Hello again lovely readers. Thank you for coming back to read chapter 3! I wanted this to be up sooner but life has been crazy. Welcome to those who started following or favorited between when the last chapter and now. And for those who reviewed:

catch39 – I do secretly really enjoy writing Jeanine. Yes, I have plans for his simulation training, I'm excited. I do have a tendency to write pre-Dauntless Eric as a nerd who got bullied, so I don't think that will be problem.

mrsbishop21 – glad you like it so far! And yeah a friend of mine has become very invested in shipping him with someone in this story so I'm sure that will bleed through.

Maya6996 – Glad you like the idea of exploring his background! And yes, I'm looking forward to exploring the mental and physical change and pain he went through to get him to where he is at the start of Divergent.

BK2U – Yes! I was talking to someone about that the other day. Jeanine thought this through very thoroughly, but she didn't predict/plan for someone like Four and his four fears.

Thea James (it deletes your username if I leave the period in, sorry) – Thank you! I'm glad you like it! And yeah, I started it because not many people write about that time in his life. I usually picture him as the movie version. I don't really think the guy Veronica describes could have dominated physically like he did, but I picture him as being thin and scrawny where we are in this story. So a little of both I guess.

I don't own Eric or the Divergent world, but if someone can arrange that I won't complain. ;)

Chapter Three

The next morning when Eric's alarm clock ripped him from his sleep, the sun had yet to rise and he could tell from the soft sound of conversation in the living room that he had woken up before his parents left for the first time in months. He reached out into the darkness and felt around until he found the switch to turn on his bedside lamp.

He climbed out of bed and stuffed his school clothes into his bag, making sure to grab his homework from his desk and tuck it into the bag as well. He yawned as he made his way to his dresser, pulling out a pair of sweat pants and a plain blue t-shirt. Once he was dressed, he made his way to the kitchen, earning a curious look from his father as he passed his parents sitting at the table.

His father had glanced up from the tablet he was reading the daily news on; he stared at his son for a moment before glancing in his wife's direction. She had had been so engrossed in her own reading, a paper one of her colleagues had published, that she had yet to notice their son. "Eric, you appear to be up much earlier than normal."

"Yes," His mother agreed as she finally looked up, setting the tablet down, "What are you doing this morning that has you awake at this hour and in those clothes on a school morning?"

Eric yawned once again, partially because he was tired and partially to give himself a moment to get ready to repeat the story that Jeanine had him memorize last night. He definitely understood why he couldn't risk telling them the truth, but he was still rather unused to lying on such a large scale. "I was asked to join a study group that meets every morning before school, and most weekends. It is a chance for advanced students to further their studies and to prepare early for choosing a career path next May if we choose Erudite. It is also for the students at the bottom of the grading curve, allowing them to receive tutoring from those at the top. Since we meet so early the teacher said we could come in comfortable clothes, if we so choose, and change before the other students arrive."

It wasn't that far of a stretch, he would be studying and there was tutoring involved, just not in the way his parents would imagined. Jeanine had assured him that he was signed up for the study group if his parents looked into it and the teacher overseeing the group had been given very specific instructions if any questions were asked.

"I assume you are one of the advanced students," His father replied, his gaze moving back to the newspaper.

Eric nodded, "Yes, top of my class, from what I have been told."

His mother nodded, a look in her eyes that Eric knew all too well from his childhood when he tried to lie about eating his vegetables or who broke something. Admittedly, she always knew that it was him who broke whatever the object in question was because he was an only child and Erudite did not permit pets; but she had always been able to spot when he was lying about anything. After a moment the look disappeared, "That's wonderful, son."

"Yes, excellent, this will put you ahead of the rest for a good position after your initiation into Erudite next year." His father responded as he sipped his coffee.

His father's last words were almost painful to Eric. It's obvious from his tone that he has no doubt that his son will choose Erudite in May; like he did, like his father before him. Absolute faith that Eric will pass initiation with flying colors and follow in his footsteps.

"Theodor, he has not taken his aptitude test," His mother speaks up, the annoyed expression on her face that she always has when her husband makes assumptions.

"That is absolutely correct, Helen, but he is a Nelson. No son of mine is going to defect," His father replies, his voice full of something close to pride. "Isn't that right, Eric?"

Eric fights to swallow the lump in his throat, giving his father a nod, "Yes, sir."

"Hurry and eat, we have detained you long enough," His mother replies, giving her husband a look.

Oblivious to the silent reprimand from his wife, Theodor glances back at his son, "Yes, you don't want to be tardy your first day."

