I don't own Divergent.

hello

i'm back

sorry for the delay (again)

this week has been freaking chaos. not kidding. and i'm going on vacation next week, so pls don't expect an update until after the eighth probably.

thank you guys for sticking around and waiting for my continuously delayed updates—

but if anyone had feedback, i'm more than willing to listen to it. also! i want to know: what would you guys like to see more of in this story? are there any characters who you think have a diff. sexuality than the canon books? pls, do tell me. i'm trying to use my writing and platform to bring a bit more diversity into these books! i know everyone sees characters a different way, and i would love some opinions. i want you guys to be just as big apart of this as i am :)

also PLEASEEE, if ANYONE has ANY names they love, review them! or PM me! i'm looking for mostly unisex names that have a dauntless vibe to them—

anyway, ENJOYYYY

I LOVE YOU GUYS

Tris and I walked down to the infirmary, both of us eager for today's appointment.

She was twenty weeks pregnant, and according to our doctor, we'd be able to find out the baby's gender depending on if the little person was in the right position. I was more than excited. If the majority was correct, we'd be having a girl. And unfortunately, I had probably gotten my own hopes up.

We turned the corner and walked up to the counter, telling the lady at the desk our names. Tris had to sign something, and then we sat down in the waiting room.

"Are you nervous?" I asked quietly, taking her trembling hand.

"A little."

"Do you want to talk?"

"Not here."

Our wait was only like ten or so minutes, and then we were taken to a room numbered 318, which inside was just like any hospital—white walls, tiled floors, medical supplies scattered around in organized piles, bright lights. Dr. Green sat in a chair hidden behind the huge computer screen that I guessed was connected to the ultrasound thing.

Tris sat down on the hospital bed, laying down on her back and pulling her shirt up to her bra on Dr. Green's orders. I sat by and watched, my heart racing, as we got closer and closer to the reveal of our child's gender.

"Alright," Dr. Green said. "Are you ready to find out if this little munchkin is a girl or a boy?"

Tris nodded eagerly. "Yeah."

She squeezed my hand as Dr. Green moved closer to the screen, a goofy smile on her face. The anticipation was seriously killing me! Was it a baby girl or a baby boy?

"Well, it seems you're having a baby girl, Mrs. Prior."

Tris burst into tears, sobbing into her hands. I started laughing—of course Zeke's Zeke-senses were right. An hour ago, I was afraid I'd gotten my hopes up, but no. I was going to have a daughter. A little girl.

"Do you want to see her?" Dr. Green asked.

We both nodded.

On the screen was a black and white image, and I could make out the shape of a baby that looked like it was sucking its thumb. That was our baby girl.

"Oh, she's.. a blob," Tris said, now wheezing out laughs like me.

"A perfect blob," I observed.

I kissed Tris, my hand cupping her face as I leaned over her body. My other hand, which had been on Tris's now clean belly, felt a light thump. It made me jump.

"What—"

Dr. Green laughed. "That was your baby kicking, Four."

I stood there, frozen like a statue, before I slowly lowered my hand back down to Tris's belly and felt two light kicks in a row. Holy Hell, I thought, holy hell.

Tris started laughing at me. "The almighty Four, scared of a kicking baby."

"I didn't know she could do that!" I protested. "But it's.."

"Amazing?"

"Yeah."

Our little girl kicked again, and I sat back down, my eyes moving between the screen and her belly. I could see and feel her kick at the same time. Right now, I had never been more thankful to have stayed in Dauntless. It was one of my better choices—like leaving Abnegation.

I grinned, and whispered to myself. "Amazing."

After getting a copy of the ultrasound, Tris and I left the infirmary, and headed back up to our apartment, where we sat down on the couch, happily admiring the photo of our unborn daughter.

"So perfect," I said quietly, talking mostly to myself.

Tris let out a strained sob, and I turned to look at her, my focus now completely on her. Whatever kind of emotions she was feeling, I seriously doubted it was happy or giddy or excited. It looked more like sadness. Anger, even.

I slid an arm around her waist, and she swatted me away. She stood and put a few feet of distance between us. There was no point in hiding my hurt.

"Don't, Tobias." she said. "I don't even know if my daughter will have a father."

"What?"

"She'll kill you, you know."

"I'll get out of this, babe—"

"How?"

