Next chapter will be up sometime next week! In the meantime, everyone stay safe and healthy. This whole pandemic thing is all a bit surreal, isn't it? My kids, starting right now, are on an extended Spring Break. Whether that means I get no writing done at all, or more than usual, I cannot predict.

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ABNEGATION HELLIONS

CHAPTER SIX

Zeke POV

I pound on Four's door and jiggle the handle. I don't feel like being patient today. There is no answer. I'm turning around to just go without him when I hear footsteps. "Hey, Zeke," Four says, coming up behind me.

"Oh, good, there you are," I say. Four unlocks his door and motions for me to follow him.

Having grown up in Abnegation, my apartment is reasonably tidy. I have at least somewhat adapted to Dauntless life, though, and it's not immaculate like Four's is. For him, I guess old habits die hard. I swear there's not a speck of dust anywhere in this place.

"So, what's up?" he asks, grabbing two bottles of water out of the fridge and handing me one before he guzzles half of his own.

"I'm going to the training room," I say.

He stares at me, then says, "um, ok… have fun?"

I am surprised he doesn't want to come, and I'm about to leave when I realize what he thought I meant. "Oh! No, not here in Dauntless. Our old training room," I explain. "I haven't seen my brother and sister in almost six months, Four, and I miss them. I just thought you might want to come."

"Oh, sure, of course I'll come," he says, tossing his empty bottle in the trash can and grabbing his jacket, suddenly very eager to come along with me. "You sure they'll be there?"

I follow him out the door and wait as he locks it. "No, of course I'm not sure," I answer. We start down the hall. "But it's a pretty good guess. They're probably there almost every night." Four nods.

"Hey, why don't you bring Shauna to meet them?" he suggests.

I shake my head. I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of introducing her to my siblings yet; we've been friends since initiation, but we just started dating, and it feels too soon. Doesn't matter tonight, though. "Can't. She's at the fence."

We can already see the train light not too far in the distance when we arrive at the platform. Four throws himself into the first open car and I follow. I lean against the wall of the train car as Four holds both handles, his feet at the edge of the open doorway, and leans out into the wind. After a few minutes he retreats into the car and sits against the wall. I sink down next to him and finally notice the way he is rubbing the back of his neck and the worried look on his face.

"What's up, man?" I ask, nudging him with my elbow. "You look nervous. You know it's just Beatrice and Uriah."

A look I can't place flashes across his face before he puts on a smile that doesn't meet his eyes. "It's nothing," he says. "I guess I'm just worried that Beatrice might be upset with me for not seeing her on visiting day."

I roll my eyes. "She was never mad at you in the first place. And even if she was, it's been almost six months, Four. I'm sure she's over it." He worries about the dumbest shit sometimes.

Despite my reassurances, Four is tense when we jump off the train near the makeshift training room. Whatever, let him be his uptight self. I just want to see the twins.

My heart is so light I have to stop myself from skipping. Four would never let me live that down. We arrive at the building and push open the door. Four grabs the flashlight we keep up high on a shelf just inside the door, and we wind through the halls and down the stairs to the basement room. Because of its location, no one can see from outside that someone is in here.

Unfortunately, when we get to the room we trained in for years before coming to Dauntless, the place is dark and empty. Four switches on the lights.

We both survey the room and look at one another with furrowed brows. It is different than the other times we have been here. All of us were good about putting everything away when we were done, Beatrice and Uriah included. I don't think we have ever left the room in any sort of disarray. We were raised in Abnegation, after all.

Four crosses to the makeshift targets the twins must have set up for knife throwing, plywood leaning against the wall with bullseyes spray painted in green. "Someone's gotten pretty good," he comments, inspecting the two knives sticking out of the center of the bullseye.

"And someone else sucks," I chuckle as I pull the third knife out of the corner of the plywood. Two more knives are scattered on the floor. Again, very odd. It doesn't feel right.

The floor is damp near an overturned bottle of water nearby. I pick it up and throw it away. The paper towels are still in the same spot where we have always kept them, and I tear off a few and wipe up the small puddle of water. Four throws knives at the target for a few minutes. He has excellent aim. He never misses.

Then we spar for a few minutes, killing time. We arrived at about eleven-thirty; when we used to come here with the twins, we all usually arrived around eleven.

"You think they'll show up if we wait a while?" I ask hopefully.

Four looks at his watch. "It's after midnight. I think if they were coming tonight they would be here by now." He pauses. "We could go check your old house. Go in the window?"

I shake my head. "No," I answer. "If they're not here, maybe Mom or Dad caught them and are keeping an eye out. If they don't know yet how the twins are sneaking in and out, us showing up there would definitely tip them off." I wonder if they still share a room. It would make sense for Uriah to have moved to Caleb's and my room after the choosing day, but the twins might have thrown a fit about the very idea of being separated. They're so weird. But I love 'em.

Four sighs, looking even more disappointed than I am. "Well, should we head back to Dauntless, then?"

