Long live the pioneers, rebels and mutineers. Go forth and have no fear. Come close the end is near. ~ X Ambassadors, Renegades
CHAPTER 1 – Two Years Later
Three things pique my interest when I start to wake up: whispers, giggles, and the stomp of tiny feet. I reach my arm over to Tobias' side of the bed, unsurprised when I find it empty and cold.
Before I can turn over to look towards the sound of the giggles, the bed dips and a tiny body falls into my arms.
"Mama!"
"Hey, buddy," I say with a smile.
Drew is already dressed, and has eaten his breakfast if the orange stain on his shirt is any indication. I look at the clock, surprised to see that it is already late in the morning.
"Why didn't you wake me?" I ask Tobias who has sat on the side of the bed.
"Birthday girls get to sleep in," Tobias smiles at me, pulling Drew out of my arms. "Tori is watching him until tomorrow afternoon. Say goodbye to mama for now," Tobias says.
My brows knit together. I told Tobias not to do anything for my birthday. If Tori is watching Drew, he obviously didn't listen to me.
"No complaining," Tobias says sternly. He pushes Drew towards me once more and his chubby little arms wrap around me.
"Bye mama!" he shouts in my ear, and then jumps back over to his father.
Tobias leans over me, kisses my temple, and tells me he'll be back in ten minutes.
When I hear the front door slam shut I force myself out of the bed and get in the shower. I sigh at the relief the warm water brings as it washes away the nightmares I had last night.
Marcus. Blood. Everywhere.
After Marcus broke into our house and Tobias took care of him, we both couldn't stop thinking about what he said. We ruined everything. But what is everything? Was he just talking about the faction system, or was there something more?
We both made a few inquiries and did a bit of research, but Marcus didn't have many friends. No one knew what he could have been talking about. I think Tobias still looks into it from time to time, but I try not to think about it too much. The war is over and Marcus is dead. No matter what he was talking about, he can't hurt us anymore.
I hear the front door open and close as I pull on a pair of light jeans and a dark green t-shirt. Tobias enters the room, his steps quick as he reaches me and pulls me in for a hug, lifting me off of my feet in the process. His lips meet mine in a passionate kiss.
"Happy birthday," Tobias mumbles against my lips in between kisses.
"I told you not to – " I try to protest, but I'm cut off by his kisses again. Not that I mind.
"I have to go to work," I get out between kisses.
"No, you don't. You do, however, have to eat breakfast before Christina gets here."
Tobias sets me back on my feet and walks me into the kitchen where a plate of eggs and fruit are sitting for me.
"I have to get a few things done this morning, but I'll rescue you from Christina in a few hours."
My afternoon with Christina is nice. We talk, mostly about her upcoming wedding to Will coming this weekend, but I don't mind. It might be my birthday, but she knows I don't want to talk about myself all day.
We're both looking forward to her wedding this weekend. All of our old "crew" – as Christina calls them – will be there. We see each other from time to time, but it is rare for all of us to be in the same place at the same time for so long.
Christina and Will live a few houses down from Tobias and I, with their three-year-old daughter Penelope. They've done things a bit backwards on that front, but they just didn't feel the need for a rush wedding when they found out Christina was pregnant. Penny was a welcome surprise for them. She's unbelievably adorable, and has an obvious crush on Drew. I'm pretty sure Christina already has their wedding planned.
Zeke is the head of the city's security force. They're headquartered in the old Dauntless compound. Some of the guards chose to live in the old Dauntless apartments, but most live throughout the city. Zeke lives in Eric's old place and Uriah, his second in command, lives in Max's.
I thought having them live in those apartments would be weird. But the few times we've visited them there it was like night and day. The apartments are open and clean and inviting now. It's nice.
Zeke and Shauna are still together, but don't seem to need the title of husband and wife. It just . . . works for them.
Lynn and Marlene make the cutest couple out of all of use. For girls who used to make fun of Tobias and I kissing in public, they sure are sickeningly sweet with each other now.
Maybe it was just the whole man thing that they thought was gross.
Caleb and Susan married just a few months after the war. They've got their hands full with four kids, but couldn't be happier about it.
I don't know how they survive with four children. Tobias and I can't even imagine having a second one. We love Drew, of course, but kids are a lot of work.
As I stand on a chair in the middle of the living room while Christina makes some last minute adjustments to my dress for her wedding, I think about how lucky I am to still have all of these people in my life. Especially after all we've gone through to get to this point.
Tobias stands next to me as the Amity doctor – sorry, former Amity doctor – fits a sling over my arm. They both ignore my bad attitude about the situation.
