All the chapters I expect big reactions for, don't seem to deliver. Too much for you guys? Am I over-saturating you with smuts? :P No smut for a while.


Two weeks passed in a blur. Time for Honey was divided into two categories: how much she had to wait until she and Eric were alone and how much she had left before they weren't anymore. The man had been right, once he fucked her, the girl was certainly a handful. He'd opened Pandora's box. He didn't seem to mind. They were the best two weeks of her life.

After the confrontation between Honey and the leaders, the idea that she'd slept her way into office faded away. By trying to use her experience in initiation to counter her argument, Eric had inadvertently been educating the crows in just how Dauntless the youngest ancillary was. Even the ones who still hated Honey couldn't deny her work ethic and from the way she'd sliced into Eric about his concession to Four - something no one else seemed to dare bring up - publicly, no less, it was clear she wasn't his puppet. The public view of their relationship changed; instead of the harshly dominating leader taking advantage of an impressionable young girl, he had been ensnared by the brash new crow with the balls to stand toe to toe with him.

Honey's friends accepted her relationship with some reluctance, but they loved and supported her and it was clear that Eric made her happy. He made her so happy. In much the same way Eric and Honey kept their love life separate from their work, socializing with her friends was also devoid of the young leader. As much as the girl would have loved to snuggle up to her lover on a couch down in the concert district and listen to Lockbox play or sit beside him at a meal and joke around over nonsense or feel his firm presence at her back in a bar while the others drank and got sillier and sillier, it didn't seem meant to be. Eric was still Eric and her friends still hated him. Eric had his own social circle, which Honey had met, but none of his friends were the sort of people she'd choose to hang around with either.

So, they worked and took meals together - sometimes breakfast, sometimes dinner - and went their separate ways for a time, but always came back together in the end. This concept completely boggled Marta: separate, but together. The two of them were eating lunch, sitting by the Chasm and enjoying the sound of the water rushing against the rocks. Outside the office, Honey allowed her secretary to ask whatever she wanted, knowing now that the woman wouldn't spread gossip and wouldn't bring anything up at work.

"It's just a part of having a boyfriend!" Marta insisted, waving her bottle of water at Honey. The girl cringed inwardly. Thinking of Eric as her "boyfriend" always seemed wrong. There was nothing boyish or particularly friendly about the man. "You hang around with each other's friends and pretend you like them. It's what you do!"

"Why?" The young sub just couldn't fathom it. If you cared about your lover, why force them to make nice? "He has his friends, I have mine, we have each other at the end of the day. I don't see the issue."

The woman rolled her eyes in disgust. "No, you wouldn't. You noses are all like that; all compartmentalized."

"Eric doesn't mind either," Honey pointed out, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth.

"Yeah, I just said you're all like that," Marta scoffed. The girl's head tilted in confusion and her secretary's brow furrowed, lips turning downward. "You know Eric was Erudite."

Her words hit Honey like a ton of bricks. Eric? Vicious, brutal, Dauntless Eric - a nose? She shook her head, denying the very idea. Marta's eyes grew wide in disbelief, then narrowed in offense.

"How did you not know? What the hell do you guys talk about?" she demanded, completely taken aback. Then her expression turned sly, "Or are you too busy to talk?"

The girl was so caught off guard by the revelation, she didn't even notice the bait. "We talk. Just not about Erudite." In fact, Erudite seemed to be the one thing Eric refused to talk about. She'd just always chalked that up to a combination of it being her old faction and whatever it was going on between him and Jeanine.

Honey had always, always assumed the man had been Dauntless, born and bred, but now so many things, little hints were clicking in her mind. Eric's intense focus and demand for excellence, the way he gave instruction during her apprenticeship, the shelves of books in his quarters. He'd used the phrase "five finger fuck me" - that was an Erudite epithet and Honey should have realized he was the only other person she'd heard say those words since she'd transferred. And he was circumcised, which was the norm in Erudite and Abnegation, but not common amongst the other factions. She'd been so blind and so remiss. She loved the man, but barely knew him.

Honey caught Marta's wrist, all but glaring at the woman. "Tell me everything you know about Eric."

Unfortunately, everything Marta knew was very little in the grand scheme of things. Eric had transferred into the same class as Four. After coming in second in the rankings, he'd pushed himself hard through the leadership program and became the youngest ancillary in Dauntless history - until Honey came along. An honor the man still held was the fastest ascension to leadership; having been made a full leader of the faction just a year later at the age of eighteen. In the years since, he'd grown into probably the most feared person in the whole of Dauntless. As such he had few friends, but no shortage of friendly company; his power drawing people to him like moths to a flame. There were always women - and sometimes men - fluttering around him, trying to get close to that power.

