A/N: Anyone else feel like they're like in a movie or something? Everything all shut down and all that. The rest of the fam was supposed to go out of town for a couple days to help their grandpa with the house he's flipping, and I thought awesome, I can get some writing done! Nope... that just got canceled, about 10 minutes after the hubby and kids took off to head north. I'll keep posting another chapter every 4-5 days while I have them ready, but I have no idea when I'll get the chance to really sit down and write, so I'm feeling at a standstill when it comes to pumping out any new chapters beyond that. In the meantime... I hope this helps entertain you while you're quarantined in your homes!

ABNEGATION HELLIONS

CHAPTER SEVEN

Beatrice POV

Uriah carries Adeline in his arms while I carry Landon in mine; we each have our book bags slung over our backs, and Uriah is also loaded down with the diaper bag. I am mostly recovered from the birth, but still a bit sore, so Uriah insisted on carrying the extra bag.

Today was my first day back to school in six months. I missed the last four months of my pregnancy, and am finally going back now that the twins are almost seven weeks old. The idea of leaving my babies in someone else's care is terrifying, but Mrs. Arnold, a newlywed a few blocks down the street who does not yet have her own children, said that they were little angels and everything went well.

Adeline squirms and screams in Uriah's arms as we walk. "What's wrong, Princess?" Uriah asks his niece, gently bouncing her in an attempt to soothe her. "Mrs. Arnold said you were an angel all day. Did you just save up all that crankiness for Uncle Uri?"

"Mrs. Arnold," I say, rolling my eyes, "was lying. 'Adeline' and 'angel' are two words that don't belong in the same sentence. You know that."

"That's not true," Uriah protests. I shoot him a look and he grins. "For example, 'It's too bad Adeline isn't a perfect angel like her brother.'"

I snort; so true. Don't get me wrong, I love this baby girl with all my heart, but she is not an easy baby. She's got colic, and she's got it bad. The doctor says she is perfectly healthy and we just have to wait it out until she outgrows it.

"If you think about it," Uriah continues, "your twins are just like the original Prior twins. I, the boy, am the one who is so easy to love... and the girls are trouble." I glare. Uriah's grin only widens. I would punch him if he didn't have my nine-pound daughter in his arms.

"What a beautiful child," says a voice that sends chills up my spine and leaves me frozen in place. I cuddle Landon closer to me, hiding his face in my chest. I can't let Marcus see him. He'll know. "Is she alright?"

"Just colicky," Uriah answers cautiously. "She will outgrow it."

"I suspect your father will be relieved when she does," Marcus says. I hate him. His act is good, I'll give him that, but I know what kind of man hides behind that facade.

"I suspect he will," I say politely, plastering a fake smile on my face.

Marcus turns his attention to me. Something about the way he looks at me creeps me out. "I understand that you returned to school today, Beatrice. Were there any problems?"

"No, sir," I respond, trying to wait patiently for a good moment to escape this conversation and this awful man.

"I am glad to hear that," Marcus says. "It would be a pity if everyone found out about your unfortunate circumstances." Unfortunate circumstances. What a way to refer to my children. While I may have felt that way myself several months ago, I don't like hearing it. I grimace.

"Of course not, sir." I glance at Uriah.

Uriah jumps to my rescue. "It was nice to see you, Marcus. I think we had better get these little ones home."

"Of course. So nice to see you again, Uriah, Beatrice." He turns and walks up the short concrete path to his home. I don't let out the breath I am holding until I hear his door click shut.

"That was close," I mutter. I don't think Dad has looked closely enough at the babies to see Tobias in them. Tobias looks more like his mother, Evelyn, than his father, and so does Landon. Evelyn passed away nearly eight years ago, and for once that is a good thing; it has been long enough that most Abnegation won't see her in Landon's face. Tobias was never involved in enough community events to make much impression on the adults. "Now we just have to hope we can keep Marcus away from them until the Choosing Ceremony."