"You'll have to keep this on, save for when you're showering, for the next four weeks. Your shoulder needs to rest."
I let out a deep breath and suppress the urge to roll my eyes. My shoulder is fine.
"Tris," the doctor pushes.
I look at the doctor, Alex I think was his name, and then Tobias. They both have the same look on their face. Both daring me to defy the instruction with their list of reasons why I need to do what they say.
"Yes, I'll keep the sling on," I mumble.
Later that night Tobias and I take our usual seats back in the Dauntless dining hall. We're all still living in our pre-war housing assignments. We're working on rearranging the city, desegregating the factions and letting people choose where they want to live. It's going to be a long process though, so we're all still staying in Dauntless for the time being.
I awkwardly eat my food with my left hand, inwardly cursing the sling on my right arm the entire time. My fork slips out of my uncoordinated left hand, splattering mashed potatoes all over my shirt. I hear giggles from the group of people around me.
I don't know what it is about today, but my temper suddenly gets the best of me. I throw my fork down on the table and get out of the dining hall as fast as I can.
Everything seems to be spiraling around me. My arm shouldn't have taken this long to heal, and now I'm in a sling for the next month. The stress of being one of only fifteen leaders responsible for rebuilding the city has prevented me from sleeping more than a few hours at a time. Everything seems the same as it was before the war, but nothing will ever be the same. I know in the long run things are going to be better, but right now I just want something to feel normal.
I want my parents to give me a hug and tell me everything is going to be okay.
I press my back against the wall around the corner and fall to the ground, my body suddenly too heavy to keep standing. Tears start to fall from my eyes before I can try to stop it.
Something in my mind clicks and I'm back in Erudite, in that tiny little room being held against my will. So I do the only thing that I can.
I scream.
Arms grab me and voices shout at me, but my screams drown it all out. I thrash against the arms, knowing they'll take me to another simulation of my loved ones dying.
"Tris! It's okay. You're okay."
My eyes snap open and I see Tobias kneeling before me, his own eyes wide and worried. My heart races and my breaths start to come in pants. Logic starts to slowly come back to me, and then the embarrassment comes.
"I – I'm sorry," I repeat over and over, looking around at the small group of onlookers I've attracted.
"It's okay. Let's go," Tobias lifts me onto my feet slowly and keeps a steady hand on my waist to keep me upright.
I look back as we round the corner and see my group of friends shooing everyone off, yelling at the few that protest.
Tobias takes me back to our apartment and holds me while I cry until I fall asleep.
I must have spent the afternoon lost in my memories because Christina now has me in a pair of too-tight leggings and a flowy top.
"Do you know what he has planned?" I ask her.
"Nope. Just that he's ridiculously excited about it, so even if you hate it you have to pretend to enjoy yourself," Christina tells me sternly.
Tobias walks through the front door, a smile already on his face.
"Are you ready?" he asks, holding his right hand behind his back suspiciously.
"Yes?" I answer, but it sounds more like a question.
"Do you trust me?" he asks as he walks over and reveals a black blindfold from behind him.
"If that's the kind of birthday we're going for Christina didn't have to bother with the cute outfit," I half-joke. A birthday spent with Tobias and a blindfold in bed would be quite the party.
"I think my shy little Abnegation protégé is all grown up," Christina giggles at my dirty joke. "My work here is done. Enjoy yourselves!" she says as she skips out of the house.
"We'll save the blindfold for later, too. But for now . . . " Tobias approaches me and carefully ties it around my eyes; tight enough that I can't see anything, but not too tight to make it uncomfortable.
Tobias leads me out of the house and into a car. I try to mentally map out where we're going based off of where I feel the car go, but Tobias' hand snaking up and down my leg distracts me and I lose track of where we are ten minutes in.
Eventually the car stops and Tobias helps me out. He playfully smacks my hand away when I try to remove the blindfold.
"Not yet," is all he says as he continues to guide me . . . somewhere.
My body is oddly at ease wherever we are. It feels almost as if I'm home. After a few minutes of Tobias leading me around he stops and pulls the blindfold over my head.
"Surprise!"
"W-what?" I ask to no one in particular as my eyes take in the celebration that surrounds me. We're in Zeke's apartment and it's filled with streamers, balloons, and all of my friends.
"Happy birthday," Tobias whispers in my ear, gently nudging me further into the room.
"What is this?" I ask louder.
"Your surprise party! We can't let the savior of the city turn 31 and not go all out," Lynn jokes and I groan at the nickname. I'll never be able to live down that ceremony.
