**Happy New Year everyone! 2020... jeez this story has sure taken it's sweet time... anyway, this chapter is about half the size of the previous one. Sorry, it can't always be 24k word updates. Almost 14k words here. POVs jump back and forth. Hope you enjoy!

~purplestar613**

Tris POV - Wednesday, December 31st

My skin grows cold but I find I'm not disappointed, only confused. I can't let that show, the lights are still on me. Robert?!

Then I see him, making his way to the stage, the very same Robert Black I grew up down the street from. The one I figured I'd probably end up settling down with had I stayed put and grew in the image my parents desired. My childhood friend.

His face was a bright smile of victory and he shook Eric's hand. "I'd like to offer Mr. Black here, permanent VIP membership here at Dauntless for his generous bid." Robert nodded enthusiastically before Eric motioned for me to go with the winner. I looked Robert over feeling my walls go up even though Raven was having a hard time coming to the surface, and let a smile spread across my face. And why wouldn't I be happy? In Eric's deal, I'd just won myself 50% of those winnings.

Robert's hand reached for my own and he gently pulled me into the crowd. They parted for us quickly. I could feel many eyes on me and a couple of hands that grazed my exposed skin. I had to forcefully keep from shivering at the contact.

A bouncer pointed us down the hallway towards the private dance rooms. Some of the other patrons try to follow us, but are blocked in their path. The midnight countdown is minutes away.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask in Raven's voice.

Robert doesn't turn around to answer me, he just continues to pull me down the hallway. His grip on my hand remains gentle. He finally pulls me into one of the final private rooms, and finally turns around to face me.

"Robert how-" The sound of the door closing behind me makes me jolt. I turn quickly, and see Matthew and Lynn standing pressed against the wall, and the one who closed the door: Will. His face looks ashen but his expression remains firm. Christina is out there right now with a victor who will not let her out of his sight. Will failed. How could he have done that to her?!

I feel rage boiling inside me and am about to stalk over to Will, when Robert's hand catches my arm once more. "Tris, please."

"How could you?!" I shout at him, knowing full well these rooms are sound proof.

"It wasn't my fault." He begins.

"You had one job Will! And now Christina is out there with God knows who-"

"I KNOW." He growls at me. "I was stopped."

I channeled my rage as best I could and focused on the feeling of my feet on the ground. My body wanted to sway, and fall, the adrenaline from before depleting slowly. Already my arms feel numb. I consciously unlock my knees to keep the blood flow going, but my fists will not uncurl. "By who?"

"Eric." Lynn said for him.

Eric. Of course. It must have been after Uriah bought Marlene.

"His body guards would not let me near the clipboard to up the bid. Saying he let one male dancer slide in purchasing one of the girls but no more. I offered to pay upwards of 20k, give up my entire salary for the next year, but he wouldn't budge. Something about respecting the other clientele and giving them a fair chance." He scoffs, and his eye roll consumes his entire body.

"It doesn't make sense if you offered to pay that much." Matt said quietly. No doubt his own pay took a huge hit. I wonder if Eric even realized that the Matthew who bought Lynn was the same Matt who works at the Pit. Maybe he did, and maybe it was too late. Eric is smart, and Jeanine is smarter. Perhaps this was part of their counter plan? The thought makes a fresh cold sweat break out on my skin and travel down my arms.

"It's like he was purposely trying to separate you two." Lynn said tightly. Which is exactly what I was doing with the girls I spoke to about the new meeting place. Since only one of them is here… "You don't think they actually…" She looks back at me.

"They must." My voice is grim and I finally find the peace to uncurl my fists. "Cara told me" be careful. "That she thought there was a chance."

"How would Cara know?" Lynn asked skeptically.

"Because she walked in on Eric talking to Max about needing extra security tonight, that they caught a tip someone may bolt, but they didn't know which faction." Lies, lies, and more lies.

"That must be the real reason they had all the girls here tonight rather than all the various clubs." She says, eating up everything I feed her.

"So it's just a precaution. They don't know for sure." Matt says.

"We can't take the chance of guessing." I say calmly. "That's why I wanted to change the meeting location. If they figured someone was going to bolt, doesn't Amity's turf seem like the logical area to hide?"

A light seemed to click in Lynn's head. "So what do we do now? Trust that the rest of the girls already made it out? Uriah bought Marlene early so hopefully they're already gone…" Her voice cracks at the other girl's name, and my heart breaks even more for her tragic situation.

"We have to. Will," I look back at him. "Is there any way you can get close to Christina to get her out?"

Will is about to open his mouth when Matthew steps in. "I may have already taken care of that. I noticed her victor hovering obnoxiously close to her clipboard all night. I made sure to talk him up and keep him drinking. He's got quite a wallet, but also quite a drinking problem. He normally goes to Amity because they have sweets for munching on and her name was Candy so-"

"Okay we get it!" Will yells. "What did you do?"

Matt gives Will a hard look. "I made sure he kept drinking. Honestly I don't know how he was still standing but if Christina picks up on his current state of mind I don't see why she shouldn't be able to sneak out of his grasp once he passes out."

"Will," I look at him. "Head outside and wait in your car, we'll patrol the floor as the ball drops and get Christina to meet you there."

"Which is in 30 seconds. Get out there now." Lynn says quickly. "We'll meet you at the car."

"How are you getting out?" I ask breathless.

"Tris, did you ever realize that these rooms are directly beneath the back parking lot?" Matthew asks.

I shake my head.

"There's a manhole exit through the ducts in the closet at the end of the hall. That's where we'll get out. Shauna and Zeke already got out that way." Lynn explains.

I nod at her. Then turn to Robert. "Come on." He follows without having to be told twice. I loop my arm in his and plaster an award winning smile on my face. "Look extremely happy." He doesn't disappoint.

We exit the private room and the guard smiles at Robert's expression. I wave to him in a dainty manner and his smile widens. I don't know if he thinks that was a provocative gesture but he'll just have to live with the wonder.

The 10 second countdown has already begun.

"10!"

I pull Robert faster.

"9!"

We make it to the main floor where everyone is poised ready to celebrate.

"8!"

I spot Christina next to a large man looking rather sedated.

"7!"

"6!"

I push my way through the crowd, losing my grip on Robert, but trusting he'll follow.

"5!"

"Candy!" She looks up. Hope filling her eyes.

"4!"

"3!"

"Blondie is waiting in his car for you." I say into her ear, and she lights up.

"2!"

Robert finds me. "Forgive me?" He asks as his hands wrap around my waist.

"1! Happy New Year!"

Robert leans in slowly, and his lips brush mine. I freeze for a moment, before remembering that Robert is only kissing Raven. I wrap my arms around him, pressing my body close, as I hear the music blaring and silver confetti falls from the ceiling. It's like a massive bass drop in the room. I allow my eyes to close and lean into him. The kiss is not horrible. His lips are soft and he doesn't force his tongue into my mouth. If anything, I'm more relaxed than Robert is right now. His arms twitch at my sides and I'm violently reminded that Robert is not Tobias, and Tobias either got outbid by Robert, or that means he's not here. If not, then where is he?

I pull away from Robert slowly, giving whatever camera is on me a show that I'm enjoying it. When I turn my head slightly, I see Christina is long gone, her victor passed out soundly in his chair. I make a display to hang off of Robert affectionately. Even though he bought me for the night, I can still see other men waving $20s and even some $50s for some of my time. But the longer I look at them, I start to think I've misread their intentions. They're not waving the money at me, they're waving it at Robert... because as my owner, they need his permission. They want to pay him so that I can spend some of my time with others. I'm a little horrified suddenly at the thought of men going in together to purchase a girl so now they all have her to themselves. It's not against the rules technically. A sickening feeling crawls into my gut and the anxiety returns. I need to get out of here. We need to leave. I need to find Tobias.

