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Tris couldn't believe it but her Choosing Day was fast approaching. She couldn't wait to see Tobias again every day. Tris had spent the next few weeks working with Natalie, getting stronger, learning how to throw punches, and throw knives. She hadn't seen Tobias again, but she was trying to find the right opportunity to get to Andrew's computer and upload the program Tobias had built but she wasn't having any luck.

Things had started off normal that morning as Caleb and Tris prepared breakfast like normal. Caleb was spending his afternoons with Andrew in the office assisting with paperwork since Andrew and Marcus intended to groom him for a council position. Caleb had brought Andrew's home laptop to complete a report Andrew needed for the next council meeting.

Tris had quietly slipped downstairs that morning and loaded the program before Caleb or Andrew. She doesn't realize that in her haste as she hears Caleb get up and go into the bathroom, the file with the report that was up gets deleted. She quickly moves to start breakfast and gets off to school.

Andrew had been in a foul mood that week for some reason. When he returned home, he pushed Caleb into the house and began berating him for the report missing from his computer. Tris had been cutting the potatoes to make soup for dinner that evening when Andrew flew into the house, slamming the door and grabbing Caleb by the collar, yelling about the report he needed not being complete. She curses, realizing that Caleb was in Andrew's crosshairs because of her.

"How could you be so incompetent" Andrew yells as he delivers a blow to Caleb's rib cage. "Do you know how this makes me look?"

"Stop it! Leave him alone" Tris yells as she shoves Andrew away from Caleb. She wasn't going to let Caleb take this beating for something that she did, but it was also that she couldn't take it anymore. She'd seen this over and over and it was as if a switch flipped.

"How dare you interfere! You think you can stop me, Beatrice?" Andrew tells her in a dark tone, his fist still balled up.

Tris feels all the rage wash over her as the man she's known as her father threatens her. And her mother's words play over in her mind.

"This wasn't the life you should have had to endure, if I would have stayed in Dauntless with your father, your birth father, your life would be different"

Tris realizes that she would have been brave, she should have been Dauntless born, and her instinct to protect herself goes into overdrive as she picks up the knife, she was just using to slice the potatoes.

"You lay a hand on me or Caleb, and it will be the last thing you do," She threatens as Andrew stops his advance looking at her with the knife.

"Beatrice" Caleb wheezes as he stands in the corner with his eyes wide as he clutches his side.

"Fool girl, are you crazy? what is the meaning of all this, you know not to get in my way," Andrew growls.

"What's happening is you will never put your hands on us again" Tris threatens her tone cold and steady as she looks Andrew in the eye not flinching.

Andrew lunges toward her and Tris dodges his advance swinging the blade as she does. It slices a shallow cut in Andrew's arm.

"I'll have you made factionless, just watch…" Andrew hisses as he grabs his arm looking down at the blood.

"That's your solution to everything. Huh? Well, I'll leave right now, and trust me I won't go quietly" Tris says evenly.

"Who do you think will believe you?" Andrew says looking at her. Wondering where the level of defiance was coming from. She'd never been able to conform to Abnegation principles the way she should, and she'd never known her place as a child, but this was new.

Tris lifts up her shirt to show the formation of a bruise, drops her shirt, and pulls up her sleeve where there were still marks from where Andrew had struck her the week before.

"What do you want?" Andrew narrows his eyes.

"You should have figured out by now; I'm not going to stay here. Choosing Day is less than a year away. Just leave me alone. I'll still go to school, cook, and clean, but I'm not going to be paraded around as the dutiful daughter and be your punching bag anymore and neither is Caleb. That ends today"

Tris grips the knife tighter, not moving. Andrew looks to Caleb who had slid to the floor clutching his side.

He thinks about it for a moment. Caleb would do what he wanted, there was no question about that. Beatrice, letting her defect was an easy out. She would cause more problems if she stayed in Abnegation. He knows he should throw her out now, but with Jeanine and the missing persons already he knows that it's smart not to draw any more unnecessary attention.

"Stay out of my way" Andrew warns her as he turns around and leaves the house, the walls shaking as he slammed the door. Tris was a little surprised he didn't put up more of a fight. She throws the knife on the counter and kneels next to Caleb to inspect his wounds.

