Thanks for the reviews and love on the last chapter! Love ya'll!
Present Day
Zeke rubs his eyes as he looks at the screen on the computer. This had been the hardest shift to focus on in the control room.
The last 24 hours had been a wild ride. His dead aunt, who he had never met, was now back from the dead and he had a cousin who he was pretty sure his best friend was in love with. He'd spent his life listening to his mother and Max tell stories about Natalie. He could always see how much it pained them to think about her in the quiet moments when he would catch each of them looking at her picture. Now hearing that Erudite was plotting to possibly take control of the city, it felt like there was something shifting in the air that didn't give him a good feeling.
"Hey Gus, I'm clocking out, see you tomorrow," Zeke says making a few last strokes on his keyboard.
"See you tomorrow" Gus replies leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of coffee from his cup and propping his feet up on the desk.
Zeke, ranking third in his initiation class, had been saved from guarding the wall. Max really wanted him to go into faction relations always telling him how charismatic he was, he would make a good. He was pretty sure Max had pulled some strings to get Chavis to take him on, but he had really enjoyed it so far. As part of the faction relations training, Zeke was doing a rotation in the security department, learning all about surveillance to better discuss the needs of the other factions concerning security.
"Hey" Shauna greets Zeke as he sits down in their usual section of the cafeteria.
"Hey, how was training today?"
"Ugh…I don't know why I picked operations…helping organize food shipments and supplies isn't very interesting." She tells him honestly.
"Ha, well it's probably better than guarding the fence, Hey Four" Zeke says as Tobias sits down with his trey across from Zeke.
"What'd I miss?" he asks as he loads his hamburger with ketchup.
"Is all you eat hamburgers?" Shauna teases.
"I like them, I never ate them before I came to Dauntless" Tobias defends before he takes a big bite as Shauna shakes her head with a chuckle.
"So, are we hanging out on Friday night?" She asks.
"Of course, I have made a new batch of moonshine that I need taste testers for," Zeke tells his friends as he waggles his eyebrows. Zeke and Uriah had been making moonshine for a few years. It was a great way to earn a few extra credits outside of their allowance from Hana but now that Zeke was a member, he didn't need them, but he still enjoyed coming up with new flavors and so did Uriah.
"Oh no, the last time I was your taste tester, I ended up with my head in the toilet" Tobias proclaims.
"Okay, I admit that last batch was a little strong, this one Shauna got me a box of apples from the kitchen, and I guarantee it will be smooth going down"
"Oohhh That's what you did with the apples! Now I'm excited. Who else is coming?" Shauna grins as she bounces in her seat a little.
"Maybe just Lauren…" Zeke shrugs.
"She's the flavor of the month?" Shauna says with an eye roll and stabbing at the mashed potatoes on her plate. Zeke was never one to stay single long. And it was clear that he wasn't thinking about making a move on her much to her disappointment. She keeps her feelings inside though, she'd never said anything to anyone about her crush on Zeke.
"What happened to Maria, no wait, wasn't it Nicole you went out with a few weeks ago?" Tobias teases.
"Ehhh, setting my sights a little higher" Zeke shrugs. He wasn't into Lauren, not really. She would be good to mess around. Women came easily to Zeke. In all honesty, he was getting tired of all the games. He had been thinking about someone lately, but he wasn't sure how he felt just yet.
"Hey Four, we need to get going," Zeke says after they finish eating and looking down at his watch.
"Yeah, you're right. Catch you later Shauna." Tobias agrees, looking at his own watch.
"Wait where are you two going?" Shauna protests, furrowing her eyebrows as Zeke and Tobias get up from the table with their trays.
"We'll tell you later!" Zeke yells back at her.
"Think Shauna will be alright since we can't tell her what we're doing after hours?" Tobias asks as they make their way through the Pit towards the path that would take them to the elevators to the Pire.
"Yeah, she will" It was strange for Tobias, Tris had been his only friend up until he met Zeke and Shauna. It felt weird having to exclude Shauna from what was happening, but he knows Max was right that they needed to keep things quiet for now.
