Dauntless

by tvmovie

This is a story that takes place ten years before the events of the first Divergent book. The story follows a girl and her friends who have faith in the faction system, as they live a life full of adventure, laughter, and passion. Please comment and review.

"T, earth to Tamara."

"Yeah?" I mumbled. Snapping out of my haze.

"You were staring into space…again." Gabrielle said, her natural layer of sass mixed with concern shining through.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, but she could tell I wasn't being completely honest. Best friends can tell those things about one another.

Gabrielle faced back towards Shane and Josh to continue their conversation, as I looked back out at the filled cafeteria we were eating lunch in. Gazing out the glass walls I could see the tall buildings of Chicago, some crumbling and vacant. Others still slightly intact. Chicago has been our peoples home for years. Separating us from the dangers lying outside "the fence". This society they've built, is what we call home.

The cafeteria is filled with long tables, all seated with students.

In the back sit Amity, dressed in flowing red and yellow colors. The gracefully eat their food, which they probably grew, while talking quietly and laughing with one another. they are way to happy. They are the peacekeepers.

On the other side of them sits Abnegation, dressed in simple grey clothes. They sit quietly with their heads bowed, only looking up once in awhile to make polite conversation with one another. They are the selfless.

In front of Abnegation sit Erudite. They wear formal clothes, mostly blue and for some reason they all choose to wear glasses. Either they have really bad eye sight, or they think it makes them look smarter. It doesn't. Most of them have a book with them flipping through it. Those who aren't reading are talking to anther Erudite, about what they're reading. Life of the party. They are the knowledgable.

Across from them lies Candor, dressed in regal black and white. They all seem to be deep in conversation, about who knows what. They are the honest

And at the end, theres us. Dauntless. Dressed in black with an array of crazy hair colors and tattoos. We speak loud, laugh louder. We are the brave. The courageous. The protectors. This is my home.

In front of me sits my best friend Gabrielle, chatting with me two other best friends Shane and Josh. Probably laughing at one of Josh's stupid jokes. Down the table a little further sits my cousin Alec, grinning at the two girls he's talking to. My cousin Alec, everyone, the flirt. And right beside me is Ian. Unlike the rest of us rowdy kids, he is sitting silently his eyes fixed in a book. Not exactly dauntless like. I look around at all my friends, people I've grown up with. We all laugh and smile, but you can feel the uneasiness in the air.

Tomorrow, we take "the test". The Aptitude test which will tell us which faction we fit in. Abnegation, Amity, Erudite, Candor, Dauntless. And the day after is the choosing ceremony, where we choose which faction we want to spend the rest of our life in. You can choose to stay with the faction you were born into, or choose to transfer to another faction. It's the most important choice we'll ever make in our life. Faction before blood, right?

Walking down the halls of the dauntless compound, I can hear footsteps echoing all around me.

"So we were all thinking of meeting up later at the spot, you in." Said Josh, slinking along beside Shane as all 4 of us, Shane, Josh, Gabriellle, and I made our way through the compound to our homes.

My friends and I have been meeting at "the spot" for years almost everyday. It's a place where we could be away from the noise of the pit and just relax. I love it there, but today I'm just not feeling it.

"Nah, I think I'm just gonna head home." I answer.

"See ya tomorrow then." Shane says. Then I hug both Josh and Shane as they head off in the direction of their respective homes. We aren't normally touchy feely people, but because the test is tomorrow, it just felt right.

I face Gabrielle before she heads down her hallway, whereas mine is farther down.

"I know we're not supposed to talk about… the test, but I just want you to know no matter what, we're still best friends."

I smile sadly, "Always have been, always will be." she nods.

Gabrielle and I have been friends since we were a few months old, her 8 months older than me. We played together, trained together, everything together. She was there for me when my parents died. The test, the ceremony, those are the few things we have to do apart. I pull her in for a hug, and we both hold on tight. As she walks down her hallway, it sucks to know this could be one of the last times we see each other.

I'm making my way home when I run into Ian. Literally run into, because he had his nose stuck in a book.

It shocks me that my first thought is, "you could at least pretend to be dauntless." but i say nothing.

"hey," he says, giving me a chaste kiss on the lips. Dating for 2 years.

"I was actually looking for you." he says.

'Then maybe you shouldn't have been reading while walking.' I think.

Suddenly I'm surprised how angry I am. The choosing ceremony was always supposed to be easy for me. My parents were dauntless leaders before they died. My older sister, Talia, took their spot and I would later take hers.

I am known as one of the best hand to hand combatants in Dauntless.

I like being dauntless!

Then I met Ian. He wasn't a great fighter. Didnt have good aim. Was pretty quiet. He just wasn't dauntless. And everyone knew it, just like everyone knew he was leaving dauntless and transferring to erudite. He is, after all, a genius.

When we met, my parents had just died and he was… comfortable, safe. He helped me with my homework, and eventually we just ended up as a couple…in love. He helped me realize that we could actually make a difference in society.

Be scientists.. or doctors. Be Erudite.

"I just wanted to tell you, I love you. And I can't wait to be with you and save lives with you." he said holding my two hands, speaking as if I were a child. The plan was we would both go to erudite, get married, and change the world. That is the hope I've held on to for so long. The way he looked at me now was safe.

"Me to." I said, hoping he couldn't sense my unsureness.

"Ill see you soon." he said, kissing me quickly and heading in the other direction.

It's hard to know when it's time to let go.

Walking into my room, I was greeted by Alec. Really?

As much as I love my older cousin, all I wanted right now was to go to sleep. To not have to think about the life altering choice I had to make.

"Hey." he said. Alec was tall, with dark skin and black hair. All the girls in dauntless seemed to find him unbelievably attractive. Not me. But then again, we are cousins.

"Hey." I said back.

"I just came by to tell you Talia is gonna be back late, she said not to wait up."

"Ok." I said sadly. Talia was one of our leaders, she was crazy busy preparing for the choosing ceremony and the arrival of the initiates. It was great to know my sister was doing something important, but I missed being able to spend afternoons with her training, talking, just being with her.

"Did you hear about Chris?" asked Alec, slumping onto the couch.

"Who hasn't?" I said sitting beside him.

"We all know Chris sleeps around, but actually getting caught, not his smartest move." I said in regards to the fact that one of our younger leaders, Chris, got caught hooking up with some girl near the tattoo parlor. It probably wouldn't have been that bad, if he hadn't been caught by Cobie, an older leader, and his ex.

"How was today?" I asked.

"Good, just more prepping for initiates and guard duty."

"Oh fun," I joked.

Alec is one year older than me. He chose to stay in dauntless last ceremony, and has been working as a compound guard ever since. I have a reputation for being one of the best fighters in dauntless, so does Alec. I guess it runs in our blood.

Alec's mother is my aunt. After our parents died, she really stepped in to make sure my sister got a high position among the leaders. Alec stepped in as my big brother. He made sure I knew how to kick someones ass in about 50 different ways. He made sure I didn't get myself into too much trouble, and I did the same for him.

"You okay T,"

"Ya, it's just... How did you know staying in Dauntless was right for you."

Alec sighed, knowing we're not really supposed to talk about this stuff.

"I just chose the faction I knew I would never wake up in one day, regretting my choice."

I nodded, even though I was nowhere near understanding.

"I gotta go, I have guard duty tonight." he said getting up and heading towards the door. He turned around before leaving.

"Whatever choice you make T, make sure it's what you want not anyone else," he said, and with that he left.

I paced around Talia and I's home. A small room with a couch and table, then connected to two smaller rooms with a twin bed and desk in each.

Leaders have always talked about how important this choice is. No one ever bothered to mention it was also the hardest freaking choice ever.

I have two options. One,go with Ian live a happy and safe life, or choose dauntless and be a protector. I could always just choose amity and spend the rest of my life running through fields and braiding my hair. I walked back and forth and back and forth my head pounding. Then i stopped dead in the middle of the room. what was I stressing over. The test would tell me which faction I should choose. It just wouldn't tell me if I should choose Ian or not.

Later that night around 1 in the morning, the sound of Talia coming home wakes me up. Usually she peeks her head in to make sure I'm alive then goes to sleep herself. But, tonight she walks over to my bed and sits down quietly beside were I lay, pretending to be asleep. She doesn't move for awhile. Then after what fells like hours. She puts her hand on my head, resting it on top of my curly brown hair. My sister and I look strikingly similar. We both have tan skin, brownish gold eyes, and long, curly brown hair. The only difference is she's always been pretty short and of course looks way older.

"I just want you to know, no matter what, you're my little sister. Thats what mom and dad would want." and with that, a tear slips down my cheek, but she doesn't notice. She eventually leaves, and I am left in the dark.

The next day at school Gabrielle, Josh, Shane, and I all sit in a row of chairs, waiting for our name to be called for the tests. Josh attempts at cracking one of his stupid jokes, but none of us are really in the mood.

Josh and Gabi are called first, Josh gives Shane a fist bump and smiles at me before leaving.

Gabi squeezes my hand, then walks into the test room, the door shutting behind her.

