Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, any of the characters or any of the dialogue that comes directly from the text (which isn't really much in this particular chapter)


Chapter 18

After checking which simulation room Four is in today, I make my way there and slip in through the back door. It's early, the simulations haven't started yet, but all the initiates are already in the hallway outside waiting to be called in one by one.

"What are you doing here?" his voice is a mix of surprise and irritation.

"I'm here to monitor some of the simulations today," I respond.

Tris' first simulation was fairly conclusive, but I need to know for sure. I need to be 100% sure that my suspicions are correct.

"You really don't need to do that, I'm fine monitoring them on my own," he says, his tone is no longer surprised, just irritated.

"It's really not up to you is it? These are my initiates and if I say that I'm going to monitor their simulations than I'm going to monitor their simulations," I reply.

He studies my face for a minute, his expression angry with a touch of…fear? Now what could Number Boy possibly be afraid of…unless he has the same suspicions I do.

"Who's up first today?" I ask.

Four looks down at the paper in his hands. "Hayes."

Great, being inside the mind of that psychopath is just exactly what I was hoping for from this morning. I could ask Four to just skip ahead to Tris but I don't want to be quite that obvious.

"Call him in."

Four opens the door and calls Peter into the room. He stops abruptly when he sees me.

"Eric is here to monitor some of the simulations," Four says curtly, gesturing towards me.

"Sit down Hayes," I say.

He does as he is asked and Four injects him quickly with the serum.

I barely pay attention to Peter's simulation. The fear he works through is public embarrassment and the parts I watch are all pretty standard. As his simulation progresses, I glance around the room. The paper Four was holding earlier is now resting on the table next to the monitor. I scan it quickly and notice Tris is up next. Thank God, maybe I can convince Four that I only wanted to watch the initiates with the top times and that way I can leave after Tris.

Luckily, as with his first simulation, Peter makes it through fairly quickly. He jerks awake and sits up straight. His eyes are downcast, his expression that of embarrassment, either from the simulation itself or from the fact that we both just watched him get laughed at, while naked, by fellow initiates. The irony is not lost on me.

"Not bad Hayes," Four says. "Just shy of eight minutes. Solid progress from your first round."

Peter nods at Four then and looks back at me.

"You can go now," I say. I expect him to talk back, he's not usually one for silence, but the hallucination must have unsettled him because he just gets up and leaves.

"Who's up next?" I say to Four once Peter is gone. I expect him to say Tris.

"Christina," he says, walking towards to door.

"No she's not," I counter.

He stops and turns towards me. "Excuse me?"

"During Peter's sim, I looked at your list, Tris is up next. Not Christina," I reply.

"Well it's not up to you in which order my initiates complete their second sim and I've decided that Christina is up next," he says through gritted teeth.

"I came here to see the initiates who finished the fastest during the first round. Christina is not one of those initiates. Tris is. Now be a good little trainer and go get her," I say in my most condescending tone.

He stares at me for a full minute before grudgingly opening the door and shouting for Tris to enter.

I haven't seen her in person since before round one rankings were announced. She looks tired. Her nails are bitten down and she has developed dark circles under her eyes. She's surprised to see me…but seems to relax a bit at my presence, smiling slightly.

She looks between Four and me. "Are you both watching today?"

"Eric is here to monitor some of the simulations," Four says, repeating word for word what he said to Peter.

"Okay," Tris replies with a small nod. "No pressure there."

I can't help but smirk at her sarcasm.

"Once you're in the sim you won't even know we're here," I say reassuringly. "Have a seat."

She sits down and looks over at Four as he removes the old cartridge from the injection gun replacing it with a new one.

Tris sits quietly, breathing steadily in and out through her nose.

"It's just a simulation, Tris," Four says quietly before injecting her.

I turn my attention to the monitor as the pixels form into an image of Tris. She is surrounded by darkness. Suddenly, a blue orb lights up a few feet away from her, and then another one, filling the room with light. She is on the Pit floor, next to the chasm and the other initiates stand around her, their arms folded and their faces blank.

She reaches forward at the sight of her own reflection and her fingers meet glass. She looks around and realizes she is encased in glass. She reaches up and presses against the glass ceiling but it does not budge.

In front of her, Four appears and taps on the glass wall. He smirks at her and points towards her feet. The box begins filling with water. Tris crouches down in search of where the water is coming from but is unable to find a source. She stands up and looks at Four. He shrugs before walking over to the crowd of initiates.

