A/N: So sorry I didn't update last night, guys. I made myself sad by skipping ahead and writing out one of Ronnie's fear sims for a future chapter and then had to catch up on some much-needed sleep. So unfortunately, I only have one chapter to put up right now. But it's a little long so maybe that makes up for it?

Anyways. I'm loving these comments. You guys are great. (Fangirl0012345 made me laugh so hard.)

As always, please R&R because your support keeps me going! :D

The doc's fingers lightly trailed along my bicep up along the top of my shoulder as her kept my arm held straight out to my side, lightly adding pressure in a few places. I sat still, keeping my eyes on the wall on the other side of the room. It was merely an evaluation of my progress, but I was a ball of nerves. Not just because this was going to decide if I was fit enough to return to training, but also because Four and Eric were standing by the door watching. Hell, even Max had dropped in to look over my new scans. The main Dauntless leader himself.

"Alright, Ronnie. Bring your arm back until you feel a pull."

I did as instructed, moving my arm back slowly until it was nearly as far back as I could get it before the night of the accident. Doc grunted in approval and moved it back to starting position.

"Good. Now forward and across your body, but keep your elbow straight."

I went a complete 180 degrees from my back reach.

"Any pulling that time?"

"No, this is normal for an easy reach. Boobs get in the way for any more."

He nodded, trying to hide a snicker and stay professional. "Good. Good. You're healing quickly, which is a good sign. The tearing was surprisingly minimal considering how hard you yanked on everything. Your training saved more than just your life. The muscle strength you've built up has ensured you the use of your arm."

I smiled smugly. My gazed flicked over to the doorway. Four looked pleased. But he rightly should. He was a good trainer. He pushed me to do better than I thought I could. Go farther. Eric's expression, on the other hand, didn't change from the speculating one he'd had on the entire examination. I quickly returned to watching the wall.

"How long until she can go back to training?"

It was the first time he'd said anything. It surprised me a little, but not enough to look at him for any longer than just a flashing glance. I was still trying to figure him out. He'd been so cold and harsh, then suddenly all fire and passion, and then right back to being cold. And after I'd gotten hurt, he'd thrown me off again by showing a little tenderness, if only for just brief moments. He was utterly confusing and it kept me in a constant tailspin. I mean, I knew he had an image to keep up. That I understood clearly. But until I could come to at least some sort of theory about him, I was going to keep losing this game we'd been playing.

"I'm going to clear her for light duty only right now. Jogging, not running. And she should wear her sling if she starts to feel any pain in her shoulder. We need to work more on building the strength back up gradually before throwing her back into the heavy stuff."

"But it feels fine," I insisted, turning my attention back to the doc.

"I'm sure it does, Ronnie. But if you start off with too much too fast, you're going to not only reopen the tears, but you'll do more damage and cause scarring in the muscles and tendons. And that can cost you in the long run. I mean it. Just do the stretches, add weight gradually. You'll be back to jumping off the trains faster than you think."

I nodded. I wasn't going to argue. I certainly didn't want to lose any mobility in my arm. I wanted to be a good soldier. I wanted to be as good as Four and Max and Eric. I didn't want a weak shoulder holding me back. Something someone could use against me in some way. I didn't want to end up losing my life because some shithead jerked my arm back and crippled me from pain.

"And the cast?"

The doc made a contemplative face at Max's question. "The fractures are healing quickly. I'd say... Two more weeks? We'll do another scan next week to check on everything again, but with what I've heard about this one, I wouldn't be surprised if she was fully recovered from everything by then."

Max made a noise of approval and stepped away from the monitor beside the doc. "Well, she's one of our most promising Initiates. She's come far since she started her training. We expect great things from her."

That made me happy. Even proud. People were talking about me more than I'd thought. I was used to getting congratulatory slaps on the back and words of encouragement when I passed by some of the other Dauntless members. But I had no idea that I had come up in discussions by the ones with authority. Especially Max. To impress faction members and my trainers was one thing, but for our main leader to hold me with such high regard is almost mind-blowing.

"Well, I'm willing to bet you're going to get it from this one."

"Still good?"

