Welcome back!
One thing I forgot to mention is that Tris, Caleb, and Tobias are only choosing one year apart in this story.
Trigger Warning for discussion of child abuse in this chapter.
Happy Reading! And Happy New Year Everyone!
Updated on 1/2/2023
16 years ago
The summer rain beat down so hard it stung her skin. Even though she was soaked to the bone, tears streaming down her face were evident.
"Andrew please don't do this" Natalie sobs.
"You are a disgrace to Abnegation. I refuse to bring shame upon this family" His eyes were hard and cold as he threw a bag of supplies the Abnegation handed out to the factionless to her.
"My babies need their mother. You can't keep me from them" Natalie yells. She didn't care about being factionless, she would survive but Caleb and Beatrice were her everything.
"They are no longer your concern. The last thing they need is a whore looking after them. And trust me when I tell you there are worse things I can do besides making you factionless if you ever come near them. You won't remember any of your life. I'm being merciful to let you go this way"
Andrew turns away walking back toward the Abnegation sector with his umbrella.
Natalie feels her lip quiver as she watches him walk away. What a fool she had been to trust Andrew Prior, she gave up everything for him, and now, losing her babies, only poured salt in the wound.
She finds a corner of a building that provides a little bit of a shield from the rain, and she sinks down to the ground pulling her knees against her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She cries, not only for Caleb and her baby girl Beatrice that will never know her but for her sister, her true love that she left behind in Dauntless. She was all alone in the world now and she wished she could take it all back.
Present Day
Jeanine looks over the reports sitting in front of her. She could tell that she was on to something in her latest round of testing. She would need some new test subjects and those who were divergent would give her the best results.
For years she had turned her nose up to those who showed an aptitude for more than one faction being told growing up that they were dangerous. She still believed that those who couldn't conform were a threat to society, but their brain cells were invaluable. The serums she created with them were more powerful and had longer-lasting effects as if they gave the person taking them a boost. If she could make a serum so powerful to enhance the abilities of each faction, she would have control over everything. She had a plan; Abnegation was already under her thumb. Marcus and Andrew didn't mind turning a blind eye to her experiments and supplying her with known divergent for testing. It was totally by chance that she made the correlation by doing some research when she realized that there were a large number of people with inconclusive test results that defected to Abnegation. She knew she was going to be in line to lead Erudite based on her IQ test results and strong research skills.
When she approached her old classmate Andrew Prior - when he was voted as an Abnegation councilman to serve as a support to Marcus Eaton - about her desire to monitor the number of divergent, she was surprised when Marcus and Andrew agreed and wanted to strike a deal to see all the information before anyone else. Things had been working well and Jeanine had been able to use the factionless for more of her experiments, but she needed to take things to the next level. She had Max from Dauntless on the hook with the promise of a new serum to create a powerful super-soldier, now she just needed to pull him in.
"Ms. Matthews, I've found the young man you were looking for" her assistant calls through the intercom.
"Wonderful, send him in.
"Eric, please come in and have a seat. I'll be with you in just a minute"
She says jotting down a few more notes of the report from her latest failed experiment. She was so close to a breakthrough.
"Are you going to make me factionless?" He asks with an annoyed look as she looks up with a raised eyebrow.
Eric had been made known to her after it was found out that he was working on an experiment that was causing pain to a test subject. After being told to stop he would find ways to continue. Those were the people that Jeanine liked to surround herself with. Those willing to push the envelope for results.
She could tell he was ruthless, and she loved it. The fact that he was pushing the limits of his test subjects without being privy to the experiments she was working on fascinated her. She really looks at him, his dirty blonde hair with a slight curl, his baby blue eyes, and his chiseled features. She reaches over to her files and taps a few keys on her computer to bring up his Erudite information and an idea pops into her head.
"Oh, I have a better use for you," she says with a smirk and leans back in her chair.
By the time Saturday approaches Tobias is bursting at the seams wanting to tell Tris about his news. With Susan and Robert Black walking to and from school with them he didn't want to take the chance of them overhearing their conversation.
"Do you think our fathers are really doing something wrong?" Tris asks as they wander through the factionless section with Tris peaking in every open doorway that they came across.