Uriah nods, an unusually serious look on his face. "It almost makes me wish that you had continued to homeschool, just so you could keep them hidden. Who knows what he would do. Do you think he has enough power to prevent you from transferring?"

I sigh. "I don't know, Uri. My hope is that Dad wants us gone badly enough to keep Marcus from trying." My situation is without precedent. It has happened in other factions, but there has never been an Abnegation girl that had children before her choosing ceremony. Not until me.

We have to get out of here. We have to.

-oOo-

Four POV

I switch my camera feed to the Upper Levels School doors. The other day, I saw Beatrice on screen for the first time in months, and I am hoping to catch another glimpse of her. It felt odd the few times I watched Uriah walk out of school without her. Maybe she has been doing some sort of volunteer job after school.

As I wait, I hear the control room door open and the sound of someone whistling.

"It's Eric," Zeke whispers from his station next to mine, "and he looks giddy." This can't be good. Eric's greatest joy in life is to antagonize Zeke and me. Mostly just because he hates Abnegation, but it only made things worse when I outranked him in our initiation.

As expected, Eric stops between Zeke and me.

"Special delivery!" he singsongs. "When I got the latest news on Abnegation, I thought you all would want to see it right away. You're a Prior, aren't you, Ezekiel?"

Eric pulls a chair between Zeke and me and leans back, resting the back of his head on his hands and his feet on the counter between our workstations. He wears a satisfied smirk so wide that it pulls on and widens the holes of his lip piercings. Refusing to look at Eric, Zeke stares, resolute and stone faced, at the video monitor in front of him.

Eric clears his throat and reads loudly. "Further Evidence of Moral Decay in Abnegation. The moral integrity of the head and second seats of the Council, Marcus Eaton and Andrew Prior, were called into question eight months ago with the exodus of their children from their homes in Abnegation when they transferred factions: Tobias Eaton and Ezekiel Prior to Dauntless, and Caleb Prior to Erudite. The upbringings of these children has been called into question, with particular evidence and speculation pertaining to the possible violent and abusive upbringing of Tobias Eaton."

I just stare at him. This is nothing new. There have been several reports to this same effect over the past eight months, one even including quotes from Eric himself. I know the allegations are untrue of Andrew and I am sorry for their family, but Marcus deserves every word. I hate that my torment is out there for the whole city to judge, but the Dauntless have not seemed to connect Tobias Eaton with Four, thank God.

"Shocking recent events," Eric continues, "further confirm problems in the home of Andrew Prior, second seat on the Council."

I glance warily at Zeke. He looks as anxious as I feel. What could have happened?

"Two months ago, on January 5, Andrew Prior's fifteen-year-old daughter, Beatrice Prior, was admitted to Norton Memorial Hospital in Erudite, where she gave birth to twins."

Zeke gasps and his eyes meet mine. He is pale, but I suspect that there is no color in my face at all. Birth? Twins? My brain struggles to comprehend just what this means. Zeke tries to grab the paper from Eric's hand, but Eric swats him away and holds the paper just out of Zeke's reach.

"Prior's adopted son, Uriah, and biological daughter, Beatrice, will participate in this year's Choosing Ceremony. Beatrice is the first Abnegation dependent to become an unwed mother in the history of the faction system. The paternity of these infants has remained undisclosed by their young mother, with the hospital staff legally barred from even revealing the last name of Prior's grandchildren.

"Is not only Abnegation's leadership, but the leadership of our great city in the hands of a pair of morally bereft men? If they cannot effectively teach their own children and motivate them to keep the ways of their faction of birth, how can we trust them as leaders?"

"Give me that, Eric!" Zeke finally roars. But this time, Eric has gotten what he wanted and doesn't try to stop Zeke from ripping the paper from his hands.

"That's okay, you can have that one." Eric punctuates his declaration with a dismissive wave of his hand. His pierced lips twist into an evil smirk. "I have extra copies in my office and at home."

