Hello!

Just a quick note before we get started:

If you have read The Training, some of this material will feel very familiar to you. But just know this is Eric's version of the story, and his side of the events that happened are a little bit different than Everly's.

If you've never read The Training, please note that it's not necessary, unless you want to be spoiled for every single cliffhanger that happens. And for those who are thinking, haha-I already know them all, well- I made up some new ones.

It is recommended you read The Training first. You'll have better insight to Eric's motives and actions in this story.

In this story there are a few changes to the Divergent Books.

-Eric and Four are both 24.

-Tris and Christina are both 20.

-Initiates choose at the age of 18.

My goal is to update this fairly routinely! Any outtakes for this story will be updated under the same separate Outtakes Story as The Training as they will fit in with either version.

Thank you so much to everyone who read The Training, who reread it time and time again, and who wanted to see Eric's thoughts. If you liked Everly's version, I think you'll enjoy this one ;)

Thank you so much to bamberlee for editing this for me!

Disclaimer:

All rights to characters and places in the Divergent series belong to Veronica Roth. All original characters and the plot of the story that does not directly mirror events in the Divergent series belong to me. All associated rights reserved, no translations into other languages or re-posting on other websites is permitted without my express written consent.

She is the only girl initiate.

In theory, she shouldn't be. A month ago, I'd gotten a list from Jason, a sloppily handwritten version, one that would read better if it were in alphabetical order- or any order really- and I'd read it thoroughly. It was everyone who'd received Dauntless on their aptitude test, with a mark next to the names he thought were funny. There were plenty of names listed, and this meant plenty of them should have been stumbling down from the net and into our compound. Normally, I'd have tossed this list into the trash can. New initiates weren't something I had an active interest in, but now I had a few reasons to keep a close eye on them.

There was pressure on me, this never ending, always looming pressure to find the ones who were hiding something. It wouldn't take long for me to see who had chosen Dauntless for the wrong reasons, and I took great joy in watching them crack.

But this year, I was over it.

I was supposed to be hunting down the ones who didn't fit into our system, personally handing them over to Jeanine. I had already scanned the list, entertained by the ones from different, weaker factions who thought they'd make it here, and I'd already crossed out a few names.

Usually, I watched them jump with Rylan from the comfort of the control room, having grown bored with greeting them on the roof. The past few years had produced a particularly unimpressive group, and I'd refused to waste any more of my time with them. They'd learn who I was in other ways, and nothing pleased me more than when they panicked at the mere sight of me as they crossed my path.

They could tell immediately I thought little of all of them.

Each year they looked weaker and weaker, just another group ready to bend under the pressure of the training. Even that was laughable. Lauren wasn't anything to be afraid of, and Four was even worse. After a few years of trying hard to steer the training toward tougher initiation so we'd have only the best survive, I'd triumphantly stepped away when it was finally approved by Max. Four had been pissed off, not at all happy with the new rules, and even less happy when I stuck around to make sure he enforced them.

This year, I'd skipped almost all of it. I had already told Max I had zero interest in helping with the training, mostly because Jeanine had been riding my ass to produce her test subjects from all the factions, not just Dauntless. I'd been sent report after report about these Divergent who she believed were still slipping through our fingers, and the irritation wore me down with each passing day. I'd long promised I'd help find them, for I understood her reasoning, but her criteria of just what exactly Divergent meant had started to sway wildly depending on the week. Unfortunately for me, more than half the names that fell under her newest criteria were on the transfer list to my own faction.

So, this new initiation felt even more annoying, because I would now be forced to monitor Four and Lauren's class, as well as all the others. I had already looked through the list to see if there was anything I should focus on and then I'd filed the report away. The names weren't anything remarkable, and as always, we'd probably only get about half of who had gotten our faction as a result.

Which is even more grating.

It makes me grit my teeth, as I head toward the control room, ready to once again find out who'd been brave enough to try and come here, not at all aware of what awaited me.

Rylan cocks his head to the side, his lips turning at the sight of me before him.