Shane and I sit side by side. The two of us have known each other for awhile. He's a pretty handsome guy with tan skin and wavy brown hair. He's real good with a gun. But the best thing, he's probably one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. Whenever I need someone to talk to who isn't a girl and isn't Josh I go to Shane. We may not be that close, but I know he's always got my back. That's how it is in Dauntless, we may not know each other but we fight for one another.

A little while later Shane and I's names are called. We stand together.

"Good luck." he says. I laugh, he smiles, and we both step into our test rooms.

The room is small, with a fancy chair in the middle and a woman with dark skin, dressed in yellow clothes.

"Sit down, child." she says, motioning toward the chair.

I take a seat, nervously.

She hands me a small cup filled with clear liquid, and attaches electrodes to my head.

"You will go through a series of tests, each test will eliminate a faction until you end with one. Bottoms up." she says smiling.

I smile nervously, examine the liquid quickly, then drink it. I lean back, and close my eyes.

When I open them, I am in the testing room that is now empty aside for two trays in front of me. One tray has a slab of meat, the other has a knife.

"Choose." says a voice. I breathe in and quickly reach for the knife, out of instinct. When I look back, the trays are gone and in it's place is a dog. The dog is big and black, its coming towards me, teeth barred. But before it can even move, I flick my wrist landing the knife right between its shoulder blades.

Suddenly, I am no longer in the room, but on a bus. A man comes up to me, his face hidden. He holds a newspaper up to my face with a man on it.

"Do you know this man." he says.

I have never seen his face before, but something inside me says I do know him.

"No." I say, because I feel if I do something bad will happen.

"Please he's responsible for my problem." he says insistently.

"No." I say, and begin to back away. He then turns and reveals his face, scarred almost beyond recognition. He takes a step towards me again, asking if I know the man. My hand instinctively comes out to punch the man, and with that I wake sitting in the testing room.

I'm breathing heavily, and the woman hands me a cup of water.

"My results?" I ask nervously.

She smiles, "Your results were Dauntless sweetheart, very much so dauntless."

I nod and smile, "Thank you." I say, and she walks me to the back door.

An hour later I find myself wandering passed several wrecked buildings. Everyone else went back to the Dauntless compound, but I needed some time to clear my head. I'm walking the streets alone.

The cold wind starts to slightly blow, so I wrap my leather jacket tighter around my torso. The air is refreshing and I can feel the pounding in my head slow. My thoughts clearing, when suddenly I hear a noise from behind me. I turn around to find a woman behind me, wearing tattered clothes with dirt all over her face and body. Her black hair hangs in clumps. Factionless, I think.

She dropped a bag filled with what look like cans of food. Before I can walk away, I find myself walking towards her and picking up some of the cans. When I hand them to her, she looks at me hesitantly, noticing my black clothes and the butterfly tattoo on my wrist.

"Thank you." she says, bowing her head and scuttling away.

Every time I see a factionless, I wonder how they got there. If not having a place to belong is there fault or societies. And I thank god, I'm not one of them.

As I turn to walk in the other direction, some one calls out behind me.

"That was very abnegation of you."

I turn to find an abnegation guy, wearing a gray coat and pants. He's probably 16, same age as me. His skin is slightly pale, his hair is short and brown, with a slight curl. And what is very clear, is that he is very handsome. A kind of boyish, cute, dreamy handsome.

"And this is very dauntless of you." I say with my normal amount of sass, hoping he didn't notice me staring.

"What is?" he says, and I can tell he sees my surprise when he keeps talking. He is abnegation after all.

"Talking to me." I say. He laughs.

"I'm Jace." He says. I hesitate then reply, smiling.

"Tamara."

"Nice to meet you Tamar."

"You too, well.. I should go." I say heading away.

"I'll see you around." he says, grinning.

"I doubt it," I answer,

"You never know." he says before flashing another grin and walking away.

As I head toward the train tracks, I can't really help but smile.

The next day, I walk surrounded by a sea of people dressed in black as we make our way into the Hub.

I was able to talk to my friends the night before, but we all just avoided the subject of the choosing. I hadn't seen Alec or Talia since the day before because they were both busy preparing for the initiates arrival, and now we are all headed to the ceremony.

Gabi and I take our seats, in front of us sit Josh and Shane. And in the very front sit Talia, Alec, and Joseph, the head leader of Dauntless. He stands tall with his dark tan skin and curly black hair. He has this aura of him that you can't help but respect.

I've known Joseph since I was a baby. He was close with my family, and after they died he helped my sister and I as much as the guy who runs Dauntless can.

This year Amity is hosting the ceremony, and their leader steps up and begins talking about how the choice is important and the society we live in is the most efficient, blah, blah, blah.

Then one by one each leader comes and places a big round bowl in the front.

Stones for Abnegation.

Soil for Amity.

Glass for Candor.

Water for Erudite.

Hot coals for Dauntless.

And then the ceremony begins. One by one each 16 year old is called up. They cut their hand with the ceremonial knife, then let drops of blood fall into the bowl representing the faction they choose. You can hear the cheers of those who choose to stay with their faction, and those who transfer. Its all a very joyful occasion. Shane and Josh are called before Gabi and I. They both choose Dauntless, coming off the stage cockier than ever, but also happy. The Ian goes, no surprise when he chooses Erudite. He smiles while he walks towards his new faction, and takes a second to smile back at me.

Then Gabi goes, and she chooses Dauntless as well, coming off the stage beaming.

Then before I know it my name is called. As I make my way towards the stage I pass Talia. She smiles at me, sadly. I pass Joseph who nods to me, and with that I am able to climb the steps to the stage.

I stand in the middle and pick up the knife, making a very non surgical cut on my hand. I stand in between the bowl of water and hot coals, blood pooling in my hand. I look at the water, which could lead me to a safe life with Ian, and to the coals which could lead me to a life of danger and adventure.

I stand completely still, unable to move. My head races, heart pounds, sweat appears on my forehead making me wish I could take of my leather jacket.

Then suddenly everything slows. I can hear my mom. I can hear her calm voice, that used to sing me to sleep at night.

"Its okay to choose what you want." she says.

"Its okay to choose who you are."

With that, I turn my hand.

The blood lands with a sizzle on the hot coals. And all I can feel is relief.

There is a roar from the dauntless section. The noise makes me smile. I can tell I made the right choice.

I walk off the stage towards a few Erudite doctors who spray and bandage my hand. Turning to head towards the Dauntless section, I catch a glimpse of Ian's face. He seems shocked, and even angry. But honestly, I don't care. I can't believe for the past two days I'd been stressing about a decision that turns out, was extremely easy. I finally feel like myself.

I walk towards Talia, with a skip in my step. When I reach her she embraces me in a hug, and whispers,

"They're proud of you." Which makes me smile even more.

Joseph squeezes my shoulder as I pass him, and I give Alec a hug. Going up the steps, I give Shane and Josh a high five as they utter things like,

"Thats our girl."

I sit beside Gabi, and before I can say anything she punches me in the arm, hard.

"Ouch!" I say.

"You scared the crap out of me!" she exclaims. I laugh and she joins me. I can't believe I ever thought of leaving.

"Did you see Ian's face?" she asks hesitantly.

"Yeah." I say leaning back, "oh well" I say sassily.

She laughs, "that's the girl I know and love."

She leans back and closes her eyes,

"Wake me up when its over."

I face forward to see the next person being called up, an abnegation named Jason. When he faces forward, I realize it's Jace, the guy from the other day.

He cuts his hand, then without hesitation squeezes the blood onto the hot coals.

The dauntless section cheers loudly.

"Huh," says Gabi.

"Ya," I say, leaning forward to get a good look of him as he is welcomed by Talia and Joseph. They clear a seat for him, but he looks up and sees me. For a moment our eyes meet. When I look away, I remember what he said to me the other day.

"You never know," he'd said.

Boy was he right.

After the choosing ceremony, we leave The Hub with 6 new initiates.

Jace- er, Jason from Abnegation, A blonde girl from Amity, 2 boys from Erudite, and a boy and girl from Candor.

We run towards the train tracks, the 6 new initiates trailing in the back with Talia and Joseph in the lead. As the train pulls closer, you can tell the new initiates are freaking out.

Funny, I've been jumping onto moving trains my entire life, but I never noticed what a right of passage it was for us Dauntless. If you don't have the guts to jump, you don't really belong here. With that, I pick up my speed, grab the handle on the car, and gracefully jump into the moving car, landing softly on my feet.

Behind me, Alec, Shane, Josh, and Gabi jump in. Following them come the rest of Dauntless and the new initiates. Luckily they all make it on without killing themselves.

We all settle in for the ride to the Dauntless compound. The initiates are all breathing heavily. Except for 2 of them, one of the guys from Erudite, who you can tell is trying very hard to look all strong and masculine, and Jace, or Jason… not that I noticed.

I focus my attention on the conversation Alec, Joseph, and Talia are having.

"What do you think of the initiates?" Joseph asks.

"They're good, we've got work to do though." Talia replies, crossing her arms and surveying the crowd. I can always tell when she's thinking because her face gets serious and you can see wrinkles on her forehead.

