CHAPTER TWENTY

TRIS POV

Initiation is over for the Abnegation initiates. It was all bittersweet, helping mum and Caleb with the initiates because of the situation with the council. If Tobias had stayed I would have been spending my days with him but instead he is off fulfilling his dreams in Dauntless. Damn Marcus.

Finally, it seems he is getting what he deserves. His trial at Candor was over quickly. He admitted to the abuse on Evelyn and Natasha. He even admitted that he had abused Tobias. No one had to testify because he admitted to everything and more. While I didn't read the full extent of what he had done, the abuse was only part of what he had been doing. There was bribery, corruption and a whole lot of other things he had been up too.

Once the officials at Candor had worked out what he had done and they had caught up with the other officials that had been helping him it turned into a dog fight with the other factions. I had never seen dad so stressed. Marcus is now sitting in a cell for the next fifteen years, after that he will have his memory wiped and be factionless. Another ten Abnegation officials have been made factionless. Erudite have been screaming for more say in the government.

Dad has agreed to only have twenty-one Abnegation members on the council and to allow each faction to have two representatives. Erudite aren't happy but they have agreed it is a step in the right direction. They are giving this a two-year trial and if the other factions don't believe that this is working then Abnegation has agreed to look at an alternative solution. Dad doesn't think Jeanine Matthews will be happy until she is running the council. At least Jeanine and dad knew each other when they were both in Erudite, this seems to have been the only thing that has kept communication civil through the negotiations.

Caleb has started volunteering where Susan has been volunteering. This is the first step towards courting in Abnegation. It is really hard not to tease him about it but I am happy for him. Maybe he will stay in Abnegation. Natasha has moved into her own house. Dad organised it so that she could live next door. Even though the house should be for a large family and Natasha will have to move if it is needed by one, for now it works out well because she is close if she needs anything.

TOBIAS POV

I am sitting in Max's office waiting to see who else has progressed to the second stage of leadership training. I was a little shocked when Max came to see me and tell me that I had made it to the next stage. I thought I had blown it when I had argued with Eric over his idea of how initiation training should be. I am broken from my thoughts when Max starts speaking.

"Good, you're here Eric. Come take a seat. Now after careful consideration the other leaders and I have decided that only the two of you will be continuing on with leadership training. There is only one space available so from here on out you need to show us exactly what you are made of," Max says.

"Over the next five months you will each be alternating between a different leader. By the end of the five months you will have spent one month with each. We all have different personalities and styles of how we like to lead. We also have different areas of Dauntless that we are in charge of. Be respectful of how you speak to your superiors when you are in the presence of Dauntless members and their dependants."

"If you have questions remember where you are before you ask. Once you are in private we have no problem with you either asking questions or questioning why things may be done a certain way. But we will not tolerate insubordination in front of others. You will be given an office to share, although I doubt you will see much of each other in the next few months."

"At any time within the next five months it may be decided who will be chosen as the next leader of this faction or it may not. You need to stay on your toes and work hard if you want this. Once you have finished your rotations with each leader you will then have further training. This training will be discussed if you make it that far. I will expect weekly reports from both of you on what you have learned, what you think could be improved, what you think were your strengths and weaknesses for the week and any other information you think may be relevant."

"Leadership is not an easy path and one or both of you may feel that you do not fit with the position. That being the case than I will expect you to come to me so we can discuss your job prospects. Whoever doesn't take this position will have the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of positions within Dauntless. Give your training everything you have. Four you will be shadowing me for the next month. Eric you will be with Vera. Four look over these documents while I introduce Eric to Vera."

I look over the documents that Max has given to me and it gives me a brief rundown of what each leader is in charge of. There is also a note at the bottom that makes me aware that although they have their assigned areas this could change or have other duties assigned at any given moment. Leaders are on call twenty-four hours a day seven days a week but this does not mean that they have assigned hours that they are expected to work.

There is to be at least one leader within the compound at any given time and that there is a coordinator who is tasked with making sure that this happens. All leaders need to be able to be contacted in case of an emergency and are required to work at least one weekend a month. They are also expected to keep up to date with all areas of physical training and need to go through their fear simulation at least once every two years in front of the other leaders.

Max does a daily walk around Dauntless to make sure everything is running smoothly. There isn't a member that he doesn't know and he acknowledges each and every one by name. Not only that he is able to hold conversation with each member about members of their families. I don't know how he does it but he also knows their children's names and ages. You can see the respect that the members have for him and they appreciate the time he takes to stop and talk.

