After two days in the Factionless safehouse, they finally agreed that it was safe enough for them to leave.

According to Edward, those who were Dauntless and hadn't chosen to becomes allies to the Erudite had found refuge within Candor, after the attack had been interrupted. He didn't seem to know who exactly was staying there, but Lilith had high hopes that her friends had made it. None of them seemed to be the type to support Erudite's deeds and join their forces, and she really didn't want to consider that some of them could have perished in Abnegation. Losing Siobhan had been enough.

Caleb had caught wind that some of his former faction's refugees were staying in one of other Factionless safehouses, and he'd made the decision to go see how they were doing, promising to join them again as soon as he could. Lilith could tell that Tris had been slightly hesitant when it came to letting him go, but she hadn't said anything against it as she hugged him goodbye. Reyna, despite not belonging to the Dauntless or the Candor, had tagged along, the reasoning for it being that she wanted to see her family once again. Needless to say that both her and Lilith longed to find Christina as well.

The sight of the Candor headquarters was a welcome one, as much as Lilith hated to admit it.

She came to a stop a few feet away from the door, licking her lips as she craned her neck to look at the top of the building. If the Candor had been living their lives as usual, her mother and Oswald Payton were somewhere inside, in their respective offices, both of them ignorant to the fact that she was downstairs. Lilith wasn't close-knit with her mother, and even less so with her stepfather, but knowing that they were there and that they would most likely find allies in them was reassuring. The situation had every reason to go right. Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was bound to go wrong.

"Once we go in there, we can't go back," she finally said, looking at the reflection of the rest of their group on the glass doors. She clenched her fists, "Ready?"

Four was the only one to move, even if just to nod his head, "Let's go."

As soon as Lilith entered the lobby, the chatter of the sea of Dauntless grouped inside the building invaded her ears. It sounded like the Pit, and she wondered if she could pretend that it was, if she closed her eyes. But there was no time for that. As the rest of the group followed her example and entered the Candor headquarters, Lilith took a few steps further into the building, searching the crowd for anyone she knew. However, no one from Initiation seemed to be close by, if they were even there. Before she could make her way through the crowd to continue her search, a towering figure appeared in front of her, and the barrel of a gun aimed at her forehead.

"Identify yourselves," the girl said, the gun firm in her hands as she scanned the rest of them. One of her arms was nestled in a sling, and Lilith couldn't help but compare her flaming red hair to the flames that had burned when she'd picked Dauntless. 

The girl's order had made the Dauntless near them cease their conversations, and Lilith eyed them as they gathered around them. She hadn't expected to be received with open arms, but the distrust and the anger in the eyes of some of them had caught her off guard. They had been the ones to end the attack and allow them to regain consciousness, and yet she felt as if they looked at them like they were working with Erudite. 

Her eyes returned to the redhead in front of her once more, "I'm Lilith Ovard," she started, before nodding towards the rest of the group, "Those are Four, Tris and Granger. All Dauntless. And then there's Reyna, a refugee from Amity."

The other girl's eyes widened, "Some help here?"

After a few seconds, some of the other Dauntless shuffled forwards, their hands hovering above their weapons. Lilith didn't say a word as she watched them advance, knowing that things were bound to have changed during the time that they had been in Amity, and that the soldiers were only looking after themselves. They probably didn't know what exactly had happened during the attack, and no one had been there to explain it to them. Caution was what was keeping them alive, and Lilith didn't blame them for being suspicious.

"Is there a problem?" Four wondered.

The redhead raised her eyebrows at Four's tone, "Are you armed?"

"Of course I'm armed," the male's tone showed his confusion, "I'm Dauntless, aren't I?"

The girl took a step backwards, her voice wavering as her full attention shifted to him, "Stand with your hands behind your head," she ordered. When they hesitated, she pointed her gun from Lilith to Four, "All of you. Now."

Tris was the next person to break the silence, her voice slow and soft as she went along with the demands, "We walked through the front door. You think we would have done that if we were here to hurt you?"

