Assassin

Chapter 1: Crumbling

Tris heard him walking around and she smiled as she pretended to be asleep. The bed dipped as Tobias climbed into the bed next to her his hands roaming her body. "Good morning beautiful." He said as he kissed her temple. "If you don't get up now, you're going to be late and we both know you don't want to deal with angry Eric." Tris rolled her eyes and turned in his arms to face him. "He's not so bad." She said as she kissed him hard and exited the bed so she could prepare to go to work. Thankfully she had showered the night before so all she had to do was grab her clothes. She got dressed quickly and then turned and smiled at the man sitting on the edge of the bed. He stood and walked over to her and enveloped her in his embrace. Tris stood on her toes and kissed him once more. "I love you Tobias." she said as she made her way out the door.

"You almost didn't make it." Eric laughed as he closed the door behind her. As usual he moved just a little to close to her but after reflecting for a while she realized it no longer bothered her. She sauntered over to her desk and sat down. "Yeah, wouldn't want to miss out on all this glorious paper work now would we?" She said as she tapped the pile with the palm of her hand. He laughed once more and meandered over to his own desk. They worked in a comfortable silence like usual. Eric was no longer a scary leader, she had even come to think of him as a friend. After a few hours they decided it was time to get some food and just as they were ready to head out Max's voice came over the intercomm. "I need both of you to come to my office as soon as possible." They both groaned but made their way out the door and into Max's office.

Upon entering Tris' heart dropped, Max's face was grim and as he glanced at her something told her this wasn't going to be a friendly visit. Eric must have sensed this as well because he put on his defensive face and looked hard at Max. "What's going on?" He asked loudly as he stood in the corner of the room. The older man took a deep breath and tore his eyes from Tris. "Can both of you please sit down, this is going to be difficult for me to say and I need you both to be grounded." They shared a look and took the seats opposite their superior. He turned and looked at Eric first. "I need your reflexes to be ready because after I say what I need to say she is going to try to get out of this office and we cannot have that. The surveillance in this room has been disabled and you will find out why in a moment." Tris looked at him and wondered why she would want to leave the room and unbeknownst to her Eric bore a similar expression on his face.

Max faced Tris after he had finished with Eric. "First of all let me say that I am so sorry." Her face twisted and she was getting annoyed with the vagueness of the conversation. "Max, please just get on with it. I feel like you're wasting my time and to be frank it's like torture making me sit here like this." Eric hummed his agreeance and Max threw up his hands. "Fine, I should have known you wouldn't want to be coddled I apologize. I am however sorry to have to tell you like this but your parents were murdered last night." She gasped audibly and as the weight of what he said struck her tears began to fall down her face. She felt a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off and through glassy, red eyes looked at Max and asked agrilly. "Who do I have to kill?" Eric twitched next to her and cracked his knuckles. He would never admit it openly but he had a soft spot for Tris and if it wasn't for that fucking weasel he knew that she would be his.

"There was some video surveillance, we have known for a while that someone was trying to assassinate leadership members from every faction we have already lost two from Candor and one from Amity and now three from Abnegation. So we did the only thing we could do and put security cameras in each of the surviving leaders homes." Eric raised an eyebrow. "Yes, yours too! All of ours really... and we've had the ops team at the fence watching that surveillance because their rotation schedules and not being able to leave for long periods of time. They were the best option we had. Anyway..." He typed a few things into his computer and the large screen behind him came to life. Tears fell freely as she saw the living area of her childhood home. Eric grabbed her hand and she didn't have the strength to pull away so she twisted her fingers through his. Movement on the screen brought her out of her thoughts. She saw her father trudge down the stairs in his night clothes and he padded to the kitchen and grabbed a glass. Her attention was pulled away from him when out of nowhere the front door opened slowly. As the intruder stepped into the light Tris released Eric's hand and jumped out of her seat and moved quickly towards the door. However, Eric was quicker and she was being held captive by his unbelievably strong arms.