"How do you remember everyone?" I ask him.

"Well I was lucky to have been Dauntless born. Although I mostly got to know the older members from getting my arse kicked when I was younger from getting into trouble. I put the Pedrad brothers to shame with what I used to get up to. Over the years I have made it a priority to make sure I know who my members are," he says.

"The more respect you show them the more they will show you. I need to know what the people are up to Four. If I don't that is when we have trouble. You're smart Four, you will pick up their names soon enough. You do realise they all know you."

"Really?" I say. The surprise is evident in my voice.

"Four you were first in your class and only had four fears. Those are both extremely important to our members. They take great pride in your accomplishments. They have a respect for you that will serve you well in leadership in years to come. Earning the respect of others in a faction such as ours can be quite difficult. Your hard work during initiation has given you the respect others can only dream of. This is one of the reasons I wanted you for leader. You may not see it but you are a natural choice for this position. You work hard to achieve what you want and people see that, they respect it. You are strong willed and won't be easily manipulated by others."

I wonder what he means by not being easily manipulated by others. My first thought is that he is talking about Jeanine Matthews. My second thought is, who in leadership does he not trust. I suppose time will tell.

My first month of training with Max went all too quickly. I learnt that Max stays mainly within the compound overseeing the day to day running of the faction and is available to make decisions when the other leaders aren't here or need a sounding board.

My next leader to shadow is Vera. Vera is a Candor born transfer and even after twenty years in Dauntless still has no filter. Vera is in charge of commerce, including payroll, retail outlets and also our maintenance and cleaning staff. She is easy to get along with because she will tell you what she thinks.

And she didn't think much of Eric. My first week was mainly listening to her rant at the arrogance he portrays and that she can't stand the way he looks down on the people below him. Vera was quick to point out that upsetting our maintenance staff can be catastrophic to the day to day running of our faction.

Whilst Eric was in her care he upset the head of the maintenance department, Jason, and we all found out about it. Jason decided that until Eric came and apologised for his rude behaviour towards his staff he wasn't going to be fixing any blocked toilets.

It seemed almost comical at first, that is until the toilets in the Pire blocked up and then Max had to become involved. Eric quickly made his apologies and Max even made him give Jason and his team a hand in fixing the problem. It was a good lesson to see just how important all members of our faction are and that pissing people of just because you can is not going to win you any friends. It probably has also helped me to be ahead of Eric for the leadership position. I can only hope.

Next I am put with Scott. He was a transfer from Amity and you wouldn't know it. Except for him trying to convince the chefs in the dining hall that Amity bread should be on the menu. They tell me that it has become a running joke between him and the chefs and that whenever Scott gets the chance to visit Amity he always brings back as much peace serum as he can. Lucky for me he didn't have any available because otherwise I'm sure he would have had me sitting in his office sharing some.

I tried to convince the chefs to reveal the recipe for the Dauntless cake but I didn't stand a chance. It seems that whenever someone goes to work in the kitchen they have to sign a confidentiality agreement that they will not disclose how it is made. The repercussions of disclosing such a thing has led to members been given memory serum. Also if for some reason you are made factionless you have given them written permission to administer the memory serum. All for Dauntless cake. Can't say I agree with the extreme measures but it seems no one has ever disclosed the recipe so the threat seems to be working.

Scott is also in charge of child care and any dependant issues that can arise. It seems that there is a lot of leeway given to what dependants can get up to without getting in trouble. Scott had to remind me that we are Dauntless and with that comes a certain amount of rule breaking. He said he would rather they get it out of their systems before they choose than after. Although that doesn't always work we need to remember that we are not a police state and kids will be kids.

My third month is with Graham an Erudite born. To say he doesn't like me is an understatement. He has been happy to make jabs wherever possible about me coming from Abnegation. I have too much to learn to take much notice of what he is saying.

He is in charge of the infirmary and our IT department. Both are very Erudite departments and suit his personality. I'm sure he just loved having Eric follow him around. I haven't seen much of Eric but I do know that he and Scott did not see eye to eye at all. I suppose there had to be someone who liked Eric.

What I did learn in between barbs about my old faction is that while the infirmary is always open we don't always have a doctor on the premises. We have only ever had one doctor who chose Dauntless and then went to Erudite to be trained. All other doctors we have are from Erudite. Some were Dauntless born and transferred to Erudite, these doctors will often stay in Dauntless when they are on rotation to stay here in Dauntless. It means they can see their families and not be seen as a faction traitor. The others usually travel daily to our infirmary.

