AHHHHHHH! I'm sorry! It's been too long, I know! Writer's block is a bitch but I'm slowly getting back into it. I still have outtakes to do but I decided to put them off to write this chapter instead… Enjoy!

Issy checks her watch and in surprise, she sees it to be nearly eight at night. The day had certainty flown by. She smiles at the pair, rubbing Flare's shoulder and patting Kayden's good leg, and gets off the cot. "Well, I've been out longer than I intended too." Issy picks up her bag from next to the chair. "I'm gonna go home. You rest up Kayden, I'll be checking up with you guys soon." With a small wave, she left the couple in the private room and made her way home, blocking out any other thought that done happen to be her bed.

The next morning Issy woke to clattering coming from her kitchen as rain pattered against her window. Groggily, she rolled over and squinted at her partially open door, swearing she had closed it before she went to bed last night. Issy groaned when Hugo's head popped around the door and she burrowed herself deeper into her duvet. He chuckled from the door before stepping into her room. Issy couldn't see him as he walked closer to her bed and grabbed the corner of her duvet. Hugo grinned and then he ripped it from her. There was one problem to that action. Because Issy was so wrapped up, as Hugo pulled the duvet away, Issy rolled with it. Hugo snickered as he watched his sister carry on rolling until she fell of the bed. She groaned, curling her limbs into herself.

"Morning Iss!" He said as he stood over her.

She glared up at him. "Why do you hate me so?"

"I don't hate you." He offered a hand and dragged her to her feet. "I just thought I'd better get you up and feeling somewhat alive for the announcement later today."

She perked up then. "Announcement?"

"Yeah, do you remember the one in your initiation?" She nodded. "Well its like that. Everyone in the compound is required to be there."

"Huh." Issy pursed her lips in thought. "Are the Leaders gonna say what's going on with the Factionless?"

Hugo sighed, looking away like he didn't want to talk about it. She waited until he sighed and sat on the corner of her bed. "What do you know?"

"Well," She shrugged. "I've noticed that the patrols that handle the rougher areas of the city are coming back more injured than before. Then there's the raids that have been happening on Amity's border and then the attack on the fence yesterday."

Hugo looked up at her with a frown on his face. "The weapons dep have orders from Max to start mass producing weapons… Whatever is happening is making the Leaders suspicious enough to start preparing for war. Declan said that the Ambassadors have orders not to reveal anything to the other factions until we have a good idea of what exactly is going on. But we can't know what's going on without capturing one of the bastards first. And until then, Max doesn't want anyone saying anything just in case it causes panic." He shakes his head. "So no, I don't think that's what the announcement is going to be about."

As Issy nodded again, Hugo left her room. She exhaled as she looked around, not having any effort to do anything today. She didn't really have any plans, well, other then staying in bed all day. Issy hummed to herself as she picked out a clean set of clothes for the day before going to shower.

When she re-emerged feeling refreshed, she heard music coming from the kitchen area. She smiled while she watched Hugo dance as he cooked, mouthing the lyrics as he goes. He catches her eyes as he turns slightly and points to the coffee table. On it was one of the amusing mugs that Issy had found in one of the shops in the Pit. It was just a white mug but on one side it said:

MORNING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. WAKE UP

2. WISH YOU WERE DEAD

3. DRINK SOME COFFEE

4. WISH SOMEONE ELSE WAS DEAD

It had cracked Issy up so much that she was clutching her stomach. She had brought it immediately and had since gone back to buy more sarcastic and insulting mugs. Just seeing it out and full of coffee made her crack a smile. On the opposite side of the table was another mug she had bought for Hugo when he was around. She had bought a mug for each of her brothers and a few of her friends with funny sayings or images on that perfectly reminded her of that person. Hugo's mug was a dark shade of blue and it said I'm silently correcting your grammar. Which he does, a lot. Sometimes, depending on his mood, he'll also point it out.

