Sorry so late today! I've been in the street! Hope you enjoy this one, see you next Sunday!
20 Years Ago
"Where are you going, Baby? What time is it?" Reggie asks sleepily as he feels his wife get out of bed.
"Go back to sleep, It's Visiting Day" is all Hana says.
Reggie sits up in the bed rubbing his eyes. Hana was pregnant with their first child, and he wasn't keen on her jumping on and off the train. She had waited all day the year before and been brokenhearted when Natalie didn't show up after promising to come to Dauntless.
"Let me talk to Max, get one of the vehicles and drive you"
"I need to go by myself" Hana counters pulling on a pair of pants but grunting as she tried to button them to no avail. It was as though her belly had popped up over the past week and now none of her clothes fit.
"Ughhh" She plops down on the bed and starts to sob.
"Hey, it's okay" Reggie soothes. Hana was 4 months along and he was getting used to the mood swings and the crying at the drop of a hat.
"I just need to see Nat," Hana sobs. She wanted to tell her about the baby, talk to her about the wedding, all the things she had missed in the past two years.
Reggie had seen how his wife was still dealing with the loss of her sister. He never thought Nat would have gone as far as to leave Dauntless but somehow Andrew Prior had twisted her thinking following him to Abnegation so they could start over together was the right thing to do. Hana had cried for days, blaming herself for being so wrapped up in him and her training that she hadn't noticed Natalie pulling away. He and Max had exchanged heated words more than once about it, but Reggie realized at the end of the day, the choice Natalie had made couldn't be undone.
Things seemed better for Hana after that first Visiting Day, and she was so excited the next year when she waited and waited sitting in the Pit for hours until she realized Natalie wasn't coming.
"Just take a breath, take a shower so you can calm your nerves a little bit. I'll go talk to Max and why don't you put on that dress you bought a few weeks ago."
Reggie leans in a gives Hana a soft kiss. She smiled against his lips. Most everyone thought Dauntless were all hard and there was no soft side to any of them. Hana appreciated the softness; it was one of the things that drew her to Reggie.
Reggie is right, the shower helps calm her nerves and the dress is cut to flow over her hips and hugs just enough to show off her small belly. She was nervous the entire drive to Abnegation, she didn't want to believe that Natalie would just decide she didn't want to see her anymore. Even though there were many people who stopped visiting, embracing their faction, there was no way that it could be her and her sister.
Reggie holds her hand as they walk through the streets of Abnegation toward Natalie and Andrew's house. Reggie, being Dauntless born, had a particular distaste for Abnegation but felt sorry for them now. So committed to being selfless they look sad among the plain gray houses with no personality.
Hana knocks on the door bouncing on her toes as she waits for an answer.
"Can I help you?" Andrew says when he opens the door, annoyed when he sees who is standing on his doorstep.
"I'm here to see Natalie," Hana tells her sister's husband. It had been two years now since she'd last been to this house. He'd put on weight but there was something about the look in his eyes that made her feel like something wasn't right.
"I'm sorry she's not feeling well today and not up for visitors," Andrew says in an even tone as he steps out and closes the door behind him.
"This is the only day we get…" Hana says tears forming in her eyes. Something was wrong. Natalie wouldn't do this to her two years in a row.
"We've come all this way, I'm sure she'd want to see her sister," Reggie asks getting annoyed with the man in front of him.
"I think it's best if you leave now," Andrew tells them and turns back to open the door.
"Nat, Nat, It's Hana" Hana calls frustrated and not about to take no for an answer.
"Baby…" Reggie says gently putting a hand on his wife's shoulder not wanting to upset Hana any further but knowing that this didn't need to escalate any further.
"There's always next year," Andrew says in a cold voice.
"Please I need to see my sister, even if it's only for a minute," Hana says again.
"Faction before blood" Andrew smirks and closes the door.
Reggie leads Hana back toward the edge of Abnegation where they had left the truck. Hana wipes a few tears away as she looks back at the house. She was never going to see her sister again and it was breaking her heart.
Andrew makes his way upstairs, annoyed at the sound of Natalie sobbing and pulling on the bedroom door that he had locked that morning just like he had done the year before on Visiting Day. He unlocks the door and steps into the room.
