Hello again! Sorry this took me a while to get up; life's been crazy. I still don't own Eric or the Divergent world, unfortunately.

Chapter Five

"So," I ask between bights of pasta, "What do you want to talk about?"

She sets her fork down on her plate, and the look in her eyes tells me that I'm not going to like her question. "Well," she says with a smirk, her green eyes lighting up as she leans in and rests her elbows on my desk, "There is a question I have been waiting to ask."

I slump down in my chair, instantly understanding where this is going, "You could ask that question, OR, we could discuss all of my worst fears, that would be fun, right?"

She laughs for a moment, before her face snaps back to being dead serious, "Nope."

I take a deep breath and down the rest of my can of bear, "Okay then, go on."

"Why did you leave?" She says after a moment, "And none of that 'I can't tell you because it's against the rules crap'."

I think it over for a moment; I can't tell her the truth but lying to her now just doesn't seem right. The more I think about how to answer her, the deeper I slip into the memory of the reason I did leave.

I walk out of the aptitude test room feeling positive; the test told me to do what I had already wanted to do. I know that Mikala will stay here, no matter what her test says, I doubt she will leave her father. I turn the corner to go back to the waiting room, when I nearly run into an Erudite man in a blue suit.

"Eric Michelson?" The man asks gruffly, "Jeanine would like to speak with you."

I nod and follow him out the doors of the school and to a waiting car. The man and I sit in silence all the way to Erudite, and once we arrive he only speaks again to tell me that Jeanine will be waiting in her office. I find my way to her door and knock, after a moment she tells me to come in.

"Eric, it is excellent to see you. How was your test?" She asks as she studies me over the table, sizing me up like a wild animal.

"It went well," I reply, ringing my hands together in my lap.

She nods, picking up a file and scanning the top page, "I see here that you received an Erudite result."

I cough nervously and am fairly certain that my eyes have doubled in size, "You have my results? I thought that the results were sealed until after the choosing ceremony."

She chuckles, "Of course they are," She replies in a patronizing tone. "These were extenuating circumstances," She adds as she sets the file down.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"First I must ask, are you loyal to Erudite, Eric?" She replies, still sizing me up like I am a small wounded creature she can easily devour.

"Absolutely," I reply without a moment's hesitation.

"I am quite glad to hear that," She replies with a smile that makes me want to back out of the room slowly. "I have an assignment for you," She adds, "Are you willing to commit to our cause?"

"What do you mean, commit?"

She shakes her head, "I need an answer, yes or no?"

I think it over for a moment. I have no intention of leaving Erudite, so what could the harm be in agreeing to whatever project she has in mind. And being on Jeanine's good side certainly can't hurt, especially after initiation.

"Yes," I reply, and after she stares at me for a moment I clarify, "Yes, I am committed to Erudite."

She nods, "Well, now that I know you are truly committed and loyal, we can change your result and I can fill you in on the plan."

"Wait, what?" I ask, nearly jumping out of my chair.

"I am sending you to Dauntless. We are in the process of forging a very important alliance with Dauntless and I need an ally on the inside who is loyal to Erudite," She replies as if it is obvious.

"Dauntless?"

The question reverberates in my head as I make my way home and it is not until I feel myself bump into something as I walk home that I am brought out of my thoughts. I turn to apologize, but instead find Mikala standing next to me.

She bumps my shoulder again playfully, "Where have you been, stranger?"

I take a deep breath before shaking off my worries and smirking back at her, "You noticed?"

She glances around before standing on her tip toes and kissing me. As she pulls away she smirks up at me, "Maybe."

I can't take this anymore. For a moment I consider begging her to defect to Dauntless with me, I have very little doubt that she would say yes. But, I can't ask her to base the entire rest of her life on what I am choosing tomorrow. She would have to leave her father; and what if she was planning to choose another faction.

Finally, I take a deep breath and kiss her on the forehead, "You had better get home, your father will worry."

She smiles at me, "Alright, I'll see you at the ceremony tomorrow." She starts to turn away, but stops and looks back at me; I can see in her eyes that she wants to ask me something. After a moment she turns and throws her arms around my neck, she stands there and hugs me until the sound of distant voices causes us to break apart. "Goodnight, Eric."

"Eric," Mikala's voice pulls me from the memory. When I look up her hand is in front of my face and she is snapping her fingers, "Earth to Eric."

"Oh, I was just thinking," I reply quietly.

"Mhhm," She says with a smirk, "You still haven't answered my question, and telling someone the truth shouldn't require five minutes of thinking."

I roll my eyes and decide that she is right; if I really care about her I will tell her the truth, "Jeanine."

"What?" She asks, glancing over her shoulder as if she expects the terrifying woman to be right behind her.

I laugh, "No, I was answering your question. She wanted someone on the inside to assure that this plan went smoothly."

"Did she choose you because you got Dauntless on your test?" She asks.

I shake my head no, "Erudite." She stares at me for a moment before breaking out in an almost hysterical fit of laughter. "I'm cutting you off," I reply with a chuckle as I move her wine glass out of her reach.

"No," She manages to get out between laughs, "It's just funny, you got Erudite on your test and defected. I got a different faction on my test and I stayed."

"Interesting," I comment. When she makes no move to elaborate after a few moments, I lose patients, "Out with it! What was your result?"

She scrunches up her nose, "You're going to make fun of me." I raise my beer to my lips and motion for her to continue. She smirks, "Candor."

"Oh, that explains so much!" I say, unable to control the chuckle that leaves my mouth.

She stands, trailing her hand along the edge of my desk as she makes her way to me. When she reaches me she sits on my lap, "What is that supposed to mean?"

She trails her hand along my jaw, "Well, I… I don't remember."

She smiles and has just leaned in to kiss me when there is a knock at the door. She jumps off of my laugh and sits on the edge of the desk as I go to answer the door.

"Max," I greet my fellow leader.

"Eric," He returns my greeting, "We had to move up our plans for Candor, I'll see you downstairs in the lobby in five."

He leaves and I make my way back to the desk, "I have to go."

"So I heard," She pouts.

I smirk and pull her into my arms, "Can we finish this later?"

"I suppose," She replies with a shrug, "Eh, if I have enough time."

"I'll make it worth your while," I put in as I brush my lips against hers. She smiles as she pulls me all the way to her; as she melts into my arms I find myself wishing that I could just stay here and forget about being a leader or Dauntless at all.

She finally pulls away, "I'll see you as soon as you get home."

I nod and pull her back into my arms, content to have this moment for now and the expectation that as soon as this war is over, I may just still be able to have the life I wanted.

Let me know what you thought.