Issy furrowed her eyebrows at him as she shook her head slowly and let her head roll back to the ground.

'What a game.' She thought to herself and she rubbed at her head. Issy had some thoughts as to how their friends would think to Manic but she was amazed that their plan worked out so well. The CTF part was easy but when it came down to taking down the Manic, to taking down her, they all took it in their stride.

Someone cleared their throat and Issy looked up to see Tris offering her hand. Issy brushed some of the gravel that had stuck to her neck and jaw away before she accepted the help and allowed Tris to pull her to her feet. Around them, people were congratulating each other and laughing before they slowly made their way closer to where Issy and Tris stood.

Tris grinned at her as she let go of Issy's hand. "Nice idea Issy, we should definitely play this again soon!"

"Yeah," Issy laughed as she looked around. "But maybe next time someone else can be Manic, I don't fancy being tackled to the ground again." Laughs broke out around them as Issy winked at Tris before making her way over to Kayden and Flare. "Hey guys!" She wrapped one arm around Kayden's shoulders and the other around Flare's waist. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"It feels like ages!" Flare cried as she wrapped both her arms around Issy. Not so far from them, Four motions for them all to head for the tracks. "You're off for a while now, aren't you? Our initiation class should totally meet up one of these days!"

Kayden also wraps one of his arms around Issy's waist as they walk, nodding his head. "That sounds great actually. I haven't see all of us together for a while, especially with you and Hec on your mad shifts, me and Sam on opposite shift rotas and the rest of them having more or less nine to five work days. I've missed you all."

"Well," Issy checks her watch to see the time as 23:43. It wasn't as late as she had originally thought. . . Maybe next time they played it they could start later. "I might see some of you tomorrow but as you said I have a few weeks left before work starts up again."

They all split themselves into smaller groups as they walked to the tracks at a slow pace. Issy found herself wandering from each group to the next and after she had spent a few more minutes with Kayden and Flare, she wandered over to the closest group consisting of her twin, Bree, Noah, Cody and Lilah. Lilah grinned happily as she spun around while she walked, her dark eye alight with adrenaline. It was something that Issy hadn't seen from her friend since she had started training as a Leader. From the months that Issy had trained and lived in the faction for, she had found that each Dauntless could last within the compound for a while until they reached their limit where they had to do something crazy to keep their spirit alive, and Lilah was no different. Bree also had a certain skip in her step as she walked close to Noah side as he, Cody and Alec pointed out highlights of the game. Issy rolled her eyes when she found out Josh and BD were the ones to tackle her.

Next she moved towards the group led by Four and Tris. Tris winked once again at Issy when she caught her eye and Four merely nodded as Zeke came up from behind and messed up her hair. Hec, Sam and Luke sniggered as Issy grumbled and elbowed him sharply in the ribs. He whined but before Issy could do any real damage Shauna guided him away. Issy shook her head with a small smirk on her face as Will fell in step with her.

"Thank you." He said and Issy looked at him in surprise. Before she could ask why, he continued. "Before you or any of the other guys from your class joined our group things were rather," Will paused, his head titled to the side in thought. "Brittle. All of us were friends but we were more or less still split into two groups: Those who were more friendly with Four and those who were more friendly with Eric. Now," Will motioned around them, to their friends who were laughing and smiling. "Now we're together as one, strong group. Yes, there's still some tension between Eric and Four but I don't think that's ever going to change, and then Chris is still not very trusting of Eric." Issy's eyebrows furrowed in question. She knew that Eric was feared amongst the rest of Dauntless but she didn't expect anyone she knew to have a major problem, well, no one other than Four. Will nodded, reading the thoughts on her face. "I'm not as bothered with it as I was during our initiation. I've grown since then and have come to realise why he did what he did and I think even now that Chris understands why too but she's just too stubborn to admit it. You should ask Chris when you next see her, she likes to rant about that." Issy nods her head a few times in thought. From the few short moments she had been in Chris' company, she didn't really mind her but that could all change very quickly as Issy found that Chris had the most annoying, obnoxious side to her. Issy quickly realised that she'd only enjoy Chris' company when they hardly ever saw each other. Honestly, she doesn't know how Will does it.

As she nears the next group, Issy sneaks around and pounces on Hugo's shoulders, making him squeak hilariously and the others around him roar with laughter. When Hugo recovers from the little scare, he pushes Issy away with a scowl on his face and Issy laughs even more. Blake, Uriah and Lynn shove playfully at his shoulders as they follow Billy, Rainbow and Lauren closely. She stands still for a moment with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Most of her friends are walking in front of her and she shook her head slightly. A moment later a thick arm slinked across her shoulders and Dec pulled her into his side.

"Whatcha thinkin' about sis?" He asks as Jason, Red and Bulldozer walk around them, shooting smiles towards Issy.

"Did you ever think when you first transferred that our family would expand quite so much?"

Dec looks behind them to where Eric and Josh are walking slowly before looking back in front of them. "Honestly? No, I didn't. But I think our family still has some expanding to do." He pulled her forward with him and they began to walk again. "That was quite a scratch you dealt earlier."

