room and it doesn't take long for Jack Kang and Niles to join them.
"Max, I have the feeling based on the urgency of your call for this meeting and Jeanie's request to reschedule the council meeting, things aren't in a good place," Jack says as he shakes Max's hand.
"Your assumption is correct Jack…Stacy is dead, killed in the Factionless section" Max tells him getting straight to the point.
Jack takes a heavy sigh as Niles gasps. Stacy's had been Candor-born. Jack and her mother had gone through upper and lower levels together. He'd been pleased to see her do so well when she transferred to Dauntless. She always took time to catch up with him during council meetings.
"I barely made it out alive…" Stacy's death was still weighing heavily on Max but he had to press on.
"We have obtained some information leaked from inside Erudite on the experiments if you want to read it" Tobias explains and passes two file folders to Jack and Niles.
It doesn't take both of them long to gasp at the pictures of the results and photos of the divergent dead from the experiment.
"My God" Jack mumbles as he continues to turn pages of the information printed from the thumb drive Natalie received from Cara. He hadn't doubted Max was telling the truth after their first meeting, but seeing it in black and white in front of him sent a chill down his spine. Part of him deep down still didn't want to believe that Jeanine was capable of this but he couldn't deny it any longer.
"What do we do?" Niles asks with his voice trembling a bit. He clears his throat, attempting to hide his discomfort as he closes the folder, having seen enough.
"We have a plan but we are fighting this thing from too many different sides. Jack, I can't protect you here. We have intel that they plan to strike Abnegation first, which will weaken the government with the council unable to function. You need to either plan to set up a perimeter here in Candor…."
"We aren't soldiers Max…" Jack says trying not to show the concern in his voice.
"I know Jack… I think you should take refuge in Dauntless. I'm going to propose the same for Johanna. We can ensure you are protected that way."
Jack furrows his eyebrows as he listens.
"What about our faction, we can't abandon them…" He argues.
"All high-ranking Candor officials would be provided asylum in Dauntless. We can't house everyone, but we are working on creating housing in the surrounding areas behind the perimeter we have set up. Because of where Candor borders Dauntless, we think we can create a passage to tunnel to the safe zone. I'm going to ask Johanna if Amity can take in people as well."
"Right now we don't have any reason to believe that Jeanine has any interest in people other than leadership or divergent. Abengation will be in more danger than Candor" Zeke adds.
Max nods his head at Tobias who pulls out a map from his backpack. He shows Niles and Jack the areas Max was referring to.
"And what if we don't agree to this?" Niles asks. Max could tell that he wasn't asking to be difficult. Candor naturally asked questions to hear all angles of a story to make a decision.
"We can't ensure your protection," Max tells them firmly.
"Your job is to protect this city." Jack fires back "That includes Candor"
"We do not have a big enough army to cover the entire city with Erudite and Factionless joining forces. Our strategy is to make a defense. If you don't want to follow the plan we have laid out, you take that chance on your own. War isn't easy Jack, everyone can't get what they want. It's not going to be Amity with sunshine and roses, sacrifices have to be made," Max tells him directly, not backing down.
"And what would we do behind this perimeter"
"For this to work, we need to work together. People will be asked to help work with Amity for food production, anyone willing to fight will be trained to do so" Tobias adds.
"And what about Abngeation? Are Marcus and Andrew going to be given asylum?" Jack probes.
Max looks over at Tobias who instantly clutches his fist at the mention of his father.
"Marcus and Andrew must answer for their role in this. Abnegation members will be given refugee. We are working on an escape plan but it could get dicey"
"We need to discuss this. How much time do we have?" Jack says after thinking for a few moments.
"We need a decision as fast as you can make one" Amar tells them. "Once people start moving, we become sitting ducks."
"We also know that there's a blizzard coming" Zeke adds pulling out the report. Erudite had scientists who monitored the weather. They usually sent frequent reports on the weather. Most communication with Erudite had stalled except for a few departments.
