AN: Took a little longer on this one, still stuck in the middle of writing a chapter for my other story, I keep changing my mind and getting stuck, bleh, oh well. Also, hope you all, had a nice Christmas/Holiday, depending on where you live, I was eating a candy cane while writing this and slit my tongue open. Blood tastes delicious.

All the reviews made me happy~ So thank you to all of you, (Hasu, Valmar, Ariel, Kiwi, guest, Rio), I always love seeing reviews in my email box. I've started to get excited about where this story is going, and ultimately know one of the scenes that it's going to end on.

Remember the hatred for editing? Well it hasn't changed, I read through some of this a couple times and fixed what I found way too obvious but otherwise things will be lurking. So I apologize in advance if you cringe/cry at grammar in certain areas, my bad.

Well here's the chapter.

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Chapter Four

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He continued to drag her towards the medical bay until she ripped her wrist out of his grip, and glared at him. He'd half expected the girl to let him drag her all the way there without resisting, and yet here she was, cutting holes into him with the force of her stare, a deep rage burning in her eyes.

"What happened back there?" He asked before thinking it through.

"It's none of your business," she replied coldly.

Such a response made him grin at her, something that sent shivers down her spine, it wasn't often that the man smiled or made any other expression other than boredom while training them. Either he was ready to give up with her, or he was just getting started. It reminded Reeve of when her brother used to fight with her after school, it was only when he smiled that Reeve began to worry about what was going to happen next.

Eric watched her expression change from rage to wariness as she assessed what might occur within the next few moments. He hadn't wanted to get involved with the transfer anymore than he had to, but for some reason he just couldn't stay away from her, nor could he get her face out of his head. It didn't matter why anymore, as long as she was in front of him he was going to push her until she cracked a little. He would press her further and further until finally he was satisfied with the result and she disappeared from his mind. As long as she was going to keep pestering his thoughts he would continue t pester her for expressions, reactions, or anything else he could elicit from the stoic girl in front of him.

"Unless you want to end up factionless you'll tell me what the hell happened back there," he growled stepping next to her. "Dauntless doesn't need someone who goes on rampages," he added trying to give his threat some weight. He watched her stiffen next to him, his eyes glancing over her form as she shook with a new rage.

"I was imagining punching my brother in the face over and over again," she murmured finally.

"Oh," he fake sympathized with her. "Did you leave because your big brother was mean to you?"

Reeve had been nervous at first, to clash with one of the Dauntless leaders o early was bad luck on her part, she thought smirking at him across the room was pushing his buttons. But this was different, when he'd been threatening her she could feel the power radiating from his voice and how he stood in front of her. If she wanted to stay and thrive in this faction the first person she would have to pay attention to was Eric, if anything, she would have to do as he said despite how much he reminded her of Collin.

Although with his most recent comment she felt everything fall away from her, all the nervousness and worry over being factionless if she made the leader angry. She saw her brother again, standing just above her with a grin on his face. Clenching her fists painfully Reeve hissed softly before glaring up at the man again, instead of stepping away like she had intended earlier, she took a step forward. Now they were standing in front of each other, Eric towering over the red headed girl easily while she held her ground with a single expression on her face.

"I left because if I had to spend one more day with that foul person, I would have killed him," her voice was icy when she spoke. "I've bandaged my knuckles up enough times to know how to take care of myself."

"Are you sure?" His reply was just as cold. He wanted to challenge her, to wipe that cold demeanor away from her skin and take the entire abruptness that came with ones identity being stolen away. That's what it was for her, the stiff expression that she always wore was just a wall she had built up around herself, and it made him wonder what she had been like in her old faction. Did she ever smile?

She nodded towards him before he launched himself at her, she reacted quickly but not fast enough to be able to predict his moves. For a few seconds she dodged him when he tried to grab her, until she hit the rocky wall behind her and he pinned her to the wall easily. One of her red hands pushed against his chest until he forced it backwards to join the other. A snarl passed through her lips as she growled at him darkly.

"You can't even defend yourself," he smirked down at her.

"What are you trying to do?" She hissed at him.

