Chapter 5

—Tobias

I sigh, leaning back in my seat, my legs aching as this meeting rolls on and on.
I know I should be listening more intently.
New York has not sent us any kind of message, and the Bureau still has their troops stationed outside of our city.
The amount of troops has lessened, thanks to our pleas and negotiations, but there still is enough contact where there could easily be more troops at any second.

"The troops that were positioned in Amity now have been removed completely. The Bureau is not budging at all with those stationed outside the fence, but this is improvement, to say the least," Josh states, answering a question to as why there is no longer Dauntless like myself stationed in Amity.

"There is an increase of Dauntless soldiers stationed outside the fence still, and our numbers do outnumber the number of Bureau soldiers. That does not chance the fact that the Bureau is much stronger than us, and that any step out of line towards those Bureau soldiers could cause total destruction," a woman in grey, probably an Abnegation representative, comments.

"So where do we go from here?" I decide to involve myself in the conversation of leaders, ambassadors, and faction representatives. "Yeah, there's less Bureau soldiers at the fence, but there still is soldiers there. Those soldiers are still present to be a constant reminder and threat to our citizens, our families, our children, and our loved ones. Things still aren't close to okay."

The room falls silent after I address the elephant in the room.
I know no one knows what to do.
But constantly ignoring the fact that those soldiers are still there is not a solution.

"Maybe waiting it out is our only option," a man in blue speaks. "Just ignore the Bureau and behave ourselves so they no longer concern themselves with us again?"

"That could take years," I bitterly remark.

"Do you have a better idea?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

"That's the point of this meeting: to come up with a better idea than closing our eyes and pretending everything is okay. Yes, there are less troops, but there still is troops that can't be overlooked," I claim.

"What if we go around the Bureau, and make allies with New York?" A man in a red shirt and black pants asks.
I really need to stop associating colors with factions. It's been years now, and yet the color of their clothes still means something to me.

"From what I've heard, we don't want that." Mark, the Erudite leader, adds.

"So do we apologize to the Bureau again for something we didn't even do?" A Candor representative in a light blue shirt asks.

There's a small silence and a bunch of bickering follows said silence.

Once again, I know I should be listening, but my mind is still somewhere else.
I just can't wait to see Tris again. Her hands have stopped shaking enough where she now can use her phone, and she texted me this morning wishing me a good morning.

All I can do is think about her, and praise her doctors for knowing that a medically induced coma was what she needed.
I just want to be with her together as our little family again.
I want to be with my family and not worrying about the city.

But I can't be with my family if I don't worry about the city.
And I want to be with my family.
Therefore, this meeting comes before seeing Tris again.

"So we will send the Bureau another apology message?" The Erudite leader insures.

"Why don't we send people in person?" An Abnegation representative suggests.

"Why don't we send that girl who started this mess?" A man asks.

"Peter Hayes is the one who started this mess. That girl is a woman with a family, and she just happened to be kidnapped and blamed for things who was not her fault." Josh directly addresses the man before I can speak.

"That girl you speak of is the mother of my child, and happens to be my wife," I spit. "She will not be going to the Bureau, because like hell you don't even know her or her story."

The man is silent for the rest of the meeting.

I also stay quiet for the rest of the meeting, but not intentionally. I listen, and feel the need to add nothing to what is being said.

Mark, the leader of Erudite, strongly desires to go to the Bureau, so he will go with an Amity representative and Josh, the leader of Dauntless.
The people were originally against sending our leaders, but the fact that leaders are no longer of a massively high authority calmed the matters.
What matters most to me is that I know neither Josh nor Mark will throw Tris to the dogs. They know her story, and they know that she caused none of this.
They sent a message notifying the Bureau leader that they would like to peacefully meet, and things were left at that.

I sigh, noticing the meeting is about to finally end. Looking at my phone, I see it's already nearing five in the evening, and I've been awake for twelve hours now.

"We will call another meeting as soon as we hear back from the Bureau. Could be days, could be months, but we will not send our people to meet until we hear from them." An Abnegation ambassador concludes, and people begin to leave.

I say good bye to Josh briefly before getting on the train back to Dauntless.

I don't want to stick around longer than I have to.
I just want to get my day finally started.