There was no response to her question, the five of them standing still in the position ordered by the soldier as the Dauntless who had come forward to help patted them down, in search of concealed weapons that they could possibly be carrying. Lilith hadn't managed to get her hands on any blades or guns while they'd been at the Factionless safehouse, and she knew that Reyna probably wasn't carrying anything either. Wordlessly, she watched as the soldiers took guns from Granger and Four, and a switchblade from Tris' back pocket. They seemed calmer after taking away their weapons, and Lilith's dark eyes turned back to the redhead at the front of the group.

"Is there anything going on that we don't know about?" she questioned.

She simply shook her head, "I'm sorry. We were instructed to arrest you upon your arrival."

She didn't care to elaborate any further as they were surrounded by an even larger group of black clad individuals, who started leading the way towards the elevator. Lilith didn't have to think much to realize that they were being taken to the third floor, where the holding room was situated. She'd been taken there many times as a child, when she was caught in a lie, and the thought of being taken back to it made her shiver. Every time she'd been put there, hours had passed before anyone came to get her. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, not again.

There was only a bench furnishing the room, and Four, Granger and Reyna were the first ones to make their way to it, sitting down a decent distance away from eachother. Tris had resorted to pacing from one side of the room to the other, and Lilith slid down the wall opposite to the door, leaning her head back against its cold surface. She didn't really understand why they had been arrested, but it was better to wait and clear up the situation with whoever came to talk to them. They could be arresting her because she'd been made a Dauntless leader shortly before the attack and, since the rest of them were in cahoots with Erudite, they could be assuming that she was, as well. Four had probably been caught by the surveillance cameras while under the effect of the serum, which could had definitely given people the wrong impression, but she didn't know why Tris, Granger and Reyna had been dragged into as well. Maybe it was just a matter of association.

It had to have been a few hours before the door was pushed up and light from the hallway illuminated the room. Lilith rose to her feet as a man wearing the black and white of Candor walked in, a gun gripped tightly in his hands. His lack of confidence when it came to handling the weapon was noticeable, but it didn't compare to the discomfort in her mother's face, when she walked into the room after him. The rifle in Adelia's hand looked far too big to be held by someone like her, and mother and daughter's eyes met as the last person, Jack Kang, entered the holding room, as seemingly emotionless as ever. Lilith had always believed him to be neutral to the point where it could only be fake but, as far as leaders came, Candor could have done much worse.

"They told me you seemed confused about why you were arrested," Jack began, his eyes following Lilith as she closed the distance between where she'd been sitting and where the others had settled down, on the bench. Recognition was obvious in his features as he watched her, but he acted as if she was a complete stranger. She supposed it was natural. It wasn't like she was still Candor. His eyes flitted to the others, "To me, that means either you're falsely accused or good at pretending. The only-"

Tris cut him off, her tone laced with impatience, "What are we accused of?"

Jack nodded towards Four and Lilith, "They are accused of crimes against humanity," his cold dark eyes shifted back to the blonde, "You are accused of being their accomplice, as is Mr. Ellison."

"Crimes against humanity?" Four echoed his words.

"What the fuck?" Lilith said, at the same time. Her eyes moved to Adelia, but her mother's features remained schooled and firm. At the lack of any type of reaction, the girl's attention turned back to the Candor leader, "Why would you even assume that? Who told you that?"

Jack's eyebrows raised slightly, "No one. We saw video footage of the attack," he revealed, "He was running the simulation."

"How could you have seen footage?" Four's tone was doubtful as he stepped up next to Lilith, folding his arms over his chest, "We took the data."

