A/N: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED, FAVORITED AND ALERTED THIS TIME AROUND. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT! IF YOU HAVEN'T EVER REVIEWED BEFORE, PLEASE TAKE A SECOND TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE STORY, HAVING FEEDBACK IS REALLY HELPFUL!

Four walked in near silence through the sparsely wooded park, hoping to scope out where Eric had placed his flag, and maybe take out a few of his team in the process. He heard a branch snap to his left and whipped around, his eyes scanning the darkness, waiting for any hint of movement. He took cover behind a tree trunk, peering around slowly, waiting to hear another indication of motion. He heard a rustle of dead leaves beneath feet on the other side of his cover and pulled his back from the trunk as though it had suddenly caught fire, whirling around and bringing his paintball gun up. He barely registered the figure before firing. As he pulled the trigger a stinging sensation spread through his shoulder; a sure sign that he'd taken a hit. "Shit." He muttered, rubbing his gloved hand over the dully throbbing shoulder.

"Damn." His assailant said, almost in awe, and he looked up to see Veronica looking down at her paint splattered chest. "Good shot." She conceded, before sitting on the ground, her back against a tree trunk.

"Who got hit first?" He asked, debating on letting her have a pass and continue the game, as he was almost sure she'd hit him first.

"I don't know." She said with a shrug. "I guess it was too close to tell."

"I guess so." He agreed, he wasn't going to let one of Eric's stronger team members continue the game if she wasn't going to fight for it. He took a seat on the ground, propping his elbows on his knees and watched as Veronica removed her gloves and vest, using the vest as a make shift pillow as she leaned her head back against the bark of the tree. "What are you doing?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows.

"If I'm dead, I'm at least going to be comfortable." She reasoned.

He shrugged. "Fair enough." He conceded, before asking what he really wanted to know. "What are you doing out here anyway? Why didn't Eric have you doing something more important that running around the park?" His tone had more annoyance in it than he'd intended, but he was really pissed an initiate had shot him.

"I volunteered for Four recon." She said nonchalantly. "Eric really doesn't like you, you know? He said if we lose he'll be mad, but if you get the flag we'll see an ugly side of him."

"Hmm." Four said, uninterested in Eric's hatred for him.

"I don't know why he was worried. Al put our flag at the top of the bell tower, and I doubt you'd climb up there."

Four's head shot up and he fixed his gaze on her, his eyes narrowing. "Why do you say that?" He said, trying to keep the accusatory tone from creeping into the question.

Veronica looked at him in confusion. "Because you're afraid of heights." She said matter of factly.

"What makes you say that?" He inquired. "Something Eric told you?" He didn't think Eric knew any of his fears, but he wouldn't put it past him to look into his records.

"No." She told him. "I don't think Eric knows."

Four waited for her to elaborate, but it became clear that she thought their conversation was through. "Then why do you think that?" He asked in frustration. He wasn't sure if she was trying to piss him off or if she was really that close lipped.

"The obstacle course." She said simply, looking at his face for understanding. "You demonstrated every obstacle, except the climbing wall."

"That doesn't prove anything; there are plenty of reasons why I wouldn't demonstrate. Maybe I just thought you were all smart enough to figure out how to climb a wall."

"Maybe." She conceded before failing to suppress a grin. "But you haven't denied it either. Most people would deny it right away if it wasn't true."

Four scowled at her, keeping his lips pressed together, he didn't have anything to say that wasn't an attack, so he was trying to just not say anything at all. "Why'd you volunteer to follow me if you didn't think I'd go after the flag, just so you could bother me?" He finally snapped, unable to hold his tongue.

"Honestly," She began, looking a bit sheepish. "I didn't think our team was going to win, no matter what I did, so I just picked something where I could be by myself."

Four snorted at her admission, amused that she had such little faith in Eric. "Your team has just as good a shot as winning as mine." He chided her

"Eric picked us because we were strong; none of us work well together. This isn't a test of strength." She told him with a shake of her head.

"Fair enough." He told her with a flippant expression, though he was pleased to hear that she had picked up on the point of the exercise, and had realized what was needed to win.

"How bad is it gonna be when we lose?" She asked him, giving him a sideways glance.

"Last year he made them run laps till they threw up." Four said with a smirk. "But I got the flag that year, so maybe it won't be too bad." He added when her eyes widened. "Besides, Eric likes you, so I think you're safe."

"What about you?" She asked him. Her blunt question catching him off guard.

"I like all the initiates equally."

