Four's POV (There's a little backtracking here)

WARNING: Some suicidal ideations, though not explicit. If you're triggered, please don't read. He feels lost without Tris and doesn't know his worth.

As we were facing off with my mother and her factionless minions, I saw the moment Evelyn gave the order to kill Beatrice. She nodded at the woman behind us and in seconds, I saw my life end. It was with pure reflex, born through hours of training, that I immediately shot all three factionless. I saw the moment my own mother pulled a gun and shot me. I returned fire and jumped from the train.

Unfortunately, it was a safe place to jump. All I wanted was to die with my girl. Evelyn shot me in the shoulder. Out of sheer instinct, I tore off part of my shirt and wrapped it around the wound. If I'd taken the time to think about it, I would have just left it and allowed myself to bleed to death. I wasn't rational. I wasn't anything. I felt numb. The only person I loved was dead and I wanted to be with her. I decided to walk along the tracks so I could find her body.

I'm consumed with guilt, knowing this is all my fault. I asked her to take a ride on the train. It's also one of my revolting parents who caused this. If I had never been born, Beatrice would be alive and safe. What did I do to deserve my parents? I realize how truly worthless I am. It all shows in my Four persona. I'm cruel, heartless. What little heart I once had was gone. If Evelyn survived my bullet, she won't survive the next time we meet. I wasn't aware of what I was doing when I shot her, so I don't even know where she was shot, I just know I did hit her, I saw her fall as I jumped from the train. It's now my mission to end her in what time I have left.

With dread, I wandered the tracks, looking for the bridge where she fell. I threw up a few times along the way, picturing her pale, lifeless eyes. I was no longer Tobias. The only person who was allowed to call me Tobias was dead and only cold, hard, Four remained. I trudged along until I got to the bend in the tracks. I took a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for what I would find under the bridge. I walked slowly around the bend and saw... nothing. She wasn't there. There was no blood either. Where is my girl?

I ran as quickly as I could to the bridge. I stopped and looked all over the ground, and she wasn't anywhere. I fell to my knees and wept. I hadn't cried since I was six and thought my mother died, and since the early days of Marcus' belt. I wept for the life I'd lost with my Beatrice. I wept for the loss of her beautiful soul, her gorgeous blue eyes, her mischievous grin. I wept for me. For the lonely boy, who finally found the joy of being loved, for the loss of her warmth, for the touch of her hands, her fingers running through my hair. I was truly alone in the world.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep. I woke to the sun rising. I shook myself awake, and heard the tiniest of moans, coming from far away. It came from above me. I looked up, searching the underbelly of the train bridge. It was at least seven stories up, but about four stories up, there was a small service platform. I strained my eyes to see, and saw an arm and a leg, hanging over the edge. Oh my God! Could it be her? Could she still be alive? Can I allow myself to hope? I began searching for a way up.

I finally found a service ladder. It was old and rusted. I didn't care. Even with my fear of heights, if I could get up to my girl, I would! I tried the third step from the end and bounced to see if it would hold my weight. It held, and I began to climb. I was a quarter of the way up, when the rung my feet were on broke. I held on with my arms and pulled myself onto the next rung. I took a few deep breaths and started again. I made it halfway, three quarters of the way, I was so close. From here, I could tell it was indeed Tris. I could hear her groaning in her sleep. I made it and swung myself onto the platform. I checked her pulse, and it was strong. I looked her over and she had a huge bump on her forehead. She must have hit something on the way down. I pulled her to me and just held and rocked her.

Now I must figure out how to get us both safely down, or up. If I move to go up, it's a shorter distance. I have to time it to when the train goes by. The platform is halfway across the bridge, so I'd still have to walk us to the other side, without having to dodge the train. I checked my watch, and the next train should pass in the next five minutes. Then it wouldn't be back for another hour. I'd have to pull us both up about three stories, with an injured arm, in under an hour. I'm not sure I can do it, but it's worth a try. I can pull us to a railing and stay there until the train passes again. I waited for the train, but after fifteen minutes, it hadn't come. Then I realized they must have discovered the dead factionless, so the train was probably stopped. I decided to start up.

