A/N Thank you for all the reviews and alerts. Please review! :)
Veronica woke from a fitful sleep to Molly, Peter and Drew rummaging through Jeremy's locker. She sat up, all traces of grogginess gone. "Get away, vultures." She snapped, making them jump.
"He isn't going to be able to use it." Molly argued, though she seemed wary to put up much of a real fight.
"Well by that logic, Drew definitely has no business taking anything." Veronica said cruelly. "I'm taking him his stuff. Leave it alone." She stared directly at Peter, one side of her mouth quirking up in an evil half smile as she surveyed his swollen and bruised face. He maintained eye contact with her, and Veronica waited for his response.
Finally, he shook his head, a though the entire thing was a waste of his time. "Let's go." He told them walking out of the dorm.
Veronica got dressed quickly before pulling everything from Jeremy's space, finding his black backpack and starting to figure out the best way to fit everything when Christina and Al came in and wordlessly began to help fold and roll things to fit. When they had finished, everything from Jeremy's time in Dauntless had fit, with a small amount of room to spare.
"I don't think I should see him." Christina told her quietly, looking shameful. "I don't think I could keep it together and, I don't know what I should tell him… sorry you fell and you're factionless now?"
Veronica started to tell Christina she was selfish, but stopped. At least her friend was being honest. Better she admit it now than cause a scene. "Alright." She told her, carrying the bag in one hand as she headed towards the sick bay. She noticed that Al was still next to her, and she gave him an appreciative smile. Al had been in the afterhours practice sessions she had been giving Jeremy, and she knew his presence would make Jeremy happier.
"You really did a number on Peter." Al told her, breaking the spell her brooding thoughts had cast over her. "I bet he never smells again."
She snorted, smiling at him. "Good."
"Did you get into trouble?" Al inquired. "With Four?"
She hesitated a moment, she didn't want to share the moment she had with Four. He built a careful persona, and didn't like to break it with the initiates. She felt if she told Al everything, it would be a betrayal somehow. "He told me to knock it off, and to worry about initiation, not Peter."
Al nodded, looking satisfied with her answer, not pressing her anymore. The two reached the sick bay, and glanced around the nearly empty room, not seeing Jeremy in any of the occupied beds. "Excuse me, where is Jeremy?" Al asked the nurse sitting at the desk. It was a different woman than the one who had taken care of Veronica after her fight, and this new woman made Veronica's nurse seem pleasant.
"Who?" She sneered, not happy to be interrupted.
"The initiate who fell last night." Veronica clarified, the woman's put out demeanor annoyed Veronica, and she wanted to have as little interaction with her as possible.
"They moved him to the city hospital last night." The nurse said, going back to her book.
"Why?" Veronica demanded.
"Well for one, his injuries were too complicated for us to handle," the unpleasant woman began, "and for two, he's going to be paralyzed, which means he can no longer stay in Dauntless. There was no reason to waste resources allocated for members on him."
Veronica began to respond to the nasty nurse, when Al interrupted, grabbing Veronica's arm and pulling her towards the door. "Alright, well thanks anyway." He said over his shoulder as they left.
"That was completely uncalled for." Veronica complained as they began walking back to the dorms.
"Well, it was honest, I guess." Al told her with a shrug. Blunt, tasteless statements were commonplace in Candor, and they rolled off his back without a second thought.
"Last time I checked, we weren't in Candor." Veronica grumbled, though she found her anger quickly dissipating. She sighed when they got back to the dorms sitting on her bed.
"Well, at least you tried." Al told her.
"I'm going to the hospital." She said with determination, standing back up.
"How? We can't leave without a member."
"I'll ask Dom to go with me." She said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. "He's probably in the leadership office." Al looked at her sheepishly. He was terrified of the Dauntless leaders, and did everything he could to stay away from their judgmental gazes. Veronica rolled her eyes in an exaggerated action. "You don't have to go." She told him. "It would probably be easier to convince him to just take me anyway."
"Thanks V." Al told her appreciatively as they headed out, parting ways as he went towards the cafeteria, and she began the climb to the glass building where the administrative and leadership offices and apartments were held. The glass walls of the leaders' offices made finding Dom easy, and he stepped into the small lobby to meet her.
"Hey, do you think you could go with me to the city hospital?" Veronica asked, not wasting time with pleasantries.
Dom furrowed his brow. "Why?"