It was Veronica's turn to snort, and Four gave her an annoyed glare. "You don't think I treat you all equally?"

"No, I don't think you like us." She told him.

"I like you guys." He insisted, though his scowl didn't match his admission.

"Yeah, your disapproving stares and the 'you all suck' pep talks should have given me a clue." She teased. Four sighed, ignoring her gaze, choosing to stay silent. "Dom told me you're not really an asshole. He said that when you aren't training, you're kind of a nice guy."

"Dom needs to keep his mouth shut." Four muttered sullenly.

"He also said you're an asshole because you want us to succeed." Veronica added, leaning her head to meet his gaze, she hadn't meant to offend him, and she was fairly certain that she hadn't really done so, but she wanted him to know that she didn't think he did it to be cruel.

"That's true." He admitted, cracking his knuckles self-consciously. He didn't like to talk about himself.

She picked up his discomfort and let the conversation drop, watching the tree line for signs of movement from the other players. She hoped Al did well; she was worried he wasn't going to make it through phase one if he didn't. "I wish none of us had to leave. I wish that if we met the requirements…we could stay." She told him her voice drifting off.

"Me too." Four agreed. He knew he shouldn't disagree with the Dauntless laws in front of an initiate, but he was fairly certain she wouldn't say anything. Her brother had probably been very vocal about his opinion.

The sky lit up as a flare was shot in the air and Four stood, brushing the dirt and grass off himself before offering her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet, waiting for her to put her gear back on before heading towards the meeting point. "Maybe Eric won't be mad at me, because I shot you." She reasoned.

"Yeah but I shot you too." He said with a chuckle.

Her face wrinkled in displeasure. "Oh yeah."

The next morning, Four worked with Edward, Christina, Will, Jeremy and Drew on their techniques to prepare them as best he could for their finals fights. Tomorrow the ring would be open to the Dauntless members as the initiates fought in front of the leaders for their final scores of Phase One. All of their other fights would be taken into consideration in their scoring, but the scores of the leaders would weigh heavily on their rankings. The transfers would fight first, followed by the Dauntless born. By the next morning, they would have five less initiates, no matter how well all of them did.

All of the initiates would have loved the opportunity to work on their fighting, however for the last hour Eric had Veronica, Peter, Al, Molly and Myra running through every exercise he could think of as punishment for their poor performance the previous night. Eric sat on stack of mats, his eyes on his tablet as he reviewed the leadership business he would be dealing with that day. He would glance up to verify the initiates were still working, and to yell a new exercise to them. "Sit ups." He said in a bored tone, his eyes flicking up to make sure they all got on the floor and began. Veronica began her sit-ups, trying her best to not scream in frustration.

She had rationalized that they deserved a punishment, they did lose after all, but she was having trouble remembering that as every muscle seemed to scream in protest. She was thankful she'd worn a tank top and shorts that day, not envying Molly's tight pants and long sleeve spandex shirt. Sweat seemed to cover every inch of her and she was fairly certain that the only way she could feel more disgusting would be if Eric told them to go roll around in the dirt outside.

"Laps." Eric called out after a couple minutes had passed, a small smile playing on his lips. Veronica took a deep breath, struggling to her feet and slowly jogging to the outer perimeter of the room to begin laps. Al fell in beside her and they kept a pace slow enough to keep them from muscle failure, but quick enough to avoid Eric's gaze. Peter had begun simply going through the motions 10 minutes prior, barely shuffling as he moved, his eyes fixed on Eric, prepared to pick up his pace if he was spotted. Myra tripped over her feet in front of Peter falling painfully to her hands and knees. Peter stepped around her, giving her a disgusted sneer as he moved past.

"Asshole." Veronica muttered more to herself than to Al. Al met her eyes and she nodded. As they passed Myra, who was now struggling back to her feet, Al and Veronica grabbed her under either arm and pulled her to her feet before continuing past her. They wanted to help, but they weren't going to risk Eric's wrath by stopping. She would have to make it on her own after they pulled her up.

"Squat thrusts." Eric called. The five initiates made their way back to their spot in front of him and began their exercise, hoping he would get bored soon and let them stop. Eric barely glanced up, but noticed Peter's half attempt at the exercise and shot up from his seat. "Are you special, initiate?" He demanded as he stalked towards Peter. The other four began exchanging glances and slowly got to their feet. As long as Eric was distracted, they were going to take their chance at a break. Eric got inches from Peter, narrowing his eyes. "Answer me." He hissed.

Peter took a breath, steeling himself, refusing to show any fear. "I just think some of us deserve this more than others." He told him, keeping his tone neutral. He shot a look at Veronica before adding, "some of us didn't get shot."

