Once more our trainers directed us to the bank of elevators at the base of the pit. I craned my neck to get a look at the glassy walled building that rose above. It was strange to think about. Deep in the recesses of the stone walls and concrete warehouses, Dauntless felt secure. But above sat floors and floors of fragile glass.

Will followed my eyeline. "Reminds me of the research center a bit," he admitted.

"Do you miss it?" I asked, curious. His usually expressive face went penchant. We followed the cluster into the elevator, shut off momentarily from the view.

"Not really. Maybe Cara. And my parents. But we've got plenty of good ol' Erudite tech here without all the snobbishness to go with it. So I think I'm still happy," he said. His mouth twitched briefly into a grin before fading out.

"You think?" I pressed.

His gaze avoided mine, locking on to the back of Christina's head. Will shifted his shoulders and crossed his arms until the elevator doors opened once more. "Yeah," he said more firmly.

He wasn't wrong about upstairs looking rather Erudite. Sure, there were plenty more exposed steel beams and the walls had been painted rather than left painfully stark white; but there was an awful lot of sterile, hefty tech in the rooms that we were brought to. The first was what appeared at first to be a lounge. Lots of chairs, two well-used couches, and a row of screens along both side walls greeted us.

Lauren whistled sharply when Uriah threw himself across one of the couches and grabbed for a remote control on the nearby side table. "This isn't a place to just knock around," she snapped. I hovered alongside Will, not wanting to commit to sitting down like some of the others were now starting to do.

Four disappeared through an inner door, turning on the lights as he did so. The front wall which had appeared to be a dull mirror revealed itself to be a huge pane of glass separating this room from the next. I stepped up to peer through, partially zoning out through the first part of Lauren's next announcement. I watched Four instead as he sat behind another bank of screens and began to turn on the equipment there. I recognized the interface that began to populate each monitor. It was the startup screen from the fear simulations. All along the walls of the room, blue lights began to flicker to life.

Turning back to Lauren, she continued to talk. "And while the first groups go through their rounds, everyone in here should be paying close attention as well. There's duplicate monitors all around to watch for each user's biometrics, on how the simulation diagnostic is running, and ultimately that final determination of when the simulation is passed. Like I said, this is not the same as your previous experiences so use your team to adapt and improve."

She surveyed the group. I'm not too proud to say that I was feeling just as green as Marlene looked. Biometrics? Diagnostics? Everyone watching and knowing when I was panicking? It was one thing to be in a room with just Lauren or Four. They were the ones telling us how to get past our fears. But this was no better than the ropes course. Actually, it was bound to be worse. My stomach twisted itself into knots.

"There's nothing quite like seeing for yourself what I mean. So let's grab that first team and dive on in. I'd like to get everyone through at least once before we have to break for lunch," Lauren said. Her eternal clipboard came out and within ten minutes I found myself standing in the other room trying very hard not to pay attention to the rows of eyes staring right at me from the observation section.

I pressed harder on one of the electrodes on my temple. It didn't feel sticky enough, but maybe that was from the lack of weight from any wires. Each of us had been rigged up with over a dozen of the tacky pads across our heads, throat, and even the backs of our hands.

"Just like in the individual sessions, these let the computers track how you're doing," Four had explained in between securing each electrode. I had avoided making eye contact with him as he stuck them on me; I didn't know if he was still thinking about how I'd blown up on him the other day. Maybe he didn't care. Maybe he was just being more professional. His attitude and actions were mirroring Lauren more than usual today.

I didn't waste time thinking about it any further as Lauren wove in and through our group of four to start the injections. The plunger sunk slower and I hissed in barely contained pain as I felt the serum go in. New test, new formulation I guess.

I threw a rough thumbs up back at Uriah as he gestured for everyone to do the same. Drew was halfhearted in his attempt. Rita, finally back to Initiation full-time, was difficult to get a read on. She did reply to Uriah's thumbs up with one of her own though.

And then, we went under.

