September – Y1

I take the leadership position commanding a SMU. It surprises Tobias, but I understand why. With the exception of my knife skills, he never really got to see me in combat because I couldn't show him; not during initiation when I wasn't supposed to know anything.

Leadership allows me to invite Lynn, Uriah, and Marlene to join the unit, which Lynn and Uriah do without question. Marlene insists that, although she did well during initiation, she's not a fighter and doesn't enjoy it. She tells me she'd rather be a medic; I tell her I could still use a medic on my team, and we come to an agreement.

Will and Christina are a different story. I requested them to, but Eric insists that their rankings mean they have to serve at the border.

With the explanation that training with me would make them even better guards, I get them to agree to allow it; I will just have to be willing to allow them to serve rotations in border patrols.

It's a small unit, made up of four people I trust. Tobias thinks I only did this to protect my lower ranking friends from undesirable jobs; I can't explain to him the real reason. I cannot teach loyalty; Will and Christina may not be the most effective fighters, but I trust them. I can teach them combat.

Max inquired why Peter was the only initiate that I didn't want in my unit. I told him the truth; if I had to work with Peter, I would kill him. He looked ready to argue, but Eric shut it down.

Will and Christina are sent immediately to a week-long rotation on the border to learn the ropes. We've been provided with a special training room for our own private use, which Uriah, Lynn, and I immediately take advantage of. We're in the middle of an every man – or woman – for themselves match when Eric pushes the door open.

Uriah looks up at the interruption and I take immediate advantage of this to gain the upper hand, grabbing the arm that had been flying at me to throw him on the ground. He lands with a loud thump and Eric eyes me, impressed.

"Don't take your eyes off a fight unless you know your opponent is debilitated," I say to Uriah as I reach down a hand to help him to his feet. "Be aware of your surroundings, but don't ignore what you were already doing." He nods.

I look up to Eric to see him eyeing me, impressed. "You've come far," he notes.

He can't know that I really haven't; I just couldn't show it all during initiation. I think maybe he does though, because his words sound more like they're daring me to dispute the claim.

"What can we do for you, Eric?"

"A call came in from Erudite." I don't love the suspicious look he's giving me. "Apparently, there was a break in last week and they've requested a SMU to work with their investigators."

Is he connecting the dots between the break in and my absence? "That hardly seems like a job for a SMU," I argue.

"Well, it's a good thing you're hardly a SMU," he quips. "You've barely started training. Max thinks this will be a good opportunity to get your feet wet, so to say."

I know I can't argue, so I take the packet of information he's given me and tell Uriah and Lynn to get ready and meet me at the trains in an hour. When they leave the room, Eric speaks.

"You know, the break in happened that day you ran off to the commons. It's so close to Erudite; you didn't happen to see anything suspicious that day, did you? I went back and checked the camera footage and noticed there was a man from Erudite hanging out in the park around the same time you were."

He can't know. I know that Fahim and I were sure to stay out of camera range when we were actually together. He suspects though, and he's waiting for me to confirm.

"Hundreds of people pass through the commons everyday, Eric," I tell him. "I can't be expected to observe every single one to see if they're being suspicious. Especially when my purpose for being there was to cool down."

He nods thoughtfully, then reminds me, "You and I are still due for a conversation."

I'd rather not. I heard him that night in the hallways; I cannot trust him. The only way we would be able to have the conversation would be if we were completely out of sight of all cameras. I can't risk going out of camera range with him; that's how I disappear. As confident as I am in my combat abilities, Eric is good. The fact that Tobias can beat him in combat is part of the reason I'm so hesitant to say anything to him about this. If Tobias's hadn't been preparing the way I had to come to Dauntless, the idea that someone from Abnegation was able to take down Eric during initiation is concerning.

"Yes, well, not today obviously," I say, sidestepping him to reach the door. "We have to get to Erudite, after all."

I stop by the control room and Tobias's apartment, trying to find him to let him know I'll be leaving, but he's in neither place and I have to get back to my apartment. I don't have time to walk around the compound looking for him, so I just make my way back to my newly assigned apartment to pack a bag.

The apartment is larger than I need, but those in government are given better everything. Lynn and Uriah were also given apartments in the same area, so it's extremely convenient. Eric being next door is incredibly inconvenient, though.