"So, you want to tell me what's going on with you and my cousin?" Zeke probes as he punches the buttons on the elevator.
"Me and Tris?" Nothing…" Tobias stammers not sure how to answer the question.
"Well, last night didn't look like nothing…"
"She's my best friend, when I put the pieces together, I knew I had to introduce her to you and your family" Tobias shrugs and Zeke raises his eyebrows at him.
"Hmmm, I'll accept it for now. When did you figure out that Tris' mom was my Aunt Natalie?"
"When I came over for dinner before Choosing Day. Tris had told me Natalie said her sister and Tris' father were in Dauntless after she met her. The picture your mom has of Natalie on that bookshelf looks just like Tris. Ms. Hana told me she transferred to Abnegation when she saw me looking at it. I didn't want to say anything until Tris got here."
"Did you know Uncle Max was her father?"
"Nope, that was a shock to me too," Tobias tells his best friend. He could understand all the questions.
The elevator dings and they make their way down the hall, and Tobias swipes his key card to gain access to the hall designated for the leader apartments. You could also press a button that was tied to an intercom system in the apartment for them to buzz you in. His apartment was just one floor down on the same floor as Zeke's on the floor dedicated to people who worked directly for leaders so they could have quick access to leaders and the Pire in the event something was needed. Tobias had become accustomed to meeting Max in his apartment, dropping off documents and such.
Zeke knocks on the door which Max opens quickly.
"Ma what happened? Why are you crying?" Zeke asks concerned as he rushes in the door and moves to sit next to his mother on the couch where she was holding a drink in her hands.
"Nothing baby, your uncle was just telling me about his visit with my sister this morning. I miss her so much. I think I'm still in shock that she's alive after all these years"
Tobias moves to sit in the chair next to the couch while Max moves to sit in the chair opposite him and he leans forward placing his forearms on his elbows.
"We have to be careful. I want Hana to see Natalie and Tris to be able to see her mother, but we don't want to be seen as Faction traitors if someone gets wind of what we're doing"
Zeke and Tobias both nod in understanding.
"I'll come up with a plan later, but we need to keep it low-key for now. I promise you I'll get you to her soon Hana"
Hana tries to smile and takes a sip of her drink. Her mind had been bouncing all over the place all day. Was Natalie okay, was she sick? Did she have enough to eat? It was still warm out, did she have enough clothes for when the winter months came? Why hadn't she tried to contact her?
"The most important thing right now is us preparing for the attack we have coming," Max tells them.
"Attack? From whom?" Hana asks bewildered. She had been so caught up in thinking about her sister, she had forgotten all about the information about the missing divergent.
"I'm willing to bet Erudite. Jeanine is planning something and as soon as she figures out if she hasn't already that I'm not going along with her plan. She's going to come at us"
"What plan?" Zeke asks, leaning forward and furrowing his eyebrows trying to put the pieces together.
"I'm telling you all this because in Dauntless you three and Uriah are the people that I trust with my life now. We need to find out who is going to be loyal to us to get through this. I've made some decisions I'm not proud of and…" Max tells them standing in front of Hana, Zeke, and Tobias.
He stops mid-sentence, blows out a breath, and hangs his head.
"Max, you're making me nervous," Hana says setting her glass down on the coffee table.
"A little over a year ago Jeanine Matthews came to show me data that the factionless have gotten so large that they are double the size of Dauntless now"
"Double!" Zeke exclaims.
"It makes sense" Hana reasons, "We're the only faction where we ask people to leave when they deteriorate physically and have the most difficult initiation"
"Jeanine presented me with data for a serum she developed that would strengthen our Dauntless soldiers to be able to deal with any impending threat posed by the Factionless, but she needed more test subjects"
"You knew about the missing people because you handed them over to her didn't you" Tobias shouts, standing up with his fists balled up.
"Whoa calm down, Four" Zeke says getting up and pushing Tobias back a little.
