Issy cocoons herself beneath the covers without a second thought, sighing contently as she drifts off.
Loud banging against her door is what awoke her late that morning. Issy groaned, he eyes still shut tight as she shuffled deeper into the covers. To her dismay, knocking only got louder, quicker and unrelenting. Her eyes opened slowly, the brightness of her room blinding her for a moment, and with a heavy sigh she kicked the covers away. Scowling, Issy forced herself out of her bed. Sometime during the night Issy had kicked her bottoms off, leaving her in an oversized t-shirt and she didn't bother to put them back on as she walked to the front door with vengeance, happily willing to kill the person on the other side.
Eyes golden and glaring in annoyance, she flung the door open, her tone biting. "WHAT?" She shouted, her whole posture tense and ready to pounce. Her glare didn't soften when she realised Captain stood in front of her holding a piece of paper with Bree lingering in the background nor did she back down when she realised she was stood in front of the captain of her squad in nothing but an oversized t-shirt. "Well?"
Captain cleared his throat, his eyes going wide as he realised what Issy was wearing and turned his gaze to somewhere above her head. "Um, sorry for waking you but there's been a problem with the emails so I'll, uh, I'll just give you your shift rota now..." He handed her the piece of paper he was carrying.
Issy looked down at it for only a moment before she looked back up at him in disbelief. "You know you could have just slipped this under my door, right?" When Captain opens his mouth to speak before closing it again she realises not once did that thought never come to mind. She closes her eyes and counts slowly to ten as she breathes in and out deeply. When she reopened her eyes the gold still lingered but there were a few noticeable specks of blue. As Captain released the breath he was holding, Bree snickered quietly into her hand. "Okay, well, thank you for this." She says sarcastically, still scowling and she grimaces in an attempt to smile. "I'd invite you in but I'd rather not. See you Monday." Bree now openly laughs as Issy fakes a smile and waves. Captain leaves swiftly without another word. Once Captain is out of sight Issy turns to Bree. She is dressed in simple clothing and Issy recognises it as some of Bree's clothes from initiation. Issy smiles slightly as she points at her. "You. I know why you're here, that's okay." Issy leaves the door open for Bree to follow her into the flat as she goes to her room to get changed. On the way to her room Issy glanced at the clock and groaned as the clock blinked 08:27 at her.
The door shuts a moment later and footsteps follow Issy all the way through her flat to her room. The mess Issy calls a bed is the first thing Bree notices. The rest of the room is tidy and without even saying a word to Issy, Bree picks up the dirty washing she had left out, pulling the jacket and the hoodie out of the pile before she goes to wash it. 'Fucking love that women.' Issy thinks to herself, her face now scowl free as she watches Bree walk away.
Issy slumps back onto her bed but then she sees the tracker and remembers, she shoots up and quickly pulls on the first pair of clothes that she finds in her draws, which happens to be a pair of leggings and a tank top unsurprisingly. She throws the hoodie over the top before loosely tying a pair of boots. Issy almost runs out of her room and into the kitchen only to run back to pick up the tracker and her phone. Back in the kitchen, Bree looks up at her questionly as Issy runs her fingers through her hair before she throws it into a loose braid.
"Food." Issy simply says and Bree smirks.
"No," She corrects as she finishes up. "You're up to something, I can see it in your eyes." She pauses for a moment to stare at her before she shakes her head. "C'mon then mischief, lets go."
"That's new." Issy comments as she watches Bree lock the door behind them before they set off for the cafeteria. "Mischief."
"Yeah, that's my name for you now."
"Why is it that people just decide to call me nicknames instead of my actual name."
"I think its because calling you Issy or Iss it's just too personal or intimate like your brothers call you that with so much emotion it feels like we're intruding on a family moment," Bree pauses and Issy motions for her to say what's on her mind, knowing exactly what she's thinking. "As does Eric." She's says slowly, her head ducked and she only perks back up when Issy nods along. Issy had noticed that too, she just didn't know what to do about it. "And then there's Josh who calls you Golden Eyes but with much more meaning than the rest of Dauntless does and in return you call him Joshie, which I have never heard anyone call him other than you. In your squad you'll get another nickname that the rest of Dauntless probably will start referring you by and the rest of us simply call you pet names like chick or darling or even bitch." Issy laughs at that one. "I guess I just wanted one of my own."