Tris told Tobias about the woman in the factionless section, she was hoping she could see her again, and ask her how she knew her name.
"It's got to be Tris, why else would they be talking about trying to keep the leader of Erudite happy?"
"What do we do?" She asks as they turn a corner.
"I don't know, what can we do about anything corrupt our fathers are taking part in?"
Tris shrugs but this was another reason she couldn't wait to leave Abnegation.
Tobias can see the disappointment on her face as he looks at his watch and mentions that they need to head back for the day to start dinner. They hadn't spotted the mystery woman all day, but Tris is determined to not give up, even if she had to come back every weekend.
"Don't worry Tris, I'm sure she'll make herself known again to you"
Tris sighs as she kicks a pebble in front of her down the alley.
"I just have so many questions, why does she look like me? How did she know my name?"
"Maybe your mother had a sister or something, she could be related to you" Tobias reasons.
Tris feels a surge of hope. She never felt connected to her father, and they had no other family in Abnegation. The fact that there could be someone connected to her by blood intrigued her. She wanted to ask questions about her mother, know what she was like, and hear stories about her growing up.
"Tobias, we have to tell someone, it's getting worse" Tris sighs as she takes a washcloth and delicately touches the wound on Tobias's back.
This was a common occurrence for Tobias and Tris. If either of them stepped out of line, they faced the wrath of Marcus or Andrew. Their relationship had always been tense with Tris being constantly scolded for her non-Abnegation behavior and Marcus using Tobias as a punching bag for his frustrations. But Marcus had been especially vicious the past few months. Tris was truly afraid one day he was going to go too far, and Tobias wouldn't be able to recover.
"Tell who, Tris? Our fathers run the government. We have a plan - we just need to stick to it. I just have to hold out a few more months" Tobias grunts.
She sits back against the wall and sighs. Tris recalls the first time Tobias was severely beaten by his father when he was twelve and Tris was eleven. Tris had been so worried when he didn't show up to walk to school that day and then didn't show up again when Marcus came over for dinner that evening. Tris had been brought to tears when she climbed into Tobias's window the next morning and found him bloody and beaten passed out on the bed. She helped clean him up and promised to always be there to help him. Tris was taken aback when she received a sharp backhand and a bloody lip from her own father who told her to mind her business when she told him Tobias needed help.
"I know, it's just, I hate that you have to go through this" she sighs. "I never get it this rough" It was true, Tris and Caleb had both had broken arms, lots of bruises, and a few times belt lashings like this, but Tobias had received beatings like this on the regular leaving him with more scar than Tris or Caleb.
"What's wrong?" They had this conversation before, and they both knew what was going to happen, but he could tell something was bothering her. She had always been brave, she hated bullies, it always made her so upset she couldn't fight Andrew or Marcus for coming after Tobias or Caleb.
"I'm just going to miss you, that's all. It's starting to set in that you are going to transfer, and I'll be here alone soon"
Tobias winces as he sits up on his bed.
"I'm going to see you on Visiting Day and if I can find some other way I will, you know it"
"Yeah, I do" she laughs and puts her fist up.
Tobias automatically bumps it, and they extend their hands outward to bring them back in. It was their secret handshake they had been doing since Tris was eleven and Tobias was twelve. It was that day that Tobias decided that Tris wasn't Beatrice anymore.
Tobias smiled at her; he was going to miss her too. She was the only thing constant in his life, the only person who genuinely cared about him.
The night before Tobias's choosing ceremony Tris sits at the top of the stairway listening to the council dinner going on in their kitchen with Jacob, Marcus, and Andrew. Caleb and Tris were always banished to their rooms during the dinner and the meeting after much like Tobias was at this house since the councilmen rotated their weekly dinner meetings. Tris chews her lip as she listens quietly.
"Once Tobias completes his initiation, we can begin grooming him for a council position. We need to make sure that things are kept under control. I've heard rumblings that Jeanine Matthews will be trying her best to seize control as the governing faction. We need to be prepared and make sure that she doesn't get her hands on anything that could expose us and sway the other factions in Erudite's favor" Marcus states.
