Well, I think I was a little ambitious thinking I was ready to come back fully after my surgery, I am feeling much better now and hopefully it won't be so long between updates again. Hope you enjoy this chapter for anyone still reading. And since the views are still broken, just leave me a review to let me know you might still be reading. Love Y'all!


Tobias takes a deep breath as he stands in front of Tris' door. He wanted to talk but now wasn't the time. He and Harrison had decided to call it a night, well early morning. There was no point in searching for Max, Stacy, and Natalie in the dark and they would meet first thing in the morning to reorganize search parties thinking they had to be somewhere between areas where Zeke and Tris found their trucks.

After he gathers his courage he knocks on the door. He hears Tris shuffle to the door and he thinks for a moment that she might shut the door in his face when she realizes it's him after he opens it.

"Tobias, I can't…not right now" she sighs. Tris felt as though she was going to fall apart any minute. She'd promised Hana that she would try and get some rest but she couldn't stop worrying about her parents.

"I know, I don't want to talk about us, I just want to make sure you are okay. I know you have to be worried" Tobias says as he pushes his way into her apartment and shuts the door behind him.

Tris looks at him and the dam finally breaks. She starts to sob and Tobias immediately wraps his arms around her and holds her close. They stay like that for several minutes before Tobias guides them to the couch. He settles them again after he's taken off his boots. He opens up his arms and Tris settles against him breathing in his scent.

He kisses her forehead and holds her close. She'd taken out her braids and her curly hair was soft as he stroked it to calm her, remembering the last time he'd seen her cry like this. It was after Andrew had cut off all her hair. The Dauntless, Erudite, and Candor had been brutal teasing her to no end. They skipped all their afternoon classes and sat in her bed just like this.

After a while, Tris quiets down. "I just found them, I can't lose them now" She whispers, her voice still heavy with emotion.

"You aren't going to lose them" Max had become the father figure he'd never had, he couldn't imagine losing him either.

"How do you know?" She asks sitting up and looking at Tobias, his blue eyes sad much like hers.

"Because I have faith. Max and your mom didn't come this far to lose you or lose each other. Fighting for that kind of love gives you unbelievable strength"

Tris chuckles. "That's what Aunt Hana said"

Tobias smiles and Tris lays her head back against his chest, welcoming his embrace again. Tobias had always been her safe place. She needed him right now, no matter how complicated things were between them.


Lynn shifts her rifle from one side to the other. She was on the last few days of her shift out at the fence. One of the normal guards had gotten sick and she volunteered to take his place. It was different being out in Amity for a long stretch rather than a few nights when she was overseeing shipments. The truth was she wanted some space from Tris. She was so conflicted about how she felt. She'd been raised to think divergent were bad and would make the faction system crumble. Now she was dating one. It scared her and she knew Tris was hiding more than she let on.

She walks into the bunkhouse where she stayed while she was out at the fence. Five houses were designated for Dauntless soldiers, further away from where the main Amity housing units were. Dauntless and Amity didn't mix well, especially since Dauntless liked to solve most problems with their fists. The fence guards kept to themselves in the buildings designated for them, usually only interacting with the Amity during delivery shipments and loading. The Dauntless quarters had a small cafeteria and a cook which helped them keep to themselves.

Uriah had been staying there too since he was often now at Amity working in Faction Relations. Lynn wished he was still there, having gone home the day before. He'd been busy and they didn't have any time to hang out. Being at the fence was harder than she'd imagined. She wasn't the most social person outside of her small friend group, and she hadn't made many friends since she was a supervisor on her shift. She had been especially isolated thinking about her up-and-down relationship with Tris. She needed to talk things out with someone. Maybe Uriah could spare some time when she got back that evening.

She packs her clothes in her backpack and looks down at her watch. She was going to be riding the train back instead of taking a vehicle since there was a shipment going out.

"Hey Stranger" A sultry voice calls pulling Lynn out of her thoughts.

"Hey Meeka" Lynn replies to the curvy mocha-skinned beauty in front of her with one side of her head shaved and long braids with green hair braided in.

"I thought with both of us being out here at the fence you'd find your way into my bunk"

Meeka and Lynn had been hot and heavy before Lynn's initiation. She was two years older than Lynn and once she completed initiation and was assigned to guarding the fence, they broke up since they hardly ever saw each other anymore.

