"You're pretty brave showing up on our doorstep after choosing another faction."

"Brave or stupid, I'm not sure which."

Beatrice stood among a cluster of Dauntless members that had been assembled within the past ten or so minutes. She had been brought here after her long walk through the city streets to the only Dauntless building she knew - the huge truck depot that her mother had taken them to on occasion to help load and unload supplies to and from Amity. It had been very different in the dim twilight rather than the full sun of a volunteering day, but at least Beatrice had successfully remembered where it was.

The Dauntless milling about by the open garage doors had been amused at first when a rogue Abnegation showed up asking to be let in. Someone had called someone else and eventually, after Beatrice made it clear that she wasn't leaving until she was allowed in, she was brought up here. Where here was appeared to be a conference room of sorts. Apparently it was universal regardless of faction that sometimes people just needed a room with a big table, some mismatched office chairs, and too many coffee mugs in order to sit down and talk.

Beatrice had been deposited in one of the chairs and was now looking back and forth between the handful of Dauntless now grilling her.

"It's just not done," a woman with purple streaks in her tied-back hair remarked. She had her arms folded on the table, her mind apparently made up.

At the head of the table was a Black man who had at least done Beatrice the courtesy of introducing himself as Max. He held up a hand to signal the running commentary to stop. One last grumble was voiced and then Max spoke. "This is certainly unexpected," he said simply. Beatrice's head bobbed in acknowledgement. She understood that this wasn't normal.

"That being said, if there is a faction that would consider an unexpected Initiate, it would be ours," Max continued. "I understand the rationale to a degree. It is still Choosing Day. Technically all the pomp and circumstance in the Hub is just that - set dressing around the actual decision that you Initiates are making."

There was an almost visceral reaction among the Dauntless at the table. The purple-haired woman scoffed. Two of the others cried out in overlapping voices. Max slammed his fist on the table with a growl of "Quiet!" Beatrice's eyes darted back and forth between the Dauntless, not daring to move beyond that.

"She didn't bleed into the coals. She wasn't brave then and there to make her decision, Max. How can we accept her now?"

Beatrice's face flushed and her arms tightened around her middle. She had asked herself that question many times in her long walk from the Hub to Dauntless. How could they accept her? She chewed on her lip, refusing to voice her own doubts. If she doubted herself, then they surely would.

Max glared at the man who had spoken. "It doesn't matter if she bled into the coals, August. You know that tradition's only ten, fifteen years old anyways. I was there when you Chose. All you used to have to do was announce your decision in the school gymnasium. Like I said, pomp and circumstance. I think that we can get over it," Max retorted sharply.

August settled back into his seat, his face red but his argument cut out from under him.

Across from Beatrice was a blonde young man who she had a niggling feeling she remembered from the halls of school. He hadn't spoken much throughout, choosing instead to listen and regard Beatrice with steely grey eyes. He raised an eyebrow at Max's declaration. "She's also a traitor. Twice over, if you consider that she's Abnegation born and Abnegation chosen," the blonde said. "Now she wants to switch factions, hours after the ceremony?"

Max leveled a glare at him. "I am still speaking English, right? Forget about the ceremony," he growled in a clear order. He turned back to regard Beatrice. She unfolded her arms, gripping the wobbly office chair arms instead. To look weak now would be to lose this opportunity.

"You would still be a transfer. A traitor to your home faction," Max said. His voice had returned to the more measured tone from earlier. "What we have to ask ourselves and what the rest of my fellow Leaders are struggling with is the question of whether it's worth our time - and yours - to allow you to join Initiation.

"There have been very few transfers to Dauntless. Most of them don't make it through. It would be easier for you to go back home. Return before you've been missed and stick with what you've been raised to be."

He wasn't wrong. Beatrice knew that. There was no hard edge of intimidation, of dishonesty. Max was just being honest and that was a trait that Beatrice could respect.

There was an unspoken question now hanging in the air. Beatrice cleared her throat. "If I had wanted to choose the easy path, I would have stuck with my decision from the ceremony. I was afraid. And I don't want to be afraid. Staying in Abnegation would be easy, but I would stay afraid. I want to be Dauntless. I have to be," she said. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she thanked God that she had managed to speak without her voice trembling.

