(A/N Just a note, Eric is supposed to look like in the movie. Obviously he is slight OOC as he falls for Tris but I've tried to keep him as much in character as possible.)
Chapter 1: The Stiff
Another year, another bunch of pathetic initiates to watch over. I have my meeting with Jeanine in a few minutes and then I have to go meet the newbies. Jumping off the train near the Erudite sector, I make my way into the main building. The sea of blue clad people part as I walk through and I smile at the fear I see in their eyes. Heading up the lift I wait impatiently as it stops on every floor. Soon I arrive on the top floor and head down the corridor to Jeanine's office. I knock and wait for her call to enter before letting myself in. I take the seat in front of her desk and wait.
"I'm glad to see you're punctual Eric." She begins, finally looking up at me. Her cool blue eyes hold no emotion.
"I don't have long. Things to do, initiates to scare, divergents to find." I smirk.
"Indeed." She smiles coldly. "I need to get to the choosing ceremony myself shortly, so I shall keep this brief. I merely wished to remind you of your job during initiation. The reason I had you made a Dauntless leader."
"I haven't forgotten. Find the divergents and kill them." I recite.
"FInd the divergents, yes. I have reviewed the aptitude test results and it seems we have very few divergents this year. Either that or they are getting better at hiding it. Uriah Pedrad, Dauntless born I believe, had his result entered manually so keep an eye on him. I shall give you a full list of names of those with manual results once we see who transfers. Then you shall keep a close eye on them particularly at stage two." I refrain from rolling my eyes. She called me all the way over here to give me information I already know. Except about Uriah. I didn't see that one coming. His brother Zeke was in my initiate class and is clearly Dauntless through and through. Although Uriah was always too happy so I wouldn't be surprised if he had some sort of aptitude for Amity.
"I await your list. As you know, stage one doesn't really help find out who the divergents are." I remind her.
"I am aware. You shall have the list as soon as possible. I await your report halfway through stage two as to who you think the divergents are. Bring them to me and do not kill them." That's new.
"Not kill them?" I raise an eyebrow.
"No. I want some for testing to find out how to create a serum that works on divergents." She explains. I nod. "Well, I must get to the ceremony." I know this is my dismissal and leave her office. Well that was completely pointless. I know I should be grateful to Jeanine for my position, without it I would be nothing, but she really does grate on my nerves. I run one hand through my hair as I head out of Erudite and jump back onto a train. I jump off at Dauntless and wait with Max on the roof.
"How was Jeanine?" He asked.
"Just wanted to remind me of my job." I reply with distaste.
"It's not the best job Eric, but we need Erudite on our side." He sighs. "Have you seen Four recently, he keeps avoiding me when I request a meeting."
"No, I haven't seen him." I reply curtly, a bitter taste in my mouth as I fight the jealousy rising within me. I know Max has always preferred Four. He was first choice for the leadership position but backed out like the coward he is.
"Well, I shall leave the greeting to you this year. Try not to make too many of them piss themselves." He smirks and I laugh.
"You take the fun out of everything." I reply. He just shakes his head at me and then jumps down onto the net.
"First jumper, Max!" I hear Lauren call jokingly. I roll my eyes at their antics. Just then I hear the train coming, and I force my cold smirk onto my face, putting aside my jealousy for later. As it approaches the Dauntless borns start jumping out onto the roof. One of them misjudges and slams into the wall before falling to her death. I keep my face impassive as her friend starts sobbing uncontrollably. Then the transfers start jumping and I am startled to see a flash of grey. A Stiff. Now that's interesting. She will be one to watch. I can use her to get under Four's skin. My smirk grows at that thought before I call them all to order.
"Quiet! My name is Eric. I am one of your Dauntless leaders." I take great pleasure in some of their surprised faces. "In order to get into Dauntless you have to jump. If you can't summon the courage to do so then you don't belong here. Initiates jump first, I don't care if you are a transfer or Dauntless born." I say, then I jump up on the ledge and wait.
"Is there water at the bottom or something?" An Erudite girl asks. I stop myself rolling my eyes. As an Erudite she should know that jumping into water from this kind of height would be no better than jumping onto concrete. We don't kill our initiates. Not right away anyway.
"Who knows." I shrug. Just as I am about to pick someone, a quiet voice speaks up from the back. It's the Stiff. I raise my eyebrows, unwilling impressed. She clambers awkwardly onto the ledge and starts to take her outer shirt off.
"Yeah Stiff, take it off!" A Candor boy calls out and I clench my jaw. The Stiff flushes slightly, throws the ball of material at the boy and then jumps. She didn't even scream. I fight a smile. The material wouldn't hurt anybody but the fact that she threw something at him and didn't take his comment lying down is a testament to her bravery. She is not a normal Stiff and is therefore worthy of watching carefully. Nobody else seems eager to follow her.
"What is this? Are all of you more cowardly than a Stiff?" I yell, frustrated. Even the Dauntless borns aren't offering. Then the Candor girl who had been standing by the Stiff comes forwards and jumps, screaming as she goes. After this the other initiates line up and jump one at a time. Once the last girl, another Candor transfer, has jumped, I follow them down. I see Four leading the transfers away and Lauren leading the Dauntless born.
The Stiff seems worthy to note. I am intrigued that she jumped first and had the balls to stand up for herself. She might even fit in here. We shall see how she does in the fighting stage. I can't wait for those to start, guide the strong from the cowards. I head toward Max's office.