Divergent FBI

Chapter Seventy-Five

The ebony suburbans outside have all the doors opened and my dad waves both Peter and Zeke in. They carry Natalie and Tobias to the car.

"Tris come with me. Uriah, Caleb, Christina and Shauna get in the other car." Everyone does as he says without question and it's clear that he's in charge of the whole operation. I hop into the passenger seat, my eyebrows furrowing when I see Tori in the driver's seat.

"Tori?" She beams at me as the jolts the car into movement. The corners of her eyes crinkle, making a grin of their own. The speedometer leaps to 60 within a couple seconds of starting the car and street lamps fly by the tinted windows.

"Hi Tris."

"What's going on?" I question, watching the empty streets pass by quickly. It's pitch black. They must have been doing the experiments at night. Weird.

"We can explain later, how's Natalie?" She yells back at my dad, her eyes darting across all the mirrors as the speedometer hits 80 down the abandoned roads.

"Not good, she's lost a lot of blood." He sniffles as he holds her head in his lap. The back of the car had been gutted, so there's a couple computer monitors, but nothing else. I crawl over the console to sit next to him.

Natalie lifts her hand up to touch my cheek, and I can feel the blood left on my face.

"I'm so proud of you." I nod, showing her I'm acknowledging what she's saying, but these words don't mean anything to me. I feel absolutely nothing.

"Thanks mom." I reply, running a hand through her hair. The blood from her wound soaks into my bottoms and I shift uncomfortably.

"I love you Beatrice." She pulls my father's head down and whispers something in his ear before gripping my hand.

With one last weak breath, she's gone.

My father sobs, and I can see Tori crying in the rear view mirror. My eyes shift to Peter who sits shirtless next to Tobias. His once pale blue shirt is now a deep magenta due to the blood that has soaked into the fabric. Tobias' bruised face is turned towards me, and his purple eyelids flutter as they try to open.

"He'll be okay Tris." Peter assures me as he readjusts the bloody t-shirt. It makes a squishing sound.

"I know." I state, glancing back at my father. "Where are we going?"

"To the airport." Tori answers first, her eyes connecting with mine. "We have to get out of Mexico as quickly as possible, then we don't have to worry about the Mexican authorities. Jeanine will though. We called in an anonymous tip a couple minutes before we left the facility. That's why we were in such a rush." I nod my head before shifting over and allowing Natalie's hand to fall to the floor.

"Are you okay, Tris?" My father questions, the evidence of tears gone from his concerned face. "Do you feel okay?"

I blink at him for a moment, trying to decide how to answer. "I-" My brain scrambles, searching for the words I need to say. "I- I don't feel anything."

He seems to pale and his eyes immediately go to Tori's.

"We need to get to the airport. Now." She revs the engine and we leap forward, finally breaking 100.

~*~

The flight back is super uneventful, but the tests once we're back at the bureau are anything but. They poke and prod me for what seems like hours before taking some blood and scanning my brain again. Now, I wait in one of the private examination rooms for someone to come tell me what's wrong.

After an hour or so, I can't just sit idly anymore, so I jump off the table and stride to the door. As I'm moseying down the short hallway, I glance into cracked doorway. What I see makes me stop in my tracks.

Tobias is lying face down with his injured back now cleaned. Various lash lines are pink and swollen, crisscrossing the entire expanse of his back, but the blood is no longer present.

"You can go in and see him if you'd like." Peter says from behind me. "I just had to go get more gauze, but he should wake in a few minutes."

I glide into the room, and as I get closer to him, I can see the various tubes connected to his body, giving him blood and fluids. When I'm standing next to him, I let my eyes scan the wounds again. Some are merely just inflamed skin while others are cutting deep into the skin and muscles, making me wonder if they're supposed to be stitched.

"Is he getting stitches at some point?" I inquire, looking at Peter as he fills a small syringe with clear liquid. He injects a little bit into each of the deep lashes.

"Yes. Your dad told me to give him some anesthesia and stop the bleeding before starting though. I was hoping to let the wound air out a little before sealing it." He explains as he strips his blue gloves, washes his hands, and puts more gloves on. He picks a needle and sutures up. "You may not to watch. Even if you're numb to feelings right now, when you remember this one day you're gonna wish you didn't watch."

I stare at Tobias' unmoving face for a few more moments before silently slipping out of the room.

~*~

Approximately 22 minutes later, my father trudges into my exam room, clad in a Doctor's coat. His face is grim.

"What?"

"The scan of your brain showed damage to the Amygdala, the main sector of your brain involved in registering emotion, sense of danger, and your self-preservation drive." He runs a hand down his tired face. The bags under his eyes indicate an obvious lack of sleep and the lines across his face seem sharper than usual. "It's the reason you aren't upset about your mother's death, and the reason you aren't glued to Tobias right now. Your ability to feel has been rendered unusable."

"Oh. That's not good." I tell him, my brows furrowing. "When will I be able to feel again?"

"It's very likely it'll come back within a couple months, but the brain is extremely fragile...you may not ever be able to feel again Tris." His voice is on the brink of hysterics, and I just stare at him calculatingly. "We never should have gotten involved with her." A tear slips from his eyes and he wrings his hands as though he wants to comfort me, but there's nothing to comfort.

"Is that all?" I interrupt, not wanting to witness his oncoming breakdown.

"Yes." He whispers, finally allowing my feet to travel out of the room, to the garage, and eventually into my empty apartment.

~*~

"You owe me." I start, making my voice forceful. "You knew my parents were alive and you didn't tell me, so you owe me."

"Tris, what do you mean?" Max sputters. I can practically see him roll forward in his big leather chair and take the phone off its hook.

"I need you to transfer me somewhere...anywhere."

"Wait, why?" We're both silent for a moment. "Is it because of your mom? I'm sorry about that Tris."

"No, it's not because of her." I say, re-folding a few of my black shirts as I place them in my suitcase.

"Well why then? I know about your relationship with Four, so why would you want to leave?"

"Well, Jeanine was testing drugs on me, and she damaged my brain. The Amygdala. It means I can't feel emotion anymore, so I'm not going to stay here and be the emotionless girlfriend." He sighs over the phone, making me slow the pace of my packing for milliseconds.

"I'm sorry Tris." I hear only his breathing and his keyboard for a few minutes. "I can get you in at New York City. It won't be a specialty team though."

"I don't care. He'll look at specialty teams first." I assure Max, another thought popping into my head. "I need one other thing too."

"What?" His voice seems deeper, like he's dreading what I'm about to say next.

"I need you to change my name."

"To what?"

"Natalie."