*Consider this a disclaimer*

A/N: I know - it's been too long. I have no excuses. I just hope you guys are still interested in this series. I personally like this one a lot. This installment gets the ball rolling on the drama of the rest of the series. But in all honesty, I'm still in the process of a revamping my original plot line - so you have any suggestions? Let's me know lol.

Eric waited until Tris was asleep before he pulled himself up. He sat on the edge of her bed and looked around the room, he'd been in and out of there for months, and never really looked at the room. He helped her paint the walls grey before she moved in. And at first, she denied that it was the same shade as the grey of her bedroom wall in Abnegation but after it was painted, when they sat in the middle of the room, she just started rattling off about her home growing up. Eric remembered that most of the rules had made him roll his eyes.

He felt her hands pulling at him, almost begging him to lay back down. "I'll be back later." He said, peeling her hands from around his shoulders. He had things to prepare for.

Tris looked up at him through hooded eyes, and he could tell that even though she was exhausted and half asleep, she could still see right through him. He was tense, but she tried her best to ignore the uneasiness she was feeling. For the past few days, she could feel the difference between them. She felt like he was keeping things from her.

She nodded, "Mhm." As he looked back at her, he could tell she wanted to ask him where he was going.

"I'll be right back." He kissed her, biting her bottom lip playfully, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her closer as she separated her lips from his.

She rested her forehead on his, feeling he familiar warmth of his skin against hers, "Promise?"

"What?" Eric asked, unsure of where that just came from. She looked up at him, her eyes wide - as if she shocked herself. He always came home. Wait, home? He wondered when he started calling her apartment home.

"I just-" she wrung her hands, shaking her head. "I didn't ask before, but now I just - the other night was different."

"Back at Faye's?" He lifted her chin, swiping his thumb over her bottom lip - he did it whenever she bit her lip when she was nervous. "I wasn't different -"

"Yeah you were." Tris snapped. Eric pulled back, getting off the bed. He didn't want to fight with her - which was odd for him because he never backed down from a fight before he met her - he had the power to talk to anyone however he pleased.

Tris opened her mouth to continue, but the words died on her tongue when he set his jaw and turned away from her.

Eric struggled with the truth - she was right. He'd been hiding important information from her. He hadn't been the same. He wanted to say he knew this would happen - that things would get muddled and messy. But he knew and still let all this happen. He knew the moment that he let her wrap herself around him, they'd go tumbling down this path and he wouldn't be able to get off. He wasn't even sure he wanted to. But that was the problem.

He wanted to protect her. But he needed to get her away before she started getting hurt because of him. He headed for the door, pausing when his hand laid on the doorknob, sighing. He couldn't leave her without telling her what happened - or at least saying he planned to tell her. "When I get back, we can talk." If he promised, it would have been a lie waiting to happen.

As he stretched his hands above his head, there was a buzz in his pocket. Pulling out a little pager, he saw a code - knowing what it was, he swore under his breath. It wasn't supposed to be happening yet. "Fuck." He muttered. After his initial shock, he gathered himself and stuck his feet into his boots. He started rushing around the room, grabbing a bag from a panel from the wall. "Tris, get up." He got dressed as he urged her, holstering multiple guns.

"Eric, what are you doing?" Tris asked, figuring that it was urgent, she started to get dressed, tossing her clothes on. She watched him shove clothes into the bag, seeing blue and not black clothing.

He took her hand, kissing the top. He held her face in her hands. "I need you to do something for me."

Before he could get an answer from her, there was urgent knocking on his front door.

Tris looked toward the bedroom door, hearing the knocking coming from behind the door, down the hall. She held his wrists, "What's going on?" She asked, "I'm confused."

Eric kissed her forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. "There's so much I should have told you…"

"What are you -"

"Do you trust me?" He asked her, staring into her eyes. When she just stared at him blankly, he shook her shoulders gently, placing a warm hand back on her face, cupping her cheek, "Tris... Do you trust me?" He knew he was being unfair, he'd just told her that he had kept some things from her but then turned around and asked her to trust him.

She took a deep breath, gazing into his eyes to try and find any sort of indication that he wasn't being serious. She saw none, "I trust you."

Eric let go of a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. He took her hand and dragged her out the room, heading to the front door - unlocking it. Faye pushed her way in, breathing hard. "You need to go, now!" Her hair was messy, the ponytail loosening slowly before she just yanked it out. She came to get him because he was supposed to call when this started.

"You know what to do." Eric told her, pulling his apartment door open. Tris was silent - just staring at them. Faye nodded, heading back in the direction she'd come from.

He dragged Tris in the opposite direction. As they ran down the hallway, Eric was silent. He and Tris communicated through looks and glances. She just tried to keep up as they ran to the back of the compound - Eric was a half step ahead, a gun drawn.

They stopped by a jagged space between the wall, just big enough to be called a narrow hallway. Eric stopped and glanced back, tucking the gun in the back of his waistband. He moved to stand directly in front of her, shielding her with his body. He looked around, seeing no one. "I can't explain right now, but you need to get to Erudite." He rushed out, opening a heavy metal door. "We don't have much time. There's only a small window for you to get away from here. Go straight there."

