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.
Upon entering the Dauntless compound, Spinner feels… different.
Lighter.
She steals a glance at Eric as they're walking through the tunnel. His expression is an impenetrable mask. And although she can't read his face, his body language is free of any restrictions, and she greedily drinks in every detail. From the looseness of his shoulders and to the ease of his authoritative stride, Eric seems content with the shift between them. They haven't spoken since their little moment on the train, but it's a comfortable silence neither of them wants to break. Instead, Spinner loops her arm through his and gives him a bashful smile when he finally looks at her.
His brow furrows a little, appearing slightly unsure of himself. "You, uh, are you okay?"
She blinks in astonishment. "I'm fine..." She narrows her eyes in skepticism. "Why do you ask?"
"What? I can't ask how you're doing now." He grunts out in irritation.
"You can. But it'll be fucking weird on the account of you never ask me questions like that."
"Fine. This is the first and last time then."
Spinner rolls her eyes as they turned down the tunnel leading to Lauren's apartment. "You know I didn't mean it like that, you grouch."
"Whatever. It doesn't matter to me anymore." Eric tilts his chin in a stubborn way that signals his displeasure and the end of the conversation.
Throwing her head back, Spinner groans as they finally reach the apartment door. She releases his arm and kicks the bottom of it in a warning. "You guys better have fucking clothes on this time! I don't need you scarring Tank too!" She hollers while she's fishing out her keys from inside her jacket pocket.
"Don't worry, Spin. We do." Lauren's voice chuckles.
"Well, now we do." Zim adds smugly.
"You both sicken me." Spinner wrinkles her nose at the couple cuddled up on the couch with a book in Zim's lap. "Hey, you aren't wearing your sling. The arm's all good now?"
Zim nods with a smile, swinging it around slightly. "Yeah, Eric gave me some of that zodrophrine and it healed me up pretty quick."
Her eyebrows rise as Spinner folds her arms then cocks her hip to the side. She narrows her eyes at Eric who boldly stares back at her, unbothered. "You told me you'd ran out, you lying lil shit. I ended up giving you half of mine."
"Well, I lied." He shrugs before shouldering by her to drop into the arm chair. He kicks his boots up onto Lauren's coffee table then leans back in his seat.
"Oi, feet down!" Spinner stomps over to him and shoves his feet back down onto the ground. "This isn't your apartment."
Eric rolls his eyes and in one fluid motion, he draws her down into his lap.
She wrinkles her nose in a huff. "You're lucky I love you."
"Yeah, yeah." Eric gives her a smug grin.
Someone knocks on the door and Spinner heaves a sigh before pecking Eric's lips. She quickly slips off his lap and runs across the room to answer it. She grins widely when she sees Four. "Broody!" She tugs him into a tight hug, squishing their faces together. "What brings you-"
"What do you want, Stiff?" Eric comes up behind her and drapes an arm around her shoulders. He yanks her away from her friend and into his side.
Four sets his jaw and Spinner head bows with her weary sigh. "I need to talk to Spinner."
"Sorry, Number boy, Red can't come out to play your little Stiff games. Maybe some other time," Eric says with a derisive smirk before slamming the door in his face.
"Tank!" Spinner screeches out in horror, elbowing him away from her before rushing to reopen it.
Thankfully, Four is still standing there, but looking none too pleased. He scowls at Eric who's hovering over her shoulder and glaring back at him. "Oh, for fuck sake, you two..." She mutters under breath. "Sweets, Zim, I'll be back later, yeah?"
"See you, Spin. Hey, Four."
"Hey, Lauren, Zim."
"No." Eric's broad hand latches onto her wrist. She arches her eyebrow, staring down at it for a moment before her eyes steadily shift back up to his face. His pierced brow lifts in his own silent challenge. "You're not going anywhere with him."
Tilting her head, she edges a step closer to him. "Are you gonna be the one to stop me, Eric?" She counters in a husky whisper, the corner of her mouth holding a provocative curl. Her gaze bores defiantly into his.
"You and I both know I can, Princess." Eric smirks with a dangerous glint in his smouldering eyes.
Chuckling, Spinner licks her lips as she presses even closer to him. "I'll see you later, lover." She purrs in his ear while smoothly breaking his grip on her wrist. With a soft kiss to the shell, she gives his cheek a teasing pat before hooking her elbow around Four's.
