( I do not own Divergent)
Ready to Run
(This is a two chapter one shot just letting the characters take over. I hope you enjoy it. Although I have no idea what is going to happen so I will be just as surprised as you.)
The dress felt wrong, the church felt wrong, everything felt wrong. Yet here she stood glaring at her reflection in the mirror while her mother doted on her impending marriage. "Your father and I are so happy that you are happy. Tobias could not be a better match for you." As she heard her mothers words she forced the vomit back into her stomach. They didn't know, they had no idea that in the cover of the dark apartment she was forced to be whatever he needed at the moment. If he needed to let out frustration she was a punching bag, if he needed a release whether she wanted it or not, he had his way with her.
After the first 6 months of them living together is when he began to show his true colors. He was not the quiet Abnegation man that everyone knew him to be. He was harsh in his actions and he threated to end her life if she ever told anyone what he had done. She knew she had one shot, one shot to get away she just needed the opportunity to present itself. Her Uncle Max was the head of Dauntless and no one knew of their relation except her mother who was of course Max's sister. She knew that he would protect by all means necessary once she told him what had been happening she just needed to get away.
"Mom, may I hasve a few minutes alone to reflect, I just need to calm down a little bit." Natalie came over and kissed her on the cheek. "Of course Beatrice we have 20 minutes until the ceremony starts so, I will be back in 18 with Dad to come and collect you." She whispered her thanks as her mother left the room. The moment she heard the click of the door she locked it quickly and flew into action.
Luckily the dress was a hand me down so it was short and she could run in it. She tied her tennis shoes and climbed through the open window. She looked around quickly hoping that no one was lurking and she ran as fast as her legs would take her. All sense of time was lost on her and the bag on her shoulder was weighing her down but she continued to push with all her might.
Within minutes she reached her destination grateful that her mom had taught her and Caleb how to board the train the way that the Dauntless do. She entered the train car and breathed a sigh of relief as she sank to the floor. Beatrice opened the bag that had weighed her down and emptied it of it's contents. After her black attire was out she threw the bag from the train car and it was soon joined by the God awful wedding dress.
"That was quite a show you just put on." She heard coming from the opposite corner of the train. She shrank back until her back was against the wall. "Who are you?" Beatrice asked bravely. She was surprised at herself for even asking the question it was unlike Abnegation to be so questioning, of course she never truly felt Abnegation. "Who I am in of no consequence the question trus is, what do you think you are doing Stiff?" After she flinched and ignored his question she chanced a look out of the door and she could see the rooftop that she needed coming around the bend.
She booked up slowly not wanting to tip her co-rider off as to what she was doing and when the train rounded the corner she began a full sprint amd pushed off from the edge of the train. As her feet hit the rooftop she knew her landing was less than perfect and she ended up on her ass. Beatrice began to rise from the ground and heard when the man hit the room a few feet from her. Her heart pounded as she made her way hurriedly to the ledge to jump into the compound.
She got one leg onto the ledge but was suddenly pulled off when a hand wrapped around her arm. "What are you doing?!" He yelled not letting go of her arm even through her efforts of trying to pull it back. "Let me go!" He gripped her arm even tighter. She was not just some weak stiff her could control so with her free hand she made a fist and punched him square in the nose. She heard the telltale crack of his nose breaking and he immediately released her.
Beatrice once again put her foot on the ledge, and this time thankfully unimpeded made the jump. The feeling of freedom she felt as her body made its trajectory to the bottom was incomparable to anything she had ever felt before. Beatrice hit the net with a thud and rolled to dismount. Jumping down she saw the form of the man she punched in an open doorway 25ft from her. She turned tail and ran as fast as she could. She heard him behind her and luckily because of her small frame and fast feet she reached the elevator first and the door closed just as he reached it.
She made it to the administative floor and once again ran to her uncle's office. She opened the door and flew in uncaring if he was busy. Thankfully he was not and as she reclosed the open door he stood and embraced her. "Beatrice, what are you..." He was interrupted by the door opening once again. She moved behind her uncle no knowing the mans intentions. "Eric, what happened to your face? Another training accident?" Uncle Max laughed but consequently stopped at the look on Eric's face. "No sir, that was courtesy of the Stiff standing behind you."
All previous joking aside Max stepped forward until she was sure he could smell Eric's breath. "Eric, I suggest you find another way to address my niece." The man stepped back muttering apologies. He moved to the corner of the room and Max turned back to her. "Bea..." She held up her hand to stop him. "Tris." She said simply and he crossed his arms not used to being interrupted. "Tris, what are you doing here?" She launched into her story both men, now seated and growing more and more red as her story continued.
"...So I want to reinvent myself and hide her with you Uncle Max. I'm ready to change my name, cut my hair, pierce my face and get tattoos but no one, including my mother can know I'm here." Tris waited calmly as both men calmed down and talked amongst themselves. She grew increasingly worried that her plan was going to fail, that he was going to take her in a car and drive her back home. The more she dwelled the more anxious she got and in moments she found it hard to breathe and her breath was coming in short spurts. It was becoming increasingly harder to focus and she moved to sit down but one step into her endeavor the world went black.
"Tris, please come back." Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed into the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. She heard laughter coming from the other side of her but couldn't fathom why. "What... what happened?" Eric pulled her into a sitting position and looked directly into her soul. "You hyperventillated, and then went down like someone laid you out. We just can't figure out why." Tris racked her brain to try and remember the reason for her freakout.
