I do no trust anyone else to take good care of Tris, and I don't want her to be alone in the infirmary with the questioning nurse, so I carry her to my room.

I put her gently down on my bed and get a wet towel. I wipe the blood from her face, careful not to hurt her even though she's completely out and probably can't feel a thing right now.

When Tris's face is clean I can see a purple bruise on her cheek, and anger wells up in my body again. I hate them. I hate them.
I examine her body, as a nurse would have. I search for any injuries, turning her ankles and bending her knees,

I gently pull her shirt up, just a little bit in case they kicked her, and my heart aches at the sight. A big bruise is covering her side, dark and blue. I feel sick again.

These, and a bump on the back of her head, seem to be the worst injuries.

I don't really want to leave her now, in case she'll wake up, but I know Drew is still in the Pit and I don't want other Dauntless to find him and ask a lot of questions, so I walk back to the Pit as fast as I can.

Drew is still on the floor, but when I come closer his eyes spring open and they widen in fear at the sight of me.

I bend down, grab him by the collar of his shirt and pull him up on his feet.

"Get up, you coward", I snap.

He stumbles a few steps but recovers his balance, looking like he'll fall over any second.

"If you ever", I say slowly, threatening. "If you ever touch her again, I swear I will kill you."
He doesn't say anything so I punch him in the jaw again and he falls to his knees.

"Do you understand?" My shout echoes through the room.

"We were just… just trying to…" He's clearly struggling to get the words out, and his voice is so low I can barely hear him. "Just trying to scare… her."

I can't help myself. My fist reaches the side of his head again and this time, he falls unconscious.

I just stand there for a few seconds, breathing fast and trying to fight the anger that threatens to swallow me whole.

As I recover my senses I lift him up and carry him to the infirmary. The nurse raises her eyebrows, as I knew she would.

"What happened?" she asks.

"He… he was in a fight."

"With who?"

All those questions. I clench my teeth and shrug.

Her suspicious stare falls down to my mouth and I remember the stinging pain when I beat Drew up.

I don't say anything; I just hurry back to my room.

Tris is still unconscious when I get back to my room, so I take the time to look myself in the mirror. I stare at my reflection.

There's a cut near my mouth, and my knuckles are bleeding from punching Drew.

I lower my hands into the sink, and the blood turns the water pink.

I wait until the water is clear again and then I dry my hands on the towel.

I walk over to the refrigerator and take out an ice pack for Tris's head. As I turn around toward my bed, I find her eyes are open and she's looking at me.

I'm relieved; I almost thought she'd never wake up.

"Your hands", she says, her voice coming out low and raspy.

She's really worrying about me? It's obvious that she's raised in Abnegation.

"My hands are none of your concern", I tell her calmly.

I put my knee on the side of the bed so I'm able to reach over her and place the ice pack under her head.

She suddenly lifts her hand toward my face, and then, for just a split second she hesitates, but then her fingers touch the cut by my mouth.

Warmth wells up in my body, making me forget the stinging pain that comes from the cut.

"Tris", I say softly. "I'm alright."

She relaxes her arm. "Why were you there?"

"I was coming back from the control room. I heard a scream."

What if I hadn't been there? What if I went to bed when the others did? She would've been…

I can't finish the thought.

"What did you do to them?" Tris asks.

"I deposited Drew at the infirmary a half hour ago. Peter and Al ran", I say. "Drew claimed they were just trying to scare you. At least, I think that's what he was trying to say."

"He's in bad shape?"
He deserved it, I think with hate burning behind my eyes.

"He'll live. In what condition I can't say."

Her fingers wrap around my arm, squeezing and her eyes is shining with triumph and hate.

"Good." Her voice is hard, and suddenly she starts to cry.

Even though she does, she's so strong. She almost died tonight.

I crouch by the bed and gently pull my arm away from her hand, only so I can touch her face. I rest my palm against the side of her face, stroking her cheek with my thumb.

"I could report this", I say.

"No, I don't want them to think I'm scared."

I nod, that's what I expected her to say.

"I figured you would say that."

"You think it would be a bad idea if I sat up?" she asks.

"I'll help you", I reply.

I know sitting up will hurt for her, but I still put one hand under her head, avoiding the bump, and one on her shoulder, holding her as steady as I can to avoid as much pain as possible, and she sits up. She grimaces in pain, but I see that she's trying to hide it.

"You can let yourself be in pain", I say, handing her the ice pack. "It's just me here."

She doesn't reply, she just bites her lip and presses the ice pack to her head.

"I suggest you rely on your transfer friends to protect you from now on", I continue.

"I thought I was", she says and sobs, putting a hand to her forehead. "But Al…"

I thought about that too.

"He wanted you to be the small, quiet girl from Abnegation. He hurt you because your strength made him feel weak. No other reason."

She nods, but it doesn't really look like she believes me, and I'm not sure I do either. Then what could his reason be?

"The others won't be as jealous if you show some vulnerability. Even if it isn't real."

"You think I have to pretend to be vulnerable?" She raises an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, I do", I reply.

I suddenly realise how tired she looks. Still strong, but exhausted.

I grab her hand that's holding the ice pack against her head and remove her fingers from it, still pressing it gently against the bump and allowing her rest her arm.

"You're going to want to march into breakfast tomorrow and show your attackers they had no effect on you. But", I add. "You should let that bruise on your cheek show, and keep your head down."

She looks sick, like just the thought of that makes her want to throw up.

"I don't think I can do that", she says, her bright eyes meeting mine.

"You have to." Doesn't she understand? If she doesn't, this will happen again. And maybe then they will actually succeed.

"I don't think you get it", she says, her eyes burning with anger. "They touched me."

My body freezes, my hand clenching around the ice pack.

"Touched you?" I repeat, not able to take in her words.

They touched her, against her will. They actually touched my Tris, the strongest and most beautiful girl I've ever known. She would never have done anything like that to them, and she was completely defenseless. Three against one.

I feel myself shaking with anger and my chest feels tight, like I'm unable to breath. I can't move. I wish I killed Drew when I had the chance.

"Not… in the way your thinking", she continues, her cheeks bright red. "But almost."

That doesn't mean anything. They put their hands on her, they tried to kill her – and what if they would've succeeded? Her being… dead – it's worse then all of my worst fears together. I can't imagine a world without her anymore.
I clench my teeth and I try to calm down; I'm too angry to speak right now.

"What is it?" Tris asks, breaking the silence.

"I don't want to say this, but I feel like I have to", I say. "It is more important for you to be safe then right, for the time being. Understand?"

She nods.

"But please, when you see an opportunity." I bend forward, gently touching her face and tilting it up towards me. "Ruin them."

She lets out a nervous laugh. "You're a little scary, Four."

I don't know why, but hearing my Dauntless nickname from her sounds… it just sounds wrong.

"Do me a favor, and don't call me that", I say.

"What should I call you then?"

"Nothing", I say, removing my hand from her face and standing up. "Yet."

Yay! Another chapter! Awesome right? I kind of took a break last week; it was just so much with school but I had time to write tonight.

Please leave a review and tell me what you thought about this chapter! I really hope I did this scene justice, it took me forever to write.

Was it good, was it bad? Tell me!

I will post another chapter as soon as possible. Thanks for are the love, and don't stop checking for updates! Love you!

- J