AN: So, I am trying to ease back into writing, after having no time for it for many, many months. I recently decided to read Divergent after my sister took me to see the movie, and literally finished the entire first book in less than a day. It was amazing! I have also read some fics where Four has a younger sister, and Eric is a more sympathetic character. I sort of love these stories, and figured I'd try my hand at it. There is no war in this fic, and I haven't read the second or third book of the trilogy anyway, so this is very much AU. I would love to hear any thoughts y'all might have! Happy reading. :D

Disclaimer: Don't own anything; not even a copy of the book, which I borrowed from my sis!

Chapter One: Dauntless

The house was silent. I'd been forced to stay home by my father, with the excuse that I was feeling unwell, I'm sure. Choosing Day. I knew he'd forced me not to come so I couldn't give Tobias my support, so I couldn't be there for my older brother as he made the hardest decision of his life. I think I knew too that Tobias would be leaving us, leaving me. What choice was there? He had to get out. In two years, I would do exactly the same. Just two years…

I was cooking dinner when he came home, worse than a raging bull. The door slammed open, impossibly loud in the reserved Abnegation settlement. Any noise he made would be muffled by the thick concrete walls surrounding us.

"You!" he roared. I whirled to face him and dropped my head submissively. It hadn't been long since I'd been beaten, but the last one hadn't been too terribly severe. Tobias protected me; he always had. I knew I would not be so fortunate this time, or likely any time again, and fear suddenly seized me, making me unable to move. "You did this, you ungrateful, selfish devil of a child!"

"I apologize, Father, but please… I don't understand," I replied meekly. It was a lie, an act, but not one I felt at all sorry for. Meek, quiet, unassuming. These qualities were the only things that saved a child of Marcus Eaton. He didn't even yell and berate me further, never a good sign. Instead, he stripped the wide, dark belt from around his waist and grabbed me by the hair without another word, forcing me over the nearby grey wooden table.

As the first lash fell, she woke with a stifled yell. She didn't have to finish the nightmare to know what came next. It was written in her skin in vicious red scars and years of pain. That night had been the worst beating she'd ever remembered receiving; worse even than the blows that inevitably fell on both Eaton children when one would step in for the other. She'd been unconscious before he finished with the lashing.

Selfish.

Ungrateful.

Wasted space.

Useless.

Stupid.

These were words she was familiar with, words she'd known even as a small child. Words she'd let define her for too long. It was no surprise that she would dream of that beating today, given what day it was. Two years ago to the day, Tobias had left her. He'd had to do it, she knew that, but the intervening two years had been… hardening. They had sharpened her like a whetstone without the guard her brother provided. And there was a part of her, no matter how hard she tried to bury it, that was angry. Angry at Marcus for being a weak, cruel man – angry at Abnegation for ignoring it, whether willfully or because they truly didn't see – yes, angry at all that. But also… angry at Tobias. Her beloved brother. Most of the time, she missed him desperately. Other times… only the darkest times, she hoped she would never see him again. She didn't know what to do or say when she did.

They'd been inseparable for fourteen years, her entire life. They'd protected one another, healed each other, comforted through the pain. And he'd left. The leaving she could understand. Even his choice of Dauntless made perfect sense, but why cut her off? Why leave her helpless and alone with a known monster so completely. No contact for two years. She hadn't seen his face, hadn't heard or spoken his name. He was seen as a traitor in Abnegation, almost universally. The leader's son, who'd left their unselfish ways to pursue a life of violence. Unspeakable.

The thoughts tumbled around her head as she dressed herself in her Abnegation grey, prepared breakfast for her father, and left to walk to the Hub with food in her pack for the Factionless she would pass on the way. She knew better than to eat any of it herself. Her father would come later in a car, but in the meantime she would enjoy the semi-peaceful walk.

Choosing Day again, and this time her own. Her test was fairly normal and expected. Abnegation. There was one advantage, she supposed, to having a leader for a father. At least she knew the right answers to keep him appeased. To keep them all appeased until she gave them her final choice today. And she knew what that choice would be, though Tobias would not be happy about it.

His final words echoed through her ears on the silent walk to the Hub. "Don't follow me where I'm going, sister," he'd said so solemnly, "Go where you will be happy. That is all I ask of you. Be happy."

But could she do that? She wasn't even sure if she was capable of happiness anymore.