Issy shrugs her shoulders in response. "Fair enough."
After a moment of silence, Bree started to fill Issy in on what had happened last night when she and Hec had left. Apparently it was quite entertaining. Dec had taken a photo of Eric still blushing which resulted in him being chased around her flat by a red faced Eric, but this time it was in annoyance. Issy had stopped walking then, turning to Bree and simply saying "I need it" before she quickly typed a text to Dec saying the same thing. His response was immediate. The photo was just how Issy had last seen Eric but with even redder cheeks. Under the photo Dec had put: Back this shit up but don't tell him, he thinks I deleted it. Also, don't put it on the wall, he'll kill me. Issy laughed, showing Bree and stating how cute it is. They started walking again and Bree carried on filling her in. Not much happened after theyhad both calmed down other than cleaning up after themselves and leaving. She then went onto how tired Cody, Blake, Zeke and Four seemed when Bree had passed them in the hallway earlier that morning. Issy was told that all of them was on night shift last night and Issy remembers when Max told her what the hours were.
Before they walk into the cafeteria, Issy turns the tracker on in her pocket and throws it out into the air behind her as she follows Bree into the cafeteria soon after and like Bree said, they looked like absolute shit with bags under their eyes, nearly falling asleep where they sat. Bree and Issy exchange a look before walking over to the coffee machine. In her initiation Hugo had said it was shit, and it was, but it had recently been replaced by a better brand of coffee. That often meant that there was a line of people waiting but today it was oddly quiet. They each filled two cups up with coffee, Issy took a bit longer on one of them. Issy then lead them to the table where most of there friends where sat. Issy placed her two mugs in front of Cody and Four while Bree placed her's in front of Blake and Zeke. Simultaneously all of them looked up suspiciously and Issy looked around the table as she and Bree sat down. Cody sat on her left with Zeke in between him and Dec and Hugo opposite his brother with Hec opposite Zeke. Opposite her was Four with Eric and Tris flanking him. On the other side of Bree was Shauna. Finally on the end of that side of the table was Will and Christina. All of whom were watching them with equally suspiciously.
"What? Can we not be a nice for a moment?"
"You?" Blake asks, looking directly at Issy, who sends a mock glare at him. "No. Not without reason."
"First off, you all look like shit." Issy doesn't even try to be kind about it and insulted looks are thrown their way when Bree knows her head, taking a bite out of one of Shauna's biscuits.
"Thanks." Zeke comments dryly.
"You're welcome."
"Second, I can be a nice person," Issy glares lightly at those that snicker in response. "And to prove I can be a nice person I'm gonna use that cup of coffee as a peace offering to Four." His head snaps up at the same time she turns to look him in the eye. His eyes are wide and her lips twitch up in the corners. "Stress levels were high during initiation and I took all of that out on you." She shrugs her shoulders, reluctant to say more.
There's a long pause. Four watches her, trying to find a fault in her words. Outside, Issy's face is neutral and somewhat apologetic. Inside, however, is a whole different story. . . Eyes switch from Four to Issy and back again. No one seems to know what to say, even when Four nods his head at her, smiling slightly, they stay silent, surprise at both of them. As Four and Issy continue to talk somewhat civilly, looks are passed around the table, glancing at the pair like they've gone insane.
Four leaves the table after he finishes his coffee with another nod in Issy's direction, surprising people yet again, unaware that the tracker hovers quietly after him. The entire table turns to stare at her after eyeing the tracker curiously.
"What?" Issy said with the best look of innocence she could muster. "It was just a cup of coffee." Her lips kept twitching as she tried to not smile and Cody narrowed his eyes at her.
"But you stressed. . ." His sentence trailed off as realisation flickered across his face which was quickly replaced by a look of utter exasperation. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't." Confused glances were passed around as a grin slowly formed on Issy's face and she rubbed her hands together mischievously.
"I don't understand." Blake says.
Cody sighed and rubbed his temples before turning to look at him. "You know you signed me to watch Issy and the rest of her squad last night?" Blake nodded his head. "They went to Amity first and Issy just gave Four a peace offering." Cody says the last to words very slowly and the table goes quiet for the millionth time that morning. Fuck, and it was still morning.
The first to react is Eric. His head perks up, his eyes wide and his lips parted which quickly shift into a grin. "You didn't." He shook his head with his face covered with malicious glee. "You nearly had me fooled there."
