A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! That one got the most reviews of this story so far, and I really appreciate the support. Thank you also to my wonderful beta reader, Rosalie, who proof-read this chapter on short notice despite being sick. It's a long chapter, so I know that took some work.
One quick note about the last chapter before I continue... Most of you seemed to agree with keeping the Prior last name, but a few people expressed confusion or disappointment, so I'd like to explain my reasoning.
According to the first two books in the series, in the "Divergent" world, surnames are rarely used and aren't tied into a person's identity the way they are in our current world. There, a couple chooses which surname to keep or picks a new one together, and it's only used as a secondary means of identification to avoid confusion when two people have the same first name.
For Tobias, the name Eaton was always associated with his father - and with no one else, since his mother stopped using the name and since his sister never used it. So, the name was connected to abuse and unhappiness with nothing redeeming about it. That's why he hid it when he transferred to Dauntless.
On the other hand, Prior is associated with Tris, and with her parents, who died to save her, and with Anna, who gave them their rings and has taken Tobias into her family. Between those two choices, it's a no-brainer that Tobias would want to use the Prior name. Really - wouldn't you?
Chapter 34: Tobias – Bachelor/ette Party
It's a good thing that Zeke set the precedent of having two best men at his wedding. That gave me an excuse to ask Kevin and Zeke to both serve that role for me, and given how much I'm inclined to kill my oldest friend right now, I'm glad to have someone else here with us.
"I swear to God, Zeke," I say in exasperation, "if anyone takes their clothes off, I'm leaving the damned party." My gaze turns to Kevin in a somewhat desperate appeal. If the two of us together can't keep the bachelor party under control, I'm not going to attend it.
"Oh, come on, Four," Zeke moans. "You've got to have a stripper there. It's your last night of freedom." At my stony expression, he adds, "Remember how much fun it was at my party?"
"No," I snap, even more irritated by the reminder. "Because I left that time, too. Remember?" Uriah invited a stripper to that event without my knowledge, and I spent several of the most uncomfortable moments of my life watching her dance around Zeke before she started to remove clothing – and I walked out as fast as I could. I didn't rejoin the party until a half-hour later, after she left.
"Tris is the only one I want to see that way."
Kevin nods a little, but Zeke just rolls his eyes. "What if she has one at her party?" he presses, causing me to give him a death-glare.
"Christina's smarter than that." At least, she'd better be, given that Tris left Shauna's party for the same reason I walked out of Zeke's. I'll never understand how my best friends could be okay with having each other watch…that, but I know that neither Tris nor I want that kind of party.
"God, you can be such a Stiff sometimes," Zeke says in annoyance, his mouth flattening as he crosses his arms over his chest and glares at me.
"There are worse things," I counter, meeting his gaze angrily. "At least Tris knows that she's the only one I want. Can you and Shauna say that about each other?"
It's probably a good thing that Kevin intervenes at this point. "That's enough – from both of you," he snarls, his eyes drilling into each of us in turn. "What you're dealing with here is a cultural divide, so let me spell a few things out for you."
Gesturing to Zeke, he continues, "The Dauntless believe that people should explore their options. Shauna and Zeke both dated other people, and watched strippers, and whatever else." He waves a dismissive hand. "And then they chose to spend their lives together. To them, that's how you show love – that they picked each other over all the other choices out there."
A thread of guilt squirms through me as for the first time, I understand Zeke's perspective on this. Maybe I shouldn't have been so insulting.
"The Abnegation, on the other hand," Kevin adds as he gestures to me now, "tie sexuality, commitment, and love together much more strongly – and from a much earlier point in the relationship." He turns his gaze to Zeke again. "To them, watching a stripper, even before marriage, is like cheating. They believe that everything sexual should be part of a loving relationship, so turning to someone else for that is absolutely a betrayal."
He narrows his eyes at Zeke. "I'm not going to declare one view to be right and the other wrong," he insists, "but it's Tobias' party, so our job is to make it one he'll enjoy. Kindly remember that."
A flush rises slowly up Zeke's face as he stares at the floor, his expression a mix of apology, embarrassment, and uncertainty.