Eric nods, glad for a reason to leave the room but suddenly feeling as if he has lost his appetite. Fortunately, he doesn't have enough time to worry about the lies and secrecy. As he glances at the clock he realizes how little time he has left. Knowing that he has to eat something since he will begin physical training today, he wolfs down a bowl of oatmeal before making his way to the door and hurrying to catch the elevator.

Once he is outside he fishes around in his bag until he finds the slip of paper that Jeanine gave him yesterday, the address where he is supposed to go this morning printed in her elegant script. It is supposed to be about halfway between his apartment building and the Upper Levels building, for the sake of time conservation while still maintaining the proper level of secrecy.

When he reaches the address Eric finds himself staring up at an abandoned building. The outside is grungy and ill maintained, the sign that once proclaimed the building's name is gone, leaving a large rectangle of the façade that is less worn than the area around it.

Eric pushes on the door, with some effort it moves and allows him to enter. With the dim light from the street lamp streaming in through the old, partially boarded up windows he is able to make out most of what is around him. He is standing in what appears to have been a reception area. A built in desk and a row of chairs bolted to the floor are the only remaining furnishings, although they look like they have seen better days. Behind the desk is a door, Eric makes his was around the desk and through the door.

The door leads him to a short hallway lit by a flickering bulb in the middle. An indication, he hopes, that he is headed the right way since the lights are already on. There are two restrooms on his left and a room that looks like it was an office and a storage closet on his right. There is another door at the end of the hall, when Eric opens it he finds a large, empty and fairly dimly lit warehouse on the other side.

"Hello?" He calls, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder out of nervous habit. He makes his way down the short flight of stairs to the warehouse floor. He is about to call out again when a voice from behind him makes him jump.

"Took your time kid," The deep voice of a man chastises. When Eric turns to see where the voice came from, he finds a man who is probably in his mid-twenties sitting backwards on a folding chair in the shadows next to the stairs. His arms are resting on the back of the chair, a thermal coffee cup held loosely in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. He brings the cigarette up to his lips and takes a long drag as he appraises Eric. He breathes out, a small cloud of smoke filling the space between them as he stands. "She told me I had my work cut out for me, she didn't mention how damn scrawny you are," He says as he moves into the light, allowing Eric to get a better look at him. He is dressed head to toe in Dauntless black, tattoos covering every inch of exposed skin from his neck down, and a his bottom lip is pierced multiple times. He looks vaguely familiar but Eric can't quite place him.

"I…" Eric starts but is quickly cut off by the older man.

"Yeah, yeah, save the excuses," He says in a bored voice as he drops the cigarette to the ground and grinds it into the cement floor with is boot. "It's freaking early, I get it, but that's what coffee is for," He continues, raising his left hand with the thermos in it, "You aren't going to waste any more of my time, you'll be here on time tomorrow. You understand me, kid?"

Eric nods quickly and the man smirks, taking a drink of his coffee. He sets the cup down next to his chair and takes a couple of step toward the boy in front of him. "I'm Simon," He says as he reaches his young charge. "You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few months, a lot of early mornings and weekends, so keep your social calendar clear." He crosses his arms over his chest, "And I'm not entirely sure that I'm going to have enough time as it is to get you into shape, so no missing workout sessions. We may even have to add a few after school sessions," He adds, giving the scrawny Erudite another once over before chuckling and shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure that this goes without saying, but if we see each other in public, you do not know me. I am a guard at the fence and as far as me superiors are aware, that is where I am."

"Won't someone at the fence notice you missing every morning?" Eric asks as he tosses his bag to the side.

"As far as the others at the fence know I'm working on something else for the leaders for the first half of my shift. It's a very delicate web of lies so make sure not to screw it up." He replies with a smirk, after a moment he continues, "As I was saying, I've been asked to train you be the powers that be in Erudite. I defected almost eight years ago, but Jeanine has…" He pauses and smirks again, "A way of inspiring loyalty, I guess you might say."

"Defected from Erudite?" Eric asks, finally remembering where he knows his new teacher from. He was the son of one of his father's colleagues. He had never really met him but he could remember him stopping by to pick things up for his father from Theodor when Eric was young.

"Yes," Simon says with a raised brow, "I hope you're smarter when you're not tired because otherwise I may have to let Jeanine know that there was a problem with her screening process."

Eric crosses his arms over his chest defensively, he has never liked it when people look down at him and there is something about this guy that gets under his skin.