Jack shook his head, "You took one copy of the data. All the footage of the Dauntless compound recorded during the attack was also sent to other computers throughout the city," he paused. Lilith couldn't help but wonder if that was common practice, and if the things that happened in the compounds were visible to the other factions. Maybe it had been a counter-measure put in place by Erudite, in case the plan went wrong. Still, there was no denying that whatever footage Jack had had been wrongly interpreted. She was about to open her mouth to argue back when the man kept speaking, "All we saw was you running the simulation, her nearly getting punched to death," he nodded towards Tris, "And Lilith barging in at the last minute, interrupting your quarrel, and taking the data. One possible reason is because the simulation was over and you didn't want us to get our hands on it."

"The simulation didn't end," Tris' voice showed her disbelief about the accusations held against them, and her quin quivered as she faced Jack, "We stopped it, you-"

The Candor leader raised both of his hands, the gesture being enough to make the blonde stop speaking. Still, Lilith could feel her frustration in the way that she held herself as she glared at the man, whose features remained as neutral as ever. His voice was flat, "I am not interested in what you have to say right now. The truth will come out when you all are interrogated under the influence of the truth serum."

"Truth serum? No, no way," Tris shook her head, eyebrows furrowed.

"Tris," Lilith spoke again, her dark eyes finding the other girl's, "It's okay. I can go first, and then you'll see you have nothing to be worried about. Okay?"

Truth was, Lilith was very familiar with the effects of the truth serum and the way it worked inside someone's body. Each and every time she'd been caught lying, a small dose would be shot into her veins, and she'd be forced to say the truth about the whole situation. She knew that it wasn't pleasant to think that someone could shot a liquid into someone's veins and suddenly have access to every secret they kept. She knew that Tris probably worried that they would uncover something that she would rather keep to herself because, if she was being honest, it was quite obvious that Tris didn't really tell them everything that had happened to her during the attack. Still, the truth serum was their only way out, and if she could help her friends have the courage to take it by going first, then that was what she'd do.

Though clearly still not pleased with the whole ordeal, Tris nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Alright, then," Jack nodded his head, before glancing at his watch, "It is now noon. The interrogation will be at seven. Don't bother preparing for it," his eyes were mainly pinned to the ones who weren't former Candor members, "You can't withhold information while under the influence of the truth serum."

With that, he turned around and strolled out of the room, not bothering to give them another glance. The dark skinned man who had been guarding the door followed, but Adelia hesitated for a few seconds, looking torn between approaching Lilith and going after Jack. After a few seconds, she ripped her gaze away from Lilith, her hands still holding the rifle tightly as she turned away and left the room. The last thing Lilith saw before the door was closed again was her mother looking over her shoulder at her, eyes glistening with tears.

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As confident as she'd made herself out to be when it came to being the first one to be interrogated, Lilith had to admit that she did feel nervous about it. Not that she'd somehow be found guilty of the crimes against humanity that Jack had mentioned, because there was no way they could blame her for any of it after hearing what she had to say. No, what she was scared of was of how the conversation could turn to Eric, and how she'd have to admit to everyone in both Dauntless and Candor that she'd been fooled by a pretty face.

Because that's what it had to be, right?

Eric was, and he had always been, one of the bad guys. He'd played with her and tried to pretend that he was good, and he'd staged his own death before going back to Jeanine. It was the only thing that made sense, mainly after the relentless chase he'd given them in Amity. He wouldn't have stayed behind cover while she was out in the open, while the soldiers with Erudite tried to take her down. If Eric truly cared, he would have done something about it. He would have had her back, not to mention Granger's.

Her afternoon was spent in her own thoughts, and she assumed night had already fallen when the door opened once more, and a crowd of Dauntless soldiers entered the room. Guessing that it was time for her interrogation, Lilith got up to her feet, dusting off her jeans as she walked forwards. She hadn't made it halfway to the soldiers when two familiar faces shoved their way to the front of the crowd and, for the first time in weeks, Lilith saw Christina and Nate right in front of her. A choked sob left Christina's lips as she wrapped her arms around Lilith, and the brunette didn't hesitate as she held her best friend back.

"I thought you were gone," Christina whispered, her grip nearly crushing Lilith's ribcage.

