Disclaimer: I do not own The Divergent Trilogy.

AN: So this chapter is out sooner than I expected, so hurray! Thanks to our Guest reviewer for the suggestion review, there will be a bit of the aspects that you requested in this one so yeah. I do enjoy those Eric/Scarlet Scenes so this chapter will be based around them.

AN2: Thanks to our Anonymous reviewer, there will be more Eric/ Scarlet scenes to come. Probably another Lemon in the next chapter, this one was just another way to progress the story. But there are hints of Four/Tris so I guess that's something to look forward to.

Chapter 10

Scarlet was thoroughly irritated with Eric, he hadn't even attempted to talk to her about their previous incident ever since they exited the room. She snootily tossed a lock of her vibrant hair over her shoulder as she glared at the back of the slightly older mans head, Why wouldn't he speak to her? Finally she mustered up some of her currently diminishing courage to speak to the man.

"Eric?" she breathed out loudly enough for him to hear, she was immediately taken aback when he didn't reply hastily. He continued leading them out of the hallway, intent on ignoring the small woman knowing that she would eventually snap at him. His eyes widened when he felt her small hand hold tightly onto his arm, he shook her off in retort, only to have her push him roughly against the wall.

"What?" he growled out as his dark blue orbs bore into her dazzling emerald irises, her face was a deep red, he was unsure on whether or not it was out of anger or embarrassment.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" she delicately rose an eyebrow as she let go of his bulking arm, she shivered slightly when as she remembered how toned he was.

"You told me to leave you alone the other day, so I'm leaving you alone." he glared as he grit his teeth, women were so hard to please. His angered expression softened slightly as he seen her bite her lip in what he assumed was an attempt not to cry. Ugh. He didn't really know how to deal with crying dames, especially this particularly difficult one. "Don't cry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." he barked out irritably.

"I was not going to cry!" she snapped indignantly. "I wasn't sure how to make it up to you for snapping the other day." she looked away from his smoldering gaze.

"You can apologize." he smirked playfully as he saw her squirm under his words, she must of expected him to repay him in sexual favors. Well he was never one to disappoint. "Or, you can apologize in another way." he huskily suggested as he moved his experienced hands down to her bottom, pulling her closer to him in result. She sighed out irritably and softly pushed him away.

"Eric, no." she muttered softy unable to look him in the eyes. "I apologize for yelling at you but that thing that happened the other night cannot happen again." she insisted and backed away as she saw his hands clench into fists.

"Why not babes?" he tried hopefully as he tried to close the expanding distance between them. He wasn't sure what the big deal was, it was just a little bit of messing around. "You can't say you didn't like it, or what you remember of it." Scarlet shook her head.

"That is beside the point Eric, I have a goal to accomplish here, and I can't be bothered with distractions." she looked up to see the cruel look he usually had plastered upon his face. She flinched, though she had witnessed the look many times she would never be used to the intensity of hate that shined through. "Besides, this would have never worked. I'm an Erudite, you're a Dauntless, inter faction relationships are not tolerated . It's best that we nipped this in the beginning." she finished as expressionlessly as possible. She furrowed her brow when she noticed his trembling form and his unvisitable face.

"Ha!" he laughed out obnoxiously, Scarlet looked desperately confused. "Who would want to be with unemotional know it all like you? I was only looking for a quick fuck." he spat out hurtfully. Scarlet stood there helplessly as she felt the sting of tears well at the corners of her bright eyes, she swallowed at the lump in her delicate throat, unable to pinpoint the disastrous thread of thumps in her chest. She felt as though she was numb, the only feeling coming from her chest, it was like she were being torn from the inside out.

"Oh." her voice cracked lowly. "Well I'm glad this won't have any impact on you." she stiffly sniffed and turned away, not wanting to to cry in front of the man. Eric just stood there, unwilling to look her directly in the eyes again. "I guess if that's all then please go on escorting me to the simulation practices. I assume this is the last practice before Jeanine's plan is enacted. That's why you're taking me there correct? The final test is tomorrow, and all the initiates that pass are going to be induced later that night." her voice went back to the cold professionalism most others expected from her.

