*** DISCLAIMER ***

I own NOTHING regarding the divergent series e.g. the books/the movies
The only things I own are my own characters that I've created.

"Nice face stiff." Mark said as he sat down beside her at breakfast the next morning, Taron sat across from him and gave both her and Andie a nod in greeting.

"It's too early to deal with you." Andie said with a groan as she took a drink of her coffee.

"And I wasn't talking to you, was I?" he replied with a forced smile before he nudged Nix, "That thing we were speaking about yesterday by the way...it really showed."

He then laughed as he helped himself to some breakfast and Taron who was reaching for some toast said, "I thought she did well."

Mark's response to that was to laugh and in way that said 'give me a break' before he shook his head, Taron frowned at him then looked directly at her and gave her a nod, "You did, he had the upper hand sure...but you gave as good as you got."

"Thanks." Nix replied after a beat then gave him a half smile.

Mark chuckled as he said to Taron, "As good as she got? The comparison in skill was ridiculous."

"I meant she gave it her all, dick." Taron replied with a shake of his head then ate his toast.

"Which really helped her out." he said with another laugh, Andie and Taron rolled their eyes at him.

"I look forward to seeing how you do when you're pitted against him." Taron said.

Andie grinned at Mark and said, "I do too."

"I can't wait." Mark grinned back at Andie.

"Can't wait for what?" A voice asked and they all turned their heads to see Sam approaching their table.

Nix saw Mark stiffen beside her followed by him swallowing and a smirk began to form on her face but he recovered quickly and gave a chin nod to Sam, "What's up Strike?"

"Benson." Sam replied as he moved to sit down beside Taron who greeted him with a 'hey man' before he continued eating his toast.

"T man." Sam said as he settled down on the bench beside him and then his eyes found Nix, he gave his head a little tilt as he said, "Morning stiff."

"Really?" Andie suddenly asked before Nix could reply, "Morning?"

"Do they greet people differently where you're from?" he replied instantly in a slightly curt tone and Andie narrowed her eyes in response, he then huffed out a chuckle, "At ease bodyguard."

Andie inhaled deeply and looked at Nix with an expression that said 'this guy better watch himself'.

Nix smiled at her before she looked at Sam and found him grinning at her, she gave him a nod to return his greeting before she asked, "Strike?"

He mhm'd at her with a nod before he reached for some toast to eat, he then looked at her with a raised brow and she gave him an expression that said, 'care to explain?', he grinned at her again then told her, "It's a nickname I was given."

"You were given it?" she asked and he nodded, then all of a sudden he looked sheepish and she looked from him to Taron and Mark, Mark was smirking but Taron just continued eating his food, "Why?"

"Because of the way he fights." Mark said with an amused chuckle, "I believe you're familiar with it?"

Nix looked from him to Sam who was glaring at the boy, his expression then softened when he met her eyes and saw her mouth 'oh', "It's not exactly something I'm proud of anymore."

Andie scoffed and shook her head just as Mark said, "What? Don't be stupid man! You earned that name."

"Shut up Benson." Sam said in an irritated tone and Mark held his hands up in a 'jeez, whatever' kind of way.
"You certainly do have quite a strike on you." Nix said a beat later in a tone she hoped was light and Sam gave her a half smile in return, Andie however wasn't impressed, she shook her head beside Nix.

"Are you about finished Nix?" she asked.

"I am." she replied as she began to finish her last bit of toast.

"Great." Andie said and began to stand up.

"Leaving so soon?" Sam asked her but his eyes were on Nix.

"Yes we are, our breakfast seams to have lost it's taste." Andie said, practically hissing the last word.

"Oh do me a favour." he said in an exasperated way and rolled his eyes, "What happened between us...was between us, it had nothing to do with you."

"Nix is my friend." she shot back.

"And now she's mine." he replied with a smirk in Nix's direction as she too began to stand from where she sat.

"She accepted your apology asshole that doesn't mean you're her friend." Andie said with a roll of her eyes, "Let's go Nix."

"I don't really care what you think hippie." he replied with a chuckle, "And anyway, whatever happened to...you must let it rest where it lies."

Andie's eyes widened in anger at his words which made him grin, "Amity's view on forgiveness...really?"

"Yeah." he said as he folded his arms on the table.

"Newsflash." she snapped and banged her hands down on the table so she was glaring down at him, Nix noticed some nearby tables looked their way, "We're not in amity."

Sam was no longer amused, he looked really irritated, Nix then stepped in and said, "Okay guys, I think it's time we left."

A moment passed of them just staring at one another before Andie straightened up and said, "Yeah, let's go."

Nix waited until she'd passed before she looked at Sam and he smiled at her, "See you at training stiff."

She almost rolled her eyes when he winked at her but she refrained and said bye to him, Taron and Mark before she walked off.