He drank in the startled look in her eyes as if it was water in the desert, it was an expression he'd not seen in her before and it made him excited. He was tired of all the same initiates that looked weak and perhaps weren't or had some hidden viciousness that only showed through in battle. Sure they were needed and accepted at Dauntless, if anything they wanted those sorts of people,. Reeve was completely different from them; she was quick and calculated, merciless in a fight. It didn't seem to matter what problem she faced, because eventually she would beat everyone else at it, all the while keeping a dead expression on her face. As far as Eric knew he was the only one who got to see all the other faces she made, because he was the one who had caused them in the first place. It was enthralling to know that those reactions were just for him.

Unlike the other initiates who reacted for everyone to see, for Four and Max and the other to see, Reeve remained compliant and bland looking when presented to everyone else. The other expressions she made, those belonged to him now.

"Just curious I guess," he muttered in her ear. It happened quickly, exactly like he had wanted it to, a shiver that passed over her skin like a gust of wind before it was gone. He'd have to find out what her initial weakness was before he got any further.

With that said Eric let go of her wrists and walked away from the girl, smirking at the new plans that leapt into his mind. It was the first time in a long time that he was getting excited about something, even though it was a girl he was anxious to see what would happen next.

-0-0-

The next morning Will and Christina questioned Reeve about her bandaged knuckles but she gave them no answer, nothing to sate their curiosity. Merely grunted before going towards the cafeteria for breakfast, she was still angry about Eric pushing her around the night before; he'd defeated her so easily. She wanted to blame it on how he'd surprised her and how she hadn't been expecting him to attack but in the end Reeve knew that she should have been ready for anything from anyone. That's what they were training them for, to always be on guard and to be able to defeat anyone that challenged them. Yet she had failed, granted Eric was a Dauntless leader, but still. She'd felt so powerless beneath his gaze as he'd pinned her against the wall.

The feeling of his chest forcing her back into the rock had been awkward and made her angry, she had even been able to feel his heart beating through the thin fabric of their clothing against each other. She'd wanted to run, to move away from him and escape, anything as long as he was no longer in front of her. It made her growl bitterly to just remember such a feeling, if she wanted to survive in this faction, the first person she would have to defeat would be him.

It was unfortunate that he liked to mess with her, whether it was to get a rise out of a previous Erudite, or just for the fun of messing with an initiate. Either way, it didn't seem like there was any goal in mind for the man, else he would have said something to her, right? Perhaps not, but she would have to deal with this by herself, Reeve had never been one to give up when something was irritating her.

"Where did you go last night?" Al asked when she sat down next to him.

Tris, Christina, and Will glanced in their direction with an interested expression; maybe they thought that if they pestered her enough she would cave in and tell them.

"We're friends right?" Will added seeing the slightly annoyed look that was beginning to show in her eyes. At such a remark Reeve looked over at the guy, he offered her a small smile. "You can tell us."

"Yeah, come on. It can't be that bad," Christina offered. She glanced at the red haired girl before taking a bite of the eggs on her plate.

For a second Reeve set her lips in a grim line, her first reaction was to not tell these people anything about her, even before her brother started to pester her she had never been one to openly express things. When it came down to it, everyone around her only really cared about themselves so she stopped telling people things because no one listened. Except that she wasn't in Erudite anymore, she didn't have to go home to her brother, and for the first time in a long time there were people who wanted to sit next to her during meal time. At the end of the day, the past is exactly what it should be, in the past.

Not that she was going to tell them everything, but in answer to their question the night previous she could give them a little insight. For putting up with her bland and boring personality she reckoned they deserved at least one answer to the many questions they had asked over their time together.

"Collin is my older brother, I left Erudite to get away from him," she muttered as if it was enough to explain everything that had happened the night before.

Their expressions changed from questioning to curious as more thoughts began to swirl, Reeve could see them fishing for more answers so she started to pull her jacket off at the shoulder. Carefully she tugged the material off her shoulder and moved the cloth of her tank top out of the way until they could see a pale mess of skin that looked as if it had healed in the wrong way. The rest of her skin was pale and clear except for the discolored skin just below her shoulder blade, the thin lines of the scar reached faintly around her torso for a couple inches before it disappeared. So far it had been hidden underneath her clothing and no one had seen it, but now it was an ugly mark on her otherwise unmarked flesh.

