Interrogation time! Okay, so technically this should have been before Four's outtake but after publishing Four's, I realised that it would be above Issy's station to be involved and what's the point in waiting until she's mostly healed to go ahead with it all? Initially I thought about Max or Harrison but then as I began to plan it I realised it would be a great way to show why a certain chat happens in GF soon – though probably not the chat that any of you are expecting….

Also Eric gets rather dark in this chapter… Which is understandable due to the shit he's gone through recently. Norin24_7 helped me write him 'cause every time he kept on going back to Issy's Eric rather than this new Eric… Please give me your thoughts on Eric in this chapter?

Eric's POV

Eric paced the small room as he waited. They were in a room deep within Dauntless. The interrogation room. Hopefully they'll get the answers that they're looking for. It wasn't that far from the cells where one prisoner lived. All the Leaders were present and the ambassadors were left with a set of instructions for the day.

The young Leader had started the day early, far too early than he would have liked. Glancing at his watch, he almost groaned. It was only half seven in the damned morning. Normally he'd still be with Issy at this time, probably not even awake. But this morning Eric had woken up at five a.m. to hear his alarm yelling at him. At that point Eric had groaned, rolling out of the bed and slipping on his boots. Issy had woken up at the sudden movement, reaching out to grab his hand. He had brushed her hair back from her face as she blinked at him, still heavy with sleep.

"I have a meeting with the other Leaders and the ambassadors today." Eric had whispered to her as her leaned down. "I'll come back after I promise." He had pressed his forehead gently against hers and shared something that neither of them could put into words. As he leaned back, Eric pressed his lips to her forehead and pulled the covers back over her. He had glanced back at her one last time before he left the room.

The Leaders had met outside the interrogation room. Kim carried a long box and Eric already knew there was truth serum inside. Now they waited for the guards to arrive with the Factionless wearing the Erudite band. That was a great shock to the Leadership and it wasn't what anyone was expecting… Eric had thought that these Factionless attacks were just a twisted way to be integrated back into the city with everyone else. But now he realised it was something much more deeper than that. Whether the band truly represented Erudite or it was used simply to set the Factions apart, he didn't know. But they'd find out today.

The distance sound of keys jingling made everyone jump from their thoughts. Lilah stood up straighter, trying to make herself taller – Eric heard that some members didn't take her all that seriously because off her 5'1'' height and the fact that she's Max's daughter. Lottie and her trainee Liam glanced at each other. Harrison broke away from Kim, who was still leaning leisurely against the wall. Max stood next to the table in the centre of the room, his arms folded. Eric stopped pacing, his face emotionless and his eyes colder than ice.

The door opened up to three guards and the prisoner. One opened the door and held it as two guards pulled Zack into the room and forced him chair next to the table, bounding his arms behind the back. The three guards left and stood outside the door by Max's order. Zack glances around the room arrogantly, winking and smirking at each of the female Leaders. None of them gift him with a response.

"How's Beta?" Zack asked no one in particular with politeness that drips from his tongue like poison. Within seconds, four things happen – one of which tells Zack exactly what buttons to press. Lilah inhales softly. Harrison blinks in shock. Kim frowns. Eric's feet carry him until he's in front of the prisoner and his fist is colliding with Zack's jaw. Max grabs Eric by the collar of his jacket and pushes the other Leader away with a warning look. Zack simply laughs.

Eric growls, baring his teeth. How the fuck does he know that name? Eric glances to Harrison to see curiosity burning in his colleague's eyes.

"Kim." Max says the silent order, his eyes never leaving Zack, and she walks forward, placing the box on the table and opening it up. Kim takes the needle out and walks to Zack's side. Zack grins up at Kim even as the needle goes in and so does the serum. They wait for a moment for the serum to kick in. "How do you know about Beta?"

"I just know that Beta is wanted by one of the Leaders – not particularly a priority, just some prize on the side... A bargaining chip of some sort." Zack shrugs indifferently. "I dunno, I couldn't really care about some bitch on a bike."

Max lifts a hand in Eric's direction just and he was about to take a step forward. Issy was not some object or property and the fact that she was being treated as such by some fuckers that call themselves Leaders drove Eric wild. His fingers twitched over his gun but He knew that any more unprofessional behaviour from him, Max will order him to leave.

"Who are the Leaders?" Harrison asked.

"No one knows really. They have code names and wear masks to muffle their voices. There's two Leaders and some kind of spy they have in Dauntless. The spy taught us how to use guns if we didn't know and supplied us with a neat range too." A traitor. It was something Eric expected. None of the other Leaders shifted and he knew that they had thought the same. Though none of their records of weapons had been tampered with so whoever it was, they knew how to cover their tracks. "What may shock you though is that all of the Leaders, including the spy, are female."

"What are their code names?"

"Well the spy is Dusk, one of the Leaders is called Darwin and the other is Omega." Zack starts laughing. "Funny how these names somehow means so much more now. Omega is normally the runt of the pack, Betas the second of command. And then there's Dauntless, always the arrogantly acting like they're in charge. Alphas." He stares at each of the Leaders in turn before he grinned ferally at Eric. "Where's your Luna little Alpha? Heard she took a little tumble off her bike."