"That son of a bitch!" She yelled as she struggled to get away from Eric. His arms gripped her tighter and Max stood up and rounded the desk. "Tris, I need you to calm down, we need to go about this the right way." She started to calm but then looked up just as Tobias stabbed her father. "I want him dead! I want my blade pierce his heart the same way that he did to my parents! Eric, let me go!" Despite himself Eric chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry, I can't do that. Max looks like he has a plan and I think that we should listen." She nodded and finally he let her down but he stayed planted by the door. Any chance of an escape was doubtful. "Max, please turn it off. I want to hear your plan I do, but first I would like to have a word with Eric. Is that okay?" He nodded and moved past Eric locking the door behind him. Tris grabbed Eric's hand and dragged him to the couch on the other side of the room. At first he hesitated not knowing what frame of mind she was in. "Don't worry, I'm not going to run. I realize Max is right. Four is tricky but if we work on this together I'm sure I will get the results I want."

Eric nodded and sat down on the couch and looked at her. Her hand reached out and took a hold of his hand. He looked at their entwined fingers and wished the circumstances were different. "I used to read alot when we were in classes and one time I read a quote and I remember trying to figure out what I would do in the situation it presented but I couldn't fully appreciate it at the time." He squeezed her hand and looked at her curiously. "What was the quote?" She looked down her face contorted in a manner that he knew she was trying to figure out how to share this. "I'm trying to remember the correct wording. Please, give me a second." He waited patiently trying to memorize the way her hand felt in his and then he tried to figure out when he had become so attached to the incredibly strong level headed girl. "The quote went like this.." He was snapped out of his over calculating mind. "...How do you kill the killer of a loved one when you love the killer?" His heart sank as he heard this, he had hoped that she was just infatuated with Four but clearly it was more.

"I would like to say that I understand it now, but I don't think that that is the case!" At the sound of this he perked up slightly. "This morning I woke up feeling safe and loved and then my world came crumbling down at my feet. I can't say hat I know how the author felt because I don't think I really loved Tobias. Now that I know why he never said it back to me. The last two years of my life have been a lie. I say that not because of Tobias, but because of you." His insides jumped and his heart caught in his throat for a second unsure of what was coming next. "I put all my faith in Tobias because we were from the same faction and he made me feel safe but our relationship was stagnant and one sided but what I failed to see before today was you." He blinked a little trying to figure out where she was going with this. "What do you mean?"

"When Max said that my parents were dead, I didn't even think about Tobias. The only person I needed was in the room. Maybe if it was you that had done this I could understand what the author was saying but unfortunately I don't. I want him dead Eric. I want to watch the life drain from his eyes, and I want to him to feel the what my parents felt." He used both hands to pull her onto his lap and kissed her cheek. "Together we will make him pay. I promise you that. Let's wait to hear Max's plan and if we don't like it we will go rogue and do our own thing. Max has an unnatural fondness for Four and his plan may not include his untimely demise." At this the door opened and Max stepped through the door. "Eric, that isn't going to be a problem. Natalie was my friend and at one point I even loved her. I want that son of bitch just as dead as she does."

Tris gasped. "You, you and my mother..." Max nodded. "That was a lifetime ago and now I realize that going to Abnegation was best for her. I was angry at one point but I wold never want her dead." She removed herself from Eric's lap and walked over to Max and completely unlike herself she wrapped her around him like she would family. Eric watched as Max hesitated for a minute many emotions washing over his features and finally he embraced her unshed tears pricking his eyes. Eric didn't know it then but that was the point where everything changed between the three of them. Max cleared his throat and Tris pulled away and wiped her face. "Sorry about your shirt Max." He looked at her like a father would look at his daughter and then he face hardened back into leader mode. "It's fine, should we start talking business?"

They both nodded and took their original seats across from him. "The fact of the matter is he is not working by himself, so in order to ensure the safety of the other leaders we need to catch the main culprit. I know that this is going to hard for you Tris but I need you to be a soldier and put your emotions aside and try to accomplish the mission. I have these trackers..." He held out his hand and in it were six button sized pieces of metal. "...into articles of his clothing. That way we can kill two birds with one stone. Do you think that you can do this? I know it will be difficult but we have an opportunity here."