"Okay." Eric shuffled off as quickly as possible not particularly eager to to look the broken woman in the face. He was swimming with unrecognizable emotions, and in attempt to hide his weakness, he hurt her. A part of his mind was insisting that it was her own fault, she had to make the situation all the more difficult. He truly wasn't sure if he wanted to be with her, but he did have strong feelings for the beautiful Erudite. He sighed as they got closer to the simulation room, he would be trapped in the enclosed space not only with his rival Four, but he would have to be with her as well. He shuddered, realizing that she was probably in a vindictive mood.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Scarlet's piercing voice broke the couples silence as they walked up through the initiates waiting to be tested. The initiates gave her wary smiles, her presence to them was comforting, both Dauntless born and transfers alike became increasingly close to her. Eric scowled as he was about to answer the question when Scarlet decided his answer didn't matter and struck up a conversation with a nervous looking Peter. Eric scowled at the obvious blush the ruthless initiate adorned on his face. It was obvious that the little shit had a crush on the red haired beauty, either that or he was just really attracted to her appearance. She was quite the looker so he almost couldn't really blame him. Almost.

"So you're going to be in there watching us?" Peter asked Scarlet from his sitting position, his head was leaned forward in obvious attempts to be closer to the woman. Eric scowled at her apparent innocence, she didn't seem aware that Peter thought she was a babe. He growled lowly at the comfortable banter that went on between the two sixteen year old pair, the glowering sound seemed to have gone through deaf ears on Peters part. Scarlet had a smug smile.

"Yes, I assure you all that the test is given correctly and efficiently when I am there. " Scarlet provided casually, in attempts to annoy Eric.

"Okay Red, you need to wrap it up. The first person will be tested soon and I need to tell you what you need to look for." Eric barked in, glaring darkly at Peter who stridently lost all of the color his face previously donned.

"Very well." Scarlet seemed to think briefly before answering. She took off in front of Eric, not giving him the chance to open the door for her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being a gentleman. At that moment she realized that Four would be the one giving the test to the initiates, as the tall silent man was sitting aristocratically straight in his chair next to the pearl white simulation chair. "Four." Scarlet muttered out in greeting, not used to calling anyone by a nickname. Nicknames were too illogical for her liking.

"Wysor." Four nodded curtly, a single thick eyebrow was raised curiously at the sudden intrusion. Eric was glaring vehemently in his direction, as if he were flirting with the girl. "Eric. What is the meaning of your interruption? I was prepping for the next person." Four asked politely as he possibly could with present company.

"Max didn't tell you? This particular Erudite is supposed to watch the practice simulations for any irregularities in the new initiates." Eric smirked knowing that Max wouldn't have told him anyways, he just enjoyed putting a dapper on the taller mans mood.

"You mean she's here to look for Divergent." Four scowled almost scornfully, Scarlet raised an eyebrow at his apparent concern. Did he know any more Divergent?

"Yeah pretty much." Eric yawned irritably. "Don't have a heart attack Four, Ill only be here for one or two of the initiates. I have other matters to tend to, I don't have the time to babysit Red here." he added as an afterthought. Frankly, he didn't want to sit and watch each of the peoples wimpy fears. It was a tad boring once you've constantly seen it.

"Okay." Fours deep voice was laced with irritation. Scarlet rolled her eyes at his insult, why did he have to be so immature? Oh well, she couldn't afford to care.

"Well send the first imitate in, I would like to get through this as quickly as possible, Do you call them in alphabetically?" Scarlet raised an eyebrow, eager to move on from the small threatening banter between the two older men. Four seemed to scoff quietly to himself.

"Nah, We just call them in randomly. I don't care much for order." Eric chuckled when he noticed Scarlet's disgruntled expression. "What nose? Don't like things to be out of order?" He taunted.

"I can care less, it's your faction. My opinion has no standing in this community." she replied snootily, throwing her petite up turned nose in the air. Eric faintly blushed at the cute antics, Fours eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the coloring in his rivals cheeks. "Four, would you kindly call the first one in?" she finished, landing her vibrant eyes on sitting stoic man.

"Very well. One moment." Four sighed exhaustively, only five minutes with these two and he already had a headache. "Peter Hayes." He called out into the dimly lit hallway, not bothering to look into the faces of the many frightened initiates. They had been through the practices quite a few times already, and were all nervous at the thought of facing their greatest fears once again. Soon an obviously cocky Peter walked through the door after Four, Eric scowled in annoyance.

