A/N: Diclaimer: I own nothing of Divergent, all credit of all that you recognize from the series.

AU sort of. I've changed somethings that didn't set well with me, added a few characters. I personally haven't read that series, but I've read the Wiki and my sister helped explain things to me. This was mostly a request from my sister who had afew prblems with the series as well, so I thought that I might just upload it :) Choosing Day is age 18, Eric/Four are 21, and this is before Tris and all of that. So, yeah. Enjoy!

I didn't really think that I would run into him again. Dauntless was a pretty big faction. Lots of people floating around, doing whatever they wanted. I thought that I may be able to fly under the radar, slyly get through without anyone noticing me. How wrong was I? Who would've guessed that his face would be the first that I see after jumping off of that train? There he stands, tall and intimidating, grey eyes flicking through us, uninterested. His eyes lock with mine, and the air in my lungs vanish.

Three years. Three years since I've seen him and he still has the same effect on me as if time had stopped. He looks different. More dominant. Alpha. He has a few additions on his body, definitely the epitome of Dauntless. There's a piercing on his eyebrow, tattoo blocks going up his neck, holes in his ears. I wonder if he has any other tattoos anywhere else on his body, the heavy jacket blocking my answer. Eric may have been attractive before, and somehow him being in his element made him even more attractive. His face pulls into an even nastier sneer, one that doesn't quite reach his eyes. I'm the one who looks away, looking at the ground, hoping that the world would swallow me whole. I knew he was a leader, so was my brother, but I didn't think that he would be here. I'm already semi regretting this decision before it even comes to fruitation.

"Welcome. My name is Eric. I am one of your leaders here at Dauntless." He introduces himself, voice curt with fake politeness, and I can feel a hole burning in my head presumably from his stare. I keep my eyes downcast, not having the guts to look him in the eyes again. So much for being brave, I think to myself, small smirk gracing my lips. "You've all made it this far. The way into Dauntless is this way. If you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless." He continues his speech, voice cold, far from the boy he left behind. I raise my eyes to him and look over his shoulder, seeing exactly what he was referring too.

He wanted us to jump. Off of the fucking roof.

My eyes widen for a moment, a spike of fear running through my veins. I hear a boy scoff from my right, and turn my body away from him slightly, seeing Eric eye him suspiciously.

"Something wrong over there, Amity?" Our future leader asks, eyeing the boys dirty flannel and jeans with a skeptical eye. The boy shakes his head wildly, hair flopping around his shoulder as he spots his mistake. Eric simply smirks cruelly at him, obviously knowing the affect he had on us newbies. "We don't have all day." He insists, growing bored, crossing his arms across his chest, eyes raking over the crowd again. They obviously don't want their future soldiers to die, so they have something down there to not kill us. Water. Nets. Something. Swallowing down my fears, I start stepping forward, hands shaking slightly. Eric sees me moving and smirks in my direction, scoff falling from his lips. I step up to the lip of the roof, leaning over and looking down into the hole, fear spreading through my chest again. "Ready, initiate?" Eric questions, voice full of humor, a spark of amusement in his eyes. I swipe my auburn hair off of my shoulder and look him in the eye, trying my best not to flinch at the coldness that has taken over his features, not quite recognizing the man in front of me.

"Ready as ever, Coulter." I answer, smiling at him, voice just as quiet as I step off of the ledge, and plunged into darkness. I felt my hair whip around my face as I fell, and soon collided with a net, bouncing slightly as I come to a stop. I look over and see a bored man to my right, clipboard in hand, frown on his face. Someone isn't too happy with their job.

"Welcome to Dauntless, initiate. I'm Four. Name?" He asks, sleep coating his words. Or maybe with boredom. One will never know.

"Maureen." I answer, suspicious of the man in front of me, eyeing the clipboard with little interest. Four smiles a small smile at me, eyes scanning the paper in front of him.

