Redemption

Chapter Four

"First thing," yells Max over the whistle of the wind. "is to show us that you remember your Dauntless virtues. Tris, you haven't been in Dauntless for two and a half years, and Four, you've been around useless Stiffs."
I clench my jaw. I am still not comfortable with people mocking Abnegation. It has been almost three years, but I will still punch Molly again if she resorts to her old ways.
Luckily, Tobias speaks up. "Aren't the factions supposed to be united? Loving, giving?"
Max laughs. "Like the Amity? I'd rather jump into the chasm."
I clench my hands into fists, and Tobias has to hold me back. Al is also a touchy subject for me. Also, according to Tobias this morning, Uriah's ashes were spread there.
"Tris, no," He whispers. "Not here. Not now."
Max ignores us and turns to face the train tracks. "You remember how to get on a train, don't you?" The train comes by, and Max hoists himself into a car.
I roll my eyes. "He can't be serious." Getting into a train is the easiest step toward becoming Dauntless. I jog at the pace of Max's car. I reach for the handle, pulling myself up. A hand rests on my side. I shrug it away, not wanting Tobias's help on such an easy feat. Sure enough, he enters moments after I do.
He huffs. "What was the point of jogging all the way here, just to get on the trains again?" I gape at him. This is not something Tobias would usually say. Losing almost everything has changed him.
Max reads my mind. "Careful, Mr Eaton. Don't resort to your Abnegation ways."
Without thinking, I blurt out, "Can't it be a good thing?" When Max turns to me, my face heats up. This is a terrible thing to say. Faction before blood. The memory of Eric's warning sends a shudder through my body. No, Eric is dead now. I watched Tobias shoot him.
He doesn't say anything. His glare is enough. He turns away from both of us and sits down.
"Careful, Tris," Tobias whispers in my ear.
I turn around and kiss him, ever so gently. "It must be because you're so approachable."
"You know, like a bed of nails." laughs Tobias. "I couldn't believe you had said that. No one wanted to speak up in front of me. That's when I realized I liked you. That's also when I realized you were Beatrice Prior."
I smile into his shoulder. "I'm surprised you remembered me. I hardly remembered you myself."
"I like to notice people," He whispers.
I lean into his shoulder. "It's good to be back."
He kisses my hair. "It's good to have you back."

Max wheezes as he hits the net. "I'm getting too old for this." He rolls off the net and onto the floor.
Tobias falls through the air, a yell escaping him. His fear of heights.
"You would think after doing it before, you'd be fine." I tease him.
He grabs onto my hand for stability. "Try concurring a fear sometime, Tris."
I laugh. "I already did, remember?"
"I just don't get how you fall so gracefully. When you first hit the net, you looked so fragile. Who knew you would turn out to be so strong?"
I shrug. "People tend to underestimate my character."
Max brushes himself off. "Alright. Two things done. What's next?"
"Is this just going to be like initiation?" I say. I have worked hard to complete initiation. Doing it over again would be quite frustrating.
He lifts a shoulder. "It will be somewhat close. But you will not have to redo initiation, don't worry."
"Can we wait until after lunch? Or at least give us an hour to reconnect?" I offer.
Max sighs. "One hour. Maximum. But be ready when you get back. I'm not going easy."
Tobias whispers in my ear as we walk along the Pit paths, "What did you have in mind?"
"I want to talk to you, alone. I don't like all these people around." As we walk up the steps of the Pire to our apartment, I hear chatter and laughter. I get some confused looks. Perhaps people knew me more than I thought. After all, I was a criminal to Erudite-Dauntless traitors.
    Tobias turn the key in the lock and opens the door. Our apartment is bare; we didn't care much about decorations once we got it. It has the necessities, and one bedroom. A part of me wonders if Max wanted it this way, or if it was just a coincidence.
    The second he throws the key onto a nearby table, I wrap my hands around his neck and kiss him passionately. He kisses me back, running his hands over my face. His fingers brush over my neck, and I pull away. A thought plagues my mind.
    Tobias regards me with concern. "Tris? You okay?"
    I bite my lip. "It just doesn't make sense, Tobias. Before I blacked out, I felt a pain in my neck. If it wasn't a bullet, then what was it?"
    He frowns. "I don't know."
"Everything will go according to plan, Tris. Nina will put you under a paralytic serum, the same one Peter used to help you escape Erudite headquarters." Matthew says.
    I blink and step back. Did that actually happen, and I don't remember it, or was it my imagination?
    "Tris?" He says again.
    If it was real, it was erased from my memory for a reason. It is best to pretend it didn't exist. "Nothing."
    Tears form in his eyes. "I didn't give myself enough time to soak it in, but, you're really here, Tris. You're alive."
    I blink away my own tears. "I'm here. I'm alive." I wrap myself into his embrace. "And I'm never going to let you go again."

After lunch, Tobias and I haul bags into the Amity trucks to be shipped off to Abnegation. I sit down at our dinner table, exhausted.
    "Where were you?" Christina pokes me with her fork. "I tried to get you guys together to discuss jobs."
    "What about them?" I groan.
    "Max said you and Tobias will be the new initiation instructors. I used to be one, but I switched at the end of initiation, and the person who handles transfers died." When she notices my expression she says, "He took the plunge."
    It doesn't take an Erudite to know that he jumped into the chasm. I visibly shudder.
    Tobias sits down next to me, food in hand. "What's this about initiation?"
    I repeat the information Christina told me.
    He glares at Christina. "Really? I don't think I can take that job again."
    "Well, too bad. At the end of this month, you two will be in charge of initiation." Christina taunts him.
    He grabs her fork and sticks it into the table. He is clearly not in a good mood.
   "Chill out, Four," She says.
    "Tobias, be nice," I scold him. I kiss his cheek. "Better now?"
    He settles for a smile, which quickly disappears.
    Zeke, Shauna, and Gabe join our table, and it's just like old times. Except the people surrounding me exclude Tori, Will, Al, Lynn, and Marlene. I will just have to accept that's how things are now. They are dead, and one day, I'll join them. For now, I need to focus on the life I'm living.
    But Matthew's voice is at the back of my mind. The way he said it, like I knew the plan. If this is real, then I have been lying to Tobias, to Christina, and most importantly, myself.