The names of other sixteen-year-olds were called one by one in the gentle parody of her father's voice. She searched desperately for a familiar dark brown head in the crowd. He looked so like a younger, softer version of their father with his eternally messy hair and sharp features. Was he taller? Surely he'd at least put on some muscle, although he'd never been scrawny like she was. He was built like their father. Unlike her brother, she had her mother's curly black hair and petite build. Both Eaton children had the cool, deep-set eyes of the Abnegation leader, but Tobias' were a dark, rich blue where his sister's were the palest shade of grey, like their father's.

She was disappointed, though rather unsurprised, when she couldn't find him. Did he remember what the day meant to her? Did he even care? What if she got there and he didn't even recognize her? She looked worse than the day he left at this point. Or, at least, she suspected she did; it was hard to tell without access to a mirror.

The list of names continued to pass. It was hard to focus with so many people around them, so many whispering voices and shuffling feet. Finally, it was her turn. Her name was called, and she made her way on incredibly unsteady legs to the front of the room, five bowls standing before her.

Marcus was still glaring at her as she defiantly glared back for the first time since her brother left, and squeezed her bleeding hand over the fiery coals in the brazier on the end.

She was Dauntless.

"So…" a voice said to her once they were safely on the train, as one of the other Initiates slid down the metal wall to sit beside her. It was the dark-skinned, Dauntless-born boy who'd explained how she had to get on as they ran toward their customary mode of transportation. "Two Abnegation transfers to Dauntless in one year. Has that ever happened before?"

"Of course it has," another voice said, this one belonging to another transfer. Erudite, if his know-it-all tone was anything to go by. "Although not in…" he appeared to think for a moment, "at least two decades."

"Well, I guess we just like to be different then," the other Abnegation girl cut in with a wry grin. Beatrice Prior. Her father was one of the leaders in their Faction, working under Marcus.

"Does Abnegation always spit out such scrawny little girls?" one of the bigger boys teased good-naturedly, earning a snicker from the others. He was dressed in the black and white of Candor, so his blunt question wasn't really out of place.

"Hey now," Beatrice snarked, "at least introduce yourselves before you start picking on us poor little Abnegation transfers." She hadn't lost the grin since they'd started running.

"Uriah," the first boy to speak said with a nod and a charming smile.

"Will." The Erudite boy who'd answered Uriah's question.

"Beatrice." Abnegation.

"Al." Candor. The one who called them scrawny.

"Christina." Candor.

"Edward." Erudite.

"Hey, you gonna tell us your name?" Edward asked the only girl in their little circle who continued to stare out the window. She hadn't said a word, except to thank Uriah for his advice on getting on the train, since she'd made her decision. Her mind was firmly fixed on Tobias. Would he be at the Dauntless compound? Would he be angry with her for disobeying, for following him?

"Lilliana," Beatrice supplied when the other girl didn't speak up. "Her name is Lilliana."

"Eaton?!" Will demanded. "The Abnegation leader's daughter? I thought we'd misheard when the news reached us at the back of the line."

Lilliana replied with a jerky, hesitant nod. The conversation continued around her as the train sped on. Dauntless-born and Transfers alike were nervous for this new adventure, although all were excited as well. She found, despite the new found freedom to be allowed to speak and even to ask questions, that she had nothing to say. The other Initiates around her seemed kind enough, but had they ever noticed the meek little girl hiding in the corner of the class before? Had they ignored her bruises like the rest of Abnegation? Had Beatrice, from her own Faction, ignored her pain? Or had she simply not known?

"Up you go, Transfer," Uriah's voice interrupted her musings after what felt like an impossibly short time. He was kind as he pulled her to her feet by her arm, but his grin had been replaced with a contemplative, questioning look. Who was this little Abnegation who didn't speak? He knew she could speak – she'd thanked him verbally as they ran for the train – so why was she so unwilling? He had her name, but nothing about her made sense. The other Abnegation transfer didn't seem to have a problem voicing her thoughts. "Come on, we have to jump."

Lilliana glanced out the open door, to where she knew they would have to land on the roof if they wanted to make it into Dauntless. Uriah still had a hand on her arm, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. When was the last time someone touched her without the intent to cause pain? Abnegation didn't do physical contact, and she hadn't had any friends anyway. Tobias. Tobias was the last person to touch her gently. Her eyes were locked curiously on the dark hand on her grey sleeve. Why was this boy being so nice?

"Alright," was all she said to him, and he dropped his hand to move toward an open door with the girl behind. The jump looked much wider than she thought it really was. Heights didn't really scare her, but even the Dauntless-born looked a bit worried now. Jumping from a moving train over a seven-story drop. Sure… why not?