"Jack, you have a tough decision to make. Do I think some of your people can make a stand here? Yes. Jeanine is going to focus on Us and Amity. However, if she needs more soldiers, she's going to take on Candor and block you in"
"Why attack Abnegation then?" Niles asks curiously.
"First, to officially cripple the government. With no governing council, the city is divided and she can easily take over. The Factionless leader Evelyn is Marcus Eaton's wife…she's out for blood" Tobias explains. He didn't want to reveal his identity, however, he knew as a leader now, he had a duty to speak up more.
"I thought she died?" Jack asks looking
"So did everyone else. Add it to the list of crimes Marcus and Andrew need to answer for" Max throws in.
"The leadership of this city is going to need protecting. We are going to have to work together to put things back together. We have one of the newest elected council members from Abnegation on our side. He'll attest to everything Marcus and Andrew have done. We will get him out too. We need to keep you safe too Jack" Max promised Natalie that he would take care of Caleb. He and Amar had worked to ensure Caleb and his wife would get to Dauntless. With four of the five factions united together, they had a better chance of taking a stand against Erudite and the Factionless.
Jack leans back in his chair. He trusted Max, but he'd hoped this would have all settled down. Now he had to make a decision. Let Max fight his war alone or join in to protect the city.
"So we're having a family dinner for my mom's birthday on Sunday and I'd love for you to be my date." Uriah puts out there as he and Christina work to prepare lunch for them. As soon as Max and the team got back from Candor he was heading out with Max, and Harrison to Amity.
He and Christina wanted to have a quiet lunch together, not knowing when they would have some quiet time together again.
"I would love to," she tells him quietly. She wanted to go, she loved being with Uriah and she wanted to meet Tris' mother too but the truth was her conversation with Will was still weighing heavily on her mind.
"You okay?" Uriah asks Christina as she absentmindedly spreads peanut butter on the bread in her hand.
"Ummmm…" She still couldn't lie. Even though her aptitude test told her she was Dauntless, there were certain things about being Candor-born that she just couldn't turn off.
"That tells me yes…Talk to me what's going on?"
Christina puts down the bread and turns around leaning against the counter and gripping the edge with her hands.
"Will told me that he couldn't see me anymore, that he couldn't be friends with me right now and I'm still processing it. Am I being unfair to you too? Because I don't know what I want? How are you so sure that I'm what you want?"
Uriah leans against the counter next to her mimicking her movements. He could tell she was confused and frustrated as she rambled off her thoughts.
"Thank you for being honest with me…"
Christina sighs and rolls her eyes, turning to go back to making the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
"I'm serious Chris, I always know where I stand with you, it's one of the things I find so sexy about you." Uriah moves to stand in front of her and tilts her chin up so she has to look at him.
"I knew on Choosing Day when I saw you on the train back to Dauntless that I had to get to know you"
" Are you serious?" Christina asks wide-eyed and looks him up and down.
"I am very serious" Uriah chuckles knowing that she was looking to see if he was lying. She told him during initiation that his tell was he shifted his feet. "And I knew I wanted to be in the long haul with you, Christina. Just because that's how it happened for me, doesn't mean you have to be in the same place right now."
Christina lets out a sigh of relief. Uriah had been so understanding and patient, dealing with me being indecisive.
"I care about you, Uriah, and I'm sorry I've been jerking you around…"
She's cut off mid-sentence by Uriah kissing her. She whimpers, melting as his kiss calms her.
"So does this mean we can do extracurricular activities now that I'm the only guy in the running? Unless you got another one lined up after me…." Uriah asks wiggling his eyebrows which causes Christina to start laughing. She playfully shoves him but he pulls her closer to him.
"Seriously though Chris, I know what I want and it's you but I'm cool with us just taking things slow. This war has everyone on edge wanting to rush things along but we have time."
"You're okay with that? Going slow?" Christina was shocked by that. Uriah never ceased to amaze her.