"You don't really see it that way, do you?" he asks me quietly. Neither of us quite meets the other's gaze.
I lift one shoulder, not feeling any more comfortable with this discussion than Zeke seems to be. We're not in Dauntless anymore, but sometimes it's still hard to admit to my Abnegation roots.
"It's how I grew up," I eventually mutter.
Zeke gives a long sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "All right," he says resignedly. "No strippers." Our eyes finally meet, and a half-smile forms on his face. "But don't blame me if it's a boring party."
For the first time in this conversation, I manage to chuckle. "I'll take my chances."
"There are plenty of other things to do at a party, you know," Kevin comments, rolling his eyes at Zeke. "You just have to get beyond Dauntless traditions." He turns to me. "For instance, the bride and groom don't have to have separate events. In Erudite, they often have a joint party, so if you'd prefer that, it's an option."
Zeke looks horrified. "How would that even be a bachelor party?" he demands.
But the idea instantly appeals to me. I want to celebrate my upcoming wedding, not the fact that I'm technically still single, and having Tris there is far more fitting for that.
"Yes," I say firmly. "That's what I want."
Zeke groans, lowering his head into his hands, but Kevin smiles. "I'll arrange it with Christina," he promises as he gives Zeke a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry – it'll be fun."
It's impressive how well our entire faction stays silent. No one drops even a hint about what Christina, Zeke, and Kevin have planned. It's clearly driving Tris nuts, but it doesn't bug me nearly as much. I've kept so many secrets in my life that I guess I can put up with it when others keep one.
We get our first clue the morning of the party, when Christina yells through my door that we should wear old clothes. Personally, I breathe a sigh of relief at the instructions – we're obviously not going to a club or anything like that if she's having us dress down instead of up, and if we're going at this time of the day.
I'm not sure what to make of it, though, when we go to the gathering room and find it empty. It seems odd that they left Christina, of all people, to direct us to the event without giving anything away. Her Candor habits aren't exactly ideal for this.
Still, to her credit, she maintains an excellent poker face as she eats a quick breakfast with us and then ushers us out the door.
It's a beautiful day for whatever we're going to be doing – windy, as this city usually is, but almost cloudless and warm enough not to need a jacket.
"Is this an all-day party?" Tris asks, trying to squeeze information from her best friend, but Christina just smirks.
"You'll see," she quips before racing down the street ahead of us. We grin at each other before following.
Christina leads us toward the tracks, arriving just as a northbound train does, and she immediately begins running alongside it. Tris and I follow her, swinging into the car easily. Maybe this is why the others went separately – it's difficult for Shauna to navigate the trains, with her wheelchair, so she usually takes a car when she needs to travel longer distances.
My suspicions are confirmed when we stay on the train for a good half-hour, winding our way gradually into parts of the city that I've never seen before. Judging by the condition of the buildings, no one has lived here in a long time.
Tris and Christina chat, laughing at times, but I don't join in. It's been a long time since I leaned out of a train car to enjoy the passing scenery, so I take the opportunity to do that, feeling the wind driving against every part of my body as I hang onto the handles on either side of the opening and lean out as far as I can without falling. I was never a big fan of most of the Dauntless thrills, but I always enjoyed this one.
Eventually, Christina announces that it's time, and I step back to take Tris' hand while we wait for our friend to leap first.
She does, and we follow right behind her, landing on a large flat area that looks like it was once a playing field of some type. Like most of the parks in this city, it's now filled with whatever plants chose to grow over the course of the sixty years since it was abandoned, and we have to avoid those as we run a few steps forward to spread out our momentum and stay upright.
Christina leads us west over a series of cracked and uneven roads until we reach an old parking garage with a tower that rises well into the air. It was probably an elegant structure once, but decades of neglect have left it covered with smears of wind-blown dirt.
Hanging over the entrance is a large, hand-painted sign that reads, "Faction Challenge."
Christina glances at us before heading through the doorway, and Tris and I only pause briefly before following her. I haven't heard of this place.