Four had slowed down to hang back with me as I began to lag behind the others while we all jogged through the city later that morning. I had to admit I was getting a little winded by now. Too much rest had started making me a little soft. But I wasn't about to stop yet. I wanted to finish the entire run.

"Yep."

I straightened a bit. Kept my eyes forward. I didn't hear Four speak again for several blocks.

"You need to be careful around him."

I flicked him a questioning glance. "Huh?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Ronnie. I'm Intelligence. I see a lot more than people think I do. Like the way you look at each other. Especially when you don't think anyone's around."

"Four..."

He held up a hand. "I don't want to know. Just watch yourself around him. Because it might not end well."

"Why? Because he's a leader?"

"Because he's Eric. Eric does what he wants, and he doesn't exactly care who gets in the way."

"So you think he's playing me."

He hardened his expression for a moment. "I don't know. He's smart. He can hide his emotions and his motives and keep everyone in the dark until the last second. He's really good at making you think he's playing one hand when he's really playing another."

"So you do think he's just playing with me."

We crossed over a set of train tracks and started to follow the path that ran beside it. Four went quiet for a minute, like he was thinking. Maybe he was analyzing everything he'd seen in his head. He was in Intelligence, after all.

"I don't know. Like I said, he's good at hiding things."

Well, that wasn't what I wanted to hear no matter how much I actually expected it. Eric had a special knack for confusing everyone. Too bad I couldn't do that. Or could I? I'd always been very open and truthful growing up in Candor. That was how the faction operated. No secrets, no lies. But here in Dauntless, you could keep secrets. You could hide things from people if you didn't want them to know something. I'd been learning how to do that by hiding Eric from pretty much everyone. So why couldn't I hide myself from Eric? Make him be the confused one for once.

"So what if I played him?"

Four shot me a look I couldn't quite determine the meaning of. Surprise? Caution? Maybe both? His hand was on my elbow then, gently tugging and making me stop. He watched the rest of the group pull ahead before leaning down just enough so that he could keep his voice low and our words private.

"Are you seriously considering getting yourself into something with him, Ronnie? What happens when it doesn't work? When he loses his temper?"

That day at target practice flashed through my mind. The look of pure rage in his eyes after I had refused him on the roof. It still gave me chills to think about it.

"Ronnie, he's dangerous."

"I know, but-"

"But? There is no 'but' about this, Ronnie. He doesn't get his way and he loses it. He becomes a war machine that crushes anything and anyone in his path."

"So you don't think there's any hope for him. You don't think that he can be anything more than some ruthless Dauntless soldier."

I was pushing the line now. I knew I was getting too close to crossing that barrier that separated me from Four as initiate and trainer. Puffing my chest and forgetting that he was my superior just because he'd struck a nerve. He knew it, too. And was quick to knock me back down.

"Watch you words with me, Ronnie. I'm coming to you nicely right now. If I wanted to, I could order you to stop seeing him. You're not full Dauntless yet, no matter how high your ranking is in the class."

My eyes fell to the ground. I took a step back. "I'm sorry."

I heard him sigh. "Look. I'm not getting in the middle of this. I'm just telling you to be careful. Okay?"

I nodded. He inclined his head back down the path and we started off to catch up to the others. However short, our conversation gave me something to think about. I'd seen how Eric reacted to my rejection. How he was able to separate himself from his emotions. How he could surprise me by showing the emotion I wanted. I realized that I'd actually been studying him without even knowing it. And that he'd been showing me how to play his little game all along. But while I'd been wasting time trying to figure him out, I should have been trying to make him figure me out instead. So that now he knew too much about me and I was still in the dark. I wanted to kick myself.

I finished the run with the group, and that made me proud. But my shoulder was starting to burn from the jostling, and that annoyed me. It combined with my realizations about Eric and his little mind game and twisted my mood into an unpleasant one. So I was back to wearing my sling and a sullen face during lunch while Darcy fixed me up with a plate that only needed one hand to eat with.

"You should see it as an accomplishment," Gabe pointed out, trying to help. "It's your first day back and you're running a whole session around the city. That's going to get spread around fast in this place."

"He's right," Tara agreed. "I've already heard the other Dauntless-born talking about it. You've got them nervous, Ronnie."

"Nervous?" I blinked, looking up from my plate. "Why?"

