I know this one is shorter than you're used to, but this is all I could really pull out of it.
Second, in the first chapter I set this the night of Al's suicide, but I'm hauling it back a ways to follow my plot line better. I'm going to go back and edit that part now, but for those of you who may be confused, I apologize. I only realized the problem tonight. So please consider the first chapter as having taken place the night after Tris's fight with Myra, two days after she fights Peter.
Hope you enjoy! As always, please drop me a line at the end.
Tris followed Eric into his kitchen after putting on one of his t shirts and a pair of shorts from his initiate days, his newer ones having fallen right off her hips.
"We'll have to find a way to get some of my clothes," Tris told him with a frown, leaning against the counter as he dug around in the fridge.
"I'll hunt down what's her name later, Christina?" He responded absentmindedly, pulling eggs, milk and bacon from the fridge. "Good for you?" He asked, holding them out.
"Okay. And yeah that's fine."
Eric set everything out, glancing at her periodically as he worked. After he'd started the stove he returned to her, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her effortlessly to sit on the counter, where she was finally on level with him. Eric grinned and placed one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her neck, leaning in to kiss her. Her arms wound around his neck as she kissed back, enjoying the tender way he held and touched her.
He pulled back, taking yet another moment to look at her, and marvel at the fact that she was here with him, allowing him to touch her and kiss her. Truly, she was way too good for him. Eric leaned back in to kiss her again, but was interrupted just before his lips met hers.
"Eric!" Came Four's voice, opening the door without bothering to knock. Eric froze where he was, arms around Tris and his lips a half inch away from her own to make sure Four knew what he was interrupting. From his angle, Eric knew that Four wouldn't be able to see who he was with, as his body was blocking everything but Tris's legs on either side of him and her arms around his neck.
"Have you ever heard of knocking?" He asked irritably.
"It's important," came Four's crisp reply. Eric heaved a sigh and flipped Four the finger before giving Tris a quick, firm kiss anyway.
"Sorry," he told her quietly, before detaching her arms from around his neck. Eric turned away from her, moving to lean against the counter next to her with his arms crossed, glaring.
Four's eyes grew wide when he saw Tris perched on the counter, wet haired, with flushed cheeks and swollen lips. His mouth opened, but didn't say anything.
"Well, are you going to stand there and stare all day or are you going to close the fucking door and talk? Hurry up, I'm hungry."
"I can see that," he spit, closing the door with a sharp snap. "Edward was stabbed in the eye with a butter knife in the middle of the night last night. He and Myra both dropped out this morning."
Eric cringed, and he felt Tris shudder beside him. He turned to look at her, and it suddenly dawned on him what must have driven her to him the night before.
"Jesus, no wonder you showed up," he muttered. "Do we know who did it?" He asked Four.
Four gave him a look that very clearly implied a lack of faith in his intelligence. "We both know who it was."
"That's true," Eric muttered, rubbing a hand across his jaw. "Alright, I'll see if I can get Max to see reason."
"Pull the footage," Four told him.
Eric's lip curled. "That's not the problem."
"I know," he sighed.
There was a moment of silence, and a knock sounded at the door. Eric made a 'you see?' gesture toward the door before going to answer it. When he opened it, he saw Christina standing on the other side with a pile of black clothes in her arms. He chuckled and moved aside for her, and she stepped in hesitantly.
"Come on in," he invited. "You should show Four that neat trick you just did."
Christina gave him a confused look. "What trick?"
"That cool little thing where you bang on the door instead of just waltzing in," he muttered, glaring at Four.
Christina looked over at Four, who was glowering at Eric and giggled.
"Speaking of, I believe Four was just leaving, unless there was something else?"
"What, you're not going to offer me breakfast?" He shot back.
"Would you trust me if I did?"
Four chuckled reluctantly. "No, probably not. Alright I'm leaving." He glanced at Christina and Tris, nodded once, and disappeared.
"He'll find you later and tell you to be careful," he told Tris, "I'm sure of it."
"Probably," she sighed. "What are you doing here Christina?"
Christina held up the clothes in her hands. "Are you planning on walking out of here in that?" She giggled. "I saw you run out last night without taking anything. When you didn't come back I figured this is where you'd gone."
"Saves me from having to find you later," Eric told her, finally getting the food on the stove. "You want some?" He offered.
Christina and Tris stared at him like he'd just given birth to a litter of flying pigs.
"Am I really that much of an asshole?" He asked, giving them a bewildered look.
Tris and Christina exchanged a glance. "Yeah," Christina replied. "Then again I might be biased," she continued, shooting him a dark look.
Eric sighed, knowing he deserved it. "That little trick was Max's idea, not mine. And I still got my ass chewed for standing close enough to catch you if you did fall, which I was watching for."
"How do you watch for something like that?" Christina asked skeptically.
"Your fingers. I was standing six inches from you. Close enough to see if you were about to lose your grip and grab your wrist if you did. I may be one of the leaders, but this shit wasn't my idea," he told her darkly. "I agree with not conceding during fights, but hanging initiates over the Chasm is overkill."
"Okay, so explain why we're not allowed to concede. If I'm up against someone like you or Four, I don't have a chance."
"Who's the one person you care about in this world, more than anyone else?" He asked her as he turned off the stove, dumping the eggs onto a plate.
Her answer was immediate. "My little sister. Her name is Alexa, she's twelve. Why?"
"Good. Tris, what about you?"
"My mom," she responded. Her response was instantaneous as well.
"Okay, picture this. Someone is trying to get to your mom, or your sister," he said, looking at each of them in turn, "for whatever reason, to hurt them or even kill them. The only thing standing in between them and the person trying to get to them is you. Got that in your head?"
They both nodded, watching him with wide eyes as he painted the scene for them both.
"Now imagine that opponent is someone like Four or I, and you know you're hopelessly outmatched. Would you concede? Give up because you don't think you had a chance?"
"Of course not!" Came Christina's vehement reply. "I'd fight until I couldn't..." Her sentence trailed off as she realized what he was saying. When she finished, her voice was quiet and thoughtful. "I'd fight until I couldn't go on anymore," she allowed.
"Exactly. The other factions see us as reckless and irresponsible because all they see is the antics, the fun and the games. But what every Dauntless initiate needs to understand is that we are also soldiers, we are protectors.
"It's up to us to defend every life in this city, to lay down our own to do it if necessary. That is why we train you so ruthlessly. It's our job to make sure you're ready for that."
"And it's your job to cut people who can't do it," Tris said quietly, looking at Christina. The other girl nodded, and he could see when they looked back to him that it finally made sense.
Eric stared off for a few seconds, thinking to himself. "I'll have to remind everyone of that, it would probably help. Anyway," he said, returning his attention to the other two, "you hungry?"