Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Divergent. It's world and characters belong to Veronica Roth. But all the OC's I introduce in this stroy are of my own imagination and brought into the world with love and appreciation for such an incredible concept for a futuristic society.

A/N: This follows a little closer to the movies than the books since I have actually still yet to read them. That means that Dependents take their Aptitude Test and choose their Factions at age 18 instead of 16. It has been two years since Eric and Four went through their initiation into Dauntless, making them both 20 years old. Eric has been a Dauntless leader for a year now, and has earned quite a reputation in that time. There is no Tris and no Erudite conspiracy in this one, folks. Just a lot of angsty fun!

Anyway, please R&R because your support keeps me going! :D

"If you're worried that your father and I will be angry you're going to transfer, you shouldn't be."

The voice coming from the doorway startled me, violently jerking me out of my own thoughts as I studied my reflection in the full-length mirror on my bedroom wall. I had been fiddling with the hem of my white jacket, a stark contrast to the otherwise solid black ensemble I had chosen to wear today. I turned my head and watched my mother cross the distance between us so she could wrap her slender arms around my shoulders. I hugged her back, my breath ruffling her dark brown hair. Inside, my stomach still squirmed and twisted itself into knots, even when she pulled back and placed her hands on the sides of my face to smile warmly at me.

"We know you're choosing Dauntless today, Veronica. We know it's where your heart truly wants to be. It's why we agreed to let you get a head start in your training to pass your initiation. So, please, my little one, don't for one second think we're anything but supportive in your decision."

My mother. Bless her. So many parents push their children to choose the faction they were born in. So many are heartbroken or angry when they don't. But not my parents. They've always supported me, never held back their true feelings from me. I suppose part of it was because we're Candor, and everyone knows Candor are always truthful. But I've always known the other part was because they're my parents. So I never lied to them, and I always trusted them to never lie to me.

"Thank you," I whispered, trying so hard to fight the tears that were coming. I would miss my parents dearly. That was undeniable. But I was excited to start my new life in Dauntless. To be where I knew I belonged. "I'll make you both proud of me. I promise."

"Oh, little one," my mother sighed through the smile she still wore, tucking a dark cur behind my ear. "We're already proud of you. You knew where you belonged before anyone your age did. And you made a sound case when you came to your father and I. We've always been proud of you, Veronica."

My smile became more confident at that. My posture straightened proudly once more. I was so lucky to have parents like mine. No. To have had parents like mine, I mentally corrected myself. Because in just an hour, they wouldn't be my parents anymore. To the rest of the population, they would just be members of a faction that wasn't my own. Because I would be Dauntless instead of Candor. But in my heart, they would always be my parents. And I would always do my best to make sure they stayed proud of their Dauntless daughter.

The ceremony had went smoothly enough. I watched others make their choices, and when my name was called, my parents stood with me, each hugging me and whispering their assurance of love and pride before I descended the steps of the seating area and made my way up to the podium. I didn't hesitate to take the silver blade laid out on the white napkin in front of the bowls representing the factions and make a small cut into the meaty part of my palm. I reveled in the sense of pride and joy as I held my hand over the red coals of the Dauntless bowl, and my heart swelled nearly to the point of bursting when the Dauntless crowd erupted in cheers as the host called out my new faction. I looked back at my parents as I moved to go join the rowdy mass. Unlike a lot of people I saw whispering in shock or disapproval, they smiled and clapped in approval.

When the ceremony was over, we all rushed out of the building. Even I couldn't help whooping as I ran with the other initiates of my few faction. I was pretty sure I took several Dauntless-born by surprise when I passed them on the way to the rail supports for the train line and started up the steel framework without questioning why. Sure they were supposed to be a sort of family to me now, but I wasn't here to play around. I was here to prove I had chosen the right place for me to be.