"Ah we meet again Scar!" Peter smiled crookedly as he shot the petite red head a flirtatious wink causing her to smile softly while rolling her eyes. Eric noticed the small quirk of her lips and he knew he would probably 'accidentally' beat the kid to a pulp.

"Why do you insist on calling me that? It's not satisfactory to a woman to be compared to a permanent mar upon ones self." She pushed him into the chair non-nonchalantly.

"Yeah that's cool in all but you're name is way to girly to be coming out of these attractively manly lips." He wiggled his eyebrows, not at all put back by her usually bored expression.

"Quiet down Hayes." Four ordered sternly, causing the younger boy too jump in just anticipation. Four inertly rolled his eyes, vaguely wondering how the brute and ruthless kid suddenly turned into a big flirt. "Now you know how it goes, I'll inject the serum into you and we can get started. Try to pass through your landscape as quickly as possible. " Four recited quickly injecting the serum into the boy before he could retort.

"Where is the screen I requested? I would like to see into his landscape." Scarlet ordered professionally. Eric quickly handed it to her trying to relay his anger by thrusting it into her face. "Hmm..He seems to be having quite a bit of trouble. No abnormalities though, he still seems to believe it the serum was his reality." She ignored Eric's attempts to bother her, quirking an eyebrow at his apparent weaknesses. "Interesting, I never figured him as the easily afraid. He has quite a few fears." she quickly got bored with the tablet in her hands, looking up to see Eric in a furious silence. She sighed, opting to be silent and unable to provoke him.

"The test is over." Fours eyes refocused quickly into reality, seemingly unfazed by the daunting simulation. Peter gasped awake immediately groaning at his sudden movement,

"Excellent, That's one down." Scarlet's bored voice lightened at the quickened pace. She wanted to get through this as quickly as possible.

"I can go?" Peter muttered at groggily, looking a bit drunk. Scarlet refrained from laughing, not wanting to appear childish.

Initiate after Initiate was escorted into the room and tested in front of them, some fears appearing to be interesting though not abnormal. Eric soon left in the middle of testing Molly, he had grown bored of watching the teenagers being tormented. "Well later, I'm not a fan of standing around all day." he left, leaving an annoyed Scarlet and a confused Four alone.

"So Eric?" Four tried to make a conversation with her, the initiate they were currently testing had immense trouble getting through his fears. It would easily take him fifteen minutes this time.

"I did not! We didn't do anything!" Scarlet blushed at the mans attempt at being social, Why did he have to ask about Eric?

"I never said you did." Four rolled his eyes, causing Scarlet to sigh in relief. "But everyone knows about your guys little fling. You're all anyone's ever gossiping about." Four coughed uncomfortably, Scarlet nearly chocked on her own saliva at the reveal.

"Of course." she sighed irritably. "It wouldn't work between him and I. Different factions. Different goals." she frowned slightly sad. Four just nodded in understanding and kept his silence, realizing that Scarlet didn't want to talk about it anymore. Soon that initiate was done as well and Scarlet had a load of of research notes.

"Hey, this last one will be quick. You don't need stay, I'm sure you have other things to do." Four tried to convince the girl, goading her on to leave.

Scarlet shook her head tiredly. "As much as I do have other matters to attend to, I need notes on every initiate." she informed him as she turned to a clear page, eager to finish off with the last person. Four scowled when he realized he wouldn't be able to prolong it any longer.

"Tris." his deep voice softened when he spoke her name, Scarlet sensed their forming connection to one another. Interesting. The small blonde girl made her way into the room, her hands were shaking out of nervousness.

"Hello Beatrice." Scarlet nodded curtly, her deep eyes taking in the other girls every move. Tris nodded in acknowledgment and made her way into the simulation chair. Four seemed frantic, nervous at what might happen.

"You know the drill..." Four ordered the blonde girl softly as he handed her the serum. Tris looked over to Scarlet cautiously, Would she be found out? Her nails dug into the chair. She took the serum,immediately loosing consciousness.

Four was nervous as he watched Scarlet's screen that showed exactly what was happening inside of Tris's mind. His eyes moved from the screen to the Red heads face, her face was emotionless as usual. It was only a few minutes when Tris had made it through her fear landscape, she quickly refocused her gaze and groggily looked to Scarlet in fear, sure that the girl across from her would have discovered her Divergence. Scarlet seemed to be analyzing every aspect of the blonde long nosed girl, taking in as much information as she possibly could.

