Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the rest. I've had probably the worst writer's block in my entire life Hope you like it!

All rights go to Veronica Roth. OC's are mine.
Enjoy my lovelies!

"Can I help you?" My tone held an iciness to it that still registered with a certain befuddlement as to why my Dauntless leader was standing outside my door unannounced. Though he further aggravated me as he happily pushed me aside and strode into my living room with his chin held in their air letting his usual cockiness seep through.

I stood, still at my door for a few seconds waiting for my brain to catch up with my sight. It eventually did as I slammed the door shut and turned to see Eric had made himself comfortable on the couch, an ease I had never seen him with. I only folded my hands to my chest and waited for a reply as to why he was here.

"Nice place." His head shifted from the space around him only for a few beats until he brought them back to me, giving me a once over as I followed his line of sight. His eyes lingered at my bare thighs until he worked himself up to my raised eye. His smirk never faltered nor did his stare.

"Thanks. But again what are you doing here Eric?" This wasn't a way to gain his affection, but I couldn't help it as Eric was someone that tipped me over the adverbial line sometimes, and his pigheadedness did no favours.

"What, I can't visit my favourite initiate?" I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

A sharp scoff came out my mouth. "Please, you couldn't stand me all through initiation. And I'm a member of Dauntless now. You should take heed in accepting that." My feet made my way over to where he was sitting, and I now stood directly in front of him.

He sat very still, his jaw rigid from my response, his hands were running up and down his thighs. And in a sudden shift, Eric stood flush to me. I only reached up to his shoulder which had forced me to crane my head up to seek his face. He advanced further until I felt my calves hit the coffee table, trapped between it and Eric.

He didn't look angry, in fact no emotions played on his face. We stood there for several minutes, just looking at each other, trying to register what each other was thinking, who would be the first to break contact. Come on Lex. Do something.

And I did.

I found some form of bravery, and willed my arms to push themselves against Eric's hard form. I was impressed with my strength as he catapulted back onto the couch, and before he could protest again, I was straddled against his chest, my legs on both sides of his, constricting him from moving up.

It was like time had stopped for him, his breathing was strong and heavy but at a steady pace, his eyes locked on mine and his hands shot up, gripping tightly on both sides of my hips. The heavy pressure of his strong hands caused a soft moan to emit from my mouth, and on reflex my hips shifted towards him, adding pressure onto his crotch area.

My hands slid up his chest, smoothing over his shirt, and I could feel his hard pectoral muscles as my fingers glided to grip his shoulders, giving them a hard squeeze. His grey orbs bore into mine, his lips shifted up a fraction, but he continued to stare, and my breathing become sporadic. But before I could start hyperventilating, my lips crashed to his.

His response was instantaneous, with his lips moving in sync with mine, slipping over one another's, as he fought for dominance, biting my bottom lid until I opened my mouth further. Our tongues, wet, moulded together, his more aggressive, until he won over and crashed his lips further into mine. His hands gripped even harder, and I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up with finger print bruises.

I clawed my nails into his t-shirt, tightening hard, as his prominent hard-on struck my sex. I couldn't help but make a sound, my mouth parted against his warm, tender wet lips.

We continued to explore each other's mouth, tongues continuing to fight with each other, our bodies occasionally moving in beat with each other, until one of us pulled for breathe. I gazed to his lips, they were slightly plumped, and a soft pink twinge showed my canine marks from my biting. I ran my tongue over my lips, they too were swollen.

One of his hands released its pressure on my hips but gained access into my hair, his fingers threaded through various locks of it, his lips returning to my skin, but this time exploring my neck, leaving a trail of hard, wet kisses, biting softly at times. His fingers started to glide down to my thigh, his fingers were hot, which left me light headed, a shiver running down the base of my spine, my throat emitting a sporadic moan as he pushed under my shirt nearing to a very dangerous place.

I pulled back. A confused look gestured his face before being replaced with his normal Eric-I hate life-features. His lips parted as he was ready to protest but I spoke before him.

"Maybe we should take this to your room. I do have comp-"Not able to finish my sentence, Eric had shifted up from his place, me in total, and proceeded to my door. His lips were on mine again, my back this time was pressed against my wall near the front door, and an aggressive excitement took over him. We broke away a second time, Eric placing me on my feet so he could open the door and lead me to his humble abode.

Eric had opened my door and stepped out into the hallway, waiting for me to follow. I stood just agar of it, one hand clasped on the handle the other on the inside of the door frame.

"Thanks for the lovely night Eric, but the sound of sleeping sounds better. Goodnight." I sang the last word to him and slammed my door shut before he could retaliate.

I didn't catch Eric's reaction, nor did I want to, as I would most likely hear from him again sometime soon, and the pounding on the door was evidence enough that I didn't want to deal with his temperament. He ceased almost immediately, and I could hear a violent roar echoing the halls before silenced engulfed my apartment block.

I entered my room, shutting the door softly, and slid down it. My fingers traced over where his lips were, remembering where his hands hand touched me, gripped me hard. The swelling had gone down, and my fingers ran through my dishevelled hair until it was combed down in obedience. A soft chuckle left my lips, as I ran my hands over my face, my brain replaying tonight's version of an events like a movie.