I feel like I am going to be sick, dizzy as if I have been spinning in circles like we all used to do in the meadow on the outskirts of Abnegation.

I'm a father.

I'm a father, and a shitty one already; I left them.

I left her. Left her to who knows what kind of response from Abnegation, from the whole city, and if Marcus finds out it was me… fuck, I don't even know what will happen.

I get up and head for the door; I really think I am going to be sick. But then I hear Eric:

"So, Ezekiel, you never told me your sister was a slut. You think she'll come here? Maybe I can have a little taste of the Slutty Stiff."

I don't even think. Before I know what I'm doing, my feet carry me back to Eric and my fist collides with his jaw. I know he didn't really expect me to care about Beatrice, he just saw an opportunity to get at Zeke.

But now I'm punching him and I can't stop.

Zeke pulls me off of him with the help of Austin, another control room worker on our shift. I don't know how Zeke had the self-control to stop me rather than join me, considering what Eric just said about his sister.

The look Zeke directs my way is menacing. Without taking his eyes off me, he addresses the room, "I think Four and I need to have a chat. We'll be taking a short break. You all can get on without us for ten minutes, right?" He walks out the door without waiting for a response.

I follow him, my stomach clenching in distress. I can take Zeke in any normal circumstance; I have never lost a fight. But he is still my closest friend… and I am pretty sure he just figured out that I am the one who put his sister in this position… who put his whole family in this position.

"What the fuck was that, Tobias?" Zeke demands. He is trying to stay calm, but I can see how much of a struggle it is. Of course it is. He just found out that his baby sister is an unwed mother at the age of fifteen, and she didn't tell him herself.

She didn't tell me about it herself, either. Why didn't she tell me?

"I wasn't about to let him talk about Beatrice like that. She's not a slut, Zeke!"

"Yeah?" he says, looking at me intently. "How can I be sure about that? I mean, I obviously don't know my sister, because I would have sworn on my mother's life that she wouldn't do something like this! Do you know anything about how this happened, Tobias? Because I'm getting the impression that you know my sister quite a lot better than I do."

I stand there speechless. I may have only four fears, but in this moment, I am not brave enough to admit to my actions and probably ruin my friendship with Zeke forever.

Zeke huffs and shakes his head in disbelief. "Be a man, Four!" he yells. "Own up to your own goddamn mistakes! Because it looks like they're gonna be staring you in the face in a few months, won't they?!" In a few months… she will be here… with my children. My children who I have never met, who she didn't even tell me about! I turn and run to the bathroom, where I lose my lunch.

How could she do this? Why didn't she tell me?! I have two children… and I found out from a newspaper. Not just a newspaper, but from an article read aloud by Eric, of all people! And to top it all off… my best friend had to find out about my relationship with his sister in the same way. Fuck!

I quickly wash my face and rinse my mouth with water from the tap. When I come out of the public bathroom, the hallway is empty, so I go back to work. Zeke is at his station, watching the feed I was looking at earlier: the front of the school. It's now swarming with teenagers from all factions.

"Zeke," I say.

He doesn't even flinch, he doesn't look up at me, it's as if I am not even there.

"Zeke."

Nothing.

I sigh. "Zeke, I'm sorry. I didn't know she was―"

"Knocked up?" he says bitterly. "I can't believe you were―" he runs his hands through his curly hair. It has gotten long since we came to Dauntless. "Behind my back, Four! My little sister!" He runs his hands over his face and I think about running back to that bathroom to dry heave. "How long? How long were you seeing each other?"

I gulp and glance away. "A year."

Zeke shakes his head. "Just ― just don't talk to me any more, Four. Leave me alone."

I sigh, but I don't argue. I just sit down and watch the screen, which now shows Beatrice and Uriah waiting for the bus. A Candor kid grips her arm and leans in much too close, whispering something in Beatrice's ear. She recoils in a way that makes it obvious that the boy said something completely inappropriate, but he only tightens his grip ― so much that even with her distance from the camera, I can see her wince ― and yanks her toward him. I can't believe I brought all this down on her.