"Ahhh" Caleb grunts as he throws his head back against the wall as Tris gently touches his side.

"I'm sorry" she whispers. "I think you have a broken rib; we need to get you to the Erudite hospital"

"No, they'll ask questions" he groans.

"We are going to the hospital," Tris tells him forcefully. "We'll tell them you got attacked in the Factionless section again"

Tris runs next door to ask Jacob Black to take them to the hospital since he had a car. She tells him the lie of Caleb being attacked for all his supplies in the factionless sector which generally didn't raise any questions.

Two hours later, Tris sits in the chair in the hospital room where Caleb was sleeping. Just as Tris suspected, he had two broken ribs from Andrew's beating. The Erudite doctors wanted to keep him overnight and provide him with a special healing serum that would help his wounds heal faster.

"You know you can go home" Caleb whispers as he wakes up to see his sister looking uncomfortable the way she was curled up in the chair.

"With him? No thanks, Besides, I wanted to make sure you were okay"

"I've had worse" Caleb admits with a grimace but grateful that his sister was so stubborn. He wasn't sure Andrew would heed her warning and stay away from her and he was thankful for the company.

"Yeah, I know…" Tris remembers the time Andrew had broken Caleb's arm in a beating.

They sit there in silence for a while. No matter how many times they did this, it didn't get easier.

"You're going to Dauntless with Tobias aren't you," Caleb says after a few minutes.

"Yes," Tris sighs. She feels her heart clench as she sees a tear roll down his cheek. "Caleb…"

"I've always known you weren't cut out for Abnegation" Caleb chuckles and then winces a bit at the pain.

"Maybe you should come with me…" Tris puts out there feeling the urge to get him away from Marcus and Andrew rise up in her. Who was going to take care of him if he took a beating when she was gone?

"To Dauntless?" Caleb asks with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, I've been training, I know there's still time left before Choosing Day, but anything can help"

"Tris, we both know I'm never going to be cut out for Dauntless…" he whispers picking at the blanket thrown over him. The fact that she wanted him to come with her made his heart warm.

"I'm going to miss you," she tells him honestly.

"I'll miss you too"

Tris plays with the hem of her dress and decides that she and Caleb need to be completely honest with each other.

"Caleb, Can I trust you?"

"What kind of question is that Tris?" He knew she didn't confide in him like she did Tobias, and part of that was his fault but he loved his sister. Today was a reminder she would defend him with her life. He wanted her to trust him.

"Caleb, you know how he is; I know he and Marcus have turned you into their pet project since Tobias left, what to be able to groom you and control you"

He knew he wasn't as strong as his sister. He followed along with Andrew's plans, seeing where he was guiding Caleb. He'd all but promised his hand in marriage to Susan Black, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Caleb did like her, she was nice and kind of pretty. But the strength to start over in a new faction, he didn't think he could do that.

Caleb sighs and nods leaning back onto the pillow. After a minute he sits up and says confidently, "I don't want to be their pawn anymore"

"I need to tell you some stuff, but I need to know you won't tell Andrew" She shifts and sits up looking back at the closed door to the room.

An hour later, Tris and Caleb are both wiping tears after she tells him about meeting Natalie, and all the information that she and Tobias had put together so far.

"I'm sorry you're in here because I accidentally deleted that report," she says with a sniffle still feeling guilty.

"Tris, if it hadn't been the report, he would have been mad about his breakfast being cold or dinner not being ready when he got home." Caleb reasons.

"Caleb if you stay in Abnegation, you can help Tobias and me from this side. Someone has to stop them, everyone deserves better."

Caleb lays back looking at the ceiling taking in everything this had told him. He didn't have any memories of Natalie but much like Tris, he dreamed of what it would be like to talk to her, having a loving touch around the house instead of the callousness of Andrew. He was in shock, he was angry, sad, and happy all at the same time.

"Will you take me to meet her?" He asks after a few moments of silence.

Tris smiles and nods. She hadn't told him that he was adopted, only that Andrew wasn't her father. She would let their mother decide if she wanted to tell him. Today had just confirmed for her. He was her brother, not by blood but she would always look out for him no matter what.


