"WOOO!" Elliot yelled, pointing to his ranking. "BED TIME!"
"WOOO!" Kale echoed. "LIE INS!" They started to laugh and after a while BD rolled the board back into the common room.
"Soren, Elliot, Milo and Lani." Issy called their attention. "Nine a.m. start tomorrow, and Billy will be waiting outside the garage again to let you in. For now get gone, I wanna go to bed."
Not even an hour later Issy had her PJs back on and was burrowed in her covers. She doesn't know how long it was before there was a light tapping echoing through the room and Issy pegged it as simply rain against her window until her front door creaked open.
Issy immediately shot out of bed, more alert than before. Nobody announced themselves or called out to her. Her fingers found the gun that was holstered to the top of the shelf of her bedside table and clicked the safety off. Floor boards creaked a little louder and Issy creeped to hide behind the wardrobe, concealing her from the doorway.
The door handle rattled and groaned as it was twisted to the side.
Issy closed her eyes and controlled her breathing, finger on the trigger.
The door was pushed slowly open –
Issy opened her eyes, golds blazing and jumped around the wardrobe, gun trained on the intruder's forehead.
"ISSY!" They yelled and she dropped the gun in shock.
"I NEARLY SHOT YOU!" Issy shouted at Josh, who was gripping the door and the frame tightly, looking ghostly pale.
"You – you – what the fuck Issy?!"
"What the fuck?" Issy echoed as she picked up her gun and turned on the safety, putting it on her bed. "What the fuck, you moron! Why didn't you announce yourself you dick?!" She picked up a cushion and threw it at him.
Josh cleared his throat, batting the cushion away. "Do you really think we'd have intruders in Dauntless? They wouldn't be able to get in the compound –"
She picked the cushion back up and threw him at him again. "I COULD HAVE SHOT YOU!" Issy shouted out him again. "IN THE FUCKING FOREHEAD!" Issy once again picked the cushion up and smacked him with it. "YOU –" Smack. "– COULD –" Smack. "– HAVE –" Smack. "– DIED!" Smack.
"JESUS WOMAN!" Josh yelled, grabbing the cushion from her. "STOP HITTING ME!"
"YOU FUCKING DESERVE IT!" Issy huffed and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"
Josh stared at her incredulously as he answered. "A load of us are going to be playing poker in Eric's apartment, we wondered if you wanted to join. You weren't answering when we messaged you…"
Issy stared back at him with equal amounts of disbelief and irritation. "No! If I didn't reply back, then you should have left me the fuck alone!" Issy started pushing him out of her doorway. "All I wanted to do was sleep today. I have enough trouble as it is but then you made me shit myself into thinking I was getting attacked!"
"ALRIGHT!" Josh shook his head as he made his way to the front door, mumbling to himself. "Jesus, somebody's on their period."
…the comment was true but, nonetheless, it triggered her…
Issy's eye twitched.
In the moments that followed after, Issy refused to believe it was her fault…
Josh deserved it, in her defence…
Issy had launched herself at him before Josh could reach the door and tackled him to the floor. Somehow a knife had made it into Issy's hand, and she gently tapped the blade against his cheek. His eyes widened with an apology on his lips a second too late. "I woke up in a pool of my own blood, is that how you would like me to end yours?"
"No, nono, no, sorry."
Issy smiled sweetly, putting the knife away and standing up. She held out a hand and he took it, oh so cautiously. "Great!" Issy pulled him up and opened the door for him. "Oh and Josh?" Her sweet smiled dropped from her face. "If someone else disturbs me like that again, Imma shoved this knife somewhere unpleasant."
"Crystal clear Issy." He said as he stepped out into the hallway.
"Buh-bye now!"
xXx
Adrenaline had shot through Issy like lightning, and much to her annoyance, she wasn't able to sleep. Monday morning brought a very tired and grouchy Issy and no matter how much coffee she had; her mood didn't improve.