Before she was even aware of what was going on, she was tucking and rolling on the gravel covered rooftop. She didn't rush to the wall like the others when she heard the scream that signaled one of the Initiates falling. She didn't have the energy left in her. There was an Amity boy still on the train as well. Two down already. What new nightmare had she signed up for? It took only a fleeting moment for her to decide that at least this pain and danger she could control. It was her choice now.

She didn't listen as Max, the leader who introduced himself at the edge of the hole, told them what was expected. There was another man next to him, this one much younger, but she didn't much care about him either. The adrenaline of standing up to her father was wearing off, and now she really just found herself ready to fall into an exhausted sleep. Her back throbbed and burned, her head ached, and she felt a little light-headed. The only thing more important than sleep to her at this point was finding Tobias. Beatrice stood on one side of Lilliana, and Uriah on the other. She wasn't sure if it was because they thought she might fall, or because they both wanted the comfort of another body close, but they pressed shoulder to shoulder with the smaller girl, making her want to squirm as she felt their warm weight against the fresh lashes on her skin.

An instant later, a hand was in hers, squeezing for mutual encouragement, and then Beatrice was gone, moving forward to volunteer to jump first. More jumping? Lilliana still couldn't muster the energy to be frightened. There were more frightening things in this world than a test of bravery that couldn't possibly be designed to kill. If it was, Dauntless would be an endangered faction.

"You ready?" Uriah asked, once Beatrice was down the hole. "Or do you want to wait? It will look better if you go sooner."

"Sure," she replied, moving forward. She was only mildly surprised when he didn't let go of her hand, earning a raised multi-pierced brow and a smirk from the younger of the two leaders in front of them.

"Let's let the other Stiff go next, Eric," Uriah said flippantly, finally releasing his grip, albeit reluctantly. He wasn't sure what it was about this emotionless little girl, but something was off, and he wanted to know what. He felt protective, which wasn't exactly out of the norm from him, but there was more than that. She didn't make sense. The deprecating name didn't even register with Lilliana; nor did the wave of snickers from most of the others, and sharp protests from her new acquaintances. A small, almost menacing grin was what met the request.

"What's your name, little Stiff?" Eric asked, his eyes glinting coldly. She didn't answer, and the menacing grin turned into an even more menacing scowl. "You answer when one of your leaders asks a question, Stiff," he snapped, moving forward a step. Uriah poked his new friend in the shoulder a bit roughly, and she only barely contained a wince in response.

"Lilla," she said in a monotone, matching Eric's cold look with one of her own. Shortening her name came naturally. She'd never liked hearing the long version before, and Tobias had always called her Lily. She couldn't quite bring herself to use that, but Lilla would work. Uriah almost wanted to roll his eyes and tug her hair sharply in warning. Don't bait Eric! he thought almost desperately, Of all the leaders to bait, she just had to choose the cruelest, most vicious one they had…

"Well then," the young leader sneered, "I suggest you jump soon if you don't want to be thrown off." He wore a predatory smirk. "I might just miss the hole if I have to do that." He leaned over to whisper dangerously in her ear, "Splat."

"Sure." Without another word, Lilla stepped up to the edge. She kept one eye on Eric, her instincts too well-honed to take her attention completely from a threat like him. The black hole beneath her opened its maw, ready to swallow her. For the first time, she found herself hesitating. Whatever was at the bottom, it could be as safe as possible and it would still hurt like hell. Her back was not going to like this…

"Go on then Lilla," Uriah encouraged with another kind smile. Beatrice had taken off her sweater to throw at the Candor boy, Peter, when he taunted her, but Lilla could do no such thing. Exposing her wounds, her weakness, was out of the question. So instead, she just gave Eric a defiant glare, closed her eyes, and jumped.

The wind rushed by as she fell, a freeing feeling unlike anything she had ever felt before. Flying was beautiful, and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt a smile come almost naturally. That is, until her torn skin met the net with no small force. It pulled and rubbed against the lacerations and bruises on her back, as if there weren't several layers of fabric between them, and Lilla climbed out of the net with a cringe she couldn't hide.

"Name," a cool voice said carelessly. She froze. The boy wasn't even looking up at her as she scrambled to her feet, but she knew that messy head of hair. Even if the voice wasn't at all the same, she would recognize him anywhere. There was no mistaking the tilt of his head, his shoulders. She'd bent over him, cleaning up his back countless times. "Name, Initiate!" he snarled when she didn't answer, eyes finally off the list in his hand, but flicking right back down. "Another Stiff?" he groaned.

"L-Lilla," she said, stuttering a bit. For the barest second, she watched as his eyes flew up and recognition, followed by shock, and then anger flashed through them, so similar to her own.