Hugo is the next to react, narrowing his eyes in thought and pointing behind him. "But why the – oh." Much like Cody's face had, realisation was quickly replaced by exasperation. "Of course. Not only do they track but they also videotape what they track."
"Wait, wait, wait." Will put his hands up, pausing the conversation for a moment. "Your telling us that she miraculously managed to get peace serum from Amity and put it in Four's coffee?"
Hec gasps, laughing loudly. "That's what you got?!" He leans forward to high five her. "Nice going Issy!"
Issy laughed along with him as she noticed a few on the table still seemed confused. "Yes, I put peace serum in his coffee. More than would probably be recommend for someone like him and that tracker will follow him around all day, recording all of it in my place. Following Four around all day with a camera isn't something I want to do despite the outcome. That leaves me available so I can do other shit today." Issy has a pleased grin on her face by the time she's finished explaining.
"You mean that Four's gonna be higher than the stars all day?"
"Maybe longer, I don't know." She shrugs. "Paybacks a bitch and so am I."
Hugo's eyes are still narrowed as he looks at her. "Do I ever want to know why you need payback?"
She shrugs again. "It's quite easy if you think about it."
The tables' gaze now flickers between Issy and Hugo and he starts to shake his head, his gaze flicking subtly to Eric for less than a second. "Its not like he had a choice!"
"Still." Again she shrugs. Issy tries to ignore the wheels turning in Eric's eyes as she picks at Cody's plate.
Conversation slowly starts again as Zeke and Dec throw out ideas of what Four might get up as Bree and Issy finish up their pickings of other people's food. When Issy and Bree get up to leave, Eric watches her with an unimpressed look with a hint of cautiousness. Issy smirks at him, knowing what line of thought he's on, and his eyes narrow as he frowns. They wave goodbye and head quickly back to her flat. Bree unlocks the door and Issy takes her hoodie off, folding it on the kitchen counter. Bree takes off her shoes as Issy takes off her boots and they place them out of the way next to the door.
"So where do you want to start first?" Bree asks as she pulls her hair into a ponytail.
"I think we should do the living room first..." Issy trails off in thought.
"How about I paint the wall while you start marking out what you want in the kitchen?" Bree offers up. Issy nods her head and they get started.
By the time it was lunch, Bree had painted the whole wall on the left side of the flat where the windows were. Beforehand, they had discussed what Issy had wanted and now as Issy analyses it, she loves it. The wall is mostly red but Bree had blended it with the black and grey spray paints to make it look more rustic. As she did that, Issy had started to pencil out a one of the quotes she had settled on and had started to fill it in by the time Bree had finished. They left the windows open as they stepped out for a break. They spilt off when they were in the Pit, Bree said that she was going to meet Noah and Issy had yet another payback to carry out.
With a grin Issy spotted Alec somewhere in front of her, heading towards the cafeteria. 'Well, that was easy.' Issy smirked as she followed him. Her eyes were glowing golden blue, her footsteps almost silent as she lagged behind him. No one questioned her as she followed him into the cafeteria. She stopped as soon as he sat down on the table with her brothers and Josh and Jason. Her smirk widens as Alec flinches when someone trips into their table. Josh and Dec raise an eyebrow at her, being sat facing her. She silently shakes her head in response.
"So, uh," Josh starts, glancing between Alec's flinching and Issy stood slightly in the shadows. "What's up?"
"Do you know that prank I was planning on playing on Cody?"
"Yeah, Dec mentioned it."
Dec's head perks up. "Oh yeah! How did that go?"
Alec's cringes. "It sorta hit Issy instead. . ."
Jason starts to laugh loudly as Dec smirks in Issy's direction. "By your response, I'm guessing she hasn't gotten you back?"
She hears Hugo start laughing as well. "Oh! You are so dead!"
Issy grins, choosing that moment to plonk herself down next to Alec and he jumps hilariously. She cocks an eyebrow at him with mock concern that quickly transforms into the smuggest look ever. "You alright there brother?"
"Yeah, I, uh, I've gotta go do, uhhh, food." Alec stumbles over his words as he struggles to get up any quicker. "Yep. Food. Bye."
The smugness displayed on her face gets bigger as he quickly walks back out of the room and her remaining brothers look at her mischievously. Jason goes to ask something but stops when she holds up a hand and counts down on her fingers. When she gets to zero, a loud yelp comes from somewhere down the corridor. "He's fine." She says dismissively and gets up. "At least he should be fine." She follows after Alec with Dec and Hugo on her heels. Jason sighs, exchanging a look with his brother before the follow along.