As far as Marta knew, he'd had a few actual relationships, but nothing that lasted. Honey had tentatively inquired if any of those former lovers had marks like the one on her wrist.

"Oh, I don't know," the secretary shrugged. "Maybe? I mean, probably. Eric always struck me as the type to like it rough. Is he that way with you?"

Something in the woman's casual tone, the careless cast of her eyes, the lack of pinching in her mouth encouraged Honey to be honest here where she had held back with her friends. She licked her lips and nodded, tense, waiting.

Marta just grinned. "I knew it!" The woman laughed and her expression shifted into something eager and open. "Is it just rough or does he have a full on dungeon?"

No judgment. No condemnation. Not even an ounce of discomfort. Honey felt a great swell of relief and leaned heavily on the railing between her and the Chasm. For the first time in her life, she felt even a little safe speaking about her less than conventional proclivities.

"It's a little more than rough, but there's no dungeon. He doesn't have, like… devices or anything," the girl admitted. Her secretary nodded.

"So handcuffs and hickeys? That's nothing. I once dated a guy who liked to pee on me." Said freely and without a hint of embarrassment. So, Marta was a Candor transfer, too, then. Or the most Dauntless person in Dauntless.

"Oh God!" Honey was absolutely revolted and Marta laughed and laughed at the horrified look on the young ancillary's face. "Why?"

The woman shrugged. "I really don't know. But he wasn't a total creep; he only did it in the shower."

"Still, that's gross. Ugh," the girl gave a shudder of revulsion, face all screwed up with disgust.

"So, no pee then."

"God, no! Just-" Honey cut herself off, blushing brightly. Marta grinned knowingly.

"Ooooh, he's one of those, huh?"

"You know what, I think we've done enough sharing for today," the girl declared, pulling her legs back from where they hung over the edge of the Chasm and getting to her feet. The deviant woman cackled, gathering up her trash and rising as well.

As they headed back towards the hall that would lead to the leadership offices, Marta offered one last comment. "Just so you know, since we mentioned bruises and all, I can't remember a single time Eric showed up with a mark like the one he's got right here."

She tapped her shoulder, not far from where it met her neck; the same place where the deep plum of Honey's bite mark peeked out from beneath Eric's shirt collars. The young crow wore her Cheshire grin all the way back to her office.


"We all know Monday is Choosing Day, so I'm going to let you all know the that we will be implementing both of the proposed guidelines as planned." The final decision of the leaders' council, mandatory cuts and no conceding. Honey felt sick as Max said the words. How could they do this? How? The youngest ancillary was among those that insisted their formal objection was on the record, for whatever good that did. Give them the right to say, "I told you so!" when it became clear the new rules were a mistake, maybe. There was nothing any of them could do. The authority of the leaders was sacrosanct.

Honey stood anyway. There was one thing she could do. Max gave her a look of weary annoyance and she wondered if the head of Dauntless regretted his decision to make her sub so soon out of the gate. He should have paid closer attention to her name; badgers aren't known for their passivity.

"Something to add, Honey?"

"I want to observe the initiation process this year and evaluate the effect and effectiveness of these new rules," she stated clearly and concisely.

"Eric will already be doing that," Max pointed out.

"Eric is also in support of the guidelines," Honey countered.

"Sounds like you're saying I can't be impartial in my analysis," the man in question spoke up. His tone was smooth and vaguely warning and probably would have cowed most of the subs in the room. Too bad for him he'd spent so much effort making sure the little Dauntless wasn't afraid of him.

"I'm saying you want to be right." The crows murmured. Eric's eyes narrowed. "I don't think anyone can be wholly impartial on such a polarizing issue as this one. I will provide a contrasting viewpoint, which will allow for a more accurate sense of perspective."

Any Erudite would agree. Eric grudgingly nodded. "I don't have any objection."

"Alright, Honey will observe initiation. Anything else?" Max asked it snidely, but that coldness that set her on edge was in his voice. It sent a chill down Honey's back. She shook her head and sat, hoping he didn't see the shiver she couldn't suppress. "Our final announcement is that we will be slowing the train on its approach to Dauntless."

No one objected. The news should have made Honey feel good, but it only seemed to add to that sickening pit in her stomach. Maybe those who jumped and missed were better off than being cut and made Factionless. After all, hadn't her choices been Dauntless or death?


Sometime that night, between round one and round two, while Honey lay against Eric, her head resting on his furry chest, she turned uncharacteristically thoughtful. Maybe it was the fresh bruising on his body that she hadn't put there that caused it.

"Do women ever fight down in the Hole?"

"Not the hole I normally discuss in bed," Eric snarked in the quiet rumble he often used after she'd thoroughly pleased him. Honey tugged the hair on his belly in playful admonishment.