I frown and nod. I really am bummed that I didn't get to see the twins. "Yeah. I've got an early shift in the control room tomorrow. Let's go."

Maybe we'll try again another day. But the untidiness of the training room continues to eat at me, and all I can think is that I hope everything is alright.

-oOo-

Beatrice POV

Our family doesn't own a car, so we have to bring my newborn twins home on the bus. I cringe with every pothole it hits. Not only am I worried about my week-old babies, but every bump sends pain through the incision across my abdomen.

I had hoped that I would be able to give birth to the twins at home. Given the tensions between Erudite and Abnegation, I wanted to avoid letting the Erudite gawk at the slutty Abnegation dependent who got knocked up a year before her Choosing Day, and there was no avoiding that if I had to be admitted to their hospital.

Uriah and I were in our makeshift training room in the factionless sector when the first contraction ripped through me. We left everything where it was and rushed home. Not wanting Mom and Dad to know where we had been, I climbed the tree as quickly as possible, but had to stop halfway up and sit on a branch while I breathed through another bout of overwhelming pain. During the walk home, the contractions had become stronger, with shorter breaks between them.

An hour later, I was checking into the Erudite hospital with Mom and Uriah. With labor having begun just over a month early, Mom said that there was no way we were risking it and laboring at home; the babies could need extra medical care. I am glad she insisted, because not only was she right… but the way the babies had positioned themselves made a natural birth impossible. The twins were born by C-section and immediately whisked off to the infirmary for oxygen. Five-pound, eleven-ounce Landon was returned to me a few hours later, as soon as he had coughed up all the fluid in his lungs and was breathing normally. His tiny four-pound, fourteen-ounce sister, Adeline, was in the NICU with a nasal cannula providing extra oxygen for four days. They kept us all three more days after she was released from the NICU, just to be sure that she was healthy enough to be safely cared for at home.

We disembark in Abnegation, thanking the factionless driver politely on our way off the bus. Uriah carries Landon and Mom carries Adeline, both insisting that I take easy as I am recovering from major surgery. I feel more and more nervous as we come closer to our home. Uriah has barely left my side, and Mom has been in to visit daily, but Dad has yet to meet his grandchildren. I wonder if he will even do more than glance at them. He has barely spoken two words to me since the night I announced my pregnancy.

Throughout Abnegation, I am met with looks ranging from pity to disgust. Mrs. Vaughn, a woman I used to sometimes babysit for, actually crosses to the other side of the street when she sees me coming. This kind of treatment is nothing new; I have endured this sort of response for months now. I cannot wait to get out of this place. My Choosing Ceremony is a little less than six months away. My loose Abnegation robes helped to hide my pregnant belly for a while, but with twins growing in my petite body, by the time I was five months along it was obvious to everyone who laid eyes on me. As selfless as the Abnegation claim to be, it turns out that they are a judgmental bunch and relentless gossips.

With Mom as his messenger, Dad insisted that I should be homeschooled until the babies were born ― his attempt at hiding what a poor job he did at teaching his daughter proper Abnegation values, I guess. It has been a long and lonely four months, but I always have Uriah, and Mom has continued to show me kindness, understanding, and unconditional love. Despite having been born in Dauntless, I can confidently say that she is a better Abnegation than most of this faction.

"Beatrice!" I hear as we reach the pathway to our house. I look up to see my next-door neighbor Susan hurrying over, her brother Robert trailing behind her. Susan and Robert Black are two of the very few who have not shunned me these past months. I know these past six months have been difficult for Susan. For a year before Caleb left, he and Susan had been flirting in the quiet, awkward way that is typical of the Abnegation. Susan had envisioned a future for herself and Caleb, but he chose to leave.

"Oh my goodness, you had your babies!" Susan cheers.

Mom and Uriah adjust their positions so that Susan and Robert can gaze at their faces. Both babies have Tobias' dark blue eyes, but they are sleeping now. Landon has dark wispy hair that curls a little at the ends, and Adeline has my straight blond hair. Both babies have Tobias's olive skin and ears that stick out just a little too much, and his lips. Landon really looks just like him; I am not certain that I will be able to hide Tobias's identity. Mother figured it out right away, though I am sure she already suspected. Adeline's eye shape, chin and nose are mine, though.

"Oh, they're just beautiful!" Susan gushes. "And so tiny. I didn't realize it was already time for them to be here!"

"It wasn't," Uriah replies for me, smiling down at his nephew. "They were about a month early. The doctor said that's common with twins. Adeline needed some help breathing for a few days, but they are both healthy."

"Well, we are happy for you, Beatrice," Robert says kindly. "Remember to let us know if you need anything. Could we bring your family dinner tonight?"

"Thank you so much, but―" I start, not wanting to put them out.

"That would be lovely, Robert. Thank you," Mom interrupts. I look at her questioningly, but she just continues. "I think we should get these little ones into the house, and Beatrice needs to rest. You are welcome to see them again tonight."