Both Tris and Caleb go about their normal routine when Caleb is released from the hospital. He was healing well thanks to the serum from the hospital. The following Saturday Andrew comes down for breakfast and Tris sits his plate in front of him for breakfast Andrew eats quickly before leaving without saying a word to Tris or Caleb.

"How long do you think he'll keep up the silent treatment?" Caleb asks as he washes the dishes.

"Who cares, as long as he doesn't lay a hand on us" Tris shrugs.

They gather their supplies for the day and head out and Tris and Caleb make the familiar walk to the Factionless section.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea…" Caleb worries as they go past the area he knows where the Abnegation usually stay when handing out supplies.

"It's fine, I promise and she's going to be so excited to see you. We talk about you every time I visit, she wants to know everything that you are doing"

"Really?" Caleb asks, still having a hard time grasping that Tris and Natalie had formed such a tight relationship.

"Really, it's amazing how much she loves us, she's been watching us our whole lives as best she could without Andrew knowing"

As they continue walking, Caleb feels anger rising up in him again thinking that he could have grown up with a mother if it hadn't been for his father's pride being hurt.

When Tris opens the door to Natalie's home, she finds her mother hovering over the stove and filling the tea kettle with water.

"Hi Mom," Tris says brightly.

"Hi, Sweetheart" Natalie calls as she reaches up into the shelves she had fashioned to grab the can of tea.

"I brought you a surprise" Tris grins as Caleb quietly follows his sister in looking at his surroundings.

It was odd, the space was pieced together yet it felt like home. A real home, not the sterile environment of the home they shared with Andrew. The tattered sofa with the crocheted blanket thrown over the back. The worn table with mixed-matched chairs next to the fireplace with the large pot hung over the flames. The small cot in the corner that was made neatly and several quilts were folded and piled on it. The shelves were made of pieces of wood mounted above the sink with the mix-matched dishes on one side and canned goods on the other.

"That's nice Baby Girl," Natalie replies as she turns around and gasps as she sees Caleb standing next to his sister.

"Hi Mom," he says awkwardly shifting on his feet as Tris takes the bags they brought and sets them on the table.

Natalie immediately starts to cry as she walks straight to Caleb and pulls him into an embrace.

"Don't cry" He whispers as he hugs her back as he starts to cry himself. Never being held like this, never hugging it felt wrong to only experience it now.

Natalie opens one arm and Tris comes over. The three of them stay like that for a long time, all of them crying softly.


"Oh my God, I can't believe you told her that" Caleb exclaims as he leans back in his chair dramatically and throws his head back.

"What? It's true! Tris giggles as Natalie laughs at Caleb's reaction to her asking about Susan Black.

"Well, I mean, I like her, she's sweet and she's pretty…," Caleb admits, almost blushing.

Natalie places her hand over his and squeezes before she gets up to clear the plates from the table to wash them. The day had been perfect. She was so happy she was getting the opportunity to know her son.

"Mom, do you know anything about Erudite and people disappearing from Abnegation?" Caleb asks.

Natalie pauses for a moment. For her children to be asking about this, it was bigger than she realized.

"You need to be careful, both of you. Marcus and Andrew will do whatever they need to do to keep their alliances and stay in power and if Erudite is experimenting on people other than the factionless, something big is coming" Natalie tells them.

She didn't want to put her children in danger by telling them too much information, but she would protect them with her life if she could. Tris and Caleb nod quietly as they listen. Tris feels a little overwhelmed, but she needed to take things one step at a time. Getting through Dauntless initiation had to be her first priority.

Caleb looks down at his watch and sighed, they would need to leave soon, and he didn't want to leave his mother.

"Before you go, Caleb, I need to tell you how I became factionless," Natalie says.

"Tris told me that Father isn't…well you had an affair," Caleb says shyly.

"He's not your father either, Caleb" Natalie admits, and Caleb's eyes go wide.

He nods as he takes in the information about how Natalie found him abandoned in the factionless section.

"And you wanted to keep me?" He asks softly and unsure of himself.

"Of course, I didn't think Andrew and I would be able to have children after 5 years of trying and I knew you were a fighter the minute I held you. Those weeks you were in the hospital, I would sit with you and talk to you, and you were mine, you're my son, no matter what" Natalie tells him.

