Hello again! I'm back with another FourTris fanfic! I've had this idea in my head for a little bit. I kinda think I know where I want to take it so hopefully I can write it in a way that makes it interesting. I will likely be switching POVs but it's also possible that I might stick to mostly Tobias' POV. Going off of Veronica's original story I will mention the abuse that Tobias and Evelyn endured at the hands of Marcus but my story will have a slightly different take on it. And on another note, since this happened with my last FourTris fanfic, I WILL be using quotes from the original story so if that bothers you I don't really know what to tell you. Anyway, happy reading!

Two things that Tobias feared the most were heights and small spaces. He was currently sitting in a place where he had to face both of those things: an airplane. An airplane that was taking him back home for good to Chicago from New York City. It had been several years since he last lived in Chicago and he was feeling all sorts of emotions in going back: hope, fear and everything in between. He had contemplated driving back but his mother, Evelyn, went into mom mode when he told her this and immediately said she didn't want him to drive the long hours back. Besides that, he did need to arrive in decent time as his grandfather's funeral was in two days. So here he was, sitting in an airplane window seat with his headphones on and a plastic cup of Jack and coke in his hand to calm his nerves. He wasn't a big drinker but the alcohol did help a bit in situations like this.

When his mother had given him the news of his grandfather's death she immediately sought to persuade him to return to Chicago permanently. She had been living with her parents and taking care of them almost since the divorce from Tobias' father, Marcus, was finalized. It had been a long and arduous process to reach the divorce settlement between Evelyn and Marcus. Although Tobias was already an adult, the divorce affected him just as much as it affected Evelyn. After the divorce was finalized, Marcus left Chicago. His current whereabouts are unknown to Evelyn and Tobias. Then soon after Tobias decided to accept a job offer in New York City. Although he had been reluctant to leave his mom, he knew that he needed time alone to cope with everything. He did make sure to call every once in a while and Evelyn was successful in persuading him to visit for the holidays every year that he was gone but in the beginning Tobias was not ready to stay long periods of time in Chicago.

In the few years leading up to Evelyn filing for divorce, Marcus had changed drastically. Growing up in the Eaton household was pretty normal for Tobias but somewhere along the way things started getting bad between his parents. Tobias witnessed them starting to argue a lot then after a while Marcus started getting physical. He witnessed his father hit his mother regularly and call her names. Whenever he tried to intervene he'd get hit too. Just before Tobias started high school he was determined to do something to be able to fight back against his father. He started going to the gym and also took up cross country running.

One summer day before his freshman year, as he was running, a man stopped him by the high school. He can recall the day as if it were yesterday.

"Hey kid! Hold on a second!"

Tobias stopped running and caught his breath before answering. "Who? Me?"

"Yeah you. Who else? Do you go to this high school?"

"I'll be starting my freshman year."

"Oh good. Well I've been observing you running for these past couple weeks and you seem to run well. So I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining the cross country team. I'm coaching this year. My name's Amar, by the way."

"Uh I don't know. I guess I've never thought about doing a sport or other extracurricular activities."

"Think about it. As an incoming freshman it'll be good for you, to socialize and get to know people. Then you won't be as nervous on your first day of classes. Just know that when you come, the first thing I'll have you do is run a mile and I'll time you."

"Alright. I guess I'll be there."

"Good. The tryouts will be a week from today. What's your name, kid?"

Tobias hesitated for a moment before nervously answering. "Uh it's Tobias."

"By the way you answered it seems like you don't like your own name or something. Don't worry though. When you come by next week I might be able to figure something out to call you instead. See you soon, kid."

Amar turned and walked in the opposite direction. After a few moments Tobias collected himself and raced home. He wasn't planning on telling his parents anything for now.

The following week, Tobias showed up at the tryouts not knowing what to expect. A decent number of other kids also showed up that day. One of them immediately gave Tobias a bad vibe. A blonde haired kid, with a smug look on his face, named Eric. Throughout the entire time Tobias could feel Eric's eyes on him but he just ignored him.

Soon enough Amar told everyone to line up on the track. He reminded everyone that he would be timing them and began to count down from ten. As soon as Amar said "Go!" Tobias started running. He paced himself by not going too fast and kept his eyes trained forward, blocking out everything around him. At some point no one was ahead of him or directly in his peripheral vision but even still, he could feel Eric's presence near him, likely trying to get ahead of him. Tobias did what he did best and just kept running. On the final lap, his focus was on the finish line. This wasn't a competition to him. He was only competing with himself as he always had when he ran. When he could finally see the finish line he picked up the pace just a little more and pushed his body as much as he could until he crossed the finish line. He barely noticed Amar standing there with his stopwatch. He took a moment to catch his breath as the others crossed the finish line behind him.

Once everyone was gathered on the grassy area, Amar came up to the group.

"I'm thoroughly impressed by all of you today. Well done. Now, I will announce who had the fastest time. And the lucky one is you," he said, pointing at Tobias. He continued, "with a time of four minutes flat."

Tobias noticed Eric's face turn to anger and annoyance. He then gathered that Eric must've finished right behind him. He caught Eric's eye and smirked. Soon after, Amar let everyone go but called Tobias over.

"You did good today, kid." He said. "So I was thinking about that new name for you and I think I've got one. Initially, I was thinking about something like 'Blade' or 'Killer' but I eventually settled on something different. From now on I'm going to call you "Four" in honor of the time you got today. How does that sound?"

"Fine with me."

"Alright Four, see you at the next practice."