"Andrew, please let me out. I need to see my sister," Natalie begs, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"You chose Abnegation Natalie, the sooner you accept that and let go of all the ties to Dauntless, things will be easier," Andrew tells her.
Natalie glared at him as he got up and exited the room, locking the door again. She sits on the bed again, her head in her hands as she starts to sob again. Reality hit her; he was never going to allow her to see her sister ever again.
Present Day
Natalie maneuvers through the factionless section looking for Evelyn. In the past year, their small council had been secretly working to make sure that people were in stable housing, especially in the winter months. They had started pushing back from the section near the Abnegation, away from the eyes of the Dauntless patrol.
She knocks three times, pauses, and then knocks four times, then twice on the door of the building. It had several floors that might have been an office building at one point before the war. She slept here for several years before she reconnected with her children.
"Hey Nat" Charlie greets her when he opens the door.
"Hey Charlie, where's Evelyn?"
"In the storehouse"
Natalie nods as she walks across the lobby and to the staircase. The building had been in pretty rough shape, but over the years, they had taken materials from other buildings and had drawn up plans to find another building that would serve as a safe house and housing. Natalie and a few others had seen too many people die on the streets and started working to make sure there was a better alternative.
Those who had jobs like driving buses and garbage collection started reinvesting the extra rations for their services for spaces in the refurbished building, now there were three buildings. Evelyn had been more ambitious when she became Factionless, set on making a stand instead of being more focused on the collective survival of those who had been cast out.
Evelyn made the push two years ago that they should start amassing weapons, just in case there was a need. Of course, with the majority of them being ex-Dauntless there was overwhelming support for Evelyn's plan.
This space was only accessed by their small council.
"How many new pieces did you get?" Natalie asks Evelyn as she sees her surveying the inventory.
Victor and Mason worked with a few others who had worked in weapon making in Dauntless, they found ways to steal weapons being moved to those Dauntless guarding the fence in Amity. Usually, the Dauntless didn't worry about keeping close counts once they left the compound.
"10 and ammunition…not too bad, that makes 250"
"Evelyn, it feels like we're stockpiling for a war, not protection" Natalie points out.
"If we want a place in this society Nat, we're going to have to go to war. There's no negotiating, they have no intention of ever giving us anything" Evelyn points out.
Natalie knew it, she didn't want it to be true, but she knew it. She just wasn't sure that this was the answer. Sure, this was the only way of life she had ever known but waging war, it didn't sit right with her.
"Terry and Alex found two Erudite sniffing around the outer northwest section today…." Evelyn leans against the wall crossing her arms over her chest.
"Do we know what they were looking for?" Natalie asks, turning the information in her head.
"No, which bothers me, Erudite is up to something. We know they must be doing experiments on Divergent, and we know they are dumping bodies"
"But why the divergent? There has to be something we're missing here. Sure, Erudite are cruel and their curiosity can lead to them overstepping but there is usually a specific point they are going after in their research, improve food production, make things more efficient…"
Evelyn nods her head, being Erudite born she knew how they thought and what their flaws were. Natalie was right, their motivation had changed, and if she wanted to use it to their advantage, she needed to figure out what it was.
"Hi, Ms. Hana" Tobias calls as he enters Hana's apartment behind Zeke. "Thanks for inviting me"
"Come on bro, you're family now" Zeke teases as he kisses his mother on the cheek.
Tobias had protested about coming but Zeke hadn't stopped bugging him, so he gave in. Hana wanted to have a special dinner for Uriah to wish him luck before his choosing. She didn't have any doubt in her mind that Uriah was going to choose Dauntless or that he would pass initiation. Her mother had done this before her choosing and before Natalie's. She had no idea that Natalie was going to defect to Abnegation. She decided once Zeke and Uriah were old enough, she would keep the tradition, for them to have the memory too, just in case anything happened. With Reggie gone, she wanted this special moment with her boys. Hana and Natalie's father had been killed when they were young after a factionless man attacked him during a patrol. Their mother had become ill and passed away a year after Natalie defected. Hana really thought she died of a broken heart when Natalie left.