+    +    +

"Dada!" Thomas runs up to me, so excited to see me.
He's been at Zeke and Shauna's since really early this morning.
"Hey there mister!" I pick him up, noticing how much taller he has been getting lately.

I make small talk with Zeke, Shauna tending to the twins as I'm sure she listens in to our conversation.
I tell him about the new message to the Bureau, and how they're waiting for a response before they send in Mark, Josh and the Amity representative to chat with the leader of the Bureau.
Zeke doesn't seem to have an opinion about the situation, as do I.

I thank them for watching Tom and head back to the apartment to feed Indy quick before Tom and I head back out.

I run around the apartment doing some quick chores before the thought of dinner crosses my mind.
I remember Shauna saying that Thomas did eat, so I make the decision that I am fine without food.
I'm too excited to get out of here anyways.

"Let's go Tom!" I call for my son who's probably in his room.

"Where we go?" He comes out with one shoe on the wrong foot, and the other shoe on his hand.

"Oh goodness," I laugh, putting him on the couch to fix his shoes. He giggles, clearly a scheme of his to put his shoes in the wrong place.

I hold his hand as we make our way through the compound and to the train.

"Where we go?" He asks me again and I smile.

"You'll see." I set him on my lap on the train and I see the sleepiness in his eyes.

Before I know it, he's out cold. His head is on my chest as we ride through the city.

Even when I take him in my arms to get off the train he barely stirs.
Must've been a fun and exhausting day. I chuckle to myself as I carry him through the halls to the desired location. I tap on the door, then manage to maneuver my way in without disturbing Tom.

"Hey," I smile. "He's been out cold since we left home. I didn't want to wake him because he would probably get cranky if I did."

The smile on Tris's face is an image I never want to leave my mind.

She scoots over on the bed, patting for me to lay down our son next to her. I lay him down and he still does not wake.

"He's gotten so big," I see tears brim Tris's eyes as she gently brushes Thomas's blonde hair out of his eyes. I sit down in the chair next to her bed, just relieved that we're finally together as a family again.

"Where was he today?" She asks, her voice quiet.

"Zeke and Shauna's. Guess it was a tiring day," I chuckle, Tris's eyes look up to meet mine.

"I really never thought I was going to get to see him again," she says, distracting herself with his hair to not meet my eyes. "With the drugs in my system, and the pain, and the memories. I felt like I was never going to come back—"

"But you're here, so let's focus on that." I lean over and kiss her hand, not wanting to think about these past few months and how tough they've been.

"How was the meeting?" She asks, resting her head back.

I shake my head, wanting to enjoy this moment instead of focusing on the crippling thoughts of what Chicago could become if the Bureau doesn't back off.
She just woke up a few days ago. She doesn't need to deal with the weight of the city right now.
"Things are okay. Let's just slow down and be here right now."

"Just okay?"

"Just okay." I nod.

"How's Indy?" She asks me.

"He's an old man. Now a days he spends most of the day sleeping in between breaks of following Tom around the house."

She smiles and I wonder what is going through her head right now.

We sit in comfortable silence as Tris cuddles our sleeping boy. All I can feel is love as I look at them.
I never thought I could feel or have love like this.
But now I have these two people who I can't even imagine being without.

Even though we all have been in the city these last few months, deep down in my mind I have felt this love be ripped from me.
Between focusing on the city and it's Cold War, to Tris and her leg and the oxycodone, and how she is learning the years of her past.

There just hasn't been time for the three of us.

Hell, just us being in the same room right now is some kind of miracle.

And now, suddenly Thomas is three years old. Tris and I are only growing older, and our struggles as a pair, and now a family, have yet to release their grip on us.

"Dada?" My sleepy son asks, rubbing his eye with one hand.

"Look who's here, Tom!" I try to excite him, seeing the look on his face that shows signs of a tantrum.

"Hi baby," Tris runs her hand over his head, a mix of raw emotion on her face.

Thomas doesn't say anything, but he rolls over and clings to Tris. His head is on her chest, and her head is on top of his, holding him close.

Nothing else seems to be all right.
But the three of us that sit in this room: we are alright.
Once again united, we are all right.

Now please, let things stay all right, just this once.