It was like she had a sign attached to her saying not in the mood as people moved out the way for Issy as she walked down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Maybe in was the glare in her eyes that warned people away.
When she sat down at her squaddie's table, conversations immediately stopped as they regarded her carefully. After a few moments, they carried one talking and eating amongst themselves. All except one. BD didn't seem inclined to care about her mood, he just smirked at her like he normally would when he found something funny. He watched her as he ate his breakfast, his smirk widening into a grin.
"So, heard that you held a knife to Josh's neck?"
Issy snorted into her cup of coffee and turned to him as the table's conversation paused once again. "Bollocks."
"I heard that you pointed a gun at his head." Billy added up from in front of her.
"And who did you hear this from?"
"Josh." Both Billy and BD said simultaneously.
"We were both at the poker night last night."
Issy eyed them as she took a sip. Both were waiting to see if Josh was telling the truth. "Yes, I held a gun to his head – but only because the fucker didn't announce himself and creeped in. I thought someone had broken in and react the same way any of you would in the same position." Issy looked around the table, making eye contact with each of them. "Except maybe Bulldozer." They laugh lightly and laugh louder when Issy tells them what happened next. "After that I yelled at him and abused him with a cushion. But then, when I was pushing him out, he made a comment that just made me snap – and actually, I tapped the blade on his cheek, not hold it against his neck."
Hector snorted. "Whoever ends up in the squad better have their wits about them because you're fucking crazy."
Issy grinned, finishing off her coffee as time drew closer to nine. "I have to be! Being the captain of this bunch of misfits." She laughed as the table all roared in agreement, raising their cups up.
xXx
At nine, all of 226 stood, shoulder to shoulder, in a line in front of the remaining four trainees – Soren, Elliot, Milo and Lani. Both Rainbow and Issy were surprised but elated that Lani had made it this far and BD was proud that someone had managed to survive his training. Milo, Soren and Elliot weren't really a surprise, all three of them having excelled at whatever the squad challenged them to. Though while Milo spent most of stage one trying to protect his sister from Emmett, Soren and Elliot worked as an effective team… it would be a shame to spilt them up now.
Geek stepped forward from the line and addressed them. "As Beta said yesterday, for this final stage, ranks won't be the main thing considered. Your ability to simply put up with us in any of our moods for most likely the rest of your career. We are not always happy and calm and whatever you've seen from us this past month or so. Take Beta this morning for example." Geek points to her and Issy narrows her eyes at him. "She's a grouchy ass right now, can you deal with that randomly? Her moods are easy to deal with once you take repeated notes of her eye colour and provide her with caffeine." The trainees laugh. "That doesn't always work but it's a start. BD gets borderline murderous on early mornings. Either he'll barge you out of the way or accidently run you over with the truck." Geek ducks when BD throws a tray at him. "We all have our shit fits at each other, but we work past that as a family. We get attached to people quickly, so you better make sure this is definitely what you want and not because it seemed better than whatever job you had before."
"Yeah, our last captain is still trying to untangle himself from us." Billy nodded.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't be trying to untangle himself from us if you didn't hug his leg every time you see him when you're drunk."
"That's not the point." Geek and Cutie Pie start sniggering as Billy deflects the comment.
Issy steps forward and nods to Geek. "Also be very aware that you will be given a nickname like everyone else on this squadron. No, you will not be choosing it and yes, it will stick with you for life."
"Even if you hate it." Cutie Pie added and Rainbow scoffed.
"You love it now, secretly, I know you do."
Milo slowly raised his hand with a confused look on his face. "Wait, you mean his name isn't really Billy."
Issy shrugged, smiling to Hec as they remembered their first day on the job. "We thought he just looked like a Billy."
"Well that's not a mind fuck."
Issy's lips twitched up as Milo continued to frown at Billy. "Any more questions?"
"Yeah," Lani raised her hand, a certain gleam in her eyes as she stared at 226. "When do we get started?"
Issy grinned ferally. "Now."