Tris almost scoffs aloud. The fact that Marcus really thought Tobias would stay in Abnegation after his abuse was laughable, but it made Tris even more proud of Tobias for wanting to break free. She had to give it to Tobias - he really did put on a good front for Marcus. She was never that convincing.
"Tobias will need a suitable wife; we can't have another repeat of Evelyn or Natalie. It's been a long time, but we don't need the added attention" Jacob replies.
"I agree and Tobias will be a fine match for Beatrice, Marcus," Andrew says.
Tris drops her mouth in shock. How dare they? Plan her future. But married to Tobias? He was her best friend...
"She still seems as though she will need some training on being a proper Abnegation wife, I hope Tobias can rein her in. Maybe he will provide a good example for her."
She sticks her tongue out even though they can't see her. Proper Abnegation wife. There was no way in hell. She'd be factionless before she subjected herself to walking two steps behind an Abnegation man and staying in her place.
"You are going to get in trouble again" she hears in a whispered voice that belongs to her brother.
Tris turns around and glares at him. She hates to give him the satisfaction of thinking she was giving in, but this was her only chance to sneak out and see Tobias.
He rolls his eyes and goes back to his room, shutting the door quietly. Tris steps quietly in her socks to not let the floorboards squeak as she goes back to her room. She slips on her boots, fixes her bed with pillows underneath the sheets to look as if she were sleeping, opens her window, and shimmies down the pipe on the side of the house. She has done this a hundred times and she can do it gracefully now. She goes around the back of the house and runs two streets over to the Eaton house. The meeting was just getting started so she knew she had a good two hours. After she climbs upside of the house to the window to Tobias's room, she slides open it and crawls through.
"You just couldn't go to the back door, could you?" Tobias laughs as he leans against the doorframe. He always left the window a little loose so Tris could climb through. There were so many times when he had been beaten too badly or locked in the closet to open it for her.
"Where's the fun in that" Tris smiles back as she catches her breath and pulls her boots off.
Tobias shakes his head as he goes to sit on the bed next to Tris.
"Is it bad tonight?" Tris asks, reaching to look under his shirt to his back.
"Only a punch to the chest, to remind me of my place" Tobias shrugs.
"What was the test like?" Tris asks, taking her hair down out of her traditional Abnegation bun. Her hair was a curly mess, but this was one of the things that she loved about being around Tobias. She could fully let go and be herself. She crawls into his bed tucking her legs under as Tobias sits toward to head and stretches his legs out.
"Marcus told me how to answer so that I would get an Abnegation result, but it was kind of weird, I knew what was going on."
Tris furrowed her eyebrows as she listened wondering what it would feel like when she took that test.
"What was up with the council meeting tonight?"
"Your dad said something about you taking a position on the council after your initiation"
Tobias rolls his eyes at the naivety of his father. He had no idea he was planning to transfer, which was fine by him. He couldn't wait to see the look on his face the next day.
"They also said some other things… about you needing a wife," Tris says quietly picking at the fabric of the blanket on the bed before looking up at Tobias who had his eyebrows furrowed. "My father thought I would make a good wife for you"
"Oh," Tobias says with his eyes wide and clearing his throat and scooting up before leaning back against the wall. "That might have been…."
"Weird?" Tris offers with her eyebrows raised.
"Well, I mean, I'm your best friend, I Ummm, well" Tobias stammers feeling his cheeks flush.
Tris was the only person in the world he trusted, and he had never thought about girls, it was a fight every day just to survive. He didn't miss how the girls from other factions giggled sometimes when he walked by in the hallways of the upper levels school. He heard how the Dauntless and Candor boys talked in gym class or in the bathrooms. No Abnegation was bold enough to openly ogle girls and comment on their bodies aloud.
Tris shoves his arm playfully as she sees him getting lost in his thoughts "Yeah it would be weird"
"What else did they say?" Tobias asks as he chuckles, relaxing.
"Something about you needed a good Abnegation wife because they needed to protect some secrets because there are rumors Erudite is trying to take control of running the factions"
"What? Are you serious?" Tobias leans in. He and Tris knew their fathers were hiding something, but they hadn't been sure the other council members were in on it too.