"He gave me this," she said recalling the while incident with venom.

It had happened four years before when Collin had picked to stay in Erudite and completed his initiation and training, it had been the first time Reeve had seen him in a while. She'd been reading up in her room when he started shouting at her younger brothers and sisters, he had been angry about his friend who had transferred to Amity. He screamed about being betrayed and swore that if anyone in their family left he would never forgive them. It had been her youngest sister, Elaine that had muttered something about being allowed to choose, that it was their choice in the end to pick where they would live. That was when her brother had turned to the younger girl and Reeve had moved between them, she'd ended up at the bottom of the stairs.

The amount of times Collin had said he was sorry made Reeve sick to her stomach, he'd even offered to help change her bandages while she'd been healing. She had accepted his words at first, but they had been empty as she had found out in the years that followed. That was when she and her siblings had learned to avoid Collin on his bad days; they'd lock themselves in their rooms. Although if something were to happen they could always count on Reeve to be there to bandage them up or take the blow. She had all the scars to prove it.

"Why did he do that?" Will questioned looking at the distorted skin. Shrugging her shoulders Reeve laughed before pulling her jacket back on slowly, it was a real smile, something that was hard to come by for the red haired girl.

"I guess he was angry," they didn't seem to like how she grinned at such a comment.

"Well, at least you don't have to see him anymore," Christina said trying to fill in the silence.

"Didn't you ever want to hit him?" Al asked before thinking about it.

This time Reeve didn't respond, instead she smirked before her expression turned blank again, just because she had told them about Collin didn't mean she needed to offer them anything else. She raised her bandaged knuckles towards them as if they could speak for themselves.

"Oh," Tris muttered before going back to her food. At least the Abnegation transfer could tell when to stop talking and pushing for more answers, it was something she respected in the long haired girl, knowing when to stop.

"What?" Al questioned not catching what she meant with her knuckles.

Reeve ignored the rest of it, somehow there was a strange feeling welling up in her chest, as if she had given away too much information too soon. Perhaps it was the simple fact that she hadn't told anyone anything in a long time and her brain was protesting against so much being out in the open, it was almost scary. At the same time there was a weight that lifted off her heart, as if she could breathe a little easier now that she had told people about what happened to her in the past.

-0-

"First fight, Peter verses Tris," It was Eric's voice that caught their attention. Reeve looked in his direction with the same expression she always wore, an uncaring one, the one he hated the most.

"It's Eric," Christina started. "He's just trying to get back at you," she muttered while they walked slowly towards the mat. Four stopped Tris before she walked completely into the light where Peter was waiting for her, Reeve didn't hear what he said to her, but kept her gaze on the girl. If anyone needed someone to be there for her, to show her everything would be fine, it was Tris. She'd just seen herself in twenty second place on the ranking board, if she lost this, she might not make it past the first round.

Peter made some snide remarks to the Abnegation transfer before they started, Reeve noted the way he stepped before throwing his punches, and it was something she had noticed during his first fight. He was fast to throw punches, and powerful when landing a hit, but he was too hasty and excited to beat down an opponent. Although she was unsure of whether or not she could hold up against his brute force Reeve was sure she could last for a while and knock the wind out of him a few times.

If he went for her face she would dodge and aim for his throat and then while he was gagging knee him in the stomach or aim for his head with her elbow. If his momentum was strong enough she'd twist around him and kick at the back of his knees to take him down before stomping on his ribs with her heels. Or she could take a hit to face and bring her fingers up under his jaw, pushing against his throat until he screamed.

"Stop playing with each other," it was Eric's voice that got her attention again.