"Well, I'm seeing someone now," Lynn tells her not sounding as confident as she would have liked.

Meeka pokes out her lip moving close to Lynn and whispers in her ear.

"Pitty, you know how to find me, even if you just want to have some fun"

She winks at Lynn as she walks away. Lynn takes a deep breath through her nose. She wasn't a cheater, but she needed to get her head on straight about Tris.

Grabbing her backpack, she headed out toward the train tracks to make sure the shipment was loaded.

"Is this all of it?" Lynn asks Robert, the Amity man who handed her the order sheet for her to sign off on.

"Yes, We were behind today, we'll have to send the remainder of the shipment with the fabric bolts for Abnegation and the extra food supply for Erudite and Dauntless at the end of the week," he tells her as she signs and hands the clipboard back to him.

Lynn nods and takes the paper. There went her plans for the rest of the week if she was making another trip.

As she's reading over the order sheet, she hears two guards. Walter and Rex, whom she regularly ran shipments with talking while loading the last of the supplies. She moves slowly to get a better listen.

"Are you crazy, do you know what they would do if the leaders found out?"

"They haven't so far, we have to fight back, you think all these extra supplies have been for nothing? When the fighting starts, whose side do you want to be on?"

Lynn furrows her eyebrows as she listens.

"Why would we not fight for Dauntless?" Rex says now.

"That's why you need to come to the next meeting. Eric says the leadership wants to protect the divergent and letting them run rampant is going to destroy the city"

Lynn feels a shiver run through her body. The two men spot her and quickly stop talking to finish loading the supplies.

"All loaded up" One confirms to Lynn.

Lynn nodded and signaled to the train driver they were ready to go. As the train car bumps along Walter and Rex don't continue their conversation but the wheels in Lynn's mind keep turning.


Max wakes and he's still tired but feeling much better than he did and he knows Hana was right in getting him to rest. Natalie was still sound asleep snuggled against him. He slides from underneath her and kisses her forehead before getting out of bed.

He'd only slept a few hours after he and Hana had gotten Natalie cleaned up and into bed. He held her close, but his mind raced. He hears rattling in the kitchen and grabs a shirt before seeing what is going on in the kitchen.

"Good morning" Hana greets from the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee. "Want one?"

"Yeah, I'm going to need it" Max responds. "What time is it?"

"Just after 7, I was going to wake you in a bit if you hadn't gotten up. I went across the hall and spoke to Harrison a little while ago. He's relieved you and Nat are okay. He's getting dressed and wants to talk. Said he told the task force to meet at 8"

"Good, I'll get changed and head over there. We need to figure out what we're going to tell Victoria and Chavis"

Max takes a sip of the coffee Hana hands him and closes his eyes for a minute gathering his thoughts.

"Will she be okay, alone?" Max asks, looking back toward the bedroom.

"Yeah, I'll wake her up enough to take some more pain serum. It will make her sleep most of the day. I'll be back this afternoon as soon as I can" Hana assures him, knowing he was worried.

"I need you and Will to start working on going through that information on the thumb drive about the serum"

"Understood"

They speak for a few minutes about making plans for the day before Max gets dressed and Hana attends to Natalie.

The time had come for Dauntless to understand that war was coming.


Tris and Tobias spend the night curled around each other in her bed. Tobias excuses himself to take a quick shower and comes back to grab Tris when Harrison radios him to get to the conference room to meet Max.

He and Tris rush down the hall. Tobias can tell Max had a long night based on the dark circles under his eyes.

"Daddy!" Tris exclaims as soon she lays eyes on her father.

She quickly walks, almost running across the room meeting Max halfway and letting out a sigh of relief as she wraps her arms around him. There was something about her father's embrace that always made her feel safe and that everything was going to be okay instantly. It reminded her of how she felt when Tobias held her.

"Baby Girl," Max says hugging her back. He held her close for a minute, closing his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I was so worried, we can't find Mom…" she whispers with tears threatening to spill.

"We're fine…Your mother is here" Max reassures her.

"Here? In Dauntless?" Tris asks pulling away and looking at Harrison and then back to her father.

"Uncle Max!" Uriah and Zeke both exclaim as they walk through the door almost knocking Max over as they embrace him.