The interior is darker than the outside air, mostly because walls have been erected to create a lobby of sorts, but only a few lights were added as part of that construction. Still, even in the dim light, I can tell that my entire faction is here, plus Kevin, Tori, and Tris' childhood friend, Susan. I suppose that means we're not doing anything too wild, since Susan is as Abnegation as they come.
"Nice of you guys to finally show up," Uriah calls with a grin.
"Yeah, they 'slept' in," Christina answers suggestively, causing Tris to smack her arm in annoyance. Her friend just laughs as she claps her hands to get everyone's attention.
"All right," she yells. "Let's get started!"
Grabbing Tris and hauling her over to where Cara and Shauna are waiting, she calls, "We're going to team up men against women and play Faction Challenge."
It's not a game I've heard of, so I'm glad when Kevin goes into more detail.
"We will be facing a series of challenges that will utilize all of the skills from the original five factions. Both teams will compete, and we'll be evaluated on how well we embody the goals of each faction. The winner will be whichever team shows more of those qualities than the other."
"Who's the judge?" Tris asks.
"This place is run by former members of each of the old factions," Kevin answers. "They set up the challenges and will serve as our judges." He waves around at the group as he adds, "None of us have seen what they've set up yet, so we're all on equal footing."
Tris nods, and I can see the enthusiasm growing behind her expression. The same sensation is working its way through me – this sounds a whole lot better than Zeke's bachelor party.
"Four and Tris will be the team captains," Christina continues, "and as I said, it will be men versus women, so everyone get with your captain."
The guys waste no time surrounding me, Uriah giving me a mock salute as he jostles into place next to his brother.
"Oh," Zeke yells, looking like he just remembered something important, "there's one more thing!" Everyone turns to look at him. "The winning team gets to pick something that the other team has to do for them. A favor of some kind."
I'm not sure I want to know what type of favor he's suggesting, so I'm glad when Christina objects, a frown on her face. "We never said anything about that."
"Are you afraid to take that risk?" Zeke asks pointedly.
For a moment, the two of them face off against each other, and then Shauna calls loudly, "Hell, no. We're going to whoop your asses!"
Tori cheers in agreement, and no one else protests. But I want some restrictions on this particular rule.
"Fine," I state loudly enough for everyone to hear me. "But the captain of the winning team is the one who picks what the other team does." My eyes meet Tris', and I know we're both willing to agree to that. Neither of us would trust that role to certain other people here….
I'm just turning back to my team when Tris calls out clearly, "So, that means I'll be picking, then."
My gaze shifts back to her as I absorb the challenge that's oozing from her tone. A pulse of adrenaline goes through me, and I can't help the grin that forms in response. Nothing turns me on more than Tris being fierce and confident.
"Yeah? We'll see how those words taste when you eat them, Stiff," I answer in my best instructor voice. Behind me, Zeke and Uriah both hoot, and on the other team, Shauna gives a cat-call. But Tris and I just hold each other's gaze, both of us smirking, before we face our respective teams.
"Where do we start?" I ask Kevin, suddenly eager to begin.
"On the fifth floor," he answers, pointing to the corner where the stairs and elevator are. And then we're racing up the cement steps, shouting with Dauntless abandon as Tris' team immediately launches themselves after us. This is going to be fun.
Five people in the original faction colors are lined up in front of us when we pour out of the stairway. Shauna is already facing them, and I see her turn and smirk at Zeke as he breathes heavily beside me. I guess the elevator was faster than the stairs.
I study the room behind our judges as the others arrive, but it's difficult to see much, since a wall made of wood and cloth blocks our view of the challenge we'll be facing. All I can really tell is that there's an entrance on the far right corner of it.
"Everyone, listen up!" a woman in black shouts. "We're only going to tell you the rules once, so if you don't listen, you're going to lose." It's somewhat amusing how quickly the silence falls.
"In front of you is an obstacle course that includes Dauntless, Erudite, and Abnegation challenges. Each team will go through it as a group – one team first, and the other exactly fifteen minutes later. You will be timed on how long it takes you to get every single member through it."
She glances around to make sure we understand before adding, "After that, you will enter a direct competition stage where the teams will face off against each other in Amity and Candor tasks."