Eric stood in objection. "Max, you can't ask her to do this, he killed her parents!" Tris grabbed his hand and pulled him back to a sitting position. "Eric, it's okay. I can do this, if it keeps you guys safe and all of the other leaders I can do what needs to be done." Eric looked into her eyes and saw nothing but pure determination. He wanted to find an excuse to pull her out of this, some sign of fear but the woman he was in love with never showed fear. That was the reason he fell for her in the first place. "Fine, but if things get crazy you come right to me. I don't want any arguments. Just do it." Max laughed. "Strange turn of events I would say. For now you guys should go get some lunch and go about your daily business, but first Tris use my bathroom and clean up your face. No need for him to ask questions straight off the bat."

It was hard for Eric not to grad her hand as they were walking to the Mess Hall. Knowing that Tris felt the same way made his heart jump and he tried to pinpoint the moment things had changed for him between them but it was a culmination of little things that all affected the way things were. Tris was focused, she had a goal and she didn't have time or the clarity to dwell on everything that had happened that morning. As they breached the door she braced herself mentally and put on a neutral face. Christina waved to her and she nodded her head at Eric and made her way to her friend, but not before she heard a hushed "be careful" from Eric. She grabbed some lasagna and sat across from Chris. "What took you so long? Usually you and Eric are the first ones down here." Tris laughed and rolled her eyes. "Max's weekly "meeting" ran over. You know how he likes to hear himself talk." Chris laughed, took one last bite and grabbed her tray. "Sorry, I've got to bounce. Don't want to be late." With that last word she was sprinting toward the door.

Not even three minutes later another tray was being placed next to hers and a kiss was planted on her temple. In her minds eye she pictured that it was Eric who kissed her but her stomach refuted her brain and began to turn. "How is your day shaping up?" She swallowed down the bile that was threatening to make an appearance and smiled. "Oh, you know paperwork and secret meetings. It's so glamourous! What about you?" He laughed and ran his hand up her leg. "Oh you know it's the first day of the fights so I'm enjoying watching the little bitches get their asses kicked." Tris took her last bite of food and looked down at her watch. "Well, I better get going, I don't want Eric breathing down my neck the rest of the day." She rose and grabbed her tray, bent down and kissed his cheek. "I love you." She said as she turned to leave.

Heading back to the office she stopped at her and Tobias' apartment and quickly relieved her still turning stomach. While in the bathroom she wrote a note to Eric explaining not to touch her or talk about anything because she had a feeling Tobias was going to check the security videos. Tris cleaned up and brushed her teeth and then made her way back to Eric. When she opened the door he stood but she shook her head at him telling him no. She angled her body to block the camera from seeing the note. He excused himself from the office and when he returned the look on his face was positively murderous. It warmed her heart to know that he cared but she quickly pushed that thought aside. The mission needed to come first.

The rest of the day passed quickly having work to focus on was welcomed. The hardest part was not throwing herself into Eric's arm and mourning her parents. At five she cleaned up her desker and checked her pocket for the trackers. She mustered her courage and walked out the foor. She got halfway down the hall when Chris appeared in front of her. "Don't even think about going home, we are going to dinner and then we are going shopping!" Tris let herself be dragged along and instead of going to the Mess Hall they went to a small cafe in the pit. Something wasn't sitting right with her but she just figured it was because of her day thus far. They shopped until a little after 10 and then she finally headed home to face the music.

She unlocked the door and set down her shopping bags and noticed the silence that fell through the apartment and breathed a sigh of relief. Walking into the kitchen she put the kettle on to make herself a cup of tea and then padded to the bedroom to change her clothes. Her hand reached over to flick on the light and the sight before her curdled her blood. The room was in disaray and everything that Tobias owned was gone. Leaving the room she sprinted to the front door shoeless and ran towards Max's dwelling. As she passed Eric's door she stopped and banged on it and then continued on her way. Footsteps sounded behind her and before she knew it she was at Max's. Her fist found the door and she pounded until she was face to face with Max. "We have a problem."