"Have fun with that." she says patting Alec's shoulder with a smile on her face.

This year Alec and Wade (another leader) are in charge of training the new initiates. Chris and Talia, (2 more leaders), are in charge of training the faction born initiates.

"What do you think T?" Joseph asked, obviously noticing my eavesdropping.

I take a look at the group. They're obviously out of their element, but they're on their way.

"They made it this far didn't they."

"Oh, they've got a ways to go." Alec says. I nod.

I make my way over to Gabi, Shane, and Josh, who are standing near a window. You can see the buildings of Chicago pass by, a mix of crumbling shapes.

"You guys ready for this?" Shane asks.

"What?" Gabi asks.

"Initiation, first the training then simulation, it's a real party." Josh quips.

"Well its got to be worst for them. There's only six" I say motioning towards the initiates.

"I don't get it." Gabi says, confused. Shane smiles.

"Usually we get more transfers, and only the top ten stay. When the number is lower than ten, it's basically sudden death. If you fail one part of initiation, you're out." he says.

"Yikes," Gabi adds.

Ya, Yikes. From what I know, initiation isn't easy. You learn all the basic fighting skills. Then you have to go through a fear simulation. For inborn initiates, we have to pass the fear landscape then we're done. But the transfers have to take a big simulation test to pass.

"Whatever all i want to do is eat and go chill at the spot." Josh says leaning against the train wall. We all laugh. Thats Josh. With his tan skin, shaggy black hair, and big brown eyes you'd think he'd be a total ladies man, but he rather hang with us at the spot. Rather than hang with the girls who drool all over him, if their not already drooling over Alec.

The train ride goes on.

At some point, I notice Jace or Jason talking to one of the guys from Erudite. After the guy leaves, I make my way over, leaning against the wall beside him.

"You really meant it when you said, I'll see you around." I joke.

"Every word of it." He smiles

"So, is it Jason or Jace?"

He laughs, "It's Jace from now on."

"Good." I say, searching his face, "It fits."

He smiles, and even if I try not to return it, I can't help it.

"Everybody up!" Talia yells from the front of the train.

I walk towards her, but first look back at Jace.

"Good luck." I say.

When I reach Talia, I see we are nearing a brick building. Not our usual entrance to the compound. Before I can ask, Alec jumps onto the building. I laugh, different building same routine. Then I jump as well landing perfectly on my feet. More people land beside me, some on there feet, others not so gracefully. Once we are all on the roof, I notice Joseph and Talia must have stayed on the train so they'd reach the compound.

"Okay everyone listen up." A voice from the front says, and It takes me a second to realize that the voice is Alec's. He stands on a ledge, above us all. He looks older, commanding, and in charge. It's weird to see my cousin all grown up.

"Here at Dauntless we believe that cowardice is to blame for the worlds injustices. We believe that peace is hard-won, that sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace. And with that said, welcome to Dauntless." He says, motioning towards the space between the building we stood on and the one next to it. As we move towards the edge, I see there is a hole, with an unseen bottom.

"Here at Dauntless we believe in ordinary acts of bravery." He says smiling.

"So, who's first."

I peer down at the hole. I think of all the possible things at the bottom, water... maybe a net. I look around at the rest of the group. Everyone looks unsure, even Gabi who I've never seen be afraid of anything.

Nobody volunteers. What the hell. I think, and make my way over to where Alec is standing.

"Of course." He says, stepping of the ledge while I step on.

I smile. I do have a reputation. I peer back at everyone.

Gabi gives me a thumbs up. Shane and Josh smile dumbly. I look over at Jace who looks as if he can't believe I'm about to jump off a building. Though when he sees me looking, he smiles. With that I turn around, zip up my tight leather jacket, and jump.

I can feel the wind whip past me, blowing my hair around. For a minute I feel as if I'm not falling, but flying.

Suddenly, I'm no longer falling but hitting a big rope net. I bounce up before landing on my back again. I look up at the ledge I just jumped off of, and realize how high it actually is. I can't help but laugh.

Beside me, someone pulls the net down causing me to roll over. I am then face to face with Wade, a muscly guy with really tan skin. He's tall, about 6''4, with a bald head, and a face that can be really stern but also really sweet. He's one of our leaders, in charge of all training.

"Why did I think it'd be anyone else?" he says laughing.

He reaches up, helping me out of the net. Wade is dressed in normal dauntless clothes, black leather jacket, black pants, and combat boots. Behind him is Chris, another leader, wearing the same clothes but has blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Name?" he asks.

"Really?" I say. He has known me my entire life.

He just shrugs.

"Tamara, but you can call me T." I answer.

"First jumper, Tamara." he yells.

"Welcome to Dauntless."

The first week of physical training is pretty easy. But, then again I've been doing training like this since the day I was born.

Chris goes over all the basics of fighting one on one. Then One on two, and on and on.

While it was easy training for the dauntless born initiates, you could tell it was taking a toll on the transfers. After awhile though, they seemed to get the hang of it.

I spent most of my time with Gabi, Shane, and Josh. Especially because we were all basically living together for training. Alec and Talia were busy with training, so I didn't see them often.

One day during dinner, I was surprised to see Shane walk to our cafeteria table with Jace and the blonde from Amity.

"Ya he's tough, just don't talk back. Do that and you'll get your ass kicked."

"Who's getting their ass kicked." Gabi snarked. Shane rolled his eyes.

"I was talking about Wade."

"Oh, yeah don't talk back, bad idea." I added.

Shane and Jace took a seat in front of Gabi, Josh, and I. The blonde sat on the other side of Shane, introducing herself as Avery. Finally looking at her up close, you could see that her hair wasn't as much blonde as brunette. Her eyes were green, and she had freckles all over her pale face.

"Yeah, well T should know." Josh quipped. With that Jace and Avery both gave me a quizzical look.

"I may or may not have talked back before." I mumbled.

Josh laughed, "You two don't know the legend of T."

"Wait, T as in Tamara?" Avery asked shocked.

"Yup." Gabi said proudly.

"What's the legend of T?" Jace asked. Suddenly, I was very aware that the story about to be told, was very much about me.

"Ok, ok." Shane says, leaning on his elbows so we can all hear him over the cafeteria noise.

"So, 3 years ago, the 4 of us were training with Wade. He was teaching us knife skills, and T over here thought it was a good idea to correct Wade on his knife maneuvering."

Avery's eyes went wide after hearing this.

"So, he tells her to come onto the mat. Then tells a young Chris to come on the mat as well."

"Wait wait, he wanted you to fight each other?" Jace asks, stunned. I nod.

"Yeah, so you have a thirteen year old T, going up against a 17 year old Chris." Gabi adds.

"Oh my god what happened?" Avery asked.

"T just stood there, unmoving. So, Chris throws a punch and T just swipes to the side, the punch barely missing her. Then without hesitation she just kicked him. Right in the stomach."

Shane says happily, on the verge of laughing.

"Knocked the wind right out of him. Totally unexpected." Josh adds, now completely laughing.

"Wow," is all Avery could get out.

Then everyone started laughing.

After awhile Shane and Josh left the cafeteria to get in a work out before lights out.

Avery and Gabi, eventually headed to their separate rooms. Leaving Jace and I alone at the table.

"That's quite the story." Jace says, grinning at me.

"It's not a story as much as it is a start."

"To what?"

"To me becoming Dauntless."

He shot me a confused look.

"The faction we're born in doesn't always define who we are, until it…" I said, not sure what words were to follow.

"Until it is who we are," Jace smiled in understanding

"Yeah."

It looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey," Alec said sitting next to me.

"Hey,"

"Talia wanted me to check in. She feels bad she hasn't been around lately. Apparently, Joseph and Cobie were working on some stuff and needed Talia's help."

"I'm fine, tell her not to worry. Please, I don't want her worrying." I say sincerely. In the past few days, Talia had been pretty much non existent. I knew she was busy with leader business, and I was busy with training, but I did miss her.

"I will," Alec said, standing.

"I'll see you later." He said patting me on the shoulder and walking away.

When I looked back at Jace, he seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just didn't know you and Alec were so close," he said, regaining his composure. It took me a few seconds to understand what he actually meant. And when I figured it out I couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, no, no," I said trying to hold back my terrified laughter.

"Alec is my cousin," I finally got out.

"Oh," he said, eyes going wide.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"A lot of people can't usually tell we're cousins because we don't really look related, but no ones ever…" I said trailing off shivering a little. And rightfully so. Alec wasn't just my cousin, he was basically my older brother. When I was twelve and my parents died, 13 year old Alec stepped in to take care of me.

Jace and I spent the next hour, almost, talking about things like training, the big test coming up, and what jobs we hoped to have in the future. It was nice to talk to someone who was really just now figuring out who they are, much like I was.

The following week of training was tougher. There was a heavy focus on weapons training such as knives and guns. I've always been better at hand to hand combat, knives are easy. Don't get me wrong, I have great aim, but guns just aren't my thing.

The training did go by quickly with Jace around. We sat together during lunch talking about anything and everything. In between training rotations, we'd find each other and walk together through the dimly lit halls of the compound.