"Yes, you are Four and I expect to see you here every holiday" She fusses throwing her kitchen towel over her shoulder.
"Yes, Ma'am" he chuckles.
Hana smiles. She could see how much Four had opened up in the past year since Zeke first introduced them at the banquet celebrating their initiation. For a transfer to rank first, Hana knew Four was special and he needed a support system in Dauntless after leaving his family behind.
"Well, I'm so glad you boys are all here, I don't know what I'm going to do in this big apartment all by myself in a few weeks"
Hana couldn't believe Uriah would be choosing in just a week. Both her boys were men now. Part of her felt like there was a curse on the men in her family dying young, with what happened to her father and husband, but she trusted and believed that Uriah and Zeke would live full lives.
"Hey Four, what's up!" Uriah calls as he comes from his bedroom and greets his brother in a hug. "Where's Uncle Max?
"Finishing up some reports should be here soon," Zeke tells him as they gravitate toward the kitchen table.
Zeke pulls Uriah into a headlock and Uriah struggles against him.
"Ahhh, go wash your hands both of you" Hana orders swatting her kitchen towel at her boys. "You too Four"
Tobias nods and he stops at a small bookshelf seeing a few photographs. It was still odd for him to see photographs since the Abnegation didn't believe in keeping them. He sees an older picture of a man and woman, a younger man with Max that Tobias assumed is Zeke and Uriah's father. He had been surprised the first time he heard Zeke call Max uncle but now after seeing Max with Uriah and Zeke for almost a year, he could see that Max was a part of the family. He'd been a father figure to both Zeke and Uriah and a support system for Hana. Tobias pauses at the next photo; she was a younger woman but if Tobias didn't know any better, he would think he was looking at his best friend. He picks up the picture to get a closer look, the resemblance to Tris was uncanny.
"That's my sister, Natalie, wasn't she beautiful? She passed away a long time ago" Hana tells him softly.
Tobias just nods. He was flat-out stunned. He couldn't believe here was Tris' family. He wasn't sure if he should tell them, that would sound crazy, he needed to tell Tris and there was no way he couldn't tell her first. Maybe waiting until she was in Dauntless was the best thing.
It had been nice the months since Caleb learned she was alive. They'd spent every Saturday with her, she helped Tris train, and Caleb got in on it too. It was a new normal for the three of them. Caleb and Tris finally felt the love and support they had always craved from Andrew. Tris felt stronger, she could tell she'd gained some muscle with her training. Natalie had even encouraged Caleb to do some exercises and learn to defend himself. He'd learned to throw a few punches and gained some muscle definition along with his sister. While he was still curt with Tris, Andrew had at least started to acknowledge her again, but he steered clear most days.
Tris walks nervously out of school. Her mind was racing at the fact that her test results were inconclusive. She needed to see her mother, not just because she was scared but because she wouldn't be able to see her again until she finished initiation.
"Tris! Wait up!"
Tris stops and turns to see her brother running towards her.
"Caleb, what are you doing out here?"
Caleb looks around nervously.
"Did your test taker tell you to say you weren't feeling well?" He whispers pulling her close.
"Dauntless? Long black hair?" Tris asks quietly and then Caleb nods.
"Mom?" Caleb confirms as they walk looking around to make sure they didn't see anyone else.
Natalie had just put some tea on, she knew Caleb and Tris were taking their aptitude tests today and had promised to come by that afternoon. The next day was Choosing Day, and she was sad she wouldn't see her son and daughter as much. She'd gotten used to them being around, especially on Saturday when the Abnegation handed out supplies.
She stops when she hears a noise, moves to the shelf where she kept her gun, and then draws her hand back when she hears Tris announce that it was her.
"How was your test?" She calls out. She stops suddenly when she sees both of her children standing there looking upset and confused. "What's wrong?"
Both Tris and Caleb looked scared and nervous. Tris looked like she had tears in her eyes.
"Will one of you tell me what's going on?"
Caleb closes the door and sits in one of the chairs.
"Our tests were inconclusive"
"Both of you?" Natalie asks, coming to sit at the small table.
Tris nods in acknowledgment.
"Everything is going to be okay" Natalie reassures them, taking a deep breath through her nose.
