The choices you made | Eric Coulter (Under Reconstruction)

x15. The mess you left behind

(Insurgent)

''We're like the factionless now, we've left everything behind. But we found ourselves, and each other. Tomorrow we may have to fight again, but for now, we'll ride the train to the end of the line. And then...we'll jump.''

'Ell, you should be resting.', Eric strictly said, waking her rudely from her thoughts.
Eleanor simply continued packing the things, officially and openly ignoring him. 'I don't see you resting.', he spoke again, appointing at her performing this ridiculous task.

Ever since she has been released from the hospital, Eric did his best to hide her away from the world. For some time, Ellie left it to go that way.
She was injured badly and needed time to heal, so there was nothing she could do about her place and position right now.
Tris probably never intended to hurt her like that, but it saved both of their lives so far; Tris was on the run and nowhere to be found and Ellie never needed to explain anything about the accident ever again, it seemed pretty obvious in Eric's eyes.
He openly assumed Tris murdered his bodyguards. And that was something that Ellie didn't want to clean up for Tris.
Dead men tell no tales, but neither do the running ones; that assumption of Eric's spared her from necessary explaining and lying.
And she didn't want to lie to the men that saved her life and loved her any more than she needed to.
Meanwhile, the effects of Erudite medicines that have been spread all over the Dauntless for all kinds of reasons during the downfall of the city of Chicago and the faction system, did wonders for her. Which meant that, by now, she has been up for the duty. And both of them knew that.
It's not the world that she missed. She didn't.
But big changes have been made and done and she couldn't find any of her friends still residing in Dauntless.
It seemed as Christina and Will, which also meant half of their generation too, have chosen the side of the rebels. The right side actually, from what Ellie knew.
Christina, the heard of her here and there randomly showing up in shorter intervals but Will... She had no glimpse of where he was. Which was weird, this was probably the longest period they've spent without knowing where the other one is ever since the diapers.

She was anxious and frustrated. And in PMS.
You do not imprison a woman in PMS. It was like imprisoning the dragon, which Eric started figuring out only recently.
And this dragon was nervous; like, a lot.
Four and Tris have been reported missing, ever since Jeanine turned off the controlling computer Ellie programmed. For some reason she still cared about them, too. There was always a connection she felt towards these two people even besides the fact they became the mortal enemies of her boyfriend.
Her heart always told her they were the right people. And that heart was something she has always followed. It led her to Eric, in the end, didn't it not? Even though she wasn't very much happy and in love at this very moment.
But, if you think things couldn't be or get any worse, they were and they did.
The whole world knew she reprogrammed Jeanine's live simulation system.
Someone made their business of making sure that this comes out, probably one of the rebels never loyal to Eric in its Dauntless days, that she took a part in all of this: the sim, the chipping, the obstruction of Abnegation, etc, etc ...and ever since that happened, Ellie has been imprisoned by Eric, because it had made her a clear target.

She tried to discuss that with him when she got better.
She even tried to fight it. Every moment. Every day.
But he never gave her any space to even advocate for herself.
Eleanor wasn't stupid, she was very much aware that it was all part of the plan to back Eric in the corner. But Eric was not someone you could back in the corner like that. Neither was she. Especially using Ellie for it was nonsense. If anything, it made him more vicious and Eleanor didn't like that.
The man she fell in love with was quite often absent from their everyday lives recently, only the angrier version used to come home.
Deep in his mind he knew it was a bad idea to break them as a team they started to be, there was no good in that, but he was scared of what will happen if that changes.
Ellie had a theory or two of her own.