"What am I doing?" the words come out in both befuddlement and happiness to some extent.

The weaponry and tactical profession was placed on the lower level of the Dauntless compound, near the exit by the train tracks. It was big enough to house several trucks of ours, and a loaded cache of weapons ranging from heavy machinery to the smallest but sharpest of knives.

There was only a few members that worked alongside me, and only one I knew. Shauna, Zeke's girlfriend had shown me around when she saw me enter the chow hall this morning, and was going to be my mentor for the probationary period of profession training. She was excited that there was going to be another female working down here, but I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was not really my intended field. I was still trying to overcome my fear of knives, because no matter how many times I had to relieve my fear in my dreams I still couldn't stand the sharp objects. But you're getting there. Yes, I was.

By the noon I had my own work station, filled with numerous weapons and machinery objects, where for the most part I would clean and polish. It was newbie stuff, but I had to be patient in gaining enough experience to accompany the leaders to Erudite when needed.

I was halfway through the pile of guns that I had disassembled, cleaned and then assembled again when Shauna come over.

"Damn girl, you work fast." Her overalls were covered in grime and oil, as she was fixing up one of the trucks, adding a new engine, faster than the old ones that Dauntless used to run with. "Come on, let's get some lunch." I had no objection as I was too, hungry.

"Sounds good to me."

Shauna had lead me to her usual sitting after we filled our trays with various meats and vegetables, and a little side action of chocolate cake. A few minutes of eating into our lunch, Zeke and Four had joined with a few other members I had seen around.

"Anyone know what happened to Eric?" Zeke's voice came through. I turned my head from my tray to meet his, as did everyone else. I only gave a simple shake of the head. "Well, he has been in a pissed off mood since this morning. Nearly threw a dependent off the bridge from walking into him accidently." Now I knew why Eric was in a shit. I had made him that way when I ruined his perfect little evening of getting laid.

A sly smile placed my features as I couldn't help but find the conversation funny. But this didn't go unnoticed by Four, who gave me a soft kick on my leg, turning my head up to meet his brooding features. He only gave me a quirk of an eyebrow, and I waved him off, mouthing the word 'later' to let him know what happened, and to see if he found any more information on my brother.

Conversation on the table varied between jobs and life in general, and I was happily taken into the fold of the group, Shauna being a new girlfriend other than Katherine, who hadn't come down from Jayce's last night and wasn't eating out here.

Lunch went for an hour and in that time I had gotten to know the ins and out of Dauntless, the secret tunnels to get to the other side of the building in case anything happened and in general the people that occupied the Dauntless establishment. Shauna had nudged me by the end of the hour, a sign that it was time to go back to work, and even though I had my doubts of my chosen profession I was starting to enjoy it.

It was nearing onto six o'clock when he arrived. The ferocity of the door slamming opened marked his arrival, and the instant scattering of my fellow colleagues told me all I needed to know. He was pissed, and by the heavy snarling he was emitting I knew that his anger would be ten times of that I have endured from him. Yet I continued to work with my back to him, the glock in my hand was polished to perfection, I could see myself in it, and I was loading the last bullets into the chamber before clicking it into place and putting into the armoury.

I turned around to face him, only to shimmer around him to place the weapon I held in my hand away. His heavy footsteps alerted me to his following. I had noticed that the place had become eerily silent and upon my examination I was alone with Eric. The few that were still here before Eric had arrived had now left. Cowards. Yeah, you're telling me.

After clicking the pad opened and punching in the pin, I had placed the .22 into its rightful position, and was about to close the cage shut before it slammed down, the sound vibrating through the large room, echoing about. His palm was a mere inch away from my head, as his hand closed down onto the cage, pressing his body further into my space.

I urged my body to move around to face him and it complied. I was now face to face with a very angry and pissed of Eric, no more than usual, but this time, I could only smirk at his actions. And I did.

The fire in his grey orbs grew larger, and my smirk only increased, slowly lifting into a shit eating grin.

"You think this is funny." Hot breathe landed onto my face, and his growl only tempted me more.

"Very." His other hand, formed into a fist, and banged hard against the blackened aluminium cage. I flinched hard as I could feel the vibrations as it ran down my spine. Okay Lex, enough is enough. And for the first time I was truly afraid of Eric. The deathly look in his eyes triggered an unnatural reaction in me. Tears began to form the depths of my eyes, and the memory of my attacker resurfaced, only it wasn't the factionless' face, but Eric's. My legs gave out, and my bottom made harsh contact with the concrete flooring. My breathing became increasingly quick and heavy, my heart thumping to its own drum. I was having my first panic attack here in Dauntless.

Silver spots danced before my eyes, until they made contact with Eric's. His large hands made contact with mine, and he clasped them gently, forcing them to pull my body weight around. My back was against his chest, our hands entwined, one pair resting on my stomach, the other on my chest. I was straining to grasp air, as my brain was replaying horrible images on loop. It was making me dizzy.

