Hey guys! Getting some great reviews, just wanted to clear something up, this is an EricXOC fic. Not FourXTris. While I will mention their relationship, this fic isn't about them. Anyways, please, please, please keep reviewing, faving, and following! Enjoy ^_^


"So what's happening anyway?" I whispered to Tris as we waited nervously in front of a small room that smelled of antiseptics.

She leaned closer and said, "It's our fear simulation. We get tested for a few days and then we can train however we see fit for the next week and a half. Then we have our final test, our Fear Landscape. Four explained it all yesterday after the last fight."

"Thanks," I mumbled, only more nervous now that I knew what we'd be doing.

After nearly all of the initiates had gone in and come back out, I was called by a woman I didn't know, "Sparrow."

Every initiate had left the room with a similar look of unease and queasiness on their faces, except for Tris who had sprinted from the room looking terrified. She had been the fastest one out, taking what seemed like four or five minutes compared with everyone else's nine to ten.

Repressing my urge to run, I walked into the white room, trying not to breathe too deeply in case of disturbing my ribs. "Sit down up here." the woman patted the seat that looked the same as the one from our aptitude test. "I'm Tori, I'll be administering the serum that puts you under and your leaders will be judging your results." she gestured to where Eric and Four stood with their arms crossed.

"Okay," I mumbled, getting onto the seat slowly and wincing at my sore, inflamed ribs.

She smiled tightly and pushed my head up a bit before sticking a needle into the side of my neck and injected the serum, ignoring my high-pitched yelp of shock.

"Um...I don't think it worked." I frowned, looking around to find that Tori, Eric and Four were all gone. "Hello?" sliding off the seat and walking a few steps away. When I turned back, I found that the chair had disappeared as well.

"Eric?" I called, backing into a corner so I wouldn't be surprised if someone came up behind me.

A door that hadn't been on the opposite side of the room before, opened and Tris walked in, looking grim. "Tris!" I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god you're here, I was starting to worry."

"I wouldn't thank god just yet, Ana." she frowned. A small flicker of a reflection of light caught my eye and I looked down at her hand to find she had a sharp knife.

"Tris?" my heartbeat picked up. "What's going on?"

She glared at me harshly, "What's going on is that I'm sick of you, Ana. I'm sick of having to always deal with your moods and general bitchiness. And so is everyone else, they're just too scared to tell you."

"What..." I croaked, feeling a lump start to form in my throat. "You don't mean that."

"Yes," she nodded sincerely. "I do." and with that, she lunged forward with the knife held high. I caught her wrist instinctively and struggled against her, she wasn't tall, but she was taller than me and for some reason, seemed to tower over my small figure.

I groaned, my ribs aching more than usual. "Tris! Think about what you're doing!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing." she hissed, disengaging and coming back at me from a different angle. "Taking care of a pest that's been bugging me since I was a child."

Anger took over me and all I could see was red as my used-to-be friend came charging at me with the intent to kill. In a second, I had snapped her wrist and grabbed the knife, backing her into a wall and pressing the knife to her throat.

"What, gonna kill me too?" she sneered.

I frowned, "Too?"

Her eyes flicked away from me and looked over my shoulder. Without releasing my grip on her, or the knife, I turned to look and gasped, dropping everything.

On the floor behind me lay Chris, Al, Will, Four, Edward and Eric, all wide-eyed and open-mouthed with slit throats. Their blood pooled together on the pristine floor, staining it murky crimson. "No!"

"Yes," she gurgled and I spun around to find her sliding to the floor, her throat slit as well. "Look at what you've done." she accused before the light left her eyes.

"But I didn't do this!" I shouted hoarsely.

"Oh, but you did." a smooth voice came from behind me and I whipped around to find a blood-covered mirror. Stepping forward shakily, I wiped and wiped until there were only messy streaks down the reflective surface. "Take a look."

My mirror image smirked and lifted her hand, bloodied silver flashing teasingly. I looked down in horror to find my own hands covered in blood and holding a slick knife which I dropped instantly with a horrified scream.

"No!" I shrieked, toppling off the seat in the middle of the room and onto the floor. I looked around wildly, finding no dead bodies and no blood. Only Eric, Four and Tori all exchanging worried looks.