"Fuck, dude. For once, you're late."

I ignore him.

I'm not late, nor am I even supposed to be here. As always, the room is quiet, despite the excitement in the air. The control room isn't my favorite place to visit, nor are the people who work in it. The head supervisor, a blonde-haired woman named Kacie, is infuriatingly gossipy, and I'd always wondered who made the brilliant decision to leave her in charge. It was a position of small authority, but enough for her giant head. She oversaw a rotating staff, made sure our security cameras were always up and running, and was well versed in how the patrol squads worked. She wasn't entirely stupid, and some days, she actually came in handy.

She was also a raging bitch who seemed to take great delight in interjecting herself into other people's business.

Today, she watches me stalk past her, having swiped my card without saying a word of greeting and heading straight to the two people who also don't want to talk to her. I had found Rylan and Jason glued to a monitor, their eyes both on the person jumping.

"Well?"

I snap the words at them, bored with this entire day already. I have a fuck ton of work waiting for me, and Jeanine will want to know my immediate thoughts on the new group- despite them not actually having finished arriving. She was always interested in how they could serve her, and they would, even if they didn't know it. One way or another, they'd help her carry out her plans, all while none the wiser.

"Last one went about twenty minutes ago. Seems like a good group. Definitely a strong-"

Rylan's interrupted by Kacie, waving a paper in our face and clearing her throat. She's a moron for butting in, but subtlety isn't her strong suit.

"Now that you're here," she throws me a fake yet condescending smile, "can you sign off on these changes? I'm adding six more people to monitor the night shift and I need your signature."

"Why?" I bark at her, not giving a single fuck what she did. "Why would you need my approval on this?"

"Because," she answers slowly, staring at me with her dull eyes, "Max thinks it's unnecessary. But the increased factionless activity tells me otherwise. And you're the only one who's got enough brains to see that. So, I need your signature to override Max's dismissal."

"Uh, I also said I'd sign off on it and you ignored me." Jason points out, whirling around in the chair until it goes completely around in a circle. "In fact, you said, 'fuck off I need Eric'. Or was it, 'I want Eric?' Oh, maybe it was that last one."

He snickers at his own little jab, daring to suggest Kacie be dumb enough to decide I gave a shit about her affection.

But Kacie doesn't bother acknowledging him. She rolls her eyes and ignores him once more, shoving the paper closer to me. "Just sign this so you and your crew can be on your way."

I stare her down, wondering why she'd ever think she could talk to me like that, and I'm pleased when her ballsiness withers under my stare.

"I mean, feel free to finish watching the cameras but I'll need that monitor for the next shift. The one Jason has been on for the last hour."

"Fuck off, and I'll sign your papers if I feel like it." I hiss, pleased when she finally slinks away, back to oversee the others clicking away at the screens. I turn back to Jason, noticing Rylan standing there with a funny look on his face.

"We were waiting for you to get here. I gotta show you this." He tells me, nudging my arm and pointing to the blank screen. "Jason, rewind that one back to about forty minutes ago."

"Aye aye, cap'n." Jason salutes him, slowly typing in a code to change the camera, then slides the footage backwards. He clicks pause, then waits for me to look.

I'm rewarded with the sight of the back of Four as he helps someone off the net. It's nothing mind-blowing. I'd prefer to let them climb out or fall off the damn thing, but for some reason, he's always given them a hand. It's routine for him; he helps them down, asks their name, and then sends them off to wait for him to give an introductory speech. I grow bored as we watch him wait for the next one, and the most exciting part is when he looks down at his watch.

"Riveting." I dryly tell Jason, and he stands up.

"No, keep watching. I have to show you something else." Rylan protests, but Jason motions for me to follow him.

"Wait, hey! That's not what I wanted you to see!"