"Just breathe Lex. That's it. In through the stomach and out. Feel my hands." A soothing voice, so alien to me come out of his mouth. And slowly my mind and body was working as one. We sat there, breathing for the next few minutes, his voice gesturing soothing tones into my ear, his hands though calloused, felt tender and warm.

After several more minutes, he pushed my arms out, twirling me like before, but now I faced him. My heavy breathing had ceased, instead slow, shallow breathes took over.

"I-I-"the words I was trying to speak didn't come out. A mix of emotions was running though my head, wet drops were staining my cheeks. I hadn't realised I was crying until a thumb, ever so gently wiped them away. I hadn't cried since the night before choosing day. Almost two months ago.

"His not going to hurt you anymore" my head shot up faster than a bullet being ricocheted out of a gun. I tried to find a hint of an answer in his eyes somewhere, but his poker like stare showed nothing away. He would have fit well in Candor.

"What do you mean, his not going to hurt me?" My throat had begun to ache, an ugly croak now sounded with every sentence I spoke.

"The man you're so afraid of. His gone." His cryptic words were now driving me on edge.

"How do you know? What have you done Eric?"

"That's all you need to know." He had stood up with such ease, it would make a ballerina look like they had two left feet, but I wasn't going to let him get away without telling me something, anything.

I shot up like a rocket, running around to him, and cornering him in between the work benches. My hand reached for my gun, which had been strapped onto my right thigh, which were given to us as precaution, now that we were members.

I took my weapon out of its hold, but did not aim it at him. Yet.

"Tell me what you know." The words come out aggressive and through my teeth.

He deliberated for a minute before succumbing to my questions. "The factionless man that attacked you. The one that gave you that scar. Well, his gone. So no need to worry anymore. Okay." He tried to push past me, but I was quicker, and in my haste aimed the gun to him, but pointing to his precious boys. If looks could kill, I would have combusted into flames, burning to a cinder. He'd probably try and burn your ashes too. Shut up.

"TELL ME!"

"FINE. You really want to know." His voice raised to the same level as mine.

"Yes. Tell me. Now." My hand still held a firm grip on the .22, but the rest of me felt like I was shaking.

"The first day you arrived at Dauntless, when you jumped, it wasn't the first time I saw you."

"I know. At school. I recognised you."

"I would see you in passing at school. But when I first met you, it was through your brothers fear landscape." He stopped to allow me to register his words.

"What do you mean, you met me in my brother's fear landscape?" He still stood quite still, even with me aiming my gun at him.

"In my year as an initiate, we got to practice with your brother's fear landscapes." He swallowed, his Adam's apple bopping up and down. He clenched his jaw, and his hands were balled into fists, down at his sides. He continued, "The fear that I had to overcome was your attack."

I was starting to feel numb. The words were not going through my head as simply as they should have. I lowered my hand, leaving my gun to fall to my sides. He took this as a sign to carry on.

"I saw what he experienced that day. He heard your screams, well, I heard your screams. I saw the man, him atop of you. Long story short, I tried to stop him." There was a fire in his eyes, and his rigid stance did not cease.

"Okay. So what happened after?" My throat was dry, my voice coming at in a whisper. But he still heard it.

"I pushed it to the back of my mind, and passed initiation. Became a leade-"

"Stop stalling. With my attacker, you said his not here anymore. What did you do?" I found some strength in my voice, raising it a few octaves.

"I was on a patrol with a few other Dauntless. It was half year after initiation. We were patrolling the factionless, and I arrived at some deserted building. I recognised it straight away, like a bad nightmare. And your face come to mind, and then his."

"So what. Decided to defend my honour?"

"Yes and no. A pedophile was lurking around and we couldn't have that. And yes, for you. So we set up surveillance, connected it to Dauntless control room, and I waited when he would make an appearance. And he didn't disappoint. The bastard shuffled down there a few days later and so I went down." My chest felt heavy with every word he spoke. "Lex, you don't need to hear the details."

"No. It's the only way to get over my fear. Please." He gave me a curt nod and continued.

"I went down there that night. I found him asleep on a grimy mattress, surrounded with girl's clothes and toys. My blood was boiling at that point, so my foot connected with his face. Gave him the scare of his life."

"He begged for his life with every punch." His fists were still clenched, and his arms were so tight that his veins looked like they were about to pop. "And I killed him. Just like that. Stabbed him in the stomach."

A minute passed before he spoke again.

"He was my first kill."

I didn't want to hear anymore. It was getting too hard for the both of us, and in this moment I respected him more than I had any other time.

I rested my gun back into its grip on my thigh and slowly closed the distance before us. I reached out to him, my hands resting on his, and slowly unwound his tightly clenched fists, until our fingers entwined together. The feeling was strange, and a breath of relief left the both of us.

Our lips met in a subtle grace, unlike our ferocity the previous night. His supple lips parted allowing me to deepen the kiss. It lasted only a minute before I pulled away, dropping our hands apart.

My fingers found his cheek gliding over his slight stubble. I lifted my head up, giving him a longing kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you."

Next chapter we find out more about how Eric knows Lex. And some plotting with Four!
Reviews and criticisms are welcomed!