Thank you to everyone reading and engaging with this story!
Present Day
"Natalie…What do you think?" Evelyn asks. She noticed how distracted Natalie had been and she didn't like it.
"Natalie," Evelyn asks again.
"I'm sorry, what was the question?" Natalie replies, shaking her head and trying to focus her attention back on the meeting.
Her thoughts had been consumed thinking about Tris. She was kicking herself for overwhelming Tris with the information that Andrew wasn't her father. She should have eased her into it, but she had been in the dark so long, she wanted to be upfront with her. Natalie pushes the thoughts to the back of her mind to focus on the council meeting.
"I asked what do you think about bodies that Vincent and his team found in the northwest section?" Evelyn tells her again.
Eight years ago, Evelyn had started speaking up more about the issues that the factionless experienced, wanting to organize to push for the council to provide them with more resources. At first, few people listened but after a few people started banding together to start formulating plans for taking resources that were only reserved for the factions more people started to listen as there was more fresh food available to those that had participated. After a few years of attempts gone wrong, there started to be a higher rate of success. People began to listen to Evelyn increasingly and then a group of five people that Evelyn trusted came to work together. Natalie of course was one of those people along with Charlie, an ex-Candor who failed his initiation, Victor was a former Dauntless who was ousted for being a faction traitor when he fell in love with an Amity woman and was caught sneaking to Amity to see her, Darcy was Erudite and failed her initiation and Mason another former Dauntless who became too old to be useful.
This meeting was to discuss the disappearances of factionless people. Normally people went missing, especially if they didn't have family or cluster with others. People who stole or fought or committed other types of crime would be pushed out of the group. Normally Dauntless would handle those who had committed such crimes, but as the Dauntless patrolled less and less, the factionless had come up with their own system of dealing with those people. It was odd to Natalie; Evelyn had gained support among the factionless people over the years by telling her story about being thrown out of Abnegation unjustly.
"I knew one of them, from when I was Dauntless. He was older than me, His name was Brody. I had seen him over the years in the section, but I don't remember seeing him in the last year or so. I didn't know the other one, but he looked Abnegation to me. I think it's odd, this has been happening more and more, but we need to set up patrols, and see what we can find out" Natalie reasons.
Evelyn smiled and nodded. Natalie's thoughts were like the Dauntless even though she had transferred to Abnegation.
"In the last year, Camile, Laiken, Fred, Brody, Stanley, Mitchell, Sarah, and Kristen have all turned up dead in various parts of the section where whoever is dumping these bodies thinks we aren't habiting" Charlie observes adding pins to a frayed map on the wall.
"And all of them were ex Dauntless" Natalie puts together squinting her eyes looking at the map.
"Do we know anything about who the others are? We don't know where they're from?" Stacy asks, leaning forward.
"We think one was Erudite, two Abnegation" Natalie adds.
"What's wrong Nat?" Charlie asks as Natalie sucks in a breath.
"I think I know the common denominator… Brody, Mitchell, and Kristen were all Divergent…"
"Are you sure?" Evelyn asks.
"Yes, I talked with them about why they didn't make it in Dauntless, what happened during initiation or why they were thrown out"
Evelyn and Natalie had helped organize the factionless to help make the transition easier for those who were new to the way of life. Connecting them with people that they might have known from their former factions. Showing them where there were open places for living quarters. Evelyn had come up with a system to stockpile the donations from Abnegation and any other supplies and materials that could be found.
"Charlie, gather a few folks and see if we can document how many Divergent, we have among us and note who came to us after their initiation" Evelyn instructs.
The meeting is concluded after that and Natalie does some thinking as she makes her way back to her small apartment. When Evelyn first became Factionless, she did what she needed to survive, and then as they became more organized, listening to people who were treated unfairly, Natalie saw she wasn't just looking for equal treatment, she wanted revenge. And that was a dangerous combination.
Max leans back in his chair he had been looking at files all day and reviewing saved fear simulations. There were three that stood out to him. Based on the information that Jeanine had provided him, he could see who manipulated the simulation because they were divergent.
Jeanine's visit had been in the back of his mind. Could the factionless start a war? What would happen if they were outmanned? Dauntless trained well but being outnumbered, there was no strategy that they could come up with to fight that. Maybe Jeanine was right, they needed this serum she was developing.
He picks up the phone and hesitates but dials the number.
"Jeanine…Max. We need to talk where can we meet?"
A few hours later, Jeanine and Max walk through the area that used to be Millenium Park.
"What do you need to make this serum of yours work"
"I just need you to hand over a few of your members who are divergent," Jeanine tells him simply.
"To do what?"
"Collect stem cells from them"
"Why? And why from the divergent? Specifically Dauntless,"
"Stem cells can be used to grow other areas of human cells. What we found is using them as the base of this serum gives a stronger effect. We've gotten better results using the stem cells of those who are divergent"
"How do you know I can identify those who are divergent?" Max challenges. He wanted to see how she would answer.
