Sorry this one took a little longer to be put up. I didn't realize how long the Ferris wheel chapter was in the book. I am been working hard for two days trying to get it right. I'll upload three chapters tomorrow to make up for it:) Feel free to review!
Four was glad the next day when he entered the combat room and saw no sign of Eric. He must be giving him back control after the stunt he pulled two days ago. Four set up the fights and gave Tris the easiest opponent since she was still moving very slowly. Myra was not much of a fighter and even if she hit Tris it wouldn't do much damage. Four took some time to practice himself on the punching bag before he took a shower and cleaned up for that morning's training session.
The initiates filed in and he saw a sign of relief on her face when Tris saw Myra's name next to hers. When she made eye contact with him, he attempted a small smile but she looked away quickly, still not having forgiven him for the fight against Peter. As they entered the ring, he saw what a toll it was still taking on her body, the slight limp in her walk, the stiff movement of her neck and the bruises that were still covering her body. As he predicted, Tris easily won the fight, Myra only throwing a few punches before falling to the ground from Tris' first few punches. She looked so exhausted and after her fight slumped on the side near Christina. Knowing what was coming tonight, Four wished he could let her sleep but knew that wouldn't be an option for her.
Dressing in a black t-shirt, black jeans, and his black hoodie, Four headed to meet up with Eric in the pit later that night. When he arrived, he saw Eric had recruited Shauna and Jared to join on the field trip tonight. "These two are going to help even out the teams since we have an odd number. Shauna will be with you and Jared will be with me. Let's head to the dorms." They arrive at the dorms and Four turns on his flashlight ready to give the initiates a little scare. They enter the room and turn on their beams, startling some of the initiates awake. Four casually slides himself in line with Tris' bed in case anyone decides to wake them up with force. Eric shouts, "Everyone up!" and they watch the others wake up disoriented, scrambling out of bed. "Are you deaf stiff? Get up!" Eric shouts and Four glances Tris' way, so badly wanting to go over to her and explain what is happening, to wipe the look of terror off her face. As he watches her stumble out of bed, he notices she sleeps fully clothed as he did when he first arrived here. His 18 year old brain takes over, wanting to wrap her up in his arms and lie in bed with her. As he watches them all scramble to get dressed, he is brought back to the night of his first paintball fight.
Four is woken up to shouting, "Get up newbies, get out of bed!" He scrambles out of bed, glad he sleeps fully clothed. He notices some of the initiates don't and he feels a blush take over his face. As Shauna jumps out of bed in a skimpy t-shirt and her underwear, Four notices her glance at him with a sly smile on her face, knowing fully well why his face is beat red. "Like what you see stiff?" she jokes. Zeke also is out of his bed and Four finds out he sleeps fully nude which causes the blush to continue down his neck.
The counselors tell them they have 10 minutes to get dressed and meet them on the train platform, "If any of you are late and miss the train, feel free to leave the compound immediately." Four rushes to get his shoes on and heads for the door, only to be shoved into the corner by Eric as he pushes past him. Zeke helps him up and they head to the platform.
They are broken into two teams, Four is with Amar and Eric is with Tori. Four's only goal tonight is to beat Eric and show him once and for all that he is better than him. His team jumps off first and runs to the end of the pier, strategizing where they should hide their flag. As they all bicker, Amar stands back assessing the situation. Four finally speaks over the rest, stating that they should hide it on the carousel because the bright colors of the rides will help camouflage the flag's bright orange color. Amar looks at him respectively and everyone follows suit. After hiding the flag under the bench seat, everyone turns to Four for directions on how to proceed.
Four becomes uncomfortable with the attention and turns to Amar. "You seem to have a handle on strategizing, what do you suggest we do next?" Four stares blankly until he realizes they need to find out where the other flag is. "Let's send out two scouts, your job is to defend each other but if one is spotted and hit the other should come back here immediately instead of engaging. If you find where the flag is, come back and we will head out in two teams, one as a distraction, one to retrieve the flag." Amar nods along and sends out Zeke and Leslie . The rest of them lie in wait hidden around their flag. Amar is next to Four and asks him what he thinks the purpose of this exercise is. "I believe it's to develop teamwork and strategy planning. A good leader and protector has to have both." "You have quite a lot of promise Four, it's hard to believe you came from Abnegation." Four swells with pride but realizes he may be letting his divergence show too much. Amar is eyeing him slightly and he realizes he should be careful how he proceeds in the future. Four turns to look at the Ferris wheel as they wait, finding it hard to believe people used to ride that for fun. Amar notices his attention on the wheel, "Would you have ridden that when it was operational?" Four blanches at the question, tilting his head to see the very top. "Not even if someone threatened my life." Four let out a small laugh that sounded slightly strained. "Heights bother you too? It's amazing we can function in Dauntless isn't it." Four gave Amar a surprised look, he hadn't met anyone else from Dauntless that had a fear of heights. "Some days are harder than others." Amar smiled, "Wait until you we start round 2, you are going to love the glass room."
