As he was finishing up his shift in the kitchen, Four felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find two Abnegation women and an Amity woman facing him. "Tobias Eaton?" He stiffened at the name and looked them warily in the eye.
"I thought that was you. I'm Joyce Williams. I worked with your father in Abnegation. I didn't recognize you until you two stood side by side. You look so much like him." She smiled at him as if that was a compliment. Four held his tongue, understanding how hard it was for anyone from Abnegation to believe Marcus actually beat him.
The Amity woman spoke up before he had a chance to respond, "It's awful about those reports that were created by Erudite. I understand they are our allies but to make up such atrocious lies about your father, I'm sure you are glad to have reunited with him to show those reports aren't true."
Four couldn't handle it any longer, "Well if only that were true but unfortunately every part of that report was correct so I try to keep my distance." The women gasped in horror and Joyce quickly jumped in to defend Marcus as Abnegation usually does, he had them all so easily fooled.
"Now Tobias, I know things went sour between you two after your mother passed away but there is no reason to allow such lies to continue. Marcus is a kind gentle soul and an excellent leader of our faction. We need to build him up not plant false seeds of distrust." Before he could say anything, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes son, remember we have to be a united front if we are going to show Erudite they can't print false accusations about our family and get away with it," Marcus said with a false look of concern for Tobias. Four had enough and needed to find Tris, she always knew how to calm him down. He couldn't stand that everyone believed Marcus' false front when Four had the scars to prove what a horrible man he was.
He pushed through the women and Marcus and headed toward the cafeteria. When he entered, he saw her blonde hair immediately and settled down next to her. She must have felt the aggression pouring off him in waves as did the Amity and Abnegation at the table. He knew in this crowd, he couldn't truly tell Tris what was bothering him without having to hear them rush to Marcus' defense.
"What happened?" she asked him. Four tried to find a way to calmly state what was bothering him without revealing too much of what happened but even those calm words came out harsh.
"In their enthusiasm for conflict resolution, the Amity have forgotten that meddling causes more conflicts." He took a deep breath grabbed Tris' hand, squeezing it to distract himself from the anger, it didn't work. "If we stay here much longer, I'm going to punch something!"
He heard a few people gasp and he gave him dirty looks. Four saw Tris out of the corner of his eye looking at him warily, unsure as to what set him off. She asked him again, "What happened?"
He took a deep breath, letting the tension go, and said, "I'll tell you later." With that he relaxes slightly, allowing Tris' calming effect to wash over him. That doesn't last long when he hears her hiss of pain. Four turns to see a hand clamped down on her right shoulder.
"She got shot in that shoulder," he snaps at Marcus. Marcus gives a false look of shock and says, "My apologies." Four knows better, that was his subtle way of showing Tris he was not someone to mess with and showing Four that he needed to keep his mouth shut. Marcus was warning them that he had the power and Four wanted so badly to take that power away from him.
"What do you want?" Tris asked and Four could tell she didn't want him near them anymore than he did. When Marcus doesn't answer, Tris turned to him and said, "I asked you a question." Four loved how protective she was of him and gave her hand a small squeeze under the table.
"I would like to discuss something with you," he states clearly, appearing calm. Four knows that voice though, he is seething about something, putting on that public face everyone knows and trusts so much. "The other Abnegation and myself have discussed that we are not going to stay here. We feel it is selfish to stay here while the rest of our people are still inside the fence. We want you to escort us."
Four felt Tris tense up, analyzing the situation. He knew her mind was flying a mile a minute, looking for Marcus' motive to returning to the city. He was curious as well, why the rush? She turned to him as Four kept his eyes on the table. If he looked at Marcus, he knew he would do something he would regret in front of all these people. He also wanted Marcus to think he was still that weak boy he could push around so that when the time came, he would have total control over Marcus, taking the power away in one shot. He wanted Marcus to think the history between them was still real, that he was still that little boy cowering under his father's mighty hand.
"What do you think?" Tris asks him. Four looks at her and answers, "I think we should leave the day after tomorrow." He wanted to give her some more time to heal up and possibly they could have some time together before they threw themselves back to the wolves. Marcus leaves after he gets the answer he wants.
Four feels Tris lean into him, rubbing his arm, and his eyes close at the feel of her touch on him. He sees her eyes though, not relaxed, watching Marcus with a hunger, that Erudite hunger for information, and he hopes she stays away from him.