AN: Hi again. This one is a true work in progress, another outline I had saved and never quite worked through. Will likely update weekly, and please do let me know what you think in the comments.
The only thing I hated more than Amity was Abnegation. It's just a fuck ton of repetitive bland houses, occupied by cultish bland people, wearing the baggiest bland grey clothes and serving food that tasted like stale air and centuries old dust.
I pissed Max off again, big surprise there, so he punished me by making me work directly with Abnegation for the foreseeable future. Marcus Eaton had been stripped of his leadership title when it came out that the rumors he'd beaten his son were true. Personally, I think they should have killed him instead of memory wiping him and dropping his cowardly ass outside the fence. It's not like Four and I were ever close, but once I found out the truth about his father I helped him press charges against the bastard.
Marcus was always an asshole, but getting a read on Andrew Prior was damn near impossible. I'd researched him, but it was just as bland as I expected with one exception - just like me, he was Erudite born.
Hopefully he hated that place as much as I do. The only good about this assignment is it got me away from working with Erudite and my mother.
I'm the son of Jeanine Matthews, and she's a power-hungry bitch, her ego made worse by the fact she's also the leader of Erudite. My father, Dalton Coulter, is the head researcher at the lab, and I was adopted by them at birth. For what reason, I will never know, it's not like either of them actually seemed to want me. I had nannies my whole life, who always got fired for fucking my father, all while my mother's free time was spent fucking my now boss, Max Pedrad, head leader of Dauntless. My parents marriage was just as much for show as their perfect little Erudite son.
And people wonder why I have issues.
I got the fuck out of there at sixteen on my choosing day, and I've spent the last ten years in Dauntless, where I was made a leader due to my mother's persuasiveness, I guess her fucking my boss did come with perks, but I've earned my place here. It's utterly disgusting, but I like my job enough, even if I hate all of them.
Today, Max banished me from the faction and told me I was not to show my face until I could talk Andrew Prior into installing at least some of the technology so we don't have to send fucking carrier pigeons.
Have I mentioned how much I hate this shit?
I'm walking through their headquarters, watching the horrified looks I get, and honestly, it's kind of an ego boost. I definitely don't fit their bland mold, I'm pierced, tattooed and I don't give a fuck about their stupid traditions. I don't nod, I sneer, taking a tiny bit of glee in their terrified looks.
I get to what I assume is the reception desk for Prior's office and find it empty.
"Hello?" I call out, and when no one answers I walk past the desk and into the open door of Prior's office.
It's empty, except for a woman with her back to me, rifling through a file cabinet. I decide she must be the assistant, "Hey, I have an appointment, am I supposed to wait by your desk?" I call out and she glances over her shoulder at me. I catch her rolling her eyes and I press on, "Look, I'm sure you've got to file shit or fetch some coffee or something, but can you at least tell me where I'm supposed to wait?"
"Where's Uriah? He's our representative from Dauntless." The woman says and I smirk at her.
"Reassigned."
"And you are?" She asks, turning fully towards me.
"You don't already know? What kind of assistant are you if you don't even know the faction leaders?"
She narrows her hazel eyes at me before speaking, "I'm not the fucking assistant."
Of all of the things I expected to hear from this woman, that was not one of them.
"My, you have a dirty mouth. So, who are you if you're not his assistant? The housekeeper?"
"Oh, let me get this straight," She says with a touch of anger in her voice, "because I'm a woman, the only things I could possibly do is serve a man in some way?" She narrows her eyes at me.
"It's not Abnegation lets you do anything else." I point out.
"Andrew is my father, and he asked me to fill in for him while he was called away for an emergency. Lucy, his assistant, is at lunch." She replies coolly.
"How can you fill in for a leader?" I ask.
"Because I'm also a leader." She replies.
"You're a leader here? A woman?"
"Things have changed without Marcus in charge." She replies evenly, "And you must be Eric Coulter."
"So, you do know who I am?" I cross my arms over my chest and glare at her.
"Considering my father has said on multiple occasions that the most arrogant and egotistical leader in Dauntless is named Eric Coulter, and you walked in here fitting that description, I took a lucky guess. I mean if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck...quack quack." She smirks at me.
