'Hey, Four!' I call. Sitting by the chasm, I see him walking towards the stairs and beckon him over. 'What's up?'

'The ceiling,' he grins. I look up and see the glass ceiling, people walking over it like there's absolutely no chance of it cracking. The thought makes me wince slightly and I avert my eyes from it.

'How's leadership training going?' I ask. I can't believe Four's going to be a leader at the age of sixteen.

He lowers himself down to sit next to me, our feet dangling over the edge of the chasm. 'It's not. I'm out,' he says.

'What?'

'Bit of a bad day so far,' he says, smiling. 'Eric wants to make training ten times more brutal and competitive than it is already. He's going to make cuts at the end of training.' At my confused look, he elaborates 'They compete for one of ten spots in Dauntless, rather than an unlimited amount like we've always had. If they don't make it, that's it. Factionless.'

I inhale sharply. 'Really? But what about Max?'

'Max allows it. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Max thinks it's a good idea.' The look on Four's face tells me exactly what he thinks of it. I can't believe that Max would allow this; I wouldn't believe it if it hadn't come from someone like Four.

It's strange how much Dauntless training has changed already. Six years ago, the training sessions were brief. Padding was worn, the knife throwing was only there for fun. It was all about friendship, Dauntless bravery rather than bravado. Paintballing and ziplining and games of Dare rather than fights and competitiveness.

'You still haven't told me how you got kicked out,' I say, because it's all I can focus my mind on. I can't believe he's not going to be a leader anymore. He'd have been a better leader than Eric will ever be.

Four rests his head on the bar of the chasm and closes his eyes, telling me the rest of the story. I notice that although there is anger and some sadness in his voice, there is no regret. 'And now I'm going to be an initiation instructor, and work in the control room for the rest of the year. To be honest, I think it's what I always wanted to do.'

Even then, I sigh. 'Man, that is a bad day.'

'Yeah.' A large wave from the chasm sends cold spray over our ankles, and we stay silent. That's another thing I like about Four; he doesn't try to fill spaces, he doesn't say things that are better left unsaid.

'Where's Zeke?' he asks eventually.

'I don't know. I haven't wanted to hang out with him much recently.'

He gives me a sideways glance. 'You could just tell him that you like him, you know. I honestly don't think he has a clue.'

Four is scarily perceptive at times. I know that I like Zeke, but I didn't tell anyone. Am I that transparent, or is Four just very clever?

I roll my eyes. 'That's obvious. But what if this is what he wants; to just bounce around from girl to girl for a while? I don't want to be one of those girls he bounces to.'

'I seriously doubt you would be,' Four replies quietly, and I'm surprised with the certainty in his tone, 'but fair enough.'

There is another silence, and I give him a sideways glance. He doesn't just look tired, but exhausted. I suppose the last few weeks have taken their toll on him. It's strange, the way he's so different to Zeke. He is quiet, and Zeke is loud. He is, perhaps, more likeable than Zeke in some ways, although I know that I like Zeke a lot. 'You'll be a good instructor,' I say quietly. 'You were really good at teaching me.'

The afternoon when he taught me to throw a good punch; an uppercut, I remember. I beat Ashley, who still hates me for that. It's a little like Four and Eric; we are both at each other's throats, although I know that Eric hates Four a lot more than Ashley hates me. I can see it in the smug looks Eric shoots Four, and the freezing glares he gets in return.

'Thanks,' he says, smiling slightly. Unlike Zeke, he doesn't seek out praise or fish for compliments.

'There you are.' I hear a loud voice from behind me; Zeke is running up to us. Of course it's him. He's carrying a large bottle by the neck. 'Come on, I found something.'

Knowing Zeke, it could be anything. Part of me wants to see what is happening, to get caught up in his Dauntless excitement. But the other part of me wants to stay back with Four, quietly watching the chasm. It's more peaceful that way. Four looks at me and shrugs, probably thinking the same as I am.

We follow Zeke as he races off at his typical top speed. He leads us up to the door of the Pit, the one we came through after we first jumped into the net, when we were first accepted as Dauntless initiates. But he doesn't lead us to the net. Instead, he takes us through another door, the lock taped with duct tape. Then we stumble through a pitch black corridor and an equally dark flight of stairs.