A year after the war ended, elections were held for four leaders of the city. I'm unsurprised that Tobias was given one of the spots. In the last year he has proven himself to be an outstanding leader, taking charge when needed and coming up with innovative and proactive solutions for our new city.
I am surprised, however, when I am invited to be one of a small group of citizens who are being honored for their efforts in the war. It feels wrong to be honored for participating in a war that ended in countless lives lost.
"You were captured, tortured, and killed. You escaped and helped plan a mission that saved nearly every captured Abnegation member from Erudite's rules. Then you helped overthrow Erudite and rebuild the government. What about that makes you think that you don't deserve to be honored?" Tobias asks me, somewhat frustrated at my lackluster response to the news of the honor.
Each of the new four leaders of the city took turns announcing the honorees and Aurora, a former Candor, announces me. She, unfortunately, is too liberal with her beliefs about what I have done and describes me as a "savior of the city."
As Tobias drops a heavy medal around my neck I know I'll never be able to live the nickname down.
The party is in full swing, people laughing and drinking too much. My friends lounging around the open space, everyone enjoying each other's company.
"Are you having fun?" Tobias asks me as he pulls me away from a riveting conversation with Lynn and Marlene about the pros and cons of being with a man versus being with a woman.
"Yes. How did you do this?"
"It wasn't hard. Everyone wanted to celebrate with you," Tobias leans against the window, beer bottle in hand, and wraps his arm around my shoulders to bring me in close. "It's been too long since we've relaxed like this. Drew is wonderful but damn the kid is a lot of work," he finishes with a laugh.
"Once a month we'll have a night just for ourselves then. We can have Christina and Will watch Drew, and offer to do the same for them when they need a night off."
Tobias leans back and looks at me with a lazy, drunken smile. "Deal."
The night continues with excited mingling and even some more talk about Christina and Will's wedding where we'll all be together again. Eventually Zeke and I end up sitting next to each other watching a small group of our friends get into a heated argument over something that happened ten years ago.
"You still enjoying your time at the tattoo parlor?" Zeke asks.
"Yeah, I love it. When are you gonna come in again? When was the last time you got one?"
"Before the war? Damn, has it really been that long? The last what . . . fifteen years seem like nothing," his eyes gloss over and I know he is reliving moments from the war we all want to forget. "I know everyone kids, but you really did a lot during the war Tris. If you ever get tired of the tattoos, there's always a spot for you here on the security force."
"Thanks, but I think my fighting days are over," I tell him.
My life is nothing like I could have ever imagined it would be back then. The city is night and day from what I grew up in. I like getting to interact with so many different people at the tattoo parlor, hearing their stories and getting to know the reason behind the permanent marking they want. I love my husband and the life we've built together. I love our tiny little son who makes me believe in a better world that I never thought could have existed.
Hours later when the alcohol has finally run out we all go our separate ways, stumbling towards our homes. Tobias and I take the train, both of us enjoying watching the city speed by around us.
Tobias sighs for the third time in the past five minutes and I know something is wrong.
"What is it?" I ask him.
Tobias sits down in the corner and motions for me to sit next to him.
"I figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
"What Marcus was talking about. Someone turned in an old laptop that they found in their house. They were remodeling and it was hidden in the wall. It was the house I grew up in. Marcus must have stashed it in there.
"The security on it was surprisingly tight. I've been working on it for about a month. I got in today. Being divergent isn't as common as we once thought it to be. There was an old Erudite file on it from the war. Erudite was keeping the Abnegation because they were looking for more divergent among them.
"Tris . . . they tested everyone in Abnegation and Erudite and none of them were divergent. That's why you were so special to Jeanine. It's why Evelyn was so threatened by you. The record shows a couple of low-level divergents, probably people like me. But you . . . there's never been anyone like you before."
"So, what does that mean?"
"It means you're even more of an anomaly than we thought. We should be even more thankful that you made it out of Erudite alive."
I lean my head on Tobias' shoulder, reveling in the fresh air rushing at me through the open doors of the train.
If this is true, we're lucky the war is behind us.
A/N: First chapter done! I hope you guys like this – a nice little glimpse at everyone after Young Volcanoes. As with my other stories, I'll hopefully be updating once a week. But, I don't have as much pre-written as I usually do. I'm just about halfway done with chapter 2 at the moment. I'll try my best to keep updates weekly, though.
Also, there have been a few questions about why I chose the name Drew. For one, I forgot about the other Drew in the Divergent series (oops). I chose the name Drew because I named him after Tris' dad, Andrew. Sorry if it was confusing for any of you!
What do you guys think? Any guesses about where we're headed? Let me know! – DR13