XXIV

"This will be ours

Cause we're the concept

And we're the flawed

And we're the answer"

"The Waves Have Come" -Chelsea Wolfe

"What was that about?" Carson asked when Eric left. She had a bad feeling about his looming presence. Especially when combined, Carson and Harper knew a lot; things he might not want them to know. She suspected that he was looking for Divergents as well, always popping up in the training ever since he became leader, not too many years ago. It had always dawned on her that he might be up to something larger than what met the eye, especially since he was one of the youngest leaders ever in Dauntless, and they already had some young leaders in the past.

Harper shrugged, she felt a bit deflated. "Maybe he's got a crush."

"What, is he worried I'm going to coerce my young trainee?" Carson laughed, but it was that moment she realized that Harper's little bounce in her step today was caused by Eric. She speculated, at least, with how she had seen them together over the last two months. It only just occurred to her that there was a possibility that there was something going on between them, but she had no idea to what extent, and did not feel as though she was in the position to ask just yet. Harper hadn't said anything, and that either meant nothing was going on, or she wasn't ready to admit to it.

"Probably, you know how men are," Harper mused.

Carson rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's tackle the firing range. Your marksmanship is not... perfect."

"It isn't bad!" Harper laughed, but agreed that it was something she needed to work on. 

The two of them left the gym and in a few minutes they were on top of the building. A long line of body-shaped targets were all standing tall. Each of them had targets upon their torsos with bullet holes littered in them, so Carson and Harper took them down and put new, fresh targets up. They only put targets up on two of the body-like targets, and Carson had Harper unload her gun, check that it was clean so that there would be no jams or misfiring, and then load the clip. Harper preferred firing with fingerless gloves as it gave her a better grip, and she didn't have to worry about her palms sweating. The last thing she needed was to drop the handgun and have it shoot somebody else down the range.

"Aim for heart, and the collar bone. Remember, is someone is being held hostage, you have to be able to-" Carson was relaying information Harper already knew.

"To shoot the hostage in the collarbone so it penetrates the perp. I know, I know." Harper was stubborn on occasion. "Tell me how to get a more accurate shot."

Carson widened her eyes, a little surprised with Harper's demands. "For a kill shot?"

"For any shot."

"Breathing is the most important thing. Don't hold your breath. Don't hold the gun too tightly, I know you want to stop the kickback, but you'll never stop it, so just loosen up a bit, prepare for it," she explained, then picked up her own handgun and fired down at the target; each bullet was no more than an inch away from the other, and all of them were right at the heart. "Focus, tune out everything else, don't let a damn thing distract you. But also, learn to fire with the distractions, because out there-" she pointed, "-you won't get to tune it all out."

"What is out there?" Harper meant beyond the fence.

"No one knows anymore," Carson admitted. 

They broke for dinner, as Harper had started the day late, and Carson decided it would be best if they just focused on mornings for physical training, afternoons for weapons and information sessions. They would take weekends off to rest, and given that they had an entire year to prepare, Harper didn't think it would be the most strenuous of work, and even though her marksmanship was not perfect, it would be. It had to be. She had to become the best of herself, she had to truly be Dauntless.

Harper sat in the mess hall and wondered about a good many things, but ultimately she laid everything out for herself. She had someone on her team, Carson; someone she could talk to about the thoughts that ate away at herself, someone to tell her when she was getting too deep into the situation, someone to keep her head out of the water. Then there was Eliza, who needed protection, but was there for Harper in more social ways. Eliza wouldn't tell her she needed to stay away from Eric, and was one of the only people who knew about her and Eric in the first place. There was something very calming about knowing she had someone who would tell her to indulge, to enjoy herself. And then, of course, there was Eric. He was the one who threw everything off balance. He opposed what both Carson and Eliza stood for or were, but he didn't know about either of them, not the way Harper did. If she let herself be close with Eric, as she so desperately wanted to be, she could keep him distracted from the other two people who were important to her.

"Hey you!" Eliza slid into the seat. "Guess what!"

"What?" Harper smiled brightly at her friend, whom she had good news for.

"I got a job!" Eliza looked elated.

Harper's smile tugged to the side. "That's great! Doing what?"

"Security on runs to the factions, basically I sit shotgun in the trucks and make sure everything goes smoothly." She breathed a sigh of relief, "It's simple, I'll probably never have to use my skills or my gun. To be honest, I don't know if I could in reality..."

"You could," Harper said. "If you had to protect yourself or someone else, you would."

"But how do you know?"

"Because," Harper lowered her voice, "if I'm going to protect you, I need to know you'll protect yourself out there, where I can't help you."

Eliza went white. "I don't want to talk about this here."