"I only saw men when I was there. Is it a boys' club?" she pressed. The chest beneath her cheek rose and fell with a sigh.

"Stick to the Mats, Honey. You wouldn't last ten seconds down there." She frowned and lifted her head to look down at him. He was calm and unconcerned, but firm in his warning. "The kind of men who fight in the Hole won't want to beat you, they'll want to break you."

"You're the kind of man who fights in the Hole," Honey pointed out. His expression didn't change.

"I am. If I didn't feel the way about you that I do and you stepped into that pit with me, I'd want to break you, too," Eric admitted, his eyes unwavering. She shivered and his hand came up to stroke her throat. After what he'd just said, that should have made the chill inside the girl worse, but instead chased it away. "You're everything they can't have and they'll hate you for it. Any one of them would crush you; you don't have the ability to stop them."

"If that's true, those men see me every day around the compound. What's to stop them if they catch me alone in a dark hallway sometime?" Honey challenged.

"Me." His expression hardened then and his arm around her shoulders tightened, reacting to the threat as if it were in the room. "I'll kill anyone that touches you and everyone knows it."

That statement both frightened the girl and evoked a sense of solidity deep inside her and she didn't want to think about either of those feelings. Instead she focused on the way his fingers moved to stroke through her hair and trail down her cheek, like she was precious to him.

Eric went on. "But if you go down there, if you drop onto the sand, you're offering yourself up on a silver platter and they won't be able to resist. The stupid ones won't even want to resist."

She chewed her lip, brows furrowing as she took in his words and weighed them. Honey knew she had enemies amongst the crows; she knew there were people in the Pit whose eyes followed her every move. The little crow had never considered them a threat in a very real, physical sense before, since she'd never done anything to warrant such vitriol. So naïve. Honey held her own in the Mats, but she didn't win every fight. She was small and weak, still; her genetic makeup didn't allow for brute strength or even the kind of graceful agility of someone like Daisy. The girl had always known she looked like easy prey, but had been unaware of the target painted on her until now.

"Teach me how to fight. How to really fight."

He was already shaking his head. "This isn't another challenge for you to overcome," Eric stated the words in hard rebuke.

"Yes, it is," Honey insisted, leaning up further and leveling an equally hard look on her lover. "It's not about the Hole. It's about me. If there are people that want to break me, I need to be able to stop them myself. If the stupid ones won't want to resist, they're stupid enough to think they can get away with it someplace the cameras can't see and think you won't find out who they are. Anything that happens to them after the fact won't do me any good. I need to be able to defend myself."

"Carry a gun," he told her. "You're one of the best shots in the faction."

"Because I can't be disarmed?" Honey said right back. Eric was frowning at her, angry she wouldn't yield to him on the matter. She also knew part of that anger was due to her pointing out that he couldn't always protect her and he didn't like that, not at all. Like she had with Four, Honey pressed on that weak spot with her hardest piece of leverage. "If you won't train me, I'll find someone else."

His glare intensified and his jaw worked as he ground his teeth together. Someone else. Maybe Four. He would be her first choice, being the only person she'd ever heard of beating Eric in a fight. That was years ago, but it stood to reason if the young leader's skill in combat had grown so much, the security officer's would have as well. Four fought in the Mats, not because he couldn't win in the Hole, but because the Mats had rules; the Hole did not. He needed that leash, feared who he'd become without it. Eric had no use for such a thing.

But Honey didn't think Four would train her to fight the way she needed to learn. He had already tried to warn her away from the Mats. He, too, had seen what the girl didn't - that there were people in Dauntless who wanted to hurt her badly. He was a good man, protective and caring, but afraid of losing control. Afraid of her losing control. No, he'd never agree to teach her the skills she sought. So it would have to be someone else. Undoubtedly someone who was a lesser fighter than Eric. She knew her lover wouldn't be able to ignore that.

As much as she hated being manipulated herself, Honey didn't seem to feel guilt over doing it to others to get what she wanted. It was the part of her that would always be true blue.

Eric wouldn't talk anymore on the subject that night; he'd just pulled Honey atop him and made her ride him hard and desperately until they'd both lost themselves to oblivion. He didn't mention anything about it the next morning, either and the girl decided to give him time. Not too much, but enough to come to grips with the fact that he wouldn't always be there to scare away the other monsters.


When Eric stopped her as they were leaving his quarters to head for breakfast, Honey didn't expect he'd suddenly changed his mind, so the move puzzled her. He drew her attention to the keypad on his door and punched in his code - six digits, instead of the regular four like her own lock required, because Eric was a leader and had increased security. He motioned for her to mimic his action. He was giving her the code to his room.

She punched in the sequence herself and turned the handle. The door opened easily and she smiled at her lover, warm and happy. Eric pulled the door shut again.