She waited for someone to scoff, to brush her off and to tell her that she needed to run along back to her mom and dad. There was instead a thoughtful pause as the Dauntless in the room took in her words.

Max nodded. A few of the others looked more or less neutral. The blonde across from Beatrice finally broke from looking at her to regard a young woman who had been standing in the back of the room, separate from the rest. Beatrice turned to look at her as well and noticed immediately that she was the only one in the room who didn't have the geometric lines and bars running along her neck.

"Lauren? What do you think? Worth your time?" he asked.

The young woman, Lauren, shrugged one shoulder. "No less so than any other transfer," she remarked. "But she's going to have a tough time convincing them of that. Regardless of the ceremony being a load of bull, it's going to still mean a lot to the others that she didn't actually Choose Dauntless. You know how kids can be."

"I'm not a kid," Beatrice blurted. It sounded foolish in this room of Dauntless soldiers as soon as she said it, but there was no taking it back.

August chuckled, though not unkindly. "Sure you are. But that's okay. That's what Initiation is about. Getting past that."

The purple-haired woman rolled her eyes. "Can we put this to a vote already? I got pulled out from dinner," she sneered. She had remained unconvinced by Max's overtures and Beatrice's declaration. Beatrice felt her chest tighten as Max nodded. This was it.

"I don't want her," the woman said simply. Then she jerked her chin at the next Leader next to her.

They shrugged. "I can't see why it would hurt to let her try. If she fails, she fails. No harm done on our end." It wasn't exactly resounding confidence, but Beatrice would take it over an outright no.

August gave a begrudging yes, apparently having been convinced by Max. Two more Leaders gave meandering answers that boiled down to not wanting to take a chance of pissing off the Council for taking in someone who hadn't Chosen Dauntless.

Max smacked the closest one on the shoulder. "Stop worrying about what the Council will think. What does it matter that we take in one extra Initiate? She came to us. She deserves the opportunity to try. How is that any different than any typical transfer? I vote she can stay."

All eyes went to the last Leader to vote, the blonde across from Beatrice. He remained quiet for a moment, his grey eyes once again studying her carefully.

"Eric?" Max pressed gently as the young man's silence continued.

"We don't like people who don't keep their word, and your track record is now notably worse that you're now a traitor." He once again called her a traitor. He was right, of course, especially after she had given her mother and father hope that she would remain.

"But," Eric said slowly, "I would be lying if I said that I wasn't intrigued by someone brave enough to come here even after choosing something else. Especially something as safe as Abnegation."

He paused once again. The room was so quiet, Beatrice was certain that they could all hear her heart pounding in her chest. "So… is that a yes?" she dared to ask.

His head tipped as he made some final assessment of her. Finally, firmly, he nodded. "I vote yes as well. You should stay. For now."

Beatrice felt the weight on her shoulders immediately lift. She could breathe again, could feel again. Her hands unclenched from the arms of the office chair, and she chanced a smile. "Thank you," she exhaled.

August laughed and said, "Don't thank us yet. Spend a few days with Lauren and we'll see if you're still so grateful."

There was a scuffle of noise and motion as the Leaders began to depart, already focused on their next goal now that this was resolved. Beatrice swept to her feet as well, though she remained at her position at the table.

"There's one last thing, though," Eric called over the chatter starting up. There was a brief pause as the room's attention moved back to him. He pointed a finger at Beatrice. "Every new Initiate gets the chance to set their name. If they want."

Beatrice blinked. It was something she was aware of, certainly. The Amity girl who had joined today had re-introduced herself as Astoria rather than her given name. Hardly any of the past Abnegation-borns would choose to do such a thing. Beatrice hadn't considered it when she had been with the others, either.

But that had been when she was remaining Abnegation, remaining the girl that followed her parents' expectations dutifully to the point of dullness. The whole point of being here now was to become something new. To become someone new.

"It's a fresh start. If you want it," Eric said more quietly. "No one's going to force you, of course. I just thought it might help."

She again allowed herself to smile. That was twice now that he had coaxed one from her. She nodded slowly. "I… yeah, I want that," she admitted.

"So?" he asked after a beat. "How do you want to introduce yourself to your newly chosen faction?"

"Tris. I'm Tris," she answered. Eric nodded in approval.

"Much better - no offense. Welcome to Dauntless, Tris."