"That reminds me," Harper grabbed a few more items to eat, "meet me at our spot tonight, around eight? I've got something I need to talk to you about."

Eliza nodded, the colour started to come back into her face. During the last few minutes of them silently eating, someone slid into the seat across from them. Harper was still on her toes, thinking someone might overhear her talking to Eliza, or suspected Eliza for what she was, but she came face to face with someone she vaguely recognized as one of the Dauntless-born initiates of this year. Relaxation rushed over her and she smiled at him, but was also curious as to why he was here. He completely ignored Harper, not in a rude way, but in a way that showed just how infatuated he was with Eliza. Her cheeks reddened at his arrival.

"You'll love it," he said, with no context that Harper would understand.

"I don't know..." She looked head over heels.

Harper was smiling, but facing the food that remained upon her plate. She didn't want to be listening in on their conversation, but she hadn't entirely been given an option, and getting up and leaving would be quite rude. So she nibbled on her dinner and lost herself in her thoughts, how she would tell Eliza that Carson was going to help keep her safe. That is, if Eliza was okay with admitting that she was Divergent to anyone other than Harper herself. If she wasn't okay with it, then it would be up to Harper to make sure she was safe, even without Carson.

"Harper and I are doing something, tonight," Eliza told her friend.

"What about after?" He looked over at Harper, leaned over the table obnoxiously and held out his hand for her to shake, to which she did. "I'm Klaus."

"Harper." She withdrew her hand. "And I'm not sure what you two have planned, but I need Eliza for an hour after dinner."

Klaus made a face. "Alright, but only if you convince her to do the zip line with me after."

"Done."

"Hey!" Eliza chimed in. "Hello?! I'm right here..."

Harper grinned at her friend, she had heard of the zip line that went through the entire city, through buildings and would allow you to see everything. "I'll do the zip line too."

It was agreed then; Harper would get to talk to Eliza, and they would meet at the building across the way to do the zip line for some fun. That was one thing Harper didn't have enough of; sure being with Eric was fun when they were alone, but she hadn't actually done anything that she could think about years down the road and smile about. Something to remind her that she was just a teenager, something to remind her that she could enjoy some normalcy among the chaos. A little bit of a work and a little bit of play.

Atop the building, Harper got right to the point; they didn't have a lot of time since they were meeting halfway across the faction in an hour. "Carson came to me today and told me that she wants to help keep people like you safe."

"Does she know?" Eliza's normally upbeat demeanour was filled with fear.

Harper shrugged. "I'm not sure, she didn't mention anything, but said she knows how to spot them. I don't know what she knows, but she is worried about people like you."

Both Harper and Eliza avoided saying the word 'Divergent' in case anyone overheard. "Jeanine, right now, is your main threat. She might trust me, and I'm going to keep myself close in order to keep you, and any others, safe."

"How do you know Carson isn't lying?"

"I trust her," Harper said. "My trust doesn't exactly go a long way."

Eliza nodded, pondering it all. "I want to talk to her, I don't want you to do it for me. I'll feel it out, and if I don't feel safe, I'll back out."

Harper understood completely. "Something big is coming our way, it is going to be important to have people to watch our backs."

"I've got yours." Eliza smiled. "Maybe on my runs to the other factions, if I hear anything, I'll let you know."

"That's good." Harper nodded. "I've got... inside intel."

"Oh?"

"That's all I can say."

They headed over to the zip line, and there was a large group of people there. So many unfamiliar faces, it reminded Harper how she was only one person in a world of so many; how could she make a difference? She had already made a difference, she was already bringing people together to stop a war she'd known about for two years. She wondered if in her training of initiates, if she could gather enough people to fight back. She looked at Eliza and wondered if she would, one day, be bolder, braver, less scared of everything that moved. She knew she would; everyone had to evolve. When it was her turn on the zip line, she lied down on the fabric and clutched the bar in front of her. 

Glancing behind her shoulder, she called to Eliza, "I'll catch you on the other side!"

And then she was released. At first her stomach was launched down to her feet, and her heart beat rapidly sped up, but the initial drop was quickly caught and she was gliding through the air without a single fear or care in the entire world. She gazed at the darkness, only a small patch of light that was the glass roof of the pit. The sky was littered with stars, and the moon was all but a perfect crescent, bright as could be. The building rushed by, and at one point she was inside of a building, with broken beams and glass windows right beside her. She could almost reach out and touch them; she never wanted to get off this little joy ride, but she could already see the lights at the bottom. She reached behind her and grabbed the brake, and reluctantly she pulled it, and she slowed down until she was just above the platform, and the zip line stopped completely. It was an exhilarating five minutes, and felt like far longer than that; but it didn't match up to the feeling of being with Eric.

She hated how much she liked being with him.