"Come on Max don't insult my intelligence. You know as well as I do that we need to weed them out and if we are going to weed them out, we might as well make them benefit us in some way. I need to see if Dauntless divergent will enhance Dauntless more than other groups. I know you've noted them, don't lie to me, and tell me you haven't"
Max notices the cold look in her eyes. In the last 10 years, the talk about those in their society who were divergent had taken on a life of its own. Some people thought it was a myth, something to tell little kids at night before bed to get them to behave. But others saw it as a threat, what did you do with someone who had an aptitude for more than one faction? How could they be loyal to a faction? There were so many questions and some concerns that he had too. Their way of life was built around faction over blood, a choice had to be made. When he became a leader, he was briefed on the escalating divergent problem, but it was rarely discussed out in the open. When he was voted for the head leadership position, he had read all the notes and files kept about the divergent, but he wasn't sure if he should act on the information. Dauntless initiation was hard enough with many failing and then those not in strong physical condition being put out, the idea of weeding out even more members concerned him. He'd been toying with the idea of limiting the spots but knowing that the factionless was twice the size of Dauntless now, he was even more hesitant to restrict their numbers.
"And it will kill them? Collecting the stem cells?"
"It's painful but the testing is where we've seen higher rates of mortality."
"How many?"
"I don't think that's information you need to be privy to…" Jeanie tells him haughtily.
"You are asking me to hand over members of my faction willingly, knowing that they could lose their life. How many?" Max says, raising his voice and stepping closer.
Jeanine doesn't flinch but Max sees the momentary flash of fear in her eyes before she goes back to her icy control.
"25," she tells him. "We can't allow them to overtake us"
Max nods.
"How many are you asking me to sacrifice?"
"5 now and an additional five within a year. People won't go willingly, we've tried that. So, I suggest quietly removing them. Panic starts to rise when too many people go missing at once."
A moment of silence lapses between the two and Max thinks about what she's asking.
"I do have one additional ask. I'd like someone who has ties to Erudite in Dauntless leadership. I have a candidate, one of your transfers from Erudite this year would be ideal" Jeanine hated to have to go this route, but Eric wasn't warming up to Max as she had hoped.
Max rolls his tongue over the back of his teeth. Jeanine thought he was a typical Dauntless, not smart enough to see through her calculated moves. He knew she wasn't divulging all her plans; she'd probably lied about the numbers she gave him. He wasn't going to bend to her every wish. He leaned in close to her ear.
"Don't push me Jeanine" he whispers in an icy tone.
He stands up and strides off towards the train tracks leaving Jeanine standing there with her arms crossed. She knew she wasn't going to muscle her way through anything with Max, she needed to find something that would motivate him.
The only sound Tris hears as she walks through the Factionless section toward Natalie's home is the sound of her own footsteps. It had been a month since she had last seen her mother. After visiting day, Andrew had made her and Caleb assist unloading supplies from Amity and then a rainstorm covered the city the next week and there was no way she could have justified leaving the house. That Saturday, as she sat in her room looking out the window as the rain pelted down on the roof and she felt bad for how she left things with her mother after her conversation with Tobias. Knowing that she was conceived out of love and her father wasn't the monster across the hall was comforting now.
The next Saturday she made sure she was up early and had breakfast ready. Tris pushes open the door and drops her bags running across the floor into her mother's arms. Natalie holds her tight, relief flooding through her.
"I wasn't sure if you would be here" Tris whispers.
"Oh, Baby Girl, I'm so sorry, I will always be here" Natalie promises.
"I'm sorry I got upset," Tris says looking at the floor.
"This isn't easy, and I know growing up in Abnegation you've been taught sharing your feelings is selfish because you put your emotions on other people. You don't have to hold your feelings in with me"
Tris lets out a sigh of relief at her mother's understanding on a level that she wasn't even sure how to verbalize yet.
That afternoon Natalie rebriads Tris for her. Natalie asks her about school and Caleb as they make a meal from the rations that Tris brought with her. Tris tells her how she thinks Caleb and Susan Black will start courting as soon as they go through initiation.
"Mom, can you help me train, so I'm ready for choosing day next year?" Tris asks, stopping before she takes a spoonful of the soup she and Natalie had made for lunch.
"Of course, you'll need to learn shooting and knife throwing. It's going to be physical, so you'll need to put some muscle on"
Tris nods, remembering what Tobias had told her, but she was ready.
Tobias wipes his brow as he sits up in the simulation chair, His fear landscape had been rough but thankfully initiation was going to be over in only another week, and he was still ranked in first place.
"You did good, Four" Amar praises. "Just keep doing what you're doing, and no one will notice"
Tobias was thankful that Amar had coached him on how to hide his divergence. After the first simulation, Amar pulled him into the tattoo parlor with Tori and they explained to him why it was important to hide his divergence.
"You're going to keep that first-place ranking, I'm sure of it," Amar tells him as he cleans up the supplies and shuts down the computer.
"What about Eric?" Tobias asks.