I do another quick turn about the room and am grateful that I don't see any of my girls lingering, except Myra. She's pinned to a couch cushion by her victor who is wasting no time in his New Years celebration. She's struggling. I make a motion to walk over to her, but Robert tugs on me.

"We have to go." He says into my ear. I look up at him, then back to Myra. She's spotted me and is pleading with her eyes for help. I feel frozen. "Tris, you can't save everyone. Come on."

A deep seated determination wants to shout "Watch me!" and stomp over to the man and yank him off Myra. But if I did that, I'd draw too much attention to myself, and then I'd never get out unnoticed.

"Tris." Robert says, more urgent this time.

I stare at Myra, and mouth "I'm sorry" before turning and leaving. I have to hope that Myra is not the one passing information, else she may feel more vengeful for my actions.

"Okay." I find myself saying finally to Robert and we turn to head down the hall to the private rooms once more. "You'll meet me outside?" I ask quietly.

"My car is waiting in the neighbor lot out back. Blue civic."

I nod as we approach the hallway. "Oh wait!" I shout happily putting on the show. "I have something for you backstage." I make sure the bouncer guarding the private rooms hears me. Then I turn to him. I don't recognize him. "Would you be so kind as to guide my victor to our room? I have a surprise for him, but it's backstage."

The bouncer smiles and nods for Robert to follow him.

I weave through the crowd. A few men who aren't already plastered notice me and call out Raven's name. One even bows at my feet. Pathetic.

Reaching the backstage door I slip through it quietly, down the winding hall and find myself once more by the dressing room entrance. I quickly grab my small bag and notice Christina's is still here too. Just a small one that we could have done without but that's when I see it. It's her bag that had her dildo in it. It's her "sexy bag". Filled with plenty of props and some thick rolls of cash tips. I decide to take a precaution. I dump all my things into Christina's larger tote and haul it over my shoulder. I leave my bag but shove a couple of costume pieces in it to make it seem less empty. I have to hope that Christina and Will will make it back to the Pit unnoticed so that she can collect our bags.

I exit the dressing room, eyes on the backdoor and conscious of the camera with its' convenient blind spot. This is my chance. I have to-

"Tris."

I turn quickly, almost not recognizing the voice at first. "Edward? What are you doing back here?"

"I bid on you." He looks drunk and defeated. "But I didn't win."

"Sorry. Maybe next year." I say quickly.

"I was hoping maybe you'd just spend a little time with me."

I was beginning to feel frustrated. "I'm sorry, I can't do that, not unless it's okay with my victor."

"I've been kind to you all year."

"And it's appreciated."

His hand grips my arm. I feel myself freeze. His mouth leans in close to my ear. "I don't think you understand, Tris."

"Edward, let go of me." I say as firmly as I can.

He continues to stare at me, his grip tightening. My brain spins. I expect myself to feel the same fear or panic as I experienced with Tobias yesterday morning, as Peter made me feel that night outside the club, as Thompson made me feel when he cornered me in class. Instead, there's a lick of adrenaline that floods my body, a rage I've never felt. A memory flashed in my eyes, one of the moves Tobias taught me on our lovely date not too long ago. If someone were to grab my arm like this, or more specifically, they grab it to move it behind my back. Well, I don't have as much technical practice as Tobias does, but I do have some street practice Eric was kind enough to provide. I mix the two together, and in one instant, I stomp on Edward's foot with my boot. As he keels over his grip on my arm loosens just enough, I bring my knee up to his face, and grab his own arm before he falls to the ground, twisting it in it's socket and feeling a pop. My hands still gripping his arm as he lays face down on the ground, my boot on the back of his neck. His eyes clenched shut in pain, small whimpers falling from his mouth.

I release his arm and kneel down to his level, and say, "If you ever come close to me again, I will kill you." He nods once.

I stand up, grab my bag and march towards the back door. My fists clenched in determination. This was it. I was leaving. I was not going to look back. I slid up against the side wall where the camera was mounted, and kept within it's blind spot until finally my fingers reached the door. I pushed.

Cold air assaulted my exposed skin. I'd lost track of how hot it was inside Dauntless, and that it was still winter outside in Chicago. It wasn't snowing but there was a harsh breeze that covered my entire being. I hadn't thought to really cover up before leaving. I just had to get out.

Quick before anyone could see I bolted across the parking lot to the chain fence. I tossed the bag up over the top and it landed in the neighboring property. My eyes spy the man hole the others must have come up through because the top is slightly ajar. I can't risk anything looking out of place. I rush back to push it back in it's spot entirely and hope to God Robert is already out. It slides into place roughly.

Then I rush back to the fence and begin to scale the chains. I'm up and over within moments, grab my bag, and break into a run for the parking lot. I spot Robert's car, the lights already on, Matt and Lynn in the backseat, and Robert behind the wheel. I rip off my wig on my way there and dump it into the nearby trash.

I feel the desire to smile at our victory, but we're not out yet. I slide into the car and before my door is completely closed, Robert has taken off.

We drive through the streets of Chicago. The wind rustling the few bare trees planted along the busy city ways to make it look less industrial. We leave the downtown area and move further and further South at my instruction. We'll be within a few blocks of Erudite but perhaps the closer we are to danger, the farther we'll really be from detection. Less and less people are out on the sidewalks. Most of the bars now behind us.

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and it's like a dam breaks. Lynn begins giggling, in a way I'd never heard, and Matt follows her lead, finding her laugh infectious. He snorts once, but in a way where he tried to keep it silent, and it makes Robert smile. I feel myself chuckling at the situation. And soon we're stopped at a red light barking out laughing. Any passerby that sees us in the car must assume we're drunk, but after the adrenaline wore out, all I could feel was a comic relief. I knew we weren't safe yet, not truly. But allowing ourselves the moment to laugh and just enjoy the moment felt nice.

I thought of freedom, how we are so close. I thought of my life to come. I thought of Tobias. Tobias!

"Robert," I said as the laughter died down. "Where's Four?"

His lips pursed together. "I don't know." Before I can say anything, he continues. "I don't know where he is or why he didn't show. I was only supposed to be there to help with George's plan."

My stomach falls. Did Tobias back out? Did they get to him? But George? Tori's brother… "George? What was his plan?"

"Tori approached him you see, as a backup I think. She'd already asked her friend… umm.. Bill?"

"Bud."

"Yeah, Bud. She'd asked him and he agreed. But then she also told George what she did at night. George lost it at first. Then finally calmed down enough to hear her out." He chuckled. "Well, it was actually her threatening him if he didn't calm down to hear it."

"Sounds like Tori." Lynn said from the back.

"So, she asked George to pull a 'protective-brother' act during her dance. To see if that got her disqualified maybe, or to see if he would cause enough of a stink to let Tori go with him. Doesn't sound like she actually anticipated it working, but it added some extra drama and gave me a reason to be there."

"So your reason to be there was just to support George?"

"He's not as stable as everyone thinks."

I lowered my head, not considering that.

"Anyway, I ran into Zeke and Uriah in the back - they knew George from a while back I guess - and George started to talk about the plan to them. They shut him up real fast. They too mentioned they were in on the plan to buy the girls, which only upset George more. When he went to get some air - this was still early in the night - I asked Zeke who he was looking for cause he was on edge it seemed. His head kept moving back and forth like he was waiting for someone to show."

"Four."

"Yeah," Robert goes quiet for a second, seemingly mulling over the next words that were going to leave his mouth. "He was supposed to arrive with Zeke and Uriah, but when they waited for him outside, he didn't show. They went inside, thinking maybe he was already here. But he wasn't. Uriah went outside at one point to look for him, but he still wasn't there. They tried his cell and it went straight to voicemail."

My stomach clenched and suddenly I felt like vomiting.

"Tris, I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you be purchased by some rando who wouldn't help you out."

My head spun. "Stop the car." Robert pulled over to the side of the road just in time for me to open the door and empty the contents of my stomach. A tissue and a bottle of water was waiting for me when I closed my door once more. "Thanks, for everything."