Just as Issy sat on the small sofa, Hugo place a plate mainly consisting on bacon, sausages, toast and beans in front of her. He sat in the chair opposite her with his own plate, except his was fuller. Issy crinkled her nose up at the amount of mushrooms on his plate and her brother smirked at her, exaggeratingly popping one into his mouth. They both tuck in quietly, their cutlery clanking filling the silence but they're happy enough in each other's presence without having to talk. It was nice to have a home cooked meal every now and again. The cafeteria was quite good for the amount that the cooks have to make along with the little time they had but it wasn't the same. On the rare days that all of her friends are working around meal times Issy would come home to cook herself something. She, along with the rest of her siblings, had learnt to cook from an early age as there were some nights were both of their parents were still at work. For most, if not all, of the children in Erudite this was a common occurrence. It makes her wonder how Cara is doing now. Issy wonders if her little sisters finds comfort in the quietness of cooking and eating dinner alone while their parents are at work or if she hates it and eats with her friends instead. The thought lingers in the back of her mind as she finishes her breakfast and places her plate on the table. She picks up her mug and slouches back, a frown on her face as she thinks.

"What's a matter?" Hugo asks without even glancing up.

She shrugs. "Just thinking about Cara… Wondering how she's holding up."

"Well, you won't have to wonder for much longer," He pauses as he also puts the plate down and leans back, his own mug in hand. "Visiting Day is in a couple weeks." Hugo checks his watch before looking back up at her. "We have another hour 'til everyone has to be in the Pit so what you wanna do?"

"Catch up." She says and Hugo raises an eyebrow in response. Every time she's seen Hugo so far, he's been with Dec. Declan can be a loud mouth, always keeping conversations going, and Hugo will be observing quietly from his side, allowing Dec to take over. "How's life going brother dear?"

"It's going okay." He bobs his head slowly. "Work has been progressing quite well. At the moment, after Max's order, it feels like we're just shitting weapons and ammo outta our arses like farts…" Issy barks out a laugh as Hugo smirks. "Uh, things are good." She almost wants to ask him if anyone has caught his eye – of course she knows someone has, but he won't say anything until he's ready – when Hugo starts speaking again. "I'm actually thinking of getting another tattoo, I just haven't decided on what or where yet."

"Really? Got any ideas?"

"I don't know, maybe a quote or something…"

Issy watched her brother with curious eyes. She wanted to get her sketch book and come up with ideas for him but also, she wanted to know how many tattoos he had. She knew about their shared tattoo in memory of Reece but that was it. For a Dauntless he actually looked rather plain. His hair was naturally black, and he hand no piercings on his face. He mostly wore long sleeved jackets so she couldn't see if he had any tattoos on his arms. And she certainly didn't want to ask him if he had any piercings on the rest of his body; they may be close but there are always some things that Issy doesn't want to know about her brothers.

He caught her eyeing him and smirked. "I have three tattoos." Issy raises her eyebrows. "Though I'm not telling you where." She huffs, turning away from him as he laughs brightly.

"What time is this announcement then? And why didn't I know about it?"

He raises a finger up as he lifts his waist from the chair and pulls out his phone from his back pocket before sitting back down. Hugo takes a moment, probably checking his texts or whatever, and looks up to her. "It's at one so we have about an hour. You didn't know about it because the A.D.S is down."

"The what?" Issy was confused once again about her faction. Once she finally had a firm understanding of what happened within Dauntless, something else was thrown at her.

"The Automatic Declaration System or A.D.S for short. It's basically the program that sends automatic messages to everyone in the faction or a selected group of people. But because its down, all of the messages would have to be manually sent." He spins his phone in his hands as he explains another new piece of information to her. "Although the Leaders don't have that amount of time so their sending messages to all the higher-ups and putting it on repeat of the speakers around the compound."

"Okay." She says slowly, taking it all in. "What happens if you're not in the compound to attend?"