On the last day of physical training, Wade and Chris decided it was a good idea to join the dauntless born initiates and the transfer initiates. We all stood around the mat as Wade and Chris gave their last lesson in hand to hand. While Chris was going on about speed and concentration, I noticed one of the transfer initiates whispering to the other.

The guy talking was a transfer from Erudite named Sebastian. His skin was slightly tan, eyes were light green, and hair that was light brown and wavy on the top. He was pretty muscly for a new transfer, wearing a black shirt, black pants, and combat boots.

Jace stood to his right, the other Erudite to his left, and Avery stood slightly in front of them.

"Look at them. They think they're so great because they were born here. I bet I could take any one of them," he was saying. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who heard him, because Wade interrupted Chris mid sentence.

"You know what let's try it out. You," he said pointing at Sebastian.

"Step up." Sebastian gave us all a cocky smile and made his way onto the mat. Wade then peered over to where us born initiates stood, his eyes landing on me. He then looked straight into Sebastian eyes and smiled.

"T, step up."

Everyone in the room went silent, even Chris. Sebastian didn't seem to notice. I stepped onto the mat, and stood across from Sebastian. He surveyed me up and down, from my high laced black boots and black jeans, all the way to my long sleeve black shirt and curly brown hair hanging around my shoulders.

He smiled.

Wade stepped back off the mat, and motioned towards the two of us.

"Well?"

Sebastian got in a ready stance and put his fists up. I stood still, hands at my side. When he didn't move, I raised my eyebrows at him, tauntingly.

He threw a punch from the left, I swiped to the side. He threw another punch from the right, missing again, and this time I kicked him in the stomach. He was obviously in pain, but didn't go down like I thought he would, instead he just swung again, missing of course. He charged toward me, but that, I was ready for. I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his neck, spinning, and forcing him onto the ground. Alec liked to call that my spider move. For me it was just fun.

He was now on the floor, laying on his back, obviously shocked, and pissed.

He got up, which I didn't expect, neither did Wade, who gave me a look that said, "finish it".

Sebastian charged again, swinging his fist. I moved to the side, quickly, grabbing his arm and pinning it behind his back. He fell forward, and I lifted my knee, hitting his face. With that, he fell to the side, blood coming from his nose, basically unconscious. This time he didn't get up.

People on both sides of the mat clapped. I looked over at Jace. At first he looked shocked, but then sort of proud.

Wade made his way onto the mat, standing in the middle beside me.

"Okay then, can anyone tell me why Sebastian lost that fight, beside the fact that T could probably take anyone here down?" he asked turning toward the crowd.

Sebastian was now slowly getting up and wiping the blood from his face.

No one answered.

"Anyone?"

Again, no answer.

"T?" He asked looking toward me in anticipation.

"He came into the fight thinking it would be easy. Probably because I'm a girl." I answered, and we all knew that was true, even Sebastian.

"Exactly," Wade said, making use of this teaching moment.

"The second you walk into a fight thinking it'll be easy, you lose. You surrender. Never underestimate." He finished

The rest of the day was followed by several fights between born and transfer initiates. Gabi fought the other Erudite guy, and won of course. Shane and Josh both fought the transfers from Candor, both winning. Jace fought a born initiate named Ryan, and won landing a punch that knocked him out cold. It was pretty impressive, and attractive.

The next week was, well, horrible. The mental part of initiation consisted of being put in a simulation that had you face your worst fears.

Mine are:

Drowning.

Being burned alive.

Being trapped in a small space.

Being run over.

I was led into a small room by Chris. The room was pretty much the same as the room I took the test in. Plain walls, dim lighting, and a gray leather chair in the middle. While I sat in the chair, Chris put a vial of clear liquid into a weird hand held contraption.

"This is the fear serum. I'll inject you with it, and once you face the fears it'll end, and you will wake up okay?"

I nodded.

Chris injected me with the serum in the neck. I leaned back and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, It was dark. I was laying on my back, when suddenly a small light came on, like a flashlight. That's when I realized I was inside some kind of box. Long enough for me to lay in, but that's it. I banged the top.

"Hello, hello?"

Nothing

"Let me out!" I yelled, my breathing getting quicker. I felt like I was suffocating, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

"Let me out!" I yelled again, banging on the top of the box while I gasped for air.

I remembered what Chris said. It would only need once I faced it. So, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. After a few more breaths I could feel my heart calm, and my breathing slow. When I was finally clam, I opened my eyes only to realize I was in the middle of a field. My hand were tied behind me and I was attached to some kind of stake. Suddenly, the ground beneath me went up in flames. The fire spread everywhere, and I could feel the warmth below my feet. I tried pulling my hands free, but that didn't work. So, I used my hands to grab the loops around my wrists. I pulled them hard enough that the loops came loose freeing my hands, and I fell forward.

Before I could react I was in a glass tank. The bottom began to fill with water from an unknown source. I scrambled to stop the water from flowing, but it kept coming. Stay calm, stay calm I kept repeating. I tried banging on the glass but it wouldn't break. The water got higher, and I floated towards the top of the tank. I noticed the top of the tank was attached by latches. I tried pulling them, but that didn't work. The water almost to the top, I took a deep breath then went under. I kicked the latch, and it didn't come off. I kicked it harder this time, and I could tell the latch loosened. Running out of air and panicking I kicked one last time and the top pooped off.

As I took a breath of air, I was no longer in the tank, but standing on the train tracks. The same tracks I ride on everyday to go to the compound that are high above the ground. All of a sudden I could hear something loud, the tracks began to shake, and in the distance came the train. I tried to move, but suddenly realize my right wrist was chained to the tracks. The train came closer, and I yanked on the chain but it didn't budge. I could feel the cuff scratch my skin, as I began to panic. All I could think was I was going to die. The train was closer now, I had no escape, no way to break the chain. The train came closer, a few yards away. I had to get out. Right before the train came, I realized what I could do. I jumped from the tracks right as the train ran over the chains, breaking them and letting me go. Before I could fall, I woke up abruptly in the chair, Chris standing in front of me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." I said, unsurely, realizing I was sweating and tearing up a little.

"Good job." he said.

"Really?" I said shocked.

"Yeah, best time today." He said. I couldn't really believe him, it felt like hours.

I made my way out of the room on shaky legs. Gabi met me first.

"You good?"

"Yeah, fine." I answered. She nodded, I made my way out of their, and into the cold air of the hallway, sitting against the wall. I put my head in my hands, and breathed deeply. Someone sat down beside me.

I looked over to find Jace's handsome face smiling sincerely at me.

"You okay?" he asked, never breaking eye contact.

"Honestly," I said a tear falling down my face.

"No," I said weakly. Jace moved closer, wrapping his arm around me, and pulling me to his chest. I leaned in, all strength gone, and rested my head on his chest. He kept his arms wrapped around me, as I took unsteady breaths. I don't know how long we sat there, him stroking my hair, and me listening to the calm beat of his heart.

The following week I didn't see Jace much, except during lunch. Actually, I didn't really see much of anyone. After our first session of mental training, we were all pretty shaken up. We mainly focused on training. The once noisy group of Dauntless kids a little quieter. But, that wore off within a few days and we were back to being the noisy and rowdy group we are.

On the day of the big simulation test, I was prepared.

When I found myself stuck in that horrible box, I knew to quickly calm myself down. When the fire was set below my feet, I knew to get my hands free before the heat was to much. In the tank, as the water started rising I was able to hold my breath and kick the top off, not with little effort though. I swear it actually felt like my muscles were straining. When the train came barreling towards me, I knew to time my jump just right so the train would break the chain and not every bone in my body.

Not that that would actually happen, but it felt so real.

Gabi, Shane, Josh, and I all passed our tests. No one talked about what happened to us in the simulation, but there was a sense we knew everything would be okay. Especially because passing the test meant we passed initiation, finally Dauntless.

Now, it was the transfer initiates turn.

As Jace was taking his test, I stood outside, not able to watch. When he came out, he was sweaty and shocked. I wanted to ask him what he saw, but didn't want to push.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so?" he said, running his hand through his hair.

"Did you pass?" I asked, holding my breath. He looked right at me hesitantly. My eyes went wide with the idea of him leaving, becoming factionless. It made me sick to my stomach.

Then he smiled and laughed a little, obviously noticing my terrified face.

"I passed." he said reassuringly. I let out the breath I'd been holding, just so I could punch him in the arm.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his arm with exaggeration.

"You scared the shit out of me." I said. We stared at one another for a little. Then, just burst out laughing.

That afternoon was filled with celebration. We spent the evening, dancing around The Pit, celebrating the fact that we were officially Dauntless. We were also silently mourning those who didn't pass, and were now factionless. One dauntless born, hadn't passed the mental initiation and was sent away. The girl from Candor and boy from Erudite, named Carmen and Mark also failed. We weren't supposed to talk about them, but that didn't keep us from thinking about them.

A little while later I found myself standing on the balcony above the pit, watching Gabi and Avery be carried around by the crowd. They were both laughing contagiously, their smiles bright.

While watching them, Jace sidled up beside me.