Eric had been a pain in his side since the choosing ceremony. Tobias didn't get a good feeling off of him, it was as if he was searching for information, looking for weaknesses in people.
"He'll probably come in fourth, but I wouldn't worry about him. The number one is always guaranteed to be offered a spot, in some cases, the number two will be as well depending on what slots need to be filled. You need to start thinking about what job you want. Ranking first guarantees you a spot in the leadership training program. Everyone in the program doesn't always make it to one of the five spots we have for leaders, but you could still end up with a leadership support position until a spot opens up"
Tobias scrunches his face up at the idea of leadership. That was what Marcus wanted for him, did he really want to go through that here too? But would being in leadership give him an advantage in taking down Marucs? He really needed to talk to Tris about all this.
Sure enough, Max asked to see Tobias in his office the next afternoon. Tobias looks around the office of the Pire as he's directed to Max's office by the woman sitting at the desk. She had a nose piercing and green streaks in her hair. Tobias had been here two months and he still wasn't used to how free the Dauntless were with expressing themselves. Tobias knocks softly on the door jamb as Max's door was open, but his head was down as he looked to be signing documents.
Max was pleased to see him; he was impressed by Four. He was stoic but Max could tell he was fair in his decisions. There hadn't been a transfer from Abnegation in almost 20 years and Max was curious to observe him. He'd watched from afar as he helped one of the Dauntless-born work on her fighting techniques. That was the type of person he looked for in a leader.
"Tobias with initiation about to conclude and you ranked number one in your class, I'd like for you to consider taking a position in leadership"
Tobias nods as he listens. Amar was right that Max would approach him.
"What would that entail?"
"Well, I currently have four slots under me that are filled, Dauntless law requires that we have an odd number of leaders to settle any disputes. Each leader oversees a part of our operations and a small staff that are hand-picked. Operations, Weapons and Security, Faction Relations, and Housing. It will be several years before Harrison, Chavis, Stacy or Victoria vacate their positions, but you would get the opportunity to study how all of this works and choose a team to work under.
"What team did you start out under?" Tobias asks the offer not sounding as bad as he initially thought.
"Faction Relations, it was seven years before I moved up so don't feel pressured that it will happen soon"
"Can I think about it?"
"Of Course, I'll give you a few weeks after initiation before I need an answer"
Tobias nods.
"What happens if I choose to not take the leadership position?" He asks.
"You pick a job just like all the other new initiates but Four, opportunities like this only come about once," Max tells him honestly.
"Thank you, Sir," Tobias says with a nod as he gets up and heads to the door as Max goes back to the paperwork on his desk.
Tobias feels like the final week of initiation is a blur. As soon as the banquet announcing the rankings was held, he had people saying hello that he didn't even know, women winking at him, it was overwhelming.
"Hey Four," a redhead giggles as she walks by with a pack of girls in the dining hall and Tobias gives a head nod and goes back to his dinner.
"Can I be your wingman?" Uriah asks as he sets his tray down across from Four and takes a seat.
Tobias snorts as he takes a bit of his hamburger and Zeke sits down in the seat next to him.
"Little brother, if anyone is going to be his wingman, it's going to be me" Zeke corrects digging into the barbecue chicken in front of him.
"You two are awful, don't you have a girlfriend?" Shauna groans with an eye roll as she sits down on the other side of Tobias.
"Ehhh, Nope, I'm a free man. Maria was fun, but I think I need to set my sights a little higher now," Zeke boasts.
Tobias notices the look that Shauna has, he suspected she had feelings for Zeke, but he seemed to be oblivious.
Tris kicks a rock in front of her as she walks to the bus stop for school behind Caleb, Susan, and Robert. Things were going great with her mother and her training, but she missed Tobias. She sees a few factionless people and Susan; Robert and Caleb dutifully hand out bags of food to them as they always carried extra food with them.
Tris keeps walking but she stops dead in her tracks when a familiar face is smiling back at her from the corner of the building right behind the bus stop. She looks back at Caleb who nods his head and starts to ask Susan and Robert a question about the Sunday service to keep their attention until the bus arrived.
"What are you doing here?" Tris whispers as Tobias pulls her into a hug and they step back into the alley away from the street.
"I made it Tris, I'm officially Dauntless," Tobias grins as he pulls away from her.
"I knew you would! I'm so proud of you! Did you rank first?" she asks, trying to contain her excitement as Tobias nods with a crooked smile and rubs the back of his neck nervously.
"Look I don't have much time, and I knew you would be walking to school now. I need to talk to you, but we have to be careful, especially since I'm an official member of Dauntless now. Look for an X made of chalk on the building across from the school right under the window. When you see it, meet me after you get out of class behind the building"
Tris grabs him and hugs him tight again.
"You gotta go, the bus is coming. I'll see you soon" he says softly.
"See you soon," Tris tells him.
She walks to the end of the alley and looks back at him and smiles. Tobias feels his heart swell. He missed her more than anything. She was the only real thing in his life, but he reminded himself that it wouldn't be long before they were together again in Dauntless.