"The announcement is recorded from the cameras and broadcasted to the barracks and the screens in the patrol trucks. It's also sent out by radio too if the broadcasting signals don't reach. Dec went to Alec to make sure he knows." Issy nodded her head. "Well," He says after a moment. "We better clear up and get ready to go."

xXx

It wasn't long before Issy and Hugo was stood on a ledge overlooking the crowds of black. Bree and Noah had waved them over and her other brothers joined them soon after. Dec nodded at Issy and Hugo before waving to Bree and Noah. Alec simply followed after him with a knowing smirk on his face. She shot him a questioning look but he only smirked wider. The Pit was soon filling up and it got to the point where she struggled to separate the members for each other; their uniforms blurring them together.

"Hey!" A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned to see Kayden, his hand clasped in Flare's as he lead the way through the crowds. He looked somewhat better, the limp was noticeable as he walked but that didn't stop him. Issy hugged him, her arms gentle but Kayden hugged her tighter. "What do you reckon this is about?" He said as he pulled back and reluctantly let go of Flare's hand.

"No idea." Issy had to raise her voice to be heard as more people piled in. She grinned and hugged Flare before the fiery headed woman walked towards Bree. "Have you seen any of the others?"

"I saw Hec and Luke with some of your squad mates down on the floor as we climbed up. Sam is on the Fence unfortunately. He volunteered to go there after the hit yesterday." Kayden looked around with a grimace and Issy didn't miss his hand grip his bad leg.

"C'mon! Let's get you outta the way." Issy guided him deeper into their circle of friends and when each one noticed the pain on Kayden's face, they closed ranks and Flare fell back to his side with concern on her face. Issy looked around the crowds once again but she couldn't see anyone else that she knew.

One of the guards slowly paced the walkway where the Leaders would be appearing on soon when Hugo reappeared on her side. A few minutes trickled by before Winnie and Kim walked on the walkway. They kept towards the back but the lighting up there still made them visible. Issy noticed then, both of the Leaders were wearing clothes that showed off their Leadership tattoos as the normal Leaders' uniform sometimes covered it up. Kim's where stacked along her collarbones and Winnie's were climbing up her forearms. A though popped up and Issy turned to Hugo.

"Does the placement of the Leadership tattoos mean anything?"

He bent his head to her level so that she could hear him better. "Not originally. The tattoos were just a sign of a Leader, that's why you won't see Adrian's and Lottie's as those are on his back and her's are on her ribs. Though when Max became Head of the faction, they become more of a sign of pride and pride for the faction so there were placed in areas where they would been seen." He paused as the rest of the Leaders, except one, walked on the walkway.

Max stood in the middle flanked by Adrian and Harrison. Lilah stood slightly behind Adrian with Lottie on her side and both were smiling brightly. As Max raised his palms up, the Pit fell silent.

"Dauntless! It is with great sadness to tell you all that Adrian will be stepping down as Leader." A gasp is echoed around the room as the members look from Max to Adrian and back again. Issy's mouth fell open as she exhaled but she noticed none of the Leaders looked upset, only proud. "Although it is with greatest joy that I can tell you today is a day of new beginnings! Lilah has passed her Leadership Training and will be taking over Adrian's Department!" The Head of the faction pauses as the crowd roars at the news. Issy and her family shout with them, fists punching the air. It explained the knowing smirk on Alec's face. As Adrian steps back on the platform, Lilah steps forward, her head held high and her hands grasping the metal beam in front of her. It gave the members a clear view of the Leadership tattoo that covers the back of her hands, much like Max's do. She grins at the crowds below her, basking in the delight of her faction. Max raises his hands again. "While our newest Leader is settling into her position, Adrian will remain to mentor her until it is time for him to depart." When Lottie is ready to step down so they can both take the jump is what he means. "To honour this special day, drinks will be free of charge starting from half six in all pubs in the Pit!" The members roar louder then. A Dauntless never hands down an opportunity to party or free booze.