"I'm okay and so is Nat. We got ambushed and she was shot" He explains once he hugs Uriah and Zeke.

Tris gasps and Max pulls her to him again for another hug.

"Hana has taken care of her, she'll be here in a minute. We're going to keep it quiet that she's at my place. You can see her later"

Tris nodded still a little shaken but she was grateful that Natalie was okay and she could see her every day now.

Max wipes his face as he walks into the conference room where Tobias, Victoria, Harrison, and Chavis are waiting for him.

"Max, you look like hell," Chavis tells him as he walks in followed by Hana and Christina.

"You sure do, you been in a fight?" Victoria asks now as he looks at the cuts and scrapes Max had on his hands. "Have you talked to Stacy? She didn't come into the office this morning; she and I were supposed to go over some staffing reports and look at vacancies. I went by her place after dinner, and she wasn't there"

Tobias looks at Max and feels a sinking feeling. Something had happened, he knew it.

Max grabs a notepad and writes on it "Sweep for bugs"

Harrison frowns but nods and everyone gets up looking under the table and chairs. Harrison runs down the hall to his office to grab a device they used for this specific thing. Max furrows his eyebrows as Harrison takes his time going over the surfaces and the device beeps at a map on the wall.

Max nods and Chavis pulls down the frame of the city's sections and sure enough there is a small device planted there.

"Roof," Tobias writes a notepad, and everyone nods.

Slowly exiting the room. Max grabs a weapon that he kept in his office, Harrison, Victoria, Tobias, Zeke, Uriah, and Chavis all do the same. They quickly made their way to the set of stairs that led to the door that led to the rooftop where initiates jumped down to the net. Harrison does a quick sweep and gives an all-clear.

"What the fuck is going on Max?" Chavis states bluntly.

"I need all of you to let me explain first and then we need to be honest about how we deal with the war that's about to come"

"War?" Victoria asks wide-eyed. Chavis puts a hand on her shoulder signaling for her to be quiet and let Max talk.

The air is thick as the wind whips on the roof as Max explains that Stacey was dead and Jeanine's proposition along with his thoughts that she was attempting to double-cross him.

"How can we trust you?" Victoria snaps as she wipes a tear.

Stacey had been her best friend in the years they spent working closely as leaders. Stacey was Godmother to her two sons. She'd been there through all the ups and downs Stacey had with Max and their relationship. She sat with her as Stacey cried after finding out that Max had a daughter. It had crushed her, knowing that she wanted to give Max everything including a child and he continually pushed her away. No matter how many times Victoria told Stacey to let Max go, she couldn't.

"I did what I thought was best for me and my family, I wanted more information and I needed to know who was loyal inside of Dauntless, something I still have concerns about given the fact that our office was bugged" Max states firmly.

"I'm going to change all the access codes and change over the housekeeping staff immediately," Harrison tells him. He'd heard grumblings, with building out the perimeter and housing plans, increased weapon manufacturing, and pulling back on the detail in the factionless people were bound to talk. Max, Zeke, Tobias, and Harrison had come up with a story that the perimeter was to help maneuver the Factionless away from Abnegation due to an increase in homicides. People seemed to believe for the time being. Finding the bug was confirmation that someone was moving against them inside of Dauntless and they had more access than everyone realized. Max was careful to only discuss task team business on the rooftop or in his apartment. Harrison knew there was no way anyone could have gotten there but he, Tobias, and Zeke would do a sweep just in case.

"Why wouldn't we be loyal? What the hell would make you think that?" Chavis snaps now.

"The fact that someone was helping Jeanine with the divergent that disappeared, and she specifically asked to plant someone of her choosing in leadership," Max tells him trying to remain calm.

"And there were two Erudite transfers that led to one getting stabbed in the eye and then the other jumping into the chasm let us know everyone in these walls isn't on our side" Tobias adds.

"Shit," Victoria says as she breathes deep through her nose putting all the pieces together.

Tobias looks at Max and nods. Being completely honest was the best option now.

"You all know Tris; our first ranked initiate is my daughter" Max explains. Chavis and Victoria look to Tris as Max speaks. She keeps her head held high, having calmed down now, knowing her parents were okay.

"Yeah, I can't seem to figure out how you had a daughter who is a transfer. I mean I can assume but..." Victoria reasons.