Simon shakes his head, "We are also definitely going to have to work on your attitude. I just called you dumb and you kept your mouth shut." He turns and motions to the warehouse, now let's see what you got, kid. Give me twenty laps."

Eric takes a deep breath and watches from the corner of his eye as the man removes a stop watch from his pocket. Once he has the stop watch in his hand he turns to Eric, rolling his eyes and motioning to the right with his free hand. "What are you waiting for? I don't have all day, kid."

Eric snaps out of his thoughts and starts to run. Every few seconds Simon shouts something at him. 'Faster, kid!' 'You're not going to catch any trains like that! You'll be factionless before you even get to Dauntless.' 'I've seen old ladies run faster than you.' 'Shoulders back!' 'Watch your elbows.' 'Keep your knees in line! Your foot strikes the ground under your knee, not in front of it.' 'Did I tell you that you could slow down?'

Eric's lungs began to burn and the muscles in his legs are beginning to feel like they can no longer support his weight. Pain begins to radiate up his legs as the muscles his calves begin to tense up; but every time he shows the slightest indication of slowing he is met with a rebuke from his trainer.

"Twenty," Simon calls as he passes him the last time and Eric takes his cue to stop. He is bent forward, hands on his thighs as he gasps for breath as the older man approaches. "Well, that was pathetic," He hears the Dauntless comment from behind him.

"I… I don't… do a lot of… running," He replies between gasps for air. His eyes closed tightly as he focuses on the hammering of his heart in his chest.

"That much was obvious," Simon comments dryly, his footsteps echoing in the open space as he walks back to his chair and picks up his coffee. He takes a drink as he approaches the still winded Erudite. "Let's call it a day, between introductions and you being late we're almost out of time anyway."

"Okay," Eric replies, finally standing back up straight.

"You don't have school tomorrow," Simon says with and almost sadistic smile, "And you aren't going to be late, so we'll have much more time to spend together tomorrow."

"Oh good," Eric mumbles, his sides beginning to cramp.

Simon chuckles and says, "I expect you to be here and ready to go at five a.m. tomorrow." He glances at his watch, "You've got school soon, hurry up and get changed." With that the Dauntless makes his way to a side door and disappears into the blinding morning sunlight as the door slams shut behind him.

Eric forces himself to move, making his way to his bag and changing as quickly as he can. Once he is ready, he walks to the side door that Simon left through, sneaking out of the ally it leads into and back to the sidewalk.

By the time he walks through the school's front doors he is ready for the day to be over. The idea of the hours of school ahead of him and then homework afterward is enough to make him march right back to Jeanine's office and quite. He knew, though, that there is no going back now.

Even if Jeanine let him quite, failing her would rule out his options here in Erudite. He would have to live his life as a glorified janitor, cleaning up other people's labs. He couldn't transfer to Dauntless if he quit after one session of training. He was definitely not Abnegation material and he would rather die than go to Amity. That only left two options, he had to see this through or transfer to Candor. He wasn't a great liar, which wouldn't be a bad thing there, but his instinctual reaction to lie when he didn't want to talk about something was definitely not a Candor trait. He could never be completely honest with people the way that they were. So this was his only choice. Sink or swim, he had to see this through or die trying.

He was slowly navigating the hallways to his first class and still very much lost in his thoughts when he felt someone grab his arm. He looked up to find a concerned looking Cara standing next to him, her hand still on his arm.

"I was calling you," She said motioning with her head down the hall they had just walked through, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sorry, I'm just really tired," He replies, adjusting the strap of his bag.

"You look tired," Cara notes as she studies him for a moment. "Where have you been? I didn't see you after school yesterday and you weren't on the bus this morning."

He takes a deep breath, the slight pang of guilt he felt when he lied to her about all of this yesterday returning, "I was sick yesterday and I decided to walk to school today to wake myself up because I had trouble sleeping last night."

She studied him for a moment, her eyes adopting that skeptical look that his mother's did when she suspected that he was lying. It must be a look that all women have. Maybe they all have some sort of built in lie detector. After a moment she glances away, "First bell is about to ring, I'll see you after school?"

Eric nods and smiles at his friend, "See you after school."

When he gets to the classroom where his first class is held, he slumps into the chair at his usual seat, resting his head on the smooth wood on the top of the desk for a moment. Only nine more months of this, no big deal, right?

A/N – Let me know what you thought of the chapter and Simon! (I was re-watching Firefly for the billionth time when I wrote this, so Simon was the first name that came to mind)

Also, I'm a couple fears short for when we get to simulation/mental training, so if you have suggestions let me know. Hopefully I will have a new chapter up this week!