Issy lightly bit her lip as her brother eyed her from the corner of his eyes. She simply shrugged weakly and avoided his gaze. "I like winning too much simply to give up the first time someone takes me down." He raises his eyebrows and she rolled her own in response. "I'm gonna apologise." She takes a few steps back and shoves her hands into her pockets. Dec nods to someone behind her and she shoots Josh a smile as he passes her before he and Dec take off after the others.

Warmth slowly begins to radiate on her left as Eric comes to stand by her side. She looks him over once, noticing that his sleeves are still rolled to his elbows and lines of dried blood run down his arm before they set of after the rest of them. They walk almost in sync in silence before Issy speaks up.

"How's your arm?" She glances at him and holds his steely gaze before he glances down.

"Nothing that can't be healed." A small smirk appears on his face. "You really won't give up, will you?"

"Not a chance. That's just not me." Issy looks up to see that they've caught up with the rest of their friends who stand close to the tracks. She and Eric still stand partly away from their friends when she turns to look at him. The small red light omitting from his Captain band highlighted the sharp features in his face and made his grey eyes appear almost white. "Eric?" He turned his head in her direction and raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask you something?"

He shuffled slightly as he turned his whole body towards her. His stance was relaxed as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and his face softened. "What do you want to know?"

"What did you do to Christina in her initiation to make her hate you?" As soon as she had asked her question it was clear by the shock on Eric's face that he didn't expect her to ask that.

The shock was still very much clear on his face as he opened his mouth to answer but then a train horn sounded and he turned to look at the incoming train before glancing back at her. "Follow me." He said and took off after their friends, who had already started to run. Issy took off after him and it wasn't long before the train was by their side. She watched as Eric jumped into a different cart from their friends before hanging out of the door and sharing a look with Dec, who was helping people onto the train two carts down from them. Eric held out his hand and Issy took it. She stumbled a bit when she got into the cart but Eric held her tightly against his chest so she didn't fall. Eric let go of her as he took a few steps back and sat down against the wall opposite the open door. He didn't meet her gaze as he started to talk. "I'm guessing Christina told you all about it and now you just need my clarification on it to agree with her on how much of a jackass I am?"

Issy frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Actually," She started sassily as she sat next to Eric and raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I heard from Will that you might have done something to Christina during their initiation. He didn't say anything specific, only implied it but by your reaction something definitely happened."

Eric glanced at her then, his eyes still wide with lingering shock, and Issy stared right back, her eyes flecked with gold. "You, you want to hear my side of it first?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Christina can annoy me too much and I have a feeling that she'll blow it far from proportion, so yes, I'd rather hear your side first." Obviously that was the correct thing to say as she was rewarded with a large smile and a chuckle.

"You never cease to amaze me." His smile lasts for a moment longer before it slowly slips from his face. "It was during the first stage of initiation and the fights had not long started. I had paired her against a female Candor that some of the other initiates called Tank because she was tall. Christina was losing and then she decided she had had enough." His face hardens as he scowls. "Dauntless don't give up and she did, so punishment had to be given. I made her hang over the side of the Chasm until I said so with her class watching."

Issy shuffled closer to him until their sides were pressed together. Issy thinks for a moment, choosing her words carefully before she speaks. "Giving up because things get hard in the field isn't an option." Images of the ambush flash in her mind and she tightly closes her eyes as she leans her head on his shoulder. "Giving up means that you put your own life at risk and the others around you at risk. I'm guessing they weren't taking the lectures as seriously as they should have?"

Eric laughs bitterly. "That's one way of putting it. From the biggest Candor acting like Amity to them treating it like a game to one of the snarkiest bastard acting like he was all high and mighty," Eric trails off as he shakes his head. "Not one of the best initiation classes we've had."

Silence falls between them again and the only sounds are their breathing and the train rumbling down the tracks. She begins to relax into his side but then her eyes widen and she jerks herself away. "I, I'm sorry I shouldn't –" She begins to stutter as she tries to move away. Eric watches her with a hint of caution before he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her closer. "No, its not fair," Issy pushes weakly against his arm despite the fact that she wants nothing more than to snuggle into his side, its not fair. "Eric –"

He shifts his body so he's facing her. "Issy. Issy look at me." Eric gently grabs her jaw and pulls her head up to look at him. "Issy its fine. I know you're not ready. I know but this distance, tiptoeing around each other is a load of bullshit and you know that too. I'd rather you friend zone me for the time being then to ignore each other all the time. I'd rather you come to me when you're troubled rather than keeping it to yourself. Okay?"

"I just –" She trails off.

"I know. Dammit, I know." Eric pulls her back into his side and rests his head on top of hers.

Its another moment before Issy allows herself to relax into him. "Okay."

"Yeah? You okay with that?"

Issy pulls away with a small smirk. "Isn't that what I just said?" She laughs quietly to herself as he lightly punches her side and they watch the world go by, tucked into each other.