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Four's POV:

I sit at the end of the table, across from my mother.
This is the last place I wanted to come.
But, there's a chance that she might know where the rest of the Dauntless are hiding.

"So, you just left him there, with Marcus?" Tris is angry, and rightfully so.
I'm angry, too.
"You don't understand," Evelyn tries to explain herself. "Marcus was very... abusive. I knew the only way to truly escape him, would to disappear, completely."

I will not call this woman, Mother.

"I reached out to Tobias about a year ago-."
I cut her off; slamming my fist down on the table.
"Don't you call me that! My name's Four," I glare at her casual use of my old name.

"Tobias, I have something I need to tell you," she smiles at me, sadly. "You wouldn't remember, because you were so young, but you are not my only child."

What?

"Explain," I say, crossing my arms, staring the woman in front of me, down.

"You had a brother," she begins. "Your father didn't know; you were twins. We weren't expecting twins."

She smiles, sadly, at the memory.

"Natalie Prior had already taken you out to your father, there would be no denying that you existed. But, your younger brother... I had Natalie hide him; she took him to Erudite, and gave him to a couple that couldn't conceive. Jeanine made all the arrangements," Evelyn finishes with that.

"What am I supposed to do with this information?" I inquire; I'm shocked, to say the least. But, I kind of understand. I'm glad my mystery sibling didn't have to go through what I went through, growing up.

"You need to find him, son," she answers, gazing at me, in remorse. "You need to find him; make sure he is safe. I haven't seen him since he was an infant."

"How am I supposed to find him? I have no idea what he looks like," I say, frustrated at this new information.

This week just keeps getting better, and better.

"He was placed with Chris and Karen Courtney, at Erudite."

Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.

I stand up then, rushing up the stairs to the loft that my "Mother" provided for us, until we leave for Candor, tomorrow.






Caleb's POV:

"Am I missing something, here?" I ask, awkwardly. My sister raced after Four, leaving me alone with Evelyn.
"He's not had an easy life," the leader of the Factionless explains.

"Not a day goes by, that I don't regret many of the decisions that I've made. None, moreso, than leaving Tobias with that monster, all alone," she sighs, dejectedly, and a watch a tear escape her eye.

"You can't change the past," I tell her, truthfully. "What matters, is that you are trying to make things different, now. He'll come around."

Is my Abnegation showing?


******************************

The next day, we exit the Factionless hideout, heading towards Candor.
I don't want to do this, but, I don't have a choice.

"Hey, uh, Tris?" I begin, halting in my tracks. They turn to look back at me.
"I-, I'm not going with you guys..."
It hurts to do this, down in the pit of my stomach, and it stabs like a knife to the heart.

"What? Where are you going to go?" my sister demands, as Four just stands back, watching.

"I don't know, maybe I can go back to Abnegation, at least I could be useful, there," I try to play it off, but it's not working so great.

"Caleb," Tris says softly. "There's nothing left at Abnegation..."

I look down, thinking of what to say next, to get out of the truth.

"Look, I'll be okay. I'll figure it out. All I know, is that your plan is currently to go meet the other Dauntless at Candor, and then what? Attack Erudite? I'm sorry, but, I'm just not cut out for that."

And with that, I turn on my heel, and leave.
I head towards Erudite headquarters.
I really don't want to do this...






Stormy's POV:

There's a loud commotion, just outside on the steps of the Merciless Mart.
Apparently, we've got some new recruits.
I don't go to see who it is; it's nobody I care about it.
Christina leaves my side in an instant, jumping up and running to hug a girl with boyishly short hair.
"Tris! Oh my God! I'm so glad you're okay!" she squeals, hugging her friend, tightly.

I look down at my hands, lying limply on my lap. I'm still wearing the white dress that I wore at Erudite.
I really want something different to wear.
I think I'm gonna ask Christina if I can borrow some clothes; I know she said she used to live her, so she's probably got all of her old stuff here, somewhere.

"Stormy? Stormy!"
I turn around at the familiar voice.

It's Four.

"Four!" I screech, jumping up and running to him.
I didn't expect to break down.

"Hey," he coos, petting my hair as I sob into his shoulder. "Hey, you're okay, now, alright?"

I don't feel okay.

I'm not at Erudite, anymore, but I still lack the one person that I need; my Eric.

My Eric is gone, and he's probably never coming back.

"Eric is gonna be so glad to hear your alive," he says, as we sit down on the bench, as I wipe tears away with my sleeve.

"No, he's not," I say, in despair. "My Eric is gone... The man that exists in his body... that's not my Eric."

"Stormy, I need to explain a lot to you, and it's gonna take some time, but I need you to listen, okay?"

"Okay."


******************************


Oh my God.
This is all so awful.

