Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today is the day that I must choose where I belong. Do I belong in Abnegation, with those who put selflessness above all else? Do I belong in Amity, with those who choose to keep the peace, living in a constant state of happiness? Or should I transfer to Candor, where I will never have any secrets because everything's all about honesty. Then there's Dauntless, who believe that courage and bravery are what drives a person to be who they are. There's also Erudite, who value knowledge and how it prospers society.

We were told that our aptitude test would show us where we belonged, but that wasn't the case for me. I am Divergent, with aptitude for Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless. Now, as I take my seat, ready to choose, I realise that I am not trapped by a single aptitude. I can chose who I want to become.

"Faction before Blood." I hear Jeanine Matthews, the head of Erudite, finish her speech, as it snaps me from my thoughts.
"Faction before Blood." I repeat, along with everyone else in the room. Marcus Eaton took to the stage and began calling out each person individually to choose their new faction. When you turn 18, you are no longer a dependent and you are entered into the next choosing ceremony which happens once a year.
"Beatrice Prior." I am, once again, pulled from my thoughts as my name was called by Marcus. Marcus was the head of the City Council, and the leader of my birth faction, Abnegation. Even though he's good friends with my father, I really dislike him. I can't help it. There's something off about the guy.

As I reach the podium, I take the knife Marcus offers me and walk to the 5 bowls containing the elements for each faction; soil for Amity, a web-like material for Candor, water for Erudite, Pebbles for Abnegation and Hot Charcoal for Dauntless. I cut into the fleshy part of my hand and give the knife back to Marcus. Clenching my fist, I hover over the last three, trying to decide.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, moving my hand left. "Dauntless!" Marcus calls. I hear cheers and shouts come from the Dauntless section of the room. I take the bandage that is offered to me and go and sit with the Dauntless dependents. I am no longer just selfless. I am brave.

*

When we left the choosing hall, I didn't look back. I knew how much I must have hurt my parents by choosing Dauntless. Neither of our factions had ever truly gotten along, and tensions were still rising high. But now I had to start making decisions for myself. Faction before Blood.

When we got outside, everyone started running towards the tracks and began climbing. It took my breath away to see their bravery and know that I was one of them now. I ran to the nearest pole and started climbing, never looking back, leaving my past behind me.

As I pulled myself up to the top, I heard the blare of the train horn and looked to my left to see it approach. As it sped past, everyone started running. I quickly realised that I needed to run too, but I had no idea why. Then everyone started jumping. I joined a faction of lunatics, but I really didn't care. I kept running until I knew I could make the jump but I was quickly running out of platform. So I just went for it and half-landed on a Candor girl, who, much like me, was very out of breath..

"You made it." She smiled. "I'm Christina."
"Beatrice." I introduced myself as I leaned against the wall. We sat mostly in .silence as we caught pur breathe, waiting until we reached the infamous Dauntless Compound.

"Get ready!" A tanned woman with black hair piled at the top of her head called from the front of the train. Christina and I stood up and looked put of the windows to see huge industrial buildings with glass roofs fly past.
"They're jumping." One of the Erudite boys called. Sure enough, when we looked forward, all of the Dauntless-born were jumping off of the train and onto a rooftop.
"What happens if you don't jump?" The same boy asked.
"Well, Will," a Candor boy replied. "You're factionless." He finished, before jumping off the train. Christina and I looked at each other and soon we were the last ones on the train.
"Together?" I ask. She nods. "1...2...3!" We run and jump soundly on the roof, rolling a bit on the gravel. As we stood up and saw where everyone we're everyone was stood, that's when I saw him.

Chapter Text

Stood on a ledge, surrounded by a small group of Dauntless, was the most intimidating man I had ever seen. He stood tall and proud, built solidly with nothing but muscle. He had 2 sets of tattoos that were visible; on both arms he had this geometrical pattern that had the Dauntless flames featured and on either side of his neck, he had these two block designs that we're separated every so often, running up from both shoulders to his jaw. His dark blonde hair was cut short at the sides, but kept long at the top in a kind of fauxhawk cut. With the piercings above his right eye and in his ears, he looked very intimidating, but at the same time, there was something about him that I was drawn to. Who was this man?

I am pulled from my thoughts by a loud, domineering voice that commanded the attention of everyone on the roof. "Alright, listen up! My name's Eric and I'm one of the five leader's of Dauntless! If you want to enter the compound, this is the way in." The man on the ledge, Eric, was a leader? Crap!
"We've just jumped and they want us to jump again?" Christina asked me, as the wind picked up, blowing her short black hair into her face.
"Is there water at the bottom or something?" The Erudite boy from the train, Will I think his name was, asked. A few of the Dauntless who were stood by Eric just snickered at Will's remark, while Eric jumped down from the ledge with a grace that I didn't expect from someone from Dauntless

"I guess you'll find out." Eric smirked. "Or not." There was a hint of mischief hidden behind the cold stare of his grey eyes, a mischief that was quickly replaced with annoyance. "Well someone's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?" Eric bellowed, scanning the rooftop. Christina and I looked at each other and I saw her visibly gulp. I knew she was scared. I saw other people on the roof lookin around, waiting for someone to volunteer, but no one would. I thought this was supposed to be the faction of the brave?

"I will." I said, taking a step forward. Everyone just looked at me with a mixture of shock and amazement that a girl from Abnegation had volunteered to jump first. I walked over to the ledge and took my jacket off, throwing it to the ground. "Yeah, Stiff, take it off." The Candor boy from the train said. "Put it back on." I just ignored him and climbed onto the ledge, the wind blowing the loose strands of my hair into my face. I looked down and all I could see was a black hole with, what looked like, no bottom. What was down there?

"Today initiate." Eric called from behind me, evidently growing more impatient. With Eric's voice ringing fresh in my ears, I took a deep breath and jumped.

Falling through the air was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. The feeling of being weightless and the rush of the air flying past you is indescribable. You feel like you're that much closer to touching the sky whilst being so close to touching the earth. And just when I thought it was too good to be true, I hit a net and bounced back up slightly. When I finally landed, I just lay in the net for a minute to catch my breath, my hair lying all over the place because it had come loose from it's bun when I'd jumped.

When the net tilted, I rolled and was met with a rough but not unkind face that kind of took me by surprise. "What's your name, Stiff?" He asked. I didn't respond straight away because I wasn't sure how to. Beatrice was an Abnegation name, not a Dauntless one. "What? Is it a hard one?" He asked. "You can change it, but you only get one chance." He told me. This time, I replied straight away.
"Tris. My name is Tris." He just nods.
"Call it out, Four!" A voice from the darkness behind him calls.
"First jumper, Tris!" Four shouts, helping me out of the net. "Welcome to Dauntless."

[ERIC POV]

The Stiff actually jumped. I didn't think she'd do it. To be honest, I was surprised when I saw her jump off the train, her blonde hair slightly mussed up from jumping on and off said train. Her face held this soft innocence that held this awed expression that I knew didn't into Dauntless, but I wanted it there anyway. And her eyes! They held this determination that I remember myself having at initiation 2 years ago. I was going to have to watch this girl.

"So who's going to jump next?" I ask, enjoying the look of shock on everyone's faces that a Stiff had jumped first. No one moved. "Seriously? A Stiff can jump, but the rest of you can't? You're a bunch of cowards!" At my remark, one of the Dauntless-born quickly ran forward to the ledge and jumped off backwards, saluting everyone on the roof. "The rest of you have 20 minutes to get your sorry asses off that ledge and into the compound, or I'm leaving you up here and you can live factionless!" Everyone quickly rushed closer to the ledge, the threat of being factionless looming over their heads making everyone rush into action. I just smirked.

When the last one jumped, a bulky candor girl who looked like she could snap a few of the new initiates in two, I looked at Veronica and Jax. "You guys jumping or walking down?"
"Jump-" Veronica, a tall, fierce looking woman with long scarlet hair that was tied into a tight ponytail, said with a grin, before she was interrupted.
"No Eric! You know we can't! Not while she's pregnant! We're walking!' Jax calls as I climb onto the ledge. Jax is a tall slender man with jet black hair that is the complete opposite to his personality. For one of Dauntless finest, he's a complete softy, but when he needs to be,he's so completely and utterly ruthless that he'd give even me and run for my money.
"Dude, you worry too much." I told him. Jax just chuckles.
"I'm just being a protective husband and father. One day soon, you'll understand." Jax took Veronica's hand and led her to the stairs.
"Hopefully not too soon though." I chuckle. "I'll see you at the bottom." And with that, I put my game face back on and jump.

Chapter Text

Tris P.o.V

After Eric landed in the net, he said something to Four who just nodded, before walking off to stand in a darkened corner, watching all of us. "Alright, Dauntless-born, go with Lauren. Transfers, stay with me." Four told us, pointing towards the woman from the train who told us to get ready to jump.
"Come on. I'm guessing you idiots don't need a tour." Lauren said, walking out of the room. The Dauntless-born quickly followed after, leaving just eleven transfers with Four and Eric. I looked over to the corner Eric had been stood in to find another man stood with him. This man was much older than Eric and gruffer looking, with dark skin and black hair that he kept short. They didn't talk for very long before the older man walked off and Four began to talk.

