Hey everyone! So I started this off as a one shot and it still may be a one shot, but as I was writing this I thought of more things to add but then it made the one shot to long so I will leave it up to you. Leave me a review and tell me whether I should just leave it as a one shot or turn it into a full blown story.
FYI: If I do turn it into a story, I will wait till after I'm done my other 3 stories I am working on otherwise it will be brutal. Just be patient with me
Thank you!
Four POV
Today's the day. The day that I have been anticipating for the last 2 years. Today is the day where the new initiates arrive. It's not that I really care about who becomes a Dauntless and who doesn't. It's just I may get to see her again. The face that I have been missing for the last two years, the one that hunts me almost every night and the only reason I regret leaving Abnegation.
"Hey man, you ready?" Zeke slaps me on my shoulder, breaking me out of my day dream
"Sure, nothing to worry about. Happens every year" I say, shrugging my shoulder but in reality my anxiety levels are very high
"You know that's not true" Zeke says, raising a eyebrow. Zeke is one of my very few friends that I have here in Dauntless. In fact, I use the term "friend" very loosely. Zeke is one of the only people that I can stand and don't mind talking to. We usually work out together, grab some food and occasionally hang out together. But because I am usually working in the control room I barely see him. This is my first year where I decided that I would get out of the control room and train the initiates, partly because I knew that she may come and the other reason is to stop having to see Marcus in the surveillance footage. He brings back the past that I longed to forget.
"I don't know what you're talking about" I say as I push past him and get the net ready for the initiates to fall into
"Don't give me that bull shit. I know the only reason that you decided to train the initiates this year is to see if Emily comes" He says and I stop my moments
Emily, I may get to see Emily. I shake my head to get a hold of myself, to stop myself from getting emotional. Emily, the only person that I truly care about, even though I haven't seen her in two years. I still keep an eye on her through the surveillance, making sure she is alright and safe. I shake my head again and I turn back to Zeke with my facade on. That's one of the hardest parts of my job, to watch and know that Emily is going through the same thing that I went through with Marcus and not being able to do anything about it. When I had chosen Dauntless almost 2 years ago, I was acting out of my selfish want to get away from Marcus but in the process I had totally abandon my little sister when she needed me.
"Why do I tell you anything" I ask casually. I made sure the net is perfect and turn to look at my wrist watch. The initiates should be on the roof by now and they should be here any second. I cross my arms on my chest and tap my foot anxiously.
"Cause you love me baby "He laughs, blowing kisses at me. I just shake my head at me, a small smile creeping up. Zeke is a funny guy and that's one of the main reasons I like him. I can hear Eric giving his speech to the initiates and my heart starts to beat hard against my chest.
"Don't worry man, she'll be here" Zeke says, slapping my back and getting in position. I don't tell him that's one of the reasons I'm scared. No one knows this but I am Divergent and I'm pretty sure so is Emily. If she's here and she is Divergent then she is in more danger then she was with Marcus. Lauren arrives as well, standing by Zeke and we all wait for the first initiate to drop. We wait for a scream or a yell but nothing comes and I look up at the hole. Maybe no one is willing to jump. I look at Zeke and he just shrugs his shoulder until a grey blur passes and falls in the net. The person stays in the net and when I finally get irritated that the person is not moving, I pull the side of the net and roll the person to the edge. That's when I see a small, brown hair and brown eyed girl looking at me in shock. I pull her down from the net by grabbing her under the arms and pulling her down. There is a light of excitement and awe in her eyes, like she just experienced the most amazing thing ever rather than an almost 20 story drop into the darkness. She stands there, straightening her Abnegation clothes
"Thank you" She squeaks out, running a hand through her hair.
"Can't believe it." Lauren says from behind me "A stiff, the first to jump? Unheard of"
"There's a reason why she left them, Lauren" I say looking at the girl. "What's your name?" I ask her
"Um..." she says hesitating
"Is it a hard one? You can choose again but think about it. You don't get to pick again" I say, my lips curling up into a smile at her expression
"Tris" she says
"Tris" Lauren says smiling "Make the announcement four" She says and I turn to look at everyone who have gathered to watch the initiates.