Uriah turns, a murderous expression on his face, and clocks the guy right in the jaw. The kid releases Beatrice's arm and stumbles backward. When the Candor boy tries to punch back and Beatrice jumps between them, receiving a fist to the gut, Zeke and I jump to our feet at the same time. We look at each other, the same worry and distress I am feeling reflected in his eyes, and when we look back Uriah is wailing on the kid. When the Candor kid is incapacitated ― he appears to be knocked out, actually ― Uriah speaks to Beatrice for a moment and only looks more concerned as they talk. Beatrice is still doubled over with tears streaming down her face. Uriah scoops her up in his arms and carries her back toward the school.

I collapse into my chair. "This is all my fault," I whisper. "I did this. It's all my fault."

Zeke looks me level in the eyes. "Yeah," he says. "It is."

-oOo-

I shuffle down the hallway of the old building in the factionless sector by feel and memory. The flashlight we have always kept by the door is missing. I guess that's a good sign, and probably should have tipped us off that the twins weren't here last time Zeke and I tried to stop by.

I slowly and carefully make my way down the stairs to the basement. As I near the door to the old training room, I know they are definitely here, because I can hear knives hitting the target, and the occasional clunk of one hitting the floor.

It took me a week to work up the nerve to come here. I mean, I desperately wanted to see Beatrice, and I wanted to see these babies, too. But at the same time I was so ashamed to have done this to her, to have left her alone like that, and terrified at the idea of being a father. Seeing them will make it all real.

And what if I don't like them? What if I see them and have no idea what to do with them, feel nothing at all for them?

I guess I won't know until I meet them.

I slowly and quietly push open the door to be greeted with the sight of Beatrice, poised to throw a knife. Her stance is good ― not perfect, but extremely good when you consider that she doesn't have any sort of instructor. I watch the fluid movement of her arm as she throws. Beautiful. I don't even watch the knife, I am too mesmerized by the sight of her finally so near me, after so many months apart.

I know I was upset with her, but don't care. Right now, I just want to grab hold of her and never let go.

The sound of the knife sinking into the board reminds me to look at the knife and target. Her knife is only about two centimeters right of center.

"Impressive," I say from the doorway. It comes out a lot louder than I meant it to and Beatrice whirls around, shocked, and stares at me for a long moment. A baby's cry from across the room drags my attention away from her until she tackles me a second later and I hug her tightly to me. Her feet aren't even on the ground.

I glance across the room, toward the crying, and see Uriah swaying back and forth with a tiny baby held against his chest.

But in my arms, Beatrice is sobbing too. It looks like Uriah's got things handled with the baby and I doubt I would be of much help. I do want to see them, but I want to see Beatrice most of all. Even if I am upset with her, I still have missed her so badly.

I pull back to look at her beautiful face and I can't wait another second to kiss her. I crash my lips against hers and pour eight months of loneliness and longing for her into the kiss. After a moment Tris pulls away and her face is turning beet red. She glances at Uriah.

"I'm so sorry, Tobias," she whispers. "Do you hate me?"

"I could never hate you," I respond truthfully. I look at Uriah again, and notice that the cries are now coming in stereo, and see Uriah leaning in to check on the other baby now, too.

"Shit, sorry, Uri!" Beatrice calls. She glances at me apologetically, runs over to her brother and takes the baby that has been crying longer. Beatrice is very small for a girl who will turn sixteen this month, but even in her arms this baby looks so tiny. She walks away from me, bouncing gently. I am not sure whether to look at the baby Uriah is taking care of or follow Beatrice. Then Beatrice glances back at me with an apologetic smile, and I follow her.

"She's a really fussy baby, but she is happier when we move around with her," Beatrice explains.

I nod, not that it would have ever occurred to me that a baby would care whether you were moving or sitting still with them. I guess that must be why people are always rocking babies. I don't know, I just never thought about it. I have never really been around a baby.

