A/N: I don't own Divergent. Onto the fights again.
Tris' POV
A massive headache throbs, when I wake up. I go and take a quick shower before heading to breakfast. It's only 6, I have a couple of hours luckily before I need to be in the training room. I grab some eggs, toast, bacon and a glass of orange juice. Not many people are up yet so I sit by myself. I sense someone sit across from me and look up. I'm surprised to see Tobias.
"You're up early."
"I'm used to it." I say dismissively. Obviously he is too if he's awake.
"How are you feeling this morning?" He seems to genuinely care. I know I should be more comfortable around him, especially after last night, but I can't help but look at him and see his father. I know he is not his father but I can't help but worry if he's taken after his father. I worry that this care is a facade, his father was a very good actor in public. Marcus' eyes always showed his true nature though, as long as you knew what you were looking for. Tobias' eyes are sincere, and it almost seems to change their color. It doesn't stop my heart from fluttering though.
"I feel like I was in a fight I don't remember." He chuckles. It's an odd sound that I find hard to match to his father. I'd never heard Marcus laugh, at least not in any humorous way.
"Think you'll be okay for today's fights?"
"As long as I don't shut down like I did last time," I say as I can't help but want to trust him. He could understand me probably better than anyone, yet he has no idea of who I am, how I can relate to him, or even that I know the truth of his childhood.
"Why did you shut down?" his voice expresses genuine curiosity. I want to tell him, surely he hasn't become his father.
"I..." but I don't want his pity either. Besides, he knew someone else was suffering at his father's hands but once he escaped he never spoke up, he never came back, and things got so much worse. I see Shauna and Lauren approaching us from behind him.
"I'd rather not talk about it," I say going back to eating.
"The only way you can stop it from happening again is to know why it happened in the first place," he tries to pry the information out.
"I know why and I won't let it happen I just don't want to talk about it."
"What are we talking about?" asks Shauna.
"The initiates fights today," Four answers. I notice that when we are around other people he acts just slightly different and I refer to him as Four in my mind. It is when we're alone that I can recognize him for who I know he really is.
"Small piece of advice. When you're going against a boy, and you're starting to lose the fight, a good knee to where it counts usually stops them in their tracks," Lauren winks. I get lost in thought as I think about Lauren's advice.
"Tris? Tris..."
"Hmm.." I come back to reality when I hear my name.
"I was asking what you were going to get for your tattoo," says Shauna.
"Oh yeah. Um, I haven't decided yet." I had honestly forgotten about that dare. I start to push my food around my plate having lost my appetite.
"Hey, if your nervous about your fight you have plenty of time. You could go practice in the training room then go for a nice relaxing shower," Lauren says. "I could even give you a few pointers."
"Is that allowed?" I ask Four.
"There aren't any rules saying you can't use your free time to train or getting some extra lessons," he says. I look back to Lauren and nod. She smiles as we stand and walk to the training room.
Lauren gives me a lot of great tips that I couldn't get from Four in the initiate classes. She shows me where to keep my arms, adjusting my stance to a stronger one. She shows me how to quickly shift my weight and balance on one foot. Four told me to use my knees and elbows but she shows me how. After an hour I am sweating but a lot more confident. I still don't have as much knowledge as Edward or as much muscle as any of the boys but I do feel a little more prepared for my fight.
"Go jump in a nice, refreshing shower. You're going to do great," she says as she leaves. I grab my things and head to the bathrooms attached to the training room. I start the shower nice and warm, relaxing my muscles. I end the shower cold to rid myself of the lingering sweat.
I look over my injuries, fresh bruises form where Eric had kicked me. Some older bruises seem to be fading, others are ripe. It's hard to believe that I only escaped a few days ago. The dark red scabs appear almost brown on the newer gashes. Fine white lines riddle my sides, arms, and my back though I can't see those ones. There are far more scars that man left behind that can't be seen. My wrists were still a bright blue-purple, with long ridges seeming to be highlighted by the color. I tried not to think of the last day I spent at his house. It makes me sick just thinking about it.
I run to the nearest toilet stall and release the contents of my stomach. Unfortunately this wasn't uncommon. I had probably eaten too much before working out with Lauren, and then thinking of that monster. I get dressed in my long-sleeved training attire, before brushing my teeth. I look at the little watch from Abnegation. I had 15 minutes still. I go back to the training room and wait for the others. I sit against the wall, close my eyes, and lean my head back. I try to relax, but my mind keeps going over the horrible memories that I just want to forget.