Before Four could ask, he heard Zeke join their group. "They got Leslie, but I know where their flag is. They have it tucked in an abandoned restaurant's fake palm tree. Good hiding place for something bright green but I could see it blinking." Everyone turned back to Four and he split up the groups, keeping Zeke and Amar with him and sending the rest around the left side to distract the group. The three boys snuck up and saw that Eric and Shauna were guarding the flag. Looking at Zeke, Four communicated silently that he would take out Eric and Zeke would take out Shauna. They crept around the building, staying in the shadows. Four positioned himself with his gun aiming on Eric's chest, looked quickly at Zeke who gave him a thumbs up and they fired simultaneously eliminating both people guarding the flag. Four and Zeke ran up and grabbed the flag together letting out a loud whoop. The last thing Four saw was Eric's furious face as he threw his gun into the swamp and stormed off.
Four snaps out of his daze and noticed that something was happening between Tris and Eric. She stood in her pajamas, that weren't that concealing, staring Eric down. Four couldn't believe how brave she was to do that while wearing barely anything. She was becoming more Dauntless every day. Eric broke the contact, barking at the initiates, "Five minutes! Be at the tracks or leave." He turned and stormed out.
As we were waiting on the tracks for them, Four saw Eric pacing like he was ready to murder someone. He realized he was going to have to remind Tris not to push him too far and might have to pick her to keep her safe from Eric. He knew this would add more suspicion towards them but he would rather have that than Eric have a free shot at her while Four wasn't around.
The initiates arrive and Eric tells everyone to grab a gun and line up for the train. Four watches Tris hesitantly grab a gun and knows she is very unsure of what is happening. He also sees her throw a glance in Peter's direction and step between Will, Christina, and Al. Eric turns to Four, "Timetable on the train?" Four laughs and asks, "When are you going to memorize the train schedule yourself Eric?" Eric just glares at him, and Four answers by pointing at the light approaching him. Little does Eric know, Four has the schedule memorized so well because he had planned on using them at one point to leave Dauntless before a small blonde girl changed his mind.
As the train approaches, Four slides his gun across his shoulder, jogs alongside and jumps on. He turns around to see Tris right behind him and can't resist. He sticks out his arm and she grabs his hand. He easily lifts her onto the train, after almost dropping her from the shock running up his arm at her touch. He smiles inwardly, happy Al isn't the one to help this time and watches as she releases his hand immediately after getting on the train and rushes to the back corner. He wonders if she felt the electricity as well from their touch.
"We'll be dividing up in two teams to play capture the flag. Each team will have 6 members, dauntless-born and transfers split up equally. One team will get off first and find a place to hide their flag then the second team will do the same down the line. This is a tradition, take it seriously," Four speaks to the group.
When someone asks what they get if they win, Four and Eric are on the same page for the first time in their lives. They look at each other with a smirk and then glare at the person asking. Four responds first, "Sounds like a questions someone who isn't from Dauntless would ask. You get to win." Even the Dauntless born initiates give him the look of 'how stupid can you be?' Eric doesn't even ask Four who should choose first, knowing this is coming from the two years Four has beat him at capture the flag.
"Edward." Four notices the fire leave Tris' eyes and sees the defeat on her face thinking she will be chosen last. Four knows he has to pick her not only to keep her away from Eric but just so he can focus on the game. He also knows Eric is going to use this against him at some point but he has already made up his mind.
"I want the stiff." Four strategically used the slang for her as to not appear too attached and kept his body language casual, leaning against the train door as if this was a bore for him. People start to snicker and he has to take a deep breath to stop himself from yelling at them as he watches her face fall and blush. She gives him a glare and walks over to his side of the train. Eric continues the embarrassment by asking, "Got something to prove? Or are you picking the weak ones so you have someone to blame it on?" "Something like that," Four responds vaguely knowing exactly how Eric is going to play this game and how Four is going to win it. Capture the flag isn't about brute strength, which has always been Eric's strategy, but speed and brains.
They continue to pick teams and Four ends up with Christina, Will and Drew from the transfers as well as Uriah, Marlene and Shauna to round out his team. After picking, Eric tells Four his team can get off second but Four just laughs, realizing Eric wants to be by the Ferris wheel since Four has won both years by starting there but it's not going to happen. "Don't do me any favors." Eric gives Four a hard look before moving from the door so Four's team can jump. As the train approaches, he watches Al give Tris a sad puppy dog look that they aren't on the same team and he found a third benefit to picking Tris, keeping her apart from that oaf. He sees Tris walk over to the door to get ready to jump and watches as Peter reaches a hand up to try to shove her out. Thankfully she had her feet firmly planted and was able to stay in the car. Four gives the signal and his team jumps from the train, not after he gives Peter a swift kick to the shin as he jumps. He hears Peter let out a curse as he flies through the air.