"I will be, if you don't let me go," she grimaced, and Christina smiled sheepishly as she released her. Relief coarsed through Lilith's body at the sight of her, and she squeezed her shoulder, before nodding towards the others, "Look who else is here."

Christina began advancing forwards with a grin to greet everyone else, up until her eyes landed on Reyna, and she froze on the spot. For the first since they'd been arrested, the blonde's lips spread into a warm smile, and that was all the confirmation Christina needed to fling herself at Reyna. Lilith couldn't help but smile at the sight of her childhood friends reuniting once again, before deciding to give them some privacy; after all, they hadn't seen eachother since the Choosing Ceremony.

As she turned her back on them, she came face to face with Nate. The boy hadn't changed much, save for a hint of stubble on his jaw and a scar peering out from under the collar of the jacket. While he'd kept his boyish appearance, his eyes were a whole different story, having lost some of the brightness that Lilith was so used to seeing. Something about the sight of him in particular made a tear roll down her cheek, and Nate didn't miss a beat as he brought her into a warm embrace. For the first time in what felt like forever, Lilith felt as if it was okay to cry, and she did.

"It's okay," he whispered, one of his hands rubbing soothing circles on her back, "You're okay now."

Truthfully, Nate's presence was a complete relief, and Lilith wished that they could talk alone. He was the only one who knew the full details of what had happened between her and Eric, since she didn't see much point in keeping it from him, after he'd put the pieces together by himself. It had been nice to have someone with who she could share her love life with, someone who she knew was completely trustworthy. Sure, she trusted the rest of her group of friends as well, even if in different ammounts, but they wouldn't react well if they knew the full extent of her connection to Eric. He wasn't exactly their favorite person, after all.

They were forced to break apart after a while, and the Dauntless soldiers led them back to the elevator. Lilith's eyes drifted to Christina as she walked next to Tris, noticing for the first time that her friend was much thinner than before. Her dark pants seemed to only be held up by her belt, and her dark complexion looked a lot less healthy.

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she glanced at Nate, who had stuck with her, "Is she okay? Christina, I mean."

He shook his head, "Not at all. Will was killed in the attack," his lips were pursed as he too looked at the girl, "She tries to pretend she's okay, but she's clearly not. I've been trying to be here for her, but... she doesn't really open up to me," he shrugged, "I guess we're not that close."

Their conversation ceased as the elevator doors opened. There wasn't nearly enough room in it for that many people, and Lilith felt like she couldn't move without bumping into someone. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but it wasn't like she could complain. One of the Dauntless at the head of the group pressed the button to the floor where the interrogation would take place, and the elevator started its journey.

"So," Christina's voice came from somewhere behind her, and Lilith looked over her shoulder to meet her gaze, "I hear you offered to be the first one to be interrogated," her lips twisted into a smirk, "You miss the truth serum that much?"

A snort left Lilith's lips, "Fuck no," her response made Tris look at her in alarm, and the brunette was quick in shaking her head, "Oh, Tris, don't worry. You're only gonna know what happened and what you said after it's over. It doesn't hurt or anything."

Christina nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, it's perfectly fine. Lilith and I went under a bunch, when we were kids. It's pretty commonplace in Candor."

"If you say so," the blonde didn't seem convinced in the slightest, and she was quick in changing the subject, "Is everyone else alright? Uriah, Lynn, Marlene, Rita."

Nate hummed affirmatively, "All accounted for, all here."

"Well, except for Zeke, Uriah's brother," Christina grimaced, "He's with the other Dauntless."

"He's what now?"

The elevator stopped, but none of the newcomers to Candor moved, their eyes fixated on Christina and Nate. Even Reyna, who didn't have the faintest idea of who they were talking about, stayed rooted to the same place, her gaze flickering from one person to the next in confusion.

"Yeah," Christina nodded, "No one saw it coming."