"Well she was the last one wasn't she?" Scarlet addressed four lazily as she stretched Ferrell in her swiveling chair, throwing her arms at awkward angles to get the crack she was looking for. "Am I free to leave?" She raised an expectant eyebrow.

"Yes.." Four trailed off, unsure if this woman was playing stupid or whether she didn't see Tris's unfortunately obvious Divergence through the landscape. Scarlet looked at him and he immediately knew the former, the intelligence in her gaze was overwhelming.

"Beatrice Prior, you must learn to hide your divergence better. You cannot be so obvious in the Final test tomorrow, there will be others watching and they will notice if you don't do some training soon. Tobias, I suggest you both stay after hours. If you believe she can't hide it then I encourage you both to join the faction-less. That would be the safest place for her Mr. Eaton." Scarlet added as she got up from her chair, both Tris and Four were in a mutual state of shock. Not only did she see the signs of Divergence but she knew of Fours plan to join the Faction-less before Tris came along.

"I take it that you are on our side?" Four questioned cautiously, his heart was nearly beating out of his chest. If she wasn't then he wasn't entirely sure what he would have to do. Scarlet gave him an annoyed look as if he should know already.

"I'm not one you could easily categorize into sides. You can consider our goals at this point the same, to keep that girl and any other Divergent safe. I am unsure of your Divergence but I feel as though it's best to keep you alive. Do not make me regret my decision." Scarlet moved to the door,eager to leave the conversation and get back to her room to get some sleep. Tris finally decided to speak up.

"What is your purpose?" Tris asked politely, the effects of the simulation were worn off. "Why protect Divergents?" Tris's long blonde locks fell into her face, obscuring her dull blue eyes.

"The answer is obvious, if you can't figure out my motivations on your own then you don't deserve to know." Scarlet rolled her eyes.

"You're like us." Tris deadpanned, causing Scarlet to smirk slightly.

"Ah do I sense a bit of Erudite beneath your Dauntless demeanor? Interesting, I'll be sure to make a personal note of this." she mumbled to herself, ready to exit the room.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Four pronounced suspiciously, his eyes narrowed at the small Fiery woman.

"You don't." she stiffened when she heard familiar footsteps come towards them, she quickly lowered her voice into a whisper. " I won't try to prove it to you either but if you don't want to get caught then I suggest you keep your mouths shut. Remove your hand from her waist Four, you don't want to look obvious when your almighty Dauntless leader walks through the door." Her voice was hushed as she straightened her posture and grabbed her note book from the table.

"Hey you done Princess? I was supposed to escort you back." Eric pushed the door open roughly, startling Tris but leaving Four and Scarlet annoyed expressions.

"That is not necessary. I can make it back on my own." she glared slightly towards the man, keeping her distance.

"Apparently not, you draw too much attention from the males around here. Jeanine would have my head if you were raped in the compound under my watch." he sighed exasperatedly.

"Worried about your girlfriend Eric?" Four remained stoic except for the slight tug of the corner of his mouth. Eric's eyes immediately darkened.

"Shut up Four, get your little stiff out of here and clean up. Don't forget who is in charge around here." He growled as he grabbed a bored looking Scarlet by the arm and quickly led her out the door in silence. The whole way back to the room was completely devoid of any sounds, except for their simultaneous foot prints.

"Well here is your stop." Eric muttered quietly, quickly turning the other way to leave. Scarlet couldn't stop herself from talking.
"You don't have to worry about me Eric, I could've made it back here on my own." She rested one of her hands on his muscular arm. He seemed taken back by her statement.

"Jeanine asked me." He muttered, succumbing to the coolness of her hands.

"No she didn't. But thanks anyway." Scarlet went on her tip toes and left a quaint kiss on his cheek, blushing madly in the process. Before Eric could respond she quickly went through the door, thoroughly embarrassed. She sighed to herself.

"Why did I do that?" she muttered to herself as she made her way to her bed, the lights were off so her visibility was limited. She noticed Mordekai's bed was empty.

"Mordekai?" she called out cautiously. She blushed when she heard his gruff reply come from Annabel's bed. "Oh you guys are gross." When she realized they were both sound asleep Scarlet got into her bed, knowing that tomorrow would change everything.

AN:Well that's it for this chapter. Reviews make me happy so feel free to leave one. Any suggestions will be taken into consideration. R&R.

-Erudite