A/N: This idea has been in my head for quite some time now, and I finally decided to put it on paper/computer, so, here it goes. This story happens in the same year as the first book, but the characters are a little older (Eric and Four are 24, and the initiates choose when they're 17). No full-fledged war in this. Movie!Eric because Jai Courtney 3.
Nothing of the Divergent universe belongs to me.
Being a faction leader certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. Some of the perks include more knowledge on the workings of the system and the general situation, better accommodations, some influence, power and sometimes respect, and the freedom to come and go. The downside to having such a position includes having to work longer hours, sometimes through weekends and at home, a lot of paperwork, and having to stay alert to identify any problematic situations before they even arise at all times.
For Eric, though, the worst parts of being a leader are the social functions/gatherings, especially the annual leader's ball, and the monthly meetings with other faction leaders. Of course, because he transferred from Erudite, he was the chosen one to meet up with Jeanine every first Friday of the month so that they can discuss any details pertaining to the success of the faction system and other urgent matters when necessary. Because Dauntless are the protectors of the city, the meetings also serve to identify and try to come up with solutions to the factionless troubles that seem to be increasing in a worrying fashion. If really needed, an emergency meeting can be scheduled, but this has not happened in a long time.
Eric Coulter, young Dauntless leader, is a man of routine. Every first Friday of the month, he wakes up at 6 O'clock and goes running around the perimeter of the faction's main building. When he gets home, usually about forty-five minutes later, sometimes more, sometimes less, he showers and puts on his usual attire: a pair of black pants (any will do), a dark gray short-sleeved shirt; if it's hot, he'll go with a black vest with useful frontal and inside pockets, lined with a sturdier fabric around the shoulders, and if it's cold, he'll choose a jacket made in the same style and color as the vest. Combat boots and a gun complete his outfit. He would never admit it to anyone, but he prefers when it is hot outside, so that he can seem even more intimidating showing his bulging arms and his tattoos.
For breakfast, he drinks black coffee – no sugar, thanks – and eats some toast with butter. He usually eats in his apartment in the mornings, because no matter how much caffeine he's had, there is no way that he can stand to socialize so early. Eric is a morning man in the sense that he works and thinks better before midday, but when it comes to talking to other people who are not his very few close friends, actually, he prefers not to do it at all.
After breakfast, and sometimes even during it, he goes over the topics he has to bring up in that particular meeting while drinking a second or third cup of coffee or a glass of whichever juice there is on the fridge. He then grabs the tablet, puts it on an inside pocket and catches the train at the exact same hour to the Erudite headquarters. He despises tardiness, so he always arrives from ten to fifteen minutes early and waits outside the meeting room, standing. When Jeanine arrives with her assistant – Mary? Matha? Mirian? well, it's not like he really cares about her name – he shakes hands with the leader and politely nods at the other woman, and proceeds to open the door for them to enter first, which never fails to surprise, and they can finally get this over with.
After the meetings, back at Dauntless, he reports to Max and spends the rest of the day either in his office or making rounds, pausing to have lunch and dinner in the dining hall at the leader's table with a few close friends. When he finally gets home, he makes a cup of tea – sometimes a pot, if he's had a long day – and reads a book on the couch, old habits instilled by his mother that he never quite managed to let go. If anyone were to find him in such position, he probably wouldn't know what to do. Well, the most probable option is that he would find out something as equally embarrassing or worse about the person and come to an agreement of mutual benefit.
He never goes to bed without a shower to wash away the day. If it is a stressful one or if he's worked out a lot, he enjoys a hot bath to soothe his muscles, no bubbles though, and he usually does it as soon as he arrives at the apartment. No matter if the weather is hot or cold, he slips into a pair of boxers or boxer-briefs to sleep; he can't stand to sleep with more clothes than this. He likes his bedroom cold so he can use a heavier and warmer blanket, and he always sleeps on the left side of the bed with a pistol and a knife under the right-side pillow.
All days are pretty much the same, except that on Tuesdays he gets his hair cut. Yes, every Tuesday he gets the sides shaved or the top trimmed to the exact same size he's been wearing since his first week as an initiate. His habits change a little when it is initiation time, since he monitors the transfers' training, but nonetheless he manages to make it into a routine.
So, that Friday, supposedly one more like all the other ones until then, Eric woke up at 6, went running, had two cups of coffee and two slices of toast; everything was the same, just as he liked it. He should have imagine his day would not be as uneventful and normal as he had planned when Four made him lose the usual train that allowed him to arrive fifteen minutes early in Erudite.
"Eric, there you are. Just a moment." Four said, running up to him. "We need to discuss the new training rules..."
"Not now!" Eric barked at him, interrupting. "Come to my office this afternoon, or better yet, if you want to complain, take it up with Max." He didn't give him any time for a response, knowing that, if given the chance, number boy would waste more of his time and he really wasn't feeling up for socializing at the moment.
He managed to catch the next train just in time, arriving only five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin. Everything's ok, he thought, still early. Nothing's out of the ordinary. When Jeanine arrived, however, things were a little bit different.
"Hello, Eric. I believe you haven't met my new assistant yet. Martha chose to defect. She got Abnegation as her test results and insisted on continuing on Erudite, but apparently it proved to be too much for her, so Lilian will be accompanying me from now on." Jeanine said, shaking his hand as usual, and entered the conference room.
"Nice to meet you." The girl held out her hand to shook his, and when he looked at her with an are you kidding me? look, she huffed and continued, staring into his eyes, before he could move. "It doesn't hurt to be polite, you know. When one offers a hand, the other person, out of politeness, shakes it."
Who did she think she was to speak to him that way? Apparently, his cold and ruthless gaze did not work on her. He quickly grabbed her hand, shook it with more strength than he used with Jeanine, and went in the room.
He was distracted throughout the whole ordeal, something that had never happened before, but he was able to keep up the façade that nothing was out of the ordinary. He still could not believe that she had the courage to talk to him in that tone. People were usually intimidated just by his presence, his neck tattoos and large build; he didn't even need to open his mouth and people were already scrambling to get out of his way. Deciding that he would not leave things like that – after all, he was a leader and demanded respect –, when the girl was almost out of the door after the meeting ended, he chose to speak.
"Oh, and Laura?" He said, standing up.
"It's Lilian."
"Whatever." He got very close to her, their bodies almost touching, lowering his head so that he could look her in the eyes, and changed his voice to be more menacing. "Don't ever talk to me like that again."
Eric turned away, not looking back as he walked, leaving the girl frozen in the doorway. By doing this, he missed the small smile that crossed her lips. Little did he know, but it was exactly that Friday when his world was beginning to turn upside down.