I know this is shorter than you're used to, but I couldn't get any farther without forcing it and it's more than 1k which is my personal bar, so I'll give you this while I head off to pluck away on chapter 9 of Late Night Lessons.

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"Alright, lets get this over with so we can get back to Dauntless," Eric muttered as he helped Kat out of the car.

She had reached the thirteen week mark, and it was time for her to see a doctor at the hospital instead of the nurse in the infirmary. Because of her small stature, she had started showing about a month previously, though a heavy sweatshirt disguised it for now. Kat had borrowed one of Eric's to go out today, after discovering how much people stared when they noticed she was pregnant.

The hospital was in the center of the city, and was run by members of all five factions. Erudite made up doctors, psychologists and the top medical staff, a select few Dauntless worked as security, and Amity worked as aids, nurses and receptionists. Abnegation filled the positions that were left open, mostly the undesirable ones like cleaning bathrooms, bedpans, doing laundry and the like. Finances were handled almost exclusively by Candor, with only a handful working as assistants in the psychiatry wing when required by the doctors. Occasionally they were pulled from these areas to question patients when things didn't add up, able to tell when said patients were lying where others couldn't.

Eric opened the door and held it open for the pair of them, brushing his hand momentarily across the small of Tris's back as she passed him. The front desk was manned by two Amity women and a man of the same, predictably. Tris guided Kat to sit in the reception area while Eric went to the counter to check them in. Tris watched the Amity woman with a bit of surprise, almost every Abnegation and Amity cowered slightly in the presence of one of the Dauntless, but the woman at the desk interacted with Eric with remarkable ease.

Eric caught Tris's surprised expression when he turned and walked back to where Tris and Kat were waiting. "What?"

"I've never seen an Amity so at ease with one of us before," Tris told him.

"And how many Dauntless do you think come in here on a regular basis?" He asked her in amusement. Tris thought about it and realized that with their daredevil nature, Dauntless were probably some of the most frequent visitors.

"Oh, yeah that makes sense," she admitted.

"Coulter, Kathryn?" A voice called out. The three of them looked up to see a young Amity man, perhaps Eric's age, stood in a doorway off to the left, a clipboard in his hand. The three of them got up and followed him, Tris with her arm around Kat's shoulders and Eric trailing behind them.

Tris turned to look at him, confused at his behavior. He had been fairly relaxed in the car, but the moment they had stepped through the door he had dropped into the persona she was used to from her initiate days, and his eyes were watching everything as he stayed close behind them. For some reason, Tris got the impression he was guarding them, or Kat at least. Either way, something had him on edge. Tris thought about reaching behind herself to take his hand, but realized at the last second that it probably wouldn't be a welcome gesture. She could tell he was deliberately exuding an intimidating vibe, and holding hands with or being reassured by her would be far from helpful.

The man led them into a plain, sterile white room with a window in the far wall, closing the door quietly behind them.

"My name is Jack, and I'll be your nurse today," he told them brightly as Eric moved to stand by the wall, crossing his arms across his chest. "Now who is miss Coulter?"

"I am," Kat said shyly, stepping forward and sitting up on the bed.

"Nice to meet you honey," he said, smiling and holding out his hand. Kat took it easily, seeming to relax somewhat. This was why Amity were generally nurses. "And you are?" He asked, turning to Tris.

"I'm Tris, a friend and this is her brother Eric," she told him, gesturing to Eric behind them. Eric nodded at him once, though he looked more relaxed now they were in a closed room. Tris wondered idly what had him so wound up, and made a mental note to ask him later.

"Well anyway, it says here in the file that you are thirteen weeks pregnant, is that correct?" He asked Kat kindly.

"Um, yeah that's right," she said uncomfortably, clearly waiting for the judgement she had become accustomed to in Dauntless.

"I'm not here to judge anyone sweetie," he reassured, clearly noticing her distress. "I'm just here to ask a few questions and take vitals."

Tris stood at Kat's side while Jack did his work, quickly measuring her pulse, blood pressure and wrapping up by listening to her heart and lungs.

"Well your blood pressure is a little higher than we'd like to see it, but other than that it looks like you're doing okay."

"What is it?" Eric asked sharply.

Jack looked up at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, what is what?"

"Her blood pressure, what is it? You said it's high."

"One-thirty-eight over ninety-seven," he answered dutifully.

Tris looked over in time to see Eric cringe. "We'll have to keep an eye on that," he said, turning to Tris.

"Alright," she agreed easily.

"Anyway, I'm going to go get the doctor now, he'll be in in just a moment," Jack told the three of them before slipping quietly out the door.

Eric paced along the wall behind them while they waited, and about fifteen minutes later the door opened and a rather flustered-looking woman rushed in, speaking as she turned her back to close the door. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eric stop pacing very abruptly, eyes locking on the woman as he stepped quickly to Kat's other side, jaw tight.

"Sorry for the wait, I'm Doctor Coulter," she said briskly, turning to face them. Her eyes slid over Eric without noticing him, but widened when they settled on Kat, who averted her eyes to stare at her feet.

"Kathryn?" she asked incredulously. Tris looked quickly back to the woman, recognizing her eyes after a moment of scrutiny. The same wide, gray eyes shared by the two people at her side.

"Mom," Kat said quietly, still staring at her shoes and looking like she wanted to melt into the floor. Tris wrapped her arm tightly around her shoulders, back straightening as she set her jaw in defiance.

Beside her, Eric's voice cracked like a whip through the dead air, cold as ice. "Why are you here?"

The woman's eyes snapped immediately to Eric, the hostility in his voice and his towering, intimidating posture making her take an automatic step back.

"Doctor Brandy was called up to surgery so I'm filling in here for him," She said crisply.

Tris watched the two interact with curiosity, and it took her a moment to realize that Eric hadn't been kidding the day he'd asked her to move in with them. His own mother didn't even recognize him. The thought made anger pulse through her, that the woman could care so little about her own children, take so little notice that she didn't even recognize her son standing in front of her.

"Kathryn how did you end up in Dauntless? What are you doing there?" Doctor Coulter asked sharply, staring at her daughter.

Kat opened her mouth to answer, but Eric's icy laugh cut her off. "You're joking right?"

The doctor's eyes flipped back to Eric and caught on his arm wrapped protectively around his sister, and the way she had shrunk into his side before returning to his face. She scrutinized him for a few seconds, and her eyes widened.

"Eric?"

"Now you recognize me," he snapped coldly. "I can see you care just as much as you always have."

She bristled at his tone and stepped forward, clearly ready to give him a piece of her mind, but stopped short when Eric removed his arm from Kat's shoulders and stepped toward her in return. He could only have gotten his height from his father, because Eric towered over his mother by a good eight inches, making her falter as she looked up at him. His hard, straight posture was menacing and there was the promise of a threat carved in every line of his face as he scowled down at her.

"I specifically asked for anyone but you," he said icily. "Now obviously shit happens but that doesn't mean I have to like it. That girl there is my sister, and your patient. She is not your daughter, and you will not treat her as such. You gave up that right when you threw her out. You will do your job, and then we are leaving. Do I make myself clear?"

"What makes you think you can talk to me like that?" His mother snapped. "Even if you don't want me calling myself her mother, I am still yours and you will not talk to me that way."

Eric's arm moved so quickly that Tris's eyes barely followed the movement, but the click of a gun being cocked echoed through the silent room as the barrel pressed against the doctor's forehead, making the blood drain from her face.

"I'm not going to ask you again," he said quietly. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course," she said shakily, backing down instantly as Eric returned his gun to its holster.