In the Pit people are looking around confused and some leaders are near Alec, looking up at him in confusion. Issy slips easily through the crowd with her brothers and Jason following her as she walks over and leans leisurely against a metal beam. Alec is seven foot up a wall, held by blue gooey spider web nets.
"Whatcha doing up there Alec?" She draws out the syllables in his name.
"Get me down now!" Alec struggles against the web a hisses when something buzzes through him as the webbing lights up. "What was that?!"
"Electromagnetic pulse, small enough to give you a small jolt ." Max looks at Issy in something she can't pin down. "Every time to try to free yourself, you'll be shocked." Issy settles her golden eyes on the people around her before looking back up at her brother. "Anyone else that tries to help you down, the shock with strengthen just a little bit more."
"Let me guess, there's only one way to get down safety and you're the only one that knows how?"
"Gold star for you boyo. I didn't expect you to catch on so quickly."
"Issy!"
"Yes brother dear?"
"Get me down now!"
"Apologize. Admit you're wrong."
Alec's eyes flash as he realises this isn't just about the prank the other week. But rather about something much more deeper, something neither of them are will to say aloud. "No." He says calmly, not shouting his defiance.
She stands up, putting her hands in her pockets as she smirks. "Well then, I'll guess I'll see you tomorrow." She grins as she begins to walk away.
"What?!"
She spins around, standing next to Eric as he watches her. "If you're not going to apologize then you're not coming down. We'll see if you've changed your mind by tomorrow. See ya later." as she turns, Eric winks at her as she leaves the Pit.
xXx
As the night started to drawn in, Bree and Issy were proud of what they had done. Issy had completed her quote and Bree had done another that Issy wanted in the living room. In the kitchen against the long wall was:
Work for a cause, not applause.
Live life to express, not impress.
The quote was in a larger version of her own handwriting in red. In the living room, along the wall next to the door was another quote where Bree had pencilled out a font that Issy loved.
Courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid,
Courage means you don't let fear stop you.
Bree's font was soft. Comforting in a light grey.
For reasons unknown to Issy, Bree pushed for them to do the others rooms the next weekend or whenever Issy was free. The whole while she was wearing a knowing and smug smile that confused the fuck out of Issy. It stuck her as odd for a moment but Issy agreed before a broad grin settled on her face as she told Bree the next part of payback she needed to do. As she explained, Bree mirrored Issy's grin, nodding her head enthusiastically when Issy pulled out Hugo's dart gun from a near by cupboard.
They scampered quickly out of her flat and down to an alcove near the river that flows through Dauntless before it gets to the waterfall bit that Issy hardly uses and they wait. Beforehand, Issy had roped Josh into this part of her plan as he knew Eric's schedule better than she did and even though she could have gone to Declan about it, she didn't trust he could keep his excitement at bay and not tell Eric. Surprisingly, only minutes later Eric strides down the corridor talking quietly to Max. As they walk past the alcove, Issy takes aim and shoots before she and Bree retreat further into the alcove.
Eric's whole body stiffens. He stops walking immediately and it takes Max a few minutes to realise he's stopped.
"Eric?" He asks worriedly, taking a step closer. "Are you alright?"
Ignoring him, Eric slowly takes out the dart that hit his arse and he glares at it. He sighs as he flicks it into the river flowing towards the chasm. "Issy's gonna be the death of me." Stiffer than a board Eric walks away, leaving Max to chortle and wink in the direction of Bree and Issy before following after the young Leader.
xXx
Hours later, when most of Dauntless are asleep, Issy finds herself wandering through the corridors slowly until she finally stops in front of Alec's weary form. Unsurprisingly to Issy, he's still glued to the wall. His eyes are half closed like he's nearly falling asleep, which doesn't surprise her either. In their section of the Pit, it is oddly silent.
"You know I didn't mean it in that way." Alec voice whispers but it still sounds loud.
"I know." Issy walks forward and sprinkles something onto the goo. Slowly, the goo starts to evaporate and she catches him when there's not enough goo to hold him in place.
"I'm not gonna say sorry." He whispers into her shoulder as he gives her a limp hug.
She hugs him back tighter. "I know that too."