"Hey."

"Hey," I replied.

"You know, I've been hearing some crazy versions of that you versus Chris story." He said smiling.

"Really, like what?"

"Someone said you two had to fight with knives, and you stabbed him. Apparently, he almost died." He said tauntingly.

I laughed. The idea of me stabbing Chris, a leader and friend since childhood, was ridiculous.

"You're kind of a legend." he said.

"But?" I said, sensing there was more to the sentence.

"But I heard someone say they were surprised you stayed in Dauntless," he said, hesitantly. I sighed. I figured Ian would come up sooner or later.

Jace stood silently, awaiting my answer.

"I used to be with this guy, who we all knew was leaving Dauntless. He wanted me to come with him, and for a while I wanted to." I said, slightly shocked with how weird that sentence felt coming out of my mouth. Ian and I had been together for awhile, but not that close. Looking back, all we really did is talk about school. Or he talked about some random science thing I would never understand.

"Oh," Jace said uncomfortably. I shrugged my shoulders.

"With him, everything was safe. Here," I said gesturing toward The Pit filled with cheering Dauntless.

"This is where my parents died. But, this is where I belong. This is who I am." I said, more sure than ever.

"I'm glad you stayed?"

"Me too," I answered, smiling

Jace smiled back, then looked at me sincerely.

"You never talk about them, your parents," he said unsurely.

"Ya. Well, they were leaders, good leaders. Then they got sick with this weird disease, and died," I said.

He nodded, never looking away from me. I looked down at the crowd again, composing myself. I've never really talked to anyone about my parents. Definitely never to Ian. Never even to my best friends, Gabi, Shane, and Josh. Talia and I used to talk about them, but after awhile there wasn't really anything left to say besides that we missed them.

When I looked up at Jace again, he was still looking at me, an unreadable expression on his face. I realized, then, how close we were, his elbow and shoulder touching mine. He leaned his head towards mine, and all I wanted was for him to pull me close and kiss me. Which it seemed he was about to do, when Gabi came up behind us.

"There you are, I found my pick," she said, Avery standing by her side with Shane and Josh behind them. I pulled away from Jace quickly, trying to shake the heat I was feeling off. He turned as well.

"Avery's your pick."

"Yup," she said happily. Avery was very confused.

"You?" she asked. I looked over at Jace, smiling.

"Jace," I said surely. Gabi smiled. So did Shane and Josh.

"Agreed?" Gabi asked looking at the four of us.

"Agreed," we all said, smiling. Jace and Avery now thoroughly confused.

"What's going on?" Avery asked, slightly nervous.

"You two have been given a pass to The Spot," Gabi said happily, the four of us smiling mischievously.

"Where the hell are we going?" Avery asked, obviously annoyed.

The six of us were making our way across an abandoned street within the Dauntless part of Chicago.

"We, are going to this building." I said pointing to the medium height, brick building we were about to enter.

"What is it?" Jace asked. We were now entering the building, but the bottom floor was completely deserted except for the light coming through the windows. Shane turned from the front to face us.

"Two years ago this building was used as a watch tower. They eventually realized it had a bad vantage point, and stopped using it. Now, its the tattoo parlor," he answered.

"And, we're here to get tattoos?" Jace asked, more confused than freaked out. I laughed.

"No, Josh's mom runs the parlor," I answered, motioning towards Josh.

"And, she lets us use the roof," he finished.

With that we made our way through the dimly lit parlor. There were chairs and tables spread out, with blue lights and tattoo sketches on the wall. There were a few people sitting in chairs getting tattoos done.

We reached the very back of the parlor which led to a small hallway and door. On our way we passed a middle aged woman, with tan skin, black hair, and round eyes. She had a tank top on, with tattoos running down her arms. As we passed she smiled at us, quickly patting Josh on the back.

"That's her," he said, with a sweet hint of pride.

We opened the door in the hall, leading to a slim staircase. Up the stairs, we went through a door leading to the roof.

The floor of the roof was covered in small gray pebbles that crumbed under our feet. The brick ledge was about 3 feet tall. In the center was a table, resembling a cafeteria table but shorter, that was surrounded by folding chairs.

They were right to stop using it as a watch tower. One side was completely blocked by the building beside it, and the other three sides only looked out onto The Wall and the abandoned streets of Chicago. While it wasn't the best view, the air up here seemed clearer, and the cold breeze was soothing.

There was one thing that separated it from the Dauntless compound. The quiet. And that was the best part.

The six of us spent the rest of the night up there, talking about the jobs we hoped to get, gossiping about trainers, everything.

It was a really good night.

The next day started off well, but things change.

I spent the morning just lounging around The Pit. Initiates spent the first week after being initiated, pretty much, doing nothing. We were waiting for things to calm down before being assigned to our jobs. We didn't have any training, although that didn't mean we weren't supposed to be training.

Avery and I were sitting on the floor playing cards, when Shane and Jace ran up to us. The looks on their faces were terrified.

"Theres an, uh, emergency," was all Shane could get out.

We made our way towards the infirmary, a big room filled with cots and nurses buzzing around. The walls were white, the floor was marble, with bright lights, and curtains hanging between the beds. At first, I figured Josh and Gabi had the flu or something. When I realized we were making our way to the back of the infirmary, that changed.

In the back of the infirmary was a separate room. The front had windows to look through. Those same windows were now being looked through by Wade, Alec and Talia. When we saw them standing there, we quickly made our way towards them. Shane, Jace, and Avery made it there first looking through the windows. I went to look as well, but Talia stopped me pulling me away by the shoulders.

"T…" she said, trailing off. Her grip on me loosened, as she looked at me sadly. I slowly made my way towards the windows, standing next to Shane. We looked at one another, and the worry on his face pulled my eyes to what lay behind the windows.

In the bed on the left, sat Gabi. There was blood dripping from her lips, from throwing it up, she was sweating like crazy, and here eyes were starting to have a pink tinge in them. One the left Josh had the same symptoms. Symptoms I knew all to well.

When Gabi leaned forward to throw up more blood, I took a terrified step away from the window, let out a sob, and placed my hand over my mouth. Shane turned to face me the same hurt and terrified feeling written across his face.

"No, no, no…" I said looking to Wade, to Alec, to Talia, and back to Shane, hoping one of them would tell me I was dreaming. They didn't. I wasn't.

Some doctor from Erudite had come down to assess Gabi and Josh. She said something about treatment, needing to be moved to the Erudite compound, and it was good this was caught early. At that, I almost laughed. There was no catching this early. This, didn't even have a name.

When my mom and dad got this, it happened over night. One moment there were tucking me in, and the next, they were coughing up blood and, well, dead.

It was decided that Gabi and Josh would be transported to the Erudite facility. Jace, Shane, Avery, and I were allowed to come with. I hadn't said a word. I couldn't get anything out, my mouth felt frozen shut.

"Is this what happened to your parents?" Jace asked as we rode the train towards Erudite.

"They don't know what they're doing," I said.

"Who?"

"The doctors from Erudite. This disease doesn't even have a name. My parents were the first ones to have it. They don't know how you get it, or how it spreads. The symptoms show up overnight, and in days they're dead."

"I'm sure-"

"No," I interrupted, looking him right in the eyes.

"They don't know what they're doing," I finished

When we reached the hospital, Josh and Gabi were already there, being hovered over by doctors. It was hours before we were allowed into the room.

Gabi and Josh were sound asleep.

The doctor stood beside them. She was thin, with straight black hair, and a pointed nose. Her white coat was a little big on her, but her heels made it fit.

"Hi everyone, I'm Dr. Ross, I'll be treating your friends. We are going to start administering the vaccine now-"

"I'm sorry, vaccine?" Shane asked, as confused as I was.

"Well…" she said, hesitating when she caught sight of me.

"After the first case 2 years ago, we started working towards a vaccine, and we're pretty sure we've got it," she said pointing to the clear gold liquid nurses were now attaching to the IV's.

"So, they'll be fine?" Avery asked.

"Yes, they will be," Dr. Ross answered, surely.

As much as I was happy that my two best friends were going to live, I felt like I was going to throw up. While Avery and Shane made their way over to the beds, I ran out of the room, into the wide hallway, with windows looking at Chicago. I kicked the wall, pain shooting through my foot, but it didn't faze me. I began pacing back and forth, when Jace came into the hall.

"Hey," he said carefully.

"I'm sorry, I just…" I tried, motioning to the door weakly.

"I'm so happy they're okay and that no one will suffer this again, but…" I ended, all strength leaving my body as I slumped onto the bench outside the room.

"But it doesn't change the fact that your parents are dead," he said. I nodded. Finally, someone was willing to say it.

I leaned against the wall, sighing.

"Everything is gonna be okay, right?" I asked

"Everything is okay," he reassured. And I really believed him.

The next few hours, Shane, Jace, Avery, and I spent time going between Josh and Gabi, sitting beside them while they slept. They were no longer coughing up blood, and their fevers had gone down. Now all they needed to do was rest. The doctor said once all the symptoms went away, they could go home.

Later on, Jace and I were sitting on the bench outside the room again, while Shane and Avery sat with Josh and Gabi.