"The craziest thing of all was Jacob Eversley said that the reason you needed a good wife was that they didn't need a repeat of what happened with Evelyn and Natalie"
Tobias sucks in a breath. His father refused to speak about his mother, and the same thing for Tris. What did they have to do with any of this? Evelyn had died giving birth to another child when Tobias was eight and Natalie when Tris was a few months old from complications.
"What the hell?" He whispers more to himself than to Tris as he processes the information.
"I know" Tris replies with a slow head nod. "Then Caleb started bothering me about getting in trouble for eavesdropping, so I left"
"Do you think someone could really take control from Abnegation?"
"I don't know but if it happened, I think it would have to be someone very powerful, or more than one faction working together, which is something else Marcus said, not wanting Erudite to gain support from the other factions" Tris replies after she thinks about it for a moment. She really had no idea, but everything they had been taught in faction history told them that Abnegation had been chosen to run the government for a reason.
They talk for a little while longer, and Tris looks at the clock on the desk knowing she will have to leave soon. She gets up and fixes her hair and puts her shoes on. Tobias stands up. He grabs her hand and pulls her in for a hug. She was the only one he felt comfortable doing something like this with.
"I'm really going to miss you, Tobias," she says against his shoulder.
"I'm going to miss you too" He whispers as takes in her smell wanting to remember the small moments like this.
"Promise me you will try and make at least one friend" She requests pulling back enough to look at him.
"Okay" He blows out as if it were the hardest request in the world.
"I'm serious Tobias" Tris glares at him letting him know that she meant business.
He shakes his head and chuckles; she knew him too well. It wasn't as if there were many opportunities to hang out and have fun in Abnegation, but Tobias tended to shy away from anyone partly because of Marcus. He was cordial to Susan and Robert Black and to Caleb, but he never let his guard down with anyone but Tris.
"I know you are, I promise I will try, for real"
She smiles at him, and he feels something stir inside him, something different than he had felt before as she bites her lip and looks up at him.
"Earlier when I said it would be weird to marry you, I didn't mean that as an insult" He felt the need to say it. She was the most important person in the world to him, he didn't want to think any differently.
"I know" she whispers as they continue to look into each other's eyes.
Tobias still has his arms around her waist and hers were resting on his shoulders. There was something that pulled her to him, that she hadn't felt with anyone before but him. Tris feels herself blush from the way he looks at her, but she feels desired, and it was a new feeling. No one had ever looked at her like that before.
"You can kiss me if you want" she whispers.
She wanted to know what it felt like and this seemed like it was the right moment. Yes, this felt like one of their secret rebellions. Abnegation had strict rules about saving yourself for marriage. Courting wasn't allowed until after initiation so the only boy she had ever been alone with other than Caleb was Tobias. There was a thrill that this was breaking the rules, but it was also something special just for the two of them and there was no one she trusted more than Tobias.
Tobias swallows hard but tightens the grip his hands have on her waist and pulls her against him lingering for a moment as he leans down. He can feel her breath as his lips hover over hers. She places a hand on his waist, and he finally presses his lips to hers.
It was a sweet tender kiss, light and sweet. Tris thought his lips were so soft and she instantly wondered what it would be like to go further.
Tobias pulls back wondering what she was thinking. He feels warm all over, there was something tugging at him as he stirred to life.
Tris bites her lip and smiles at him. Tobias decides to lean back in, this time he cups the back of her head before going back for another kiss, moving his lips against hers. Tris slides her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck and presses her body closer to his. He slides his hands down to her back and Tris gasps a little feeling him harden against her stomach as they pressed together. Tris feels like she's floating, enjoying the softness of his touch and his lips. She parts her lips, and he runs his tongue over her bottom lip.
This time when they pull away breathlessly, Tobias kisses her forehead. He takes a moment to look at her, she was beautiful, and Tris had a fire in her. She never belonged in Abnegation; he couldn't wait to see her in Dauntless when she could be as free as she wanted to be.
Tris gives him one last hug, squeezing tight before she lets go.
"Maybe I'll let you do that again when we are in Dauntless" She teases as she lets up the window to crawl through.
Tobias smiles and shakes his head, and he watches her fearlessly shimmy down the pipe on the side of the house before darting off down the street.
