Author's note:

This chapter gets into another one of those things that I took liberties with and, for the sake of my story, I allowed futuristic license. If you are using these chapters to get your birth control knowledge then you are not in the right place and should really consult a doctor in the here and now. This kind of shot in this chapter has NOT been developed yet! And there is cussing again.

Repost for minor edits: 10/18/2020

I get to my desk just in time to start work. Diana wouldn't be in the office today and tomorrow so I at least had time to settle down before typing up the reports I needed. I hoped the only thing that would be reported back to her was that I was trying to look professional and not that I looked shaken up.

Shelly, who sat next to me, saw my pale face and she asked, "Hey, you okay?"

I nod with a hard swallow, "I just had a run in with Eric. It was not fun."

She turned as white as me and said, "Yeah, he's scary." She said in a whisper.

I nod again. I hadn't realized how sadistic he was until now but I'll be damned if I let him get to me.

I shook the thoughts out of my head to clear it and get to work. By lunch time I had finished the report on Candor, sent it to Diana through our computer system and she'd sent it back with an okay to send it on, which I did. If she knew about the 'fight' between Four and me she didn't mention it in her e-mail. This meant she would wait to address it when she got back. I was preparing to start on a new project when I saw Four walk in the room.

I hear Shelly sigh and say, "Wow." And I knew exactly what she meant. I wanted to tell her to back off but I couldn't, so instead I rolled my eyes at her and said, "He's hot but he's also an asshole."

Shelly laughed, "Aren't they all."

I shrug as he walks up to my desk and he asks, "Have you had lunch yet?"

I shake my head and shuffle some pages to the side, "Not yet, why?"

He sits a sack lunch from the dining hall on my desk and I look up with surprise. Does he know how this looks? But the stony look on his face says he's playing Four right now so I have no idea what he's up to.

"I have the list. Is there a place we can talk?" Oh, so it is business, which means he saw Eric. And who knows what Eric said to him. But he brought me lunch, well that's kind of nice of him. But I have a 'boyfriend.' But he brought me lunch. All this subterfuge is confusing.

Shelly chimes in, "The conference room is free." I glance at her and she smiles back and nods.

I look at the sack lunch and then back at him, "You didn't spit on any of it did you?"

He tilts his head in a frustrated manor, "No. I was trying to be nice."

"That's kind of what worries me. But thank you. I appreciate it," I said standing up and straightening my dress down. I look up as I'm walking around the desk and see him looking me over again and I can't help but blush. I glance at Shelly as I pass her desk to lead him to the conference room and she's giving me a little hidden thumbs-up sign. I guess she caught the look he gave me too.

I usher him into the conference room and close the door. I look up to see the cameras in the room so I know there will be no time to have any kind of conversation about what happened with Eric right then. We both sit at the black scarred table that looks like it has seen better days and I pull out my sandwich while he turns on his tablet. He shoves it towards me so we can both look over the list together.

There were 30 names on the list but most of these people I didn't even know. How was I supposed to decide this? And what if they didn't want to even be on the team?

"Is everyone on the teams getting extra pay or just leaders?" I asked

"All of them." He stated quietly and sat back a little in his chair. Laying a hand on the back of my chair like he was stretching out but I knew he was trying to find a way to touch me without it looking like we were all cozy.

I turn sideways in my chair to face him and lean over on the back of the chair so I feel his fingers. Acting like I was contemplating the situation but really I needed to feel his touch too, "Is there some way we can make this like initiation training. Have them try out for the spots that are needed? I mean, nobody is getting kicked out of Dauntless because they don't make it on the team. Still I don't know some of these people and we shouldn't just be picking people we know. It should, obviously, be about who is right for the job. The best way to do that is to see what they can bring to the table and how they work together."

He stared at me while I feel his finger tap my arm like he's fidgeting while he's thinking, "That's a really good idea. I'll talk to Max about it, if they have to go through a try out then it becomes a status thing with bragging rights. Two things Dauntless love most." He looks down at his watch and stands up, "I gotta get back to my post."

"Yeah, me too." I stand up with him and bundle up the trash from my lunch, "Thanks, for lunch." I state as we walk out of the room together.

He turns to look at me like he's going to say something but just nods and walks out of the Ambassadors office.

I walk back to my desk and Shelly scoots over to me, "Umm, so what was that about? Yesterday you're beating the crap out of each other, last night you're running together, and today you're eating lunch together?"

Oh boy, I needed to pull this one back a little bit. "Yeah, Max chewed our asses pretty good yesterday. Then gave us a project to work on, so we HAVE to make nice or suffer some serious consequences."

She shrugged, "Well, from what I just saw, Four's thinking a lot more about MAKING something other than just nice."

"Shelly, I have a boyfriend," I say in exasperation.

She scoots her chair back over to her desk, "Maybe so but you ain't married to him. And that is a fine piece of ass right there."

"SHELLY!" I yell back incredulous.

She lifted a hand to silence me "Just saying that if he looked at me that way, I'd be on him in a hot second. But you're the only one I have ever seen him look at like that," she laughed and turned back to her computer.

The rest of the day is uneventful, thankfully, and once I have finished my last project I think about what I plan on doing after work. I remember the conversation I had with Christina last night and decide before I head home or anywhere else I'm going to stop at the Medical area and see if I can get in to talk to a doctor. I don't want to wait any longer than I have to to get things headed in a more romantic direction.