We were sitting there peacefully, when I noticed someone in light blue scrubs coming towards us. At first, I didn't recognize him. But, then I could make out his pale skin and blonde hair, realizing it was Ian. He looked smart and serious as always, but also kind of cold. Maybe he'd always been like that.

"Oh my god," I whispered.

"What?" Jace asked. I motioned towards Ian.

"That's the guy," I said. When Jace eventually figured out what I meant, his eyes went wide.

"The guy who you almost left Dauntless with," he said shocked. I nodded frantically, realizing he was coming toward us.

"I can't deal with this right now," I said rubbing my hand on my forehead, bracing myself.

"Put your head on my shoulder," Jace said suddenly.

"What?"

"Put your head on my shoulder, pretend you're asleep,"he whispered. At first I was hesitant, but thinking of the possible conversation I would have with Ian, I did as Jace said. The fact that it was Jace's shoulder also crossed my mind.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, resting them on Jace's torso, and placed my head on his shoulder.

Ian's footsteps neared and he stopped beside us.

"What are you-"

"Shhhh!" Jace interrupted.

"Dude, she's sleeping," he said, irritated.

"Oh, sorry," Ian said, his tone confused, but my eyes were closed so I had no idea.

Suddenly, a pair of heels approached.

"Hey guys," she said sweetly and quietly.

"Hi Doc, you can go in and talk to them, I don't wanna wake her." Jace said.

"Okay, Ian why don't you stay out here, kind of sensitive case, and when I come out we'll go over my charts." she said, walking into the room.

When she was gone, I heard Ian slump into a chair across the hallway.

"Are they okay?" Ian asked, slightly sincere.

"Ya," Jace whispered.

No one said anything for awhile.

"Is it working," I whispered, without moving.

"Shhh, he's staring" he said slyly. I shut up.

Nothing happened for a little, then Jace ran a hand through my hair. I felt chills go down my back. Don't move, don't move.

That same hand trailed down my arm, then down my thigh and rested behind my knee.

Then he kissed me on my forehead. Not for too long, but not to short either. His lips were soft and warm on my skin, I couldn't help but relax into him.

Something sighed and moved, across the hall. Ian I assumed. No offense, but he had no right to be jealous considering he pretty much knew nothing about me.

A door opened, and out came Dr. Ross in her heels.

"Okay, " she said, still whispering.

"They are doing really great, I'm gonna keep them here for observation but they can go back to the compound tomorrow, I just have to check with your leaders." she finished.

"Thank you," Jace added.

"Okay, lets go Ian," she said. I then heard her and Ian, make their way down the hall, away from Jace and I.

"Are they gone," I asked, unmoving, not even opening my eyes.

"Yeah," Jace answered. Neither of us moved.

The following day, we were forced to go back to the compound while Josh and Gabi stayed at the hospital for a few more days. I'd seen both of them in the morning. Gabi was much better, but the meds they had her on made her kind of loopy. Josh was back to being his normal, happy, sarcastic, horrible joke telling self, but his meds were making him tired.

I was just, beyond, glad they were okay.

I spent the day in my room sleeping. All the worrying had tired me out. I couldn't stop thinking of Gabi and Josh. I couldn't stop thinking of my parents. I couldn't stop thinking that every person to get this disease had one thing in common, me.

"Hey," Talia said, peeking through the door of my room.

"Hi," I said, surprised that she was home so early. She sat beside me on the bed, her long, black, leader coat looking very official.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," she said.

"I'm good," I said, smiling slightly.

"Are you?" I asked. She didn't say anything.

"I was kinda, mad," she said not looking at me as the words came out of her mouth.

"Just glad they're okay," she finished.

"Me too," I agreed. We sat there in silence, two versions of the same person. One older, one younger. From the brown, curly hair, all the way down to the fighting spirit.

"I miss them, I know it's been two years, but I still miss them," I said, tiredly.

"Me too, " she said reassuringly, placing a comforting hand on mine.

When she left a few minutes later, my mind began racing. Ever since the day before, I hadn't talked to Jace much. We sat together on the train ride back, but words weren't really exchanged.

I didn't know what to say after he kissed me, on the forehead. It was a small thing, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. About his warm lips on my forehead. About how badly I wanted to kiss him. I've never felt that way before. With Ian it was more a little bubble, where we did homework and kissed once and awhile.

With Jace, it was different. I don't know how to explain it. It only took little gestures and glances my way to set my skin on fire. It was unexpected. So in the spirit of being unexpected, I got up, laced my black boots, and made my way to The Spot.

When I got there, Jace was laying down on the table, staring up at the stars. I lay beside him looking up at the same stars, small specks of light illuminating the sky.

"They're beautiful," I said

"Yeah. They are," he said. When I looked over, he was looking right at me.

Suddenly, he looked away.

"Can I ask you something?" He said, sitting up. I sat up with him.

"Yeah," I said. He laughed nervously before asking.

"No offense, but what did you see in that guy. Seems like he has a stick up his ass," he said, looking at me intently. He was talking about Ian, and it was laughable how right he actually was. I sighed.

"I don't know, with him everything was… safe, easy, uncomplicated," I said, rambling.

"That's not what I want anymore," I said pleadingly. Jace turned towards me, both our feet resting on the table's bench, our knees touching.

"What do you want?" He asked, our eyes meeting.

"I want…" I said hesitating.

"Adventure, laughter, passion. That's what I want," I said surely, the words freeing.

Jace smiled.

"Well, we're Dauntless, that's enough adventure. And Laughter, all we have to do is tell some of Josh's stupid jokes," he said, his smile becoming a handsome grin.

"And passion, well…" He said, pushing some hair out of my face with his hand.

"We can handle that,"

He leaned forward, his hand resting on the back of my neck. When our lips met, its like a spark was lit inside me. At first the kiss was soft, caring. Then, it was like we were underwater gasping for, much needed, air.

My hands went to his neck, pulling him close, while his hands went to my waist pulling me even closer. With that, it finally felt like I was breathing.

The next morning I hopped into Gabi's room, wide awake.

"Well you're happy," she said, suspiciously.

"Well you're annoying, which means you really are better," I joked. She rolled her eyes, in normal Gabrielle fashion.

"Ya, ya," she said, sitting up on the couch

"So why so cheerful, you're not a cheery person. Neither of us are," she said, and I knew how right she was. I slumped onto the couch next to her.

"Jace and I…" I started, but Gabi got going before I could finish.

"Well it's about time," she said. I stared back at her shocked.

"Come on, he's been eyeing you since he got here, and you've been doing the same thing," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm happy for you," she said.

"Thanks," I said.

Together Gabi and I made our way to the training area. It was time to start training on our own, after everything settled down. When we got there, Shane and Jace were sparring, while Avery and Josh were throwig knives at targets. Gabi and I made our way over to the knife throwing area.

"Welcome back," I said, hugging Josh.

"Thank you," he said, throwing a knife that landed right on the heart of the target.

"Like I was never gone," he said cockily. Gabi picked up a knife as well, only slightly missing the heart.

I left them, and made my way to the back of the gym passing Shane and Jace. They were both throwing punches that missed, easily moving around each other. Not fighting as much as joking around.

I wasn't in the mood to spar, or shoot, or throw a knife. So I went to the back of the gym, where there were several cushioned mats splayed out. They went from one side of the gym to the other.

I looked down at my bare feet, up to my black shorts and black T-shirt. Standing at the edge of the mats, I took a deep breath. Then I ran.

When my speed picked up, I jumped into a aerial which led to a back flip, and bounced up to do a back tuck and landed perfectly on my feet. There were all kinds of aspects to good fighting. One of them was being able to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. Flips and tumbling had always been that for me. I was thin and flexible, and flips confused your opponent.

So whenever I wasn't throwing knives or sparring, I practiced different combinations of flips, figuring out how to best get from point A to point B.

It was working pretty well so far.

After a few more goes, and a few failed attempts at teaching Avery, we all congregated at the knife range.

"When are we getting our assignments again?" Shane asked.

"Apparently the leaders have been busy lately, just waiting for things to cool off," Gabi answered, everyone glancing over to me for answers.

"Don't look at me. All I know is that Alec and Talia have been busy." Everyone laughed. We didn't really care about getting our assignments. We cared that we all had a place to call home, people to call family.

The following week was filled with training and just messing around. We didn't hear much from the leaders, so we just stayed back. A few days in, that Sebastian guy I beat up picked a fight in the pit, with Shane. I don't know what the guy was thinking, but Shane pretty much kicked his ass. And face. Idiot.

I spent most of my time with Jace. We talked, just to talk, because we could talk for hours. When we weren't talking we were watching people dance around in The Pit. Me standing in front of him, his arms wrapped around my waist.

I was in my room, laying around, when Gabi stopped by.

"Hey,"

"Hey,"

"I'm gonna go save Avery from embarrassing herself, wanna come,"

"What are you talking about?"

"She has a thing for Sebastian,"

"Ew,"

"I know," We both laughed.

"No I'm gonna chill here,"

"K, see you later," she said, walking away.