How the fuck is this woman in Abnegation?
"Look, I just need to know you have the authority to act on his behalf, and he has to sign off on it. I don't care who I work with, I just have heard how restrictive it is here." I reply and she tilts her head to the side and smiles at me.
"I have all of the authority to act on his behalf. Would you like to begin, or would you like to continue with your misogynistic line of questioning?" She asks.
"I'm required to get his sign off to work with anyone besides him, Max's orders." I reply.
"Oh, you must have really pissed him off if he's making you get a sign off." She smiles at me and I scowl.
"I just need the signature, I was specifically ordered to work with him, not his daughter." I growl.
"I'm sure you'll get it once he's available, now are we going to get started or are you going to continue to insult me?" She asks.
"Fine. Let's do this." I reply and she gestures to the small table for me to sit.
I watch her, and up close she's not what I expected. Even though she's wearing grey, her clothes are a bit more fitted. She's wearing a long sleeve grey shirt that actually suits her, and while her skirt is long it's actually so dark that it appears to be black.
I bet she'd look good in all black.
What the fuck am I thinking?
"So, you know my name, are you going to tell me yours?" I ask once we're seated.
"Beatrice Prior, you can call me Tris." She replies.
"A nickname too?" I ask before I can stop myself.
"Yes, Uriah actually gave it to me. It's stuck. So, tell me Eric how long are you stuck in this hell hole?" She asks.
"Excuse me?" I ask. I look around to see if there's a camera or something, but this is Abnegation and the sole purpose of my visit is to actually install cameras, computers, phones, and other shit to get them at least two thousand years behind us, instead of the ten thousand they currently are.
"You've obviously pissed someone off. So, what did you do?" Tris asks me.
"Who are you really?" I narrow my eyes at her.
"I'm Tris, daughter of Natalie and Andrew, sister of Caleb who joined Erudite of all places." She rolls her eyes.
"What's your issue with Erudite?" I ask. I admit, I'm intrigued now.
"My issue is their leadership. Jeanine is absolutely power hungry, and I try to tell my father on a regular basis that she's got an angle. I think she wants the government power to lie solely in Erudite because she thinks they are so much smarter than we are." Tris replies.
She's not wrong, and I'm impressed.
"Your father came from there." I challenge.
"I'm aware of that."
"I take it he shares your opinion?" I ask.
"My father is a kind man, and people mistake his kindness for weakness. While he may have been raised there, he managed to avoid all of the arrogance from that faction." She replies, "Arrogance isn't an issue for you, so why'd you leave?"
Fucking hell. She's good.
"I wasn't a very good Erudite." I smirk at her and get the faintest smile from her in return, "How long have you been a leader?"
"I've studied under my father since the day of choosing, which was eight years ago. I've only been a leader for a year since we had to wait until Marcus was no longer in power, but I can assure you that he's left you in good hands." She smiles at me again.
"Good to know." I smirk at her.
"Okay, now that we have that out of the way, tell me what you've got." She says and I shake my head.
"I have orders to work with Andrew." I remind her.
"Do you always follow orders, Eric?" She asks.
She's got me there. My mother has tried for years to order me around, to force me into her craziness for testing the Divergent. I don't know exactly what she has planned, and that mistrust makes me ignore every order she gives.
"Touché." I reply. "However, I do need him to sign off on us starting this. Max is micromanaging the shit out of me, so once your father delegates it officially we can get it started."
"Fine. Since I have no idea when he'll be back, let's go get lunch." She stands and the look on my face must give me away because she actually laughs, "None of that shit from our cafeteria, we can go to my place and I'll make something. I actually use seasonings."
"Isn't that against the rules?" I blurt out.
"You'll have to be more specific." She replies.
"Isn't there some rule against having a man besides your husband in your home?" I finally ask.
"First, I don't have a husband. Second, I don't care about the rules here. If you want the cafeteria, we can make it happen, but I'm going to let you know it's going to taste like sawdust."
"Okay Tris, lead the way." I reply.
I follow her, more out of pure curiosity than anything, but I have to admit she intrigues me. This is the least Abnegation person I've ever met, and she's their only female leader to boot. I need to know why.