They all join up after exiting the train and Marlene approaches him. "So Four, where did you put the flag when your team won?" She bats her eyes at him and he just turns away and addresses the whole group. "Why would I tell you that? It would defeat the purpose of this exercise." Marlene steps closer to him and places her hand on his arm and says in a sickly sweet voice, "Just tell us Four." He looks her square in the eyes, removes her hand from his arm and turns to the group. As he does, he notices a grin on Tris' face and hopes it's because he brushed off Marlene's arm. Before he could ask what their strategy is, Uriah blurts out, "On Navy Pier at the carousel. My brother was in the group with Four." Four scowls at him and will have to remember to tell Zeke to shut him up. The group decides to head toward the carousel and as they are running he sees Tris glance toward Erudite headquarters. Four wonders her attachment could be to that building.
The group stops and Four addresses them, "In ten minutes the other team will pick their location. We need to formulate a strategy, because mental preparedness is important for all Dauntless as we are the protectors of the city. Many believe it is the most important." Four pulls out the orange flag and hands it to Will, stepping back and sitting on the carousel, letting the group talk and his eyes drift to the sky. At these moments, out of the compound without any eyes watching him, Four feels the most free.
As he's sitting there, he can't help but smirk at the lack of organization as the initiates scramble for control and their voice to be heard. He noticed one voice was missing and thought maybe she was letting her Abnegation show by having others talk first. As he glanced around, he saw a small figure heading away from the group, toward the Ferris wheel. Four paled slightly at the thought of the wheel but decides he should follow her. He checks that the others are fine, slowing finding voices to listen to and ones to ignore. Four gets up and casually heads over toward the wheel, seeing Tris check if the others are watching her and then sizes up the Ferris wheel. He sees her grab a rung and tests it with her weight. As she pulls her body up on the first rung, Four sees the wince left over from her fight with Peter. He steps closer to her and whispers her name, hoping he won't make her jump. "Tris." She doesn't even flinch and turns to look him square in the eyes. "What are you doing?" "I'm seeking higher ground; I don't think I'm doing anything." She turns away from him and continues to climb. Four shakes his head at her sassy response and grabs the rung below her. He takes a deep breath to steady his fear, realizing Tris must be really special if he is facing this fear for her. "All right, I'm coming."
She throws a dirty look back at him and responds, "I'll be fine!" "Undoubtedly." He responds honestly, never doubting her ability for a second. The funny part was that he wasn't sure if he was going to be fine but he climbed anyway. He wasn't going for her sake, he was going for his, regardless of his fears. He realized he couldn't let her climb to her death.
"So tell me, what do you think the purpose of this exercise is? The game, not the climbing?" He mostly asked to fill the silence of being many feet off the ground, but is also feeling her out for possible divergence, this Ferris wheel stunt was out of the realm of thinking for Dauntless. He remembered Amar at that moment and felt a small pain at the loss of his instructor.
Tris looked down and her worried face showed how high they were off the ground which in turn made Four's stomach flip flop. She looked away from the ground and set her eyes on the platform above them, Four sighing in relief that he won't have to climb the whole wheel. She finally answers his question. "Learning about strategy, it's important when working to protect someone or something. And maybe teamwork too?" Four stops the laugh from slipping out that he knows will sound like hysteria. This left a small smirk on his mouth that Tris interpreted as her answer being wrong.
"Maybe not, it doesn't seem like a dauntless trait," she responds. Four is sad at the thought of how his faction has changed in the past two years. "It's supposed to be, it used to be," he said. Four thinks about what drew him to Dauntless from Abnegation and realizes that is what it was and why he was so eager to leave before Tris. Watching them all together, he knew that if this were his faction, Marcus would never be able to lay a hand on him again. Sadly, the faction has drifted from that ideal of working together and protecting one another to thinking of one self and proving individual bravery.
As he's thinking, he notices Tris shaking slightly and her hand almost misses the rung. He hand immediately leaves the rung it's on in case he has to help her but she adjusts herself. "What do you think this has to do with bravery?" Tris thinks a moment and her answer drifts down to him. "It prepares you to act quickly and learn strategy you might need in a situation where your body may normally shut down." As she says this she looks down at him and gives him a curious look. "Are you ok Four?" He can't understand how she is so calm. "Are you human Tris? This doesn't scare you at all?" Her eyes scan the ground and he closes his eyes at the thought of how far away that is. He opens his eyes as a breeze presses against his face and he hears her gasp. Her arms cling to the rungs as her foot slips. Without thinking, Four presses his hand to her hip, fingers slipping under the fabric of her shirt. He steadies her as she adjusts her feet and it's all he can do to hang on. The feeling of her skin on his caught him off guard. He steadies her but seems to have lost his breath. Tris sounds out of breath too but Four assumes it is from falling but hoping it's from more.