"Maureen, first jumper!" He yells to someone over his shoulder, as he crosses something off of his paper. "Might wanna get out of there soon. Before someone else jumps." He warns, pen pointing to the exit. I scramble towards the hole, not finding that idea very appealing. I stand awkwardly to the side, only seeing a blonde lady off to the side, clipboard in her hand as well. She doesn't look up from it, seemingly too engrossed with the information in front of her. I turn and watch a few other people jump off of the roof, each wearing a prideful smile. I don't know why.

It was the beginning of the end.

Our life as soldiers.


After those who were jumping had done so, Four turned to us, mouthing some numbers as his raked over us seemingly just as bored and tired as before.

"Alright, welcome to Dauntless. Those of you that are transfers, follow me. Dauntless born, please follow Lauren. Good luck to you all." Four starts, turning his eyes downcast to run over his paper a final time as we part the way he explained. I stayed over by Four, watching as over half of our group leaves towards the blonde. I stay in the back, standing behind a row of people, taking in the different colors around me, eyeing my new competition. I could spot a few other transfers from Erudite, their royal blue clothes dark amongst the plaid. There were only two other girls in the class, and I frown slightly, not liking the look of my odds at the start. I eye the boys, seeing Amity is the highest transferred faction, with one girl and three boys. Erudite was second, myself with two boys and only one transfer from Abnegation and Candor, a girl and boy respectively. This was going to be interesting.

"This way." Four ushers, not quite looking at us as he turns and walks, pace brisk, expecting us to follow. We do so without question, lambs marching to the slaughter. We walk through a heavy door, greeted by the sound of falling water, mist spraying over us, making myself jump from the freshness of it all. It was quite loud, and I had to strain to hear my instructor's word, voice floating through and getting caught in the sound of crashes and waves. "This is the Chasm. Be careful where you step." He explains, eyeing Eric as he walks over to us, arrogant smirk on his lips.

"Small class this year, Four." He comments, arms crossed over his chest, eyeing Four down with contempt. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he didn't harbor anything for the man. "I saw that Lauren's class was almost double your size." He continues, low voice floating through the air, eyes flashing to us. His eyes catch mine again, and this time I hold my ground. I feel a tad more confident since the jump, trying to get through this day as quickly as I could. I see amusement flash through his eyes, a rare smirk crossing his face as he slightly nods his head in my direction, trying not to make it seem like he knows me, getting the sly hello across. I smirk at him for a moment before he breaks eye contact, slapping his hand on Four's shoulder, a little to roughly to be considered friendly. "See you tomorrow. Good luck." He finishes, although I could tell that he didn't mean it. Four gives him an exasperated look, as if he wasn't expecting those words to come from Eric. He shoulders his way through us, making sure to bump into my shoulder a little rougher than he did the boys around me. His eyes flicker to mine quickly one last time, flashing to the boy that I knew growing up for a milisecond, a warm tone to his voice for a fleeting moment, so quiet I almost thought that I misheard him. I smile to myself, the boy to my left looking over at me with confusion on his face. I simply ignore his stare and follow our class, moving on and listening to the rest of the tour, Eric's words echoing in my head.

Welcome home, initiate.


The tour was boring, the dinner speech just as mind-numbing. By the time Max, one of my new leaders, was done with his speech, the whole mess hall seemed to be in a frenzy, save for a few people sitting and watching everyone around them. My eyes had rarely left my brother, sitting next to his fellow leaders, eyes flashing to me every once and a while, a warm smile on his face.

God, I missed Jaison.

Eric and Jaison were all I had in Erudite keeping me sane, and when they left I went into a tailspin. The men before me barely resemble the boys who left, strong soldiers taking their place. Eric seemed to have an air around him that was never there growing up, one that seemed almost absurd. My eyes drink in their new features, tattoos and piercings shining back at me. I openly stare at Eric's neck, wondering idly if he really thought that tattoo through, if he regretted getting it halfway done. Jai had a similar tattoo on his forearm, blocks lining up to his elbow and, surprisingly, a lip ring and a tattoo on the back of his neck of something that I couldn't make out at this distance. I finally turn my attention back to my table as the noise died down, not wanting to be caught staring. I turn towards my instructor, seeing his focus already on me, eyes flashing in the general direction I was looking. He scoffs a bit to himself, roughly eating the food off of his fork.