It was like turning on a lightswitch. First I was standing in the grey-paneled walls trying to ignore the blue lights in the corner of my eye. Then I was at the Hub, watching a crowd of nobodies hurry to and from their business. I blinked a few times to adjust to the sudden rush of sunlight.

Drew clapped me on the shoulder and pointed up, through the tall windows that spanned the Hub's lobby. "How's that working? We're inside but it's brighter? I never understood that," he admitted. I edged out from under his hand.

"That's not really the point of this," I muttered. "And what does it matter?"

The point of everything quickly revealed itself. Waltzing through the glass doors came another cluster of Dauntless. Well, at first I thought they were Dauntless. They carried themselves in the same way with every motion a few degrees away from a threat. The main door slammed harshly behind them, glass shaking in its frame.

And then of course came the raising of muzzles to the ceiling. I flinched as bullets spat a staccato rhythm into the ceiling above. The faceless crowd scattered, screams joining the cacophony. I went with them, hoping that Drew would follow me behind the tiny scrap of cover that the wooden front desk might offer.

"Plan?" I spat as loud as I dared. After the initial covering fire, the assailants had begun to split up, their goal as yet unannounced. Drew shook his head sharply. I stuck my head over the top of the desk. "Get eyes on Rita and Uriah, then," I ordered.

Somewhere in the din, I heard the muffled voices of my teammates. Yet when I laid eyes on them, they were all the way across the lobby, feigning surrender with a cluster of faceless Chicago citizens. I hated the texture-less sensation that came from being in a sim. And the room we were actually in wasn't nearly as wide as the space seemed right now. But the threat of the situation pushed that unsettled feeling far to the back of my mind. I couldn't afford to be distracted.

Demands were announced by lead assailant as she mounted one of the faction symbols sculpted and displayed in the center of the room. They wanted the Abnegation leadership up above us, or even better the immediate and direct release of one of their companions from the Candor prison complex. "It doesn't matter much how or who. But if we don't get what we want, you're all going to know what those ceiling tiles felt," she said with a raucous laugh.

The task set before us was now clear. Stop the situation. Keep the hostages, including ourselves, from being hurt.

I ducked back behind the desk. We had nothing on hand, right? My hands went to my sides, my hips, my boot - ah. Holding up my prize, I snapped my fingers at Drew. He followed suit and drew his matching knife.

"Knives to a gunfight?" he whined.

I flipped it in my hand, getting a feel for the weight and balance of it. Heavy on one side. Not at all like the knives we'd used before. But close to the one that Christina had sparred against Four with. "We get something better, then," I suggested. The leader hadn't budged from her perch on the statue, but her fellows were now thoroughly spread out. Drew and I were together. I had to hope that Uriah and Rita had been equipped with similar weapons and were considering the same path forward.

I surveyed the rest of the Hub lobby. I was pretty certain the actual setup nowadays didn't have quite so many benches or wide, deep fountains. But that was to our advantage. Dropping to my belly, I crawled in the direction of the closest fountain. There was a cluster of hostages there already, so I quickly blended in along with them. And from here, the nearest cronie would soon be circling between Drew and I.

I held my breath as I counted each step that brought the man closer and closer. With a roar, Drew threw himself up and into the man's path. I flinched and scrambled to follow suit. We'd attracted everyone's attention, especially as the man leveled his semi-automatic directly at Drew's chest. I reacted, as did Drew. He dropped to his knees and I did as well, swinging my blade as viciously as I could at the wonderfully exposed back of the assailant's legs. One swipe across the back of the knees followed by another to the calf.

I heard someone curse and the rat-tat-tat of gunfire squeezed off. The shots went wide, raining tile down onto the center of the room. I heard more shouting, more chaos, and watched as Drew took the opening I'd given. He wrestled the gun from our target as I pushed the man down finally to the ground.

Shots sprayed out again, causing me to duck down further. Tearing away from Drew, I chanced a look over my shoulder. Uriah was circling a disarmed assailant, knife out and one leg dragging behind the others. Rita was nowhere to be- oh, no there she was, taking pot-shots at the third enemy. The leader had stopped their bravado, but that didn't mean they were any less dangerous. I spied a backup pistol on her hip as well as that final semi-auto held firmly in hand.

