Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent books, movie franchise or any of the characters from it. I do, however, own the plot and characters you don't recognize.

"Are you sure you're from Candor?"

Spinner abandons the words on the page and cocks Tori a puzzling look over her shoulder. She sits on a stool beside the tattoo chair, working diligently on her new tattoo piece. It was of a large black-and-gray dragon, starting from the top of her hip to her mid-thigh.

She saw it in her dream last night, flying across a spectacular celestial sky. There were red and blue threads of a supernova and countless twinkling stars. It was magnificent. And the moment she woke up, she knew she wanted that beautiful creature tattooed on her body.

It was her first good dream in a long time and she felt it needed to be commemorated forever.

Tori smiles and the corner of her eyes crinkle as she wipes away the excess ink from her skin. Bringing the tattoo needle back to shading in the dragon's tail, she nods to the novel in Spinner's hands. "You're one of the first smart mouths I've seen who reads as much as you do," she laughs a little. "You remind me of myself when I was in Erudite. I always had a book in my hands no matter where I was."

Her eyes slide back to the page, pinched in solemnity as the faces of her parents and Booker flashes in her mind. "My folks were originally from there." She shakes her head with a slight snort. "My old man just couldn't break the habit, you know? He loved reading too much."

"He's the one who taught you Hebrew, right?" Tori asks, referring to the first tattoo she gave her on her shoulder.

Spinner nods. "My mother knew German but I didn't find the language appealing." She says absentmindedly, flipping the page. "I found Hebrew easier to learn anyway."

"My brother and I learned Latin for our second language." Tori admits in a voice filled with nostalgia. But Spinner can hear pain, one she recognizes. She knows it, breathes as it constantly gnaws at the edges of her soul. She realizes then that Tori must've lost her brother too. "I can't help but notice you keep referring to your parents in past tense-"

"They're dead."

The buzzing stops as Tori pulls away the needle. Spinner can almost feel the pity rolling off her, and she remembers to breathe deeply and slowly.

"I'm so-"

"It's okay," she sends Tori a small understanding smile. "I'm okay." She says, even though she's nowhere near close.

Tori doesn't look convinced, but she doesn't press the issue. Nodding, she turns on the needle and resumes working. "You and Eric have gotten pretty close," she smirks. "In fact, he has an appointment for a touch-up in the next few minutes."

"Y'all are the nosiest bunch of bastards I've ever met," Spinner grumbles. "Tank and I-"

"Tank?" Tori's eyebrows shoot as she watches her with keen interest.

Spinner feels a blush creep into her cheeks and she's relieved the tattoo artist can't see her face. She forces out a snort. "Oh, you know me and my strong affinity for giving people nicknames. Like how Four is Broody, Lauren is Sweets-"

"Then what am I?"

"Uh, you are…" Spinner pauses to think, only to come up short. She turns and tosses Tori a sheepish glance.

Her head's down as she's detailing the dragon's mouth opened in a roar. But she can see the knowing smile stretching across Tori's lips.

Spinner rolls her eyes in a huff. "Oh screw you. My nicknames are golden and they take months of preparation. I can't just go around naming people all willy-nilly."

Tori snorts.

"Anyway, Eric and I are not close. We were just unfortunate enough to get stuck working together. And… he may have saved my life once… or twice."

"I'm getting the feeling you enjoy putting yourself through the wringer." Tori's mouth twitches. "First your apartment, and now almost falling into the chasm. You're like a magnet for trouble."

Spinner grins impishly. "Sweets said the exact same thing. I'd say I like to keep things exciting."

"By gambling with your life?"

"Hey, those were both accidents!"

"Accidents I had to save your ass from." Eric's voice sounds as the curtain surrounding them slides open and he enters the parlor room. He smirks, a cocky smile that makes her stomach clench.

Spinner snaps her head back down to her novel to avoid his fiery gaze. "Speak of the Devil and he shall appear…" She mumbles under her breath.

"I have about thirty minutes left with her." Tori informs him. "So if you want to-"

"I'll wait." Eric cuts off breezily, before grabbing a chair and situating it directly in front of Spinner. His eyes are predatory as they lazily drag over her half-naked form. She feels her heart stutter for a second. "Very nice."

Spinner's gaze flickers to his. "Thanks."