"It's my pleasure." He said as he pulled back onto the road.

"I'll pay you back."

"It's no worry Tris."

"No really, I will. I can't imagine having to put up that kind of money."

"Don't sweat it."

"Robert-"

"No. That's final." He sighs. "Look, I care about you Tris. I wouldn't want to see you in that position ever again."

"And I appreciate that but-"

"Let me finish!"

"Okay." I say quietly.

He takes another deep breath as we push further past the main city and start winding our way into the suburbs. I softly instruct Robert to follow the side streets rather than the main roads now. "I was happy to help and step in because of the plan, but also because I don't want to see you hurt. I care about you, and I think I always have." He chuckles dryly. "I've had a crush on you since 2nd grade."

I can't find any words.

"It's okay though. I'm not obsessed or anything, but every time I see you or hear something about you it just comes back. Like a dull ache that won't go away." He glances at me, taking in my silence. "Don't worry though, I know you don't feel that way about me. It's why I never pursued you. You see me as a friend, and nothing more. And that's okay with me. I'm happy to be in your life as a friend than not at all."

There are a plethora of things I'd like to say that come rushing to the forefront of my head, but the first words out of my mouth are: "When did you grow up?"

He laughs at that. I find myself smiling with him.

"You know," I say. "There was a long period of time when we were young, where I figured you and I would end up together had my parents lived, and I continued down the path they imagined for me."

"But then you wouldn't have been who you were truly meant to be. Don't get me wrong Tris, your parents were kind people, selfless. And not that you aren't, but you're like Lucky Charms."

I snort, suddenly remembering a strange memory of licking Lucky Charm marshmallows and sticking them to Caleb's face when he wasn't paying attention at the breakfast table.

"You have a little of everything swirling in a nice balance. Kindness, selflessness, but also bravery, intelligence… you're the package deal. I can see why Four likes you."

"Thank you." I say.

After a pause of silence, Matt cleared his throat from the back. "So not to break this lovely moment, but where exactly are we going?"

"The main roads have cameras, and we have to assume Max has eyes on those. Not to say he'll recognize this car in particular, but just as a precaution, we want to stay on these back roads, through neighborhoods. We're heading towards Bloomington. There are a few airports near that city and we'll pick one. But we need to get in contact with the others first."

"This isn't where you told me to meet though." Lynn says over my shoulder.

"No you're right. Sorry about that."

Lynn huffs from the back, realizing there's something I'm not telling her and deciding not to push it for now.

"You should probably get changed soon too. You know, as lovely as you two look, it's kinda conspicuous." Robert says. Lynn immediately grabs her bag and begins pulling out clothes much to Matt's dismay of her changing next to him.

I pull my bag up into my lap and pull out my clothes, then start digging around for my phone. I find it after pushing Christina's things out of the way. I pull it out, but something stops me. There's something in the bag I don't recognize. It's definitely not Christina's. It looks like a picture frame. I pull it out slowly and my heart starts beating rapidly. I can feel the pulse in my fingers. It's a Dauntless dancer picture frame, black, with a gray ribbon pinned to the front indicating an Abnegation transfer. I stare at the nameplate and freeze. Storm. The dancer that escaped years ago. And the picture, it's there this time.

I stare at a photo of a 17 year old girl with mysterious green eyes, and full blonde hair. I stare at the image of my mother.

My phone rings and I jump out of my seat. Christina. "Hello?" I press the phone to my ear.

Her voice echoes in my head.

"Tris! It's Four!"

Four POV - Thursday, January 1st

My eyelids feel heavy as I fight the blackness of sleep. At least I think I was asleep. Why was I sleeping? What time is it? I'm supposed to meet Zeke and Uriah outside of Dauntless around 7:30.

Light creeps in through my eyes as they slowly open, I raise a hand to shield them as much as possible.

My head hurts with all the lights around me, my vision feels fuzzy, and my senses are all screwed up. I can't smell anything, and everything under my fingertips feels numb. My mouth is dry and warm, my ears ring just a bit.

I have to get up, I have to get to Dauntless. I have to get to Tris, to help her escape. It's the motivation my body needs. I force myself into a sitting position, and move to swing my legs off my bed, only when I do, I realize something's wrong. Well, multiple somethings are wrong. For starters, where the edge of my bed should be, is a plastic guard rail of sorts. Second, I'm no longer in the clothes I was wearing earlier. And third, I'm in a hospital room.

The monitors beep next to me as my heart beat increases, an IV line sticks out of my arm. How did I get here?!

My eyes find the clock on the wall and a pit drops in my stomach. It reads 12:15AM January 1st. I'm too late. I didn't make it. Tris was left to be fought over by the wolves. I failed her… My chest tightens violently and the breath leaves my lungs.

"You're awake. You should have been out for another hour or two."

I whip my head around to the door. "You…"

She smiles. "Me?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I do work here." She enters the room, a small tray in her hands with a piece of paper covering the contents. "But you mean what am I doing in your room, don't you?"

She sets the tray down on the table next to my bed, and sits down facing me. Is she waiting for me to talk? Or is she going to start explaining herself? To Hell with this. I don't have time to wait for her to talk, I need to get out of here. I need to get to Tris.

Her hand reaches out and touches my shoulder before I can will my body to move. I feel so sluggish it's unlike me.

"T…" She starts.

"It's Four. Remember, Nita?"

Her smile tightens. "Yes, Four, I remember." It's then when I notice her black scrubs look wildly out of place for a hospital. Black. Dauntless. Tris. Eric.

"You work for him, don't you? You work for Eric?"

Her smile drops. "Technically I work for Max, Eric's boss." Her voice hikes up a notch, enough for me to notice. There's something that she's hiding, something within that statement. "I help out when needed if employees get injured."

"That's why you were Tris's nurse."

She gets up off the bed abruptly. "You don't know what you're doing with her. What she could do to you. She's not good for you. She's… she's dangerous."

"Her work is dangerous. Eric is dangerous."

"I'm trying to help you."

"Help me? By trying to keep us apart?"

Nita turns just slightly. "I thought you were smarter than this."

"The Hell is that supposed to mean?" My voice rises.

"You have to trust me, Four. I'm doing this for you."

"Doing what?!"

The door to my room opens suddenly, and a wide eyed Amar stands there staring at me. "Four?!"

"Amar." Some relief fills my being at seeing him. But also so that I'm not alone with Nita anymore. She masks her disappointment well. I turn so that I'm facing her once more. "Can I have a minute?" I ask tensely.

She gets up cautiously and walks out past Amar, who thinks nothing of her. The door closes and breathing is just a little easier.

"Kid, what the Hell happened to you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"Yes, as your current emergency contact I know everything about what happens to you." He says sarcastically. "No, I haven't seen a single Doctor in this place since I've been here. Thankfully they left your chart in here it seems." He nods to the paper on the tray Nita had been carrying and walks over to retrieve it.

"I'm not sure that's-" but he cuts me off with his hand. His eyes roaming the entire page quickly. His mouth forms a tight line and he makes a noise in the back of his throat. "What is it?" I ask.

He looks over at me. "You were poisoned it seems."

"Poisoned?! With what?"

"Nothing I'm familiar with. It's just called Substance X. No side effects listed, or ingredients. Says you were found outside your apartment by a neighbor who called the ambulance. What do you remember?"

"I…" What did I actually remember? I thought back to earlier today. I woke up, still reeling from the previous morning waking up in Tris's bed. I mostly hung out at home, my few things I needed already packed and put in my car, spoke with Zeke over the phone about meeting outside of Dauntless before the show. And then it's all a blur. "I don't remember much. Just basic routine morning things."

"Man, I don't really know how to help you."

I rest back into the pillows. "Being here helps. Thanks."

He smiles for the first time and nods. Then his phone chirps, and he takes the call. "Zeke?"

I shoot up once more, and it makes my head spin. "Zeke!"

