Ever since Tris and her accomplices were imprisoned Evelyn has kept me under close watch. She must think I'm going to do something crazy like break them out, which isn't far from what I might do depending on what she plans to do with them.

Although we know that she actually did us a huge favor, Evelyn has it in her sights to lead and she can't do that if all of her citizens go beyond the wall.

She's had it closed off and closely monitored ever since we saw the video to deter people from leaving. I don't want to think about what she must do to people that somehow evade the guards but don't get to the other side in time.

I imagine it isn't pretty.

Her new goal is to destroy the factions and to have us all just live as one society, and I can't say that it might not help us. After all, we've had the faction system since before I was born and look how it turned out? I no longer think categorizing people is the way to go.

But at the same time I don't think Evelyn is a good choice for leadership.

She relishes the idea of people being under her control. Power is what she craves more than anything and I'm afraid that eliminating the factions is more to show her reign over everyone rather than to help us.

And that is the only thing stopping me from breaking Tris out right now - I have to find out what she's planning on doing to the city once the factions are gone, because a lot of it's citizens are becoming restless and anxious to see what's beyond the wall. There are so many of them that if they all decided to raid it to get through, they'd win for sure.

A snap in front of my face yanks me from my thoughts.

"Tobias you've seemed awfully distant lately." She says, and I cringe just slightly at my name coming out of her mouth. The only person I feel comfortable with calling me by it is Tris. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Mainly just Marcus and where he'll end up." I say, hopefully convincing her. She doesn't do much more than straddle the line when it comes to my issues with Marcus. She knows what she did. Which is precisely why I say something along those lines any time I think she's becoming suspicious of me.

"Oh..well he's going to have a trial along with the rest of the traitors and most likely be sentenced to death just like the others. What he did was despicable and the citizens won't feel anything for him and therefore be more inclined to vote for his demise."

As much as I relish the idea of Marcus finally getting justice, it irks me that she feels that what he did was despicable when she left me alone with him. Sounds like they're evenly matched to me.

"Great." I say, smirking. She smirks back and probably figures that it means I'm on board with it without any second thought.

"Have you and Tris broken up yet?" She asks.

I resist the urge to wince at the assumption. "No actually, but this would most likely be the best time for it. There's no use waiting until she's on trial. Who knows what could happen from then on."

She smiles a strained smile and nods. "Sure. Just try to hurry."

I walk down the winding hallways of Erudite remembering my very torturous stay here and then the near depression that followed when I couldn't get Tris out when I wanted to. Of all of the things they did to me that I recovered from psychically but not mentally.

They were able to break me down here, using the person I love most.

I hate this place.

It's not as clean as I remember it and the smell of alcohol is nearly gone now. In they're places are smells of gunpowder and fire from areas where explosions went of from Dauntless's attack.

Soon enough I get to Tris's cell. Christina is sitting down, her leg propped up and wound in a cast. Cara is in the corner looking like she doesn't want to deal with the world, and Tris is pacing in front of them both, seemingly agitated. She usually looks so small and pale, but the room is full of her.

The guard at the door lets me through no questions asked. After all, I bear the Factionless symbol - And Empty circle - on a black band around my arm and Evelyn's features on my face. My name used to make me feel ashamed, now it fills me with power.

When she notices that I'm there she gets right up and wraps her arms around my waist, her face pressed against my chest.

I squeeze her shoulder with one hand and with the other I run my fingers over her hair, still surprised when it stops right at the neck instead of her shoulders. But nevertheless, I was happy when she cut it, because it was hair for a warrior and not a girl, which I know is what she needed.

"How'd you get in?" she asks, her voice low.

"I'm Tobias Eaton." I say, and she laughs. It is a beautiful sound.

"Right, I keep forgetting," she pulls away so she can look at me. She looks weary and uncertain, like the slightest shift in the air could scatter her. "What's happening? What took you so long."

She sounds desperate, pleading. For every one bad memory I have here she has at least ten others; the walk to her execution, her brother's betrayal, the fear serum.

I have to get her out.

Cara looks up at everything that's going on like she's finally interested.

"Evelyn has the city on lockdown." I say. "No one goes a step in any direction without her say-so. A few days ago she gave a speech about uniting against our oppressors, the people outside."

"Oppressors?" Christina says, confused. She takes a vial from her pocket and dumps the contents into her mouth - painkillers for the bullet wound in her leg, I assume.

I put my hands in my pockets. "Evelyn - and a lot of people, actually - think we shouldn't leave the city just to help a bunch of people who shoved us in here so they could use us later. They want to try to heal the city and solve our own problems instead of leaving to solve other people's. I'm paraphrasing, of course." I say. "I suspect that opinion is very convenient for my mother, because as long as we're all contained, she's in charge. The second we leave, she loses her hold.

"Great." Tris rolls her eyes. "Of course she would choose the most selfish route possible."

"She has a point." Christina wraps her fingers around the vial. "i'm not saying I don't want to leave the city and see what's out there, but we've got enough going on here. How are we supposed to help a bunch of people we've never met?"

Tris considers this. "I don't know." She admits.

My watch reads three o'clock. I've been here too long - long enough to make Evelyn suspicious. I told her I came to break things off with Tris, that it wouldn't take much time. I'm not sure she believed me.

I say, "Listen, I mostly came to warn you - they're starting the trials for all the prisoners. They're going to put you all under truth serum, and if it works, you'll be convicted as traitors. I think we would all like to avoid that."

"Convicted as traitors?" Tris scowls. "How is revealing the truth to our entire city an act of betrayal?"

"It was an act of defiance against your leaders," I say. "Evelyn and her followers don't want to leave the city. They won't thank you for showing that video."

"They're just like Jeanine!" She makes a fitful gesture, like she wants to hit something but there's nothing available. "Ready to do anything to stifle the truth, and for what? To be kinds of their tiny little world? It's ridiculous."

I don't say it, but a part of me still agrees with my mother. I don't owe the people outside this city anything, whether I am Divergent or not. I'm not sure I want to offer myself to them to solve humanity's problems, whatever that means.

But I do want to leave, in a desperate way that an animal would want to escape a trap. Wild and rabid. Ready to gnaw through bone.

"Be that as it may," I say carefully, "if the truth serum works on you, you will be convicted.

"If it works?" says Cara, narrowing her eyes.

"Divergent," Tris says to her, pointing at her head. "Remember?"

"That's fascinating." Cara tucks a stray hair back into her bun. "But atypical. In my experience, most Divergent can't resist the truth serum. I wonder why you can."

"You and every other Erudite who ever stuck a needle in me." Tris snaps back.

"Can we focus please? I would like to avoid having to break you out of prison." I say. Suddenly desperate for comfort, I reach for Tris's hand, and she brings her fingers up to meet mine. We are not people who touch each other carelessly; every point of contact between us feels important, a rush of energy and relief.

"All right, all right," she says gently, "What did you have in mind?"

"I'll get Evelyn to let you testify first, of the three of you." I say. "All you have to do is come up with a lie that will exonerate both Christina and Cara, and then tell it under Truth Serum."

"What kind of lie would do that?"

"I thought I'd leave that to you," I say. "Since you're the better liar."

+++

I AM SO HAPPY TO BE STARTING THIS OFF SO SOON AFTER THE OTHER ONE ENDED! XD Hope you guys enjoyed this...We all know what an emotional ride this'll be. THANKS FOR STAYIN' LOYAL ALL DIS TIME THOUGH! AND lol I know there's more to this actual chapter but it's 2:09 A.M. and I am sort of tired lol so bear with me...AFTER ALL, IT'S THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN! KEEP READING!!