Uriah and Lynn are waiting at the tracks with huge grins on their faces when I arrive. I wish I could feel their excitement, but it's all I can do to not show my nerves. I look directly at the nearest camera and wave, assuming at some point, if Eric doesn't tell him, Tobias will go looking at the cameras for me.

As soon as the three of us are on the train, I turn to look at my two team members. The grins fall off their faces as they take in my serious expression.

"There's a lot going on between factions right now," I start off. "I need both of you to promise that you give no information to anyone without running it by me first. I thought we would have more time to ease into things, but I'm not getting the prep time I thought we would. I'll explain more when we have more time; for now, just remember that I am your commanding officer out there, and you need to use me as your shield as much as necessary."

Lynn looks confused, but nods. Uriah, however, seems to understand what I'm asking. He and I may need to have a separate talk. I wonder briefly if he's divergent. He does an excellent job of hiding it if he is; I would have to assume he's an Amity/Dauntless mix if he is. The only difference I see in Uriah from a typical Dauntless member is his ability to put a room of strangers at ease. The combination seems like a contradiction, which does kind of describe him.

They follow me silently, jumping off the train at Erudite. We walk up the front steps to their headquarters building. I've never personally been to this entrance so I cautiously make my way inside and stop at what appears to be a security desk.

"Are you the unit from Dauntless?" the guard asks. I turn my head both ways, looking at Uriah and Lynn flanking me on each side. Who else would we be?

"Yes," I say dryly.

If he noticed my attitude, he didn't acknowledge it. "Please just wait a moment; someone will be down to get you."

I almost wonder if they watched us arrive, because barely ten seconds later, I hear a door open beyond the desk. I barely maintain my composure when I see my brother approaching us.

Caleb doesn't manage it quite as well as I did.

"Beatrice!" he says in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Caleb," I greet calmly, tilting my head slightly in acknowledgement. "I believe Erudite called for us."

"We called for a SMU to help with an investigation," he agrees. "But you're barely a Dauntless member. Has Dauntless even completed initiations yet? We weren't expecting them to send children."

I glare at him and open my mouth to respond, but surprisingly, my team beats me to it.

"Age doesn't matter at Dauntless," says Uriah with an edge in his tone.

Lynn then chimes in with, "And we will not tolerate disrespect towards our commanding officer."

I look back at them in shock; they took that whole I am your commanding officer speech seriously. I feel a rush of admiration for them; they were born Dauntless, so none of this is new to them. My trust was not misplaced.

"It's alright, guys," I say calmly. "I'm sure it will just take Caleb a moment to remember the differences in our factions. And that faction before blood means there is nothing stopping me from showing my brother just what we learn at Dauntless if he continues in this manner."

I'm sure I surprised them, but they dutifully say nothing when I expose our relationship. Caleb's face pales slightly.

"Yes, well, right this way. Jeanine is waiting for you."

This time, I pale a bit. We're meeting Jeanine Matthews? I guess it's time to prove I don't have an aptitude for Candor.

Caleb doesn't say anything more as he leads us to the elevator. He hits the button for the top floor and the ride to Jeanine is awkward.

She is waiting for us when the elevator doors open. "Thank you for coming so expediently," she says, a faux warmness in her tone. I know this woman, even though I don't. She is not to be trusted.

"Of course," I respond politely. "This is our job, ma'am."

She motions for us to follow her before turning to walk towards an office.

"Have a seat," she offers as she sits in her own chair behind her desk. Neither Lynn nor Uriah move. They were made for this.

"If it's all the same, ma'am, we'd rather stand," I reply evenly. "You didn't bring us here to sit. We don't want to waste any time."

She eyes me, studying me in her calculating way. "You look familiar," she notes. "Have we met?"

"Briefly," I tell her as Caleb opens his big mouth to say, "This is my sister, Beatrice."

Sending a glare his way, I correct him. "It's Tris."

"Ah, yes, Andrew and Natalie's daughter," she says, searching my face, I know, for any hint of a reaction to her mentioning my parents. "Well, I think Tris is a beautiful name. Please call me Jeanine."

"Thank you, Jeanine. So, what happened?" I do not want to sit here and exchange niceties with this woman.

She starts explaining in detail what they know; someone managed to hack their security system and disable the cameras in an office one night last week. There's no record of the door code being entered; the perpetrators were allowed entry from inside the office. Her investigation team has come to the conclusion that it couldn't have been accomplished without Erudite assistance, but they do not believe they were the main offender.