"You aren't any better than they are" Tobias sneers.
"Four, sweetheart, let's take a minute to hear what else Max has to say." Hana urges softly.
Tobias nods but his fists are still clenched, and he moves to the other side of the room, his breathing heavily fueled by his anger.
"Max, go ahead" Hana urges sitting back down but closer to Max.
"I thought I was doing the right thing; I realize that I have to account for what I've done but I need to protect everyone first. My gut is telling me Jeanine is about to double-cross us, especially because I didn't give in to all her demands"
"What demands were there?" Tobias asks crossing his arms across his chest, his gaze deadly.
"She wanted me to give over 10 divergent, I agreed to five at first, she also wanted someone of her choice in leadership, which I refused"
"Why divergent?" Hana whispers with her eyes wide.
"She said the stem cells from the divergent were what made her serum successful. I refused to allow her to place someone in leadership and she wasn't happy about it. She still expects me to hand over another five people soon."
Now Hana gets up and paces, not saying anything but the worry etched on her face.
"You handed them over to her like they were nothing, people who trusted you to lead them and protect them" Tobias roars.
"Four, back off" Zeke yells as he gets in between them and shoves Tobias backward. Tobias stumbles and stands up ready to come back at Max again, but Zeke stands in the way.
"He's right Zeke" Max confirms.
"Let's hear him out Four, calm down please," Hana sighs, needing to do something with the nervous energy flowing through her.
"Why should we listen to anything else you have to say," Tobias asks after a few minutes.
"I know what I did was wrong, I'm coming to you because I want to make amends AND we have to be prepared if there's an attack coming"
"I believe you, Uncle Max," Zeke tells him, seeing the emotions on Max's face.
Max had been there for him and his family his entire life. He's not sure what would have happened if Max hadn't stepped in to help out his mother after his father died. Zeke had only been ten and Max had been there for all the major life milestones for him and Uriah since. He taught them how to shave, and how to shoot, and added discipline when Hana felt they were getting out of control. Max was his role model, if he did this, Zeke knew he had a good reason for doing what he did.
"I thought I was giving us an advantage, the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. I realize that was wrong now. I can't undo what I did but I'm going to try my damnedest to make it right. And if that means that I have to step down as a leader, I will but I need to put some things in motion first. Dauntless is going to be vulnerable without a leader" Max explains.
Tobias relaxes a little bit. As Max talked, Tobias thought about all the time he had spent with Max. He cared about the people of Dauntless, he spent long hours working, listening, and trying to solve problems. The good of the many outweighs the good of the few. Max was a leader; he was thinking of how to help all of Dauntless. Could Tobias fault him for that? Max was clearly accepting responsibility for his actions, unlike Marcus and Andrew.
"Well, I can see how you thought you were doing the right thing but Max you can't step down…" Hana says placing a hand on his arm.
"Nat and I finally have a chance to be together, Tris will have you and the boys here" Max explains.
Tobias can hear the sadness in his voice. It was more than Tris not knowing her family, Max, and Hana had never gotten over her leaving Dauntless. They spent the past 18 years grieving and now had their world turned upside down, earning she was alive.
"Can we back up, what makes you think Jeanie is double-crossing you?" Zeke asks wanting to hear all information again.
"From what Tris and Tobias told us, Marcus and Andrew made the same deal with Jeanine, but it sounds like they've been working together longer than before she approached me"
"Why would Abnegation need their members to be stronger? They don't fight, hell they would rather die than let someone else go hungry" Zeke points out.
"Exactly and Natalie says that known divergent have been going missing from the Factionless sector and they've found the bodies dumped in places not highly populated"
"Do you think she's approached Candor or Amity?" Hana asks.
"I don't think she would chance it with Candor, someone being able to tell if she was lying. If anyone is next it would be Amity but again, since they make decisions as a group, she wouldn't be able to easily make a proposition" Max reasons.
"Why would Marcus and Andrew get into bed with her?" Tobias asks, coming closer to the group.