Veronica opened her mouth to defend herself, but closed it quickly when Al pinched the back of her arm, shaking his head at her.

Eric snorted, following Peter's gaze to Veronica. "Her job was to take down Four, and she did that. Your job was to get the flag, and you didn't. Maybe I should just let the rest of them go and you and I can spend all day together. What do you think?" Veronica took the chance to shoot Peter a smug smile barely restraining herself from sticking her tongue out. She knew it was childish, but sometimes you just had to do what felt good.

"If everyone else hadn't gotten taken out of the game, I would have had backup." Peter began protesting. He was not used to taking orders yet, and his Candor upbringing had taught him that everything was up for debate.

He stopped as he realized who he was arguing with but Eric shook his head. "No, keep going. I want to know what you really think." Eric's tone was dangerous, but Peter didn't seem to pick up on it, and he continued his prattle.

"Honestly? I think Al should have found a better place to put the flag. Myra should have done something besides standing around and looking pathetic. The Dauntless born should have been better defenders; we would have been better off just leaving the flag undefended than leaving them with it. I think if Veronica was as great as she thinks she is she should have proved it. I think…"

"Oh for God's sake, shut up!" Veronica finally snapped, rolling her eyes. "If you spent half as much time coming up with a plan last night as you have bitching and moaning today, we might have won."

Al's eyes widened as he stared at her, and he began edging away as if by standing too closely he could catch shrapnel from whatever attack Eric may launch. Veronica became acutely aware that every eye was on her, Four's team included, and that she couldn't back down now. "We lost." She continued with her voice much quieter. "Suck it up and deal with it."

Eric stared at Veronica impassively before turning to see Peter's infuriated face, his face flushed red as if he'd contracted a sudden fever. Eric watched his reaction a moment longer before bursting into laughter. Peter stared at him in confusion, backing away a few steps in case Eric had lost his mind. Eric shook his head before asking Peter between chuckles, "she just keeps kicking your ass doesn't she?"

Peter scowled at Veronica, who couldn't keep control of the smile playing on her lips. Eric clapped her shoulder as his laughter subsided, pointing at her. "Keep it up." He told her, squeezing her shoulder. Veronica was pretty sure that was Eric's version of a compliment and her stomach fluttered in excitement.

"I guess I should go let the other initiates take their licks." Eric mused, walking towards the doors. He stopped and turned back to the stunned initiates, pointing at Peter. "You can come with me." He told him with a vicious grin before exiting.

Peter stalked across the room, shooting daggers at Veronica as he went. He attempted to knock shoulders with her, but she took a step to her right at the last moment, avoiding him. He blew a puff of air through his nostrils in frustration and stormed off, throwing the door closed behind him.

Al stared at Veronica in bewilderment. "Are you crazy?" He asked her in hushed tones.

Veronica felt shell shocked, not sure if what she had done was the safest decision, but it seemed to work out well for her. "Maybe." She answered.

Four called the initiates over and addressed them in a neutral tone, not giving any indication of his thoughts of the altercation. "Take the morning off, come back after lunch." He told them. He looked them over and his lips quirked before adding, "and take a shower. You stink."

Myra, Molly, and Al headed to the door before he could change his mind, but Veronica lingered for a moment, watching his eyes for a sign of either approval or disapproval of how she handled herself. She wasn't sure why she wanted his acceptance so badly, she shouldn't care. She told herself that it was because he was her trainer, and she wanted to please him, but part of her knew it was more than that. She just wasn't sure what.

She realized he wasn't going to give her anything, and she gave him a quick smile. "Thanks." She told him, backing away to catch up with Al.

"V." Four called to her as she turned. She turned back around and he walked towards her, out of earshot of the other initiates. His eyes studied her, and she had to force herself to keep her eyes on his, though she was uncomfortable.

Four looked as though he was going to say something, but changed his mind at the last moment. Finally he cleared his throat and told her. "Be careful, Veronica."

She furrowed her brow, not sure at his meaning. Peter was a jerk, but he wasn't dangerous. Did he mean Eric? "I will." She told him, her eyes searching his for some sort of explanation to his cryptic message. He nodded and went back to his team, leaving Veronica to stand on her own, staring at his back.

A/N: PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! ALSO, WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO SEE PICTURES OF MY INSPIRATION FOR VERONICA AND DOMINIC? IF SO I WILL POST A COUPLE PICTURES IN MY PROFILE... PLEASE REVIEW! :)