"Yes, You, Christina are worth waiting for" He gives her a quick kiss.
"Hey, How are you feeling today?" Hana asks Natalie as she comes into Max's apartment and finds Natalie still in bed.
"Tired, Guess getting shot took more out of me than I realized" She yawns sitting up in bed. Max had left early that morning and she crawled back into bed after eating breakfast. "What's wrong?" she noticed how her sister was looking at her.
"I ran some tests on the blood I drew from you last week, I wanted to make sure you didn't have any lingering infections. I've been so busy with trying to find an antidote to the serum and training the triage volunteers. The results have been sitting on my desk…" Hana stops before she finishes her statement.
"What is it?" Natalie asks cocking her head to the side. "Do I have some weird infection or something?"
Natalie stretches and gets out of bed, heading to the kitchen intent on fixing herself some tea.
"There's nothing you want to tell me?" Hana presses as she follows. Natalie raises her eyebrows and then scrunches up her face in response as she pulls down a mug.
Hana realizes that she has no idea. "Ummm no it's not an infection, you're pregnant"
Natalie stands there and doesn't say anything blinking in shock.
"Did you hear me? Nat?" Hana says stepping closer.
"I'm sorry, that can't be right, I can't…I'm too old…" Natalie stammers leaning back against the sink.
Hana scoffs… "No you aren't Nat, even if you are pre-menopausal you can still get pregnant, you're only 41, you still have a period right…
"Well yeah but…." Suddenly she can't remember the last time she had a period and her eyes go wide.
"I take it you and Max haven't been using protection and I assume you haven't been to a doctor to get on birth control..."
Natalie still feels in a daze as she thinks back to the last six months, she and Max had made love any chance they got, never even having a conversation about preventing a pregnancy.
"There was an Erudite nurse who saw one too many factionless babies, she would give us that long-term shot that lasted for a year. I wasn't seeing anyone so, I just didn't bother the last three years or so... and...I" Natalie admits mortified.
Hana watches her sister bounce back and forth for a minute and thinks for a moment about the factionless babies that were taken in because of the lack of care in the factionless section and how that was a small number. She had listened to Natalie tell her a few days ago all about Caleb, and how she found him abandoned and wrapped in a blanket. It broke her heart.
"I haven't been sick… I could barely keep anything down when I was pregnant with Tris for the first three or four months…" Natalie runs over how she had been feeling in her mind. She places a hand on her stomach. She'd been eating like crazy, but she just assumed she was being greedy from having food readily available to her again.
"Every pregnancy is different, have you been pregnant again after Tris?" Hana asks gently.
Natalie shakes her head, biting her nails as she starts to pace. Hana remembered it was a habit their mother hated and Natalie only did it when she was nervous about something.
"Oh my God, I'm pregnant…" Natalie says now the reality sinking in. She and Max had never used any protection, she never really thought twice about it. There was a time when she would get a birth control shot from the Erudite nurse she referred Marlene to but she hadn't done that in years.
Hana watches her sister pace and after a few moments, she walks over and gently grabs her shoulders. "Take a deep breath, it's going to be okay. I've got you"
Natalie nods as breathes deep through her nose and then out through her mouth a few times.
Hana understood her sister's confusion. She finishes making the tea and they sit on the couch. Natalie hadn't said much after her revelation, seemingly lost in thought.
"Do you want this baby Nat?" Hana asks candidly.
"I…I... I don't know Hana…I'm stuck here in the apartment, I never wanted to raise a baby factionless and…. I need some time to think…" There was nothing Natalie wanted more than to have a family with Max, but this late in life? She would have to go back to being factionless at some point. She never wanted that life for her children.
"I know you do, and I know this is complicated"
"Please don't say anything to Max yet," Natalie pleads.
"Nat, you have to tell him." Hana urges quietly.
"I know, There's so much happening with this war, I just need some time to think about what I want before I talk to him"
Hana nods but she hopes Natalie isn't making a bad decision by not telling Max.