O

"Stop." Four said as he appeared at Nix's side, she glanced at him but didn't stop using the bag she was working on.

"Is it time to swap?" she asked.

"I said stop." he replied and grabbed the bag before she could hit it again, "Take a break."

"A break?" she asked then scoffed, "No thanks, I'm good."

"You're not good." he said and pulled the bag away as she attempted to continue what she'd been doing, "Go and get some water."

"No." she said with a shake of her head, "I don't need water and I don't need a break."

"It's not optional Nix." he replied firmly, "Go."

"I've barely done anything, there's no need for me to take a break." she said as she glared at the bag.

"You're in pain." he said a beat later and she shook her head with a 'no', "You are."

"No I'm not." she said with a deep inhale that hurt her torso and she looked away from him in hopes he wouldn't see it, his sigh told her he had.

"I won't tell you again." he said and she turned to look at him, a scowl on her face and he glared back at her before raising a brow in a way that dared her to defy him again.

Talking back had done more worse than good for her, something she'd experienced and was currently paying for, she wisely kept her mouth shut and walked away from him towards the water cooler that was situated across the room.

There was a rage within her as she walked and it didn't cease when she reached the cooler, she grabbed herself a cup then all but stabbed the button that released the water with her finger.

The water began pouring into her cup but it was too slow for her liking which only annoyed her more and she let out a noise of irritation.

She felt Four's presence behind her just before her cup was filled, she didn't turn to look at him though, she brought the cup to her lips and began drinking.

"I understand your irritation." he said as he moved to her side so she could see him, he was staring at her with his arms crossed over his chest, she wished she could drink faster but the water was ice cold, "But doing what you're trying to do is going to make it worse rather than better."

She continued to drink the water and glancing at him a couple times as she did was the only acknowledgement she gave him, he watched her with a glare fixed on his face, he obviously wasn't impressed by her blatantly ignoring him.

Once she'd finished the water she let out a couple of breaths she'd been holding then licked the excess off her lips before she looked at him, for a beat she stared then she held the empty plastic cup up infront of his face, he never looked at it, he kept his eyes on her.

She crushed it in her hand then threw it in the waste-basket before she held her hands out in a 'well?' way, "Are you happy now?"

She didn't wait for his answer, she dropped her arms and turned to head back towards the bags but before she could he wrapped his hand around her upper arm and pulled her back to face him.

She gasped silently in surprise then looked down when she saw the look on his face, he was angry, she waited a beat before she faced him once more and the angry expression was still there.

"Did it ever occur to you." he began in a low voice, "That I might know more about training than you do?"

She swallowed at the question and the clearly peeved tone he used then hesitated before she replied, "Yes...it did."

"Then you'll understand why I'm stopping you?" he asked and before she could reply he jumped back in with, "You'll understand that I know stopping you before you push yourself too far...is the best option for you right now?"

He was really angry at her, his tone had become sharper with each word and pulled his hand away from her arm with some force.

"You may think you know everything here." he said.

"I don't think that." she cut him off to say and he fixed a steely glare on her, a beat then passed before she inhaled and titled her head slightly to indicate she was still listening to him.

"You may think that you know everything here, but you don't." he said with emphasis on the last word, "You've already managed to piss off one instructor since you came here...it would be wise that you don't make the same mistake again."

His words were hard but not untrue, with another inhale she looked back at the bags then him, "If I promise to take a break...can I then go back?"

He was silent for a long moment before he replied, "Be sensible...don't overdo it."

She gave him a nod and he walked off towards the ring to watch over two initiates that were sparring, she watched him as he walked away and then her shoulders sagged before she sat down on the bench that was beside the water cooler.

O

When Nix threw the current knife she was holding at her target some of the dauntless born that were nearby glanced her way, some had shocked expressions and others looked impressed.

A low whistle came from someone nearby and she turned her head to see Sam with a grin on his face, she exhaled an irritated sigh and threw another knife with more force than before.

"Damn Stiffy." he said as he approached then gave her a nudge with his elbow right before she was about to throw again, she tightened the grip on the handle of the knife and glared at him, "That's quite a throwing arm you've got."

"Well I've had lots of time to practise." she replied bitterly, then as she swung her arm back and launched the knife she added, "All day."

Her tone made his grin widen and he chuckled a little as he moved to stand infront of her, he kept his back to the target but indicated with his head to it as he asked, "Are you imagining that's me?"

"Yes." she replied as she prepared another knife to throw.

Sam let out a loud laugh and moved to stand beside her, "Why? I thought we were pals now."

"I can't run." she said with a grunt as she launched another knife, when it lodged itself within the target she instantly threw another, "I like to run."

"Why can't you run?" Sam asked in a teasing tone and she narrowed her eyes at him, he knew fine well why.