"I had an affair with her mother. She was Dauntless Born and transferred to Abnegation. She was made Factionless and has been giving me information the last few months about how the Factionless are organizing and planning an uprising"

"Wait a minute. Let me get this straight, Erudite is colluding with Marcus Eaton to try and put us under their control, and there are somehow Erudite spies in Dauntless already, and on top of that the Factionless are planning their own uprising." Chavis says looking around at everyone on the rooftop realizing they already knew all of this information.

"Now that they've struck first blood, things are going to get ugly. I've been trying to keep Jeanine on the hook for as long as I can, giving her just enough but now she's got to know we won't align with her since she's killed one of our own" Max tells everyone now looking to the group.

"Where do Candor and Amity stand?" Victoria asks starting to pace.

"Candor knows what's going on. Jeanine wouldn't trust Jack interrogating her and Amity will not take up arms no matter how close a relationship they have with Erudite" Max reasons.

"So, what next" Chavis asks.

Max nods to Tobias. Now that Stacy was gone, he was going to have to step up and step up fast.

"We've already increased our food supplies in the past six months from Amity. We've also established a contact inside of Abnegation and set up a perimeter between Dauntless and Erudite which is actually what the special project that Harrison was working on" Tobias explained.

"I've assembled a task force made up of a small group of people you see here. These are people we know are loyal and have specific skills we need right now before the open war starts. We need to scout, get more information on both Erudite and Factionless as well as increase our surveillance and weapons strategy as soon as possible"

"The new weapons have already started to be assembled, and I have a training program laid out" Uriah adds. Max nods, proud that the team he put together was prepared.

"I've also started increasing medical supplies and taken on another trainee for triage. We'll need to add a few more but we can start today" Hana reports.

"Solid plan, how much do we know about Factionless?" Chavis says impressed at the report outs. He'd calmed down a bit now. He was impressed by everything Max had put together. Despite being kept in the dark, he trusted Max. He looks over at Victoria who still seems unsure as she takes in everything Max is telling her.

"An informant in the factionless section has given us a good head start on what they have planned. We're outnumbered so we will have to get creative with tactical maneuvers. If Factionless and Erduite combine along with the super soldiers, our only chance is to get Candor and Abnegation behind our lines. We can't let them get behind us and to Amity. People are going to die, we are going to have to take out their leaders, break down the chain of command "

Everyone nods in agreement. Max's plan was solid. Tris looks over at Tobias trying to read his expression but he doesn't give anything away. They were going to target his mother, he had to be conflicted about that.

"Tobias, we thought we had longer, but you will now have to step up. Dauntless law requires we have an odd number of leaders. This was the position you were training for when the time came..." Max tells him.

"Yes sir, I understand" Tobias responds nodding his head.

"Harrison, you Zeke, and Tobias sweep all the leadership offices for bugs. Each of you sweep your apartments too, just in case. Victoria, I need an account of everyone who is over 18 and able to fight. We'll make assignments." Max explains. He looks and Victoria who still looks hesitant but nods in agreement.

"Chavis, I want all the maintenance workers rotated who had access to the leadership offices. We have suspicions that an Erudite transfer working under you, Eric is one of the plants. It's time Eric is questioned. Christina be ready when we find him and bring him in" Christina and Chavis both nod in understanding of their assignments.

"Uriah, I want a weapons count and a timeframe of when the rest of the new weapons will be completed. Factionless has been able to stock plié weapons because we got slack. Any patrol that goes out, no one goes alone, make that clear. Tris, I want all the schematics of the Factionless section so we can finish the escape route plan for Candor and Abnegation" Tris bounces on her toes and bites her lip. Her father was alive when he was giving orders. She wondered if she had it in her to be that type of leader. She shakes off her thoughts and nods that she understood her assignment.

Max had no idea when the next move Erudite had planned, but he was going to be ready.

"I didn't want Erudite to get wind of what we are planning so soon but we need to address Stacy's death and It's time for Dauntless to move. We have a job to do. Let's go do it"

After a few conversations, Victoria and Chavis leave along with the rest of the group, while Max and Harrison stand on the rooftop.

"Can we trust Chavis and Victoria?" Harrison asks.

"I hope to God we can," Max says honestly.