A little later, Alec came by for a visit.

"Hi there,"

"Where the hell have you been," I said, hugging him.

"Things have been busy," he said, obviously tired.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, Talia is busier than I am, so I wanted to check in," he said.

"You realize, I can handle myself, right?" I asked, because I could.

"Ya. Can you handle your boyfriend?" He asked. I laughed.

"I think I can. Can you handle the hundreds of girls who fawn over you and yet, are still single?" I asked, making a painfully true point.

"I can handle it," he said.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow," he said, patting me on the shoulder and leaving.

A few hours later, I was in the midst of falling asleep when a siren started going off. It wasn't blaring, but calm and repetitive. The Lockdown alarm.

I got up and opened the door to look out into the hallway. There were people in the hallway as well, wondering what was going on. The Lockdown doors were down, blocking all exits out of the living area. Before people could form any conclusions, Chris walked out holding a horn to speak through.

"Don't worry, everything is okay. It's just a routine lockdown. You are free to roam the living area, but you cannot leave. Not that you could." He whispered the last part, and walked away.

That was all everyone needed to hear, and they went about their business. I did the same and went back to my room. I couldn't sleep though.

There was a knock at the door. I went to answer and found Jace on the other side.

"Hey," I said stepping to the side so he could come in.

We sat down on the couch beside each other.

"Do these lockdowns happen a lot," he asked.

"No. The last time this happened an initiate went nuts and stabbed a few people," Jaces eyes went wide.

"Ya, it took them minutes to catch him. Not hours like this lockdown," I said. We went on talking, and I was suddenly very aware Jace and I were alone together. We hadn't really gotten a chance to be alone since that night on the roof, because we were always training or in The Pit.

"You okay," he asked, when he noticed I'd spaced out.

"Yeah, it's just, we haven't really had time just the two of us in awhile. It's nice," I said smiling.

"Yeah it is," he said, kissing me quickly. Then I kissed him for longer. I through my legs over his lap, and he put his hands on my hips. Our kisses grew deeper and hungrier.

"Adventure, check," he said kissing my jawline.

"Laughter, check" kissing my neck.

"Passion…" kissing my lips again. My hands ran through his hair, while his ran up and down my torso.

He picked me up, and carried me over to my bed both of us sitting down on the bed. I lifted the hem of his shirt, and he pulled it over his head, revealing a broad chest and strong muscles. I ran my hands over his chest, kissing his neck.

"Have you ever…?" he asked, I shook my head. We kissed again passionately. I lifted my shirt over my head, and we fell onto the bed together. Never letting go.

Jace and I were laying together under the covers, our bodies entwined. Jace pushed hair out of my face, like he always did. It was those little gestures that I loved about him. Apparently, he knew exactly what I was thinking, because he leaned forward and kissed me, slowly. When he pulled away, he looked at me intently.

"I love you," he said sincerely. I knew it was soon, but in the past two years since my parents died I'd been, careful. I'd tiptoed around my life, making sure not to fall to hard. That's exactly what I did with Jace. I jumped into the deep end. And I didn't regret it one bit.

"I love you too," I said, meaning every word. Jace smiled, to match the one on my face. We kissed again, falling into it, until we were pulled back by a knock on the door.

"Really?" he said, annoyed.

"I'll get it," I said getting up. I threw on a shirt and shorts to open the door. And, there was Chris.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I need you to come with me," he said seriously. Then looking behind me.

"Both of you," he said eyeing me. I turned around to see Jace standing there in pants, but shirtless. I nodded.

"We'll be right there," and with that Chris left. Jace and I got dressed quickly. Me in pants, black tank top, and black leather jacket. Jace in normal pants, black shirt, black jacket, and combat boots. We made our way to the leaders room, a conference room where the leaders met and planned everything. We were greeted by all the leaders, along with Avery, Shane, Gabi and Josh.

"What's going on," I asked.

"Good you're all here," Joseph said. When the head leader talks, you listen. He stood tall, next to a blonde dressed in blue. It was then that I realized it was the young leader from Erudite, Jeanine.

"The six of you are here because you are some of the best fighters we have, you have a job to do," he said seriously, which made me switch into serious mode.

Jeanine spoke then.

"20 minutes ago the Merciless Mart was attacked what we believe to be a rebel group. Some candor were able to make it out, but it is believed there are more hostages inside. We are going to send two teams in to get out the remaining Candor and deal with the rebels." she said. Rebels were a rare thing. Rare like once in every 20 years.

"2 teams will go in. The first is already readying itself with Alec. The second, you, will be lead by Tamara," Joseph said, looking at me surely. I was shocked, but didn't let it show. I could do this.

"You will go in through the South exit. Any rebels you find, you take down, and any Candor you extract. Understood?" We all nodded.

"Good." he said, nodding to Jeanine, who nodded at us and left. Joseph looked back at us.

"You can do this, I know you can," he said, only looking at me.

Everyone nodded.

"Okay then. T?" He said looking at me expectantly. I didn't say anything for a second, then gathered my composure and set into motion.

"Lets suit up in the arms room, and we'll be ready to move in twenty," I said. Joseph nodded approvingly.

"You heard her," he said. With that we all left. On the way out, Joseph stopped me.

"You're the only one I'd trust to do this," he said.

"I've got it," I said, surely.

"I know," he said, and with that I headed to Weapons.

Weapons is like a candy store. There are guns and knives everywhere. Bullets galore.

"Okay guys, here's how this works. We have twenty minutes for you to pick a weapon of choice and suit up. Whatever weapon you choose is yours. So make sure it's a good one." I say. Everyone spread out admiring the many models and makes. Gabi winked at me.

A weapon of choice is important. You choose the weapon you best fight with, so it's a pretty big choice.

Gabi chose a pistol, and stocked up on a few small throwing knives.

Josh chose a nice shot gun, that he could sling easily over his back.

Avery chose a revolver and a long blade she could keep in her boot.

Shane and Jace both chose machine guns. Boys will be boys.

I looked around the room. On the far wall there was a small set of long sword like blades. Not what I was looking for. When I looked more, I still couldn't find the one thing I was looking for. About to give up, Talia came up to me.

"Looking for this?" she said, holding something out. I smiled giddily. In her hand was a simple metal baton. It was 18 inches long, and about an inch wide. To anyone it seemed like nothing. To me it was everything.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they'd want you to have it. Plus you'll get more use of it that me," she said smiling. Handing over the baton I held it firmly in my hand. While it was metal, it was also light, and very easy to maneuver.

"Be careful," she said, hugging me. After she left, Jace and everyone else was ready and they gathered around.

"What is that?" Jace asked, obviously freaked out my defense would be a 18 inch baton.

"It's a… family heirloom?" I said. With that, I wrapped my hand around the middle, and pressed my fingers down. Light blue circles illuminated where my finger tips were. With that, the baton extended into a full length bo-staff. I spun it in my hands a few times.

"Okay, lets go,"

The Merciless Mart is a tall glass building in the center of Candor. While we approach it at night, the Windows are dark, and everything is silent.

"The plans simple. Go in. Any rebels you see you take down. Any Candor, you help out. Got it?" Everyone facing me nods.

"Good," I say, as we make our way into the building.

The first level of the building is vacant. So are the second, third, fourth, and fifth, besides a few Candor scared out of their minds.

When we reach the sixth floor, I can tell something is off. The dead body at the stairs entrance was a good hint. It was a woman, she lay face down with blood pooling around her.

"Great," I heard Josh say behind me. It was a shock though. We were taught factionless rebels were violent, but not killers.

Something from the far side of the floor moved. It was hard to really see what it was, the only source of light the moon coming through the glass walls.

"Shhh," I whispered, all of us crouching down a little.

Suddenly a bullet whizzed past, hitting the wall beside me. As we all jumped out of the way and found cover, more bullets rained down.

We were also taught rebels made weapons from things they found on the street. I doubt there were guns lying around somewhere.

Shane and Josh started shooting towards where the bullets were coming from, while Jace and Gabi started firing at people moving behind us. Avery and I were crouched behind a flipped over table. I could tell she wasn't scared, as much as she was filled with adrenaline.

"Cover me," I said. She nodded.

I got up heading towards the people Shane and josh were shooting at, who were now coming our way. When the boys noticed I was moving they advanced, making sure they didn't shoot me.

The so-called rebels were nothing like I'd imagined. Instead of being dirty, they were seemingly clean, dressed in head to toe black attire. Baggier than the normal Dauntless uniform. They had long sleeves, pants, boots, along with a mask covering their face with big goggles covering their eyes. Their guns were big, and advanced.

The first one came at me with a knife. I pushed down on my baton, and it became a staff. He swung at me but I dodged it, hitting him in the stomach then the face with my staff. He was on his back now, unmoving. Another guy came ready to shoot, but I kicked the gun out of his hand and used the staff to knock him over. His face met my foot, and that was it.

Another guy came at me by surprise, but fell over after Shane shot him three times in the back.

"Thanks," I mouthed.

Together Shane, Josh, and I took out another six rebels. When we turned back, it seemed Gabi, Jace, and Avery were also holding their own. Then things got screwed up.

