A/N: Merry Christmas everybody! I hope all of you are safe and healthy, and that this recent COVID surge hasn't totally derailed your Christmas plans. I think it will be a very quiet Christmas for us this year. We had plans to see extended family next week, but between the virus and an expected winter storm, I have a feeling everything will get canceled. At least we didn't have plans to actually travel!

So… I made you all a gift! Homemade gifts are the best! I hope you like this one. (If you haven't figured it out yet… I wrote you a chapter.) Enjoy, and no matter what you believe or celebrate, have a very happy holiday. (Or if you celebrate nothing… have a very happy random day in December.)

ABNEGATION HELLIONS

CHAPTER 20

Four POV

As soon as I part from Tris, I am moving with purpose. While our conversation didn't leave me without concerns, my mind feels so much clearer and more focused knowing that Tris and I are OK. Not to mention, we had a pretty amazing time together afterward, and I'm still basking in the high from it.

I walk briskly into the infirmary and ask Lilah, the purple-haired, heavily pierced head nurse, how the initiates are doing. She runs down the list of injuries ― most notably, Drew has a moderate concussion that Lilah wants to keep an eye on, and Molly's dislocated shoulder has been reset. Peter certainly doesn't show much mercy to his friends, but then neither did Tris today.

Christina is laying in the infirmary bed with both eyes closed - one swollen shut, the other slightly fluttering. From what Lilah said, Christina hasn't really been awake yet, but it currently looks as though she is dreaming. I don't have time to wait around right now; I'll have to try to wake her. I consider shaking her arm to rouse her, but after the flirting that Tris mentioned, I think twice about touching her in any way. I spot a chair near her bed with a plastic seat and metal legs, like the kind you often see in school. Perfect; loud noise always works like a charm to wake the initiates. I drag the chair along the tile floor, putting enough pressure on the furniture to create a loud scraping noise, like a more extreme version of nails on a chalkboard.

It works. Christina startles awake and glares at me with her good eye. I glare back, quickly breaking her scowl as she remembers my authority over her. Good, I need her full attention.

Christina winces as she pulls herself to a sitting position. I don't know whether to be proud of Tris or worried by the damage she did. After talking to her this afternoon, I have at least some understanding why Tris lost it on Christina, but it still seems so out of character for her.

"Your girlfriend has a temper," Christina grumbles.

"Tougher than she looks, isn't she?" I say, unable to hold back my smile. I raise an eyebrow. "It sounds like she wasn't without reason."

"Oh, so now she's going to run and tattle to the instructor every time she gets her feelings hurt, is she?" Christina huffs.

I scoff. "Hardly. I had to drag it out of her. Seems to me, it's the Candor who can't keep their mouths shut. Speaking of which... I understand that you know things that I might prefer to keep private. So I need to know... are you Dauntless, or are you still a Candor deep down?"

Her eyes go wide. The last thing a transfer initiate needs is for their instructor to go to the powers that be with reports that their initiates can't adjust to their new faction. I know I'm playing dirty, intimidating her in this way. I honestly don't care.

"I'm not a Candor any more," she spits.

"So you can keep a secret, then?" I ask. "Because, you see, Christina... Tris already has the cards stacked against her in a lot of ways. I can tell you from experience that it isn't easy, after being raised by Stiffs, to adjust to Dauntless life. And the leaders are watching her, scrutinizing every move she makes. All those things you accused her of, none of them were true, but you proved her right in her decision not to tell you yet. You said all the things she was afraid people would think if they knew about us. Tris and I grew up together; our relationship certainly had nothing to do with her wanting to skip her way to the top.

"So you can keep a secret, then?" I ask. "Or are you too afraid that you can't make it through initiation on your own merits? I'll tell you what I think, Christina. I think that if you need to take cheap shots at others to get them out of your way, you have no business in Dauntless."

She swallows.

"You're not afraid of a little Stiff, are you?" I bait her.

"No," she says in a low voice.

"Good," I sigh. "For what it's worth... if anything, Tris's... association with me, it works against her. She's got Eric evaluating her every move because of it. Just be glad you're not the one he's focused on."

"So Eric knows?" she asks.

"Yes," I say. "He has since the Choosing Day. And I need you to tell me something else, Christina. What the hell happened this morning?"

"I thought she told you?"

I shake my head. "She said she didn't want to 'relive it', and that worries me. Peter has put her life in danger more than once, and whatever happened, I know he was involved."

Christina averts her eyes.

"Christina," I growl.

"Fine," she hisses. "Tris usually dresses in the bathroom before she comes out of the shower, but for some reason, she didn't today. She came out in just a towel. She was getting clothes from her trunk under the bed and Molly and Peter cornered her."

I involuntarily clench my hands into fists; I don't like where this is going. I stare at Christina expectantly but she has stopped speaking. "And?" I demand.

"And, I don't know! They were just, you know, saying things."

"Saying things," I repeat.

"Teasing her," she clarifies.

I close my eyes. Tris's body is beautiful. As far as I am concerned, she is absolutely gorgeous, and I wouldn't want anyone else. But I know she doesn't see herself the way I see her. We have discussed the topic more than once, and recently. Even though carrying the twins has left her body with a bit more curve, and her breasts a little fuller, she still thinks she looks more like a child than a Dauntless woman. I know that's a part of why it bothers her so much when she sees girls like Lauren flirt with me. Personally, I don't even notice half the time; Tris is the only one I want and those other girls cannot compare. But it's still a sore subject for my Tris and I have had to accept that.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"Sort of...circling her. I don't know, Four! I couldn't just stand there and watch it."