"What?" She asked him, holding on to the front of his unzipped leather jacket, "You're not coming with me? Why am I even leaving? This isn't making any sense!" She whispered harshly. The hallways were so much emptier than she could ever remember - uncharacteristically quiet for their faction. "Where is everyone?"

Suddenly, he slapped the wall above her head - she didn't even flinch "That's what I can't explain right now." He was frustrated with himself. "We're running out of time."

"Come with me." Tris offered gently, wanting to calm him down.

"I can't." He said, shaking his head. "Baby, I want you to listen to me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Jeanine has declared war on Abnegation." He said quickly, seeing the look on her face, she'd heard him clearly.

Tris's eyes widened, in disbelief. At first, she laughed, "Funny, Eric. Seriously, what's going on?" She couldn't believe that Abnegation was going to get attacked over a few unproven articles released by the Erudite. He had to be joking. And it wasn't funny.

Eric ignored her reaction, knowing that he'd have to tell her more to get her to believe him. He felt terrible. He was angry. "I got your parents out, and I have someone at Erudite looking for Caleb as he speak, okay?" She pressed her palm to her forehead. He could see the panic building. He grabbed her shoulders. "I need you to get to my parents house. Then go to Amity. Can you do that for me?"

"Eric!" Tris yelled suddenly. Her eyes welled with tears, "That's not funny. Stop kidding around-"

His left hand cupping her cheek and his right smoothing down her hair made her stop. "I'm serious. This is happening. And I'm trying to save your life." Part of him felt that saving her would help assuage the guilt of being unable to save the other Divergent's he'd ignored.

Tris let tears fall from her eyes, quickly wiping them away. "I can't leave then. I have to stay and stop this. I can help you. I have to help them."

"No." He shook his head, "This is - I did this. I let this get too far. And I can't let anything happen to you." He started pulling her closer until her chest was pressed to his. "You mean more to me than - than-" he paused, unable to say what he wanted to - that he'd loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone ever, more than life itself. And if he lost her, it would be over for him. He kissed her but she didn't kiss back. He nodded, looking down at the cement floor. "I just can't lose you. Not like this."

She couldn't even comprehend that he was struggling to tell her that he loved her - her anger at the situation wasn't letting her think clearly. "You want me to go the very faction attacking my home?" She asked him, pain and confusion etched in her expression. Blue stared into blue. He was begging her to just shut up and go, but she was fuming. Her nostrils flared, "I'm staying. We have to stop the -"

"I'm working on it." He answered. "But in all honesty, I'm more concerned about you." He didn't care about the rest of her former faction. He cared about her. He was concerned with her, but if that meant he'd have to save an entire community of people because it meant something to her, he'd at least try - which was more than he'd attempt before her. "I know what you are, Tris."

"What?" She stared at him, pushing him away, suddenly afraid of him.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to think of anyway to get her to just leave. They were running out of time. Soon, he'd have to report to Max and by dawn, they'd be leaving to head to Abnegation. "You remember the other night, being injected with the trackers?"

She just stood there, watching him. Unsure if she could trust him. He lied to her. "How do you know that I'm - that, I'm divergent?"

"Tris!" He yelled, startling her. "Does it matter right now?" They didn't have time for that. She expected his eyes to soften like they always had when he saw her, but nothing changed. "Do you remember that night?" He asked. She knew he was being serious - reminding her there was a reason he was sneaking her out before the sun was up. But there she was trying to be in control of a situation she had no idea how to maneuver through. She nodded her head, finally answering his question.

"Those weren't a safety precaution. It was some mind control shit that I don't have time to explain right now. Point is, it doesn't work on us. And you need to go." He looked around, nobody was around but she wasn't paying attention to him. He could see that she was in her own head. "Tris!" He got her to look at him, shaking her slightly. She saw that there was no fear on his face.

She seemed to hear the urgency in his voice and it snapped her out of her own head. "Okay."

He handed her the bag and a gun from his waistband, knowing that the single firearm she had wouldn't be enough if he miscalculated the window of opportunity she had "Take these." She hesitantly took the gun, and she could see the exact moment he became Eric the leader. "Stay on this road, stay close to the buildings for cover." His tone was authoritative - he sounded just like he used to in training. She nodded in understanding. He took her face in his hands, kissing her. He pulled her closer - kissing her like it would be the last time in a long while. He pulled away before he got carried away. He slouched, spreading his feet apart to make the height difference small so he could look into her eyes, "I'll come find you."

Tears welled in her eyes, "You can't promise me that."

He knew she was right. But he did anyway. "But I do. I promise." He insisted, kissing her forehead, "Everything's going to be okay."

She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but her faction of birth was being attacked and she was doing nothing to help. It crossed her mind to go against what he wanted but she couldn't do it alone. It never occurred to her that by staying alive, she was helping. She was one of the few people that needed to stay alive to put an end to Jeanine's plan.

"Go." He told her.

She didn't look back at him as she rushed down the back road.