And then whirling around, she runs away laughing when Eric loudly curses her name.
They bump into Max and two Abnegation men, both who Spinner recognizes. She feels Four's arm rippling with tension in her grasp. From the side of her eye, she can see his jaw clenching and unclenching.
"Ah, Spinner, Four," Max greets with a smile and she blinks at him, mystified when he calls her by her real name. "Gentlemen, I would like you to meet Spinner McCall, the newest addition to our Dauntless leaders. Spinner, this is City Council leader-"
"Marcus Eaton." She forces a cordial smile, stealing a glance at Four. He's growing more rigid with each passing moment, and she even feels him inch closer to her. It's a very small movement, but it's there, and it probably doesn't help that Marcus's eyes are focused intently at their linked arms. "Nice to meet you… sir."
"Likewise." The older man nods, his familiar dark-blue eyes sizing her up and down. "This is my colleague, Andrew Prior."
Spinner's eyes widen slightly. It's the only indication of her surprise as flash of recognition steals across his gaze. She met him a few times while she was factionless. He'd always give her and Booker banana bread with walnuts in it when he was around. It actually didn't taste gray like her brother would usually describe their food.
Four abruptly lets out a slight grunt and she glances down to see that her nails are digging into his arm.
Andrew offers her a small, surreptitious smile. "It's nice to meet you, Spinner." He says with a secret, understanding nod.
She shakily returns the gesture as a sort of relief floods through her. "S-same to you."
"Alright, if you two will excuse us." Max waves the Abnegation men forward with a sweep of his arm. "Gentlemen, I'll show you the way out."
She watches them leave, not missing the piercing look Marcus shoots Four while he passes, and then the three men disappear into the darkness.
The two of them visibly relax, and she releases Four before combing her fingers through her hair. "What the fuck was that about? What was Marcus Eaton doing here in Dauntless?"
Four grimaces lightly, rubbing the soreness out of his arm as they start walking. "Max is requesting City Council to have soldiers start policing the Factionless sector again."
"But aren't we already doing that?"
"Yeah and we're not supposed to."
"Okay, so now Max's officially asking 'cause of the whole Edgar fiasco?" Spinner questions in awe and he nods stiffly. "Well, did they agree to it?"
Four lifts a shoulder. "I have no idea. But I'm sure Max will let you know once they come to a decision."
"Yeah," Spinner responds in an abnormally quiet voice.
Her interaction with Andrew Prior left her feeling a bit shaken. Not because soon Jeanine will order the attack on Abnegation, but because he's a reminder of her past. The time she spent with Booker, her parents, Venus, and their little band of misfits.
When they reach the chasm, they stand at the railing overlooking the water and jagged rocks. Spinner thinks back to Marcus Eaton and the look of derision on his worn features at the sight of Four. As if he was a mere inconvenience. But why? Did they have some kind of history? They seemed to be familiar with each other, judging by their body language.
She glances at Four and a deep frown puckers his face. "Why was he looking at you like that?"
"Who?" He refuses to meet her eyes.
"Marcus Eaton."
His shoulders tense. "I don't know." Four says, pressing his lips into a grim line.
'He's lying,' I detect quickly and she agrees as well. She tells me that she's in no position to judge because she has her own demons she's dealing with.
Spinner gazes down as the water hits the wall and droplets spray up to mist their faces. "I think you do, Broody," she remarks coolly. He sends her an elusive glance and she responds with one of her own. "Look, you don't have to tell me, okay? Just know that I'm here if you ever want to, y'know, say a few more words at a time." She offers him a cheeky grin.
Four rolls his eyes, but manages a half-smile. "Thanks, Spinner. You're a good friend."
"I try," she winks lightly. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
He takes a deep breath in an act of calming himself. "I-"
Spinner cuts him off with a high-pitched squeal when she's unexpectedly picked up. She catches a glimpse of Eric's dark glower as she tossed over his massive shoulder. "Tank, what the hell!" She barks and twists her head far enough around to glare at him as he proceeds to march away from the chasm. Huffing, she shoots Four an apologetic look and mouths that they'll hopefully be able to finish their conversation later.
Nodding, he turns back to look down into the water.
Whipping around, Spinner glares at the back of Eric's head. "Oi! What's your goddamn issue?"
"He is." He grounds out.