From then on Four became comfortable around Amar. It took some time but eventually Four told Amar what was happening in his household and told him how he wanted to get stronger in order to defend himself and his mom. He knew that Amar was going to encourage him to turn Marcus in but Four wasn't ready to do that and frankly, neither was Evelyn. Marcus worked for the government and had certain people in his pocket. Evelyn did not want him to take Tobias away from her so she stayed quiet and endured Marcus' abuse in order to protect her son. Although she could not physically fight back, she did not want to run away either and leave Tobias behind. She knew that if she left and took Tobias that Marcus could accuse her of kidnapping.

Things with Marcus eventually reached their breaking point and by then Tobias was ready to intervene and stop him from hurting Evelyn one night. The action left Marcus shocked. The next day Tobias had driven Evelyn down to the courthouse to file the divorce papers. Tobias had threatened Marcus that if he tried to stop the divorce, he would go straight to the authorities and tell them everything and have Marcus arrested. The bruises Marcus left on Evelyn from that final incident were still fresh and not only that but Tobias already had permanent scars from Marcus' abuse when he whipped him countless times with a belt so Tobias was hopeful that that was evidence enough if Marcus hadn't agreed to his terms.

Before leaving for New York, Tobias had talked to Amar and Amar had introduced him to his partner George's sister Tori who was a tattoo artist. Amar had suggested covering up the damage Marcus had inflicted on Tobias' back with a tattoo. Tobias could remember looking through Tori's sketchbook and coming across a very large and unique tattoo. It had five circular symbols in a perfect vertical line and flames going outward that would slightly wrap around the rib cage and up to the lower part of the neck. Tobias had asked Tori what the symbols meant. She explained to him that the first one at the top was a flame which represented bravery, the second was joined hands which represented selflessness, the third was scales which represented honesty, the fourth was an eye which represented intelligence and the fifth was a tree which represented kindness. Tobias realized that this was the perfect tattoo to get as he strived to be everything that these symbols represented, particularly the first two traits.

In leaving Chicago, Tobias didn't just leave behind his mother and the man who was more a father to him than Marcus was but he also left behind a very special girl, named Tris. She and her family lived next door to his grandparents and when he met her for the first time he was instantly captivated by her but was too much of an idiot to make a move, something he still regrets to this day. He didn't want to be friend zoned by this girl he secretly had a crush on but every time he visited he kept things casual and never admitted his feelings. Tris' father, Andrew, worked with Marcus and when Marcus resigned his position Andrew was promoted. Nobody else knew why Marcus abruptly resigned and left Chicago. To everyone else, Marcus was a respectable person. Eventually the talk about Marcus died down and everyone moved on without knowing the full story of what Evelyn and Tobias went through.

When Evelyn started talking to Tobias about him returning to Chicago permanently because of his grandfather's declining health, Tobias decided it was time to appease her and eventually applied for a job at a company called Dauntless Technology which specialized in surveillance. He has always been fascinated with computers and surveillance so it was actually the perfect job for him. Just before he got the news of his grandfather's death, he got offered the job. Evelyn was of course thrilled and relieved when Tobias told her that he got the job.

So after packing up his apartment and arranging for his belongings to be sent to Chicago, he booked a flight home.

Soon enough the captain's voice came on the intercom and announced that they were about to make their descent. Tobias situated himself and his things before as he looked out the window to see the city come into view. Once the plane landed safely and the ok was given to leave your seat Tobias gathered his carry on luggage and exited the plane to baggage claim. He thanked the flight attendants and the captain, who opened the cockpit door as he was passing, on his way out.

After getting the rest of his luggage he walked outside to the pickup area and his eyes immediately landed on his mother who was already stepping up on the curb to greet him. He looked at her carefully and immediately noticed the tired and sad look in her eyes.

Wordlessly she pulled him into a tight hug and examined him in her motherly way after pulling back.

"You look older," She noted.

Tobias smiled and almost rolled his eyes. It hadn't been terribly long since he was last in Chicago to visit but he knew that with everything going on that his mom had to have missed him and currently needed his support and comfort.

Growing up everyone always told Tobias how much like his mother he looked. They had the same hooked nose, strong jaw, distinct chin, spare upper lip and stick out ears. The only difference was their eyes. Tobias had Marcus' deep blue eyes that at times seemed to turn black. Those eyes used to haunt Tobias' dreams with the words "this for your own good" coming from Marcus' mouth as the sting of a belt would meet Tobias' skin.

The drive home was pleasant with Evelyn asking Tobias about his flight and inquiring more about his upcoming new job. When they pulled up to the house, Tobias' grandmother immediately came outside and greeted him. The house seemed quiet without his grandfather there and he looked around to see the pictures of him on the walls. Evelyn showed him to his room and he stopped and looked around, taking it all in. His eyes immediately landed on an object on his dresser, a glass blue sculpture that Evelyn had given to him without Marcus ever knowing. His feet carried him over to it and he carefully took the small sculpture in his hand.

"I saved that for you. Even though I knew you weren't terribly far away and that Marcus could never hurt you anymore I took this out and put it on your dresser to remind myself that you were okay and that you always would be."

Tobias smiled and stepped towards his mother to give her a hug. Before he left he wasn't sure how he and Evelyn would ever get over what Marcus did to them but he realized that they had each other and that neither of them should carry that burden alone.

"I'll let you get settled in and then you can come to the kitchen to have something to eat if you're hungry.

Tobias nodded before Evelyn left the room and then began unpacking his things, which included his suit for the funeral. As he was organizing his things he looked up and through his window to see a flash of blonde hair through the window of the house next door.

It was her…