Trusting Drew to clean things up, I rolled back to cover. Attention was on the two exchanging shots fervently. If I kept one eye squinted, I could mostly see through the occasional plaster cloud from the shots that were going wide. Rushing at the statues was the bold move but not the best when I still just had a knife.

Balancing the weapon in my hand, I considered the weight. I didn't have to hit anything important. I just had to hit something.

I chanced the risk and jumped out from cover. It was a bad shot. My opening was better served for someone left handed. I had to put myself fully into her sights to be certain that my throw would land. So, I did. Breathe out, let loose, and don't start changing directions back to safety until the follow-through was finished. I could have counted the milliseconds, it seemed, as I watched the knife tumble end over end to finally thwack into the woman's shoulder.

She turned to face me, howling in pain. I didn't give myself the luxury of looking to see how pissed off the hit had gotten her. I needed to be back behind solid hard wood, stone, something within the next second. Pain shot along my feet as tiles shattered from the force of the bullets hitting them. Ceramic embedded itself like shrapnel into my legs and ankles. But at least I could keep going.

Huddled behind the closest statue base, I covered my head and ears. The gunshots echoed painfully through the open hall. There was more dust than air around me. Blood welled and stained my jeans where the shards had pierced through the heavy material

All I could do was close my eyes, cover my face, and hope that someone would have my back.

The scene ended within seconds, silence ringing in my ears and the bright, cheerful sunlight cutting to black. I peeled one eye open. I hadn't… died… in the sim. Had I?

Inky nighttime greeted me and my heels dug deep in the sand that I was now sitting in. Rita panted next to me, along with an equally distressed Uriah and Drew. "Did we get them all?" I asked hoarsely.

Uriah nodded. "Rita shot her in the back," Drew said darkly.

"It was the best option with Tris keeping her attention," Rita defended.

Drew scoffed but had no further counter. I pushed myself to my feet, pleased to see that the blood was gone but also more than a little concerned that we hadn't actually finished the simulation. Obviously we weren't actually at the beach no more than we'd been at the Hub.

"Why didn't we wake up?" I questioned.

"Two more to go," Uriah answered, running a hand through his hair. "What, you're tired already? I expected so much more from the top competition." I laughed, though it was more than a little forced. Alright then. Two more sims.

Maybe I'd pay more attention to our instructors. At least once before Initiation was totally over.

I think I hated phase three more than the second. When we left the sim finally, I had sweated through my t-shirt and my knees and palms were scraped up from the concrete floor. Regardless of what I'd felt - or hadn't - while under the serum's influence, I'd physically been doing everything right here in this poorly padded room.

Worse yet, I hadn't remembered to bring my water bottle, either.

Phase three had been laid out in excruciating detail after each team's first runs through. Week one, we'd continue to go through situations as a group and observe the others when they went under. Week two, we'd go one at a time against anything the private sessions - and these new ones - revealed were our weaknesses. Then our final test would be a final run through every single identified fear, without a break. More than a few faces paled when Lauren through that little caveat in at the end. Sure, it had been one thing to be presented with things in single doses. But remembering that day with Eric when I'd fought and re-fought the ocean over and over again combined with how winded I'd been feeling during the mere third challenge today had me dreading the test.

I guess there was a pretty good reason why Eric had been pushing me hard during our runs. Endurance would matter here. Physically and mentally.

Thankfully we were given a whole hour's break for lunch before being brought back to the simulation chamber. I sat with my team and Christina's, except for Drew. Neither he nor Peter were sitting with their teams. It was annoying when trying to recap and discuss the whole sim. Uriah and Rita agreed with me that it would be helpful to identify what we saw one another missing or overdoing. But I guess it was too much to expect Drew to bother with anyone beyond Peter, especially with Molly gone now.

I didn't miss Molly. I don't think anyone beyond Peter and Drew did, to be honest. Hell, Rita hadn't spoken for the whole three weeks after her sister's death and even she was better company than Molly on her best day.