Amar shoots me a dirty look, and I can almost make out Zeke yelling through the other end. "What?.. Yeah, yeah I'm with him… We're in the hospital, well, Four's in the hospital. I'm visiting… Well we're still trying to figure that out… Oh yeah?.. Okay see you soon." Then he hung up. Through my shock I forgot to ask for the phone.

"What'd he say?"

"Well he's close and he wants to stop by. You up for that? Not exactly visiting hours but-"

"Yes I want to see him. As soon as he gets here make sure he finds his way to my room."

Amar holds up his hands. "Okay kid." And appears to text Zeke.

I scrunch my nose at him. "What's with the whole "kid" name now?"

"Well you're not my TA anymore." He narrows his eyes, making his point. "And I just felt like it?"

"You're not that much older than me."

"Thank God for that." He smiles warmly. "Try to get a little more rest before that boy gets here. You definitely won't get rest then."

If only Amar knew differently. Zeke not being here meant I was in the dark on what had happened tonight at Dauntless. Zeke coming would hopefully bring good news. If Tris got stuck at Dauntless because I didn't show up, I wouldn't forgive myself. With everyone else leaving very obviously, she'd be the target they'd focus on to get information from.

I nodded at Amar and asked him to stay. He took a seat on the bench across the room, and there we waited. My heart continuing to pound roughly, but I managed to keep it's pace even.

I think of Tris. I think of her golden hair, her blue eyes. I think of her slightly crooked nose. Of her firm voice. The passion in her actions, and the love she has for all the girls. I think of the small breaths when she sleeps, the way she stretches and contracts. I think of her lips, and the smile that forms on them when she looks at me. How I could ever go without her now feels impossible. There's no way I'd let her go. Not willingly anyway.

I'd just about relaxed thanks to her memory when a loud commotion catches both my and Amar's attention. I'm on edge, but Amar just laughs to himself shaking his head. It must be…

"Four!" Zeke barrels through the door, Shauna quickly trailing him. "Man, are you okay?!"

"I was poisoned, Zeke."

"Oh shit."

"Language." Shauna smacks his arm lightly.

Zeke turns to her like he didn't know she was there. "I told you to wait out there."

"You really think I'm going to listen to you?"

My thoughts drift to Nita. If she works for Eric she can't be the only one. "Shauna, maybe it's a good idea." I say.

"What?!" She screeches. Jeez she's had a rough night, I can tell. But she's not dressed like she was just at Dauntless.

"There are people in Eric's employ here in the hospital. They must know you, and if they see you."

"But-"

"Everything okay?" Someone walks in who I don't immediately recognize but he looks familiar. Mocha skin, not quite as dark as Zeke and Uriah… the guy from Dauntless that night of the male dancers!

"George?" A cracked voice asks. We all look over at Amar on his bench. His eyes blown wide as he stares at the man.

"Amar." George says. But he quickly turns to Shauna and Zeke, "you guys took off so fast I couldn't keep up. And you didn't say if you'd heard from Tori or not."

"What are you doing here?" Amar asks ignoring the fact that George was ignoring him.

"Zeke caught me outside of-"

"It doesn't matter." Zeke says in a firm tone that's rare for him. "Shauna I asked you to wait out there with him," He gestures to George. "And the others."

"No, I had to see that he was okay!" She gestures to me.

"And now you've seen. Now go."

"Zeke-"

"SHAUNA!" He takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. "Shauna please for once, let me be the stereotypical guy in this relationship and do as I say. Please?" His voice drops low. "I need you safe, and if there are others working here that know you… Just please go?"

Shauna considers this for a moment, before finally nodding and turned to leave. "I'll send Uri." She turns to George. "And we'll check to see if we can get ahold of Tori." He smiles thankful for her cooperation and help, then parts from the door frame for her to pass through and he follows after her, with one last look at Amar.

Zeke lets out a long breath after she closes the door behind her.

Amar is chuckling tensely. "How long have you been waiting to say that to her?"

"I'm not even going to answer that." Zeke says and focuses all his attention to me. "So what the Hell?! Poison?"

"That's what the official report says." I say quietly.

"But you think it might be something else?"

"Honestly I don't know what to think right now. My attention is kind of focused on something else." I give him a hard look.

"What?" He looks expectant but I continue to stare at him. "Oh! Oh you mean Tris." He nods finally understanding. "She's okay, I think. We didn't really stick around all that long after I got Shauna, but I haven't heard from anyone else that things didn't go according to plan."

"That doesn't make me feel better, Zeke."

"I knew it." Amar says in a sing-song accusatory voice.

"Knew what?" Uriah walks in.

"That Tris was the student Four was seeing."

"Damn Four, maybe you're not as stealthy as you thought." Uriah smiled thinly.

"Funny." I growl at him.

Amar's expression changes. "Wait, so what about Tris not being okay?" He asks showing genuine concern for one of his best students.

"Amar," I begin. "Someday I'll explain everything to you, but now is not the time."

Amar gives me a look harder than ever before. "What have you gotten yourself into? I know you have your secrets, but this feels different."

Zeke, Uriah, and I all look at each other for a brief moment. Determining how best to tell Amar, if we tell him at all. For now, the less people know the better. He might be angry with us for holding something back but it's for the best right now. I open my mouth but Uriah beats me to it. "All of us are involved in something that's time sensitive, and we need to fill Four in."

"Okay." Amar says after a pause. "Four," he stands. "Would you call me when you're ready?"

"Yeah of course. And Amar? Thanks."

"Course kid. Anytime." Then Amar leaves the room.

"So?" I ask impatiently as the door closes. I look at Uriah, maybe he has more information.

Uriah nods. "Mar and I stuck around a little longer than Zeke and Shauna. Just enough where Tris could get bid on."

"Mar's still upstairs in the lounge?" Zeke asked.

"She should be."

"And?" I ask, feeling my heartbeat speed up, and reflect accordingly on the monitor by my bedside.

"It wasn't anyone I knew before tonight, but he said he was a friend of Tris's."

My mind reels trying to sort through all of Tris's male friends. I can't think of many, at least none that weren't already in agreement to purchase other girls. There's that guy Slade from Zeke and Uriah's party. Her brother, but they weren't on the best terms last I checked. A few others she may have worked with but didn't consider friends based on recent events.

"His name is Robert."

I remember Robert. He was at the club with George. Exactly what kind of friends were they? And what motive would Robert have to get to Tris? When I first met him I didn't feel threatened by him since he was there enjoying himself at an event targeted at guys into other guys. And not to mention I was preoccupied thinking about how I felt about Tris, and whether or not she liked me back. But now? Why would he buy her? Was he really just helping? I felt a stab of hot jealousy course through my chest and down my arms making me clench my fists. He was with her, and I wasn't. He was able to save her, and I wasn't.

"We talked to him before the bidding really got going." Zeke added. "Sounds like they were childhood friends/neighbors."

"Well that's good I guess." I spit out.

"Four, take it easy. She's with a friend. I managed to talk to Christina after she was bought before Tris went on, and she said we could trust him." Uriah said calmly.

It felt childish wanting to ignore Uriah's words, wanting to hold onto the self hatred, and targeting it at Robert. But I managed to take a deep breath, feeling even more useless than when I didn't know anything. "You're right. Now tell me, where is she?"

Uriah was about to answer when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He picked it up and looked at it, and smiled. "Good news. Christina and Will got out."

"As happy as I am for them, I want to know about Tris."

"That's just the thing. I called Christina when Zeke told me you were here. She just responded and said she's about to call Tris, and let her know you're here."

I rest my head back on my pillow. As much relief as the news brings me, I still can't keep the rolling stomach feeling at bay. We're not out of this yet.

Tris POV - Thursday, January 1st

My thumb numbly hits the "End Call" button on my phone and I turn to Robert, saying "Turn around. We have to go to the hospital." Probably harsher than I needed to.

"What?" Lynn asked incredulous.

"Four's there."

"Why is he in the hospital?"