So when the ones to the right of me started running as soon as the train came into view, I started running, too. Three Dauntless-born jumped inside ahead of me. After I followed suit and received my congratulations from the others, I had to quickly leap to my feet to avoid getting rolled on top of my another initiate- a surprisingly stout Amity boy with blonde hair I had yet to learn the name of. I kept tabs of the others as they boarded the train. It seemed as if all of the other initiates had mustered up the courage to get on the train. Unfortunately, when we reached the building we had to jump to from the train, three chose not to out of fear. Now they had to wait until the train stopped to get off. And they would live the rest of their lives as Factionless.

My landing wasn't exactly graceful, I had to admit. I took a running leap just like everyone else, even managed to tuck and roll as I hit the gravel on the rooftop. But I'd scraped my palms on the sharp rocks and my jacket was now smudged with dark dirt. Not that I cared much. This was the last time I'd ever wear my Candor clothes. After today, it was all Dauntless uniform for me. Laughing from the adrenaline rush of the afternoon, I quickly slipped the elastic band off my wrist and pulled my dark curls back into a high ponytail as the Amity boy landed in a head of limbs and flying rocks beside me. That only made me laugh harder, and after the fear left his eyes when he looked up, he started laughing with me.

"INITIATES! GATHER UP!"

A loud voice broke through the scattered cheering and laughing, drawing everyone's attention the the other side of the roof where a guy was standing on the far ledge with a few other Dauntless members standing below him on his sides. I reached my hand out to the Amity boy, and we pulled each other up in a clean, swift movement. I flashed him a grin as surprise took over his face at how much stouter I was than I looked. It was nice to see that my early training was paying off so quickly. He looked like he was about to say something, probably to introduce himself, but they guy perched up on the edge of the building continued his little speech as if he owned the place.

"I'm Eric," the deep voice boomed again. "I'm one of your leaders here at Dauntless."

Well, shit. He pretty much did own the place. My attention snapped up to him immediately. Tall, broad shouldered with short blonde hair, gauged ears, two black stones over his right eyebrow, and tattoos on each side of his neck that went down passed the collar of his black shirt. He looked very intimidating, and also just a touch on the hot side of the spectrum. If you found intimidating sexy. Which I learned in that very moment that I was apparently one of those people who did. Shit.

"If you want to enter Dauntless, this is the way in. And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong with us."

Transfers started looking at each other like this guy was insane. Dauntless-born just grinned and nudged each other with their elbows. But no one said a word. Eric apparently took this as a sign that we'd all jump. He folded his arms across his chest, making himself look even more intimidating. My mouth watered at the sight and I had to force myself to look away from him. This was not going to be as easy as I thought if I was going to be getting distracted by one of my leaders every time I saw him.

"So... Who's first?"

Now everyone started to look around, quietly waiting for the first idiot to volunteer. And if I had only thought that Eric's face looked cold and intimidating before, I was quickly shown a new level when no one immediately spoke up. I swear I even heard a growl rumble in his throat as he shifted his weight onto one leg.

"Really? No one? So you all want to be Factionless, then?"

The competitive spark I'd always felt inside lit up. It was time to make an impression. I stepped forward, slipping between two Dauntless-born. My voice didn't waver despite the flips my stomach had started to do. It honestly shocked me just as much as the others. A couple of the guys standing beside Eric even looked slightly impressed.

"I'll do it."

Someone patted my back as I passed by. A few clapped. A couple popped off with words of encouragement and support. I yanked off my dirty white jacket and tossed it to the side as I approached the ledge and Eric hopped down. Catching his face as I stepped beside him, I thought I saw a bit of softening in his features for a split second. I peered over the ledge. There was a giant hole in the roof of the building below, plenty of room for someone to fall through. I couldn't see into the darkness of the hole, but something told me that these guys wouldn't be making their own initiates jump to their deaths on day one.

I heard Eric huff quietly beside me as I climbed up on the ledge. He was clearly annoyed by how long this whole process was taking. But honestly, telling people to do something without giving them all the information on the subject was pretty nerve-wracking. My stomach was still in knots from the mere mention of having to jump, and now that I'd seen what I was jumping into, it hadn't gotten better. But I wasn't about to let this stop me. So I jumped, twisting my body at the last second so that everyone could see the grin on my face as I disappeared over the ledge with my arms spread wide like I was about to take off flying.