"I wasn't just talking about the tattoo," he mouths, his eyes darkening with a wicked smile.

Spinner feels her cheeks warm again, suddenly aware of the heat generating between them. Her grip tightens on her novel and she licks her lips as her stomach does a flip-flop.

"Would you two like some privacy?" Tori interjects in a dry tone.

Eric gives Spinner a mocking tilt of his head, a little smirk kicking up one side of his mouth.

Spinner scoffs. "Please, Tori. I'm not that desperate."

He narrows his eyes, knowing that he indeed read her email last night.

"I'm a firm believer of keeping my options open. Y' know, play the field a bit before settling down. It can't just be with anyone." She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, sweeping a glance down and up his body. Their eyes reconnect and raising her eyebrow, Spinner smiles coquettishly. "No matter how pretty they are."

Eric elevates his chin, his jaw shifting back and forth in irritation as he continues to hold her gaze.

"Like I was saying before, Eric and I are just co-workers." Spinner sends him a look of stone, showing Eric just how deep his comment cut that night. "Nothing more, nothing less."

The expression in his eyes tells her she'll be thinking otherwise.

Very soon

She had sworn to herself that she wouldn't get involved with Eric again. Yet here she is watching Tori refill the black lines on his forearms. The places are random, but as she looks at the tiny marks closely she realizes they're in the shape of fingernails. Her fingernails, the ones she'd dug into his skin that day in the tunnel. Eric's catches her eye then and his lips twitch as humiliation dawns on her features.

Spinner goes back to ignoring him shortly afterwards, and twenty minutes later they're leaving the tattoo shop. As they walk down the path in silence, she suddenly feels Eric's hand graze against hers. At first Spinner doesn't think anything of it and simply brushes it off as an accident. But when it happens a second and a third time, it quickly becomes clear that he was doing it on purpose.

With a huff, Spinner stuffs her hand into her pocket and surges ahead, trying to get away from his smug expression. She walks into the dining hall and the initiates in the lunch line send her inquisitive glances when Eric stalks in behind her. They immediately avert their eyes at the sight of his glare and she fails to conceal her giggle in time.

Eric stares at her with a rare curiosity, and feeling surprisingly bashful, Spinner ducks away and hurries over to her friends.

"So much for stay away from me, huh?" Lauren whispers in a teasing manner as she takes a seat at the table.

Cheeks burning, Spinner flips her middle finger at her giggling friend.

"Did you get it?" Four asks as he slides her her lighter across the table.

"Yep!" Spinner nods, standing up to show off the white bandage peeking out the waistband of her pants. "Right on this sexy piece of skin right here," she gives her thigh a playfully tap.

"What did you get?" Shauna asks next.

"I got this dragon I saw in my dreams last night," Spinner replies dropping back into chair then stealing a fry off of Lauren's plate. "It was fucking so rad. I just had to get it tattooed, and Tori did a killer job like always."

"I actually read somewhere that if you dream of a flying dragon, it's supposed to be like a warning sign, or something like that." Zeke says through a mouthful of his burger.

"Nerd." Lauren, Spinner, and Shauna say in unison.

Four chuckles quietly from beside him while Zeke rolls his eyes.

"Whatever, you girls are lame."

They share another brief laugh.

"Have you seen Ben's father at the fence lately?" Lauren asks Shauna.

She shakes her head with a solemn look. "Barney ended up giving him a leave of absence," she replies in a quiet, grave voice. "He still refuses to leave his apartment."

Zeke spots someone across the dining hall. "Well, looks like Jared's out today. Man, he looks awful."

She turns to see a tall, bald-headed man walking robotically into the room. As his shirt lifts from his jerky stride, she catches a momentary flash of light and a curve of a black handle. Her eyes narrow as Jared makes a straight line for Eric seated at the end of the leaders' table. And as his hand inches closer to his waistband, it takes her split second to realize what was happening.

"He has a gun, he has a gun," Spinner whispers furiously as she jumps to her feet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, he's gonna shoot Eric. Motherfucker's gonna shoot him."

"What? Are you serious?" Zeke rushes out. "Spinner-"

"Spinner, wait-!" Lauren shouts, but she's already taking off. "He has a gun!"

A significant portion of the dining hall goes eerily silent.

