A/N: Thank you for all the support you've continued to give this story! I really appreciate the follows, favorites, and especially the reviews. Thank you also to my wonderful beta reader, BK2U!
This chapter takes a downturn. Some of you might want to wait and read it along with the next one, which will hopefully be posted in a few days. But if you're brave and willing to trust me, read on...
Chapter 19: Tobias – Commitments
Sometimes, Tobias can't believe he's been back in Chicago for a year. In some ways, it feels like forever – as if he never left – but in others, it's like the blink of an eye.
The time is measured most clearly at work, where his team has now finished the year-long project they were originally transferred to undertake. Eric has been close-mouthed about what's coming next, saying that he wants to announce it at the celebratory dinner the company is holding tonight. But judging by hints that have trickled down to Amar, most team members will be able to choose between two major new projects, both of which are supposed to be good. It's nice to have options.
They're allowed to bring their significant others to the dinner, and Tobias goes a little overboard in dressing up and bringing an equally adorned Tris with him to the banquet hall. After the stunt Nita pulled at the last company party, he wants to make sure that his girlfriend feels like the envy of tonight's event.
And it seems to be working, given the way everyone's eyes follow them around the room – and by the cold look Nita casts at her would-be rival. As if that was ever a contest.
"Tris, I'm glad you were able to make it," Amar says with genuine pleasure, reaching out to kiss her hand. Beside him, George smiles at his karate pupil.
"Well, I hear they're giving out awards, and I couldn't miss seeing if Tobias gets one." She grins at the way her boyfriend flushes slightly, embarrassed at the prospect. He's never been one for public attention, though he knows he'll get his share today anyway. After all, he was a key member of the team.
"Ah, yes." Amar gives a small smile. "I've heard that, too, but I'm afraid I have no spoilers for you."
His husband chuckles. "I imagine Amar will get a beautiful plaque," he tells Tris conspiratorially, "that they'll hang on the wall with all the others." Putting a hand on her shoulder, he adds, "Where it will sit in place of a meaningful raise."
Tobias laughs at that. It's become a common joke that the company holds these award ceremonies instead of giving out bonuses or raises, since it's less expensive in the long run. But personally he doubts it – he's gotten a generous pay increase every year he's been with the company, so they don't seem to be that cheap.
"The real question is, will Eric get anything?" Tobias muses. As the assistant manager of the Dauntless division, Eric was technically in charge of their project, even if he did very little of the day-to-day work.
"Oh, I imagine so." Amar looks mildly disgusted. "If history is any judge, he'll get credit for everything we did right."
Tobias turns his gaze briefly to Eric, watching as Nita leans a little too close to him, running her hand along his arm while they talk. A flicker of a smile touches his mouth. He hadn't heard anything about the two of them pairing up, but he's glad to see it. They certainly deserve each other.
Drawing away from Nita, Eric begins moving toward the stage to join his boss, Max, and Tobias knows the ceremony is about to start. "We should sit," he tells the others, and they make their way to a table, joining Will and Christina. The July heat is permeating the building, even through the air conditioning, so he takes his jacket off, draping it over the back of his chair before sitting next to Tris. She links her fingers with his.
The room quiets when Max taps the microphone, sending a squeal of feedback through the space. "Welcome, everyone," he announces, "I'm glad so many of you were able to make it." Looking around the room, he continues, "Today, we celebrate the Dauntless division, and the outstanding work that all of you have done on behalf of Samson Technologies. I know that the last year has been a real challenge, and those of you who came from our other locations probably wondered if it was worth the trip."
The audience chuckles appreciatively. "Well, I'm here to say that it was definitely worth it!" He grins widely. "Thanks to your efforts, our largest project ever has been a resounding success." A collective cheer rises, and Max claps his hands along with the crowd. "Tonight, we want to take a moment to celebrate those efforts – and to talk about what's next for all of you."
Tobias perks up at that, but it doesn't take long to realize that they're holding off on the future discussion until the end of the night, probably to make sure no one leaves after receiving their own plaque. So, he sits back in his seat, letting his fingers play with Tris' hand as he half-listens. Max drones on for considerably too long, and eventually Eric follows him with his own speech, before they finally begin announcing the individual awards.