A group of about nine rebels came through the stairwell entrance. Before anyone had time to shoot at them, they threw two, small, black devices on the ground.

The devices shuttered, then emitted a blinding white light and terrible high pitched noise.

I couldn't see anything, and my ears were ringing. Just when I thought I was regaining my sight, someone knocked me over the head, hard. I fell to the ground, everything blurry.

Then for a few seconds, everything was black.

My eyesight began to return, blurry. I started to get up, but the ringing in my ears was almost unbearable. When I was able to see, I found Avery lying a few yards behind me and Josh a few yards beside her.

In front of me, I could make out Gabi's crumpled body on the floor. In front of her were the rebels, yelling something I couldn't hear. That's when I noticed they were carrying bodies. Jace and Shanes bodies.

My heart dropped all the way to the first floor. I tried to get up, scream out their names. But my head was throbbing, and the ringing in my ears seemed to be getting louder.

Wake up, wake up, wake up. Is all I could think. Get up, get up, get up. I wanted to scream.

Right before I passed out completely, they were gone.

"T, T,"

"Shit, shit, shit,"

"Wake the hell up," Josh yelled. My eyes shot open and my body shot up.

"Thank god," Gabi sighed.

"What happened?" I asked surveying the scene before me. Gabi was helping Avery up, while Josh helped me.

"I honestly have no idea," Josh answered his face scared and angry.

"They took them," Gabi said,

"They took Shane and Jace," she finished.

"We have to go after them," I said, getting to my feet.

"Ok, first. Everyone good?" Josh said looking around. Everyone nodded. Josh looked to me for acknowledgement, but all I could think about were Jace and Shane.

"Let's go," I said, as we made our way to the stairwell.

When we reached the street, we were welcomed by Wade and two black vehicles.

"Let's go get in!" He yelled. I began to panic.

"We can't, they took Shane and Jace we have to go after them!" I yelled.

"It's being taken care of. Alecs team saw them leaving, they'll deal with it," he said. That didn't calm me at all.

"Dude they had guns, and bombs and shit," Josh said, obviously pissed.

"I know, I know, get in the cars now!" Wade yelled, all patience gone.

"But-" I tried to plead, Wade wouldn't have it. I was forced into the car Josh holding my shoulders tight.

When we reached the compound, I hoped to be greeted by Jace, Shane, and Alec.

"Are they here?" I asked the minute I saw Talia. She looked unsure how to answer.

"Alec is dealing with it, I promise." she said. That was all I could get for now.

"Everyone okay," Cobie a female leader with black hair asked. We all nodded.

"Good come with me," she ordered.

We were given time to put our weapons away, before being escorted to the front of the leaders room. I didn't say anything, none of us did. We were all thinking of Shane and Jace. Please be alive, please be alive.

In front of the leaders room we were met by Cobie and Talia.

"Okay," Cobie said surveying all of us.

"I know you're worried about your friends, but Alec will handle it," she said surely.

"This meeting is with people from Erudite.I know you're tired, but you are witnesses to what happened tonight. That being said, you will sit down, be quiet, and only speak when you are spoken to. Got it?" We did.

The leaders room was pretty filled. On the right side of the long conference table sat Jeanine, with a bunch of other Erudite sitting and standing beside her. On the left sat Joseph, to his left sat Chris and Talia. To Josephs right sat Cobie and Wade. There were no more chairs, so we were told to sit on top of the low bookcase, against the wall. First Gabi, then me, Josh, then Avery.

While I was surveying the room, my eyes landed on a small group of blue dressed Erudite standing in the corner. In this group, wearing a blue blazer and trousers, was Ian. Our eyes met, his face unchanging, cold. I looked away, annoyed.

"Great," Gabi mumbled, noticing Ian as well. I looked in her direction then to the left to find Josh leaning against the wall, his eyes closed sleepily.

"Okay lets get started," Jeanine said, looking at some papers in front of her. A few more Erudite sat on both sides of her, while Ian and the group surrounding him stayed standing.

The room went silent.

"What time was the attack?" Jeanine asked.

"1 am. But wasn't reported for another 20 minutes until a Candor was able to send a distress call," Joseph replied.

"And, you chose to send two teams in, correct?"

"Yes, one led by Alec, that team is still in the field. And another led by Tamara, who's here," Wade answered glancing in my direction. Jeanine nodded. It looked like Joseph was about to say something, when an Erudite guy sitting beside Jeanine spoke up.

"Is it really appropriate for them to be sitting on a shelf during this meeting?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and pointing at us. All four of us tensed, even Josh who was now fully awake. I figured Joseph would turn around and tell us to get up, but he didn't even move.

"I would tell them to get up, but they've been up since yesterday morning. Fighting a rebel attack, and all," he finished, looking the Erudite guy right in the eyes. The guy shrunk back, obviously guilty. Jeanine was unfazed, but behind her Ian had a slight look of shock on his face.

If they really thought we were about to stand up, they were dead wrong.

"Okay then," Joseph ended.

"Tamara, can you tell us what happened when you arrived at the Merciless Mart, " Jeanine asked, looking at me. I hesitated slightly, but Joseph looked back at me encouragingly.

"We arrived at the mart at 1:50. The first through fifth floor were clear except for three Candor who we led to safety. When we reached the sixth floor, we found a dead Candor. We then engaged with about ten rebels dressed in black clothes, goggles, and masks. They fired at us, we fired back and took them down. As we began to make our way towards the stairwell another group of rebels arrived. They through two, black devices on the ground that let out a blinding light and ear piercing noise. All six of us went down, and they got away," I replied, making sure never to backdown from Jeanine.

"Six of you?" she asked, confused. Oh god. Please don't make me talk about this, I thought. Before I had time to choke out an answer, Joseph chimed in.

"Two of our members were taken by the rebels. But I have been informed that Alec and his team found them and they should all be returned safely soon," he said surely. The four of us sitting on the bookshelf let out a collective sigh of relief.

"That's good, good work," she said nodding towards us.

The meeting continued on, both Jeanine's side and Josephs giving their input. I didn't listen to much of what they were saying. I had a massive headache and my eyes were getting really, really heavy. I could tell Gabi, Josh, and Avery were feeling the same.

When the meeting was over we made our way out of the conference room, only to be stopped by Joseph and Talia. They'd just come from speaking with Wade, and both looked slightly happy.

"Good news, Alec's team intercepted the rebels. Shane and Jace are with them. They're safe." Joseph said. The news washed over me, like a weight lifted from my chest. The feeling was mutual.

"They'll be coming through the pit, you can go meet them. Then get some rest, you deserve it," Talia finished, smiling towards us. We turned to go to the pit.

"You guys," Joseph said, we turned to look back at him.

"Good job," he said, proudly, making eye contact with each of us. We nodded, and made our way to the pit.

My feet couldn't move fast enough.

When we reached the pit, there was a crowd collecting on the far side. When they finally dispersed, Alec and his team came through first, followed by Jace and Shane.

"Oh my God," I whispered, beyond glad to see them.

Shane had a black eye, but walked tall like always. Jace had a cut on his forehead, and a small cut on his lip. He still looked handsome. When he saw me, his face lit up and I couldn't help but jump into his arms.

"Are you okay?" I asked, enclosed by his arms in a hug.

"I am now," he said, holding me tighter. I pulled away a little to look at his face. His hand came up to push my hair out of my face, in true Jace fashion.

We kissed then. Right there in the middle of a literal pit. It was amazing. We couldn't get enough. When we pulled apart, he enveloped me in another hug. He whispered hushed I love you's into my ear. We were then joined by the rest of our team. I walked over to hug Alec, tightly.

"Thank you," I said, gratefully.

"Anytime," he answered.

I moved over to hug Shane, beyond glad to see one of my best friends in tact. We all hugged each other. We really were a team.

Shane and Jace were being looked at by a few Erudite doctors while the rest of us relaxed in the pit. Alec had left to get some rest.

It was just us now, and the group of Erudite doctors. One of them was Ian.

I was sitting with Gabi, when I heard Jaces voice a few yards away.

"Excuse me," Jace was saying, angrily.

"Real Dauntless of you getting caught," another voice answered rudely. I then realized it was Ian that Jace was talking to.

"Look who's talking," Jace said, a little louder. I was on my feet now, looking at them.

"Ya, me. The guy who used to screw your girl friend," and with that, Jace punched him right in the face. I made my way towards them, just as Ian regained enough composure to punch Jace. Not as hard, but enough to make Jace recoil a little. Ian began to advance on Jace, about to hit him again. When I stepped in.

I pushed Ian back with two hands, hard. He fell backwards, landing on the ground, obviously shocked.

He got up, wiping his nose that was now bleeding a little after Jace's punch.

"Bitch," he said. I laughed.

"I'd be careful how you talk to a Dauntless," I said sassily

"Ya, we punch first, ask questions later," said Josh.

"Always have, always will," Gabi finished.

We began to walk away from Ian and his Erudite friends, but before we got far, I turned.

"And, I never slept with you. Thank God." I said, making sure they all recognized my disgusted face.

Then we left Ian, never looking back.