A/N: Anon prompt who wanted to see bullying done to Eric stopped by a Dauntless who steps in. Extra credit if there's a follow-up, after he's a leader and there's a scene with her. I love chatting with people over on tumblr. You can find the link to my blog on my homepage here!
Noise was a common thing outside of the doors to the hub. Dependents passed by to and from their classes and older faction members had various business in the tall building. The daily sounds were almost enough to disguise the commotion.
Almost, but not quite. Children's cheering laughter cut through the deeper adult voices, and it only took a moment to find the culprits. In the shadows of the buildings that rose high above, dust rolled over the road as a child fell to the ground. The boy resolutely did not weep, not even as the older boys (also dressed in Erudite blue) continued to harass the younger child.
It was, from the looks of it, escalating beyond a verbal altercation. The smallest Erudite had been knocked to the ground but even as he hit the road he was struggling to rise to his feet again.
No one could fault him for his tenacity, as the scene repeated itself twice more.
To all appearances it was a pattern that would continue until the older boys grew bored. Their laughter had muted as the exchange became more physical but from the twist of their lips it was clear that the vicious verbal jabs hadn't dissipated in the least. One of the largest of the five boys arrayed on their feet drew his leg back to deliver a solid kick to the child on the ground.
It was an action that was truncated with the utmost abruptness. A hand had fallen down to grasp the nape of his neck, lifting him and shaking him aside as he was forcibly displaced. The rest of the Erudite boys scattered away, although they hadn't run yet.
Maybe they should have. It might have been smarter.
The Dauntless woman's teeth were moon-bright against her dark skin as she smiled, her eyes skewering each of the boys in turn. It wasn't an Amity expression, open and full of kindness. It wasn't even Abnegation polite. It was a baring of teeth, daring them - mere children - to step up to the line that they had drawn when they took it upon themselves to bully their peer.
"Not so brave now," she finally said, voice dripping with scorn. "Not so smart now. Thought Noses like you would've at least had the sense to pay attention when you're busy being little shits."
Down to the very last, each child had frozen at her tone. The hostility was rife in her voice.
"I won't forget your faces. Scram. Now." And left with absolutely no recourse, the five Erudite boys fled.
Only then did she turn her attention to the boy on the ground. It was the matter of seconds and absolutely no effort to lift him up and dust him off. He hadn't wept, she noted with an approving eye. Not even with a lip that was split and an eye that would be gloriously black by tomorrow.
She sighed. Erudite, though. "Don't let them find you when you're alone, kid. Stay in public. Harder to get away with shit there. At least, until you're big enough to fight them off."
He blinked at her, utterly bewildered, before staggering out into the traffic that always seemed to encapsulate the area around the Hub. She watched him go for a moment, before running her hand roughly through her hair. Kids.
- x - x - x -
Ten years had treated them both well. He was taller than she was, now, and his figure was heavy with muscle. Tattoos patterned their way down his forearms and the beginning of a pattern had begun to take shape on his neck. Strategic piercings had been placed throughout his face.
Her hair was no longer just the shock of black with blues and purples gleaming in the naturally dark locks. She had greyed in the years that passed, although with specific streaks that made it seem classic instead of incidental. Not even years could take away the musculature of someone who spent decades in Dauntless. It was an edge they never lost, at least, not until their death.
The waterfall's roar was deafening although neither of them seemed to care. Standing over the chasm, their thoughts were inward-looking.
"You told me to stay in public. Harder for people to pull shit when others are watching." Eric's voice was just loud enough to be heard over the water.
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, a wry smile slid over her lips as she leaned her elbows back against the railing over the chasm. Her attention had shifted though, was drawn from her own mind to being focused on the newest Dauntless leader.
"Funny," she replied at last, a quiet huff of air passing for a laugh.
Eric frowned, his muscles flexing as his grip tightened around the metal railing that he held. "What do you mean."
It wasn't a question. He demanded an explanation with all of the natural authority that had made it so easy for the faction to (eventually, she thought, with another snort) justify making him a leader. Dissenters had been thoroughly convinced to see things his way.
She shrugged. "A decade ago, kid. You get to throw those words back at me ten years later. Seems funny, is all. I should know better."
The frown that crept over Eric's face became fearsome, deep Vs over his brows as they furrowed into a scowl. If it had stayed that way, it would have been less disconcerting. Instead, in the blink of an eye his features smoothed out. His eyes were ice as he looked at her, expression impassive.
"You're not running."
"Too old to fight it, kid. But if you're really going to do it, I'm not going to help you. You'll have to own this on your soul and come to peace with it on your own. That's all on you."
There wasn't any use in excuses. Eric had been promoted for a very particular agenda. He knew it best of anyone - but she still had eyes clear enough to see. Erudite coming and going in ways they never had before, Matthews being disquietingly familiar with the young leader. It was writing on the wall, at that point, and it seemed that her luck had run out. She must have been the top of a very long list of suspects.
He wasn't even bothering trying to confirm it. Eradicate the weakness, then.
It must be his own, as well as the faction's. A flurry of motion saw his hands wrapped around her upper arms and it was the matter of seconds to lift her up, up, and over the railing to dangle over the chasm.
She didn't fight, not even as his muscles locked. His fingers dug into her biceps so tightly that she knew there would be bruises. Good luck explaining that.
"It's on you, kid. You made your own choices."
