I knew from the beginning that he was Divergent.
After his mother's funeral, he had hatched a daring plan to run away from Abnegation to join the factionless. Little 9-year-old Tobias, softened by his traitorous mother's touch, abandoned his plan when he realized that it would leave me alone with only the memories of a fake dead baby. Despite how much he despised me, he still stayed. A real Abnegation member would never have dreamed such a plan to begin with. A real Dauntless would have carried it out to conclusion.
It was true then. The time was approaching when children would display the signs of the Divergent with increasing frequency. It was would soon be time to reveal the truth to the population the truth that we could leave the confines of the fence and become real human beings. We could conquer our belligerent, ignorant, selfish, deceitful, and cowardly natures and help the rest of the country prosper.
I was worried, however. The other factions had discovered the presence of the Divergent several years ago and had started a secret assassination effort against them. Damn the Erudite and their abhorrence for any that diverged from their statistical norms. Several reports had come in from the Dauntless in particular of new initiates that had met their untimely ends at the bottom of a giant pit.
I had to protect him. I had to protect him from himself and our city that would not stop until he was dead. Even if it meant that he would hate me for the rest of his life, I would repress the Divergent in him and bring out the Abnegation. He was only safe under my thumb.
"Daddy, what are the Divergent?"
"Where did you hear that repulsive word?"
I slid my belt out of my pant loops.
"This is for your own good."
Author's Note: I just finished the second book of this series and it is amazing. I was stuck on Marcus, however, and this came up as a possible explanation for his erratic behavior. I'd like to add that I haven't read any fanfiction with the Divergent trilogy yet, so hopefully this hasn't already been explored in this way by another author. I am considering continuing in Marcus' POV if there is interest so please leave a review!