"That's a question I was hoping you could give us some insight into," Max asks looking up at him from where he sat in his chair.
"Marcus had planned for me to go into leadership in Abnegation, but even with that I still wasn't in on many of the private conversations. Tris and I picked up bits of information eavesdropping. After initiation, I had Tris install a program on Andrew's computer, which had the missing persons, and they were divergent. I haven't been able to find anything else"
"You created a computer program? Dude, is there anything you aren't good at?" Zeke asks with his mouth hanging open.
"Shut up," Tobias says as he shakes his head.
"Oh wait, talking to girls, you're terrible at that" Zeke adds with a smirk and this time earning an eye roll from Tobias.
"Ezekiel" Hana warns, and Zeke puts his hands up in surrender with a grin.
"So, what's your plan, Uncle Max?" Zeke says focusing back on the matter at hand.
"We need to figure out what Jeanine is planning, and we need to figure out who the spies planted here are," Max explains.
"You said that she wanted someone put into leadership, did she give you a name?" Hana asks thinking through everything they knew.
"No, she didn't" Max shakes his head.
"How did you decide who the divergent that you gave up to her, how did she get them?" Tobias asks. He knew how torn up Tori and Amar were. George had to have been divergent, which is how he went missing.
"We met alone; I handed her a list of names. I reviewed old initiation fear simulations and looked for patterns in the response times."
"And you didn't follow up? Ask for any more results?" Tobias presses.
'She showed me initial results but when I pushed yesterday, I could feel she didn't want to give me any more info"
"Did she say how many people she had in her experiment?" Tobias probes again.
Max shakes his head. He felt sick to his stomach, wishing he could take it all back now.
"So, we also don't know how many people Jeanine might have planted in Dauntless…" Zeke says out loud.
"But she also still thinks we aren't on to her" Tobias adds crossing his arms.
"What do you want to do Max?" Hana asks.
"I swept this entire place for bugs, no one is able to get on this floor without key card access except, Chavis, Harrison, Stacy, and Victoria. No one has access to this apartment. We use my place as a base camp."
"Do you trust all of them? The other leaders?" Tobias asks. He'd spent time with all of them, Harrison was the only one he really interacted with on a daily basis though.
"Some, Harrison, and I came into the Leadership Training program together. I'd put my money on Harrison that he's loyal, any day of the week. We need to form a task team, one that can run missions to get information, maybe more, we don't know how far this can escalate. But I want to be smart, Four, I want you to pick our tactical team. Zeke, I want you looking for surveillance footage right now since you're in the control room."
"What am I looking for?" Zeke asks.
"Anything suspicious, see if we can identify who was involved in taking the divergent. Four can give you the dates people went missing"
"Where do I start with looking for tactical team members?" Tobias asks.
"The new initiates, especially those who are not Erudite transfers, we can assume that Jeanie might be trying to plant more folks to spy on us. We need folks who are going to think, not just soldiers. "
Tobias nods in understanding.
"Hana, I need you to start stockpiling medical supplies and take on a new nurse and new doctor to train if you need to from this new initiate group. We need to be prepared if things get rough so that we will be ready if we need to treat the injured."
Tobias was amazed at how Max had quickly strategized and started giving out orders. This was the reason he was the leader of Dauntless. He was prepared to move and think quickly, it wasn't just about him being the bravest.
"I know you don't trust me right now, Four, but give me a chance to earn your trust back. I'm giving you my word, I'm going to be honest with you every step of the way" Max promises, looking Tobias straight in the eye.
Tobias nods. "Sorry about blowing up, I don't know what came over me."
"I know you want to protect Tris, trust me, I'm not going to let anything happen to her," Max tells him coming to place a strong hand on his shoulder.
"You're going to be a good leader Four, I know Dauntless will be in good hands when I step aside"
Tobias stands up a little straighter. Marcus had never given him that type of validation. He may still be upset with Max, but he was going to learn all he could from him.