Tris smiles, watching Natalie and Caleb embrace again and Natalie pulls back running her hand over his hair.

"I wish you had been with us…Why didn't you take us with you" he says quietly, wondering how much different their life would have been with Natalie.

"There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't want to be there for you two" Natalie sighs.

"Does my real father know about me?" Tris asks.

"No, the night you were conceived was the last time I saw him," Natalie tells them. She feels a lump in her throat as she thinks about that night. "He wanted us to leave with him, become factionless then"

"Really?" Tris pipes up.

"Us, he wanted you to bring me too?" Caleb asks with his eyes wide.

Natalie smiles. Max would have been an amazing father to Caleb and Tris.

"Yes, but I didn't want you to grow up factionless. I adopted you so you wouldn't have to live this life. I found out I was pregnant with Tris a month later."

"And that's why he made you factionless?" Caleb reasons out loud.

"Yes, when Tris was six months old, and he found out about the affair. The best thing Andrew ever did was keep you two together and give you a chance. You two have to stick together, even if you aren't in the same faction. Do you hear me?" Natalie says, looking up at Tris and then back to Caleb.

"We will, we promise," Tris tells her squeezing Caleb's shoulder and he nods in agreement.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't give you the life you wanted, but it's better than being Factionless. You have a chance; you have to take it."

Natalie pulls them to her for one last hug, kissing both of them on the forehead.

"I love you, Mom," Tris says enjoying the moment.

"Always and Forever, that's what your father and I would say to each other," Natalie tells her and Caleb.

"Always and Forever" Tris repeats with a smile. It was a small piece of something that made her feel close to the man she had never met.


Caleb was quiet for most of the walk back to Abnegation.

"You okay? I know that was a lot to take in" Tris asks as the rows of houses come into view.

"Is it weird that I'm relieved Father isn't my real father?" Caleb says kicking a rock.

Tris starts laughing and Caleb looks at her with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I thought the exact same thing"

Caleb smiles, even though Natalie wasn't his birth mother, one day with her had made him feel more loved and cared for than in 18 years with Andrew. The man who was Tris' birth father wanted to raise him. The family they could have been will be something he would now always think about, he knew Tris would too.

"You know you're still my brother, that's never going to change," Tris says with a smile.

Caleb feels his heart swell. It was weird, knowing that he was adopted but it makes sense now why he, Tris, and Andrew didn't look alike. Seeing Tris next to Natalie, it was as if Tris was a copy of their mother.

"Never, you've always tried to do the right thing, and look out for me, that's the best thing I can ask for in a sister" Caleb reaches over grabs her hand, and squeezes as they walk.

"Caleb, if you stay in Abnegation, you can help Tobias and I take down Andrew and Marcus"

"What can I do?" Caleb asks unsure if he could do anything at all.

"Tobias is in leadership now at Dauntless, the more people with influence we get on our side, we can do something, but we also need hard evidence of what they are doing with Erudite"

Caleb nods. Spending time with his mother today, knowing that she was thrown out on the streets and kept from her children, Marcus and Andrew were abusing their power, it made him angry.

"Count me in," Caleb says with a smile.

He and Tris didn't say anything for the rest of their walk home but they both felt closer than ever.


Tobias leans back at his desk. He makes a few clicks on the computer. He hadn't found much information looking through the files on Max's computer, but Andrew, however, had pointed him in a different direction. He'd been excited when he logged on to his computer and saw that Tris had finally been able to upload his spy program onto Andrew's computer. He searched to see what he could find and there was one file that contained the records of around 50 Abnegation members.

Tobias clicks through them trying to find the connection and he stops when he lands on a name he remembers.

Josiah Fletcher

He remembers before he transferred walking past his house being emptied and Tris thinking it was odd that he had passed away.

Being a leader in training, he had access to more files than most. He works quickly and stops when he finds Josiah's death certificate.

"Cause of death…unknown, body not recovered" Tobias reads, something still not sticking with him.

He looks at a few more of the files and realizes it's the same pattern as what he was seeing in Dauntless. People declared dead after going missing and their bodies never recovered.

Were all the leaders in the city in on this?

Tobias pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Things just got way more complicated than he ever thought they would.