"Something the matter, Maureen?" Four asks accusingly, pointing his fork at me for a moment before he took another bite. I shake my head and pick up some chicken on my utensil, eyeing it a bit before bringing it to my mouth.

"He just reminds me of someone from my old home." I answer, not quite lying. The Eric and Jaison before me have changed, only hints of the boys that they were when they came here shining through in the smallest of ways. Four nods and continues his meal, stoically silent as he listens to the surrounding conversations with the rest of the class. I never noticed that we had company, to engrossed with my own food, until it was too late. Jai had come to my side of the table, pure joy in his eyes, hands clasped in front of him. He wore a tight smile and nodded to Four in greeting, receiving a nod in return. Jaison cleared his throat, eyes on me, preparing to speak.

"Sorry for the interruption, but I need Maureen for a moment." My brother says, eyes never leaving my own. I turn to Four, almost waiting for his approval. Four grants it, not looking my way.

"Just take her to their bunks, if you can." He asks, eyes on the paper that somehow appeared in front of him, Eric looking over his shoulder with the same bored expression on his face. I smile brightly at Jai as I stand, plate in hand. As I walk past him, he grabs my plate with one hand, the other grabbing my elbow, steering me through the crowds out of the mess hall, Eric trailing behind us. I follow wordlessly, a small giggle passing my lips, excitement running through my limbs. This was a start to a new life. A new, brave life with the most important pieces of my family. Jaison waits until we are a few halls away from the cafeteria before he pulls me to him in a warm embrace, and it's then that I realize that my brother hadn't changed all that much. Maybe physically, but under all of that Dauntless, he was still my Jaison. I hear a familiar snicker from behind us, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"How sweet." Eric says in a condescending manner, sarcasm dripping off of his words in a sickly sweet manner. Jaison chuckles, an action that makes my head shake on his chest.

"Maybe you should take a picture. Keep this moment forever." I mumble, breaking away from my brother with a warm smile on my face. Eric just shakes his head, his never ending smirk in place. "It's okay. I missed you too, you know." I add, winking in his direction. Eric just scoffs at me, before turning his back and walking away from me, shaking his head.

"See you around, initiate." He calls over his shoulder. Jai and I laugh at his retreating back, both shaking our heads.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Mo." Jaison says, walking down the hall opposite of Eric. I follow him, taking the opportunity to catch up with him. "And he really did miss you." He adds voice low, as if answering and unspoken question as an afterthought. The halls are winding and dark, and I can see how people can get easily get lost in this maze. I follow wordlessly, looking around and trying to remember exactly which way we are going.

"Yeah, no one really thought that I would leave Erudite." I say offhandedly, almost bumping into Jaison when he comes to a halt. I mull his words over in my head, about Eric missing me. Maybe he only missed teasing me. Or because Jai always brought me up. Did he miss me the same way I missed him? There were stolen kisses in our past, but that exactly what that was. The past. There were three years of not seeing each other. I had a lover or two inbetween then and now, and I can only imagine the same for him. Was it the same feeling for him when he saw me, or was I just his best friend's annoying little sister, hanging on to some past like a lifeline? I stop this train of thought in my head, knowing that it was going to get me no where. Thinking Erudite in Dauntless would only get me in trouble. This is a new faction, a new way of life. A new frame of mind. But old habits die hard, and my brain continues going down the rabbit hole. I was asking myself to stop 18 years worth of Erudite thinking in less than twenty four hours. Even I knew that that was asking way too much of myself, holding myself to too high of a standard.

"Did you continue to pursue the arts after we left?" Jaison asks, resuming his pace wandering through the halls, turning left down a seemingly abandoned corridor. I nod behind him, greatful that his question pulls me from my train of thought, only to realize that he can't see me if he's in front of me.

