Second Chance [Four/Tobias]

Six

Eight years ago,

ᴀᴠʏᴀɴɴᴀ

I secretly sent a message to Mike.

He's working in some lab, now. I'm just happy he got past his initiation. Maybe he's smarter than I thought.

Anyway, he's supposed to meet me here, behind the Candor headquarters.

We don't have as much security and have unlimited trust among our mates. So no problem about that.

I'm seeing him after two years. Seeing. I talk to him through means but it has been solid two years after seeing him last, at the Choosing Ceremony.

I wonder how I will react.

At the initiation, which lasted for a month at most, I revealed my deepest and darkest secrets —if any at all— and now I feel free.

Of course, it has been almost two years since the initiation. I work in a bank now.

My watch showed ten thirty p.m.

He should be here any moment now.

"It took you two years to contact me, huh?"

I turn around. He grinned.

"Atleast I did, you idiot," I give him a hug.

"True that," He hugged me back, burying his head in my shoulder and lifting me up. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I grin and pull back.

He grins, our faces too close. He looks into my eyes.

I clear my throat and looked away. I never thought of him that way if that's how he feels now.

He smiles at me but doesn't look away.

"You grew taller," I state.

"Did I?" He laughs.

"Yeah, we both used to be the same height, remember?" I say.

"Oh, Yeah," He nods.

"And since when do you have glasses? You look like an idiot," I say and bite my tongue. "Sorry, I think I'm becoming more Candor, these days,"

He laughs and pockets them.

"So, what's up? Why the sudden call?"

I take a deep breath. The city feels like a mess. The Erudite apparently are planning something as I have known through others.

The next day I knew this, all —or atleast most of— the Abnegation were killed.

Right by their doorsteps.

Guess who killed them?

The Dauntless.

I know that even for the Dauntless, the act is too cruel. So I suspect Erudite's interference.

I would ask my parents about it, but they're still mad I suppose. I haven't seen them since the Choosing Day. They didn't come on the Visiting Day either.

But all these have been disturbing me.

There's only one solution.

"I'm leaving. I wanted to ask if you'd like to come along. Only if you want to."

"Leaving where?" He laughs.

I look around to ensure privacy. "Outside the fence."

He stares at me, "You're joking,"

"Do I look like that?" I ask.

"Are you mad? You're going nowhere," He says.

"I have to," I say.

"That's suicide," He says, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Do you even know what's outside the fence?"

"I'm going to find out," I say.

"No, no, no, no, Avy. That's mental,"

I grab his shoulders. "I didn't ask for your opinion, Mike. Are you in or no?"

"I...can't, Avy. I can't," He says.

"Right. I hope you'll stay out of the way, then," I turn around.

He grabs my wrist. "Wait!"

I look at him over my shoulder.

"Fine, I'm coming," I hear him.

"What changed?" I grin.

"You," He smiles.

"Alright. Meet again, tomorrow, same time. I have a plan," I say and depart.
——
ᴀᴠʏᴀɴɴᴀ

The next day, he was there by the time I came.

"Right, what's the plan?" He asks.

"Okay, look, to escape the gates, we need to get through the whole city and at the fence we need to escape the guards, right?" I say.

"Yeah," He nods.

"Right, keeping the city aside, it is impossible for just us two to fight all the Dauntless guards. They're trained, stronger and older. So we have only one option, we need to drug them,"

He stares at me, probably wondering when I changed into a strategic thinker. "I'm listening,"

"So, this is what we need to do. I have someone in Candor. He keeps the records. Of everything. And I'm sure he has the records of food transport. I will find out which truck transports food for that section. And you, you'll go get the Sleeping Serum, or whatever the hell it's called, from Erudite."

"The Erudite have a Sleeping Serum?!" He asks.

"God, Mike, they have a serum for everything."

"Okay," He nods.

"Right, so I'll have transport details and you'll have the serum. Then, we'll head to Amity headquarters. Now this is where I'm stuck. We need to get inside if we need to insert the serum in the food because they are the ones that transport food. How will we do that?"

He thinks for a moment. "We have Ciana in Amity. We can say we're visiting her. She works there, doesn't she?"

"Perfect. Then one of us can ask for the way to washroom and do the job," I nod.

"Then, we can steal an Amity truck keys. They won't be able to drive it, so they'll hopefully abandon it and we can use it," He nods.

"Right. Tomorrow afternoon. Get the serum, I'll get the details."

"Done."
——