No one moved to stop Eric this time as he strode forward. His fist slammed into Zack's nose, the crunching sound of bone satisfies Eric enough to step away and the stream of blood stops him from beating the shit into the ground.

"What was the purpose of this attack?" Max asks through Zack's hissed swearing. Zack doesn't answer, instead he lifts his head up challengingly. "What was the purpose of this attack?" Max repeats firmly and Eric notices that from Zack's babbling of ironic names, he was playing for time. Time for the serum to wear off. Playtime, a voice croons in Eric's head.

"FUCK YOU DAUNTLESS!"

Max rolls his eyes, stepping away. He gives Eric a short nod.

Its Eric's turn to grin ferally. There's a reason why most of Dauntless fear him. They've heard the rumours stemming from dark truths. There's a reason why Eric's so good at getting answers. The reason isn't truth serum, it was because he preferred a more time-honoured practise. Eric steps forward again oh so slowly, rolling his shoulders as he goes, the mantled mask of the interrogator slipping on easily. Zack begins to reek with fear, his pupils shrinking, as Eric gets closer. Eric cocks his head to the side with an eager glint darkening his predatorial features. He was standing close – too close – enough to see the panic in Zack's eyes. The proximity allowed Eric to hear just how ragged and irregular Zack breathing had become. Eric was doing his job perfectly. "You're gonna wanna answer his question." Eric says in a breathy whisper, the smile on Eric's face was almost a silent prayer that Zack didn't answer him, cracking his knuckles one by one. The prisoner flinches with every pop and Eric grins wider. Zack swallows but stays silent. Eric glances to Max, receiving another short nod, then his fist came down against Zack's cheek. Beforehand Eric was holding back a little bit but now those hits seemed like light taps. The prisoner's head whipped to the side.

"Answer the question." Max said. When Zack spat the blood from his mouth in Max's direction, landing before his boots. Max glanced down, and then looked up unperturbed, the Head Leader nodded to Eric again. Eric delivered a short, precise series of blows, ending with an uppercut to his jaw. "Answer the question." No answer, another nod. This time Eric aimed a kick at the of the chair, sending the chair and prisoner crashing to the floor, it was a wonder the chair was still intact with the force of the kick. Hands bound behind his back, tied to the chair Zack was also thrown to the floor, a startled yelp helplessly escaping him.

As Eric stalked towards the whimpering mess of flesh and blood, he hissed: "How's that for a little tumble?" He stopped next to the chair, pressing down on the back until a scream tore through Zack's throat, the pressure unbearably excruciating. "Ready to talk yet?" Zack whimpered incoherently. "Answer me!" Eric roared, pressing down harder.

"YES!"

Eric pulled the chair back onto its feet and stepped back to admire his work. Zack's nose was broken, bloodied and bruised. There was a gash on one of his cheekbones, highlighted by black and blue bruising clouding his skin all the way done to his jaw. There were several scrapes across the rest of his face due to his tumble. It's not the worst that Eric's dished out to someone and yet all he could think of was Issy had looked worse after her 'tumble'. Eric's knuckles were battered but not one part of him was guilty. In fact he was disappointed, he'd barely gotten started.

"I – At first it was to see how the other Factions would react. That's why the attacks first started. We – the grunts, if you will – were given free range, that's why they seemed random at first. After that is when the Leaders came in and put leashes on us told us what Factions to attack, what to take and when. To force Dauntless to make a move. From what I know, this attack is message. Something like no matter how much you fight; we will fight harder. That's all I know! I swear!"

"And to think you were Dauntless once." Lilah remarks with a snort. There's a dangerous glint in her eye as she saunters forward whilst avoiding looking at Eric directly, as if he was a wild animal, teeth not too far from her throat. "No one here is weak like you. We are the warrior faction, fire burns in our hearts and our souls are predators that hunt little sheep like you. Do you really think we would be afraid?"

Zack swallows audibly.

Max shakes a finger at him. "For some reason I don't believe you." He opens the door wide. "Could everyone else could make their way to the conference room." The Leaders start to file out of the room. All except one. "Eric, you have an hour. Find out what you can. If nothing else, you know what to do."

The feral grin slides back onto Eric's face and Zack is screaming before Max even closes the door. Eric's mind finally had only track, the greatest struggle? What to break next?

xXx

One broken leg, four broken ribs, a broken hand – all fingers broken too, a fractured wrist, two dislocated shoulder blades, numerous lacerations to the upper body. All finalised by an efficient singular execution style bullet to the head. Eric walked out of the interrogation room with a slight skip to his step. Now the prisoner looked worse than Issy ever had and Eric felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He hadn't been there to protect his woman but he had gotten the revenge he desired since the shit opened his mouth and dared to ask how she was. He left the body to the guards to deal with as he made his way to the conference room. Eric took the secret hallways so no one would see him because, well, he was a mess. There was blood all over his clothes, splatters of it dotted against his skin and on his bruised knuckles. Not that it bothered him, he had long been desensitised to the slight itch it caused. There was probably a high chance he'd given someone a heart attack…