Tobias' POV
I walk into the training room and see Tris sitting against the wall, her face looks pinched like she's in pain. I don't think that Lauren hurt her during training. But she's going to need whatever rest she can get. Eric chose the pairings today and he's still upset from yesterday. I go and write the matches on the chalkboard. She is facing Peter and Eric is facing Al. Soon all the others file in and she stands up. I give her an apologetic look, hoping she understands I didn't choose this. Edward quickly beats Molly, and then Tris is up. This time she looks determined, I hope she remembers her lesson with Lauren.
"Hey stiff, this bring back any old memories for you? From what I heard they beat their kids all the time in Abnegation," Peter taunts. My expression turns sour thinking of how all the Erudite articles of my father negatively affected the rest of the faction. She ignores it. As he gets into stance, so does she. "Well at least this will be nothing new to you. I'm sure used to being beat by your father." At that Tris goes to kick him in the side, but he catches her leg and pulls. I though for sure she'd fall, but she maintains her balance now closer to him and punches him in the gut while his hand is still occupied.
He releases her leg, from the unexpected hit. A menacing look takes over his face. I see Tris' eyes widen for just a moment before refocusing. But not in time to see his fist fly at her face. That definitely hurt. She staggers back onto the ropes. Her balance is way off, she can't stand straight. He kicks her in the stomach knocking the wind out of her.. She falls to her knees, but attempts to get back on her feet. But he's already on her as he grabs her hair, holding her in place as he breaks her nose. I looked away from the blood. She weakly tried to fight back, but you could tell she couldn't see straight. Her aim is weak and way off.
I couldn't continue to watch as he beat her. It made me think of days when I was powerless as my father beat some other poor girl, and there was nothing I could do trapped in the closet. I can't stop her fight today. I stopped Eric yesterday. I have to leave before I do something reckless. I walk out the door.
Not 5 seconds later I hear Christina yell, "He's going to kill her! Stop them!"
I burst back in the door to find a surprising scene. Tris' eyes are wide open and it looks like she heeded Lauren's tip about a knee to the groin. Peter is doubled over and Tris has scrambled out from under him. She still can't stand straight but she is the one still standing at the end of the fight. I smile. "Winner Tris!" I circle her name. I look over to Eric, he doesn't look happy but there's a second look there of curiosity. I'm glad Tris won, but I worry about the attention she's gaining.
I walk up to Tris who looks like she's about to fall over and let her put her weight on me. I look at Peter, "Can you stand?" I see him shake his head. I grab his arm and drag him off the mat. He'll be fine in a bit, his pride is what's most injured. Christina and Will are next so I go to take Tris to the infirmary. She's unconscious by the time I reach the door. Those two wouldn't hurt each other too bad.
Shauna's working today.
"What happened?!" She basically yells at me.
"She went up against someone twice her size. Luckily she took Lauren's advice to heart and won her match." At that she laughed.
"Well, I will take good care of her. You go manage Eric with the other initiates."
"Thanks Shauna."
Shauna's POV
Tris lays unconscious in the hospital bed with the curtains drawn around us. I need to see how bad the damage is. First things first is removing the clothes. Because this isn't an emergency I go through the motions of gently removing just her outer layer. Once I do, I know I'll have to remove her under clothing as well. I'm horrified by what I see. Bruises, cuts, and scars everywhere. These aren't from training. They're too old, and none were ever treated properly from the looks of it. What happened?
No, I know what happened. I've, unfortunately, seen something similar on a few dauntless kids but never to this extent. This had to be years of abuse. Whenever we notice abuse, the child gets moved to a safe home and the parent made factionless. I wonder who could do such a hideous thing and get away with it.
Does Four know about this? I can't tell him. She would have to tell him herself. And she would also have to report who did this to her. But in the meantime I'm going to have to do a full evaluation on her, and she'll have to stay overnight. Before I can do that I give her a strong sedative. I gently roll her onto her side and her back is so much worse. I resist the urge to gag. Because I can't process how, I go straight to work recording, taking photos, jotting down notes, taking vitals, just act like this is any other patient. I'm also going to have to take blood, x-rays and several other scans. I'm about to finish up the physical when I notice something.
"Shit!" I run out of the room to get her moved to a surgical room and then a private room afterwards. We have Tris being moved on a gurney with a blanket covering everything but her face, when Christina, Will, and Al walk in and see Tris.
"What's happening? Is she okay? What's going on?" Christina rapid fires. She tries to follow but I stop her.
"Tris will be fine, she just needs a minor procedure." Technically, not lying. "But I need you to let Four know that she needs to stay overnight and I'll need to talk to him. And I'm sorry but she can't have any visitors for the time being." They nod before leaving.
I turn to follow the others, it's going to be a long night.
