( A/N: Don't hate me...)

Chapter 24

Tobias pov

Looking over at Tris, the only word to describe her is overwhelmed. If she were any other girl, I know that she would have broken down by now, but she's not just any other girl. And right now, that's a very good thing because we really do need to figure out what we're going to do

Tris is standing, biting her thumb nail and staring off into space when I reach out and tap her shoulder. She glances over at me from over her knuckles. "What should we do?" She asks through the thumb nail she's gnawing on.

I glance over at Naomi and raise my eyebrows at her as if to ask 'can you give us some privacy?' She complies and goes over to where Caleb is sleeping, waking him up so she can fill him in. I lead Tris over to a corner and keep a hand on her arm.

"I'm not staying here," we say in unison. My mouth tugs into a half smile despite everything that has happened today.

"Well at least we know what we're not doing," I say, trying to add a bit of levity.

"I'm not running away and leaving everyone behind, Tobias. I can't to that," she tells me, very firmly.

I lay a hand on the back of my neck and can't help but sigh. I know that it makes me seem even more like a coward but, I wanted to run. I wanted to keep Tris safe by taking her away from this mess. But, I think I kind of knew that Tris, my brave girl, would never go for that.

"Tris, why are you doing this to me?" I ask, raising my voice a bit and running a hand down my face.

She backs up and gives me a look of shock. "Excuse me?"

"You are here in Erudite because you came here. Despite what I begged you not to do, you came to a place where you knew you would be killed. I said it back in Candor and I will say it again; I can't love the Tris that is trying to destroy herself."

Tris eyes start to get shiny with tears, she won't look me in the eye and she bites her bottom lip. I struck a nerve and just seeing that I hurt her makes me hate myself. "Tris," I whisper, about to apologize.

"Tobias, I... I can't lose you. Not again," Tris shakes her head and wraps her arms around her middle as if trying to fold in on herself.

"C'mere," I say, pulling her to me. She holds onto me almost desperately.

She has been through so much and lost even more so I can't blame her for wanting a minute to let a bit of it out. Tris lets go and collects herself before giving a slight nod, "Let's go then. I want to get Christina and all of our friends from Dauntless but then we'll leave."

I can't help but grin at Tris' agreeing and then I bring her over to Naomi.

"We're going to run," I tell Naomi.

She gives me a smile and says, "Then let's run,"

With Naomi gently leading Caleb down the dark halls and Tris walking along beside me, all I have to do is not get us lost. In silence, we make our way down the seemingly endless halls and it starts to feel like we'll actually get out of here. Finally, the doors are in sight and I feel a swell of hope. We will finally get to leave this mayhem behind and I can keep Tris safe. We're about forty feet away from the door, forty feet away from escaping, when Jeanine steps out with about three dozen guards.

"Going somewhere Mr. Eaton?" Jeanine asks with that condescending tone that all of us have come to hate.

I grab Tris' arm and start to run, I can hear Naomi running beside us but the hallway we just came from has now been blocked off by another dozen guards. We stop in our tracks as all the guards we're surrounded by aim their guns at us.

"Get on the floor and put your hands above your heads," Jeanine says from behind us, scowling.

We get down and all I can think about is the gun that's in my holster since I was on security duty. Tris is on the ground beside me and I can see her eyeing my gun and her mind at work. I try to slowly shuffle away so I'm not within reach and she can't do anything stupid but, she grabs my gun, gets up and aims at Jeanine in no time flat.

"Let us go Jeanine," Tris growls. "If you don't call off your dogs right now, I swear I will kill you."

"Be careful, Beatrice, guns are used for self-defense and therefore they are self-serving," Jeanine says as if it's a threat.

Tris laughs and I can't help but worry a bit. "I've shot people before, Jeanine, and shooting you won't be that hard."

Despite what Tris is saying, I can tell that she is afraid. Ever since what happened with Will, she hasn't been able to even hold a gun.

No one even breathes and you can practically feel the tension around us. Then, a shot rings out but, it wasn't Tris' gun.

A/N: Sorry the chapter was so short. I didn't update for so long because I go absolutely no reviews that helped. A few reviews would be nice, by the way. Anyway, one of you lovely people gave me this idea, she knows who she is. And don't worry; I won't leave you guys for as long especially with this cliffhanger. I'll update soon and don't hate me.

-cmatty