"My names Four. Normally I work up in Intelligence but for the next ten weeks, I'll be overseeing your training." Four was straight and to the point, but I couldn't shake this feeling that I knew him from somewhere. I couldn't place where though, so I shook the thought from my mind. I heard Christina chuckle.
"Four, like the number?" she asks. "What? Where one through three taken?" I look at Four and realise quickly that Christina should have kept her mouth shut, instead of making fun of his name. Four walked over to Christina, towering over her, looking incredibly menacing as he lowered his voice.
"What's your name?" he asks.
"Christina." she replies, quietly. I could tell she was frightened.
"Well, Christina, the first lesson you're going to learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. Understood?" Four asked her.
"Yes" she whispered, looking down at the floor. He seriously just terrified her with just two sentences? And these were the kind of people I was going to be spending the rest of my life associating with? What had I gotten myself into?

"As I said, for the next ten weeks I'll be training you. Your training will be split into three stages." Four said as he started pacing in front of us. "Physical, emotional and mental." Four turned and walked towards the door Lauren had previously gone through, and gestured for us to follow him.

As we walked through the darkened hallways, I noticed that everything was made of stone and all of the lighting was low. But what surprised me the most was that I loved it all. The simplicity of it amazed me and made me feel comfortable.

Four led us to a ledge, overlooking a huge openspace filled with people dressed in black. It was breathtaking. Looking around, I could see a few shops and what I presumed where bars, with people already getting drunk in the middle of the day. I just chuckled at the thought. I looked up and saw the glass roof that we passed on the train earlier and realised just how big the Dauntless compound must be. It really is a lot to take in.

After giving us a few minutes to take everything in, Four finally speaks up. "This is the Pit, the center of life here in Dauntless. You can get anything from tattoos and piercings to custom weapons down here, but the weapons are only for full members. One day soon, you're gonna love this place." He explains. I can see why it's called the Pit, because it's literally below everything else. The Pit's kind of dug into the ground with stairs and corridors leading to everywhere else.

Four then lead us to a bridge hanging over what sounded like some kind of river. What I did notice was that Eric had joined us again. I looked up at him and his eyes locked with mine, curiosity glistening in them, as he crossed his huge arms across his chest. This man was seriously well built.

We stared at each other for a few moments before Eric nudged his head towards Four, clearly telling me to pay attention. "This is the Chasm!" Four shouts over the sound of the rushing water. “It reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!” Eric steps forward at this point and smirks at us all “A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You’ve been warned.” Eric tells us, menacingly. They walked across a red bridge with a single hand rail that ran across the Chasm and gestured for us to quickly follow.

After leading us through quite a few tunnels, Eric and Four turned and stopped in front of a doorway. "This is the Transfer. initiate dorms, which is where you'll be living for the next ten weeks." Eric explained. "Now, as you may have noticed, I said Transfer. For the first stage of training, you'll be kept separate from the Dauntless-born, but you'll be ranked together."
"Ranked?" Will asked.
"Rankings determine what jobs you get after initiation and who gets cut after each stage." Eric replied, snidely.
"Cut? What do you mean cut?" the girl who jumped last asked. I think someone said her name was Molly.
"I mean, your out! And since you can't go back to your families, your factionless!" Eric shouted in her face. He really was cruel, but I could understand it. We had to be brave, not scared.
"But that's not fair! If we'd have known-" Molly screams before shes cut off by Eric.
"You'd have what? Chosen differently?" he asks. "Because if that's the case, you might as well get out now. You chose us. Now we have to choose you." Eric glares at everyone before he looks at me. His eyes soften slightly and he smirks, as if he knows something, before he wualks off, leaving us with Four.

Four opened the door and lead us into the room. "This is where you'll be sleeping for the next ten weeks." He told us. Inside the room was eleven beds spread out across the room, one for each of us.
"Boys or girls?" one person asked.
"Both." Four said smirking. What is it with Dauntless and smirking? They all seem to smirk! "If you like this, you're gonna love the bathroom." He said, pulling me from my thoughts and leading us to the back of the room.

At the back was a second room that Four had referred to as the bathroom. On one wall was a row of toilets and on the wall directly opposite was a row of sinks with small mirrors. On the back wall were the shower stalls, each blocked off with their own metal door, but not offering a great deal of privacy. "You should love this Candor," Four was looking at Christina as he said this "Everything out in the open." He barged past me, pushing into my shoulder and left the bathroom. "I want everyone in the Pit in ten minutes. Theres a change of clothes for each of you in the chest in the middle of the room!" Four called before he left completely.

Everyone just looked around at each other. This was our life now. Little privacy. Grumpy instructors. Learning to fight. We were Dauntless. As I grabbed some clothes from the chest, a black tank top, tight black jeans and a black jacket, I looked around the room again. Everything was so ordered, nothing like the reckless Dauntless I had seen at school, nor anything like what I had imagined the compound to be like. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I guess, with them being the warriors and the protectors, I should have expected something like a barracks, which is exactly what the dorm is like, but it still surprises me.

I still feel uncomfortable changing in front of everyone, so Christina lends a hand, blocking anyones view with her old Candor jacket. I'm already grateful she's here, I didn't want another snide comment from the Candor boy, Peter. I just didn't want to have to deal with him. He always looked like he'd eaten something sour.

Once everyone was dressed, we made our way to the Pit with our old clothes to find Four stood by a raging fire. "Here," he gestured to the fire, "you will burn your old factions clothes. You're Dauntless now and we take Faction before Blood very seriously. Once you've done that, follow me, it's time for dinner." He turned and walked towarda what looked like a canteen and everyone started throwing their clothes on the fire and following him. I looked down at my plain grey Abnegation dress. I would miss my home. Of course I would. I grew up there. Only, it's not my home anymore. Dauntless is. With that in mind, I threw the dress on the fire and followed Christina and the others into the Canteen.

*

The entire place was packed. Literally. Ive never seen so many people in one place before. It was a see of black with the occasional blue, pink, red, green, purple and other random colours showing up in peoples hair. I loved it! "Should we sit?" pointing at the only two seats by Four. There was a group of transfers sat by him too, so I guessed it was ok. Christina just nodded.

As soon as we sat down, Christina started picking up all sorts of things and putting them together before eating them. I just looked at her and the food in awe "What?" she said, looking back at me, "Have you never seen a Hamburger before?" I just shake my head before a voice across the table answers her question.
"Abnegation eat bland food. It's mostly a plant based diet." Both Christina and I looked at him in shock.
"What textbook did you swallow?" She asked him
"I'm Will." He said, smiling at us, "and as you guessed I'm from Erudite. This is Al." He gestured to the quite, but kind looking boy that was sat next to him.
"I'm Christina and this is Tris." Christina introduced us. Then she looked at me. "So what's with the whole plain food thing?"
I just shrug. "Abnegation consider seasoning to be self-indulgent."
"Seriously?" she asks. "That is just messed up."
"I don't want to hear about your old factions." Four interrupts us. "You're Dauntless now. You need to remember that." I just look at him. What is this guys problem? Seriously, why the hell is he so uptight? What did we ever do to him?
"Where you a transfer, or Dauntless-born?" I ask. I'm curious. It might explain why he's being so mean towards everyone. Not even Eric was this bad, and he just downright frightened me.
"What makes you think you can talk to me?" He snaps, glaring at me. I look down at my food, playing with the noodles.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you're so approachable."  I tell him, just as Eric walks into the room.

When Eric enters the canteen, everyone falls silent. It's as if his mere presence demands the attention of everyone, even if he has nothing to say. He walks towards our table and sits next to Four, whispering something, to which Four shakes his head, before looking at me. "Well, aren't you going to introduce us Four?" He says, with a mischievous look on his face.
"This is Tris, Christina, Al and Will." he said, gesturing to each of us in turn.
"Ah, the Stiff!" Eric smirks.
"Don't call me that" I grumbled. Eric just chuckled.
"A Stiff with a backbone." He stood up to leave, but leaned down to whisper in my ear. I held my breath, feeling his warm, hard chest against my back. "I'm going to be keeping my eye on you initiate. I'm intrigued. And show some respect to your superiors." And with that he was gone.

I let out the breath I had been holding in and Christina just looked at me. "You have a death wish" she said, chuckling. I just smiled back, my mind still reeling over what had just happened. What did he mean, he was going to keep an eye on me? Just then everyone started clanging their cups on the tables. Christina and I looked around and noticed that the only ones who weren't doing this were the initiates. Then everyone stopped and looked up towards the top od the canteen. At the top was a balcony were five people were stood. I'm presuming they were all the leaders because Eric was with them and the man I saw him speaking to earlier was there.