She makes small talk as we walk through the faction, and I can't help but notice there's barely anyone out of their homes. I can understand that the kids are likely in school, but where are the adults?
"Is it always this quiet?" I ask and she looks over at me.
"Yeah. It's strange, isn't it? The men work, the women volunteer, or keep their house, or prepare meals in the kitchen for the faction and the factionless, or have fifty-three kids." She shrugs.
"Why not fifty-four?" I ask, testing the waters with her.
"That seems excessive, doesn't it?" She replies with a straight face.
I decide right then that I like her.
Even her house stands out, with an actual welcome mat, colorful flowers in the yard and a swing on the porch.
"This looks rather indulgent." I say and she laughs.
"I'm not a very good Abnegation." She replies as she unlocks the door.
I follow her into a tastefully decorated house, with shades of blue, grey and black. It's similar to the way I've decorated my own place.
"Nice place." I say and she smiles.
"Grey bores me." She shrugs as she leads me into the kitchen and she begins rummaging through her cabinets, "What do you think about burgers?"
That would be the second thing I never expected to hear from an Abnegation woman.
"Wow, yeah." I reply and she begins taking things out of her refrigerator.
We end up working together, she is forming hamburger patties while I chop vegetables for a salad. I've watched her put salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and a couple of other spices in the burgers and when she turns to me she announces she's going out back to the grill.
When we're later eating, which I have to admit is fucking delicious, I finally ask her the question that's been burning in my head.
"Why are you here?"
"I live here." She replies without missing a beat.
"Okay smart ass, I mean why are you in Abnegation?"
She narrows her eyes at me, "Don't you remember the one year that Jeanine decided that the aptitude test was going to determine our faction instead of having a choosing ceremony?"
"Yeah, that was the worst idea ever." I shake my head, "You got Abnegation?"
She looks at me, and seems to study me for a long time before she finally speaks again, "Did you get Dauntless?"
I shake my head.
"So, you went against the recommendation?" She presses.
"I did."
"At least you had a choice." She replies.
"Yeah, it's bullshit that you didn't. I just don't see you as Abnegation. You act absolutely nothing like most of the women here. You're not married off and raising at least twenty of your fifty-three kids. I see colors in your house, tasted seasoning on your food, which by the way these burgers are fucking good, you curse, you have beer in your fridge-"
"You went through my fridge? The next thing you'll tell me is you're wearing my underwear." She replies and I can't help but laugh at her.
"I didn't find a grey pair in the entire drawer." I smirk at her and she laughs too.
"Now I know you're lying. There's at least one."
We're interrupted by knocking at her door, and she goes to answer it.
"Beatrice, what are you wearing?" Andrew frowns as he walks in.
"Clothes." She sighs.
Andrew stops walking and stares at me, "What are you doing in my daughter's home?"
"Dad, he's our new representative from Dauntless. Uriah was reassigned." Tris replies.
"That doesn't explain why he's sitting in your home without a chaperone." Andrew presses.
"A chaperone? I'm twenty-four years old. I don't need a chaperone, or an overprotective father. Eric needs you to sign off on me working with him. He's here to get our security and communications up to the city standards."
"I don't have time for this nonsense, I have many more pressing issues." Andrew replies.
"Which is why I'm asking to work with Tris, err Beatrice."
He looks over at me briefly, then reaches for the paperwork. He glances over it, before signing off to delegate to Tris.
"Beatrice, I know you have that rebellious streak, but you're a leader now. You should at least follow some of our rules." Andrew scolds.
"I'll keep that in mind. Did you stop by for any other reason than to lecture me on who I allow in my house?" She asks.
"Beatrice." He sighs, "I came by to let you know I'll need to take a few days to visit Candor and work with Jack directly."
"And just think, as soon as Eric and I are done with this project, you can simply call me and tell me that instead of interrupting my lunch and interrogating my guests." She smiles and her father shakes his head.
"I'm trusting you Beatrice." He replies and kisses her forehead. He gives me a stern look as she walks him to the door, and I listen as they have a hushed conversation as they walk outside, but as soon as I move towards her door to eavesdrop she walks in.
"Okay, let's get started." She smiles at me.