Without thinking about it Reeve looked directly at the Dauntless leader on the other side of the fight, he was looking at the fight until he caught her eyes staring at him. She had a clear determined expression on her face, as if she was the one fighting instead of Tris, her grey and green eyes captured his gaze for a few seconds. Only when Eric nodded towards Peter did Reeve flick her eyes away from the man to look at Tris in front of her, she was out cold and she and Christina went to her aid quickly.

"Next fight, Al verses Reeve," Eric said turning his eyes back on the red head in front of him.

Reeve stilled while picking up Tris, Will moved to take her place and helped carry their unconscious friend from the room towards medical. Her burning mismatched gaze fell on Eric with an indifferent stare, he was fishing for some sort of reaction she could tell, but she wasn't going to give it to him.

If the person training them had been anyone else it would have been a simple stroke of bad luck that the two friends were now circling around each other, but it was Eric. The man knew that they were allies and had been hanging out together for the past few weeks; he knew one of them would falter when throwing the first punch. In the end he just wanted to watch one person fight, it didn't matter if they won or lost, he just wanted to see the expressions that she would make throughout the match until the end.

"Come on Al, beat her down," Peter could be heard. The way he spoke made Reeve angry and she imagined that he was in the ring with her instead. If anything she was a little apologetic to the guy in front of her, Al was nice and it seemed that Christina liked him, but when it came down to it, they were fighting for the same position.

"Sorry Reeve," Al muttered before starting to bounce on his feet.

Reeve already had a plan; she'd worked out everyone in a fight, even the ones she called her friends because she figured that eventually she would have to fight against them as well. They had all seen her fight against Myra and win, but now she was pitted against a guy much larger than her. Perhaps not one person expected her to come out on top in this fight, and for good reason, she was thin and wimpy looking in comparison to Al. So she'd play the weak role and let him toss her around a little until he wasn't expecting what would come next.

For a minute or so all she did was dodge while the men around the mat jeered at Al and her for taking so long, that she was pathetic in her ill attempts to his her opponent. It was just what she wanted, to convince Al that she was weak and the only thing she could do was barely miss the hits that he threw at her.

Eric was waiting for the girl to do something; he'd done it on purpose of course, making Reeve fight one of her comrades in order to get a rise out of her. But so far nothing had happened that was noteworthy, her dead stare seemed intent on dodging until everyone grew tired enough to desert the fight altogether. Her eyes said differently as far as Eric could tell, there was something she was waiting for, he could see that she was getting bored with whatever she was planning and ready to strike. The small edge in her gaze made him anxious, and he could feel himself getting excited for whatever she was waiting to do.

It happened quickly and Eric only barely caught sight of the beginning of it. Reeve smirked darkly at Al, making him stare at her oddly, and if possible, seem to cringe away from her expression.

"Finish it or I'll let her win for dragging it out so long," Eric tried to spur the man forward.

That was when Al moved to throw a punch, Eric had been expecting the girl to dodge away from it just as she had been doing the whole fight but instead she let him hit her fiercely in the shoulder. She moved backwards away from him, faking an expression of hurt and weakness before Al moved to hit her again, but this time she was ready. Al aimed to hit her in the cheek and hopefully get her to the ground, Reeve moved in the opposite direction of his punch, just out of his reach and twisted her form around his outstretched arm. She coiled up underneath him before springing upwards like a cat and pushing her pointer and middle finger up under his jaw powerfully.

Everyone could hear his teeth clack together as he tried to move up and away from the blow while Reeve moved around his form and knocked his legs out from under him. He fumbled to get up and she moved to knock him out, only when grabbed onto her ankle and pulled her down with him did Reeve's expression falter. He tugged her ankle jerkily and caused Reeve to smack the back of her head on the ground painfully, only for a second did her expression appear somewhat surprised before she snarled viciously. Without afterthought she twisted her legs around his head and neck, tightening the grip until Al stopped struggling and eventually passed out. She slumped against the floor for a moment before dragging herself to her feet, the world was a little shaky, her vision turned dark for a second and then returned to normal.