It is Jeanine's' belief that someone from outside the faction coerced this person into helping them.

"Do you have any suspects in mind? Or at least a faction in particular that would have a reason to break into your offices?"

"I do." Her reply is short. Her eyes are trained on Lynn and Uriah behind me. "Tris, would it be possible to have a private conversation with you?"

I nod and turn to them. "Wait outside."

They turn and exit without a word. Caleb seems to be hovering, but Jeanine sends him a look leading him to quickly follow them out the door.

I stand straight up, my hands clasped together behind my back, waiting for her to continue.

"Tris, I need to know where your loyalties lie," she says, wearing an expression of complete innocence. "I need your promise that you can remain objective in this investigation."

I give her an expressionless gaze. "I'm not sure what you mean, Jeanine. My loyalty is to my faction." I pause deliberately and then do my best to sound scandalized. "Do you suspect someone from Dauntless was involved? If so, I may need to call in someone from leadership. I'm sure I could get someone here quickly."

A genuine smile spreads across Jeanine's face and I know I have her fooled. "Oh no, not at all, Tris. In fact, my concern is that someone from Abnegation was involved."

Of course that's who she suspects; she's trying to throw Abnegation out of the government.

"That's terrifying news," I tell her, sighing and finally taking a seat for dramatic effect. "It's a horrible thought that the people responsible for running our city government could be behind this. Has your investigation led to anyone specific? I can have my team bring them in immediately."

Jeanine tilts her head, studying me; she's not sure if she believes me. "Even if the suspects are your own family?"

Oh, don't you dare. But I have to maintain my façade. "You think the Priors' are responsible?" I gasp. "That's horrible. It's difficult for me to imagine they would do something like that, but then again, I'm sure you've at least heard stories about what life is like in Abnegation." She's at least made up enough stories. "Our parents don't really tell us anything. No one talks about themselves because that's too selfish. I guess it's entirely plausible."

That seems to have pleased her. "I don't think your parents, specifically, are responsible," she promises. "But I had to be sure that if your investigation led to them, there would be no hesitation to do what is right."

I smile at her. "Oh, I promise you, Jeanine," and I do promise, "if I find out anyone from Abnegation broke into Erudite, I will bring them forward. It doesn't matter who they are." No one from Abnegation broke into Erudite, so no worries there.

"Excellent." She claps her hands together. "See, there are so many tensions lately between our two factions. I don't have hard evidence that it was Abnegation, but I can think of no one else that would want to harm Erudite in anyway. That's why we called you. If it was purely internal, we would handle it ourselves. But since we believe another faction is involved, we need an impartial third party with our investigators to go to Abnegation to determine the facts."

"Of course," I say emphatically. "Is your team ready? We just need to have Candor send over representatives and then we'll be on our way."

That surprises her. "Oh, I'm not sure why we would need to involve Candor in this."

"It's the law, Jeanine." I smile at her. "If we find evidence of wrongdoing from Abnegation, or better yet, if we manage to get a confession from the perpetrator, we certainly don't want there to be any accusation of wrongdoing that could interfere."

"Of course, Tris," she smirks. "However, the law states that an attorney from Candor only has to be made available if they are requested. I understand you're new and you want to make sure things are done by the book but let us not give those criminals any additional advantages."

"I don't understand," I fill my tone with confusion. "Candor can provide truth serum. How would that be an advantage to the perpetrator?"

"Tris, how much do you know about divergents?" she asks. I do my best to keep my features schooled with confusion.

"Only what I've read in the papers." I am not divergent; I am Dauntless. And Dauntless are not a wealth of knowledge.

"See, it is our belief that Abnegation is harboring these dangerous divergents among their ranks. It is rumored that they are immune to the serums, including the truth serum." It's not rumored, Jeanine. You know it for a fact. "I would hate for us to rely on a truth serum if a divergent was the one responsible and they're able to fool us under serum."

I nod slowly and wonder briefly about Marcus Eaton. Thinking back to my initial suspicion about Tobias, if he is, in fact, divergent, it would follow that his father or mother may have been as well. Perhaps Marcus is divergent, and he's been able to avoid criminal charges because he can lie under serum.

"I know for a fact that some of the accusations are false," I inform her. She looks at me in surprise and perhaps distrust. I give her a wry smile. "There are many things I could say about my parents, but abusive is not one of them. They cared for us. They loved us. Growing up in Abnegation, mine and Caleb's lives were exactly what one would expect from the faction. I did not leave because of abuse. I left because I did not belong there. I have no ill will towards my parents, nor my brother."