When Eric entered the conference room, he noticed all of the ambassadors had joined the Leaders too. Eric grinned at their reactions; his bloodlust was still roaring in his ears. Holly grimaced, looking rather sick, her eyes on the blood. Tris nodded at him once. He and the ex-stiff had come to an understanding a few years ago. Jason's jaw clenched and Luke didn't even look at Eric. The younger boy still wasn't used to seeing Eric as the Leader mothers would warn their kids about, creeping in the dark like a monster. Sure, his bloodlust and methods were the only way to set himself apart during the first few years as a member in Dauntless, but since then he'd learnt to control it and only lashes out when protecting his family or faction. Finally, Eric's eyes land on his brother. Far more humanity in Eric's gaze while looking at one of those closest to him.

Declan raises an eyebrow, a smirk on his face and a protective glint in his eyes. "Have fun, did you?"

Eric grinned in response, knowing that the other Leaders had filled them in on what happened. "The fun ended too quickly unfortunately." Eric sat down next to Dec and they shared a look before the Leader turned to Max. "He didn't know any more about the attacks but he so kindly gave me the coordinates of active safe houses, supply warehouses and what weapons this spy has given them. He didn't know the full extent of the numbers or where the main base is."

"Good work Eric." Max smiles. "Get those coordinates on a map pronto." Eric dips his head in response, already have thought to do so on his phone while walking to the conference room.

"What are we going to tell the Factions?" Holly asks quietly.

Max leans back in his chair. "Tell Amity and Abnegation that we've got some new information that will help us. Keep it clean and simple and say that we'll reveal more information when It's suitable. Candor too actually. Amities are most likely gonna spread what they know and Candor are a pain in the arse if they think we've hid something from them." Max pauses looking directly at Declan. "Tell Erudite none of this. Simply say that we haven't found anything new but there have been some rumours spreading around that have been proven false. I don't want to risk it." The ambassadors all nod their heads as they make notes. "If that's all, this meeting is over."

Max is the first to leave and the others leave in little groups before Eric and Declan are the only ones remaining. Eric had relaxed more since entering the room and as he sat in silence with his brother, he felt calmer.

"What do you think those Leaders want with Issy?" Dec broke the silence.

Eric sighs, his hands still sticky with blood. Long ago he'd learnt to live with the blood on his hands but this time it was personal. It hit home and threatened his family. They had already hurt his woman. "I don't know but they're not going to touch her."

"Damn right they're not." Dec stands up as he shuffles his notes together. "Thankfully though, squadron 226 doesn't patrol the dangerous sectors. That would be like offering her on a silver platter."

Eric hummed in response, standing up too. They walked out together without another word, both of their minds on how to protect the golden-eyed woman they cared about so much.

xXx

Eric didn't know how long he had been standing in his shower. He had watched the water run red and yet not really seeing anything. Nothing plagued his mind, no thoughts immobilized him and emotions gripped his being. Eric just stood there, grey eyes on nothing in particular, under the steady stream of water. Emotionless and indifferent.

He wasn't sure what tugged at his attention but Eric snapped out of his faze. With automatic motions Eric washed his hair, getting rid of the last of the blood, before he stepped out and walked into his bedroom. Looking at the clock, he realised he had been in the shower for too long. it was late into the night and Eric winced. He had promised Issy that he'd come back and knowing the state of mind she's been in, Issy will be thinking the worst.

Eric quickly slipped on a pair of jogging bottoms and a t-shirt before loosely tying up a pair of trainers. The Leader catches his reflection as he turns to leave his room. He leaned forward and ran a hand through his curling hair. There wasn't any point of doing anything with it as he'll be doing nothing but sleeping. Grabbing his phone and his keys on the way across the apartment, he quickly locked the door behind him.

The walk to the infirmary was quiet. Nobody but the patrolling guards would be awake and thankfully Eric didn't run into any of those. There was a nurse on the front desk for the night shift but they hardly looked up as Eric walked past them and to Issy's room. He paused at the door. There was no movement from inside and he slowly pushed the door open.

As Eric stepped in and closed the door behind him, his eyes found Issy's sleeping form in the darkness. He sighed, walking forward until he could make out her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were parted as if something plagued her mind. Eric reached out to push her hair away from her face but his hand stilled halfway between them. He could still feel the blood on his hands and unconsciously, he wiped his hands on his legs.

He shook his head, pushing away the ridiculous feeling. His hands were clean. Hell, Eric's just spent god knows how long to make sure there was no blood left. He kicked off his shoes and pulled the cover back so he could lie down next to her. As he shuffled down, Eric made the decision to lay on his side. He curled around Issy and was careful not to jostle her injuries. One of his legs hooked around her good one, he slipped an arm behind her head and laid the other across her waist. Eric burrowed his head close to the nape of her neck. This way Eric knew Issy was protected and wasn't going to be torn from him. With that thought, he happily let himself fall asleep, content that Issy wasn't going anywhere.