"Initiates, stand." he said. All of the Dauntless- born initiates were dotted around the room, and they stood straight away. The Transfer initiates followed, when we realized that it was an order. "My name is my Max and I am the head leader here in Dauntless. You have chosen to join the warrior faction tasked with the protection of this city and everyone in it. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery. In the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. Be brave. Do us proud." He finishes his speech and walks off. Thats when the cheering erupts and suddenly I'm being lifted up off the floor and over everyones heads. It's the best feeling in the world. I feel accepted. I feel loved. I love Dauntless!

Chapter Text

Eric PoV

As I got out of the net, I walked over to Four, who looked like he was taking a head count. "That's all of them." I tell him. He just nods, before I walk over to a dark corner in the room so that I can properly take them all in. 11 Transfers, 20 Dauntless-born. 31 transfers total and only the top 15 are going to pass. I look at the Transfers. 5 Erudites, 5 Candors and a Stiff. I guess theres some potential. I mean, I'm from Erudite and look how I turned out. I'm a leader for fucks sake!

"How do they look Eric?" I hear Max say. Where the fuck did he come from? I swear he is like a ghost! He's silent when he walks. It's no wonder he's the head leader though. Hes tough and often cruel, but hes level headed when he needs to be. He's the man I look up to, though I'll never openly admit it to anyone. "Don't be surprised if the majority of our new Dauntless members are Dauntless-born. That being said, there are a few surprises in the pack." He looks at me with a curious expression on his face when I tell him this.
"What do you mean by that?" he asks. I look over to the group and smirked.
"Our little friend, the Stiff, was the first jumper." I told him, smirk still plastered across my face as I looked at her listening intently to what Four was telling them.
"Keep on eye on her. And meet me in my office when your done here." Max said before walking off. It was only then that I started paying attention to what Four was actually saying.

At this point he was standing right in one of the Candor girls faces, and boy did she look scared. I love it when the initiates piss off Four. It's almost as funny as when I do it, except, I can get away with it. They always look like they're gonna piss their pants after it.

After his little speech about each stage of training that I'm already bored of hearing, even though its only the third time I've heard it, Four leads them out of the room.

Instead of going to see Max now, I decide to follow them to gage their reactions, but I stay far enough back that none of them, not even Four, notice that I'm there. Dauntless isn't like any of the other compounds. Ask someone from Candor, they'd say it was dark and dingy, cause they've got to be honest. Ask someone from Erudite, they'd say it doesn't make any sense because having the ealls and ceilings carved from stone and having the tunnels look like caves is 'illogical'. Ask someone from Amity and they'd say whatever they think you'd want to hear, because they want everyone to be happy. To be honest, I think Abnegation would say something similar because of the whole being selfless thing. But if you ask a Dauntless, the compound is home. The place where we live our lives. Where our families and our friends are. We don't need anything fancy like the Candor or the Erudite, nor do we want anything bright or boring like the Amity and the Abnegation. In Dauntless, despite our reckless reputation, we were more concerned with actually defending our city  against any potential threat than about the decor.

I noticed the Stiff looking at everything in amazement while everyone just kept their heads dead straight. What was it about this girl? She was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. I was expecting some quiet, timid girl who'd be too afraid to do anything. Instead, she's this wonderstruck girl who has some serious guts. And right now she's taking in every single detail as Four leads the initiates through the tunnels. But surely that's just because she's in her new home, right? It doesn't mean anything else. Or does it?

Four stops when they arrive at the Pit and I inwardly chuckle. Every single one of the new transfers look awe struck. The Erudites are being typical Erudites and are trying to figure out the architechture and the design and are trying to rationalise everything. I would know. It's exactly what I did when I first saw the Pit. The Candors are just looking around like awestruck idiots trying to take everything in, and probably thinking some smart ass comments about the Pit's name. Personally, I think it's a pretty apt name. It's below ground level after all, so it fits. Honestly some people are idiots. As Four drones on, I notice the Stiff looking at everything, including the ceiling. I withdraw from the shadows slightly, just enough to see what she's looking at, but not enough to be noticed. I realise that she must have recognised the roof from earlier on when she was on the train leading to the compound. It is quite a vast place after all. I think the same thought is running through her own mind.

After he finished talking Four led them away from the Pit and I knew exactly where he was going. Because the Chasm is my favourite place to scare the shit out of initiates, I decided to make my presence known for this part of the tour and do a bit of intimidating.

Four stops, standing in the niddle of the bridge, so I just stand a little bit behind him with my arms crossed against my chest. None of the Transfers were brave enough to come any closer than the path they were stood on so they all just stopped and gathered there, but Four didn't talk. He waited, letting them take it in. That's when I noticed the Stiff staring at me. Wait a minute, is she checking me out? I notice her paying particular attention to my arms and chest. I do have a lot of muscle and i work hard to maintain it. When I meet her gaze, there's a look that I can't quite decipher in it. It's like a mix of awe, curiosity and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on. What I did know was that it needed to stop, and she needed to pay attention, so I tilted my head towards Four just as he started talking, hoping she would get the message.

"This is the Chasm!" Four shouts over the sound of the rushing water. “It reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!” I walk in front of him, taking advantage of the initiates silence to put the fear of God in to them. I just smirk and say, “A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You’ve been warned." Four and I turned and headed to the Dorms and we heard people quickly scurrying after us.

When we reached the dorms, I stopped in front of the doors and turned to face them. "This is the Transfer. initiate dorms, which is where you'll be living for the next ten weeks." I explained. "Now, as you may have noticed, I said Transfer. For the first stage of training, you'll be kept separate from the Dauntless-born, but you'll be ranked together."
"Ranked?" one of the Erudite kids asked.
"Rankings determine what jobs you get after initiation and who gets cut after each stage." I replied, snidely. It was going to be fun tormenting these idiots. Four was stood next to me trying to stop himself from laughing.
"Cut? What do you mean cut?" the last jumper asked.
"I mean, your out! And since you can't go back to your families, your factionless!" I shouted in her face. Where they really that stupid? Cut means cut! Bye bye! You're gone! Why did we have to have such a group of pussies this year? I inwardly groan. Four and I have seriously got our work cut out for us.
"But that's not fair! If we'd have known-" she screams back at me but I cut her off. No one talks back to me.
"You'd have what? Chosen differently?" I ask her. "Because if that's the case, you might as well get out now. You chose us. Now we have to choose you." I make sure to glare at every single one of them, before my eyes land on the Stiff. To my knowledge, she's not questioned anything yet and has actually enjoyed the idea of what she'll be doing. Maybe there's more to her than I thought. I just smirk and head towards the Pire, leaving the new initiates with Four. Max said he wanted to see me when we were done so, sooner rather than later.

The leaders offices are below the government officials apartments, which is convenient for us, all of which is located in the Pire. The Pire is basically just a huge old apartment block that had the bottom floors renovated to suit our needs. There are 5 leader offices, each with their own personal training rooms and 1 leader in training office.

I walk to the 3rd floor, where Max's office is and knock before I walk in. Because Max is the highest ranking leader, he gets the biggest office. I'm not going to say I'm jealous, bigger isn't necessarily better. I like my cozy little office. Everything has it's place and everything stays in it's place. "So Eric, now that you've spent some time with them, tell me more about our new Transfer initiates." Max asks me. In actuality its a thinly veiled order, but I'm not going to argue. I know my place.
"They're a bag of pussies." I tell him bluntly. He was going to find out sooner or later. "They wouldn't stand too close to the ledge when Four showed them the Pit, none of them would come near the bridge when we showed them the Chasm and they practically ran across it to get to the dorms. And then a few of them had the cheek to question the cutting system."  Max is chuckling away to himself.
"Sounds like you have your hands full." he chuckles, leaning back in his chair.
"You have no idea." I tell him as I get up and pour us both a glass of whisky. As I handed him his glass and sat back down I said, "There is one initiate thought."
"Oh?" Max is curious now and to be honest so am I. This girl has already gotten me so damn worked up and she's only been in the compound a few hours.
"You remember the Stiff I pointed out to you earlier on?" I ask him.
"How could I forget? She's only the second Stiff we've ever had here." Max tells me.
"Really?" he nods in response to my question. "Huh. I didn't know that. Anyway, I kept an eye on her, like you asked, and she really isn't your typical Stiff." Which is true, she wasn't. To be honest, I really want her to pass initiation, because, already, I think she can do.
"What do you mean?" Max asks me, curiously. He's leaning against his desk, his beady black eyes, usually cold and dark, suddenly mischievious.
"I'm not sure. There's just something about her that I can't put my finger on. You should have seen her Max. The way she took everything in. The way she seemed so at home. It's as if she'd be Dauntless her whole life." Ok, where the hell did that outburst just come from? Who the hell am I and what have I done with Eric? I look up at Max from my untouched whisky to see him smiling at me. This man, my mentor, in so many ways, had become more of a father to me than my real father could ever be.
"It sounds like more than you think, Eric." Max told me. He always seemed to be so clued into things that I could never understand, and this seemed to be one of them. It took me back to what Jax had said this morning about me understanding how over protective I would become when I found someone to settle down with and how it would happen one day soon. Surely, this wasn't what he meant? I shake the thought from my head and quickly change the subject.
"I'll watch her. I'm curious about her. Nothing more. We need to get to dinner. You have a speech to make." and with that we leave his office and walk down to the canteen.