I don't wait. The longer I'm here, the less time I have to do my actual work. I sigh heavily as I stand with Jason while he fumbles with his phone, pulling up a message from the green haired moron he's been seeing off and on. He shows me the screen, littered with green hearts and a bunch of lipstick print pictures. I, too, had received this new update that allowed you to send cutesy images with your text and I'd nearly shot the person in Erudite who'd spent their time developing such a pointless feature.

"She wants me. It's pretty obvious now. I was thinking I'd bring her out with us next time we all go…" Jason stops, and his whole face lights up. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Or really, who the cat dragged in."

I glance over just in time to see Max making his way through the control room. He's trailed by someone, but I can't really make them out, not through the crowd of members milling about, trying to clock out. But I do notice that Max looks unusually smug, especially when he comes to a halt a few feet away from us.

"Max! Good to see you here. Any news today?" Jason cheerfully greets him, always pleased that Max has never noticed the lack of work he actually does. But today, Max isn't focused on that. He looks elated, like he's got something delightful planned that I'm going to hate. He grins widely at the both of us, and I smirk when I finally see what he's brought along with him.

Fucking Amity.

The person trailing behind him is a girl who looks so out of place I can't help but feel gleeful at her misfortune of ending up here. She must be lost, probably having gotten mixed up in the crowd after the ceremony let out and ended up here. I give her credit for finding her way inside, but that's it. The dumbass clearly couldn't find her way to her own farm and I wonder how long it took her to realize this wasn't Amity.

"Not today." Max answers, taking a quick glimpse of the monitors behind him. The monitors are currently on a live feed of the compound, displaying tiny, dark clad members making their way down corridors and through walkways. One of the screens changes to the outside of a train tunnel, and Jason bursts out laughing when it shows a dismayed initiate standing there, not having the guts to go through with the initiation and unsure of what to do now.

"What are you doing here?" Jason asks him, his snort dying down and the girl takes an irritating step closer to Max, as though she's listening.

I stare her down.

She looks like everyone else from Amity that I've ever seen, but also not.

She's smaller than the ones who typically work the fields, and far prettier than the ones I've seen at the marketplace. Her long dark hair is a mess, the waves all over the place as though she's run a marathon, and every so often, she pushes her hair out of her eyes and I can tell she's trying not to fidget. But she's not hideous, in fact, far from it. Big green eyes dare to find mine, framed by long lashes, and she has a pretty smile. My eyes narrow in disgust at her dress, this flimsy pink thing that hits her knees, impractical for anything except lazing in the sun for hours on end. My inspection ends at her feet, the strange, flat shoes all the Amity girls wear despite living in the dirtiest faction of all.

She's nothing impressive.

"Just who I was looking for." Max smiles at Jason and I, and the girl peers up at us curiously, still standing close to him like he's saved her life. "Eric, I've got a new task for you."

Fuck.

I can tell right then and there he's going make me drive this one back to the farm. I want to remind him he's hardly this chivalrous, and we aren't required to escort her anywhere. Really, all we owe her is to walk her outside, point her in the right direction and send her on her way.

"Does it involve this one here?" Jason butts in, now looking as equally delighted as Max. I turn to stare at him, overcome with the sudden urge to hit him right in his very punchable face.

Max nods. "She's the only female initiate in this year's class. For her own safety, she's to be trained separately. Four is worried that she won't have a fair shot at staying alive with her class."

He then clears his throat and raises both of his eyebrows. At me.

I feel my entire body tense up.

Fuck.

He can't be serious.

There is no way she picked Dauntless, not in a million years. I look her up and down quickly, her posture telling me I'm not who she was expecting to be brought to. She realizes I'm sneering at her, and I can see her cheeks flush from embarrassment when I catch her staring.

I wait for Max to get to his point, but he simply stares at me expectantly until I read his stupid mind.

"And you want me to train her?" My words come out just as disgusted as I feel, the idea so ridiculous that I wonder if he's joking. He can't really expect me to train her. Not now. This girl is all of five feet tall, wearing a dress with straps that tie into fucking bows over her skinny shoulders, and she can't possibly have chosen to come here on her own. But the look on Max's face tells me he is serious, and he's thrilled about it. I silently throw a thousand fucks at Four in my mind.