"Jared has a gun! Hey, you guys, look out!" Someone screams from the middle table while Spinner's vaulting over it just as the fence guard draws his weapon. Jared sees her speedily approaching him, and jerking around, he squeezes the trigger.

BANG!

The whole dining hall quickly descends into a chaos as a tingling sensation develops in her side. It radiates through her body, extending to her limbs before Spinner's fused a sudden burst of adrenaline. Moving in a swift zigzag, she knocks away Jared's arm just as he aims at Eric again and he ends up firing his gun into the ceiling.

Heart drumming within ears, Spinner seizes Jared's shoulder and holds his arm firmly as she swings herself over his back. She disarms fence guard with a sharp twist and she can barely hear his blood-curdling scream of agony over the many echoing in the dining hall. Without any remorse, Spinner drives her knee hard into his ribs and sends Jared crashing to the floor.

He curses and then he roars before shoving himself onto his knees, ready to attack. But Jared freezes when Spinner points the gun at him with an expression of murderous intent. Dauntless guards practically blow the doors off their hinges as they charge into the room. And in a blink of an eye, they all have their guns drawn and aimed at her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." One of them says. "Hey, sweetheart, you don't wanna do that, you hear?"

"Yeah, just put the gun down and we can talk about this calmly." Another one adds lowly.

"Lower your guns!" Zim orders as him, Lauren, and Four arrive a few feet away from them. "He was going to harm a leader and she intervened."

"Spin," Lauren edges forward, just an inch.

"Don't come any closer." Spinner hisses coldly, her eyes remaining locked on Jared's face. Fire surges through her body, intense and volcanic as rage causes her hands to tremble. She levels a merciless glare upon Jared who cradles his broken arm to his chest with an inane grin.

"I've heard about you," Jared grates. "The one afraid of guns. I'm surprised you're even able to hold one right now." He barks out a loud, unsettling laugh before tossing an amused glance at the guards behind him. "She's not gonna do it, boys. She doesn't have the guts."

"Well, it's a good thing I do." Spinner doesn't blink as Eric stands next to her, his menacing features twisting into a vicious glare.

"Oh Eric, you always gotta be the one to save her, huh?" Jared snorts in amusement. "She must be such a pain in the ass to deal with."

Click.

The guards cock their own weapons while keeping them steadily trained on Spinner.

"Your son was spineless, no more than you are right now." Spinner spits cruelly. "I can see where he got his cowardice from." Jared glares at her as painful tears well up in his eyes. "You are a pathetic excuse for a Dauntless soldier. I should spit on you."

"Do I deserve to die like my son did?"

"Yes," Eric growls. "But not by her hands." He turns to Spinner who still has the gun shakily pointed between Jared's eyes. "Stand down."

"He-" Her breath hitches past her lips as a few tears run down her face. "He tried-he tried to…"

Something flickers across Eric's cold mask of indifference and then his eyes harden. "I'm not going to say it again."

Spinner's hands only tighten on the gun.

'Do it for Booker. He wouldn't want you doing this again…'

In another moment Spinner's shoulders finally slump and she dangles the gun on her finger before holding it towards Eric. He takes it from her and then Max appears by his side.

"Take him to the prison," He orders. "We'll deal with him later."

"Spinner," Lauren sighs in relief as she walks up and warms her arms around her. She pauses when Spinner doesn't respond. "Spin…?"

When the adrenaline rush starts to die down, all she can feel is a stabbing, burning pain at her side. Like her insides are being ripped apart. Gritting her teeth, Spinner pulls open her jacket and her stomach gives a sickening lurch at the blood rapidly blotting her gray t-shirt. "L-Lauren…"

She's been shot, she's been shot, Spinner's been shot.

'Spinner, listen, you have to hang on! You can't die on me, okay? Just keep breathing!'

Lauren glances down then let's out a gasp. "Oh my God, you're bleeding!"

Eric's eyes jump to her then suddenly widen.

Spinner's knees buckle from the unnatural pressure and she slumps into Lauren's arm. "She's been shot! Spin, Spin, come on, stay with me! Four-"

The dining hall erupts into another cacophony of disorder.

She tries to say okay, but blackness claims her instead.

A whimper escapes Spinner as she's thrust back into the excruciating pain tearing into her. "Please… it… hurts..." She moans, fisting something soft and damp tightly in one of her hands.