Eric walked over to me and crouched, "Ana, are you alright?"

I hadn't noticed until he took my hands in his, but they were shaking violently and I couldn't make them stop. "I...I'm fine." snatching my hands from his, I stood up, steeling my nerves.

"Well done, Ana." Tori gave an encouraging smile. "One of the faster scores, only eight minutes and fifteen seconds."


"You managed to cut fifteen seconds off your time, Ana. Impressive." Tori nodded her approval the next day as I sat, panting on the floor.

I hadn't slept that night because I was too scared that I might see the fear simulation in my dreams. I was exhausted, shaken up and wanted nothing more than to curl up in a comfortable bed and go to sleep.

"Hey guys." Chris sat down at lunch with a sigh. "Wow, glad to know I'm not the only one looking like shit."

Her attempted joke didn't go over well. "Jeez, alright." she grumbled. "Okay, how about we all meet in front of the Pit around seven and get a drink?"

"Yes," was the collective groan.

Will chuckled, taking a bite of his food. "Looks like mental training is hitting us all a lot harder than physical, huh?"

"You have no idea." I muttered, toying with my lunch and pushing it away as bloodied hands and slit throats invaded my mind.


Chris had insisted we get dressed up again, saying it would make us all feel better and cheer us up. I understood what she meant and why she might think it would work, but as I walked to the Pit, all I could think was how much I wished I wasn't in a dress.

The tight fabric rose up every step I took and the heeled boots Chris had leant me were ridiculous to walk in. I couldn't even imagine having to fight or run in them.

"Finally!" Chris exclaimed as I walked up to the group. "What took you so long?!"

"I-"

She cut me off with an uninterested hand wave, "Nope! Don't tell me, we're already late."

"For what?" Tris grumbled to me in a low voice as we followed Chris, Al and Will.

I smiled lightly, still feeling uneasy from the fear simulation. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get over the images that the serum had put in my mind, but I wished more than anything it would be sooner rather than later.

"And here we are!" Chris grinned, throwing her arms out.

Giving her a curious look, I sassed, "Ah, yes, the great and wonderful bar. Incredible."

She shot me a glare, "Not the bar, the people IN the bar!" she opened the doors and a bunch of people I didn't know shouted and cheered, congratulating us on being done with the physical training.

"Who are these people," I mumbled to Tris who shrugged and pointed to Chris who seemed to know all of them.

I was tapped on the shoulder and spun around to see a grinning Philip, "Well hey there, gorgeous."

"Hey...Philip, why are you here?" I asked, trying not to come off as abrasive.

He pointed over to the bar, "Not just me, Bryce too. And Eric said he might come later, but I nicely left out that you and your friends would be here." he winked.

"Oh..." I nodded, oddly disappointed at the idea of Eric maybe not showing up. "Thanks."

"Can't you tell when a guy is trying to get you to go home with him?!"

I shook my head, unsure of when I'd heard Eric say that, or if he'd even said it at all. "Care to get a drink?"

"I," can't shake the feeling that I should be scared of you. "Guess so..."

"Great," he grinned.


Eric's P.O.V.

I can't believe I'm going to this party. No Dauntless leader has time for parties. This is ridiculous.

Yeah, but we both know who's gonna be there.

So what?

Aw, are you still sore because she didn't want to hold your hand after her fear simulation? Poor baby. Man up! Go and get the girl! Do something that would actually make you happy for once!

She wouldn't make me happy.

Wanna bet?

I couldn't believe this. I hated parties, I hated drinking in crowds and I really, really hated Philip right now. He had invited me to the party along with Bryce and I'd had to pretend like I wasn't furious with him.

It would've seemed strange if I was still angry with him for trying to get Ana to go home with him, but the only thing that made me angrier than him, was her. She hadn't even known what he was doing. I'd seen girls beyond wasted that had slapped Philip for trying to pull that shit, and that annoyingly innocent girl had no idea.

"Ridiculous." I muttered, stalking down a hall toward the Pit.

I stopped suddenly, thinking I heard something. "Who's there?" I called into the empty space.