"I want to take Jeremy his stuff."
He hesitated, "I can just send it over."
"I want to take it." She told him, emphasizing the I.
He sighed, "I really can't today Ronnie. I have too much to do for Family Day tomorrow. Why don't you ask Four?"
"I don't know where he is." She told him. "And I doubt he would even if I did know."
"Yeah, well after your display last night…" Dom began, remembering his anger.
"I'll go with you." A voice interrupted them and they saw Eric standing in his office doorway.
"Really?" Veronica asked, hopeful but wary. She knew Eric liked her more than the other transfers, but that didn't mean he liked her enough to help her.
"Yeah, sure." He said nonchalantly.
"That's not necessary." Dom said quickly. "I'll find someone. I'm sure Four…"
"It's fine, I can take the supply order for sick bay over, they've been complaining that they haven't been getting everything they request." Eric said with a shrug.
Dom struggled to find a reason to protest, but couldn't think of anything short of I don't want you taking my sister anywhere. He frowned as Veronica waved to him over her shoulder while following Eric out, scowling when Eric looked back to give him a crooked smirk.
"So, your brother's pissed at you?" Eric asked Veronica once they had both made onto the train.
She shrugged in response. "I guess."
"Did 'your display' have anything to do with Peter's broken nose?" Eric asked her. She glanced over at him to see an amused grin on his face. It wasn't cruel, like most of his smiles at the initiates often were, more like they were just two friends talking.
"Maybe." She said, smiling in spite of herself. She looked at the floor, trying to suppress her grin. She shouldn't be happy about what she did. She tried remembering Four and Dom's angry expressions, but looking back at Eric made it impossible not to be pleased with herself.
"People like him only respond to two things." Eric began lecturing, "fear and power. All you did was show him you should be feared."
She nodded slowly, he had a point. It made sense that someone like Peter wouldn't stop until he felt like he was beaten.
"Do you think your parents are coming tomorrow?" Eric asked suddenly, changing the subject abruptly.
The question caught her off guard, she hadn't given it much thought. "I have no idea."
"It's better if they don't. Then you don't look too attached." He advised her. "The initiates are always under a microscope and even more so this year."
"Why?"
"They want to add another couple of leaders this year. One from the initiates and one from the members."
The admission caught her by surprise. She knew Dauntless leaders were young, but for them to pick someone directly from the initiate class was surprising. "What members?"
"That's none of your business, initiate." Eric snapped at her, making her quickly remember her place in the pecking order and his mercurial moods.
"Sorry." She muttered, feeling as thought she was a dog who had been kicked.
The rest of the ride was silent until Eric moved his way to the open train door. "Let's go." He told her before jumping out of the slowed train. She quickly jumped, losing her balance and having to put her hands out to catch herself. "Good thing we don't score you on how you get off the train." Eric told her, his familiar superior smirk in place. He walked to the front desk where an Abnegation woman shrunk back slightly at their appearance. Eric demanded to see 'the stiff in charge' and was joined by another Abnegation member to escort him. "Meet me back here in half an hour." He told her, his tone implying or else. Veronica asked where Jeremy was and was directed to a room two floors up.
Veronica knocked on the partially open door before letting herself in. A pretty blonde woman, wearing a bright orange dress was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. She turned to look at Veronica, already smiling at her.
"I'm sorry." Veronica said awkwardly. She could tell from the bright smile and blonde hair she must be related to Jeremy in some way. "I just…"
"Veronica." Jeremy said quietly. "Mom, this is Veronica, I told you about her."
"Oh of course." Jeremy's Mom said brightly.
"I just brought your stuff." Veronica said, fidgeting under their happy gazes. Amity always made her uncomfortable. She struggled to believe people could truly be so kind all the time.
"That's so nice of you." Jeremy's Mother told her, crossing the room to take the bag from Veronica. Veronica met the woman's gaze and saw that the smile didn't reach her eyes, and the sadness behind them was deep enough to drown in if you stared too long. "Please, sit." His mother told her, guiding her to a chair by Jeremy's bedside.
"Could I get some water please, and maybe some more pain medicine?" Jeremy asked his Mom, prompting her to head to the door with an affirmative response, closing the door behind her.
"Does your Mom work here?" Veronica asked him, trying to stay on neutral topics.
"No, but we have family friends that do. They told my parents what happened." Jeremy told her, his smile completely faded.