*

I love it when I walk into the canteen because the room always falls silent. Its quite funny really. I just smirk as everyone stops eating to look at me. I've always demanded the respect of others. It means I'm no ones doormat. I quickly survey the oom and find the transfers sat with Four. As I walk towards them, everyone goes back to their food and I look up to Max, who is currently standing on the leaders balcony at the top of the room. He nods in the direction of the transfers and looks at me, signalling for me to stay with them until just before the speech, which I know is only ten minutes away.

I walk over to Four and sit next to him, asking him if he'll be standing with the other trainers during the speech at the stairs to the leaders balcony, but I make sure none of the initiates can hear. He shakes his head in a negative, which honestly doesn't surprise me, but I had to ask. I look directly at the Stiff then. "Well, aren't you going to introduce us Four?" I ask him. Now's my chance to learn a little bit about her, I thought to myself.
"This is Tris, Christina, Al and Will." Four said, gesturing to each one.
"Ah, the Stiff!" I smirks, my eyes lingering on the girl. She really was no ordinary  Abnegation girl.
"Don't call me that" she grumbled at. Now that surprised me, and I mean seriously, it takes a lot to surprise me. I just chuckle at her response.
"A Stiff with a backbone." I stood up and made it look like I was going to leave, but surprised her instead, standing right behind her and leaning down to whisper in her ear. As soon as she felt my chest against her back, Tris sucked in a breath and held it. It was then that I decided to speak. "I'm going to be keeping my eye on you initiate. I'm intrigued. And show some respect to your superiors." As quickly as i had leaned down I pulled back and walked to the leaders balcony, glancing back to see Tris let out the breath she had been holding and looking a little flustered.

As I reached the top of the stairs I saw Max grinning like an idiot. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" he asked. I just glared at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Veronica, Jax and Kat had joined Max at this point. Kat was the oldest of the leaders and was retiring this year, she would also be leaving the faction, as was our policy. But taking into consideration the fact that she was nearly 56, she didn't look it. With jet black hair that was kept in a loose braid, Kat was our least Dauntless looking leader. She even kept her tattoos and piercings to a minimal, only having her ears pierced and having one other tattoo, besides the mandatory leadership tattoos. But she was not a woman you pissed off willingly. She was like a lioness defending her cubs when she was mad and, boy, could that woman fight. It was downright scary. Even I chose to stay on her good side and I knew how to handle myself. "Oh honey," Kat said, walking over to me, and putting an arm around my shoulder. "We all saw it. Veronica, Jax and I even made a little bet with Max. I bet him 50 Dauntless Credits that you and the Stiff will be together by the end of stage 2. Max reckons Stage 3. Veronica and Jax, however, are a bit more optimistic." I look between Kat and the two loopy idiots I call my friends.
"What do you mean, they're a bit more optimistic?" I ask, with a venom laced tone to my voice.
"Those two lovebirds think you'll be banging her by the end of stage 1." Kat tells me. I just look at them, and it's literally a case of 'if looks could kill' because that's when the clanging announcing Max's speech starts. This isn't over I mime towards Veronica and Jax who just smile and shrug before we all take our respective places next to Max.

"Initiates, stand." Max said. All of the Dauntless- born initiates were dotted around the room, and they stood straight away, recognizing the fact that they'd been given an order and where expected to follow it. The Transfer initiates followed soon after. We'd let it slide this time. It was their first night after all. "My name is my Max and I am the head leader here in Dauntless. You have chosen to join the warrior faction tasked with the protection of this city and everyone in it. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery. In the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. Be brave. Do us proud." He finishes his speech and walks off, and we follow suit. The cheering erupts and I decide I don't want to stick around for the madness that will surely follow. Besides, training starts tomorrow, and it's going to be a long day.

Four PoV

She's here! She actually came to Dauntless! All those years in Abnegation I was told I had to stay away until we chose what Faction we went to, but now that she's here. Now she can know. And what the fuck was that with Eric? I am not going to let him get in the way of this. This is between me and Tris.

Chapter Text

Tris P.o.V

I didn't get much sleep that night. I was too excited to start training and start my new life. But it wasn't just that. Every time I tried to sleep, I kept thinking about a certain blonde haired leader and, to be honest, it was driving me a bit insane. And then when it finally felt like I'd actually managed to get some solid sleep, I was woken up by the most horrific clanging I've ever heard.

"Everybody up!" I heard Four shout. "I want you all in the Pit in 30 minutes, so I suggest you use your time wisely and get some breakfast!" I climbed out of bed and grabbed a quick shower before changing into some workout clothes. A tank top, some leggings and combat boots. All black. I tied my hair back and ran to the canteen realising I only had 15 minutes to eat and I really didn't want to get on Four's bad side. He seems like someone who could kill you and very easily make it look like either an accident or suicide. I grabbed a blueberry muffin from the canteen and some water and, instead of eating in the canteen, I walked over to the Pit so that I knew I wouldn't be late.

*

When I finally arrived,  I noticed Will and Al stood with Christina so I went and joined them. "Today's going to be fun" Christina mumbled sarcastically.
"What do you mean?" I asked. She nodded towards Four.
"Look who decided to grace us with his presence." And there he was talking to Four. Eric. Why did he have to oversee training? And why the hell did he have to wear a shirt that is so tight it shows everything?! And his arms! All they are is muscle, literally. Then I looked up. Oh crap he caught me I thought. Eric was smirking at me but luckily enough, no one else seemed to notice. That's when I realised everyone had arrived.

"Alright, listen up." Four called. "As I said yesterday, initiation is split up into three stages. Stage one, we push your bodies to breaking point and teach you the methods of combat. Stage two, again breaking point, except this time it's mental. Stage three, I'm going to keep a surprise." Four just smiled and turned walking out of the Pit. "Follow me!" He called over his shoulder.

As everyone started following, I noticed Eric hanging back, seemingly watching everyone, until his eyes landed on me. Since Christina and I were near the back, there was no avoiding him, so I just let her walk slightly a head of me.

"See something you like back there, Stiff?" I heard a voice whisper, huskily. I'd recognise that voice anywhere. Eric was right behind me.
"I thought I told you not to call me that." it's official. I have a death wish!
"Careful Stiff!" Eric chuckled. "Some people might get the wrong idea about you." I just turned to look at him.
"And what might that be?" I ask him, a little bit angrily.
"That you not still a bit stiff." He smirked and I just turned and caught up with Christina. Why the hell did he get to me so much?

*

Four led us through a set of double doors into a huge room filled with punch bags, weights, target boards and sparring mats. "Welcome to Stage one." Four said, turning and standing in the middle of one of the mats. "This is where you'll be training for the next five weeks. I want you in here every morning at 8AM. If you're not here by then, unless you're in the infirmary or with a leader, don't bother showing up." Four nodded over to Eric, gesturing for him to take over. Eric walked over to a board a set back a bit from the sparring mats. At first I thought  it was a chalk board until, Eric took a small tablet out of his pocket and switched the board on. It showed all of our names and the starting ranks they'd put us in. I was last.
"You see this board?" Eric asked as he turned to face us. A few people murmed while most of us just nodded. "This is your life. Every day the rankings will change depending on how well you're doing in training. At the end of stage one, anyone who's still below the red line is out."  Eric just smirked at us all, not caring that this was the rest of our lives we were talking about.
"Come on," Four called, now that Eric was done with us. "We're going for a run." And he stripped he jacket off, before leading us out of the room.

*

We ended up running outside the perimeter of the compound and, let me tell you, it was hard and Four and Eric... I hate them. They are just downright ruthless... And cruel... And Eric's kinda hot, especially when he's running and... but that's besides the point. He's still mean! "Hey Tris, are you ok? You look a little flustered." Christina asks me. I snap my head around to look at Christina as we run under the train tracks.
"What?" I ask. I didn't realise just how zoned out I'd been. Damn you straight to hell, Eric!
"I asked if you were ok? You look a little flustered." She said. Chris was grinning now, like she knew some big secret, but she didn't and I wasn't about to tell her anything either.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just never ran this much before." I lie smoothly.
"Hmmm. Candor remember?" Chris laughs, pointing to herself. "I can tell when you're lying. I'll get it out of you eventually." We both laugh at this and keep running, going past building after building in the Dauntless sector.

"Keep up Stiff, you're going to slow!" I hear Four call from the front. When he turns around again, I just glare at the back of his head. I hear a couple of chuckles coming from next to me. "They really don't like you do they?" Will asks me. I shake my head.
"Why?" Al asks.
"I have no idea. Maybe its because I'm adorable." And we just laughed the rest of the way back to the compound.