Again, her eyes roam over the group to see if there are any questions, and then she asks, "Are you ready?"
There's a collective cheer of agreement, after which the woman directs my team to the starting point. Apparently, we're going first.
As we get into position, I take a moment to eye both teams, figuring out who the weak points are for this challenge. Shauna's paralysis will probably cause some difficulty with the Dauntless obstacles, depending on the nature of them. But she's tough, and she has built up significant arm strength, so I suspect she'll manage. Susan is probably the bigger liability for those skills, since she has very little muscle and probably doesn't have much endurance, either. On the other hand, she'll be good at the Abnegation parts, as Tris will.
In comparison, everyone on my team is in good shape, but that doesn't mean we don't have our own limits. I'm the only one with an aptitude for Abnegation, and we'll have trouble with any tight spaces we encounter, since our average size is considerably larger than the women's. We might also have a problem with overconfidence, between Zeke and Uriah….
My thoughts are interrupted by the woman who's running this challenge. "I'll count down from three," she calls loudly, holding up three fingers. "And you'll start on 'Go.'"
Nodding, I focus on the entrance ahead. Nothing is visible through the doorway, so there's probably a turn just inside it. Since the door is on the right edge of the wall, I'll assume it's a left turn, though it would be foolish to go too fast to handle other possibilities. For all I know, we'll drop straight down.
"Three, two, one…."
My entire body springs forward as she yells, "Go!" The others run with me, their shoulders bumping against mine as we race through the entrance, pausing just long enough to confirm that we do indeed need to turn left. From there, we jog for twenty feet before coming to a climbing wall that blocks the path behind it.
It's at least fifteen feet tall, and looking up, I can see a large cement spiral above it. This must be one of those parking garages that has an outer rim for cars to park on and a tight inner spiral for them to use when exiting. And the climbing wall takes us into the middle of that exit ramp.
I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with that, but there's clearly no choice except to climb it, so I ignore my residual fear of heights and grab a handhold. Zeke does the same thing to my left, and together we make our way to the top. I pause briefly once I'm there, looking around.
From here, I notice that there's a rope attached to a post at the top, ready to be tossed down to help team members who can't climb well. No one on my team really needs it, but I throw it down the wall anyway.
Zeke gives me a strange look, and I shrug before commenting, "Shauna will need it." I guess his love for his wife outweighs his competitiveness, because he just nods in acceptance before turning to what's ahead.
An arc-shaped room faces us, clearly built into the central spiral of the parking garage. Overhead rings lead across it to a platform that's some twenty feet away. Beneath them, a dark cloth covers the floor, hiding whatever is under it. It could be the drop to the ramp below us, or something else.
For a second, I hesitate, wondering if the more Dauntless action is to brave the unknown floor or to use the rings to cross the space. Before I can decide, Zeke launches himself at the first ring, and I realize he's probably right. After all, his instincts are more Dauntless than mine.
The two of us cross quickly, swinging from ring to ring without a problem, and the others cross behind us, one at a time. My arms are mildly sore by the time I reach the platform.
"Four," Zeke says, getting my attention, and I turn to see what he's looking at. A wooden wall covers the way ahead, except for a person-sized hole that leads to what seems like a tube slide. It curves out of sight within a few feet, so it's impossible to tell how long it is or where it leads.
"Should we chance it?" he asks me, but I'm probably not the best judge on this one. Going into an enclosed space without knowing where it exits – or if I'll get stuck in it – is like something out of my fear landscape.
"It's got to lead somewhere," Kevin says behind me. "It would slow the course down and cause too much damage if they let people get stuck in it every time someone comes through here."
He's got a point, but I can't help the sweat that's gathering on my palms. This isn't something I want to do.
Still, the only other option is to go down to the floor and see if there's a way out from there, and it's not worth doing that just because of a foolish fear.
"Okay," I say reluctantly, evaluating my team for a moment. "Zeke, you're smallest…." He laughs, accepting the challenge immediately. I can hear him whooping as he disappears down the slide. The sound echoes up strangely, sounding more and more like a scream the farther away he gets. Hopefully, that's just an illusion.