I take a step closer to her, closing the distance between us. I stare her down, keeping my spine straight and waiting for her to back away. She's honestly nothing. She barely comes up to my chest, and she's pathetically weak compared to the men who'd jumped with her.

But she's doesn't back down. She stares up at me, and in a moment of truth, she sort of smiles. It's pretty and sweet and disgustingly hopeful.

I smirk at her in return.

She won't last. Not a chance. I look over at Max, shaking my head slightly.

"You have some free time. Thought you might be interested," Max offers up, and his tone tells me this is not something he's willing to negotiate.

My eyes flash to the girl again, and this time, I feel a rush of dark anger at what's going on. He knows better than to assign me to this girl, and it's a blatant insult to even think I'd want to. I want to bark at him to send her back to Four, but I keep my composure.

"I'm not," I answer, my tone bored. "Besides, she wouldn't last in any training class, let alone mine." I feel myself sneering at her now, the thought of her attempting to punch and fight her way alongside me, popping into my head. I have an image of her running after me and trying to keep up, then sobbing hysterically once she gets her ass beat by the other initiates.

But little Amity, who's future hangs in my hands, is no longer smiling. In fact, she's realized I want nothing to do with her and her expression has darkened. She has the audacity to be scowling at me for not throwing myself at the winning opportunity to train her, and she stares at me as though she has the right to be annoyed.

I stare back, and I can feel my lip curling up in disgust.

Max can tell I'm close to losing it, so he interjects, showboating his authority over me to my utter annoyance. "This really isn't a request, Eric. Think of it this way, you get the chance to show Four who's the better trainer. You take this one here and make her Dauntless, well, then, there's really nothing you can't do."

I swallow, staring at him out of the corner of my eye.

I have to give him credit, for he's not as stupid as I usually think he is. I should have seen this coming, this particular tactic. Of course, he'd throw my dislike of Four in my face. I can't even begin to untangle how this will work out, or how she'll rank amongst Four's class, but she will. Max is now challenging me to train a single initiate instead of an entire class, but there's far more on the line than just that.

If I take her on, and she thrives, surviving and making it through initiation, then I would have that over Four. So long as she scored better than his class, she'd be golden. Further proof of my superiority over him. But if she fails, her tiny little frame and scrawny arms screaming that she doesn't stand a chance of making it here, then I'm allowing the entire fucking faction to know Four is a better trainer than I am. That the methods I demanded be implemented are useless.

Jason is staring at me, and I can hear him hyperventilating, fucking dying to know how this will play out.

I stare at her once more, trying to picture her fighting alongside me and doing well, and I make the snap decision to accept. I can train her, but it won't be easy. I'll make her bleed for her spot here, and if she really wants to stay, she'll have to earn it.

"Fine. But I train her my way. No questions asked." I coldly take one last hard look at her before taking a step back toward Jason and mentally calculating the schedule. I don't have a ton of time, in fact- I'm at a major disadvantage for more than a few reasons. But it's not impossible. It simply means we'll be working overtime, waking her up to start early and keeping her training late.

Jason is thrilled.

"Yessss," he hisses, the thrill of this gamble too good to be true. "Oh fuck, this will be great. We have to get a bet going. I wonder how long she'll last."

Max must hear him.

"You keep her alive, Eric. Understood?" Max announces, and he turns back to look at Amity. "I think she'll do just fine."

She nods at him, stupidly desperate for his approval as she's clearly more determined than ever. "Thank you."

"Fuck, I get to make the first bet, not Rylan!" Jason half whispers, and I ignore him. I stare at her again, trying to make a definite decision for where I'll even start, and I turn around and stalk back to the computers after realizing it won't matter. I'll have to start at the beginning, the very beginning. I swear quietly when I realize I've left my phone on the chair and to my disgust, there are already six messages from Jeanine.

Fantastic.