Fortunately, Tris is small. I pulled her into my jacket and zipped it with her in it, close to me. I pulled off my boots, and removed the shoelaces, to use them to tie her legs to my belt on each side of my waist. Hopefully my boots would stay on without the laces, otherwise, it would hurt like hell trying to climb those railings barefoot. Not that it mattered, I'd do anything for my Tris. It also hurt pulling us up with my injured shoulder, but I just ignored it. I was built for this. All those years with Marcus was training for this day. I could compartmentalize my pain and keep going.

When I finally made it to the top, I looked at my watch and it took me over two hours to climb to the top! I kept going over the bridge, trying not to look down. When I made it to the other side, I moved away from the tracks and collapsed, breathing heavily. After a short break, I stood back up and continued walking towards Dauntless.

Max' POV

"Where the hell are they?!" I yelled in the pit. Tris and Four hadn't shown up and there were three factionless found dead on the train this morning. I know it's connected to their disappearance and I'm losing my mind over my missing niece and Four. The boy's family as far as I'm concerned. I'd had the security cameras checked and neither of them had returned to the compound. Zeke and I even took a truck to check Yellow House, and they weren't there either. The longer they're gone the more worried I'm getting, and I can almost feel my blood pressure rising. If they don't show up soon, I'll have to call Nat and give her the bad news. I've got search parties all over the city looking for them.

Shauna approached me and cleared her through, "Ach hem, sir, we just came back from the train. Erudite took blood samples of all the blood at the scene. They said they'd have the results sometime next week. Their preliminary results were that the blood came from five different people."

That's not good news. If the blood came from five different people, then a reasonable assumption would be that Tris and Four were the other two samples and they're both injured... or worse.

Meeting Shauna's eyes, I said, "I'll be in my office. I need to call Tris' parents." I'm fighting back tears.

The door that led to the underground parking garage suddenly slammed open, and Four came in holding a hopefully, unconscious Tris. He made it to me and fell to his knees, breathing heavily, but also looking like he was about to pass out. I called for medical personnel to get to the pit STAT, calling for two stretchers. I checked Tris' pulse, and it was steady, but she didn't show any signs of waking soon. I saw blood on Four and a large bump on Tris' forehead. I knew now wasn't the time for questions, they both needed medical attention, so I let Doctor Anderson, and his staff do their jobs.

I decided to wait to call Nat until Doctor Anderson told us her prognosis. After calling all the search parties home, I sent out a group text to everyone in the family, at least, those in Dauntless. I'm sure most of them are already crowding the infirmary's small waiting room. I know they'll all want to be there for their friends, or family my Bumble Bee's case. Please let them both be okay! I've thought that so many times. I know Dauntless tends to accept death as part of our way of life, but they're both young and still have so much life left to live. After going to my office to finish up some paperwork, and to be honest, to get some time alone, I made my way down to the infirmary. It was time to see if either of the kids was awake for questioning. I need to know what happened.

When I arrived at the infirmary, it was just as I expected. "The gang", all Tris' friends and cousins who were the same year were here, along with Four's group, Charlie, Zeke, and Shauna, and, of course, the aunts, my Vi and my sister-in-law, Hana.

"Has there been any word?" I questioned.

Vi replied worriedly, "Not yet, maybe they'll give you answers.

Ignoring the receptionist, I made my way back, I immediately found Doctor Anderson coming out of a room.

"Four's okay. He was shot in the shoulder; it was a through and through. He lost some blood, so we gave him a transfusion, but he's awake and cognizant." Explained the doc.

I asked, "Is he okay for questioning?"

Doctor Anderson nodded, then proceeded to tell be about Tris'.

"Tris hit her head, hard. Four said it was on the train railing. He said a factionless woman threw her off the train. That's all he told me. He wanted to tell you, but I needed to know the nature of her injuries. She has very active brain activity, she's just not ready to wake up yet. Her body likely just needs to heal, and she'll wake up when she's good and ready." he tells me.

I squeezed his shoulder, too emotional to speak right now. He directed me to Four's room. After taking a moment to settle myself, I entered to find Four sitting up in bed. He looks like hell, but it's time I heard the whole story.

He looked me in the eye and said, "Max, I thought she was dead, and it was all my fault. I walked along those train tracks expecting to find her body. It's a miracle, she must have grabbed onto one of the bridge railings and saved herself."

I never thought I'd see Four cry, but thinking he'd lost Tris was obviously his breaking point.

I grabbed his good shoulder and squeezed, saying, "Tell me everything, from the beginning."