With that revelation in mind, Lilith stayed silent, her eyebrows furrowed as they were lead through the hallways of the Merciless Mart towards the interrogation room. Unsurprisingly, it was filled to the brim. It probably wasn't every day that individuals accused of crimes against humanity were brought there, and Candor people always had a morbid curiosity when it came to others revealing their deepest secrets. As she was lead to the center of the room, Lilith noticed her mother sitting on the left of Jack Kang, her eyes pinned to her hands. It didn't matter if she didn't believe Lilith was innocent either. She would still prove it.

She was forced to look away from her mother when a man carrying a dark box came to meet her. Everything about him was neutral, including the tone of his voice as he spoke, "My name is Niles. I will be your questioner," he introduced himself, prompting her to give him a nod in response.

With those words, the rest of her friends stepped away from her until they were standing at the front of the crowd formed by those who hadn't managed to find seats. Even if she knew that she would be cleared of all charges as soon as her interrogation was over, Lilith was still nervous. Answering questions about the attack was one thing, but it would be completely different if they ventured into her personal life. People would never look at her the same, if they did.

Niles handed her an antiseptic wipe, the girl already rubbing it on her neck before he had the chance to open his mouth. The first few times Lilith had been under the influence of the truth serum, she'd felt like her body wasn't her own and like cement filled her veins, instead of blood. She hadn't thought it to be possible to build resistance to it, but after being injected quite a few times, her body didn't seem to feel it as strongly. As Niles stepped away from her, after pushing the serum into her blood vessels, all she felt was her head becoming heavier, a slight migraine forming.

"I will ask you a series of questions so that you can grow accustomed to the serum as it takes full effect," Niles started, as he settled on the chair opposite to her. She nodded once in response, and the man continued, "What is your name?"

"Lilith Ovard."

"And what are the names of your parents?"

"Adelia and Carson Ovard," it was the first time in years that her father's name left her lips, and tears brimmed her eyes. However, she wouldn't cry in front of these people, and not when she'd told Tris that everything about the interrogation would be perfectly fine. If she cried after two questions, Tris would think she lied.

"You've transferred from Candor to Dauntless this year, correct?"

"Yes."

"And why did you make that choice?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, "I've never felt like I belonged here, during all my life," she began. That would probably have been enough to answer Niles' question, but she couldn't stop more words from leaving her lips, "And I've always admired the Dauntless, and what they did, and what they stood for. They were brave, and I wanted to be brave as well."

Niles hummed in response, "And you were made a leader at the end of Initiation?"

Lilith nodded, "I was."

"Yet you deny being connected to the attack on Abnegation, when every other leader of Dauntless knew about it and was plotting with Erudite?"

"The attack happened the day after I became a leader," she replied, licking her lips. The only sounds she could hear were Niles' voice and the thumping of her heart against her chest, the latter starting to sound like a drum. Lilith continued, after a few seconds, "I was accepted into leadership, but that doesn't mean they trusted me. Like everyone else in the faction, I was told that the simulation serum was a tracking device. I didn't understand what was going on until after the attack had started."

Niles appeared to be confused, "So, you weren't under the effects of the simulation?" when she shook her head in response, Niles' frown deepened, "How do you explain this?"

She hesitated. The longer she took to reply, the more her body began to suffer. If she could compare it to anything, Lilith would compare it to having the urge to cough, but holding it back until her chest began to hurt and her breaths were short and ragged. This was the part of the interrogation she had been dreading. This was the part where everyone would find out just how stupid she had been.

She faced Niles again, "I was injected with a version of the serum that didn't have the neurotransmitters responsible for the simulation. A placebo, if you will," her answer had made the crowd mutter amongst themselves, and Lilith's eyes flickered to where her friends were. All of them looked puzzled by the new information, and she coulnd't blame them; it wasn't like she'd told them anything about what had happened with her during the attack. She spoke again, "Everything I did, I did while aware of what was happening around me."

"Who injected you with this... placebo?"

Her heart almost burst through her ribcage, "Eric," her voice came out meek, but those who had heard her immediately started talking between themselves again. She narrowed her eyes, and this time her voice was clear, "It was Eric Coulter."