Though I suppose companionship hadn't been the issue with her. It was still sickening to think about how she'd been so angry and vehement about my very presence. I put Molly back into a dark corner of my thoughts again and shut her out. I was moving forward with my life. Initiation was almost over. She didn't matter anymore.

After lunch, we ended up returning to the observation room early to claim the comfiest parts on the couches and to wrack Lauren's brain on what she thought could have been done better. We weren't the only ones with the thought and it ended up being an early brainstorming session rather than a true break. Christina nearly complained, but I think she knew she was outnumbered by the rest of us. The new phase had people energized.

So it was alarming when later that night, riding on that new energy and camaraderie from the fresh mix-up of teams for the afternoon, I walked out from the dorm to see Marlene sprinting full tilt down the end of the corridor, pursued by two figures in hoodies.

"Get back here!" one of them snarled, their hand swiping out to grab for her. I reacted a beat later when the actual understanding of what I was seeing kicked in. Someone was trying to hurt her. Someone right here in the dead center of Dauntless' stronghold.

I bolted after her, fists pumping and boots thundering on the stone floor. "Leave her alone!" I yelled. "Oi! Stop!"

One of them turned their head briefly as he continued to give chase. I could see broad shoulders through the hoodie but not enough of their figure to determine who it might have been.

I lost sight of them for a solid twenty seconds as we wove through the rat maze of Dauntless tunnels. My heart was in my throat when I hit a crossroad, uncertain of where to continue until I listened carefully for the slap of sneakers on the floor. I shouted again for them to leave her alone. They were bound to hit a dead end eventually, what with the frantic path that Marlene was carving. I didn't know if I wanted that to happen or not. I didn't give myself time to consider what would happen either way.

I laid into my run, turning recklessly at each corner to try and make up more distance. All the effort from earlier was forgotten. My feet nearly dropped out under me as I caught up to them. Marlene's face was pressed harshly to the stone wall as one of them gripped her hair roughly. But what sent my heart to the floor and my blood to ice was the slick sheen of the knife in one of the assailant's hands. It glinted next to her cheek, a violent threat.

Maybe this was all another simulation, my brain offered helplessly. It felt real though. I knew it had to be real. "Drop that and run or I'll rip your throat out myself, I swear to God," I snarled. Rage, pure and hot, flooded through me in place of the cold sweat.

My hand went to where I'd had the knife in my sim and came up empty. Marlene thrashed hard against their grip and pushed off from the wall. I think they hadn't anticipated me actually catching them.

"Go, go, go," the taller one cried out. I still couldn't see either of their faces. I doubted that Marlene had, either. That was the point. This was deliberate. Even more so than Molly.

I threw myself after the closer one, but he shoved past me with a wild thrust of the knife. I had to duck to avoid receiving the blow and lost precious seconds. The taller one went the other way, disappearing into the blue-lit tunnel. I tried to follow the other, but Marlene's panicked cry had me tumbling to a stop.

"Don't leave me!" she sobbed. "What if the other one- He could come back!" I didn't think they would, but still my feet slowed.

I watched as the one in front of me chucked the blade haphazardly to the side of the tunnel. He disappeared around the next corner. With Marlene still crying out, I didn't feel right about leaving her. The knife toss wasn't anywhere close to me, not by a mile. And there was no way he'd chucked it without wiping off his fingerprints, I suspected. I approached the blade and took it regardless. It was utterly unremarkable, I thought. No different than the faceless, bland people in the sims today. There had to have been hundreds of this exact knife around Dauntless. It didn't have the panache of the ones at the front of the weapons depot in the Pit or the careful construction of the throwing knives for the training traditions. Anyone could have owned this knife.

That familiar worry from last phase returned to make its home deep in my gut. Those two could have been anyone. We weren't safe, still.

A/N: Hello, hellooooo. It's been... a while. But! I have returned with a fresh outline for the next 9+ chapters and the determination to keep posting again! I hope I haven't disappointed too many people with the delay. Life moves and it doesn't stop for anything.