I reply to the first one, typing that I'll get back to her, and I realize I'll have to tell my initiate where to meet me. When I spin around, Max is touching her shoulder, saying goodbye as though he's personally invested in her survival. He leaves after throwing me one very pointed look, and I resist the urge to flip him off.

"Did Four show you where you're staying?" I ask her, and I hold her stare to make sure she knows who's in charge here. She may have Max wrapped around her finger, but that won't fly with me. I wait for her to flinch, but she doesn't. She doesn't look away immediately, and I supposed I should be impressed she's still standing there.

"He said I couldn't stay with them. That it wasn't safe. But Max gave me a key to an apartment near yours." She holds up a key at me, and I have to refrain from stabbing someone.

Of course, she's been given a key. For some reason, Max is enamored with this girl, and he's bestowed upon her an entire apartment to herself. Lovely. It'll make it all the worse when she realizes I won't be throwing the same luxuries at her.

"Great," I sneer. "Let's go. We start training at five am."

The surprise is clear on her face. She must have spent longer than I thought with Four, because she's quick to point out the other training is on a different schedule. "I thought training started at eight?"

I narrow my eyes. This girl is pretty, but not very bright. Her voice is sweet and kind, and she seems grateful that I've agreed to train her.

I could care less.

"You aren't training with them. You're training with me." I say the words very slowly, not sure she's figured out what's going on. Then it dawns on me, a flash of a thought through my mind, that this could be entertaining. She'll be at my mercy for the next few weeks, and she has no clue what she's in for.

I smile, widely.

"Don't worry." I tell her, and I can tell she's not so sure of herself now. "It'll be fun."

Amity blinks, her big green eyes telling me everything I need to know.

Revealing that despite her brave posture, she's scared shitless.

She struggles to keep up with me.

She does her best, stumbling over the rocky walkways, and trying to step over the sharp, broken steps without turning an ankle. Her shoes aren't practical here, and she's especially at a disadvantage when we walk over the slippery, wet pathways.

I try not to laugh as she carefully hurries along, her hideous dress getting dirty as we round sudden corners and it scrapes against every surface. At one point, she winds up in front of me, and she's so short I almost can't see her as I march on. I shove past her, nearly knocking her into the sharpest, roughest section of Dauntless, before we come to an abrupt stop at the elevators.

I can practically feel the relief radiating off her as the doors close and the elevator lifts skyward.

She's silent the entire ride, her stare on the doors in front of us, and I wonder if she's still feeling brave.

Of course, the key doesn't unlock the door it's assigned to.

Even better, the fucking apartment is on the same floor as mine. She has no clue that Max has assigned her to live in a section of apartments set aside for leaders, completely ignoring the fact she's supposed to be bunking with the other initiates in the terrible shared quarters designed to fuck with their sanity.

Way to really make this rough for her, Max.

I silently swear at him as the key jams in the lock, refusing to go in a single centimeter.

"You sure this is the key Max gave you?" I bark, and I try it again one more time.

The apartment this key should open up is practically beside mine, but it hasn't been totally remodeled yet. It still has old features and utilizes a key instead of the keycards we use everywhere else. For a second, the rage is blinding, my annoyance growing as my phone buzzes in my back pocket. I'd bet my entire salary it's Jeanine, still waiting for my thoughts on the new group, and in that moment, I give up and throw the key at the door.

It bounces right off, landing beside her feet.

"Yes." She answers, trying a slow step back away from me, her eyes glued to the door. "Should I go get him?"

I look at her as nastily as possible. She looks nervous now, her eyes flicking from my hand back to my face. "No. You aren't going to go run to Max. You can stay with me. It'll be easier anyway," I snarl, and I walk down a bit. I notice she hasn't moved, and I wonder if she's regretting her decision to come here. "Are you coming or are you sleeping in the hallway?"

I don't wait for her answer. I swipe my card to open up my own door, and I throw it open angrily. I step through the doorway, and eventually, little Amity follows after me, trying hard to be brave.