"How do you know? What does it even mean? How did I even test for two factions?" Caleb whines.
"I know because I tested for more than one faction too, it's called being divergent" Natalie explains in a calm voice as Caleb and Tris both gasp.
"Is there something wrong with us?" Tris asks quietly looking down at the ground.
"No, look at me sweetheart, you are perfect, both of you," Natalie says forcefully taking one of her daughter's hands and then her son's. "It just means you have an aptitude for more than one faction, your brain doesn't conform to one thing and that scares people"
"Because we're supposed to fit into one faction" Caleb reasons aloud trying to make sense of it all.
"That's right and you need to keep this information quiet, it can be dangerous for people like us if the wrong people find out. Tell me what the test administrator did?" Natalie asks.
"She told me she keyed in an Abnegation result for me" Tris relays.
"Me too" Caleb confirms.
"When you told us people have been going missing in the Factionless section, are they divergent?" Tris asks.
"That's what I think but I don't know more than that right now," Natalie tells them, but she doesn't miss the look they share.
"What factions did you test for?" Caleb asks.
"Dauntless and Abnegation," Natalie says with a soft smile.
"I got Amity and Abnegation," Caleb says softly.
"I can see that about you," Tris tells him with a smile giving his shoulder a nudge and causing him to relax a little.
"I had Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite"
"Three" Natalie says furrowing her eyebrows a bit. She'd never known anyone to get three factions before.
"Is that bad?" Tris asks.
"No, I just think it's very rare, I've never known anyone to get three factions before. It just reassures me how special you are"
"Is my father divergent too?" Tris asks. She wanted to know more about him. Natalie had only really revealed that he was in Dauntless, and she had known him growing up.
"Not that I know of, we weren't on good terms when we took our aptitude tests. I know people who made it through. That's how I know you can make it through at Dauntless, it's easier to get exposed there though. Caleb, you have it much easier"
"Do you know anything about my parents? Were they divergent too?" Caleb asks, looking a little hopeful.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I have no idea who your parents were. I found you nestled in some blankets. The doctors at the hospital told me you had probably been outside for at least a day, maybe almost two. But I guess you could be more likely to be divergent if you had a parent that was" Natalie reasons.
"I guess we won't be able to see you again for a while after today" Tris laments.
"Are you two confident with your choice?" Natalie asks, looking at both of them. "I want you to be sure"
"I'm sure, I want to go to Dauntless" Tris confirms.
"I'm staying in Abnegation" Caleb adds taking a deep breath.
Caleb grabs his sister's hand and squeezes nodding, and Tris looks at him and smiles.
"Remember you two will be faction members, you need to be very careful coming to the factionless section once initiation is over. Caleb it's going to be much easier for you, but you still need to be careful. Andrew and Marcus will keep a closer eye on you" Natalie instructs.
They get up and Natalie hugs them tight knowing that they need to get back.
"I'm starting to like the three of us being able to hug like this" Tris giggles causing Natalie and Caleb to laugh.
"I love both of you so much and I'm so proud of you" Natalie gushes.
"I love you, Mom; I'll miss you these next few months" Tris sighs.
"I love you too, both of you," Caleb tells them. There was no doubt in his mind Natalie and Tris were two of the strongest women he would ever meet.
Natalie watches them walk away, turns her head when she hears footsteps, and relaxes when she sees Evelyn.
"I figured I would find you here, you haven't been around the compound much" Evelyn comments.
"I know"
"You need to be careful Nat; it doesn't do you any good to open the door to your old life"
"They are my children; nothing will ever change that," Natalie tells her with an icy tone.
"It's faction before blood for a reason. They will be loyal to their factions and when the time comes for us to move, they won't side with us"
"You don't know that Evelyn "Natalie snaps.
"Now is not the time for us to lose focus"
"Just because you decided to not care about your child anymore, doesn't mean that I'm going to do that"
With that Natalie turns and walks away going back to her small living space, not caring to be in Evelyn's presence any longer.
Evelyn shrugs as she turns to head back to the compound, knowing Natalie would come around in a few days. She always did but maybe the obvious thing was right in front of her face. Maybe the fact that their children were faction members could be useful in the upcoming fight ahead.