Well, there was a question I couldn't answer, Tori had hardly given me any information about what I was up against with Jeanine. I knew the Erudite were ruthless when it came to anything concerning Divergents. They made sure everyone knew that.

Tris sobbed—something between a laugh and a snort. "You don't know. I don't know. Does Tori know?"

"I don't know."

"Nobody knows, Tobias. You're as good as dead."

"Tris, I'll talk to Jeanine—"

"What?"

"—and I'll give her reason to believe I'm innocent. I can do it. You know I can."

She pushed a stray hair out of her face, turning her whole body away from me. I would've gotten up to hug her, kiss her even, but I got the message that she didn't need that right now.

"I can't lose you."

"And you won't."

Painting was overrated.

I was kind of shocked that anyone would pick it as a career. I mean, seriously, didn't they just ruin their clothes? And plus, paint was oddly expensive. Maybe they got paid well.

Zeke flicked his paintbrush at me, getting the cream colored paint on me. "Be more colorful, Four."

"Just paint my clothes," I retorted, and he shrugged.

"Alrighty."

"I wasn't—"

"Nope. You gave me permission." he smirked. "You asked me."

I hit him with my wet paintbrush, smearing the paint across his cheek. He stared at me in disbelief before wiping his own paintbrush across my face. Soon, it turned into a full on battle, and we were both covered in paint.

When I pinned him down and painted a clown face on him, he retaliated by pinning me down and doing the same thing to my face.

Shauna sighed. "And I thought you were just friends."

When had she—

Tris, Shauna, Marlene, and Christina were standing in the doorway. I'd forgotten that Zeke was straddling me, his hands cupping my face. This didn't look weird at all.

Zeke bent down and tried to kiss me, and I spit on him. He wiped at his face, cussing at me.

"The hell, Four!"

"Keep your nasty lips away from me!" I said, struggling under his weight. "Get off of me, fat ass!"

He gasped. "I'll hold you here until you apologize!"

"Whatever you say."

"Shut up, Eaton!"

"Ezekiel."

"Tobias."

"Bitch-face."

"Stiff."

"Pansycake."

When we both realized how pointless this was, he collapsed onto the ground beside me, and stayed still until he attacked me with another fresh paintbrush. We were both left doubled over in laughter, shoving each other.

Tris looked towards Shauna. "These are the idiots we picked?"

"Apparently."

Zeke slung an arm around my shoulder once we'd recovered, and kissed my cheek. "I love you, Four."

I elbowed him in the side.

"I want a divorce," he muttered, shoving me back. "Why can't you just love me?"

I was helping Tris with the fear simulations.

At first, I'd enjoyed the free time, but now it was getting old. So I'd asked Tori for permission to help Tris this year, seeing as I had much more experience and Tris was brand new to the job and twenty-one weeks pregnant.

Our first initiate to be tested was Cleopatra—a former Erudite.

She was apparently scared of twelve things: frogs, being kidnapped, some person with dark hair, being buried alive, darkness, owls, thunderstorms, riding horses, dying, getting a tattoo, freezing to death, and falling from a cliff.

Most of her fears were relatively common, like being buried alive or dying or being kidnapped. The rest were a little unusual, I'll admit.

She laid down in the chair.

Tris plunged the syringe into her neck on my order, and then we turned on the screen. Slowly, an image began to appear, and Tris glanced at me.

Cleo was getting past her fear of frogs by making them disappear.

A Dauntless would have probably summoned some sort of weapon and killed them, which would let them get past that landscape. A Divergent, no doubt, would tell themselves it wasn't real. And then the frogs would disappear.

She came out of the simulation after another thirty minutes, and with each of them, she only proved her Divergence more and more.

With shaky hands, Tris submitted the footage.

I think that we'd both come to the realization that if we kept trying to hide the Divergents, both of us and our baby girl were at a huge risk. We would all be killed. And for all we knew, they'd go after Tris' parents too.

Cleo left the room, a confident smirk on her face.

Tris burst into tears. "I can't, Four—"

"Remember, Tris, we have to protect our little girl."

"So we hand over innocent kids?"

"It's our only option and you know it."

She nodded, and motioned for me to go get the next initiate, which happened to be Lee. I was very nervous that she might not be able to hide it.

But luckily, Lee passed the landscapes with flying colors.