"Bear it. We're almost there." The warmth encompassing her vibrates with Eric's recognizable baritone. And it has her descent to reality as abrupt as the impact of her understanding.

He's running with her in his arms.

Spinner drags in a ragged breath as the searing pain stabs at her repeatedly. "T-Tank…"

"Hold on." Eric growls lowly. But there is no maliciousness in his tone, just a desperation she'd never heard from him before.

"I-I c-an't…"

"If you give up now, you're a coward." Eric snaps and she whimpers again as her body withers in agony. "Now's the time to prove me wrong, Petra. Show me you're strong enough for Dauntless and fight this."

Spinner raises her head to gaze at him and it takes tremendous effort to keep it erect. Crazed in pain, she rests her forehead against the side of his jaw. "But… if I don't… end up m-making it-"

"Shut up-"

"Just know…" Spinner swallows hard, her breathing coming out in shallow pants. "…I wouldn't… trade whatever's going on between us," she smiles weakly, "for the anything."

"I said shut up!" Eric's thunderous roar echoes off the stone walls as he subtly cradles her closer to his body. She nearly misses it. "Spare me the sappy bullshit and keep yourself fucking breathing, alright?"

"Aye, aye, c-captain..." She teases weakly and then brushes a tiny kiss to the underside of his jaw.

Setting his face into a great determination, Eric's arms tighten around her before he picks up speed and jogs faster. Soon his bootfalls gradually fade until all she can hear is white noise. Everything around her swims in a nauseating motion. And she drops her head back on Eric's shoulder before closing her eyes against it. She feels herself slipping and being dragged back into the fuzzy darkness.

Then with a deep sigh, Spinner allows it to embrace her once again.

They sat together on Calalini and the only thing Petra-Lynn could see was the moon nestled soundlessly in its velvety, starless abyss. She huddled closer to Booker and rested her head against his dirty shoulder, wishing things were different.

Booker was getting worse. He hadn't spoken in a few days and she was starting to miss his voice. She felt lonely, she felt depressed, and she felt everything was her fault.

Petra-Lynn pushed her knotted hair out from her eyes. It was beginning to smell again and she had used her last bar of soap on her parents. She knew she could always ask the Stiffs for help, but God did she hate doing it. It made her look and feel pathetic, because at one point in her life she had it all.

"Would you die for me, Petra-Lynn?" Booker's voice was rough, low, and raspy from his campaign of silence. He kept his brown eyes focused on his lap where dirt and grime stained his Amity pants.

She was so relieved, but she absolutely terrified of him slipping away again. "Of course I would, Book. In a heartbeat."

"Why?"

"Because you're worth it and I have nothing left to lose."

Booker looked at her then, his face complacent. "I would never let you do that, Petra-Lynn. What about Venus? Don't you think she would be devastated if you died? She's in love with you, you know."

"No, she isn't. She's in love with the idea of me." Petra-Lynn snorted cynically. "Anyway, we made a pact, Book. If you go, I go, remember? You pinky promised me."

"I lied," Booker giggled, eyes glowing brightly. "I crossed my fingers behind my back." She shoved him in aggravation and he giggled again. "Petra-Lynn, you mean more to this world than you realize. Somewhere out there you're needed, to give someone the hope that we've lost. You deserve happiness, no matter how you attain it and no matter who you find it with."

"Happiness doesn't exist, Booker. I mean, look at what it's gotten us so far. You're factionless again, my parents are batshit crazy, and you're getting worse. All because of me, all because I wanted to be a good person." Petra-Lynn spat venomously. "This world's so fucked up! I doubt I'd find happiness, even if I was given the chance. 'Cause being happy, or being a good person gets you shit all. You just get hurt, you feel more pain, and then you die. So right now, I wouldn't mind it, Book. If we could die together, I wouldn't mind it at all."

The end.

I'm joking. Lol

I just thought ending the chapter with that memory fit. I'll let you guys be the ones to catch the little hints I dropped in it. Hopefully I kept Eric in character. He was tough to write in that last scene.

Told you it was going to be a bit of an emotional ride for these two. Hopefully this will be the push that they need.

Thank you to all you lovely people for the reviews, the favs and follows. You make me incredibly blessed to be doing this.

Love, Peace and Tranquility.