A/N: Thank you so much for the alerts and reviews as always! :) If anyone is curious, I have placed links to the inspirations for Veronica, Dominic and Jeremy on my profile. Let me know what you think!
Christina, Al Will, Veronica and Jeremy sat together in the dining hall the morning of their final fights with nearly untouched breakfasts in front of them. They picked at their food nervously as they made idle chit chat, watching the minutes tick by on the large clock on the wall.
Veronica had just finished turning her biscuit into a pile of indistinguishable mush, when a pair of heavy hands grabbed her ponytail, tugging the holder halfway out. She scowled swiping blindly behind her, not needing to turn around to know who it was. "Nikki, stop it." She whined, turning in her seat to face him. Dominic gave her a cocky grin, as she fixed her hair.
"Don't call me that." He told her, attempting a serious face as he spoke.
"Don't bother me then." She countered, wrinkling her nose at him.
"Hey I just came to say good luck; I know you'll do great. But never mind, I hope you suck today." Dom grumbled.
Veronica smiled at her brother. "Thanks… I'm nervous." She admitted.
"I think we're all nervous." Christina added.
"Nothing to be nervous about." Dominic told them. "You'll all do fine.' His eyes swept the group before narrowing. "Don't embarrass me." He growled.
"Okay, Four." Veronica said with an eye roll.
Dominic's face fell. "Man, he uses all the good lines." He bemoaned. 'Seriously though, you guys have a lot to prove today. You're transfers, no one here expects you to be impressive." He leaned closer to them, lowering his voice. "But, some of the best Dauntless members are transfers. Eric, Frank, Four, Me…"
"Four's a transfer?" Christina asked, her jaw dropping noticeably.
"Yeah, he didn't tell you?" Dom asked them curiously. The initiates shook their heads, their faces showing the shock of the new knowledge. "Whoops." He said before ruffling Veronica's ponytail. "Good luck, Ronnie. Gotta go."
Dominic was gone before the others could pepper him with questions, and they looked at Veronica for answers instead. "What? I didn't know either." She told them.
"I wonder what faction Four was in." Al mused.
"What about Eric? I couldn't see him anywhere but Dauntless." Jeremy said as he buttered a piece of toast.
"Erudite." Al and Veronica both answered, earning them bewildered looks from the others.
"He told us during capture the flag." Veronica explained, trailing off as Peter sat down across from her, examining her carefully. "What?" She snapped.
"How is this going to work today?" He asked her curiously. "Are we going to just fight once? Are we fighting each other? How does the scoring work?" He peppered her with questions, leaving no time for her to answer.
"I don't know." She finally told him, cutting off his line of questioning.
"Your brother didn't tell you?" He said, sounding astonished.
"No." She told him, her annoyance apparent.
"Huh, I just figured…" He said. "Well never mind then, I guess. I should have known you wouldn't tell me, even if you did know. It's not like we're friends." He gave her a sneaky grin before getting up and heading back to his own table. Veronica shook her head at his retreating back, before looking at her friends, who were staring at her.
"You would tell us if Dom told you anything, right?" Christina asked her unsurely.
"Yes, of course I would." Veronica told her. She could see the uncertainty in the eyes watching her, and swore under her breath as she realized why Peter paid her a visit. "I've barely seen Dom. When would he have given me this secret information?" She asked, more hostility in her tone than she intended.
"We know he didn't give you anything, V. Dom isn't that kind of guy and you aren't the type of girl to hide it if he did." Jeremy said diplomatically.
Veronica gave him a warm smile, appreciating his Amity way of seeing the best in everyone. "Thanks, Jeremy." She told him, glaring at the others. "At least someone trusts me over Peter."
Christina grinned sheepishly at her. "I can't help it; sometimes the Candor just pops out."
"Let's go, we need to warm up." Will interrupted, saving Christina from having to explain herself further.
Veronica and Christina stood together at the edge of the ring, their minor spat forgotten as they watched Jeremy and Drew fight. The crowd of Dauntless attending the fights yelled, clapped, whistled and stomped. The atmosphere of the room was completely different than the initiates were used to, and they were all worried about their performance. "He's lucky he got Drew, he could win this one." Veronica told Christina as they focused on the fight, their gazes occasionally flicking to the table set up ringside where the Dauntless leaders were observing the fights with an almost clinical curiosity, occasionally taking notes or murmuring to one another.
