Hi guys! hope everything's good with you. Here's chapter 9!

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I met my mother by the train tracks. She pulls me into an embrace and for one moment, I revel in the safety of her arms, as if I was the little boy in Abnegation, before all the hatred towards her consumed me when I realize she faked her death. I'm not a hugger by nature, so when I return Evelyn's hug with more ferocity, she immediately knows. "What's wrong?"

I pull out my tablet to show her. "I have to show you something. Is there anywhere safe?"

Her eyes flicker when she realizes that I just said her apartment was unsafe. "Yes, follow me." She leads me down the street quietly, neither of us saying a word. I'm startled when she leads me to her old living area in the Factionless unit. We step inside, it looks the exact same, just covered in dust. She sits down at a small makeshift table and holds her hand out for the tablet. She plays the video, watching it slowly, absorbing every detail. When she's done she exhales slowly before looking back at me. "What's his name?"

"He goes by 'The Determinant', because his group will determine the fate of Chicago."

She nods, her hand covering her mouth while she's deep in thought. "After the last war, when we got rid of the factions," I hear the underlying words The one Tris died in. That war. "I heard rumors of a man who wanted to bring them back. He was living amongst the factionless before and after the war, but he wanted to make a version of factions that would ensure him a place. He wants to control aspects of the city. But I never heard about him in the last ten years. I assumed he died. It must be him."

"Do you know his name?"

Evelyn shook her head. "No. That's all the info, I heard about him. I'm sorry Tobias." She rubs her arms despite her coat. It's cold in her old living area and I wonder how many winters she endured in here. "So what are your plans?"

I tell her our ideas of gathering more soldiers and defending the city. "I would rather fight them outside the city, but we have no idea where they're located." I swallow, frustrated. Tris would know exactly what to do. It wouldn't take so long to figure out a set in stone plan to save our city. "Mom, do you think you can take the rest of the city; women, children, the ones who can't fight, to a safer area? Perhaps to Detroit?"

"I'll contact their leader. Luckily, our train tracks have extended in the last few years and go all the way to Detroit. We could make several trips if we act quickly."

I nod. "I'll talk with Zeke about how we want to do this. Thank you." I stand, giving my mother a polite kiss to the cheek and make my way to the open street.

Evelyn's voice stops me. "Tobias, everything will be fine. Chicago couldn't be in better hands." I give her a half smile and continue my exit.

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I'm slightly panicking when I return home. Bee sits on the balcony, reading. I walk quickly to her, but don't go outside. "What are you doing out here? It's snowing."

She shrugs. "The narrator mentioned snow, so I thought it'd be fitting to sit out here."

"Well the narrator won't catch a cold. Come inside." I half say half growl. Stress has overtaken my brain so this just makes me angrier than it normally would.

She comes inside and plops on the couch, wrapping in a blanket. "Dad, I'm sorry about last night."

I wasn't expecting an apology, so it's sobering when I receive one. "It's alright, Bee. I just want to keep you safe. I don't have time to try and make sure you're okay." She nods, but I know nothing can convince her. At least she's smart enough to not say anything right now.

"Dad, what's eating at you?"

"In the past 48 hours, a city building has been burned, citizens have been injured and killed, and we've received two threats from the faction enthusiast group." I feel fatigued and realize I haven't eaten. Bee somehow suspected this and she walks to the kitchen, returning with a sandwich for me. I bite into and can't help but smile, despite the tension that's eating at me. "Is this Peanut Butter and Jelly?"

She shrugs. "We were out of ham."

We sit in silence after I finished my sandwich. My arm hair prickles when I sense it and turn straight to it. It's pressed against the cabinet in my kitchen. I tear through the house, knocking anything in sight over as I tear the secret camera from its hiding space. It just fuels the anger I had brewing from last night, watching the city building swallowed in flames, the video from The Determinant. I'm destroying everything in my apartment to find more cameras. I walk into Bee's room, sweeping the things off her desk, plucking one below her mirror. I head into my room, finding two, one directly between my bed frame and nightstand and a microscopic one next to the switch on my lamp that I almost never use. Once I take that one, I smash the lamp into pieces. All my life I've been so aware of security cameras, a tool I learned from my mother. It helped me talk to Tris privately when I realized she was Divergent in Dauntless. I hid from them in order to be alone for a moment and be myself, a person of many non-Dauntless traits. Even when I worked in the security room at Dauntless, I never saw myself when I went back over the footage. I'm good at spotting them when others can't. The fact that I missed these, putting myself and Bee in even more danger, breaks the restraints I had on myself all my life. For this one moment, I lose control. If my mother was here, she'd think Marcus was tearing up the house. I manage to hear Bee softly call out to me, but I ignore it. All my instincts that tell me to stop have no control over me instincts that tell me to destroy.

"Dad," Bee says sternly. Her hand clutches my arm and I jerk away roughly, making her stumble. That stops any fight I have left and I gulp down fear that I hurt her. But of course, she's fine. It was barely a shove. "Dad," she whispers, tears filling her eyes. I realize what would be worse than hurting her: Bee afraid of me. As if knowing my thoughts, she shakes her head, indicating she isn't scared or hurt, just has sympathy for me. She slowly takes the cameras from my hands. "Why don't you get some sleep? I know you're exhausted." I am. I am tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of sacrificing. I've fought enough in my life time by the age of eighteen. And I don't want to do it again. But I turn off my thoughts and nod at Bee, letting her lead me to my bed. I slowly cocoon myself beneath the covers and Bee presses a kiss to my cheek. I drift quickly.

When I awake, the sky is black and the snow has stopped falling for the day. Caleb and Bee sit at my dining table, the cameras sitting in a pile. There are seven, which tells me Bee found some on her own. I'm suddenly proud and when her eyes meet mine, we smile at each other with understanding. I look to Caleb, wondering what he's doing here.

He folds his hand on the tables. "We know where The Determinant and his forces are located."

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