"First jumper- Tris" I say and the crowd starts to applaud and cheer. She turns to the crowd and a smile appears on her lips
"Welcome to Dauntless" I say as I step aside and wait for the other initiates. She brushes by me and I feel this small spark. I shake my head, probably some static electricity on her clothes or something. I turn back around and wait for the others. One after the other, I hear screaming and cursing and then a blur of a body pass by me. I wait, hoping to see that familiar face but it doesn't come. I wait few minutes after everyone is down, hoping she falls through the hole but it seems like no one is there
"We have to start four" Lauren says and I turn to Zeke, disappointment written on my face. I walk to the front of the pack and put my instructor four look on. I tell them about how the training works in dauntless and as always everyone was shocked to realize that if they didn't pass a certain rank then they were getting kicked out. Everyone was shocked, except Tris who look oddly calm. At one point a loud mouth Candor though she was a genius for making a crack at my nickname but I wasn't in any mood for her shit so I shut her up pretty fast.
"Alright Dauntless born, follow Lauren and Zeke. The transfers follow..." I get cut off. I hear a noise and it sounded like someone was yelling from the roof top. It actually sounded like Eric. Hope rose again in my chest, maybe she did come. I walk over to Zeke and Lauren
"Listen, Zeke can you take the transfers. I need to see something" I ask him
"What the hell, you're not leaving me alone with those idiots Zeke" Lauren complains. I look at Zeke, hoping he understands my reason and he slowly nods his head
"Sure man, I'll take them" He says and I give him a smile. While Zeke and I don't hang out much, he is making his way to becoming an actual friend
"Zeke!' Lauren exclaims. I turn to the initiates, ignoring her
"Alright change of plans. Dauntless born go with Lauren and the transfers follow Zeke. I'll meet up the transfer during lunch" I say. Zeke nods and leads the way down the hallways, the transfers trailing behind him. I catch Tris looking at me with a confused look and I give her a cold look. I can't afford to become attached to anyone here. After Lauren leaves, I see a blur go by my eyes and land in the net. I hurry to the net, hoping its Emily but I'm confused to see Eric. He pulls himself out of the net and stands facing me with a scowl on his face.
"Man, holy shit, that girl is pathetic. I yelled, I threatened and I even tried to push her but she's not budging. Wait here for 5 minutes, if she doesn't come down then leave. She'll be out "He says and then leaves
"Stupid scared abnegation kids" He mumbles as he leaves.
I resist the urge to punch Eric in the face for that last comment. I'm from Abnegation. Instead I focused on the girl; if the girl is from Abgnation then it may be Emily. I look up at the hole in the roof. I squint at the sunlight and I see a fluttering of grey clothes near the edge. I wish I could climb back up the hole but the only way up there was if I left the compound, got on the train and jumped onto the building. I shudder at the thought of having to jump from the building, my fear of heights creeping back into my mind.
"Hey kid, just jump down here. There's a net to catch you" I yell as loud as can. Again I see the flutter of grey in the wind and know that the girl is standing on the edge of the building
"Listen you need to jump now. I'm leaving and if you're not here before I count to 5, you will be factionless" I yell up to her. I know it's a little mean but if she choose Dauntless then she needed to act like it and her being scared of the first test is not dauntless at all.
"1...2...3..." I start counting "4...and...5" I finish. "I'm leaving" I yell up and I am just about to leave the room when I hear a scream and a grey blob settles into the net. I walk over to the net and roll the girl out. I stand her in front me and control the emotions. It's her, it's really her, my baby sister.
"Emily" I smile, not able to keep the emotion out of my voice. She stands up straight and looks at me confused. Then her eyes go wide and she takes a few paces back, covering her mouth.
"Tobias..." She whispers and I nod my head, not able to help the big smile on my face. She has changed so much since the last time I saw her in person. Her hair is longer and she is taller then I remember. She has on her signature grey abnegation clothes that fit her perfectly and her baby blues eyes sparkle with unshed tears. Wow my baby sister looks good
"Tobias" She sobs and runs to hug me. I open my arms and wrap them around her as tight as I can
"I missed you so much Em" I hug her back
"I missed you so much. Every night, I had dreams about seeing you again. God Toby, I just missed you" She cries as she hugs me. I rub her back in soothing motions helping to calm her down. After her sobs ending, I hold her face in my hands, wiping away the tears with my thumbs
"Look at you, your beautiful" I say to her. She smiles and laughs a little hugging me again.