"Yeah, he might make it through this phase if he wins." Christina agreed. Drew was slow and predicable whereas Jeremy was quick on his feet and more difficult to read. As Jeremy landed a solid blow to Drew's cheek, both girls began fidgeting nervously, knowing the fight was close to a finish, and either of them could be fighting soon. The leaders didn't post a fight schedule, and were instead just giving the initiates one fight to prepare. Peter and Myra fought next, and everyone knew how that was going to turn out. Veronica almost felt bad for Myra.
Max nodded to Four as Drew hit the mat, not making any attempt to get back up. Four pulled Drew to his feet, holding onto his shoulders until the initiate steadied on his feet and began a slow limp to the sidelines, ignoring Jeremy's attempts to help him. "Peter, Myra." Four barked. "Molly and V, you're on deck."
Veronica blew out a puff of air and began bouncing on the balls of her feet, giving Christina an encouraging look. "I'm glad it's not someone I like." She admitted as she began massaging the knuckles on her hands nervously.
"You can beat Molly, no problem." Christina assured her.
Veronica snorted. "I know that." She said, unable to sound humble. It was a simple fact, she was better than Molly.
"I hope I don't fight Will." Christina said, chewing her bottom lip nervously.
"I'd be more worried about fighting Edward." Veronica told her, unaware that it was probably not the best thing for Christina to hear. Veronica looked at Christina's worried face and frowned. "Sorry." She said quickly.
"It's true." Christina conceded. "He would kill me."
"He could probably kill all of us."
"Not you." Christina told her. "You could beat him."
"I think you're giving me too much credit." Veronica said with a small smile. "He taught me everything I know. I don't have any tricks to use against him."
Christina shrugged, clearly not believing it, but Veronica knew it was true. She was just grateful she didn't have to face him.
Peter finished his fight with Myra in record time, and smiled smugly at her, practically preening himself he was so pleased.
"He beat Myra. It's like beating a puppy, nothing to be proud of." Veronica muttered to Christina.
Christina snorted before smothering her laugh with her hand, not wanting to draw attention to herself.
"V. Molly." Four called the two girls to the mat, both wearing determined expressions. "Al and Christina, you're next."
Veronica and Molly circled each other, both watching the other carefully. While Molly was only an inch taller than Veronica, she seemed to be built like a tank compared to Veronica's lanky frame.
Veronica forced herself to shut out the noises of the crowd, urging the two initiates along, and did not allow her gaze to wander to her brother or any of the other leaders, even though she thought she could feel the focused stares burning her skin. She began racking her brain trying to remember everything she'd observed from Molly's fights the past two weeks.
She likes to hit first, as hard as she can. Veronica recalled, and immediately rushed towards Molly, ducking her head from a wild punch Molly threw in surprise and landing a solid hit to Molly's middle, knocking the breath from her.
Molly stumbled back, but kept her footing giving Veronica a look of pure hatred. Molly threw herself at Veronica, knocking her to the mat. The two grappled with each other, both struggling to get on top. Molly finally got enough of an opening to hit Veronica squarely in the jaw. Veronica felt the coppery taste of blood fill her mouth, just barely managing to move her head out of the way to avoid another assault.
Veronica got her knee between the two of them and was able to use the extra space to punch Molly back and scramble out from underneath her, kicking her in the chest as she began standing. Veronica debating allowing Molly to get to her feet before attacking her again, she hated the idea of kicking someone when they were down, but she knew that she did not have the luxury of doing only what made her comfortable and she reared back, kicking Molly in the ribs. She couldn't bring herself to aim at Molly's temple.
After a few solid kicks, where the sound of Molly's ribs cracking seemed to reverberate in Veronica's head, she stepped back, waiting to see if Molly would be able to continue. To her credit, Molly did attempt to get back up, but immediately fell back to the mat, crying out in pain. Thankfully, Max called the fight, clearly bored by the initiate's wails of pain. Veronica put a hand out to Molly, who sneered back at her, but quickly realized that she would not be getting up on her own and begrudgingly accepted Veronica's outstretched hand. She placed a hand to her right side and both girls made their way to the nurse's station for a quick exam and treatment for any serious injuries.