There was a muffled sound and then a short scream. And somehow I knew. It was Ana. She was in danger. "Ana!" I shouted, sprinting towards where I'd heard her scream.

"Ana!" I yelled again, pausing to see if she might answer.

After a few seconds I heard, "Eric-ah!" and started running again before finding a small dark hallway and jogging until I heard what sounded like a struggle and I threw open one of the metal doors.

"Get the fuck off her." I snarled, fury filling me as I saw the disoriented, crying girl fighting against Philip who had hiked her dress up and was trying to- "Did you hear me?"

I growled, grabbing his arms and yanking him away from Ana. "Woah, Eric. Man, c'mon, I'm just trying to-"

"I know what the fuck you're trying to do," I snapped. "I'll fucking kill you if you even come near her again."

Philip furrowed his brow, "Man, what the hell? We've been friends since initiation, I'm just trying to get a little-"

That did it. I pulled my fist back and slammed it into his nose, hearing a satisfying snap and shook my hand out as he stumbled backwards. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he gasped, clutching his nose as blood poured from it.

"Get out of here or you'll get worse than that." I threatened, narrowing my eyes at him and waited until he scrambled out of sight before spinning back around to Ana.

She had slid down the wall and was shaking and crying, holding herself tightly. "Ana," I said softly, not really knowing what to do seeing her like this.

Her long, teal hair covered her face, but her bare arms and legs were covered in goosebumps and I sighed, pulling my heavy jacket off and draping it over her shoulders, sitting down beside her.

"Listen, I won't let him touch you. Him or anyone." I promised. And I meant it, no fucking way would anyone else hurt her.

Finally come to terms with the fact that you care about her?

It took me a second to answer myself, but I did. Yeah, I have.

She didn't look up, but did reach up and wipe her cheeks quickly before hiccuping and trying to stand. She wobbled and I saw her lower lip quiver before she thudded back onto the ground and sniffled.

She clutched my jacket and finally looked at me. "Thank you," she whispered shakily, tears still rolling down her face.

"Ana," I shook my head as she sobbed. "Fuck," I hissed, reaching out and lifting her into my lap.

She didn't hesitate before pressing her face into my neck and gripping my shirt tightly. "D-don't yell," she cried, shaking like a leaf.

"Why would I yell?" I mumbled, rubbing my hand on her back slowly.

Because that's what you always do?

Shit.

"I tried to stop h-him," her breath hitched. "He got me a drink and t-then I f-felt dizzy and h-he took me out of t-the bar."

I could feel myself getting angry again and had to take a deep breath to keep from leaping up and going after Philip. "It's okay, you're safe now. Do you want me to take you back to Tris?"

"No!" her head shot up and I felt a sharp pain in my chest, seeing her break down was the worst thing I'd had to see in a long time. "She can't...I can't.."

"You don't want her to see you like this, okay, but where do you want me to take you? We can't just stay here, Ana." I whispered, wiping my thumbs over her cheeks.

She nodded, letting go of my shirt and holding onto my wrists as I stroked her cheeks gingerly. I'd never been so...sweet? Gentle? But then again, I'd never found someone to be so gentle to...or who could stand up to me and match my assholeish nature.

"How about I take you to the infirmary and the nurses can take care of you and make sure the drugs leave your system," I suggested, not moving my hands.

"Okay," she hiccuped, finally calming down enough to focus.

Nodding reassuringly, I helped her up. "C'mon, let's go." I fixed my jacket around her and held her side so she wouldn't collapse.

"What happened?" a nurse came running up and helped me get Ana to a bed as soon as we walked into the infirmary.

I lifted her up into the bed and squeezed her shoulder. "Some asshole drugged her and felt her up. Just...just make sure she's okay and don't let anyone come near her."

"Are you going somewhere?" the nurse asked, raising an eyebrow and giving Ana a cup of water.

I clenched my jaw and nodded, "Yeah, I've got some things to take care of."

The nurse reached over and grabbed my wrist, "I understand that you're angry, but going to kill the guy who did this isn't going to help her."

"How da-"

She released me and held her hands up, "All I'm saying is that she needs you here."

The nurse gave me a pointed look and then set up a drip in Ana's arm before walking away to help someone else.