Eventually, there's silence, and I exchange an uneasy glance with Kevin. Before either of us can say anything, George says, "My turn" and pushes his way past us. He is the next-smallest, I suppose.
He descends silently, and Amar grins at me as he jumps in next. Clearly, he's not worried.
Uriah, on the other hand, gulps as he stares down the slide. "You really think it's safe?" he asks Kevin, who raises an eyebrow.
"It's more logical than the alternatives." He gives a half-smile. "Think of it as being like the Dauntless net – they're looking for a leap of faith."
Uriah nods, swallowing his nerves as he edges through the opening. His screams echo crazily behind him for a very long time before fading into silence.
Kevin thumps my shoulder reassuringly. Unlike most of the others, he knows my fears, so he realizes how hard this is for me.
"You'll be fine, Tobias," he mutters. I nod stiffly as I force myself to lie down on the slide, feet-first. My breathing is already rapid.
"Do you want a push?" Kevin asks from behind me, but I shake my head quickly. I need to do this myself. And reluctantly, I finally do, edging myself forward until gravity takes over.
My throat is too tight to scream as I plunge rapidly downwards at a steep angle, flying around curve after curve dizzyingly fast. The plastic tube feels tight around me, though some distant part of my mind realizes that there must be a decent amount of space, since my elbows only scrape the sides when I'm going through sharp turns.
The ride continues for far longer than I would have expected, given the platform was only fifteen feet above the floor, but eventually I realize that I must be sliding down the center of the garage to its bottom floor. It's somewhat reassuring to picture that in my head, instead of focusing on this endless slide.
By the time I reach the end, I'm going so fast I rocket out into the air, free-falling for a terrifying moment. And then I hit a large trampoline, bouncing across it in a strange skidding motion until I flail off the edge and into a pit filled with large pieces of foam.
For several long seconds, I lie there, panting to catch my breath as my eyes flit rapidly to everything around me. We're in another wooden room, with the concrete structure of the parking garage peeking through in places. Uriah is still in the foam pit, slowly making his way to an exit ladder that's some ten feet away. Zeke and George are standing on the floor near the top of it, helping Amar climb out behind them.
"You'd better get out of the way," Uriah calls to me. "Kevin will land where you are now."
Shit. He's right. So, I force my still-shaking limbs to drag me through the sea of foam pieces toward the ladder. It's very difficult to move through this stuff.
In total, it takes another five minutes before we're all on solid flooring and are ready to continue. The problem is that it's not at all clear where we're supposed to go from here. The only visible exit is a door that we quickly find is locked.
There is, however, an activity that we're obviously supposed to complete – one that involves a large, square swimming pool which sits on a section of the floor. Judging by its height, it's only two feet deep, but it's impossible to tell if it extends into the floor below that, since it's filled with a completely opaque black fluid. One that looks distinctly dangerous.
On the far side of the pool, a target hangs on the wall. And at the front of it, a wooden box holds an extensive collection of throwing knives.
"I think we're supposed to hit that target to unlock the door," George says thoughtfully.
Amar pats me on the shoulder. "Well, it's a good thing we have someone with perfect aim on our team."
Smiling a little, I grab a knife, weighing it in my hand to find the balance point as I evaluate the distance to the target. This isn't much different from throwing knives in Dauntless.
I breathe in, tunneling my vision on the target, and then I throw as I exhale. The knife misses the target completely.
Uriah's snort of quickly-suppressed laughter carries through the air, and Zeke mutters, "Wow, never thought I'd see that."
There's no hiding the flush that creeps up my face. I know it's been almost two years since I practiced this skill, but I should still be better than this.
Amar clears his throat. "Should I give it a try?" he asks, clearly trying to hide his own amusement.
Annoyed, I grab another knife, only to have it do the same thing. This doesn't make sense.
"Something's knocking it off course," George says, frowning. "It starts straight and then drops much faster than it should." He walks around the side of the pool, staring into the liquid and then up in the air. On the other side of the pool, Kevin mirrors his movements.
After a moment, Kevin extends his arms over the pool, apparently checking for physical interference. George shrugs before doing the same thing from the other side.