Eric PoV

First she checks me out in front of everyone, then she stares at me while everyones running. I swear to whatever God exists this girl is trying to kill me. I mean, seriously, was she ever really a Stiff? Cause even if she doesn't realise it, she really isn't acting like one. Maybe I should stop calling her that and start calling her Tris instead. She might start warming up to me then. Wait...what? No! She's an initiate, stop thinking about her like that! I told myself. The problem was, she was a really hot initiate who was seriously intent on tormenting me.

As Four led them all back to the training room, I stayed behind. I never realisied why I walked behind them until now. It's because the Stiff... I mean Tris... has a really nice ass. I mean seriously, its just the right size and the things I would do to that ass. Nope can't think about it. Got initiates to train. All that can come later, when she's passed everything. Only after she's passed initiation.

Four leads everyone over to the targets and picks up a handful of knives. "Alright you pussies!" I bellowed, making a few of the idiots jump. Not Tris though, she just looked at me, clearly unamused. "It's time for you idiots to start learning how things are done here in Dauntless. You're here, so we don't have to show you how to jump off a moving train." At this, that chikenshit from Candor, Peter laughed. I glared at him before looking at Four. Time to have some fun. Four walked over to him and lifted him off the ground by his shirt. He doesn't look at, but the former Stiff is pretty damn strong.
"You think this is funny, smart mouth? You think this is all a game?" Four asked him. I couldn't help the growing smirk on my face. The kid genuinely looked like he'd just pissed himself. It was hysterical. Peter shook his head frantically, trying desperately to get his feet back on the floor.
"I didn't hear you. Did you hear anything Eric?" He asked me. God, he is being ruthless. I didn't know he had it in him. We both looked at Peter, waiting for an answer.
"No, I don't think it was funny." he replied, rather bitterly.
"You don't think it was funny what?" Four was really dragging this out. I've got to tell Max about this because it's fucking golden.
"I don't think it's funny sir." and with that, Four let go of Peters shirt and literally just dropped him on his ass. Now that shit was funny, and when I started laughing, so did everyone else. Peter scrambled up, looking a little flustered and extremely embarrased. That's what you get for being a pratt.
"Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted by that jackass, you can jump off a train yada yada. Now you're gonna throw a knife. Four show 'em" I finished and went to stand behind them all.

Four PoV

I love the knife throwing, and yeah, I'm pretty damn good at it, but just once, I wish Eric would do some demonstration, especially after he left me to deal with that asshole. Although, I actually didn't mind dealing with Peter, if what I've been hearings true, he was going to try and rough up Tris and there is no way in hell I was going to let that happen to her. Not to my... It doesn't matter.

I take my position with the knives to show them all what to do. It's basic really. Feet planted firmly in parellel, keep your stomach tense, take aim, pull back and release. I throw three knives, each of them landing squarely in the heart area of the target, before I turn around and look at everyone. Some of the initiates look impressed. Some just look downright terrified, and so they should be. "Go get some knives and start throwing" I told them. Tris was the only one who moved.
"Looks like only one of you knows how to follow an order!" Eric shouted angrily. "Now, move!" He always was the most intimidating of the two of us, mainly because he's cruel and just generally huge. That's probably why, when Eric shouted, everyone all but ran to the knives.

When everyone started throwing, I just started pacing behind them all, throwing the occaisional glance at Eric. What was his end game in all of this? And how did Tris play into it? I looked over to her to see how she was doing. Pretty well actually. All of her knives were sticking and she was getting closer and closer to the board. I look back at Eric, but he's not looking at Tris. He's got his deadly gaze locked on someone else.

Clang. The knife hits the board and falls to the floor. I look up to see Al's face pale as he knows what's about to come.
"That was pathetic." Eric sneers.
"It slipped" Al replied, barely able to look Eric in the eye. This wasn't going to end well, I could tell you that, and I knew Eric was somehow going to involve me. He always did, because he could never do anything for himself.
"Well then go and get it!" Eric ordered. One thing this idiots needed to learn was that in Dauntless, when you get given an order, especially by a leader, you follow it without hesitation. Al hesitated.
"Will they're throwing?" Al squeked.
"Are you afraid?" Eric asked, taking a step closer. It was like watching a predator stalking its prey, waiting to go in for the kill and Eric knew exactly when to strike. I watched on for the table that held the spare knives. I knew Eric's age old routine of intimidation. Now it was a case of waiting for Al to make one wrong move.
"Afraid of being stabbed by an airbourne knife, yeah." That was all it took. Eric went in a struck, psychologically attacking him, without Al even realising what was happening.
"Stand in front of the target." Eric said, coldly.

Chapter Text

Tris PoV

"Stand in front of the target" Eric growled. Al just looked down, defeated, before he walked over to the board and standing in front of it. What was Eric playing at? He wasn't actually going to use Al as target practice...was he? "Four, give me a hand here." Four pushed off the table and turned around, picking up, ironically four knives. I looked over towards Eric. He seemed far more menacing than he did earlier on, and I don't think it was just me who got that impression. Peter looked like he was about to keel over especially when Eric walked past him, prowling towards Al. It was as if he was stalking a fresh kill and Al was helpless to do anything. Who did that? That's when I noticed the knife he was playing with in his hands. Eric really was trying to appear as deadly as he probably could be. "You're going to stand there, while he throws those knives, and if I see you flinch... you're out." Eric truly was menacing. He turned and walked to the side of the targets and continued speaking. "One thing you will learn here is that orders are not optional."

When Eric was completely out of the way, Four took his position, standing between me and Peter. Peter looked petrified, almost as if he was torn between running and staying put. I kept looking between Four and Al, trying to figure out someway of helping Al get out of this because I knew he'd flinch. Then it hit me like a tonne of bricks.

"STOP!" I shouted across the room. Everyone looked at me. Eric's head whipped around, eyebrows raised, steely grey eyes locked on mine. Shit, he looks pissed! What the hell have I gotten myself into? "Anyone can stand in front of a target. It doesn't prove anything." I look towards the boards as I speak, unable to bring myself to look anywhere else.

"Well, then, it should be easy for you to take his place." Eric spoke calmly, concisely. It was an order not an option, but at least I knew Al was safe, but was I? Had I just shown some selflessness? Was this merely old habits dying hard? Or was this the start of my divergence showing through?

I walked towards the target that Al had been standing in front of and took several calming breathes. I wasn't scared, just anxious. Now was the time to prove who I was. It was the time to prove that I belonged in Dauntless.

"Same rules apply." Eric said, snidely as he took my place standing next to Four. Now he had a perfect vantage point to gauge my reactions. He'd already said he was going to watch me closely. Now it was time to find out how closely.

I didn't have much time to think before the first knife came hurtling towards me, embedding itself into the wooden board just to the right of my right thigh. I didn't flinch. I wasn't going to give Eric or Four the satisfaction. "Oh, come on Four," Eric said, his eyes never leaving mine. Four just looked at his knives smirking. Then came the second knife, just as fast as the first. This time though, it landed a few inches from the left of my head. "You can get closer than that," Eric jeered. The bastard was enjoying this.

"You want me to give her a little trim?" Four asked him.

"Yeah, maybe a little off the top." Eric's eyes still remained focused on me as he replied, watching for the slightest movement. I wasn't going to move. The next two knives came in quick succession. The first was the 'haircut' knife which landed right above my head, but I still didn't move. The second hit me. Four, the jackass, cut the top of my ear with the knife as it landed in the board. But I still didn't flinch. If that didn't show I was Dauntless, I don't know what would.

As I moved away from the knife that cut me, Eric spoke up. "Points for bravery, Stiff. But not as many as you just lost for opening your mouth." He stalked closer to me before lowering his voice. It sounded almost husky and enticing, but I knew he meant it as a warning. "You watch yourself. We train Soldiers, not Rebels." Eric turned to the others before saying, "alright, we're done for today. Get out." Then he looked back to me. "I want to see you in my office in an hour." Then Eric turned and left, leaving me in the training room with Four.

As I started to leave, I heard Four ask, "You alright?" Oh, I dunno Mr wise guy. You just threw 4 knives at me, one of which cut my ear. I'm fan-fucking-tastic! How do you think I feel. I just kept walking before saying, "You cut me." deciding it was best to keep it simple to stop myself from going into the rant that was going on in my head.

"I meant to." he replied. That made me stop in my tracks. He just admitted to intentionally hurting me. What kind of twisted game is he playing?

"You meant to?" I asked, nodding towards the target boards.

"You think he was going to let you off without a scratch?" Four asks without looking at me. I tend to agree with him, but to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if Four enjoyed hurting me too. "You'd still be standing there if I hadn't hit you."

"So, am I supposed to thank you?" I'm not feeling overly grateful to the person who cut my ear, thank you very much. My question makes Four pause though. He's contemplating how to answer when he finally realises what to say.

"You're supposed to be smart. If I wanted to hurt you," He looks at me directly, "I would have." Four starts to walk out of the room with the training knives when he suddenly turns, as if he remembered something. "And Tris," I look up at him, "Don't trust Eric."