"So you left," I say in a low voice, almost a growl. "Do you really think that she would have left you if your positions were reversed?"

"No," Christina whispers. I'm shaming her and I know it's working; she can't even make eye contact.

I shake my head in disgust. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

Christina sighs. "I came back in a few minutes later," she admits. "Peter was laughing and trying to whip Drew with a towel. I - I think the towel may have been Tris's."

I curse under my breath. "Alright, fine, thanks for telling me," I say mechanically. I stand to leave, but I catch her eye before I go. "I think the least you can do to make it up to Tris," I say, "is to keep your mouth shut, no matter what you hear about the babies, or Tris, or me. Don't you?"

"Yes," she whispers.

I just nod and walk out of the infirmary without looking back.

"Why is Christina ranked higher than Al?" I challenge. Lauren gives me a weary look and I have to question why I'm even sticking up for the kid. He obviously has a crush on my Tris. "He won three fights. Christina only won two."

Eric rolls his eyes. "No effort with knife throwing, useless in Capture the Flag, and Christina is better at guns."

"He beat both Will and Peter ― opponents Christina lost to."

"And she beat Drew, who beat both Al and your precious third-ranked girlfriend," he sneers.

"Hey!" Lauren interjects. "We've been over this. Tris was severely injured going into her fight with Drew. Not a fair argument."

That argument had been a long one. Eric tried to place Tris below Peter, even though he won fewer fights than Tris and even lost to Al, who Tris easily beat.

"I will concede to putting Al below Drew, even though they won the same number of fights," I say calmly, "but he deserves to at least outrank Christina. Peter should be factionless but he's still here. Enough playing favorites."

"And I suppose it's no coincidence that both your favorites are in the top three? I don't know how you snuck out without getting caught on camera, but there's no way they're that good without you training them."

"That so?" I quip. "Don't forget that I came from the same place Tris and Uriah did, and I still beat everyone ― including you ― in our own initiation."

"What difference does it make, Eric?" Lauren snaps. "The Dauntless-born have been training for most of their lives and we don't penalize them for it. Unless you have proof that Four has given the Priors some sort of unfair advantage, you have to base their scores on their performance in training."

Eric grumbles, but we finally settle on rankings for both sets of initiates and where the two groups fall in relation to one another. I am pleased to find that Uriah takes first rank even compared with the Dauntless-born, though the addition of the other initiates does drop Tris's overall rank down a peg. When we have finished, Eric doesn't hang around, and I feel the tension drain from my body as soon as Lauren's apartment door clicks shut.

"He really favors that Peter kid," Lauren observes as she takes it upon herself to refill both our glasses with wine. I grunt and gulp some down without taking any time to register its taste.

"He made up that three-strike rule," I say. "Two down, one to go."

Lauren snorts. "You really think he'll follow through if Peter does attack someone else?"

"Not likely." I swirl the wine in my glass. "I can't believe Max is letting him get away with this. I tried to reason with him, but he says Eric is in charge of initiation."

"Might be worth talking to him again," she says.

"Maybe." I don't think it will work, but looking at the rankings, I know I have to try. I can't imagine that Peter will take this lying down. First thing tomorrow morning, I resolve.

"Or… you could join leadership, then you would have some say. I know he's been trying to recruit you."

I shake my head. "I don't want to be a leader." I am firm, clearly telling her not to push this and not to bother trying to get an explanation out of me. There's no way I would answer if she were to try.

With a shrug, I drain the rest of the wine from my glass and push myself up to a stand. The head rush I feel at the movement tells me that I must have had a little more to drink than I had realized.

"You're leaving already?" Lauren pouts. "I thought we could hang out for a while."

"It has been a long day, Lauren. And we have Visiting Day to deal with tomorrow."

"Do you think Tris's parents will come?"

"Her mom, probably," I answer, picking up my jacket from the back of the chair. From what Tris has told me about how her and Uriah's relationships with their father have deteriorated over the past year, I doubt Mr Prior will be here tomorrow to show his support.

I feel Lauren's cool skin against mine, her hand on my forearm, and tense. "And... your dad?" she asks. She probably thinks that she is projecting sympathy, but all I see is that pitying, kicked puppy look in her eyes. This is one of the reasons I changed my identity when I transferred here; I don't want anyone's pity.

I shrug in response, making sure that I dislodge Lauren's hand with the movement, and swiftly begin to put on my jacket. "I'm hoping he got the message when I didn't show up last year."

If he tries again this year, I don't know what I'll do. As an instructor, I can't skip out completely this year. And with my name ― my real name ― on everyone's tongues following that article, the timing couldn't be worse. I want to ask Lauren more about it, find out just how big of news this Erudite report seems to be around Dauntless. But even more, I want to get out of here, away from Lauren's prying and the way she's looking up at me through her eyelashes ― something I never noticed before today. Maybe Tris had a point. Unfortunately, Lauren is my only ally in this initiation ordeal, and Tris' and Uriah's futures are at stake.

"Thanks for the drink," I say politely as I back toward the door. "I'll see you in the Pit tomorrow."