"I was thinking that you guys were going to take me back to Abnegation and it took me forever to come up with this plan, but there is no way I am going back! So I was freaking out at the thought of being factionless." At this point she noticed a woman with dark hair sitting on the opposite side of the room. "Who are you? No offense Uncle Max but the less people that know I'm here the better." Eric rolled his eyes and seated her in a nearby chair. "Tris, this is Tori, she is here to change your appearance." She jumped out of the chair and threw herself at her uncle. "Thank you, you will not regret it. I will be the best Dauntless there ever was!"
They all laughed at her outburst and Tori stepped forward and once again sat her in the chair. As the woman began to cut her hair she could literally feel the weight lifted off her shoulders. The two men moved chairs to face her. "Are you ready to hear the plan?" She nodded fervently and was rewarded with a smack to the back of her head. "Don't move!" Tori said sternly. "Sorry." She blurted out quickly. "Yes, I'm ready."
"Alright,"Eric said. "first things first, no more Uncle Max because that will give you away faster than anything." Max nodded in agreement and took over for Eric. "You will need to train with the new initiates we are going to tell them that you are in a remedial program due to an unfortunate illness and we are going to tell everyone that you are 18." Eric resumed when Max finished. "The next things we needed to work on were your sleeping arrangements and job position. For work after your "training" you will be Max's personal assistant we figured that would be the easiest to explain because he hasn't had one for years." She laughed at this and was met with another smack. "Living arrangements was a little more difficult to figure out and you may not like it but it is all we have. Eric has a spare room in his apartment that will now be yours. I know it isn't ideal but thankfully he is willing to work with it because of your ability to not only would but evade him this afternoon."
She wanted to protest, she really did but they had already said that there was no where else and she thought it better to nbot argue when they were being so generous. Tori had finished her hair and gave her a tap on the shoulder as she moved swiftly to her bag and grabbed a handful of flat pad looking things and what looked like a gun. "Do you know what this is?" Tris shook her head and waited for the explaination. While she did Tori handed her a book. "Choose any one you want."
She thumbed through the book and grew intrigued by an intricate lace design that would go over her eyes like a mask. "Can I do this one but only on one eye?" Tori nodded and attached the pad and squeezed the trigger on the gun at intermittent intervals. By the time she was finished Tris had 9 tattoos and a short pixie cut that was dyed red and black. To say that she was impressed was a gross understatement, she truly looked like a different person. Tori got her sizes and said that she would deliver a new wardrobe to Eric's apartment when she was finished.
She exited the bathroom that was connected to Max's office and both men stared at her with their mouths hanging open. She smiled shyly and moved towards her uncle. "Thank you for all of this Max, you will never know how grateful I am to you. I hate to ask for anything else but I am kind of hungry." Her statement was punctuated by the sound of her stomach growling. They all laughed and Eric moved to usher her towards the door but she flinched away from him. She gasped as she realized what she had done. "I'm so sorry, please know that it has absolutely nothing to do with you." He smiled and even though it was foreign on his usually intense face, it still looked inviting and genuine.
"Trust me when I tell you that I undetstand completely." The moment the words left his mouth she felt the conviction in them. He suddenly got a twinkle in his eye. "Plus, you think my eyes are gorgeous." He said as he left the room. At this Max laughed. "You better follow him." She felt nothing but mortified as she jogged to catch up to the younger man. "Where are we going?" She asked quietly. "I'm going to drop you off at the apartment and then go to the Mess Hall and get us some food."
"I'm sorry that I am taking your personal space. I know it's not easy to give that up." He waved her off seeming to get more and more grumpy with each person they passed. Every time she turned to look at him his face was more and more agitated looking. She stopped and rounded on him. "Why are you getting so mad all of the sudden? I would rather be factionless that deal with this again!" He reached into his pocket and grabbed something he then turned slightly and unlocked the door. "Get in." She planted her feet and crossed her arms but instead of arguing he wrapped his arms around her and carried her into the room. "Tris, listen, I am not someone that gets along well with others and the people that were passing us just kept staring at you lke you were a freak of nature, probably because you were with me and I was getting angry."
"Eric, they were probably looking at me because they have never seen me before, I am positive that it had nothing to do with you." He nodded quickly. "This is your room." He opened the door at the end of the hall. Moving back up the hall he pointed to another door. "This is your bathroom and the laundry, and this is my room." He said pointing to yet another door. "Please don't enter it unless I expressly ask you. It's not because of you, I am just very particular about my things." She dipped her head in acknowledgement. "I am what they call obsessive complusive so if you take something out please clean it up." With that he was out the door. Tris walked around the kitchen taking in the seriousness of his OCD when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Tori came in with six very large bags. "Where's your room?" Tris walked her down the hall and showed her and she deposited everything on the bed and left promptly. The woman had literally thought of everything. She had sheets, and a bedset, towels, toiletries, shampoo and conditioner and lots of clothes and two pairs of shoes and a pair of boots. Her Abnegation was beginning to show and as she opened the final bags she was sobbing. It felt like she was crying for hours before she was ensconsed in two strong steady arms. She curled into his neck and continued releasing the stress of the last year.
"Shhh..." He said as he stroked her hair. "You're safe, you're here with me, I will protect you." She slowly began to feel herself calm down, his scent and words were soothing. "You... don't... even... know... me..." She said gently between sobs. He placed his hands on either side of her face. "I know that you're not going to understand this, but from the moment you punched me in the face, I was yours." Tris scrambled up from his lap and was on her feet and backing away from him. "I, I can't Eric." He stood and stalked closer to her. "I don't think you understand, I would never, ever force myself on you. I just want you to know that I will and want to do anything to protect you. Now that we have that out there can we please eat?"