"Here," Kevin finally says, holding his arm over a spot two-thirds of the way toward the target end of the pool. "There's a pull on my watch here – I bet there's a strong magnet under the liquid."
"Shit," George comments. "How big do you think it is?"
"Big enough," Kevin quips. He's clearly already decided that we can't throw past it and is thinking about other options. "I wonder what this fluid really is? Maybe it's just a scare tactic, and we can walk through it…."
He and George begin some type of analysis of the liquid, but my eyes return to the knives. There's a wide range of styles here – more than I would expect if they're all useless.
"Maybe some of these are plastic," I suggest. That catches their attention, and the group moves toward them all at once.
"No," I say firmly, waving them away. "We need to divide and conquer here. Kevin and George, finish what you were doing. Uriah, help me check the knives. Amar, see if there's a way to drain the pool." Turning to my best friend, I add, "And Zeke, look for something we can put over the pool so we can reach the target directly. A piece of wood or something."
They all turn to their tasks unquestioningly, though Amar pauses to meet my gaze, nodding approvingly. It's a recognition of leadership from one instructor to another, and I have to admit it makes me feel good.
Uriah is already pulling knives out of the box, rapping them with his knuckles and trying to bend them in an attempt to tell what material each is made from.
"I don't really know what I'm doing," he admits quietly, looking a bit sheepish.
My first instinct is to roll my eyes and respond sarcastically, the way he and his brother typically would. But part of me has been seeing him differently lately.
As much as I can't stand the fact that he kissed Tris all those months ago, the reality is that I wouldn't have gone back for Anna's ring – at least not when I did – if he hadn't done that, and if he hadn't told me about it. Which means that in some strange, twisted way, his kiss led to the chain of events that kept Tris alive in Greensburg.
I don't know if I'll ever bring myself to thank Uriah for that, but it certainly makes me more willing to look past it and see him as a friend.
"Hit them against each other," I tell him, demonstrating by striking two blades together. A metallic clink sounds clearly. "If you don't get that sound, one of them's not metal."
His face lights up, and he quickly begins following suit. "Maybe you have an aptitude for Erudite after all," he says, grinning slyly.
My response is simply, "I'm trying." And indeed I am. It's the point of our faction, after all.
We're about half-way through the box when George and Kevin give up.
"Whatever it is," George says flatly, "I'm not setting foot in it."
"Yeah, I have to agree," Kevin concedes, holding up a piece of ripped cloth that's soaked in the black liquid. It looks like he tore part of his T-shirt off and dunked it. Smiling grimly, he taps it on the floor, raising an eyebrow as it clunks – and doesn't bend at all. The substance seems to have rendered it as stiff as a board, and equally heavy.
"On the bright side, we might be able to make a beam to put on top of the pool this way," George says with a smirk. "You know, unravel our clothes and dunk them until they're solid…."
Amar snorts in laughter, and this time, I do roll my eyes.
At that moment, Uriah clicks two knives together with a dull thunk. All eyes turn to him, and I grab the knives, quickly deciding which one is made of plastic.
"Everyone, get ready," I call, waiting for Zeke to make his way back to us and for Kevin to take up a position right by the door. "We don't know what will happen when this hits."
"If," Uriah says with a cough, but I ignore the jibe as I take my stance. My aim is not the problem.
And I prove that when I launch the knife directly into the center of the target. There's a distinct clicking sound, and then Kevin pulls the door open triumphantly. The others step aside to let me go first, and I lead my team into whatever is next.
A/N: To give you a heads-up, the next chapter probably won't be posted for at least a week, and quite possibly longer. I try to stay 2-3 chapters ahead of what I post, so I can iron out the flow before I lock a chapter in. However, I've been very sick and am now way behind in my writing. This chapter is the last one I have done. I decided to take a chance and post it anyway, but it will take me some time to get the next chapter ready. So, if there's a gap, it doesn't mean that I've abandoned this story or anything - I'll definitely be back.
In the meantime, please take a moment to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Your reviews always make me feel better, and I could really use that, since unfortunately I'm STILL sick... This particular cold and flu season truly sucks.