"You're distracting me." she told him through gritted teeth, "And if I'm distracted my next throw might be off balance, so do be careful."

He laughed again and shook his head, "I like you."

She threw her last knife at the target with a scowl then looked at him, "Goodbye Sam."

She didn't wait for him to respond, she walked away from him towards the target to retrieve her knives and she heard him laugh behind her before he said, "Hey, it may well be goodbye! You've got some balls stiff."

She rolled her eyes as she yanked all of her knives free from the target and turned to walk back, almost everyone had stopped throwing and were watching her with shocked expressions, she wasn't trying to act brave or hardcore or whatever, she just wanted to get her knives back and continue to throw, it was after all the ONLY thing she was able to do which didn't cause her excessive pain and there was no point in making everyone else stop just so she could collect them nor was she patient enough to wait until the rest were finished.
Sam was grinning at her as she walked back, clearly impressed by her actions but she didn't care what he thought, she was extremely annoyed that she couldn't run due to the injury he had given her, she'd been made to stay behind whilst everyone had left the compound with Four to go, the only training she was able to do alone at the moment was knife throwing or working out, she'd already tried working out but her torso burned in pain as she did so she was forced to stop and Four had refused to let her spar with anyone, not even Andie.

She glanced away from Sam just as a knife came flying towards her and she would have ducked out of the way but there wasn't really any point really as it wasn't anywhere near her head.

She lifted one of her own knives up to block it and managed to knock it away so it slid across the floor to the side of her.
She'd heard some shocked gasps as the knife was headed her way and those came from the people that were looking at Tom who was glaring at her.

She then without even thinking twice launched one of her own knives back at him, he barely had time to duck as she'd done it so quick.

Some of the others around him let out screams and/or rushed out of the way as the weapon flew his way, a beat then passed before he demanded, whilst on his knees, "What the hell?!"

"Get better aim next time!" she shot back as she headed once more towards Sam who was leaning on his knees laughing at what had happened.

"It'll be in your skull next time bitch!" Tom shouted back at her as he got to his feet and she turned to look at him, he was marching her way.
"Will it?" she asked with a roll of her eyes.

Today she was in no mood for him and therefore she was totally unaffected by the threat.

Tom continued to head her way and she saw him pull another one of his knives from his belt as he did, she raised her brows at him then gripped one of her own.
Just before he was upon her Sam suddenly stepped infront of her and held a hand out to him, "Back off."

"Get out of my way." Tom snapped.

"I said." Sam replied then pushed Tom away, "Back off."

"Or what? You're gonna stop me?" he demanded.

"Yeah." Sam replied firmly.

"Tom." a voice called out from back where he'd been stood, "That's enough, get back to practise."

It had been Four from where he was stood next to Eric, Nix looked at them both and saw Eric looked angry with his jaw clenched hard.

"You'll be sorry you did that stiff." Tom said to her, his tone venomous.

"You did it to her first, dick." Sam shot back.

"Stay out of this." Tom replied.

"Tom!" a voice roared and everyone in the room seamed to simultaneously jump, it had been Eric, "Get your ass back to practise."

Tom hesitated, glaring at Nix as he did before he wisely followed Eric's instruction and went back to practise, Nix made eye contact with him where he stood and then she looked at Sam who turned to her and grinned.

"That was sexy." he told her and she frowned at him, "What? It was."

"Shut up Sam." she told him before she took her stance infront of her target again and he chuckled as he moved up behind her, she froze, "What are you doing?"

"You're good." he told her in a low voice then placed his hands on her hips, "But are you still good...when there's a hot guy right behind you."

"There's a hot guy behind me?" she asked immediately, turning her head to the side, "Where?"

Sam chuckled in her ear then said, "Oh, I like you stiff."

"You said that already." she replied as she prepared herself to throw but before she did she waited another beat, she was waiting for him to remove his hands and when he didn't and instead began to move them lower she elbowed him in the stomach.

"Oof." he said with a slight laugh as he stumbled back from her.

"You're in my way." she told him with a forced smile.

"We should hang out stiff." he told her with a smirk.

"Should we." she said.

"Yeah." he replied immediately and took a step towards her, she held up a knife in a mock warning which he in turn held his hands up in mock defence.

"I don't think so." she replied then turned and launched the knife at the target, she looked at him and found him watching her admirably.

"A girl that can throw and take ME on the way you do." he began then winked at her, "Is my kind of girl."

"Well then it's a shame the feeling isn't mutual." she replied with a grin.

"You're supposed to be practising, not flirting." a voice suddenly said and they both turned to see Eric stood there, a scowl on his face.

Sam gave her an 'oops' face then nodded at Eric, "Practise...got it, Nix, I'll be seeing you."

He then walked off and she looked at Eric, she saw him inhale deeply before he walked away from her and with a sigh she focused back on her target and continued to throw.