Veronica was sent away almost immediately, and after rinsing the blood from her mouth, she rejoined the group of initiates to observe Christina and Al's fight. She glanced at Dominic, who nodded at her and gave her a quick smile, and she smiled back, grateful for his encouragement. Turning her attention to her two friends that were fighting Veronica watched for a minute before frowning. "What is she doing?" She muttered under her breath, crossing her arms. Christina was not fighting at the level Veronica knew she should be. She was leaving huge openings, moving sluggishly, and not taking the opportunities that were presented.
Veronica shook her head as Christina took a harsh hit to her face and stumbled back to the mat. Veronica liked Al, but she knew he didn't have a chance in hell to win, if Christina wasn't apparently trying to throw the fight. Veronica glanced at Four, who was watching the fight with equal confusion, and was glad she wasn't the only one who saw what was happening.
When Al finally won the fight, Christina limped off the mat, though she didn't appear too worse for wear. Veronica kept her eyes focused on Edward and Will, the last fight of the transfer initiates, until Christina finally joined her.
"What the hell was that?" Veronica asked quietly, trying to keep her eyes focused on the fight in front of her, but finally turning to face Christina when she didn't receive an answer.
"What was what?" Christina asked innocently, though she averted her gaze past Veronica.
"You know what." Veronica said with a raise of her eyebrows. "And don't try to lie, you're terrible at it."
Christina sighed. She swept her eyes around the area to be sure no one was listening and stepped closer, lowering her voice. "If Al didn't win his fight today, he'd be on the bottom of the pack. Lower than Jeremy, maybe even lower than Myra or Drew."
Veronica's face couldn't mask the surprise she felt. "But what about you?"
Christina shrugged. "I should be fine, I know I'm not in the running for number one, as long as I make it through… as long as all of us make it through, that's all I care about."
Veronica couldn't help but smile, though she still thought that Christina was being foolish. "You should have been in Amity." She told her, laughing when Christina scowled, pushing Veronica's shoulder. The two of them turned their attention back to Will and Edward, and ran to the edge of the mat when they saw how drastic the fight had become.
Will swayed on his feet, his face covered in blood as he scrambled to avoid another of Edward's attacks. Will had always been one of the fastest fighters in the group, and from Edward's expression, Veronica was pretty sure Edward was angry and frustrated that he hadn't finished the fight yet.
Edward's temper was short, and Veronica had watched him explode in fits of uncontrollable rage in the past. Though it was frightening, she never felt like she had been in danger, but she'd also never been the one to provoke him to that point. As she watched him attempt to attack Will, only for Will to slip away before getting a major blow, she became increasingly worried,
Finally, Will tripped over his own feet, and fell to his hands and knees. He attempted to scramble up but Edward's foot caught him in the stomach and he fell to the mat. Edward began aiming his frantic kicks towards Will's chest, moving up to his head, and hadn't made any effort to stop, though Will had long since stilled.
"He's going to kill him." Christina said frantically, her eyes wide.
"Edward!" Veronica struggled to be heard over the crowd, looking to the table where the leaders sat. Dom fidgeted uncomfortably, clearly ready to jump up and stop the fight, but he kept glancing at Max, who was watching with an amused expression and hesitated.
"Edward, STOP!" Veronica screamed. Finally realizing that no one was going to stop him, Veronica ran onto the mat, pushing Edward backwards and putting herself between Will and Edward. Edward began moving forward and Veronica grabbed his upper arms. He knocked her away, but instead of starting towards Will again, he turned his attention to Veronica.
"Damnit." She muttered, ducking before Edward's fist made contact with her face. He grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her upright. An illegal move, but Edward was far past caring about such nonsense. Veronica brought her elbow up, breaking Edward's nose with a sickening crack as Four began making his way to the mat, clearly ready to stop the fight before it turned into nothing more than a street brawl.
Edward looked stunned as a gusher of blood came from his nose, but the rage quickly glazed his gaze over again and he began pummeling Veronica's face with his free fist, as she struggled to get away from the firm grasp holding her hair.
Finally. She thought to herself as Four began grabbing Edward's arms, grateful for the impromptu fight to be over. But, before Four could grab Edward he brought his knee up as Veronica began stumbling forward and as it made contact, a bright burst of light seemed to fill her vision, before a darkness began replacing it. She was vaguely aware of hitting the mat, and tried to will herself to stay conscious, but before she could even form a coherent thought, the darkness enveloped her completely.
A/N Again, please please please let me know what you think and leave a review! Also, if you are looking for a GREAT Eric story, check out A Place for My Head by Kristinmw. She's a great writer, and it's going to be a fantastic story! Please review! :)