"The Dauntless leader?" Niles leaned forwards in his seat.

"Yes."

"Why did he do that?"

The brunette chewed on her lower lip, taking a moment to remember what Eric had told her. He'd claimed to be misguided, to the results of his allegiance to Erudite not being what he'd wanted or expected when he'd agreed to it. As she recalled the events of that day, she could see him in front of her, the regret flashing across his eyes stronger than anything she'd seen in him before. He had been vulnerable, and he had been brave, and even if she'd been furious with him, she'd admired him.

But it all been a facade.

Lilith cleared her throat, "When I found him, he said he'd done it because he needed my help to end the simulation and kill Jeanine Matthews," her words made everyone in the room voice their own opinions, that time, and Niles' allowed the ruckus for a few seconds, before ordering everyone to keep quiet once more. Though she knew that all eyes were on her, waiting for more of the story to leave her lips, she waited until Niles nodded at her to continue, "He said Dauntless had made a mistake when they agreed to work with Erudite, and that we were heading into a future that he didn't want for those who mattered to him."

"Did you matter to him?"

"I thought I did," she shrugged, "Now I'm not so sure."

"Why is that?"

"Because now he's on Erudite's side again."

"What happened between his... revelation and his return to Erudite?"

A chuckle left her lips, though she didn't really find humour in the situation, "That's a bit of a long story," she warned, but Niles didn't seem to mind, as he gestured at her to continue, "Jeanine had gone to the Dauntless compound, where the simulation was also being ran. If we went there, it would be two birds, one stone. So we took a car and drove to the compound. We made our way inside and we found Granger Ellison, Peter Hayes, and Marcus Eaton. Granger told us that Tris and her father had gone to stop the simulation, and so we went after them to help. We separated once we left the elevator. Eric and Granger went for Jeanine, while I went to the control room to find Tris and put an end to the attack."

"The footage we have of the control room is somewhat confusing," Niles interrupted, folding his arms over his chest, "Can you tell us what happened?"

Lilith nodded, "I can. The first thing I saw when I walked into the room was Four nearly killing Tris. I took a shot at him to make him stop, and it ricocheted off the floor and grazed his face. It was enough to stop him, though," she licked her lips in concentration, "After that, I went straight for the simulation. Four knew how to stop it, so I followed his instructions and put an end to it. Then we took the data and fled the control room. Granger met us in the elevator, and he said that Eric had died after being shot," her voice cracked, and the girl found herself holding back tears for what seemed like the hundreth time, "I thought he was dead until he showed up at Amity with Erudite, a few days ago."

Niles' eyes moved to Jack, and Lilith followed his line of sight just in time to see Jack giving him a nod. The man looked back at her, and she had the feeling she wouldn't like what was coming.

"One last question," he said, "Lilith Ovard, what's your deepest regret?"

Her whole body tensed up at the question. Regrets were something that Lilith constantly carried with her, ranging from things that didn't really matter to things that would have strongly impacted her life and the lives of those around her. She regretted leaving Scott for a future in Dauntless, not being nice to her mother and Oswald, becoming a worst version of herself during the Dauntless initiation. She regretted Siobhan's death, and giving Four that scar on his face, and not having reached out to Granger earlier, when they were staying in Amity. But, most of all...

"I regret ever trusting Eric Coulter."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

We're finally in Candor, and boy, are things going to start getting juicy soon!
This chapter was so fun to write and I had a lot of fun with the interrogation, I love exploring all the complex feelings Lilith is currently harboring for Eric. We're also going to see more of Nate and the rest of the friend group from this point onwards, and I have things planned for most of them, so I'm excited to write their arcs as well!
Lastly, I just wanted to say that updates are currently sporadic and will most likely remain that way until at least June, which is when I start summer break. I'm hoping to still put out a bunch of updates during the semester, but they certainly won't be regular.
I hope you guys liked the update, and please leave me your feedback!
Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!