All rights to Veronica Roth….I own nothing
I awake to find us curled up on the couch. She has her arms around my waist, and I'm half sitting up. Not the best thing for a sore back, but any reason to hold her this close is well worth it. While wishing I didn't have to, I wake her up.
I slide out from her grasp as she turns over into the back of the couch and mumbles something about not wanting to be awake yet. The sun is high and feels so warm coming through the windows. My instinct is to open them but I know it's cold out. It's late in the year and snow is on our breath. I think over my winters in my life. For the better part in Abnegation they were all the same. My large grey coat and high collar wrapped around my neck. Tight boots that always let the cold in. Abnegation hate the cold for that reason, which is why they rarely go out this time of year. Dauntless were indifferent. They'd layer and layer until they were warm. My first Dauntless year without my Abnegation wool coat was hard, but it was a happy surprise to receive my heavy leather boots with fur inside. They were work boots but they were warmer than anything I had ever experienced. In Dauntless we couldn't care less about the cold. Instead we would build large fires in the Pit. So large they usually got out of hand. The fluffy snow was the best. Jumping out of the train car you would lose all sense of stability and fall. We would have games of seeing who could fall the most dramatically without injury. Eric was always great at that. Eric. Bastard.
Going into the kitchen, I turn on a pot of water for coffee. I reach over and grab a tablet from my shelf and go sit in the shower on the floor. I trust my mother but I need to keep us safe. This at least gives me a neutral background that cannot be identified. With a deep breath, I turn the tablet on and press a listing that says Evelyn.
The bell noise engulfs the shower stall. It's so loud; it's almost too much to take. As soon as it starts, it ends. There is a click sort of noise and the screen goes from black to a bright orange with Evelyn's head in the middle. She is sitting at a desk in a bright office, the sun streaming through the windows.
" Good Morning!" I say, waving just a little.
Her flat lips upturn into a smile and she nods, " Good Morning, Tobias! How have you been? Seems like forever since we last spoke."
She's right. It's been weeks. Normally she calls more often than that. " I expected to hear from you. " I tell her, " I was surprised I hadn't."
" Just been busy!" She affirms. " Work has been fairly heavy lately. What about you? How have you been?"
I'm busting at the seams to just spill my guts, but I don't. " I'm okay. Weather's getting cold though."
" Yeah, even down here is starting to get a chill."
There is a quiet knock in the background and I hear a door open. I watch at she raises her chin and waves the person forward.
" Can't you see I'm busy?" She asks sternly.
I see a large yellow folder get passed to my mother and I hear a second voice.
" Yes Ma'am, sorry. This is the file you requested! "
" Thank you." She says, taking the folder and opening it briefly before placing it on her desk. " You can go now."
I see her smile and I can hear the persons footsteps get further and further away.
Evelyn turns back to me and opens her mouth to speak. Just as she does there is a noise like someone clearing their throat. I watch her close her mouth and frown a little. Turning her attention back away from the tablet she speaks. " Yes?"
" I'm sorry, Ma'am. But the information the headquarters had sent over is here. It says you're due back in five days and that the fitters are gone."
I watch Evelyn's hand go up and wave the person away. She turns back to me smiling again.
" So. Where were we?" she asks, slightly peppy but with a sigh.
"We weren't really anywhere." I say in honesty.
" Oh!" She says, eyebrows up, " Well then. How's work?"
In order to answer this question properly I would have to get into the whole story. So I stick to my script.
" It's ok. Lots of paperwork!" I lie.
" Usually is, my darling!" She laughs, " Well listen, we'll be in touch. I have so much to do here! We will have dinner when I'm back, okay?"
My mind starts to drift momentarily. Five days. The fitters are gone.
" Yeah. Get in touch with me." I tell her.
The fitters are gone.
" I will sweetheart!" she smiles, " I love you!"
The fitters are gone.
" Yeah. Bye." I mumble. The screen goes black.
The fitters are gone.
Grabbing the wall of the shower I stand myself up and head out of the bathroom. As I'm crossing the kitchen, I stop and pour my hot water into my coffee grounds.
The fitters are gone.
Why is this bothering me? I pour a little milk in my cup and start to walk towards the couch, preparing to wake up Beatrice.
The fitters are gone.
The Fitters are gone.
Fitter's.
Abe Fitter?
There is this slice of time when I watch as she sits up on the couch and smiles at me, but her smiles goes flat and her eyebrows go down. She is saying something to me but I can't hear her. Without hesitation I drop my coffee cup and grab my hair.
" Oh my god." I mutter.
" Tobias?" Beatrice calls, climbing over the couch and coming to me. " Tobias, what's wrong?"
" The Fitter's are gone!" I tell her, my mind rambling. " They're gone."
" What?" She looks at me in confusion, " I don't know what that means! Who or what are the fitters?"
" Abe. Abe Fitter. He's an employee at the Bureau. We forced information out of him to help find you."
" OH!" She says, " Where have they gone?"
" Debbie."
" Tobias? Where could they have gone?"
"Franklin."
" Tobias!" She shakes my shoulders.
" Marty." I utter. I push myself against the wall and slide down it until I'm sitting. Letting my face fall into my hands, I can only think of that man's face when I asked him if he knew me.
" Tobias?" She speaks quieter now, " Where did you just hear this? Who said they were gone?" She gives me a panicked look.
I pick my head up, staring off into the distant wall. Then like a bolt of lightning I turn to her.
" My mother."
Writer's note: I love this chapter. I love the memories Tobias drudges up about winter time. I love the idea of the dauntless going outside to play in the snow. There's something beautiful about it. These soldiers given the opportunity to live like carefree children for a period of time. to forget their duties and just have straight up fun. i love that.