"What's her name?" I can't believe I don't even know my own kids' names. But I guess this is progress from a week or so ago, when I didn't even know I had kids.

"Adeline," Beatrice says. It sounds musical, the way Beatrice says it. "And Uriah is taking care of her twin brother, Landon. I ― I hope you like the names I picked. Uriah helped. I would have really liked for you to help choose them. I didn't have any way to contact you."

"They were only born six months after I left. You must have known. But you didn't tell me. I'm sure we could have at least found a way for me not to miss their birth if you'd said something."

She scowls at me. "I suspected before you left, yeah. But first of all, they were more than a month early. Common with twins, I guess. So I actually hadn't suspected for very long at all yet, and I hadn't been to the doctor. But even if I had been positive that I was expecting, what if I had told you? You never would have left and we would both be stuck in Abnegation under Marcus's thumb for the rest of our lives!" She stops pacing and turns to me, and Adeline cries louder again. But Beatrice keeps focused on me, though she sways back and forth in an effort to soothe the baby. She reaches her free hand out and cups my cheek with her palm. I automatically lean into it.

"It was the only way for us to have the life we've always wanted together, Tobias. Please understand."

I close my eyes and slowly nod.

"Ezekiel didn't want to come with you?" Her voice is too high and sounds tight. She's worried what his reaction was.

"Zeke and I haven't spoken since the day we read that Erudite report. I can't blame him. This is my fault."

"Our fault," she corrects me. "We did this together, Tobias. It was as much my choice as it was yours."

I don't want to spend the short time I have with her arguing, so I shrug, put my arm around Beatrice, and we start walking again.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, suddenly remembering the last time I saw her on the screen in the control room. "I work in intelligence ― the control room. I was watching you waiting for the bus when that Candor…"

Beatrice sighs. "Yeah, I'm alright. They gave me some sort of shot to help stop the bleeding. My incision… well, never mind. I'm fine. Don't worry." She grimaces. "I'll be homeschooling again until the aptitude test, though. Mom says that Dad and Marcus don't want any more attention drawn to Abnegation." I wince just hearing her mention my father. But I don't want to think about him now Or ever. .But especially when I finally have a few minutes with Beatrice. This visit will end all too soon.

When we get back to Uriah, baby Adeline is quiet and Landon is happy chewing on his fist and looking over Uriah's shoulder.

"You should hold him, Tobias," Beatrice says gently. Uriah holds him out to me and helps me position my arms the right way. He is bigger than Adeline but still feels so light in my arms. My eyes scan his little face and I gasp. He looks like the baby version of me. A miniature, slightly flattened version of my hooked nose, deep-set dark blue eyes, my olive skin; his strong jaw, full lower lip, right down to the way his ears stick out. He smiles at me, showing me his gums, and I stroke his cheek with my thumb. As I do, he grabs hold of my index finger and holds onto me tightly.

A warm feeling starts at the center of my chest and spreads through me as I smile back at this little person. "He's… amazing," I say.

Uriah nods. "Yeah," he says with a little smile, "he really is. You should hold Addie, too." After passing Landon back to Uriah and carefully taking my daughter from Beatrice's arms, I take my time looking Adeline over, just as I did Landon.

Adeline feels much lighter than her brother. Beatrice managed to pass her to me without waking her, so her eyes are hidden behind closed lids. I admire the features she got from her mother: the straight nose, rounded chin, her wispy, straight blond hair. I smile as I study her tiny face and see her lips ― a tiny version of my own ― move as if she is suckling on something. I wonder if babies dream, and if they do, is she dreaming about food? That's my girl; one day I'll introduce her to Dauntless cake and then that will be what she dreams about eating.

"I can't believe that we made them," I whisper, my voice thick with emotion. I meet Beatrice's gaze and see that she has tears in her eyes too. I just met these little people, who I wasn't even sure I would like, and already my heart is ready to burst with love for them and I am overcome with a fierce need to protect them. I would do anything for them.