"Out of the way then, Lilla," he said, returning to his cool demeanor as if he didn't know her. "There are more jumpers coming. Go stand with the other Abnegation over there, and wait."

As she moved robotically, Lilla felt her heart shattering. It felt like her brother had punched her in the gut harder than their father ever had. She was mildly dizzy. It was only Tris' steadying hand and Uriah's whoop! as he followed her down the hole that brought her back from the edge of darkness she was about to tumble into. The Dauntless-born pulled himself out of the net and joined the girls.

"You know," he teased good-naturedly, "Looking at you two shrimps in your mousey greys makes me want to see if I could just hold you up in the air until you conceded defeat!" Tris gave him a sour look, but the other girl didn't respond. Even more than her total lack of care she'd displayed before, there was now a broken look in her eyes, only there if you were looking really closely. "Hey," he said, sobering, "What's wrong Lilla?" Tris glanced at her fellow Abnegation, startled. Was anything different than before?

"You okay?" she asked, setting one hand on the other girl's shoulder. Lilla flinched away. It was subtle, but it was there.

"'M fine," she said, her eyes on the floor. Uriah tilted his head to try to see into her eyes. As he watched his new friend, the other Initiates continued to make their terrified, exhilarating way into Dauntless. He thought maybe he ought to join the other Dauntless-born, but he didn't want to leave Lilla. For all her emotionlessness and lack of fear, she seemed almost… fragile. Not fragile in the way Tris seemed, physically - although he thought she probably could use to add some muscle - but emotionally fragile. Lost maybe?

"No you're not," he argued, before looking to Tris, "What happened between when she jumped and when I did?"

"Nothing! She just landed, talked to the guy with the list for a second, and came over here." Her attention turned to the other girl. "Did you get hurt Lillian-err… Lilla? I saw you wince when you got up, but I didn't think it was serious."

"Hurt?" Uriah questioned, running his eyes over her again. She did hold herself as if bracing for pain, but he didn't think that was anything new. Her posture had been like that all day, but he'd sort of assumed that scrunching in on oneself was an Abnegation thing. He figured they'd had classes together at school, but he didn't remember either Abnegation girl. Their faction didn't want to be memorable.

"I'm not hurt," Lilla protested, finally regaining some awareness. "Just tired. Aren't you?" The other two looked skeptical, especially Uriah, but they let it go as the final Initiates joined them and the leaders spoke up again.

Lilla watched her brother as he, a woman named Lauren, and Eric took turns speaking, unable to take her eyes off him. He'd changed so much. Never before had she seen him so… cold. So callous. He'd gotten right in Christina's face when she asked too many questions. She didn't remember her brother ever confronting anyone, except to defend her from their father.

Unbeknownst to the new Transfer, her interest in Four (as he'd introduced himself) had drawn someone else's eye. Eric watched the girl watch his former peer. She had a stark, abject look in her eye that he knew well, but he couldn't figure out what put it there. One thing he was sure of, he could exploit it, if he felt like it. What did she want with Four though? And what the hell was such a quiet little Stiff doing in Dauntless? She hardly spoke a word, but looked at him without fear. The lack of fear was not something he was used to. Since his first fight in his own Initiate class, he'd struck fear into his fellows. And this little bit of grey fluff looked back at him as if he wasn't the scariest thing in the world. Who the hell was she, anyway?

"Alright, Dauntless-born with Lauren, Transfers follow Four," he finally said once the rules were established. He watched as the protective Dauntless-born reluctantly left the Abnegation fluff with a final squeeze of her hand. Stupid, he thought of Uriah, getting attached to a sure washout. What's he gonna do when the fluff is Factionless?

Lilla followed her fellow Initiates in continued silence. Without Uriah on her right, the deficit was filled by Edward walking hand-in-hand with Myra, with Will on her other side. Tris had fallen back to walk with Al and Christina. Four spoke little as he led the newcomers to their bunk room.

Though he hid it well, his attention was firmly on his sister. She looked rough, worse even than he remembered. What had their monstrous father done to her in the past two years to make her so… flat? Or was it his, Tobias', fault? Had he broken her when he left her alone, more effectively than Marcus' beatings had? He wasn't sure he really wanted to know the answer to that. It was too late now. Rage boiled in him as he thought of his baby sister in the harshest Faction with him. He'd come here because he wanted to protect the innocent, and to escape Marcus. So why had she? Why couldn't she have done as he asked, and gone to Amity? She deserved that sort of kindness in her life, but he didn't think she'd find such a thing here.

Damn it, he thought, What the hell do we do now?