"Come on lets go get some food" I say, I put a arm around her shoulder and she snuggles into my side. I don't care if anyone knows she's my little sister or not, at this point I really don't care. I mean before, I use to sit in the control room and think about all the ways we would have to keep our relationship secrete for many reason but now looking at her and remembering our childhood, I honestly didn't want her to leave my side. I showed her around the compound first, showing her places like the chasm and then the pit. I then heard her stomach growling and chuckled. She threw a punch at my shoulder and surprisingly it stung a little bit. I lead her to the lunch room where all the dauntless born and the initiates are eating.
"Hey there's my friend" She says pointing at Tris. Tris saw her and waved her over, smiling
"You know her" I ask.
"Yeah, she and I were in the same classes. Beatrice and I am really close friends." She says smiling. So that's what her real name is. Beatrice. I can see where she got "Tris" from. I smile at the simplicity of it.
"Hey Toby, where are we suppose to sit" I cringe at my old nickname she made up for me. I hate it and she's the only person I wouldn't sack in the mouth if they ever called me that
"Hey Em, do me a favour, don't call me that. My name here is four and I like to keep it like that. Also, I may have to yell and look cold and make you do stuff that you don't want to do but just do them anyways. I'm the instructor here and if they think I'm going easy on you, it will look like favouritism and overall bad for both of us, alright" I say looking down at her.
"On one condition" She says smiling at me. I roll my eyes at her, she hasn't changed one bit
"What's the condition?"
"You can be leader four all you want an I wont come in your way. Hell I'll act like every other initiate, scared of the big bad scary instructor" She said making a face. I couldn't help my chuckle
"But, I want to be able to tell Beatrice. She is one of my best friends and I don't want to lie to her. Also I'll be spending allot of times with her and I want to be spending time with you too but that won't work l unless we are on the same page" she says. The thought of spending more time with Tris has me smiling; there is just something about her that makes me want to get to know her.
"Fine" I huff "But you need to make sure she keeps her mouth shut and not tell anyone"
"Deal" She says, sticking her arm out to shake. I shake with her and smile. I missed her allot. She walks over to Tris and she hugs her. I follow behind her and sit at the edge of the seat
"You made it" Tris squeals and hugs Emily. Emily hugs her back
"Yeah, cause of...uh" She looks at me. I glance in her direction, glare at her and then stare forward. "Never mind, I'm here now so that's all that matters" she laughs
Emily sits beside me and Tris is beside Emily. Few other initiates join our table and they start talking about their other factions
"I don't want to hear about your other factions. Your Dauntless now" I snap, playing the role of the cold instructor
"Where you a dauntless born...or..." Tris starts talking to me but I glare at her
"...a transfer..." She finishes. I continue to glare at her
"Are you kidding me" I glare at her
"No..."
"What makes you think you can talk to me" I say coldly.
"Maybe because you're so approachable" She says and everyone at the table laughs. I'm about to get up and cuss at her but Emily kicks me on my leg and my head snaps in her direction, me glaring at her and she glares right back. I slowly turn my eyes towards Tris and look at her coldly; making it seems as that I was looking at her rather than Emily. Everyone goes silent on the table and I turn back to glare at my food, my leg throbbing where Emily hit me.
I am debating whether or not Emily being here is a good thing or should I just through her over the chasm. It took me 2 years to build my reputation here, 2 years of sleepless nights and a sore and aching body to get people to respect me as they do. I smile at the thought at actually trying to do anything to Em and shake my head. What a unrealistic idea. I suddenly feel a slap on my shoulder and turn to see Eric standing by my seat
"Oh look, so the Stiff jumped after all." He laughs and Emily's face goes red and she looks at plate, her eyebrows knitting.
"What do you want Eric" I say clenching my teeth in anger
"Max wants to see you" He says and I sigh. This is probably the same shit as before. Max wants me to become a leader but I don't want to. I prefer the control room anyways. I nod at Eric to go first and I get up
"I will see you after lunch" I whisper into Emily's ear and I can feel the shocked stares on my back as I follow Eric. I meet with Max and just as I suspected he wanted me to become a leader. I told him I would think about just to get him off my back.