"Chris didn't say. We just have to go there."

Robert looks reluctant but begins to turn the car around.

"Wait, why are we doing this Tris? I thought getting away was priority number one." Matt asks.

"You can get out of the car if you want but I'm going."

"Didn't you say your employer has guys everywhere though?" Robert asks as he starts back to the hospital.

"I'm not losing another thing I care about in the name of self-preservation!" I shout.

"Tris-" Lynn begins.

I turn my head back to her. "What if it was Marlene?!"

Her face turns pale, and her eyes turn down. It wasn't fair of me to say it, to out her like that. My thoughts were all meshing together, and I couldn't bring myself to care about anything but getting to Four. Was it so wrong if I got to be selfish once in a while?! Especially at a time like this… maybe it was.

No one says anything else on our way there. It takes fifteen minutes, and my mind spins the whole time. My stomach is in knots, and I can't help but feel like I'm missing something. I begin to change into my other clothes but my movements feel robotic like I shouldn't be moving at all.

When we pull up to the hospital I'm immediately greeted by a face I didn't expect.

"Amar?" I ask walking up to the front door. He holds it open for me.

"Hey Tris."

"What are you doing here?"

"It just so happens I'm Four's emergency contact."

"Really?"

He nods.

"What happened?"

"Why don't you go see him and he can tell you."

"He's awake? He's okay?" My breath increasing.

"Yes, at least he was when I left him with Zeke and Uriah."

That means Shauna and Marlene must be here too. How many of us are here? Did we make a mistake? Did I make a mistake? No, when it comes to Four, there are no mistakes.

"Where is he?"

"Room 202."

"Thanks Amar." I move past him into the lobby.

"Tris." He says after me. I turn back to him. "Is there anything I need to know about... this situation? They didn't tell me much."

I give him a reassuring smile. "We're going to be okay. Know that."

"Why do I feel like you don't even believe that?" He asks quietly.

My smile fades. "I'll talk to you later." And I take off down the hallway to the stairwell. I skip the steps two at a time, my legs protesting the whole time. I'm coughing for breath at the top but I don't slow down. An orderly gives me a stern look as I fly by but I don't care. I skid to a stop only when I realize I went one room too far, and backtrack to the closed door of room 202. My palm is hot against the door knob, but it doesn't stop me from pushing the door open.

I'm met with the surprised faces of Uriah and Zeke sitting on the side bench of the room. And in the bed next to them is Four, his eyes closed.

They wave at me. I let out a breathy "Hey." And move in on Four's sleeping form. He doesn't look any different, no visible injuries, cuts, bruises, casts, nothing.

My heart continues to pound mercilessly in my chest. My fingers feel cold and clammy. I have to touch him. I have to know he's real, that this isn't some trick my mind is playing on me. If this is a trick, I have to wake up so I can find him again. But he looks real. My finger brushes his wrist, and I feel the hot skin under my tip. I let out a shaky laugh, my eyes filling with tears.

Someone touches my shoulder and I see Uriah giving me a silent motion that he and Zeke will just be outside. I nod at him, and mouth "thank you."

As the door closes behind them, I turn back to Four. Both my hands gripping his one hand now.

"Hey." I say, not really knowing how else to start. "It's me. When you're ready to wake up." I look from his face down to my hands on his. "I'm okay. I made it out. I'm sure you know that now. Zeke or Uriah probably told you. It was uh… Robert, a friend of mine. He's a good guy." My mind drifts back to Robert kissing me at Dauntless. I don't want to keep things from Four but that can wait. "Really, he is." I look over Four's fairly motionless body. "I'm sorry you were stuck here. I didn't know. I didn't think you would… I should have anticipated something like this… I should have done something more… But I'm safe. You're safe. We're safe." I know I'm rambling but I can't think of anything else to do.

His nose scrunches slightly, but he still does not wake.

"I'm glad you're okay." I sniff and wipe a couple of the fallen tears from my cheeks. "Part of me wishes you could have been there. Could have seen me. I danced my best, and it was for you… for the knowledge that you were out there…watching me... I only thought of you. I want you Tobias. I want all of you. Always. Please wake up." A sob escapes my throat. "Please, I need you. I don't want to be away from you anymore. You're it for me. I see you Tobias."

"I see you Tris."

I look up at his face suddenly. His eyes just barely open, but a small smile on his lips.

"Looking at you is like waking up."

I choke out a smile. "You just did wake up."

He shakes his head. "Not what I mean. It's you - so different from other girls. What first caught my attention, your eyes; so clear and determined, stubborn, beautiful. The warmth that comes after being cold for so long."

I pull back slightly. "Did you just compare me paradoxical undressing?"

He shrugs. "Not exactly, but if you want to look at it that way."

A small laugh bubbles up from my throat and soon he's joining me, though he winces once. My hand goes up to caress his face, and he tiredly leans into the touch. I thought seeing him in a hospital bed might make him look smaller as I'm sure it made me look. But no, he still looks massive. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm here because he's injured rather than me. "How the tables have turned, huh?" I say quietly.

He smirks. "Don't get used to it."

"I don't know, it's kind of fun having you incapacitated. The things I could do, things you wouldn't be able to stop. Just watch and appreciate."

He raises an eyebrow. "Careful Tris." His voice husky.

"Now where's the excitement in being careful?" I ask as I lean in and rub my nose against his. Soon our breath is mixed, and his hand reaches up behind my head, spinning his fingers in through my hair. He pulls me closer, and soon our lips are touching. It warms me from head to toe. I lean fully into his body and he clutches me tight against his chest. It's not a desperate kiss full of need and desire, it's a loving kiss. A promise.

"You should let him rest." I pick my head up quickly, jumping at the harshness of the voice behind me.

Nita.

She stands square shouldered at the door, and leaves it open as if to indicate I should leave. I laugh a little internally when she has to emphasize. "You should leave." After what I managed to do to Edward, a guy weighing 70 pounds more than me, and towering an extra 5 inches above me in my heels, I don't feel threatened by this bimbo at all. "He doesn't need visitors right now unless it's family."

A low snarl passes my lips and surprises me for a brief moment. I don't think Nita would have heard it, but I feel Tobias's hand wrap around mine. Whether he's holding me back, or indicating he wants me to stay, maybe even considers me family… I don't know. It grounds me. I squeeze his hand back but don't take my eyes off Nita.

She starts walking into the room a little further, but keeping her distance from me. Taking the long route around Tobias's bed. Her hair is pulled back, and under the hospital lights I can see her better than backstage at Dauntless. She still wears her black scrubs, a painfully obvious sign of where she came from - then again, the leftover body glitter all over my skin probably gives away my recent location a bit too. My eyes scan for something else. Something of mine. "I see your bruise is gone, or there you're very good with coverup." My smug tone earns a disapproving grunt from Tobias. Careful Tris. I can hear him in my head.

She glares at me, no doubt vividly remembering when I knocked her out just before Christmas, even if we were both under the influence at the time. That's a memory I won't be willing to forget anytime soon. I steel myself, and love that I have that victory over her. That Tobias is with me, not her. He chose me.

Her eyes narrow and she reaches the other side of Tobias's bed where all his monitors sit. She wheels a small cart from behind the standing machine, and pulls a tray from the top level. A syringe filled with clear liquid laying on it.

"What's that?" Tobias asks sleepily. His hand gripping mine even more. This isn't right.

"A sedative. You need to rest." She says calmly but doesn't look at either of us.

"I'd like to leave." He starts to sit up more.

"Sorry, no can do."

"He said he'd like to leave." I growl at her and pull away from Tobias's hand in order to charge at Nita. But she's quick. Tobias struggles lightly to move his IV away from her grasp but she's already pushed the drug into his line.

"No." He grumbles, as his movements become more sluggish. His eyes struggling to stay open. I can hear the dreariness in his voice. How am I going to get him out unconscious?