"So, will they take care of you?" Veronica asked hopefully. Usually there was no going back to your faction once you made your choice, but if his parents could ask for an exception, maybe he could go back to Amity.
Jeremy shook his head, looking sad and frightened for the first time. "They'll help me as much as they can, keep me here as long as possible, but once the hospital releases me…" His voice choked and Veronica averted her gaze, allowing him to compose himself. "I'm glad you came, V." He told her, regaining her attention. "I… I need to tell you something, and I think you're the only person in Dauntless who would believe me."
Veronica furrowed her brow, remaining silent and waiting for him to explain.
"I can't really remember everything from last night, and the Doctor said I might never remember everything, but…" He hesitated, as though he was going to change his mind about telling her.
"What?" Veronica urged, leaning forward in her chair.
"I… I don't think I fell." He told her. "I didn't think I had when it happened either I mean, I grew up climbing trees and I don't walk on the edge of the paths, I'm not stupid…" he began babbling slightly and Veronica struggled to remain silent while he got to his point. "Today, I remembered that right before I hit the ground, I felt…."
Veronica couldn't keep silent any longer. "Were you pushed?" She whispered anxiously.
"I think I was." He admitted. "I can't prove it, but I really think that's what happened.
Veronica's mind began working as she tried to figure out who would do it and why. Her first thought was of course Peter, and she began speaking her thoughts. "Peter wouldn't have any reason, other than pure evil, which I wouldn't put past him. Maybe someone ranked lower than you, like Drew, but he's spineless… unless Peter did it for him…"
"V." Jeremy said, interrupting her babbling. "V, it doesn't matter." Jeremy told her in exasperation.
"Doesn't matter? Jeremy, of course it matters. If we can figure out who did it…"
"I'll still be factionless and in a wheelchair, and unless they confess, no one can prove anything." He said almost snapping at her. "I just want you to watch out, and watch out for everyone else." He told her. "Please?" He asked, giving her a ghost of his broad smile.
"Yeah." She told him absently. She wasn't ready to let this go. If it was Peter, and she had a feeling in her gut it was, then she needed to stop him. Jeremy's mom opened the door, effectively ending their conversation. Veronica said her goodbyes and left, still turning the information over in her head.
Veronica walked into the cafeteria with Eric, doing her best to ignore the gazes from her friends, and enemies. She stopped at the table where Christina, Will and Al were sitting just a table away from the rest of the initiates.
"Thanks again Eric." She told him, doing her best to give him a genuine smile. They'd stayed on idle chit chat the ride home, and she had to admit it was pleasant. She wasn't sure which Eric was the real one, but she hoped it was the one on the train.
Eric found where Four and Dom were sitting within earshot and locked eyes with Dom while telling her, "Anything for you." He slapped her shoulder and gave her a smile and wink before walking off.
It didn't take more than thirty seconds for Molly to ask Veronica, "What were you doing with Eric?"
"She went with him…" Al began before being cut off by Veronica.
"It's not any of your business what Eric and I do." She responded, being intentionally obtuse.
"I guess we know now that you can earn your rank on your knees." Peter cracked, before laughing at his own quip.
Veronica stood from her seat calmly and smiled at Peter maliciously. "Peter." She began, ignoring his confused look and placing her hands on the table in front of him, leaning until she was eye level with him. "Since you wanted to talk, I had something I wanted to talk to you about." She felt as though there was ice running through her veins. She was calm and collected, this wasn't an act of rage, she was in complete control. People like Peter only responded to fear and power.
"Listen you Candor psychopath. I can't prove anything, and I'm not going to try. But I'm telling you now, if any other initiates have anything happen… any nasty accidents, any little mind games you want to try to play, anything… I'll make sure your ass is thrown out of here, no matter what your rank is." She spoke lowly and evenly, making sure he knew she was deadly serious.
He looked at her in shock, not used to being directly threatened. "Dom… Dom wouldn't do that." He sputtered finally.
She quirked one side of her mouth up. "You're absolutely right. Dom would never abuse his power, not even for me." Peter began to smirk, before she finished with, "but can you say the same about Eric?" He stared at her, his mouth open slightly as she tapped the table with the palms of her hand. "Good talk." She told him, before returning to her table.
A/N—Please review and let me know what you think so far. I really appreciate everyone who has come back to read this!