Eric P.O.V

I didn’t leave the training room straight away. I stayed back to make sure everyone had left and by the time I’d counted, only 10 initiates had left the room. Everyone except Tris, I thought. I snuck back into the room to hear Tris and Four talking over by the knife table. “You think he was going to let you off without a scratch?” I hear Four ask. They were talking about me. Now I was curious. I decides to stay in the shadows, that way I could see and hear them both, but they couldn’t see me. “You’d still be standing there if I hadn’t hit you.” Four tells Tris. Now I know that that little fact isn’t true. I’d have stopped him after the last knife, even if the sniveling little asswipe hadn’t hit Tris. Tris just looks up at him in a mixture of anger and shock. The girls got fire! I like it!

“So, am I supposed to thank you?” Tris asks him, her voice dripping in sarcasm. God the things that girl is doing to me and she doesn’t even know it. What I wouldn’t do to have her under me, with me… after initiation! Not before!

“Don’t trust Eric” I suddenly hear, and I know that’s my cue to leave, so I stealthily slide out of the doors before either knew I was end listening.

                                                                                                                             *

What did that prat mean, ‘don’t trust Eric’? I thought when I finally reached my office. That was really going to bug me. Was he still hung up over Amar's suicide? I had nothing to do with that shit. Heck, I even kinda liked the guy. It was a sad day in Dauntless when he threw himself in the Chasm but that bitchfaced prat needs to understand sometimes people have problems and sometimes these things happen. I’m sorry Amar was one of them though. He was a good guy. I didn’t end know he was going through half that shit until I saw his file after I finished my leader training. He really was Dauntless to carry it all and not get more help than he was. Amar if you’re listening, you sly son of a bitch, I’m happy you got out. You were really brave dude! I thought up to whatever deity or spirit that might be looking after Amar.

I’ve never been religious. Growing up in Erudite, stuff like that just gets shoved to one side. For dead is dead. There’s not really a heaven or a hell. You just die. That’s just me though.

Knock, knock. “It’s open.” I called, turning from the window as I was pulled from my thoughts of the past to see the one person who seems to be keeping most of my present thoughts incessantly busy. “Tris,” I smirked, nodding towards her.

“Eric,” she replied, nodding back. “You said you wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, sit down.” I told her gesturing towards the opposite side of my desk, while I went to get some liquid courage. “Drink?” I asked her, gesturing to my single malt, curious as to how much of her Abnegation she’d left behind.

“What is it?” Tris asked me, curiosity covering her face, making me want to run across the and kiss her senseless.

“It’s a Dalmore 12 year old Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. Imported from Scotland before the war. One the last ones ever made I should imagine” I look down at the bottle, tracing the stag’s head with my thumb. I’ve always been impartial to whiskey, but this one is currently my favourite. “Try it Stiff. You never know, you might just like it.” I said looking back at her.

Tris looked at the bottle warily for a few moments, clearly contemplating whether s should actually go ahead and try the Whiskey. All is curiosity and over thinking makes me wonder what exactly this little Abnegation girl got on her aptitude test. “I’ll try some.” she suddenly pipes up, making her decision. Definitely Dauntless, I think, Right?

I hand Tris her glass before leaning against my desk in front of her. It’s easier to intimidate people if I’m standing up and not sitting down, and I still need her to think I’m kind of scary… for now. “So, the first jumper was a Stiff.” I point towards her. “I’ve gotta give you credit, I was not expecting that one.”

“What were you expecting?”

“For either one of the dauntless born to jump, or to push one of the new pussies off and hear them scream.” I smirk, especially when I see her cringe at my name for the transfers. “If I’m being honest with you Stiff, I was surprised to see one of your lot show up here. Last one who did that was in my class and they were the first in a long time.” I wonder how dear old Four would react if I spilled his little secret. Then again, I haven’t given him a good beat down in a while, and after that stunt he pulled earlier, the bastard needs to learn his place!

“Anyone I know?”

“Oh, you’ve probably seen them around the compound. Unless they outwardly tell you, or unless it becomes relevant, I’m not actually allowed to reveal anyone’s real identity if they changed their name.” so maybe I’m dropping a few hints. Tris is a smart girl. She’ll figure out who Four is eventually.

“Oh, come on, Eric,” she said, getting out of the chair and walking towards me. “Surely you can tell me something.” Tris is standing virtually chest to chest with me, and I have to say, I find her sudden burst of confidence endearingly sexy.

I lean down to kiss her and hear Tris' Tris' breathing speed up. She looks down at my mouth and I’m actually amazed that, for a minute, she’s contemplating kissing me. At the last minute, I bypass her mouth completely and lean into her ear. “Now what would be the fun in that?” I whisper, before pulling back. “You should probably go. Your friends are probably wondering where you are.”

“Yeah… I’m…. So… I’m gonna… just gonna go now.” Tris leaves the office pretty quickly and I’m left with thoughts if the most courageous Stiff I’ve ever met.

Chapter Text

Tris POV

I all but ran out of Eric’s office. It’s hard to deny the man is insanely attractive but the things he’s doing to me already. It feels foreign and strange. He’s already leaving me breathless and I barely know him. 

I all but run to the canteen to find Chris, needing something or someone familiar to calm me down. I find her sat with Will and Al and smile as I walk over.

”Are you ok? You looked flushed.” Chris asks when she sees me.

”Yeah, I’m fine.” I mustn’t have calmed down as much as I thought I had. Damn Eric and his Eric-ness.

”What did Eric say then?” Will asked. I forgot they will have heard him saying he wanted to see me.

”Not much. He mostly railroaded me over standing up for Al, so I casually reminded him of what max said our first night here. You know about having the courage to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.” I laughed and all 3 looked a mixture of shock and horrified at the thought I’d given back to Eric.

”Guys, chill. I didn’t really say that to Eric. He just warned me that if I kept doing stuff like that I’d end up cut. Sorry Al.” I looked over at Al with a sheepish smile. I wanted to be able to protect my friends, but at the same time, I didn’t want to get cut from Dauntless. This was my home. 

All of a sudden, the canteen went silent and I looked at the doors to see that Eric had just walked in. How does he have such an effect on everyone? The whole air of authority I’m a hard ass thing should not be as attractive as I’m finding it. No Tris, he’s your trainer, he’s not attractive, he’s just a hard ass! I am not gonna survive stage 1 at this rate.

When everyone had finished eating, Chris and I headed back to the dorms to get some shut eye, wondering what the next day would bring.

The Next morning I am awake before everyone else. I shower and dress and head to the pit. It must still be pretty early because even the pit is quiet.

I head over the canteen and grab some breakfast, sausage sandwich and a chocolate chip muffin. The muffins must be freshly baked because it’s still warm when I pick mine. 

I’d just started to eat my muffin when the other initiates start trickling in for breakfast, all looking bleary eyed ans tired. Chris walks over with two mugs in her hand and hands one to me. I look up at her, confused.

”It’s coffee. Trust me, it will become your best friend soon enough. I didn’t know if you’d ever tried it before so I just got black with a couple of sugars.” She explained.

I’d heard of coffee but in Abnegation we never really had the opportunity to try anything like this. This was an indulgence. A habit I would soon break out of. I tried a sip and moaned at the taste. It was good.

”Damn Stiff!” I froze. I knew that voice. The voice that was already starting to haunt me. I turned to see Eric stood behind me, gaze heated and his usual cocky smirk. He leaned over and whispered, “Keep making noises like that and you won’t make it to the training room.” He stood and walked to the leaders table and I just watched him go.

Chris looked at me, jaw dropped in shock. “Ok, what was that?” She asked.

”Its nothing. I think he’s just trying to get under my skin. Come on, we should head to training room.” Thankfully Chris didn’t push it any further but I knew my face was red and flushed from Eric’s comment. I knew I’d have to watch myself around him.

Eric POV

I walked into the training room to find the pussies punching on the bags. I swear this is the worst group of initiates I’ve ever seen. Except for her. Tris may not look physically strong but she’s pummelling the bag. My blood boils though when I see Four walk up behind her and out his hands on her waist. I know he’s (probably) only doing it to correct her stance, but there’s something about Four’s hands on Tris that just doesn’t sit right with me. 

I walk along the line of bags, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. 
“You’re weak” I hear Four say. Who is that bastard to judge if she’s weak or not. It’s only second day of training. “But you’re quick. Use it to your advantage.” He says.

There’s a familiarity from Four that I don’t feel comfortable with but the familiarity seems to go completely over Tris head. Did the two Stiffs know each other?

“They ready for some real fighting?” I ask loud enough for Four to hear. I couldn’t keep watching him making moon eyes at Tris.

”Not even close” he replied.

”First jumper!” Tris looks at me in shock. “In the ring.” I look around to see who I should pair her with. I wasn’t going to make this easy for any of them, and Tris was no exception. “Last jumper…time to fight.”

Tris climbed onto the sparring mat with the Candor who jumped last. I wouldn’t have said it was a fair fight, but life isn’t fair, and if we have to fight, Tris isn’t going to be left alone just because she’s smaller than her enemy. No. She’ll be targeted because she’s smaller than her enemy.

“How long do we fight for?” The Candor asks. I hate questions.