"I did. It was all I had after..." I respond, trailing off as I remember their Choosing Day, both of them leaving our home for their new one. Our new home. My brother seemed to have understood, as he merely nodded and threw a sympathetic smile over his shoulder, guilt flashing through his eyes for a split moment, before amusement won over.

"Are you still as good as I remember?" He asks, a hint of pride in his voice. "I kept that CD you gave me. The one with the songs that you wrote." He informs me, coming to a halt in front of a large, heavy looking door. I blush slightly in embarrassment, knowing exactly what CD he's talking about. A goodbye present that I gave both him and Eric. A surprisingly boring gift that I figured would be chucked out of the window the first chance that the both of them had.

"Who knew that you listened to classical?" I ask, knowing full well that's not the type of music that he preferred. "Must've made your ears bleed. I was horrible back then. I've improved, you know." I comment, leaning up against the wall, crossing my arms across my chest, placing one of my feet behind me on the wall. Jaison chuckles, shaking his head.

"It isn't all that bad. It helps when I do my paperwork." He admits, mimicking my stance on the other side of the door. "Did you bring your violin?" He asks, trying to make conversation. I shake my head and look at him like he's crazy.

"How in the hell would I have brought that thing, Jai?" I ask, voice raising up an octive. How could he think that I was thinking of an instrument while deciding who I was going to be and where I was going to go for the rest of my life. Suddenly, the day and all of it's blurring events catch up to me, and I'm exhausted, leaning my head back onto the wall and taking a deep breath. "I didn't exactly think that I was gonna see the two of you first thing when I got here." I admit as I slide down the wall onto my butt, body growing tired. I hear him sigh above me and I take a peak at him. He shakes his head at me and smiles, a big toothy grin.

"I saw your name on the testing list. A hundred percent Dauntless, huh?" He asks, pride evident in his voice. I giggle and shake my head, easily falling into conversation with Jai like I've talked to him every day since hes been gone, and not just get two letters a year telling me how he's doing. "Eric was hesitant to help train your class. That was until he saw your name at the top of the list. Took him all of two seconds after reading your name to make a snarky comment about Four and his training skills and decided to help out." Jai confesses, a knowing smirk on his face. I sigh then, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Out of everyone in our little circle, you would think that he would be the most against his best friend and little sister liking each other. He was quite the opposite in fact, always trying to push us together, never once making me feel bad or guilty about my crush on his best friend.

"Maybe he just doesn't want me to embarass you. Make sure that he doesn't have to hear your bitching if I became factionless." I answer, eyes getting heavier. Jaison laughs, full on belly laughs, at my accusation as he squats down to my height.

"We both know that Eric doesn't do things to make others feel better." He mumbles, pushing my hair behind my shoulder with a soft look on his face. I open my eyes and sigh, already wanting this conversation to be over even though it has just started. I begin to shake my head in protest, but Jaison stands to his full height in front of me, already seeing the end to this debate as he holds out his hand to help me up. I take it gratefully, not at all surprised when he hauls me up as if I weigh nothing. "Lost some weight while we were gone, Mo?" He asks accusingly. "You were already almost too skinny when we left." He adds, concern now masking his face.

I scoff and write him off, already knowing what's coming.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm here then, huh? To gain some muscle." I point out, hoping to remedy the situation. It seems to put Jai's mind at ease, his green eyes staring into my brown ones for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line. He then nods his head before pulling me into another bone crushing embrace, almost reluctant to let me go.

"Your bed is through there. You'll be sleeping with everyone in a common room setting. There's the communal showers in there, but also some private ones in the training room if you ever want to use them." Jaison tells me, all the while holding me to his chest tightly. I nod stiffly back into him before I take a deep breath and step back, steeling myself before walking through the doors. Jai smiles encouragingly at me, holding out his hand to the door in a welcoming manner. "Welcome home, Maureen." Jai says happily, with a sigh of relief. I smile back at him and reach for the door, ready to start my new life