She seems satisfied with that answer, but I don't stop there. "However," I start, allowing my true hatred seep through and give my voice a dangerous edge, "I cannot be so generous towards other accusations." Her look of understanding makes it clear she knows what I'm talking about. I'll bet it was Erudite who started the not-so-false rumors about Marcus. "I am not inclined to be forgiving of anyone who would cover up such awful actions and claim it to be for the good of the faction."

I have done it. I have convinced Jeanine I'm on her side. She stands promptly from her desk and extends her hand to me. I grasp it firmly with my own.

"I'm glad I can trust you to discover the truth, Tris."

I smile an uncomfortably angry smile. "You absolutely can, Jeanine."

She releases my hand and steps around her desk, motioning for me to follow her. "Caleb will take you to our investigative team and you can get started immediately," she says, opening the door.

Lynn and Uriah are standing tall and strong in the hallway, while Caleb looks uncomfortable. Jeanine repeats the order for Caleb and returns to her office.

I can't help what slips out. "Caleb, are you Jeanine's secretary?"

His face turns red, confirming my words, regardless of his denial. "No, of course not." He shakes his head. "I'm her apprentice. She's very busy with extraordinary projects in addition to running a faction, Beatrice. I'm working under her to learn and provide assistance."

"Like an assistant?" I push. "And stop calling me Beatrice."

"Right, sorry," he stumbles over his words, thrown off by this version of his sister. Part of me wants to feel bad for treating him like this, but I can't trust him. My mother has told me in the past, promised me, that Caleb was not involved. He's working directly with Jeanine Matthews of his own free will because he agrees with her, so I have to make sure he doesn't suspect me.

"If you'll all follow me this way, I'll lead you to our investigators."

"Actually, Caleb," I interrupt him. "I need to brief my team. We'll go ahead and wait right out front for you."

I jerk my head for Uriah and Lynn to follow me and move towards the elevators without waiting for his reply.

"What's going on, Tris?"

My look says not here, but I have to say something. "We shouldn't talk here. There is suspicion of someone inside Erudite helping, so without knowing how secure their surveillance is..." I let my voice trail off, but both understand.

The elevator arrives at the ground level and they follow me through the elevator doors, past the security desk, and we come to a stop in the courtyard in front of the building.

"There are cameras that can see us, but they shouldn't be able to hear us if we speak quietly," I tell them, keeping my voice low. "There was a break in at an Erudite office. They suspect there was assistance provided by someone from inside Erudite, but that the actual perpetrators were from Abnegation. They have no actual evidence that it was Abnegation, but I think we're all aware of tensions between the two factions."

I give them both a hard look before continuing. "There is more going on here than just these tensions and we have to make sure everything we do is legit. This is our first assignment and we don't want to be the reason of increased tensions between the two based on inaccurate information." I pause, considering whether or not to say anything more. But this is all happening too quickly, and I have to say something. "I know for a fact that Abnegation didn't do this. It's not just because I come from Abnegation; it's not just a feeling. I know for a fact that it wasn't, but I can't tell Erudite that. Nor can I tell you how I know."

Lynn and Uriah both look like they want to ask questions, but they seem to understand this is not the place. After a moment, Uriah's face breaks into a grin.

"You know, the more time I spend with you, Tris, the less I feel like I know you." At my frown, he hurried to add. "I don't mean that in a bad way, I promise. I just mean… you've been kind of a badass since day one, but you keep surprising me. You have a lot going up there in that head of yours." He gives me a pointed look that wouldn't concern me so much if I had some kind of confirmation that Uriah is also divergent.

"Oh, here's the Erudite investigation team," comments Lynn, looking over my shoulder.

I turn to find five Erudite members walking down the steps. Relief sweeps through me as they come to a stop in front of us and recognition flashes in his eyes. Maybe this won't be so bad.

"Thank you so much for arriving so quickly to assist us," a woman says. I assume she's the one in charge. "My name is Amanda, and these are my colleagues, Frederick, Elia, Jeremy, and Tristan."

We exchanged a brief handshake and I let my eyes flit to Frederick briefly before returning eye contact with Amanda. "It's our pleasure," I tell her. "My name is Tris, and these are Uriah and Lynn."