I head to the training room and get the board set up. Today the initiates will be fighting but thankfully because there was an uneven number one person would have to sit up. Emily. For some reason I also wanted to have sit Tris sit out. She's so small and it feels like if you touch her a bit hard she may just fall apart.
I cross my hands on my chest and explain the ranking system and how the fighting will be scored. Eric joins me and I internally curse. I don't want to deal with him today
"Because we have an odd number of initiates, one person will sit out. Today it will be Emily" I announce and I can feel her burning a hole in my face with her glare. See the thing is Emily is not scared easily. She's strong and I'm pretty sure she is one of the bravest of the initiates here and so I'm not to worried about her making it into Dauntless, however like me, she is scared of heights. Yet unlike me, while I am able to face my fears she is deathly scared of heights and 9 out of 10 times she will just freeze.
I scan the crowd's faces until I find her. She is glaring at me and I know there will be an argument between us. I sigh and dismiss the initiates to practice there techniques.
"What the hell Toby. I want to fight today" She says angrily
"Four" I hiss at her.
"Alright four! I want to fight today" She says placing her hands on her hips. When did she get the attitude
"You have to sit out today, we have uneven number of fighters" I say, squeezing the bridge between my nose
"Then take someone else out, everyone thinks the reason I'm out is because I can't handle myself and my big brother is scared I may get hurt" She huffs. I sigh, this was one of the reason I didn't want anyone to know she's my sister. Everything I do now will seem like its favoritism
"Let them think whatever, we know it's not true. Look at the other instructor Zeke, he has his little brother in his class too" I say
"Please Toby" She whispers "I want to show them that I can fight, that I belong in Dauntless, like you" She says and I huff.
I know she can handle herself. She has been stronger then me since the very beginning. I remember as children when my father got to drunk and came home and started to beat my mother, I would stand up and try to take the abuse but that wasn't the hard part. Being hit repeatedly with the belt buckle, or TV rod or hanger or whatever he threw at me was fine but the part that was unbearable was at night, when she thought no one could hear her, my mother would sit and cry. She would sob and she would sob all night, cleaning the bruises or marks that Marcuse left on her. I wanted to go to her, I wanted to help ease her pain but I couldn't. For me to go to her and see her cry it was more painful than the actual beatings. I would lie in bed and just hear her sob and I would just put my headphones on high volume and try to fall asleep. I knew she needed me, she needed me to tell her it was ok, that we would get through this as a family but I full out ignored her. But Emily didn't. She was the rock in the family and she was the only one who after being beaten would go to our mother and sit with her and console her. She was fucking 7 at the time. What 7 year old understood what was happening, what could she possible say to help my mother, but every morning after Marcus left I would see a shine in our mothers eyes, knowing it was there because of Emily. Emily had kept our mother and me whole. Even after my mother abounded us "because it was too much for her" Emily would check up on my regularly, and at times she would sit with me and just hum sweet melodies which would help to sleep. I never thanked her and instead told her that I didn't need her but she would quietly sit beside me on my bed and hum until I fell asleep. I never told her but those night when she hummed to me, those were the only nights I actually feel asleep. Emily matured way beyond her years due to the circumstances and I which I could give her those years back, to act like kid again rather than a 40 year old lady with responsibilities. Yeah Emily I know you can handle yourself, I just wish you didn't have to.
"Alright Em, you win. I'll put you in" I smile as she hugs me and runs back to stand with the other initiates. I pair Emily up with one of the lowest ranked girls, the ranks weren't up but I already knew the ranks considering I was the one to choose them. I take Tris out instead and I can see her visibly relax and internally smile, she was so god damn cute. I watch each of the initiates go through their fights. I was impressed by few but overall it's a blood bath between the physically strong and the weak. Before Emily goes up, I wave her over
"Go kick some ass" I wink at her and she winks back, smiling.
I know I don't need to worry about Emily, like I said before she's very strong for someone her size and she fits well into Dauntless but that makes me even more worried. The second stage of the test is mental and if she is divergent like I suspect then she will be in a hell of allot danger then she was back home. I stiffen up as the though comes to me. If she is divergent then I will train her to keep it hidden like I have trained myself. There is no way that I am letting anyone hurt her anymore. From now on, it's her turn to act like a child and me to act as the adult.
I will not let anyone hurt my sister anymore or I will die trying.