Her smoldering gaze whipped around the room towards Peter who looked shocked to see that she had in fact won the fight with minimal damage. Lastly her eyes fell on Eric as she stooped down to pick up her fallen comrade; Christina had gotten back in the middle of the fight and moved to help as well. There were small red lines moving slowly down her leg where Al had gripped hard enough to pierce through her skin. She could almost feel a bruise forming on her shoulder where she had allowed herself to be hit. The back of her head ached miserably from the force of the blow, but she ignored it like she had done to countless injuries in the past.

Eric stared after them as they walked towards the medical bay, his mind still replaying the smirk that she had offered her opponent and the look of surprise when she hadn't seen something coming. If it had been so fun to watch he could only imagine what it would feel like to do such things himself, would the hype be that much higher?

About thirty feet in front of him the three figures stumbled as one of them fell away from holding up the larger guy in the middle. The smaller person fell against wall and slumped towards the ground, it could only be Reeve, and Eric could imagine her shaking with rage at the weakness of her own body.

"Will!" Christina called out towards the initiate watching the order change on the ranking board. The kid rushed over to help them out quickly, trying to figure out what had happened while running up to the group.

She had been fine for about three minutes; Christina had complemented her on a good fight and laughed while they did their best to drag Al to medical. Then all at once she couldn't focus, a blurry spot appeared in her line of sight and quickly spread through the rest of her gaze, making everything appear blurred. Reeve sank backwards ever so slightly before catching herself, stumbling out from under Al's weight she fell away from both of them, only stopping when she hit the cold rocky wall. But her body wanted her to pass out and continued to berate her mind with aching pain that brought her to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Christina questioned doing her best to hold Al up on her own. "Reeve?" She didn't answer, couldn't, not with her head pounding in pain. Faintly she heard the girl call out for Will to come help, barely deciphering the name as her breathing became ragged. She hated this, being weak and injured, trying to pull herself to her feet and failing miserably. Reeve was vulnerable and she despised it.

"What happened?" Will questioned turning towards either girl in hopes of getting an answer.

"She just fell away from us, almost passed out," Christina explained in Reeve's silence. The red haired girl next to them slumped further into the wall and they spoke to each other, she needed to lie down and let her head rest. But there was no way she was going to allow herself to enter darkness so near to Eric, she hoped more than anything that he wasn't watching her right now, that he had found something else to occupy his time.

"Reeve, are you okay?" Will asked making her want to laugh, did she look okay? "Should we take her first, or Al?" Will questioned looking over at Christina.

"I'm fine," Reeve spoke suddenly. Painstakingly she pulled herself to her feet, leaning against the wall for much needed support; she stared at them blandly as she always did, as if the expression would convince them.

"We'll be right back," they said before quickly walking away with Al. Once they turned the corner Reeve let her facial features contort into the pained expression that had been begging to be released.

"That's a nice face you're making," Reeve turned towards the voice quickly to see Eric smirking behind her. He was leaning against the same wall she was using for support, his lips upturned in the rare grin that most people didn't get to see. Like Reeve Eric was lacking in the category of expressing emotions freely, his most famous looks were annoyed and slightly irritated.

"Shove off," she snarled taking shaky steps forwards.

"Careful," he muttered stepping behind her. She could feel his back against her shoulder until she took another step away from him. "You might actually hurt yourself," he followed her small movement.

"I'm sure that'd make you happy," she sneered before faltering against the wall. Without thinking Eric steadied her before growling low in his throat at himself for reacting impetuously, it almost seemed like he cared.

"If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already," he commented as she tried to shy away from him.

He was too close to her for comfort, touching people, shaking hands, hugging; all of these things were something Reeve hated. It was awkward for her; something that her parents had never really given to her was sympathy and care when she was hurting or being abused by her brother. Always their attention was drawn to one of her older or younger siblings, not to the middle child who appeared perfectly fine on the surface. As a result Reeve had retreated into herself and spent most of her free time alone, reading books and studying the human body if she was to one day become a doctor. Even when Elaine had hugged her goodbye it had been strange, if there was supposed to be a feeling of love in such a gesture it was something lost on Reeve.