"Four's my friend, Eric."
"Doesn't make me not want to kill him less, Petra."
"Tank!"
"Stop whining."
Spinner huffs again, crossing her arms over her chest while in her precarious position. "Can you at least tell me where you're hauling me off to?"
"It's lunch and I'm hungry." Eric says shortly.
"And you couldn't have gone to the cafeteria by yourself?" She deadpans.
"No, I wanted company and I chose you. So quit bitching and be extremely thankful for this rare moment."
Spinner shakes her head with a giggle, then reaches down to fondle one of his sculpted cheeks. "Love you too, babe," she singsongs.
"Hey, hands off. You have to earn right to touch that, sweetheart." Eric jostles her and she emits another squealy laugh.
Spinner lets out a mock scoff before giving his backside a firm, love slap. "Pssh, this sexy piece of ass is mine." She shoots him a devious grin over his shoulder.
Eric rolls his eyes good-naturedly and continues to the dining hall.
Spinner glares at the entire snickering dining hall.
She's still hanging off Eric's shoulder as he's walking towards the leader's table. She was expecting to be back on her feet once they entered the lunch line. But no, he simply held her in place while he selected their lunches with everyone in the line staring at them.
I guess in a way Eric is staking his claim on Spinner, letting all of Dauntless know she's now officially off-limits.
Men.
"Damn, Eric, is Tiny that much to handle?" Hayden chuckles and Spinner flips him off as she's dropped into a chair.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Eric sneers at him, settling their tray down in front of her before taking his seat.
"How was Erudite?" Mecca asks as he's dressing his burger.
"A fucking headache." Eric grumbles, taking a bite of his own food. "Those renegade bastards showed up again. They even tried to setup Red."
"Why?" Hayden asks.
Spinner shrugs as she takes a small bite of her sandwich. "How am I supposed to know? I don't even know why he's attacking Erudite in the first place." She tells him, glancing at Eric fleetingly before pursing her lips. "It seems like anything can happen at this point."
"Maybe he has some kinda connection to Jeanine." Hayden says offhandedly.
"Like what? Like he's her long lost son or something?" Eric gives a derisive scoff. "Why don't we all assume he knows the Muffin Man too?"
Spinner tosses her head back and laughs loudly.
Hayden frowns at him. "Would it kill you to be open-minded sometimes?"
She quickly covers Eric's mouth as he's about to deliver another snarky response. His face instantly flattens into an annoyed expression and her lips quirk. "Be nice."
Eric rolls his eyes and removes her hand from his mouth.
Snorting, she then regards Hayden pensively. "Fine, I'll play devil's advocate. Let's say your theory is correct-"
"Which is ludicrous by the way." Eric interjects bluntly and Spinner shoots him an impatient glare. He rolls his eyes again before hunching over his food and continuing eating.
"Anyway," she turns back to Hayden. "Let's say you're right. Let's say Jeanine had a bastard child by some unknown man. And she gave it away only for it to come back years later as Edgar the Psycho Cop Killer. How would we prove that?"
"And you said he talked about also having a sister." Mecca reminds them and Eric scoffs in exasperation. "So, there's a possibility of two abandoned children."
She nods to him in thanks, before prompting Hayden with another look.
He shrugs uneasily. "I don't know. It was just a random thought. I wasn't thinking that deep about it, Pyro."
"It doesn't hurt to rule out all possibilities."
Eric snorts. "Didn't you hear what he said? He wasn't being serious about it."
"Well, it's too late now. I'm already intrigued." Spinner volleys back airily as she finishes the rest of her sandwich. She chugs down her water before she starts rounding up her garbage. "I gotta go."
"Go where?"
"I'm gonna go grab Sweets and head up to the control room." Eric just grunts and Spinner smiles and leans forward to press a kiss by his ear. "I'll be online, kay?"
"Yeah…" he mumbles back. "I'll talk to you later."
She gives him a cheerful nod then surges to her feet, smiling down at the table. "Enjoy the rest of your lunches. Bye, fellas!"
"Bye, Tiny." The chuckling men chorus back before she spins on her heel and then dashes away.
"Can you pass me the tiny yellow screw driver with a three on it?" Lauren asks from the floor as she peers into the back of the computer she'd just pried open. She's wearing a pair of glasses with a little light attached on top of the left eye frame. Apparently, it's been malfunctioning and Gus asked her to take a look at it. "I can't believe you're taking what Hayden said seriously."