"And so, now, Eric is taking so much Hyperopium that if he quits cold turkey, he'll die from the withdrawals. And Jeanine makes him... uh, she quit giving it to him for free."
I raise my eyebrow at that.
What is that supposed to mean?

Four sighs, clearly he doesn't want to be the one to tell me this.

"Jeanine has been forcing him to have sex with her in exchange for the serum that he needs to live."

What?

No...

I start crying again.

"This drug, it turns him into something he's not; that's not Eric, but we can get him back."

I shake my head, sadly.

"No, Jack Kang is going to hold trials. They'll find him guilty of treason, and murder," I explain, defeated.

"No, no they won't," Four says, determinedly. "I've got an idea. We'll get them to use the Truth Serum on him. They'll see that he didn't want any of this; that he couldn't control what he was doing. That it was really Jeanine who was controlling him, and coercing him."

I've never heard of a Truth Serum...

"What's it like? The Truth Serum, I mean," I ask, curiously.

Christina walks up then, and answers for Four.

"It's like torture, if you try to lie, but the Serum won't let you speak a lie. Only the truth can escape from your lips. It has saved many lives, and destroyed many lives. But, if Eric is really innocent, then it's worth it," she says, quietly. "I would've been the first one to condemn him, if I hadn't overheard you guys. He hung me over the Chasm for five minutes, just to prove that Dauntless don't give up."






Caleb's POV:

"Ah, Caleb! How wonderful it is to see you!" Jeanine greets, as I walk into her office. I see Eric passed out in the far corner of the room, surrounded by needles, and empty, glass vials. I try not to think about what that is about.

"Likewise," I lie.

"Have you found out where the Dauntless are hiding?" she asks, clearly in anticipation.

"Yeah, yeah, there at Candor."

This is me, selling my soul, to the devil.







*****************************


Later that evening


Eric's POV:


My head hurts.
I'm so fucking high.
I hate it.
I hate what Jeanine has done to me.

We are on our way to Candor headquarters, where the Dauntless are hiding.
I used to be one of them.

The Merciless Mart is quiet; most people must be asleep, at this hour.
The spec ops teams enter the building, first.
I hear screams, and then silence, as the neuro sim disks hit their marks, causing everyone to sleep.
Everyone except Divergents.

I head into the building, stepping over several black and white clad sleeping bodies. I hear running, just ahead, and I go to investigate.

It's the Stiff, Tris.
And Uriah... Uriah is Divergent.
Oh well.

"I am so happy to see you," I say, aiming my gun at the unarmed girl in front of me, and grinning madly. "Move."

I wave my gun, motioning for her to walk ahead of me, as guards flank my sides.

The next thing I know, I've slammed into from the side, and knocked to the floor.
When I sit up, there are several guns trained on me.

Four.
My brother.
I can't be bothered to care, right now.

"Good thing you've got that gun, Four. We both know you were never anything without one," I taunt him, with a lie. We both know he beat my ass, on several occasions.

He turns to look at Tris, and the girl looks scared.
Four smiles at her, and hands his gun to a heavily tattooed man on his right.

I take the opportunity, and lunge at him, the drug in my system making me sloppy. Four grabs me, and slams my head into the giant, marble column in the hall, before grabbing my ankle, and dragging me into the foyer.

I'm sat up on my knees, and my hands are cuffed behind my back.

"You're responsible for the murder of hundreds of innocent people; you know the punishment for that?"

He's reading my crimes.

I'm going to be executed.

Good.

"Do it," I tell him, darkly; quietly. "Pull the trigger. End all of this shit for me, so I can't hurt anybody else."
He hesitates, and it makes me angry.

People are starting to awaken, and are filing in to watch the scene.

"Fucking do it!" I scream at him. "Fucking kill me, already! I want you to! I don't want to do this shit anymore..."
I find myself sobbing on the last bit; it's the truth.

I don't want to do this anymore.

I don't want anymore Hyperopium.
I don't want anymore Jeanine.
I want it to be over.

Four stares at me, like he's about to cry.
And, what the fuck, I aimed my gun at his head only days ago.

"Come on, man. That Abnegation in you, that selflessness? Use it to end me, please?" I'm begging him, now; pleading with him to end my miserable existance.

"I can't," he says, shaking his head, slowly. "I can't do it."

"Why not? I want you to," I plead.

"Several reasons," he explains, lowering his weapon. "Get up, we're taking you to a holding cell, until your trial."

Trial?

Dauntless don't do trials for the obviously-guilty...

I stand to my feet, nonetheless.
I don't worry about it, too much.
I'll die in a few days, anyway.
I don't have any Hyperopium, and I have no way of getting it, here.

Four holds my arm, as he leads out into the hallway, passed several people who, clearly, just woke up.
I feel their stares, as Four leads through the masses.


"Eric?"


I halt in my tracks.
That- that can't be...
There's no way.

I turn around, slowly.