No one is surprised when the first plaque goes to Amar. As the project manager, he handled the vast majority of the difficult issues that arose, and he worked some serious hours keeping everyone on track. Tobias and Will both clap loudly for him, Will adding a wolf whistle that draws some laughter.
Leaning forward, George whispers to Christina. "Tell your boyfriend to stop hitting on my husband." Christina just chuckles back.
Tobias pays a little more attention to Amar's speech, particularly when he begins thanking his team members. But Eric doesn't let him continue for long, taking back the microphone with a forced smile, though he does keep Amar beside him as he continues with the next award.
"Really, everyone here deserves some type of mention," he comments, "but there are a few in particular who went above and beyond to support this project. We would like to recognize them today."
He continues with the project management staff, giving Nita the next-most-important acknowledgement and keeping her on stage, too, before moving on to the marketing department, the business analysts, the trainers, and the testers. By the time he reaches the developers, the room is getting restless, and the stage is getting full, since he's keeping certain people up there with him. Presumably, they're there for whatever is being announced about the future.
"I would be remiss if I didn't include our lead developer, Four Eaton," Eric finally calls. Tobias rises dutifully as his table-mates cheer, particularly Tris. He takes a second to kiss her on the lips, making it crystal clear to the entire room that she's there with him, and then he heads up to the stage. Briefly, his eyes touch Nita's as he steps up near her, and he's disconcerted by the satisfied expression on her face – it's the look of someone who knows something she doesn't expect him to like, and it worries him.
But he tries to ignore the gut feeling as he crosses to Eric and the others in front of the podium. "Four," his greasy-haired boss begins, "you have been with the Dauntless division for almost eleven years now, through multiple projects in Boston and Chicago. And I have been told that you excelled as Centria's lead developer. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of our company." Eric's expression is a lot like Nita's as he extends a medium-sized plaque to Tobias.
It's a standard award, like others that Tobias has received from the company, and he barely glances at the dark wood and the shiny silver plate that displays his name and position. Holding it in his left hand, he shakes Eric's hand with his right, and then Max's and Amar's.
He's on his way back to his seat when Eric catches his shoulder, indicating that he should remain on stage with the others. It's an unexpected request, since he's not quite at the same level as most of them, but he doesn't say anything. Perhaps it means they're planning to promote him.
He silently debates if that would be a good thing or not while he watches his most direct coworkers receive their own recognition. After all, he likes his current position a lot better than the ones he's seen above it. He would not, for instance, want Amar's job.
A smile tugs at his mouth when Will blows a kiss and calls, "Love ya, Christina," making the room laugh. His is the last plaque to be handed out, and as the younger man leaves the stage, Eric steps away from the podium, turning the ceremony back over to Max.
"Again, thank you to all of you!" Max proclaims, clapping his own hands as the assembly applauds. "And now, what you're all anxious to hear – the future of the Dauntless division." He raises his hands to quiet the murmurs from the audience. "I know you've heard a lot of rumors, but in this case, I actually have good news to replace them with." He grins. "We have two excellent projects available, and we'll be allocating staff between those, with the goal of giving everyone their first choice as much as possible."
Another cheer goes through the room at that, and Tobias smiles a little, too. Hopefully, this will give him the chance to be on a team with the coworkers he prefers – and to escape from some of the others.
Max acknowledges the enthusiasm before continuing. "So, tell me, everyone, how do you feel about returning to Boston?" The collective response is huge, filled with whoops and whistles and stomping feet. Clearly, a large number of people want to go back there, but Tobias frowns, his eyes meeting Tris' across the room. He will absolutely not be leaving again, and he doesn't like the thought of some of his closest friends going, either.
"Well," Max adds, beaming at the audience, "then I'm glad to tell you that one of our new projects is based out of that beautiful city. But I'll let our newest project manager tell you more about that." He gestures toward Nita, and abruptly Tobias understands her smug expression from earlier. But her promotion is fine with him, since it means she'll be moving away.
A smattering of polite applause sounds as Nita steps forward to describe the project, complete with a Powerpoint presentation that introduces the companies involved. Tobias doesn't pay a lot of attention, since this one doesn't apply to him, but he does find himself looking out at the accumulated faces, wondering who will be leaving. There are a lot of people he would miss.