She did everything the way a Dauntless would, just like I'd told her she needed to do. Thank God for it too. From what we'd seen, she deserved a place in the faction. She was brave, hardworking, and determined.

We could use her.

Tori walked beside me. "Remember, you need to get her off your back, Four."

"What if I can't?" I asked, messing up my unusually long hair. "Tori, what if I can't convince her I'm innocent? What if—"

"The what ifs are what will kill you."

I nodded, and then she went her own way, leaving me in front of the room where I was to be interrogated by the leaders of our factions. Tori wouldn't be included, seeing as she would be on my side. It wouldn't be fair.

When I walked in, I wanted to run.

Marcus sat there, beside Andrew Prior. Beside them were Jack Kang, Johanna.. and Jeanine.

I so desperately wanted to run.

"Tobias," Jeanine said, her cruel voice emphasizing my name. "Sit down, please, and we'll begin."

I sat down.

Jeanine crossed her arms. "Mr. Eaton, I'm sure you know why you're here today, but I'd like to inform the others as well." She turned to the. "Tobias Eaton, known as Four, is under my watch for harboring Divergents."

Andrew threw me a questioning glance, and I shook my head discreetly.

"Three years ago, Mr. Eaton ended his initiation to Dauntless in the top spot. While Dauntless was under the control of Max and Eric, he denied a leadership position over five times."

I really denied it that many times? Hhm.

"Upon the death of these two leaders, he accepted that same leadership position immediately." she said, smiling. "Now, he works beside Tori and Beatrice Prior—a former student of his, who he is also in a romantic relationship with."

"We're married," I interrupted.

Andrew and Marcus shared a curious look.

"Before taking leadership, Tobias worked in the Dauntless control room," she said. "He also worked as an initiation instructor." She turned to Marcus. "He is already known as a traitor to Abnegation—"

I cocked my head to the side. "I didn't betray anyone, bit—Jeanine. I made my choice."

"Dauntless transfers from Abnegation are rare," Jack admitted. "And they rarely make it through the first stage of initiation."

"You have a grasp on technology, don't you, Tobias?" Jeanine asked.

"My name is Four."

"Your name is no matter of concern—"

"My name is Four."

"Are all Dauntless this abrasive, Four?" she asked, glaring at me more intensely now. "Or is it just you?"

"Are all Erudite this bitchy?"

Sure, I wasn't really trying to be nice anymore.

But I wasn't lying about anything, and hopefully, Jack would recognize that, seeing as he was the leader of the faction of truth. I was acting like most Dauntless. Abrasive. Confident. Smug.

Why would they doubt me?

She glared at me again. "How does Dauntless initiation work?"

"There are three stages," I said. "The first is physical, and we separate Dauntless-borns and transfers. They work for weeks on their physicality. Throwing knives, shooting guns, actual fighting. We do it all. But, at this stage—"

"When can you detect Divergents?"

"It's impossible to detect them in the first stage." I continued. "The second stage is completely mental. We use a serum, and it puts an initiate into their fear landscape. Most people have between 10 or 15 fears, and some have twenty."

"How many do you have?"

I smirked. "Four. It's the lowest to ever be recorded."

"Do you get anything other than nicknames from these things?" Marcus asked, glaring at me and Jeanine. "How bad are they, really? Just little nightmares?"

The others nodded, and I rolled my eyes.

"There was once someone who had a heart attack and died," I said, sitting up straighter. "Initiates sometimes suffer panic attacks or nightmares for the rest of their lives."

Jack leaned forward. "And how do these single out Divergents?"

"Say you're scared of.. heights, Jack."

He nodded.

"You're scared of heights, but in your simulation, you're standing on a foot-wide board, five hundred feet in the air." I said, and they listened closely. "A Dauntless would find a way to get to the building. A Divergent would tell themselves that it isn't real. A Dauntless is brave, and a Divergent is a coward."

"Hmm.. interesting," Jack said. "Jeanine, it does sound like a working system."

Jeanine huffed. "If it's so foolproof, then why haven't you given me any Divergents before now, Four?"

"I've given you Divergents. They just didn't have my name on them."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

Johanna cleared her throat. "You're free to go, Four. Thank you for your time, and we hope this can all be cleared up soon." The last sentence was more directed at a fuming Jeanine.

I stood, thanked them, and left.

Maybe I'd done good enough.