”Till one of you can’t continue.”

”Or one of you concedes.” Four interrupts.

”According to the old rules. The new rules, no one concedes.”

Four turns to me. “You really want to lose them on their first fight?”

”A brave man never surrenders.”

”Lucky for you, those weren’t the rules when we fought.” I hate Four for reminding me of the fact that he came first. The one thing I regret from my own initiation was not beating the crap out of him so that I would have won. I didn’t let him see that the comment bothered me.

”You’ll be scored on this so fight hard.” The two girls just looked at me, clearly not sure what to do. “Go.”

I watched as the Candor toyed with Tris, neither wanting to strike the first blow. I watched as Candor finally took the first swing and Tris dodged. Four was right, she is quick. But it wasn’t enough. Candor soon started landing hits and eventually Tris was down. Candor looked at me and as much as it pained me to do it, I signalled for her to finish the fight. She landed one final blow on Tris. 

I stepped up and picked Tris’ limp body up before carrying her away to the infirmary.

Chapter Text

Tris P.O.V

I woke up to voices, one of which I recognised as Eric, although it was kind of hard to miss his voice when he’s shouting orders. I tried to sit up but groaned as soon as my head started pounding again. This, of course, got Eric’s attention and he walked over to my bedside.

“Take it easy, Stiff.” He uttered. “You took a pretty big hit to the head there.” Was that concern I saw on his face? I lay back down and looked around the room, wincing at how bright the lights were.

“Where am I?” I asked, surprised at how groggy I sounded.

“Infirmary, and you’re not moving anywhere until the Doc says you’re good to go.” Eric said, making it clear that this was non-negotiable. As soon as I tried to protest, he just crossed his arms across his chest, making his position clear.

“Well Doc, will I live?” I said, half-joking as the Dauntless Doctor walked over to my bed once he’d finished his notes. He’d been stood to one side, clearly unsure how to approach while Eric was talking. It became more and more obvious as time went on that Eric was not a man to be messed with, and I’d only been here for a few days.

“You’ll be fine Tris, but you’re not leaving yet.” Doc said. He chuckled as my face fell. The last thing I wanted was to start falling behind before we’d barely begun. “You can leave later tonight, just not right away. You have a concussion so I need to monitor you for a few more hours just to be sure there’s no lasting damage and then, and only then, will you be good to go. Although no giths for next couple of days, it wouldn’t be wise to take another blow to the head so soon after this one.” He added, glancing over to Eric at this to make sure he’d got the message. Eric simply nodded. So, I was going to fall behind if I couldn’t fight for a few days. I was so screwed.

“I’ll talk to Max. We’ll find something for you to do while the others fight.” And with that Eric turned and left me to my own devices, stuck in an infirmary bed for God knows how long. I couldn’t believe I’d had one fight and barely lasted before being knocked out. I was never going to survive Dauntless initiation if I didn’t improve and quickly. It was decided. As soon as I had the all clear from the Doc, I was going to put extra hours in of training. After all, no one said we can’t use the training rooms around our normal training hours.

Eric POV

After I left the infirmary, I headed straight up to see Max. I didn’t like seeing her laying there unconscious. I didn’t like how quickly she’d got under my skin, but there was something about the little Stiff that drew me to her like a moth to a flame. It was unnerving. I also decided that I needed to do something to make sure she’d stay in Dauntless and not become Factionless. I couldn’t screw with the rankings and points system because Four had an input on that, although with the way he’s been glancing at her since she arrived, I don’t think he’d fight me too much on giving her extra points to keep her above the red line. And anyway, what was that with Four? I know they were both Stiffs but was it possible that four and Tris knew each other before they transferred? Was there something between them?

When I reached Max’s office, the questions were still swirling around my head and I knew if anyone knew what to do about them or have any answers, it would be him. I knocked on before entering after hearing a mumbled “come in”. The man in question was sat behind his desk, elbow deep in paperwork. First week of initiation was always the worst for the leaders, purely because of all the paperwork that needed to be done to process the transfers into the system. And being head leader, Max always tackled it single handedly, despite all of our offers of help. He looked up and saw it was me who had entered.

“Ah Eric! I was actually going to come look for you later this afternoon. Didn’t think training would be finished for the day yet.”

“It’s not,” I replied. “I had to take an initiate to the infirmary after she got knocked out in her first fight. Thought I should come and talk to you about it.”

“Who was it?” Max asked.

“Tris Prior” I replied. He simply nodded before looking for something on his desk. When he finally found what he was looking for, a thin manila file, he passed it over to me to look through.

“There’s something you should see.” He gestured to the file before I opened it. It was Tris’ intake file.

Name: Tris Prior, formerly Beatrice Prior

Parents: Natalie Wright and Andrew Prior

Faction of Origin: Abnegation

Aptitude: Abnegation (Manually entered)

Current Faction: Dauntless

So far this was everything I expected to see, although I was going to ask about the aptitude. It was what came next that interested me.

Father Faction of Origin; Erudite

Mother Faction of Origin; Dauntless

Other Faction Connections:

Erudite; Jeanine Matthews (Paternal Aunt), Caleb Prior (Brother)

Candor; None

Abnegation; Andrew Prior (Father), Natalie Prior Nee Wright (Mother), Evelyn Eaton nee Wright (Maternal Aunt), Marcus Eaton (Maternal Uncle via marriage)

Amity; None

Dauntless; Four (Formerly Tobias Eaton)

Points of Interest: Tris Prior has extended links to 3 of 5 Factions making her ideal candidate for inter-factional or leadership positions should she pass initiation. Due to possible Conflict, training to be overseen by Dauntless Leadership.

I don’t think my eyebrows could have gone any higher. Tris was connected to powerful people, but the biggest shocker was her link to Four. They were cousins! That certainly explained the looks from him. It also means he’s not competition I thought, before getting myself in check and reminding myself that she was just an initiate. I looked back over Tris’ intake form and noticed that her mother was originally from Dauntless. I feel like that explains a lot.

“Tris’ mom?” I asked, knowing that Max was Dauntless born and might know something about her.

“I remember Natalie and Evelyn. Fraternal Twins. We were in the same class before they both transferred out to Abnegation. I never fully understood that transfer.” Max said, shaking his head.

“Why’s that?” I ask, looking back down to the forms again.

“Evelyn I would have thought for sure would have gone to Erudite. She always was wicked smart. And Natalie, she would have been a lethal weapon if she had stayed, she was that good. She was a Dauntless through and through. Or so I thought. I’ve seen her a few times helping when Abnegation holds the yearly meetings. She seems to be thriving with Andrew in Abnegation. And now we have not only her daughter but her nephew.”

“You know what this means right?” I ask. Max nods. “Four can’t train or score her. But we can’t make it look like she’s getting preferential treatment.” Max nods again, in agreement. “Well, the next few days we have an excuse for.” Max looked confused at my statement.

“What do you mean, we have an excuse?” He asked, and I realised, with the shock of the intake forms, I had forgotten to tell Max the reason I’d come to see him.

“Tris wasn’t just KO’d today. She has a pretty bad concussion. Doc’s keeping an eye on her for a few more hours, but he’s said she can’t fight for a few days, so she doesn’t take another knock to the head.” I passed Max the file back as I said this. He nodded in understanding, clearly starting to formulate a plan.

“I have an idea, and at the minute, it’s the only thing I can think of that wouldn’t be special treatment but would keep her training with the other transfers.” He said. I sometimes wonder if Max would have an aptitude for Erudite with how quickly he comes up with plans sometimes, or whether it’s just an inherently Dauntless thing to be able to strategize regardless of the circumstance.

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

“You train Tris, I supervise, but we do so in the Transfer training rooms, at the same time Four is training the others. We occasionally pull one of the other Transfers over to train and spar with her, to keep the image of impartiality.” Max explains his plan and whilst it’s a unique situation, baring having Tris training with the Dauntless born and Lauren (which frankly with the level she’s at now, she definitely would be cut) it was the only way we could stay impartial. Tris had definitely made us have to think about how we could handle this. I genuinely think this was a first, having an initiate with so many ties to the majority of the factions, as well as her trainer. I wonder if Tris has realised Four is Tobias Eaton. Surely, she recognises her own cousin?

“Come on,” Max said, standing up from his desk and heading towards the door. “Let’s go and break the news to Four.” And we left his office, heading back down to the training rooms.

Chapter Text

Tris POV

As soon as Doc releases me, I head straight back to the training rooms, knowing there was another hour of today’s session left before dinner. What I was surprised to find was that Four had let everyone go early and was stood deep in conversation with Eric…and Max. Shit, I thought. I’m totally getting caught.

Eric turned to look at me when he heard the door open. “Who let you out, initiate?” he asked.

“I did.” I replied, snarkily. I didn’t but he just kept getting so under my skin, that I couldn’t help the sarcasm. I heard Max chuckling at this and turned to look at him, seeing him grinning and shaking his head. “So much like her mother,” he chuckled.

“You know my mom?” I asked.