My heart speeds up with a small round of panic. I focus my attention back on Nita. She looks proud of her actions, chest puffed out, eyes narrowed at me, nose turned up. She's challenging me. And while I know I shouldn't, this is her turf. I refuse to fight the surge of energy building in me. If she wants a fight, I'll give her a fight. Hot frustration runs through my arms.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Go against his wishes. He can refuse medical advice and assistance if he wants."

"I didn't hear him say so." Her smugness grows.

I watch her carefully. "Where's the doctor?" No doubt it would be the doctor who was at Dauntless. The man wearing black scrubs.

"Out."

"I'd like to speak with them." Consequences be damned. I reach for Tobias's chart, before Nita can stop me and plainly see no Doctor's name listed... I look back at Nita and see a steely expression, but her eyes twitching just a bit. She's panicking. "What did you really give him?"

"Why would he want you?" She growls at me, ignoring my own question. "You're nothing but a dancing slave! I went and made something of myself!"

"I don't control what he wants. If he doesn't want you there must be a reason."

"You bitch. I told you to get out." She charges at me, and I only see the needle at the last moment. I duck from her swing and easily shove her out of the way. Being small and agile has some advantages.

"Get out!" She lunges once more, but I grab her hand firmly before she could descend the needle into my skin.

I focus my breathing, and watch her eyes dance wildly around my face. There's no way Eric would leave someone this unstable or incapable of guarding Four by herself. Does Eric even know Four is here, that Nita is keeping him? Or has she done this all on her own? The lack of doctor's name suggests the latter...

She tries to change position, but I have her locked up before she can realize it. I glance at a sleeping Tobias and smile. He'd probably be proud of how quickly I got her down. I twist her arm around, causing her to drop the needle to the floor, then kick it away with my foot. She growls up at me as I bring her to her knees. I twist her one more way, and it brings her to the floor, face down. I think of bringing a drunk Edward down not one hour ago.

"I'm done being told what to do." My own voice startles me and I wish it didn't.

She whines under the pressure I hold against her, and she mumbles something that crumbles my strength.

"You're going to get him killed."

I back off of Nita quickly and look over at Tobias. There was no hesitation in her voice. No doubt. And if she knows more than I do… If she knows about anything relating to Eric and Jeanine's plan… then again it could be a ploy. Something to just get me out of the room. But what if it wasn't? What if she was right? Am I willing to take that chance? Am I willing to gamble Tobias's life? Am I that selfish? Would Tobias do the same for me? Or would he let me go in an effort to save my life? I'm embarrassed that I don't know the answer.

"What do you know?" I ask.

"More than you."

"Tell me." Nita remains silent, knowing she now has the upper hand. I don't have time for this! "Tell me!"

There's a knock at the door that causes both Nita and I to look up. Slowly it opens, and Robert stands there, looking concerned. "Tris, everything okay?"

Nita slowly gets to her feet, the gritty expression on her face not wavering. "I suggest you get out now, or I'm going to call security." She walks past me, and says lowly, "Think carefully about what I said."

"What happened?" Robert asks the second she's out the door. "Why is she getting security? What were you yelling about? Is he okay?"

Before I can answer, Zeke is suddenly at the door behind Robert. "I heard shouting."

I don't know what to believe anymore. It makes my head hurt more than I could have possibly imagined. "I…" My mouth continues to open and move but no other sounds come out. I hear Robert muttering something to Zeke, and Zeke pushes past Robert into the room.

"What happened to him?" Zeke asks, eyeing the abandoned syringe on the floor.

"She… a sedative."

"Who was that?" Robert asks.

"Nita." Her name leaves a copper taste in my mouth.

"She's in on this?" Zeke deduces.

I nod. "I think so, but I'm not sure how yet."

He nods in return. "Then you need to go, Tris. We need to get you out of here. Catch a plane, and get far away."

"I can get her out." Robert is by my side in a moment.

My knees feel weak. This is happening all too fast. I just go here. I just got him back. I was just free. And now it's being ripped from me all over again. "I don't want to leave him." I manage to say, and I have to keep from flinching at how broken my voice sounds to my ears.

"I'll watch him." Zeke says firmly. "Uriah and George will get Marlene and Shauna out, I'll stay behind."

"You sure?" Robert asks for me.

"Yeah. Just get going."

"Tris?" Robert asks as he tugs at my sleeve.

"I don't…" My vision gets blurry as tears swell in my eyes. "Tell him, please. Tell him I didn't want to leave him."

Zeke nods, and Robert pulls me from the room. His grip on my hand a vise. I know I'm losing it and I'm grateful for those around me who still have level heads, but I'm in no state to communicate that. Tobias disappears behind the closed door. And just like that, my emotion is severed and logic invades my head once more. Yes, I need to go. This is the best course of action based on what happened. But it doesn't ease the pain in my heart any less.

Both of us are charging down the hospital hallway when a thought strikes me. "What about Matthew and Lynn, what happened to them?"

Robert nods. "Will and Christina pulled up to the hospital almost immediately after you ran out of the car. I convinced them to continue towards the nearest airport, and to take Matt and Lynn with them. Christina said she had your bag from her car too."

"Oh good." I think of my mother's necklace. "Robert I'm sorry about this."

"Save it for later." He throws a smirk over his shoulder at me as we reach the stairwell and descend onto the first floor. Quickly ducking past the welcome desk, just in case, and jog through the parking lot to Robert's car.

We climb into the car and Robert brings it to life. He pulls out of the parking lot and begins heading towards the nearest local airport outside of the main Chicago district. I find I still can't fully relax, at least not as relaxed as I was when I was in Tobias's arms. I shift in my seat every few moments. Robert eyes me once or twice to make sure I'm okay, but he remains silent.

It begins to snow once more, the wind having dissipated lightly. Should make for an easier take off. Large white flakes hit the car and stick mercilessly. So maybe not as easy a takeoff as I want. Robert needed to turn on the windshield wipers, and even then they didn't all disappear.

"I hate the snow." He says grimly, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.

"Want me to drive?" I offered. It'd been a while since I'd really needed to drive a car, much less in snow, but it makes me think back to when I was 14 when my dad secretly started teaching me how to drive stick when I was jealous that Caleb had just gotten his permit. I smile to myself, welcoming the memory for once

"No no… it's fine. I'm fine. But just like, why couldn't it pass over us this one time?" His words are rushed. It makes my smilie widen.

"Well you're living in the wrong city if you want to avoid it."

He narrows his eyes. "Still a smartass I see."

"Proudly." I snort. He doesn't dare look over at me. I wonder if he trusts himself to take his eyes off the road for even a second in this weather. But I see a small smile appear on his face. "Robert, why do you stay in Chicago?"

"My family lived here."

"Doesn't mean you have to."

"Susan is here."

Susan. What will she think of me now that I've involved her brother in all this crap? "Does she know about this?"

He shakes his head. "No, not yet. I'll find some way back to her eventually. She can never stay mad at me for long. Especially when she learns the reason was to selflessly help you."

"Yes, you're my hero Robert." I batted my eyelashes at him and he laughs.

We share a few moments of silence before coming to a stop at a red light at an empty intersection, and an airplane passes over head, moving in exactly the direction we're headed. A small amount of hope fills me. Almost there. With any luck, Christina, Will, Matt, and Lynn are already out of town at the altered meeting locations or found another small airport to duck into. I don't know how many flights are still taking off before day break, but there has to be one.

"It's going to be okay." Robert says, and I can't tell if it's directed at me, or he's reassuring himself.

The snow continues to pile up on the sides of the road, and falling quickly from the black sky, making visibility almost impossible further than a few feet. I can still make out the red of the street light, but it's becoming unnerving how quickly it's fading.

Robert looks down and forth on the side roads. "Should I just go? The light doesn't appear to be changing. Maybe it can't see my car?"

"Pretty sure there's sensors in the ground for that. And even then, aren't they on a timer?" I say, looking out now. "Just give it a few more minutes to be safe."