I keep watching over my shoulder as I'm walking in and a nurse comes forward to greet me. "Hi, Tris, what can we help you with today?" That's right she was here when Peter beat me up.

I swallow, "Umm, I was just wondering if I could talk to someone about birth control."

She isn't even fazed, "Oh, sure, head over to bed one and I'll have the doctor come in and talk to you."

I look around as I go over to where the bed is and there isn't anyone in the room but me. I guess no one has tried to kill anyone recently so that's good. I set on the end of the bed and it's only a few minutes until the Doctor walks over.

He certainly doesn't look like a doctor other than the lab coat. He's got tattoos all up and down his neck and he is wearing a black t-shirt and jeans underneath the lab coat. "Hey, Tris, how're you doing today?"

I shrug off the embarrassment, "Okay."

He looks over at me and sees the bruise on my jaw, "Damn, Four really hit you hard didn't he?"

"Does everybody know?" A part of me is impressed and a part of me realizes just how much everyone knows everything around here. This leads to how important hiding some things is.

He laughed, "It's Dauntless. But whatever you discuss with me stays with me. The records only show what I need them to show. So you need birth control?"

"Yeah," I said trying to sound brave but it came off very weak.

"Are you sexually active right now?" he asks very businesslike.

"Not yet. I'm dating someone and I'd like to be prepared if things go further," I say quietly.

"That's very smart. The injection we give now also protects against sexually transmitted diseases and infections. I believe they covered those in school, right?" he asked, and I nod, "Do you have any questions about those?" he asked.

"Not at the moment," I say.

He looks at me almost the way Tobias does when he is being concerned, "Listen, Tris, this is an important stage in your life. If you have anything you need to ask about, it's important you do it now rather than wait until it's too late. Or rely on someone else's information, because that'll usually be wrong."

I nod again feeling like my head is just bobbling, "I know but, right now, I just don't have any questions. If I think of something can I come back and ask?"

"Absolutely, please do, anytime," he said. "Okay, so the problem with this shot is it takes a couple of weeks to fully hit your system. So I'll send you with some condoms just in case as a backup. Do you know how to use condoms?"

I know I'm beet red now but still I'm not backing down, "No." So he proceeds to explain to me the procedure of putting a condom on a man. I've never really even seen that part of a man before and now I'm mortified.

Then he walks off to get the injection I've come here for and I'm just breathing through my nose and out through my mouth. Trying my hardest to not get up and run out, but Dauntless do not give up or run away. I'm ready for this even if I don't want to discuss it with everyone on the planet.

He comes back over to me with an injector and says, "This might make you a little light headed for a few hours so I suggest you not go to training tonight. Just get some food and go to bed and rest. By tomorrow you should be feeling fine."

At first I didn't feel anything but after a few minutes I thought I was going to throw up. He watched me for a second as I turned green, "Well that explains the note in your file. You got sick on the aptitude test serum? This shot has the same base so that's probably what you're reacting too. Why don't you stay here for a little bit so I can keep an eye on you? Do you want me to call someone to help you to your room?"

"Yeah, can you call Christina," He nods and goes over to the computer to tap in the order.

I lay there and thinking about how this inadvertently covered up the divergent test results and how lucky that worked out. Now if someone sees my file they aren't going to see the red flag as divergent but as I don't handle medications well.

Christina came to the bedside and looked at me like I had two heads, "What did you do?"

I shake my head, "I'm just not feeling well. He said I should be fine in a little while but I just want to go back to my apartment. Can you help me?"

She nodded, "Sure, but you might want to take off those shoes. They might take us both down if you're woozy."

I walked barefoot next to her back to my room and lay down on the couch immediately. She asked me if I needed anything to eat or drink and I shook my head saying I just wanted to sleep.

Christina added, "You really should change out of your dress. You'll be more comfortable. I'll stay here until you do that and then go on down to supper."

I nod and get myself back up to change in the bathroom. It took a lot of resting in between tasks to get it all done but I managed to figure it out. Then came back out and lay back down on the couch. While I was in the bathroom she had went through and opened all the windows to help get a breeze going through and cool the space off.

She sat down on the arm of the couch, held up the bag of condoms the Doctor had sent me with, and watched me for a minute, then asked me seriously, "You went and did it, didn't you? You got that shot? You're not even really seeing anyone. Why?"

"Because I don't want to be afraid. If being prepared for whatever might happen eventually helps me not to be afraid then that's what I'll do. It helped to talk to the doctor about the realistic aspect of things too," I said back to her.

She nodded, "Okay, I get it." She laughed, "And who knows, maybe Four will figure out what he wants and he'll just come right across the hall and have his way with you."

I snorted through my nose in a weak attempt at laughter, "I think we can both agree that right now I don't even want to think about that."

She laughed, "Okay, I'll go down to dinner and make excuses for you. One of us will bring you something to eat later. I only got lightheaded but it wore off pretty quick."

"Thanks," I said and watched her leave. I got up and locked the door, remembered to throw the bag of condoms in a drawer, and went over to lie on the bed. Tobias's scent was still on the pillows and blankets but it had faded just a bit. I hoped he came over tonight because I seriously needed to snuggle.