Nurses are from our faction who have gone to Erudite for their training and then returned. There is always a nurse on duty and they can quickly assess you and request assistance from a doctor if needed. For the extreme and serious cases we are able to have members quickly transferred to Erudite if needed.

My last rotation is with Matt. He is Dauntless born and is the leader I will be replacing if I get the job. I'm excited that this will be the person I will be replacing because he is in charge of the control room, initiate training, weapon development and all security teams within the factions. This means that for Dauntless he is in charge of fence guards, policing and patrolling the city and Dauntless security. For the other factions he is in charge of making sure that the other factions have small but efficient security teams for their factions that are proficient in being able to defend themselves in both hand to hand and gun control.

While Matt doesn't actually train he does oversee the people who do. While our initiation instructors are good the team of trainers we have that oversee our members once they are in a specific job are extraordinary. These trainers are also in charge of keeping the leaders in the best shape they possibly can be in.

I started to work with Jeff a few months ago. Not because I have too, that comes later in training but we were in the training room one night and got to talking and I found out that in his down time he comes here to get his own training in. So we have started to train together a few nights a week. I'm sure it will help me in the next part of my training schedule as leader and I also enjoy the workout so it is a win win really.

I am on my way to Max's office for a meeting. I am sure that he will be telling Eric and I what is going to be coming up in our next stages of training. That or he will be telling me that I need to choose a different position. I knock and I hear Max say enter. I walk into the room to find Max and Matt sitting around Max's table.

"Four, good you are on time," Max says. "Sit we have some things to discuss."

I take the only available seat in the office and I wonder why Matt is also here.

"After discussions with the other leaders we have decided that we believe that you are the best man for the leadership position," Max says with a small smile.

"So from now on you will be training under Matt."

I look over and see that Matt is smiling back at me. I think I still have my mouth open in shock. I can't believe that they are actually offering me the position. I thought that with the influence of Jeanine Matthews that Eric would end up with the position. There were times when I had considered just quitting especially after spending my time with Graham. Eric must be beyond pissed at the moment

"You will also be given a personal trainer. I hear you have been working in your spare time with Jeff so I think it would be good if you continue with him, he is an excellent fighter. Matt will give you a run down on what you will be doing over the coming months. As soon as Matt feels you are ready to take over the position he will retire and you will take over the position permanently."

"For now though you will be given a week off for a reward for all your hard work. In that time, you will need to move into your new apartment in the leadership wing. These apartments are given to only our highest ranking members. This includes leaders, ambassadors, retired leaders and a few select members. While you are free to have whoever you choose visit you at your apartment remember the position you hold. You are young and while I expect you to be out socializing with your friends I would appreciate if we don't have any Dare parties held in the leadership wing. Unless all leaders are invited of course," he says with a wink.

I don't think he will need to worry about who I am inviting over to my apartment. I have lived here for six months now and I haven't had anyone visit my apartment. Although I have my friends, I like my privacy.

"Yes Sir," I say. "Thank you."

"Oh and Four. Be careful, Eric is out for blood. He isn't happy that he is out of the running for leadership. It probably didn't help that I then refused to let him become an Ambassador for Dauntless," Max says.

"Great," I say.

"One more thing Four," Max says. I turn to look at him and he says, "Eric has asked to become an initiate instructor."

"Why would you do that Max?" Matt asks.

"Matt he might be a lot of things but I think he will make a good instructor," Max says.

"I hope you're right Max," Matt says.

I walk into the dining hall hoping that Zeke and Shauna are here so I can share my good news with them. But instead I am stopped by Eric.

"Four."

"Eric."

"Don't think just because you have the position that one day I won't take it from you," Eric says.

"Well Eric, I think you need to stop coming in second place if you want that to happen," I say.

"You won't last in the position. They may think you're special but we both know you're not," he says.

"And we both know that even with Jeanine Matthews in your corner you still couldn't live up to the expectations of our Dauntless leaders," I say. With that I walk away, Eric isn't worth the trouble and if I had stayed there it would have ended up in a fight. I fight I am sure I would have won but I refuse to sink to his level. Let him think what he likes, if it wasn't for Jeanine, Max would never have had him in the leadership program to begin with.