I can't help but be jealous of Four's ever constant presence in her life, even if sim Four is currently being a dick.

The water rises, covering her ankles, as she pounds against the glass in front of her

"Hey!" she says. "Let me out of here!"

The water slides up her calves and she hits the glass harder.

"Get me out of here!"

Her eyes flit towards Christina who looks over at Peter. He whispers something into Christina's ear and they both start laughing.

The water covers Tris' thighs and she pounds both fists against the glass. Frantic, she bangs the glass with all her might. She steps back and throws her shoulder into the wall, once, twice, three times, four times. Again and again as she continues to scream for help.

The water rises up to her waist…her rib cage…her chest.

"Help!" she screams. "Please! Please help!"

Why do all of her simulations make me feel so useless?

She stops trying to break the glass and looks over at the crowd of initiates once more. She floats to the ceiling and tilts her head back. Gasping, she presses her face to the glass above her and tries to suck in the little air available. The water finishes rising, sealing her into the box entirely.

She thrashes in the water, smacking the walls. She kicks the glass, but her kick is slowed down by the water. She screams, the water making its way into her mouth. She screams again and shoves the wall with her palm. When she pulls her palm away, there is a crack in the glass.

How the fuck did she do that?

She slams her other hand next to the first and drives another crack through the glass. She kicks the wall and the pane shatters.

Fuck…fuck…fuck.

The hallucination ends as Tris sits up in the simulation chair gasping for air. She shakes out her hands and looks between Four and me. Both of us stand stark still, staring at her.

"What?" she asks, wide eyed.

I was right. I wish I wasn't. But there's no denying it now. Tris is Divergent. She's exactly what I've been looking for. Exactly what Jeanine is looking for. I close my eyes and try to steady my breathing as anger, fear and confusion flood my system all at once. What do I do now? What the fuck do I do?

Four is staring at me now, presumably waiting for me to react. He knows too.

I stand up and start pacing. The room is silent aside from my footsteps.

"What?" Tris asks again, she looks like a scared child, her round eyes wider than I've ever seen them.

Before I realize what I'm doing, I pull my arm and swing it forward, punching a hole in the back wall of the simulation room.

"Eric!" Tris screeches, jumping up from her seat and making her way over to me. I lift my other hand up to stop her from getting any closer and stare blankly at the wall in front of me.

She stops, but stays where she is.

"Eric, what's wrong?" she says softly. I hate that the sound of her voice comforts me. She is everything I'm supposed to despise.

I pull my now bloodied fist back from the wall and walk toward the back door of the room. I wrench it open and slam it shut behind me.


It has been four days since I sat in on Tris' simulation. When I got the logs from that night, Tris' was missing. A message came along with the files saying that an error had occurred and that her session had not saved, but I am sure Four deleted it. If any of the administrators had seen it they would have known immediately what Four and I both know. Tris is Divergent.

I have spent the last four days avoiding everything to do with initiation that I possibly could. I have only eaten in the dining hall during off peak times. I have steered clear of the section of the complex where the sims are taking place. And each night when the sim logs are forwarded to me, I've skipped over Tris' files.

Does she know what she is? Did Four tell her? Did she know before coming here?

My orders dictate what I am to do next. I'm supposed to turn her in. To hand this information over to Jeanine and let her decide what to do with Tris. The thought of leaving Tris' fate in the hands of Jeanine causes bile to rise up in my throat.

I keep going over every encounter I have ever had with Tris and at no point has she seemed dangerous to me.

My understanding of Divergents has always been black and white. No room for discussion. Divergents are dangerous. Divergents don't belong. Divergents are a threat to our way of life. If they aren't stopped, Divergents will bring the end of the faction system as we know it.

I scream out loud breaking the silence of my apartment. You're letting your feelings for her cloud your judgement Eric. I stand up and start to pace, running my fingers through my hair and scratching at my scalp, hard. I continue scratching in frustration until I am close to drawing blood.

I walk to my bedroom and flop down on my bed. These last few days have exhausted me. I close my eyes hoping that tonight my exhaustion will finally allow sleep to overtake me.

It doesn't.


Well there is Chapter 18! There is obviously still going to be scenes that happen in the book still to come, but we will be veering off from canon quite steadily in the next few chapters or so. As always, thank you all for sticking with me! I'm super excited about the next few chapters! Let me know what you think!

-MWB