'Should be coming up— ouch!'

'Sorry, I didn't know you were stopping.'

'Hold on, almost got it…' Zeke opens a door, letting in light. We're on the other side of the chasm, several feet above the water. The Pit above us looks like it goes on forever. The people by the rails that Four and I were leaning on just minutes ago look impossibly small, like little beetles, hard to distinguish.

'How did you find this place?' I ask, stepping carefully down onto a rock, wondering if the people on the other side of the Pit can see us, if they're wondering what we're doing.

'That girl Maria,' Zeke replies. As he says her name, a chill goes through me for no good reason. 'Her mum works in chasm maintenance. I didn't know there was such a thing, but apparently there is.'

I see a window of opportunity that won't stay open for long, and decide to ask casually, 'You still seeing her?' Four shoots me a sideways glance, as if sensing what I'm thinking, but he doesn't say anything.

'Nah,' says Zeke equally casually. Relief shoots through me. 'Every time I was with her, I kept getting the itch to just be friends. That's not a good sign, is it?'

'No,' I agree, feeling like the weight of the world has come off my shoulders. Four gives me a faint smile. We both sit down on the rocks, and wait for Zeke to stumble over to join us.

'I heard you're out of the running,' he says to Four. He opens the bottle he'd brought, and starts passing it round. 'I thought you might need a drink.'

'Yeah,' Four replies noncommittally.

'Consider this act of public drunkenness a big…' Zeke makes an obscene gesture to the glass ceiling. 'You know, to Max and Eric.'

I laugh, but Four doesn't. 'And Evelyn,' he murmurs, so quietly I can barely hear him. Zeke doesn't notice, and so I don't say anything, despite wondering who Evelyn is. He leans on a rock. 'I'll be working in the training room when I'm not training initiates,' he continues.

Zeke grins. 'Awesome. It'll be good to have a friend in there. Right now no one talks to me.' Zeke finds silence at best irritating and at worst physically painful. The stillness and silence of the control room must be unbearable to him.

Four laughs, and I realise I've hardly ever heard a genuine laugh from him before. I've heard mocking laughs, derisive laughs, but only twisted versions. We should get him to laugh more, I think, and resolve to talk to Zeke later. 'Sounds like me in my old faction,' he says. I notice the way he carefully avoids saying Abnegation. 'Imagine an entire lunch period in which no one even looks at you.' His voice is filled with mock horror.

'Ouch,' answers Zeke, sounding genuinely horrified. Then he grins. 'Well, I bet you're glad to be here now.'

Four grabs the bottle from Zeke, who doesn't even notice, and takes a large mouthful, not even grimacing at the taste like he used to. 'Yeah. I am,' he says.

I can't help cycling through Four's words; about Eric's threat, about leadership. If Eric really does manage to take control of Dauntless… what will he do?

Hello, everyone! Did you have a good Christmas? I did; my 11 cousins came over to our house (they're all except one younger than 9, one of them is 11) and it was absolute madness. I hid in my room for an hour writing this totally didn't get freaked at the really, really loud noise…

I won't be able to update for the rest of the year… *shock horror* it won't be long, luckily Writer's block chooses to appear at this time; initiation has finished and there's no set pattern for what's happening now, and we'll be going down to England for a week or two before school starts.

72 reviews! Thank you so, so much, you guys are awesome :) Also, what do you think would've happened if the Erudite rebellion didn't happen? Like if Tris was a member of Dauntless as normal? I think that Christina would've got together with Will, but they wouldn't have met Amar because the video of Amanda Ritter wouldn't've been released because there was no war in the first place, so maybe the war was a good thing… :D

One last thing: If you're a Sherlockian, have you checked out my other story? It's really funny, the way that this story has upwards of 70 reviews, and my other one, More than You'll Ever Know, has none… :( It's M-rated, trigger warnings, and it's basically where I write way too maturely for a 12 year old. (oops.)

Thanks for reading :)