"I don't entertain here, so you don't have to worry about walking in on me with company," he assured her and had the girl input the code again to be certain she had it. He gave her an insolent smirk. "And if I come home to find you snooping through my things, it just means I don't have to go looking for you for sex."

Not only was he giving her the code, Eric was giving her permission to come and go as she pleased. Honey was elated.

"Here, I'll give you mine, too," she said, reaching for the keypad again. He shook his head.

"I don't need it."

"It's not in my file," the girl pointed out. Each member of Dauntless programmed in their own door code, they weren't in the system anywhere, for security.

"I have a master code," her lover informed her. Honey tilted her head and he explained. "All the electronic locks in Dauntless have a master code programmed in, so they can be opened in an emergency."

"Really?" It made sense, but she didn't like the idea of people just having access to her room whenever they wanted it. "Who has the code?"

"Only the leaders and the heads of security," Eric assured her. "You need to memorize this, too."

He punched in another string of numbers, a longer one that he had to repeat for the girl before she got it right. She tried the door, but it didn't open.

"It's not the master code. It's my system password." Honey gaped at him. That password would literally give her access to all of Dauntless - every single file in the system from materials requisition to confidential fear simulation footage; it would access every scrap of sensitive information only the leaders were meant to see. "I was thinking it was a bit unfair that I've always been able to look at your files, but you can't see mine."

He could have given her his files. He could have found a way to do that without opening the whole system to the girl. Eric could be censured for this. If the rest of the leaders' council supported it, Max could strip him of his office. This went beyond trusting her with a secret. He was trusting Honey with his life. It was a terrible burden and one she accepted proudly and ferociously. Mine.

Honey punched his code into the keypad and flung his door open, yanking the man inside with her. Eric could send Ryland to get him some breakfast and eat in his office. Right now, he belonged to her.


It was Choosing Day and the faction was all abuzz. How many new recruits would Dauntless garner this year? How many of their own children would leave the fold to seek their fate elsewhere? Honey stood with beside the net at the bottom of the members' entrance with Max, Eric, Four, and Lauren, discussing last minute details about the arrival of the new blood. It was all stuff the older quartet had been through before, but Honey had only seen things from the other side, the initiate side. When the short conference ended, Eric headed towards the stairs to the roof, while the rest stayed behind.

The young leader paused when his lover didn't follow. "Aren't you coming up?"

When Honey shook her head, Max smirked. "Don't you want to see if they all make it?"

The girl had apparently lost a bit of her charm in the head of Dauntless's eyes of late. The man hated being challenged even more than Eric and that was saying something. Truth be told, she both wanted to be there and didn't. The young sub did want to see if her insistence on slowing the train made any difference, but was also afraid it wouldn't and she did not want to watch some poor, hopeful transfer plummet to the pavement. Regardless of her feelings on the matter, Honey would have stood firmly on that roof if she needed to, but she didn't need to and really, she shouldn't be up there anyway. She said as much and the others looked at her in confusion.

"I don't make the right impression," the girl explained. Lauren balked.

"You're small, but you look very Dauntless," the trainer insisted. "All the Dauntless-born know who you are and it'll get them whispering."

"Exactly, they all know who I am and that I was First Jumper in my class," Honey agreed, but not because it was a positive thing. Eric and Four seemed to understand, but Max and Lauren needed further clarification. "I'm not imposing at all. The point is to make them think the jump is this big challenge they need to overcome to prove themselves. If they see me there and know I hopped right off the ledge, it makes it much less intimidating. Let them focus on Eric; he's terrifying."

The young leader smirked arrogantly at that estimation and continued on his way. Max left the trainers and Honey to wait by the net with the emergency staff who were there in case an initiate was hurt in the fall or to stop the process if something went wrong with the net at any point. They could hear the train come and go and waited in anxious anticipation.

Soon enough, a body dropped through the hole in the pavement. It was a girl, slight and mousy, dressed in Abnegation gray. Four helped her down the same way he'd done with Honey exactly one year before. This girl had a bit more trouble telling him her name, but the young ancillary couldn't fault her. She could still remember how staggering the whole experience had been.

"First Jumper, Tris!" Four announced. "Welcome to Dauntless."

Well, Tris from Abnegation, I hope you're wearing sturdy boots; you've got a long road ahead.


So, now we meet up with Divergent. As far as the story goes, this will be a mash-up of the movie, the book, and my own ideas. A plot patchwork, if you will.

I'd like to just say thank you to the anonymous reviewer who was unfamiliar with Divergent and read this just because they liked my Captain Boomerang fic so much. That's an amazing compliment and just made my night. :)

All the great comments you guys post make me feel awesome. Thank you so much!