As soon as the last syllable of the word safe leaves my mouth, we can see the light change to green. "Finally." Robert says, happy to keep moving. He presses gently on the gas to keep the tires from spinning in the snow.

A light catches the corner of my eye. I barely have time to turn my head before the entire car is filled with a blinding dull white-yellow light, and somewhere a car horn sounds.

Four POV - Thursday, January 1st

My eyes feel heavier this time than the first time I woke in this hospital bed. But my head feels clearer. The windows in my room still show a dark sky outside, but I can make out small streaks of snow falling and piling up on the window ledge. It makes me think of the Christmas day snow fight Tris and I shared. It makes me wonder how many more I'll get to spend with her. See her smile, hear her laugh, kiss her lips.

My chest tightens not from the drugs lingering in my system, but from the fact that she's not here. With any luck she's on a plane, heading somewhere safe. I feel even worse about the fact that I didn't really get to say goodbye to her before Nita intervened.

I get a better look at my room and see that Zeke has seemingly abandoned me. I'm about to internally curse the idiot when the sound of running water comes from the adjoining bathroom in my room. Zeke exists moments later, shaking out his hands. "Dude, you're out of paper towels."

"Good to know?" I say with uncertainty.

Zeke continues on his way back to the bench when he freezes and looks back at me. "Oh shit! You're awake!"

"Your observations skills know no bounds."

"Fuck off man, I'm happy you're awake." He smiles wide.

"Me too. What happened?"

"After Nita knocked you out from what I can tell, Tris and Nita had a scuffle. Based on how each of them looked I'd say Tris was winning but Nita threatened security unless Tris left. She hasn't been back down this way since."

Security? That likely wouldn't be enough to get Tris to leave willingly. There had to be something else… "Tris?"

"She left. She told me to tell you that she didn't want to leave you. Robert and I made her go."

I sigh heavily. "Thank you." As excited as I am to hear that Tris didn't want to leave me, I know it's for the best, and it doesn't really lessen the sting of the situation I'm stuck in. Where she's not here. "May I borrow your phone?"

Zeke hands it over without question. I glare at him when I realize it's locked. He smiles sheepishly then unlocks it for me. "Just, don't look at the texts between me and Shauna." His cheeks flush. "Because you know, Shauna would probably kill you." He coughs a bit. And while it does peek my inner-hormone fueled curiosity, I have no interest in what Zeke sends his girlfriend at 2 in the morning.

"I just want to call Tris, leave her a message if she's already on the plane."

"Oh yeah! Sure that makes sense. Um, I'll give you a second." Zeke fumbles his way out of the room, giving me some much desired privacy.

I enter her number, and listen to the dial tone ring… and ring… and ring… And then "Hey you've reached Tris. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you soon." The beep that followed made a stone drop in my gut. I had to mentally tell myself that it didn't mean anything, before realizing I'd wasted a few seconds of voicemail already.

"Hey Tris," I began. "Just wanted to let you know that I'm awake now, and am feeling fine. I hope you're safe, wherever you are, I'll follow you Tris. I lo-"

A noise outside of my room catches my attention. The sound of running footsteps against the linoleum floor. Shouts and orders from doctors to nurses about various medicines or equipment needed. The door to my room opens, and Nita slides in, all but slamming the door behind her as though she were hiding.

I look up at her, eyebrows creased and check first to make sure she doesn't have any syringes in her hands this time. I don't see any.

I hear another beep on the phone, and realize my time is almost up. My mouth goes dry, and all I can say is, "Happy New Year." Then hang up, hand clenched tightly around the phone. "Nita?" I ask sitting up.

She was looking right at me, but it was as though she wasn't seeing me. Lost in her own world. Her lips parted, eyes wide, like a deer in headlights. She was… scared? Her hands pressed against the door behind her, breathing rapid. It shot adrenaline through my arms, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. I moved the light blanket over my legs away from me and went to stand. My knees buckled just slightly but I was able to recover. My own breathing harshening. Whatever I had been given really knocked it out of me. Just standing on my own felt like it was going to be a chore. My chest tightened as though I wasn't used to breathing, and my vision swam for a moment. I placed my hand on the bed's side handle to stabilize myself, letting out a huff of annoyance.

"T." Nita said suddenly, as though she noticed just now I was in the room. Her feet shuffled over to me, some kind of scrub cover over her shoes.

"I want to leave."

She grips onto my arm and places her other hand across my back, nodding back towards the bed. "You can't." Another shout outside in the hallway. "Not yet."

"What's going on?"

"Sit down."

"Not until you tell me what's going on." My vision getting just a hint fuzzier and it was starting to make my stomach roll. "You made Tris leave." The nerves building in my gut are not helping. What is going on? Why is Nita acting this way? She's a smart person, no matter her past behavior. Tris is smart too, if Nita got Tris to leave, it had to be for a good reason. Something that got Tris thinking, perhaps worrying… which makes me worry just as much.

Nita's expression darkens. "She didn't belong here."

"Why not?" Nita doesn't answer me, her eyes flicking back to the door. "Nita what's happening?"

"She'll expose us."

"Expose us?"

"I can't let them hurt you."

"Who?"

"They'll find her."

"What?"

"I told you she's dangerous!"

"How? Nita!"

"Four!" Zeke bursts back into the room, his own eyes wide.

Nita jumps at his entrance and moves away from me quickly. Was she expecting someone else?

I didn't realize how much she had been supporting me in standing. As soon as she's no longer holding onto me, my knees give out a little once more. But I'm close enough to the bed once more where I can put my hands down for support.

"There's been an accident." Zeke says hurrying into my room after looking down the hallway once more, then grabs a wheelchair from seemingly out of nowhere and wheels it over to me. "Come on!"

"Accident?" I roll my eyes. "It's icy out, it's probably common this time of year…" Wait… "What kind of accident?" My brain finally starts catching up as Zeke practically yanks me into the chair and begins to wheel me into the hallway. I look back at Nita one last time, and she's still hiding in the corner of the room.

But suddenly there are people rushing all around us, and an empty gurney is wheeled past.

"Zeke?"

"Four!" A blonde head comes into view.

"Will?"

"The fuck are you doing here?" Zeke seethes. "You're risking Christina being here."

Will looks taken aback. "Do you think I could tell her no even if I wanted to? Have you met her?" He shakes his head. "I'd never be able to get the word in."

"Damn straight."

Will flinches and turns to face his girlfriend, wearing normal clothes, and tapping her foot anxiously. "Love you?" He offers.

"Yeah yeah, we'll talk later." She walks past him looks at Zeke, "We were on our way to an airport with Matt and Lynn but Lynn noticed an SUV that seemed to be following us. We drove around in a circle with it still on our tail, so we split up. Ditched Will's car, Matt and Lynn acquired a new car - Matt is quite handy when you need to steal a car apparently - and they took off separately. Will and I walked the shops still open for a bit until we couldn't find the SUV anymore, that's when I got the call from Robert. We hailed a cab as fast as we could and came here. Hope you don't mind Zeke, but we shoved our things in your car."

"No that's fine... how did you get into my car?"

"Turns out Will is also handy when you need to get into a locked car?" Christina offers with a shrug and no apology. "We locked it back up." Finally she looks over at me, her face turning grim. "Hey Four."

"Hi."

"How's it going?"

After her little recap story she wants to keep small talk going? "Better if someone told me what the fuck was going on!" I growled finally regaining some strength the longer I sit down. "Zeke said there was an accident-"

"You told him?!" Christina rears on Zeke.

"He has a right to know!"

"God fine!"

"He didn't tell me who." I narrow my eyes at Christina. Was she trying to hide whatever is happening from me? "Or what kind of accident."

Christina sighs. "Okay, but let's walk and talk. I don't like standing around." She starts off towards the elevator. "Or I'll walk and talk, you sit and listen."

"Sounds reasonable." I mumble, still waiting for her to start talking.