She'd brought Lauren up to speed on the happenings of the last couple of days, yet she remained as vague as possible. Keep in mind, Spinner does trust this girl, but she isn't exactly ready to bare her entire history to everyone. She's still learning to accept that part of herself. Her years of hardship only caused her to grow accustomed to it rather than actually deal with it.
I'm still surprised she even told Eric at all.
Spinner leans over to look inside the black toolbox and she picks out the small yellow screw driver before handing it to her friend.
Mumbling quick thanks, Lauren proceeds to unscrew something inside.
"Yeah, I know. It sounds like complete and utter bullshit." Spinner sighs as she turns back to the computer screen and opens her email. There's a message from Geo informing her that he hasn't found anything yet, but he and Venus are still trying. "But I gotta rule out all possibilities, right? No matter how farfetched they are."
"I don't know, Spin…" Lauren carefully pulls out the motherboard and gingerly places down on the ground in front of her. "It sounds a little too farfetched to even consider a possibility."
Spinner frowns a bit, releasing another deep sigh through her nostrils. She jiggles her foot, craving a cigarette after going nearly a month without smoking. "At this point, Sweets, I'm taking anything I can get."
Lauren glances up and gives her a crooked smile. "I can see that."
"Don't you sass me, woman."
Her friend throws her a mischievous wink before resuming her work.
Her computer suddenly chimes and she looks over, smiling excitedly when Eric's name flashes at the bottom of the screen. She clicks open his chat box and blushes at his message.
Eric Coulter: Miss me?
Petra McCall: And if I say that I don't?
Eric Coulter: Well, then there's no point of this conversation, is there?
Spinner rolls her eyes with a small quirk of her lips.
Petra McCall: Yes, I miss you.
Eric Coulter: Good. I'll be expecting you at my apartment later tonight.
She smirks as she types out her next message to Eric.
Petra McCall: Funny, I don't see a question mark at the end of that sentence.
Eric Coulter: Because I wasn't asking. Be there at midnight and don't be late.
Eric Coulter has signed off.
Spinner rolls her eyes again before shutting down the computer.
"You two are so cute towards each other."
Turning to Lauren, she playfully wrinkles her nose. "Don't let Eric hear you say that. I'm convinced that he believes feelings will emasculate him."
Just then, Gus strolls by the cubical pushing a medium-sized whiteboard on wheels.
"Finally getting rid of that?" Lauren chuckles while she's sliding her glasses up to rest on the top of her head.
He pauses mid-step then nods. "Yeah, it's just in the back collecting dust. I might as well toss it."
Spinner suddenly perks up with a grin. "I'll take it."
Gus cocks a questioning eyebrow at her. "You seriously want this, Pyro?" He gestures to the board.
"Yep!" She nods, her grin broadening.
"Alright, suit yourself. Less work for me." Gus shrugs before tossing a colorful bundle of erasable markers into her lap. With a nod, he saunters off whistling.
"And where exactly do you plan on putting this thing?" Lauren arches a delicate eyebrow at her, shifting the three rings looped through it.
Spinner's mouth shapes into a devilish smile. "Oh, I think I may have a place in mind."
"Red, what the hell is this?"
Spinner skips into Eric's apartment, wheeling in the whiteboard with a happy smile. "Why it's my awesome new whiteboard of course! Where I can write our game plans, draw cute little doodles for you when I'm bored, and did I mention how awesome this thing is? Jeanine had banned me from the one at Erudite after the penis incident. She wasn't too happy about seeing that first thing in the morning…"
Eric stares at her for a second before a frown storms across his face. "Why's this shit here then? Why didn't you wheel it over to Lauren's?"
"Lauren said she didn't want it in her apartment 'cause it would take up too much space." Her mouth turns down into a pout.
"Well, I don't want it here either."
"Tank, please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Are you deaf? I said no. Now get it out of here."
She drops her bag where she stands before clasping her hands together and falling to her knees in a pleading action. "I'll love you forever?"
Eric smirks. "That's already a given."
She huffs, ripping her hands apart and then stomping back to her feet. "Well, you know what? Too fucking bad for you," she crosses her arms indignantly underneath her breasts. "I'm keeping it here, period."