"Because they were hoping to finally knock you down on the rankings board. You'd be surprised how important that is to some of them."

I smirked. I don't know why, but the idea of being seen as a threat to some of the other Initiates was appealing. "Yeah, well, they can keep dreaming. I'm gonna be back to full speed soon, and they're never gonna get to take my spot."

"That's my girl," Darcy chirped. "Our Dauntless Ronnie. Toughest of them all."

"To Ronnie!" Gabe held his cup in the air.

"To Ronnie!" The little cheer was lost in the noise of the lunch crowd, but it didn't matter. I ducked my head anyway, covering my face and laughing.

"You guys are idiots."

"Yeah," Alex replied. "But we're your idiots. Nothing you can do about that one, my dear."

I rolled my eyes, but I still grinned. "I could get new friends."

"But what will I do with the tattoo of your name I got on my ass?"

I snorted. "You did not."

He grinned and shook his head. "No, but I'm getting streaks put in tonight."

"Yes!" Tara threw her fists straight up in the air, obviously excited. "And spike it!"

Alex had darker hair than I did, and he'd been letting it get longer on the top while tapering it shorter down the rest of his head. It was kind of like this soft wave of espresso that sloped toward his face and then down to the right. He'd spent forever retraining his hair to lay just how he wanted it. But it was worth his efforts. It set off the gold tone in his hazel eyes and I thought it suited him a hell of a lot better than the short and sculpted thing he used to do back in Candor.

"After I've finally gotten it to stay like this? Are you nuts?"

Tara shrugged. "Fine then."

"That reminds me, though," Gabe commented. "I've been thinking of getting a new tattoo."

"I think I'm good on that front for the moment. Just gonna do the hair tonight."

Out of all of us, Alex had been the one to get bitten the hardest by the body modification bug. Since our initial outing to the parlor in the pit, he'd gotten his left eyebrow pierced, a wolf paw print on the inside of his forearm just below his elbow, a sun with the Dauntless symbol inside it between his shoulders that he added extra flames to it just days later, and had just gotten three big slash marks done across his ribs last week. At least I thought that's all he'd gotten. Since we had the 'no nudity' rule set in the dormitory, I never saw his legs. But I wouldn't be surprised if he'd gotten something put on them, too.

"You know what?" I bit into my burger Darcy had fixed up for me. "I'll go with you guys."

"Hair or tattoos?" Gabe asked.

"Hair. I've gotten an idea for a new tattoo set, but it's not ready yet."

"Yeah?" Alex leaned on his elbow. "What did you have in mind?"

"A band piece for my fear landscape."

Darcy tilted her head as she stabbed her fork into a burger patty and dropped in onto her plate. "How do you mean?"

"A solid band for each one I face and conquer." I traced my finger around my left forearm with my cast-covered hand. Then did it again, but stopping about three quarters of the way around. "A broken one for the ones I haven't conquered or can't change."

"Like your parents," Alex commented. "A broken band because that's one thing you're probably never going to solve."

"Exactly."

"That's a really good idea." Gabe pointed his fork at me in excitement. "I'm stealing it. I'll put them on my legs. For like, standing my ground against them."

"Ooh, I really like that," Tara agreed, passing Darcy a bun from the tray near her. "And then, if you conquer a fear later on, just fill in the band."

I nodded. "But I'm not going to start up the count until I get further into my landscape. I'm only up to three so far. I'll only be able to get to more if I can control my reaction to them."

"It's still early," Alex chimed in. "Not many of us have faced more than maybe two of our fears. It's kind of hard to remember to control your breathing and lower your heart rate in those damn sims."

Before I could comment, another Initiate from our transfer group came jogging up to our table. "Guys, I just got a heads up from one of the standing members. Fear sims are cancelled for the afternoon."

"What?" Darcy set her burger back down on her plate. "Why?"

"Problem with the Factionless. Four and Eric had to go help out. Apparently there's a big fight over dwelling space or something. So we're supposed to stay here. Eric and Four's orders."

"Huh," Tara mused as he went off to tell another group. "Well, that's new. Free day."

Alex smirked. "Well, I guess we can go down to the pit after lunch instead of later tonight."