By the time Nita is ten minutes into her presentation, Tobias is staring at George, painfully aware that he and Amar might choose to return to the city they lived in for so long. And he doesn't know how he would handle that. The two of them have been the most consistent influence on his adult life – teaching him karate and giving him advice and generally acting as his family when it became clear that he had none he wished to recognize. He doesn't want to lose them.
He barely notices when Eric retakes the podium to introduce the second project. "Yes, thank you, Nita," his boss announces, smirking at her. "I'm sure many of our talented staff are looking forward to that opportunity." Looking around the audience, he adds, "But for those who prefer to stay in Chicago, we have a great choice here, too – one that came about because of the excellent reputation this team has established in the Windy City."
Eric turns, his gaze meeting Tobias' directly for a second, with a chilling level of malice. "In fact, we owe this opportunity to our very own Four Eaton." Cold starts sinking through Tobias' stomach. "Or perhaps we need to start calling him Tobias now, since that's the name our new client uses for him." With a grand gesture to the side of the stage, he adds, "It is my pleasure to introduce our newest client, Abnegation Industries, and their representatives, Andrew Prior and Marcus Eaton."
Tobias' feet are rooted in place as his gaze follows Eric's hand automatically. And it's as if the entire world vanishes except for one person.
Marcus looks older than he did the last time Tobias saw him, gray leaching into his temples, but he walks with the same self-assured, upright stance. It's the pose of someone who's in charge – who has no question whatsoever that he will be obeyed. And his eyes bore into his son's the same way they always did, stating their control and superiority and making it clear that Tobias is nothing but a small child in need of constant discipline.
"Son," he calls, giving his saccharine public smile as he steps closer to Tobias, extending his arms for an embrace.
Tobias' entire body seems to be locked in sheer panic, his heart hammering so loudly in his chest that he's sure the whole room can hear it. But his mind is racing, thousands of memories colliding into flash after flash of brutality and pain and loss.
How can he be here?
"Mr. Eaton," Amar states sharply, stepping quickly between them and extending a hand to Marcus. It's hard to tell if the gesture is a greeting or a threat. "I'm Amar, Four's project manager."
For several seconds, the two men face off – Tobias' birth father and the man who has acted much more like one – before they shake hands, both maintaining a professional front for the room full of watching people. Somehow, the sight gives Tobias the strength to resume breathing.
And then Marcus speaks. "I was under the impression that Tobias would be our project manager." He looks evenly at Eric. "That's what the contract says, right?"
The words are their own sort of blow, and Tobias doesn't need Eric's nod of confirmation to grasp exactly what is happening here. He stumbles back a step, the lock on his muscles finally gone, his mind reeling with comprehension. That's why Nita looked the way she did, and why Eric had that glint in his eyes. They've been planning this with Marcus – planning to force him to work closely with his father in some twisted attempt to punish him for everything they've ever hated about him.
And he can't even quit. If he did, and it caused them to lose the contract, he'd be blackballed in the industry. He'd never get another decent job, even if he could somehow avoid all the non-compete agreements that he signed when he was hired.
His breathing is too rapid now, panic pressing in on him as that old, familiar feeling of helplessness returns. It's like cement in his veins – the certainty that he will never escape from his father. That his entire life will be ruled by the monster who abused him, no matter how he tries to get away.
"No," he stutters, taking another step backwards. "No." His gaze locks onto the man who haunts his nightmares, and suddenly all he can focus on is the one time he broke free, even temporarily. "I am not working with you. I'm going to Boston."
With that, he turns, stumbling around the back stage until he finds an exit – and then through the tangle of hallways until his feet are pounding the pavement outside, walking blindly down street after street as images of Marcus beat into his mind.
He has no idea how long he walks, or how many times he empties the contents of his stomach onto the unforgiving sidewalk. All he can see is his mother scratching at the floor as their torturer brings his belt down again and again, and the darkness of a closet, and the sight of his own blood running down his limbs while fierce agony wracks every inch of his body.
By the time he begins regaining his senses, he's hopelessly lost, and it doesn't help when he realizes that he's left his jacket behind – with his phone and wallet. They're sitting at the table with Tris….
Tobias comes to an abrupt halt, sagging against the nearest building as the reality of what he just did hits him. He told his entire division, including all of his managers, that he was moving to Boston. He announced his choice in a clear and irreversible manner.
And Tris heard the whole thing.
A/N: I know, I know - I just had to bring Marcus in. You're going to have to trust me on this one...