She takes another deep breath. "There was a car accident. Out by the airport. It's snowing out, so visibility was shit and…" Her voice becomes thick, and it makes my thud painfully. My fingers feel cold, like my blood actually stopped pumping, at least to my limbs. I begin to rub my thumb and pointer finger together to remind myself they're still there.

"Chris." She looks down at me as we enter the elevator. "Tell me."

She shakes this time. Her eyes watering up. "We don't know anything yet, what their condition is." Will rubs her back, and the stalling is starting to irritate me.

"And?"

"Robert and Tris were on their way to the airport, and they got hit by another car." Christina was openly crying now, and all I can focus on is the feeling of the floor giving out underneath me. Robert called me after he called 911, but he must have passed out because all of a sudden he wasn't talking anymore. He said Tris was unconscious, and bleeding from her head but she was breathing."

Zeke takes over as Christina begins to hiccup. "Christina tried to call Shauna, and Marlene, and then my brother but only got his voicemail, and Will called me as they turned around to come back here."

I don't miss the tension in Zeke's voice when he says Uriah didn't pick up. Shauna and Marlene are with Uriah. If none of them picked up, hopefully that means they're on a plane, and not...

"It's like a bad game of telephone." Zeke forces through his teeth with a strained laugh.

"Not the time for jokes Zeke." Christina whips at him.

Zeke's eyes narrow. "Jokes are my way of coping thank you very much."

"We can cope later, right now we have to move." Will says as the elevator dings onto the first floor. Zeke wheels me down the hall towards the Emergency Room with Will hot on our heels.

Christina walks beside me. "Anyway, they said that a car crash was on its way here, two people."

"What about the other driver?" I ask.

"Robert didn't say anything about the other driver." Christina says quietly.

We reach the double doors to the Emergency Room and are immediately greeted with chaos. It's a scramble for clean sheets, packing cloths, instruments, gloves, blood transfusions… apparently Robert and Tris weren't the only ones in accidents tonight. Various people with shards of glass being removed from their faces and arms, limbs in splints or joints out of place, head wounds that bleed too much for the seriousness they actually are… Tris was bleeding from her head. It could just be that she got cut and it's not that bad. Or it is that bad and maybe she has a concussion, maybe oxygen isn't getting to her brain properly, maybe-

"Four? You doing okay?" Zeke hovers in front of my face. Focusing on him makes me realize how hard I'm breathing, how my chest is practically shaking with force. "Hey it's okay man. Just, deep breaths or something?"

"Oh for God's sake Zeke." Christina shoves him out of the way and looks directly at me, crouched down to my eye level. "Four, you need to get your heart beat down. I know you're scared, we all are, but you have to learn to control your fear. It's like being asked to jump off a building and you can't see the bottom. You have to do it, but you don't know what the end result will be. Accept that what comes next is out of your control, but you can be present, here and now, ready to face the situation. Focus on what is right in front of you."

I take in Christina's words slowly, one by one. I manage to close my eyes and try to block out all the commotion around me.

I don't have control over what's at the bottom, but I have to take the jump. Focus on my breathing, in and out, in and out. Whatever happens, happens, and I can choose to walk away or leap and move forward. I have control over that much. I have control over how I react right now, but no control over Tris's current state.

A part of me is irritated beyond measure that I'm being told to calm down. Why should I?! Am I not allowed to feel this way, even for a little bit? Sure, I can, but now is not the time to be losing my head. Christina is right.

In and out.

In and out.

I open my eyes and see Christina's unwavering expression, hard set eyes and a flared nose. If she wanted to, she could be really scary. But she was also very pretty, and she was strong. I can't help but wonder if the speech she gave me was something that Tris had given to her.

My heart slows to its normal pace then. "Thanks Chris." I manage out with a slightly choked voice.

She gives me a small smile and stands back up. "Okay, I'll go ask the nurse if Robert and Tris have been brought in or how far out they are." And she makes off towards the ER main desk.

"It'll be okay." Zeke says as he starts to pace back and forth.

"You saying that to make yourself feel better?" Will asks, arms crossed.

"Does it matter who I'm saying it for?" Zeke snaps.

"I don't know but-"

I raise my hands at them. "Will you guys knock it off? Please?"

Will looks down at his shoes. "Sorry."

Zeke huffs and walks off somewhere else.

"Well they should be here soon." Christina says walking back to us. "Though Nurse Ratchet over there won't tell me much since we're not family. I'm her emergency contact, thought that would get me somewhere."

Will and I both look over at the elderly nurse sitting behind the desk, her face deep with wrinkles from decades of frowning, lipstick the wrong shade of pink, and pointed glasses that belonged back in the fifties.

"Four," Christina begins. I look up at her. "Did Tris say anything to you about updating the plan of where we should be meeting?"

"No, she didn't really tell me anything about the plan of where to meet. I figured she'd fill me in once… once I bought her." I cringe. "That just seems so wrong to say it outloud." Will nods, but I get the feeling it's weirder for me than it is for him. "Why?"

Christina fidgets, not like she's holding something back, because that's not possible. But because maybe she's thinking through something before saying it. "Well, we had a plan to meet outside of Amity's territory originally, and just keep heading west by north west to the nearest airport we came to. But barely minutes before it's my turn to dance, she comes up to me and tells me we need to go south east. She insisted everyone else already knew of the change, but I hadn't seen her talking with the other girls much, unless it was something they decided on before we all got together and just hadn't told me yet, but… I don't know, it felt like there was something more that she was trying to say, and I don't know what it was."

"Well, I don't know what I can do to help with that. She didn't tell me her plan beforehand. You know Tris better than any of us." Christina nodded. "She wouldn't have decided anything with the others without you, right?"

"No, I don't think she would have."

"Shauna told me Amity. Nothing different." Zeke says now within earshot of us. His phone suddenly ringing in his pocket. He looks somewhat relieved. "George." He says to us and walks out of earshot.

"Okay, well then there has to be a reason. You said you were all going to meet outside of Amity's territory?" She nods once more. "So maybe…" Maybe there was a reason she didn't want Christina going out there. Maybe there was a reason she wanted Christina separated from the other girls. Maybe there was a reason she wanted all of the girls separated… but why?

"Car crash victims coming in!" A nearby nurse yelled.

The three of us turn quickly to the door. A gurney is wheeled in containing a young man with light brown hair turned dark stained with dried blood. A neckbrace secured around him. His shirt torn open and pads already placed to stabilize him. That had to be Robert.

Sure enough, Christina is already running towards him. "Robert!" I stand as quickly as I can, abandoning the wheelchair and following her.

His eyes turn slightly, and widen at her. One of his eyes is completely bloodshot. He has small cuts up and down his face and neck. Or at least the parts of his skin visible. A dark bruise forming across his chest where his seatbelt would have been, and his arm is in a makeshift cast. It makes my stomach twist. How does Tris look compared to him? What side of the car were they hit on? How hard were they hit?

"Robert." Christina says once more, softer than before.

"You need to back up ma'am. Give us some space." A doctor tries to shoo Chirstina away but she doesn't budge.

Robert is reaching up to his face and pulls his oxygen mask away. "Chris…" He says in a raspy voice. "They… to-took-" The nurse shoves the oxygen mask back onto his face but he removes it quickly once more. "They took h-her."

The words shoot straight through me. Christina looks pale. A needle is shoved into Robert's IV and suddenly his eyes snap shut.

Zeke is shouting something from behind me, something about George waking up in a storage closet, Uriah, Shauna, and Marlene… Gone. His voice is muffled, as a ringing takes over my ears.

A second gurney is wheeled in, another car crash victim, but it's not Tris. There is no blood matted blonde hair spilling over the sides. It's an older man with a beer belly. They shout that they lost his pulse in the ambulance. That's he's the driver that hit Robert's car. They said there were two people being brought in. Two people have been brought in. Just two.

So where is Tris?

Who took her?

Who is they?

Where is she?

WHERE IS SHE?!

Gone.