"Of course, Mrs. Prior," Susan says with a warm smile. "We will be by around six o'clock." We all say our goodbyes, and I follow Uriah toward the house, Mom bringing up the rear. "Thank you for letting us see them, Beatrice!" Susan calls as she returns to her own home.

-oOo-

Uriah POV

It is one o'clock in the morning… and Adeline has been screaming for an hour. I pace around Beatrice's room gently rubbing Landon's back to keep him calm. Even at only a week old, I think his twin's distress is almost as upsetting to him as Beatrice's is to me. She is sitting on the bed trying to get Adeline to latch on and nurse.

"Just take off the damn blanket, Beatrice," I sigh exasperatedly. She's been trying to get the baby to eat for twenty straight minutes with no luck. I think if she could see what she was doing a little better, she would have more success. "I'm going to take Landon to my room to give you privacy. But if she's still crying in ten minutes, I am making a bottle of formula for her. She is so little, Beatrice. The doctor said that nursing her might not work out since she still hadn't gotten the hang of it."

Beatrice nods, tears streaming down her face. It kills me to leave her like that but I know she will not be successful with the blanket in the way, and I also know she won't take it off with me in the room.

When I step into the hall, my dad is there scowling at me. He barely glances at Landon. "Is your sister going to do something about that child's screaming?" he asks without a hint of patience or compassion.

I glare at him. I am so sick of the way he has been treating Beatrice. I don't recognize this version of my father, and I don't like it one bit.

"She's trying, okay? The baby is premature. It isn't that simple." He scowls and I sigh. "She's having trouble getting her to eat. If Adeline is still crying in a few minutes I will bring in a bottle, okay?"

"Fine," he growls, disappearing back to his bedroom. I catch a glimpse of Mom's sympathetic smile before Dad shuts the door. I know that she wants to come and help, but she doesn't want to upset Dad, and she also told me that she wants Beatrice to have a chance to do it herself. She needs to feel confident of her ability to care for her own children. That won't stop me from helping her, though. I promised her that I would always be there, and I meant it.

Ten minutes later, I bring a bottle of formula into Beatrice's bedroom for her to feed the still crying baby girl. I lay Landon in the crib that occupies the far wall and sit down next to my sister on her bed. Adeline is now desperately sucking on the bottle nipple. Beatrice pulls it away when Adeline sputters and chokes, drinking it too fast, then holds her a little more upright and brings it back to her mouth before she can get herself worked up again.

"We haven't been home even a day and I'm already a failure as a mother," Beatrice whimpers.

"Beatrice, no," I insist. "You are not a failure, not at all. I'm sure all moms feel like they don't know what they are doing at first. It's not your fault that she is struggling. Be thankful she is healthy, and that you have a way to feed her even if she doesn't get the hang of nursing. Tobias would hate to hear you talking that way about yourself, you know."

She sniffles. "Tobias will probably hate me when he finds out all this, anyway," she whispers. "So I'm not sure it matters what you think Tobias would say. He'll hate me, just like Dad does. Ezekiel, probably, too."

"Tris," I groan. "Stop it. Ezekiel won't hate you, and neither will Tobias. He might be mad that you didn't tell him before he left, but you had good reason. Just try not to worry about that. We will cross that bridge when we come to it." I don't say anything about Dad, because honestly, I don't know, maybe he does hate her. He has become someone I do not recognize.

"You should get some sleep, Uri," Beatrice says. "Adeline is okay now. We might be waking you up again sooner than later."

"Want me to sleep in here?" I offer.

She shakes her head. "I'm sure you'll hear us if we really need you. You have to go to school tomorrow. You need to sleep. Thank you, Uriah, I don't know what I would do without you."

I hug Beatrice, being careful not to squish the tiny baby in her arms, and retreat to my bedroom.

Laying on my bed in the darkness, I hear my parents' raised voices through the thin walls.

"She made a mistake, Andrew," Mom says. "She doesn't need your hostility. The consequences she must live with are enough without feeling unwanted in her own home, by her own family."

Dad replies, sounding bitter. "How can I stop being angry, Natalie? She may well cost me my seat on the council! And people already distrust the Abnegation. If Tobias, Ezekiel and Caleb transferring was indication that Abnegation is corrupt, what will come of a leader's underage daughter having children out of wedlock?! I cannot just let that go."

"You are being selfish, Andrew." Mom's tone is harsher than I have ever heard it. "I don't like it. You are not acting like the kind, compassionate man I married. I am going to sleep in the spare bed in Beatrice's room and help her with the babies. Perhaps you need some space to reflect."

My heart pounds in my ears as I hear Mom's footsteps in the hall, then Beatrice's door opening and closing. I try to close my eyes, but Mom accusing Dad of selfishness echoes in my head again and again. Of course, I agree with her, but to hear her assign that label to my father ― to his face, no less! ― well, it's shocking. In Abnegation, labeling your spouse as selfish… those aren't words that you just throw around. She is clearly very angry with him.

And what about what Dad was saying about the council? Could they really vote him out over this?

Maybe Erudite is right about Abnegation being corrupt. Just not in the way they think.