Eric pulled her arm until it was slung over his own shoulder before slinking his hand around her waist to keep her steady; she stiffened in his hold on her. Often she would wonder how it felt for someone else to hold her and touch her like someone might embrace their wife or lover, it was foreign to her. She'd really hoped that the man hadn't noticed any change but she felt him chuckle against her, the action making his chest jump against her form as he smiled down at her devilishly. She pushed to get away from him but her head wavered as her vision began to get fuzzy and dark again she stilled and tried to lean further against the wall.

"What's the matter? Nothing to say?" He questioned letting the words whisper into her ear breathlessly. She trembled in his grasp, making him grin all the more as he started to walk towards the medical bay with her next to him. "Do I make you nervous?" His words tickled her skin.

"An-," she started to say before cringing from a wave of pain.

"What was that?" He asked curious as to what she had been about to say. He pulled her closer to his body the nearer they got to where he would let her go. The fact that he was right next to her made Reeve anxious to get away from him, the feeling of his heartbeat only separated by thin cloth made her blush slightly. This was weird, she could feel his body heat radiating off his form and seeping into her own flesh, it embarrassed her to be so close to someone else.

"Annoying," she sneered before turning to glare at him.

It might have been more menacing had Reeve not been a weak girl leaning against him, vulnerable in his grasp, and now she was blushing. The red tint on her cheeks made Eric freeze, he was almost at a loss for words himself as her mismatched eyes wavered under his surprised gaze. Out of all the reactions he had been expecting from the girl the crimson dusting on her face was the last thing on his list and it baffled him. Soon the color vanished from her pale skin leaving Eric thinking of another way to somehow get that reaction again, what is something he had said? No, she'd never reacted that way before when he'd whispered into her ear, always she'd shivered and her eyes had hardened, but she'd never flushed before.

"Reeve," a voice broke the man from his thoughts. Looking up to see Christina and Will staring at the two of them uneasily, had the Dauntless leader really lifted a hand to help an initiate to the medical bay?

"She's all yours," he said blandly letting the girl fall into her friends waiting arms.

The boy took the same position that Eric had made for himself and soon they disappeared around the corner and out of his sight. Turning around to walk back to the training room Eric's mind wandered over his actions not a minute prior, going through everything he had done to Reeve while she was in his grasp. She'd trembled beneath his breath on her skin and stiffened when he'd initially grabbed onto her but something had made her blush. It'd sent a chill up his spine to see such an expression on her face, she had looked embarrassed for a split second before catching herself and correcting her facial features.

How could he replicate such a reaction again?

After speaking briefly to Malachi, the supposed doctor in the med bay, she was lying down on her own bed next to Tris and Al who were still unconscious next to her. After taking some pain killers she was able to speak without pain, and figured she'd soon enough be able to walk out of the room by herself. Malachi kept commenting things about how her friends were doing and she spoke with him further about what she thought might be a better course of action.

"Where did you transfer from?" He questioned stalling at the door to the next room.

"Erudite, figured if I was going to be stuck there I'd at least be useful as a doctor," she muttered making him grin.

"I'll ask Max to send you here after you pass," he murmured before disappearing around the corner.

"Thanks," she muttered breathlessly.

Reeve looked at the space he had just been in; already she had a place that she would most likely end up in if she were to pass initiation, which was a good sign. At least it meant she wasn't going to end up guarding the wall, which was the last job she had wanted to end up with. Day after day staring off into a distance they could not explore, looking blissfully at the Amity farms that waved in the wind without ever being able to run through the crops. It wasn't something she lusted after. It made her excited to know that someone wanted her for what she knew; perhaps growing up in the blue clothed faction hadn't been for naught.

The only thing that would make Dauntless better would be if Eric suddenly decided she was not worth bothering, but Reeve knew better than that. He was interested in her, for whatever reason, and didn't seem to want to leave her alone.

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AN: I have an idea that will make Eric jealous and spike up the drama/interaction quite a bit, will either come into play the next chapter or the one following.

But what did you think? Do you think Eric is getting in over his head? Obviously Reeve only see's Eric as a nuisance, how many of you think that will change?

Tell me in the reviews? Maybe?

Thanks for reading.