He gives her a mock look of surprise. "Oh yeah, Red? Period, huh?" Eric parrots in a dangerously low tone as he calmly makes his way towards her. He releases a deep, husky chuckle that rocks her to her core. "You seem to forget who you're talking to, little girl." He presses her against the whiteboard, weaves his fingers through her hair then gives it a sharp tug.
Spinner whimpers as her cheeks flare with heat, and she rubs her thighs together to somehow less the growing ache between them. His steely-gray eyes darken knowingly and she bites down on her bottom lip, staring back at him. "Tank, please."
His other hand slides down to her bottom, fingers biting into her flesh as he gives it a firm squeeze. Eric brings her snug against his rigid length as his head dips and claims her lips in a deep kiss. She melts into him, letting out a purr of delight before kissing him back just as eagerly.
"Mmm," Spinner moans out a husky laugh against his lips. "Is that a yes?"
Eric tugs on her bottom lip as he pulls away. His eyes appear almost black with so much lust that it causes a very heated shudder to run through her entire body. "It's a maybe. I could still use a bit more convincing." He says, smirking cockily.
She offers him a wicked grin, then leans forward to press a lingering kiss to his mouth. She moves to his ear before whispering, "I'm sure we can have something arranged, love." She shifts back to meet his smouldering gaze.
"I'll hold you to it, then." Eric growls lowly, killing the distance and capturing her lips in another aggressive kiss. His tongue extends deep into her mouth and a whimper emits from the depths of her throat. He groans heavily in response then grounds himself into her more forcefully.
"Patience, sweetheart." Spinner murmurs and she separates from him, reaching up to touch his lips.
"Fine." He grumbles then nips her fingertips.
She giggles against him, her nose scrunching up as she gazes at him with adoration sparkling in her eyes.
His soften for a split-second as he releases her, and then the look vanishes as quickly as it came. With another rough peck to her lips, he heads over to his couch then stretches out on top of it. "Now, what's this about?" He waves his hand over at the whiteboard.
Spinner clears her throat and fixes herself before grabbing her bag off from the floor. "I know you think Hayden's theory is stupid-"
Eric lets out a groan. "Christ, not this shit again..."
"Just hear me out, will you?" Spinner shoots back as she's searching inside for the information she'd printed out in the control room. "Got any tape, babe?" Eric points to his bookcase where a small roll of tape is resting on the shelf, and she skips over to grab it before returning to the board.
"What are you doing anyway?" He questions as taping up a picture of Jeanine Matthews, Edgar Torres obituary, Edgar's mugshot, and a picture of faceless silhouette with a white question mark.
"I already told you," she says, picking out a blue marker and turning in time to see him roll his eyes. "Yeah, whatever to you too." Spinner sticks her tongue out at him before she begins labelling the pictures.
"So, I heard you met Marcus Eaton and Andrew Prior today." Eric says in a casual tone.
The marker squeaks abruptly as Spinner makes a mistake on Jeanine's last name. Using the pad of her index finger, she rubs off the extra tail on the M. "Yeah, it was a real treat." She mutters sarcastically. "Four was with me too and..." She caps the marker and sends him a frown. "There was this weird vibe going on between him and Marcus Eaton." Eric suddenly smirks and she furrows her brow, tilting her head in curiosity. "I don't get it? What's so funny? Why are smiling like that?"
He sits up on the couch, leaning back and laying his arms along the top of it, looking smugger than before. "Has your good friend Four ever told you his real name?"
"No, I never asked. I just assumed his parents were raging alcoholics."
Eric chuckles. "Close, Princess. Come on, think about it."
She just stares at him.
He rolls his eyes. "Marcus Eaton is Four's father," he reveals gruffly.
"You're fucking with me?" Spinner's eyes grow wide as saucers. "Four's Marcus Eaton's son?"
"Yes." Eric nods with an extremely pleased expression on his face. "Number boy's real name is Tobias Eaton."
Tobias Eaton…
"I think it was… Toby or something of another, and she never described him. All she said was that he'll be coming to her very soon."
The breath leaves her body as realization hits her with the impact of a train. "Oh my god…"
Four is also the son Evelyn has been corresponding with over these last few months.
'Spinner… what if he knows?'
"Ah, fuck."
Good 'ol Eric lol.
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Love, Peace and Tranquility.