“Knew. I’m guessing she never told you where she came from?” Max asked, all three men starting to make there way over to me. I shook my head in response. “Typical Abnegation, I guess. You’re mother was Dauntless before she transferred. We grew up together. She chose Abnegation on choosing day, and I stayed in Dauntless. It’s quite literally in your blood to be here.” Max explained. I sat down on one of the benches close to the door, mostly in disbelief that she’d never told me this, but partly because my head was starting to ache from the concussion.

“There’s a few other things we need to discuss with you,” Eric said, passing me a bottle of water after clearly noticing my change in demeanour. I looked up at him confused. “Due to information that has recently been brought to our attention, Four cannot remain impartial for scoring and ranking and therefore will not be continuing to train you.”

“But who will be teaching us? Have you told the others?” I asked. What had Four done that meant he couldn’t train us anymore?

“No, we haven’t.” Max replied. “Four will still be training and ranking, just not training or ranking you.” Ok now I was confused. It must have been obvious on my face that I wasn’t getting the point they were making when Four piped up, “You really don’t know, do you? They never told you?” he asked.

“Don’t know what? Told me what?” I asked. I was starting to get more and more wound up with the abundance of questions and half information, and lack of actual answers. Eric and Max just looked at Four, as if asking a silent question as to whether he wanted to be the one to tell me.  He nodded and took a fraction of a step closer to me.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to say this,” Four said in a quiet voice. “It’s nice to finally meet you as me. I’m Tobias Eaton. I’m your cousin.”

Big tall guy say what now? Cousin? My cousin? And wait just a damn minute! Four is Tobias Eaton?!? I mean, everyone knew the rumours, especially after his mother died, but Four? I mean, come on, who do they think they’re fooling?!

And it was at that moment, as I looked between the three men in front of me, all of whom were chuckling away, I realised I had just said all of that out loud. And straight after that, as realisation dawned on my face, all three men knew they had fucked up.

“You knew and you’re only telling me this now?!” I screamed, lunging at Four with my fist clenched. Just as I was about to take a swing, Eric’s broad arms wrapped around me holding me back from, what likely would have been a lousy punch, but would have made me feel better all the same.

“Hold up there, Stiff…” Eric started, before I started to elbow him.

“Eric! Let me go! And don’t call me Stiff!” I shouted, as I managed to land a particularly hard hit to his stomach, making his arms loosen just enough for me to wiggle my way out and lunge at Four again. My elbow hurt though after that dig, and after feeling how hard Eric’s stomach was, I knew the muscles on his arms stretched much further and I would likely have a bruise there for days.

Just as I was about to collide with Four, again I was yanked back, this time by two sets of arms. Max had finally joined in on restraining me. “Like I said, just like her mother.” He huffed, trying to hold me back.

“Let me go!” I screamed. I was so angry right now. Four knew all along who he was to me and never said a damn word. And where was he all those times in Abnegation when I was being berated for not being selfless enough, for not doing enough around the house or to help out in the community, for not being a good little abnegation girl who would do as she was told, when she was told. He was never there.

“Tris, I wanted to tell you, I swear I did!” Four tried to plead with me while keeping his distance. Eric and Max switched up positions, Max holding both arms behind me while Eric stood in front of me, blocking my view from Four.

“Stiff…” he started to say. My reaction made it obvious that calling me Stiff was the wrong thing to do, when I changed my tactics from trying to attack Four to trying to attack Eric. Eric took a step back so he was just out of my reach before trying again.

“Tris, you need to calm down right now Initiate!” he ordered, the domineering tone he used sent chills down my spine, but I was too riled up and angry to acknowledge what that might mean.

I growled. I actually growled. At Eric. “He left me. If there was anyone who might have even understood what it was like for me there it was him and he just left. He never said a word about who he was even when we were kids. He was just the weird neighbour kid. Marcus’ kid.” I could feel the fight slowly start to drain out of me as I ranted, Max’s hold started loosening on me as well. “You never even acknowledge us.” I looked over at Four. I could see the hurt on his face, reflecting exactly how I was feeling.

“I couldn’t.” Four explained. “The rumours about Marcus…they’re not just rumours. Every one of them is true. The only ones who know is Max, Eric and your parents. Once Aunt Nat knew what was happening, she reached out to Max who helped get my mom out. I was 6 months away from choosing and I already knew then that I was getting out of Abnegation no matter what the test said. I could stick it out a bit longer. But Mom, she couldn’t. If Max and Aunt Nat didn’t get her out when they did, he would have killed her.” Four walked over and sat down next to me. I had slumped down to the floor as he explained, all of the fight drained out of me.

“Where is she now, if she’s not dead?” I asked.

“With the Factionless. There wasn’t a way for us to bring her back into Dauntless without it going on Jeanine’s radar and raising more questions than any of us were willing to answer. So, we decided to hide her in plain sight, where Marcus wouldn’t even think to look for her. Despite his constant rambling of charitable works and being selfless, Marcus will not set foot in the Factionless sector.” I nodded in understanding. I had noticed Marcus always avoided going to the Factionless but never thought anything of it. I always assumed it was because he was too busy with council meetings and running the faction. In hindsight, I should have realised that he was avoiding it purposefully, especially considering my father, who worked with Marcus as a councilman, always made time to join us in bringing supplies to the Factionless.

“Tris, I know it’s a lot to take in, but we need to discuss what’s going to happen next for training.” Max said, bringing the conversation back to what Eric had tried to before I lost it with Four.

“What’s going to happen? Am I going to be cut?” I ask, worried that I’ll be kicked out of the one place I thought I could call home.

“No. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Growled Eric, a deadly but heated look crossed his eyes. Both Max and Four raised their eyes at his reaction, wondering what prompted such a defence of a stiff presumedly. They didn’t know what I did. They didn’t know what had happened between us in Eric’s office, and how charged things already are.

“You’ll be trained separately from everyone else, but in the interest of fairness you’ll still be trained at the same time and in the same room as everyone else.” Max explained. “Eric will be training you, following the same curriculum as Four will be following, but you’ll probably find their styles might differ. I’ll be the one scoring. It was the only solution we could come up with that was as close to impartial as we could given the circumstances.”

I nod, understanding what was being said. “I am going to add a couple of things on top of Four’s training schedule.” Eric suddenly spoke up. Max and Four both looked surprised.

“You need to build muscle, so I’m going to weight training to build up your strength. You’ve already proven today you’re proficient with knives, despite that little rebellious streak. When we move onto other weaponry, if you show similar proficiency, I want it approved to have her sniper trained.” Eric directed this last comment at Max. “We don’t have enough snipers and in leadership or training positions, there’s only me that’s a qualified long-distance shooter. We could do with more, and just from looks alone, she’s the last person anyone would expect to be a sniper.” I was surprised at the vote of confidence. I honestly didn’t think Eric held such a high opinion of anyone, let alone me.

“Are you sure?” Max asked him. Eric nodded, arms crossed across his chest showing that he wasn’t going to budge on this. “Ok but in the interest of keeping things impartial, if any of Four’s training class show potential up to your standards, the same offer is to be made. Am I understood?” Eric grumbled but reluctantly agreed. I was surprised he thought I’d match his standards enough to even be offered this, let alone anyone else.

Max dismissed me and Eric decided he was going to walk me back to the dorms, leaving Four alone with Max in the training rooms. I could tell by the look on Four’s face that he was hurt that things didn’t go as smoothly as he thought they would, but he’d lied to me. Not just for the time he was here, but for my entire life, he had lied. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to fully trust him.

Eric and I walked to the dorms in companiable silence. I didn’t know what to say to him, but you could cut the tension with a knife. He nodded at a few people as they walked past, whilst promptly ignoring the few girls who tried to flirt with him. I wonder if that was a regular thing Eric had to deal with. When we finally reached the door, Eric took hold of my arm before he let walk in, effectively stopping me.

“Tris,” he said as I looked from his hand on my arm to his face, showing my curiosity that he was comfortable just grabbing me. Eric dropped his hand from my arm just as quick before continuing, “From this point on, you need to be careful. There are certain people who aren’t going to like that you’re getting one on one training, and they’re going to like it even less so if they find out the reason is because of your connection to Four and because of your extended family.”

I nodded in agreement before adding, “Why is my extended family so important?”

“Because your father and Magnus aren’t the only leaders you’re related to. Your father’s sister is Erudite leadership. She’s Jeanine Matthews.” I gasp, not sure what to make of even more information that had been kept for me. “Max didn’t tell you probably because it was a lot all at once, but I want all our cards on the table before we start tomorrow. A clean slate if you will. I want you in the training room at 6 for drills and then we’ll head to breakfast with the others. It’s up to you what you want to tell your friends. But watch your back, especially around Peter and his cronies. I don’t trust them and he seems the type to bitch about special treatments and special favours.” Eric finished, nodding at me to enter the dorms, effectively dismissing me before turning to leave.

“Eric?” He stopped and turned to look at me. “Thank you” I said, before walking into the dorms to face the onslaught I knew I was going to get at the very least from Christina.