"You ok?" he asks as he quickly removes his hand. She replies with a strained, "yes," and continues to climb. As she reaches the platform, Four sees her slide over to make room for him. He pulls himself up and sits at the back, as far away from the edge as possible. Tris examines his movements for a minute before exclaiming, "You're afraid of heights! How do you survive in the compound?" She looked at him in amazement, which stopped him from his usual denial he gave other Dauntless members. "I ignore the fear, pretend it doesn't exist when I make decisions." Again, the look of awe she gave him made him realize he wanted to share all his secrets with her. She didn't give him the look of pity that people normally did when they found out who he was and where he was from. There was a glint of something else in her eye as well, something he felt he mirrored in his feelings for her but Four couldn't be sure. He could feel the wheels set into motion, at this moment, there was no going back on his feelings for her.
Tris then concentrates on studying the landscape and Four winces when he hears her say, "We aren't high enough. I'm going to climb." "For god's sake Stiff!" He couldn't help his outburst of emotions at the thought of going any higher. She smirked and said, "You don't have to follow me." Four loyally stood up, "Yes I do." They began to climb and Four saw some panic in her as they reached the highest they could climb. He forgot his own fear, his only goal was to help calm her down. He waited for her to prop herself up on the bars and them climbed up behind her. "See that?" Four turned his head in the direction she was pointing, looking right over her shoulder. He realized if he leaned forward half an inch her entire body would be pressing against his and it took all his willpower to not close that gap.
Four moved his head slightly so his chin was next to her head, breathed in her scent, and heard her shallow breath. It must be from the height but he knew why his breath was shallow and hoped hers was from the same reason. "I see the flag." As she analyzed the situation he realized how brilliant this girl was and how much more it made him like her. "It's coming from the park at the end of the pier. It figures, Eric was smart. The flag is surrounded by open space but the trees provide camouflage. It won't be easy to get." She looked over her shoulder to gauge his reaction and gasped, she must not have realized Four's face was so close. His body was screaming for contact but he refused to give in. She looks nervous at first, studying his face as Four studied hers. He notices how her mouth curved down just like his and her eyes were much fiercer up-close. He knew if they didn't move soon, he was going to lose the last scrap of self-control he was holding on so tightly too. "We should start climbing down. I'll follow you," she says as if reading his mind.
Four's hands are shaking from many reasons at this point, but he starts to make his way down, listening to Tris' descent for any problems. He hears the bar creak before she has time to react, followed by her screaming out his name, "Four!" His eyes meet hers as the bar gives away and she is dangling from the scaffolding.
Four has two choices, try to climb up and risk falling himself, or going to the ground and seeing if this thing moves. Four sees her trying to calm herself down. "Hold on! I have an idea, just hold on!"
Four climbs down as fast as he can, a new fear taking the place of heights right now. He can't lost her, not like this. The Ferris wheel better work. As he reaches the ground he hears her yell, "Four!" louder and more strained. He wrenches open the control panel and searches for the button that will get this to move. He punches it and prays that the ancient thing still works. The wheel groans to life and as it begins moving, he hears her scream. His eyes search for her and thankfully see her still holding on. There is nothing else Four can do so now he waits in agony as the wheel rotates very slowly. As she gets closer to the ground, he realizes if she doesn't jump off at the right time, she will be crushed by the cars. Just as he is going to warn her, he sees her eyes calculating the exact same thing. He holds his breath and she times her release, drops to the ground, and rolls out of the way narrowly missed by the car. His breath forces its' way out of his body and he rushes over to her.
He finds her wrapped up on the ground with her hands covering her face. Four slowly pries them off and looks deep into her eyes. "You all right?" He holds her hands between his, rubbing them to help with the shock. It feels so right to hold her and he wishes he had the right to wrap his arms around her. She mumbles a "yeah" and they both begin to laugh out of sheer terror at what they just survived. As Four watches her laugh, his body surges with fire as her laughter fills him. He realizes how close he is to her yet again and the space between them feels charged.
Four stands and pulls her up with him from the ground. As the wind tosses her hair, she has never been more beautiful, the fear flushing her cheeks and laughter still dancing in her eyes. "You could have told me the Ferris wheel worked. We wouldn't have had to climb it." "I didn't know until you were hanging there. I took a risk." He realizes they have to get back to the group, but not wanting to let go of her quite yet, he grabs her arm and begins to walk with her. All he wants to do right now is grab her face and kiss her but the moment has passed, if it was ever there. Tris attempts to keep up next to him, limping along as he slightly slows his pace.
Four sees Christina and Shauna sitting on the carousel alone. "Where did the others go?" Four asks. He's full of energy, coming from the contact with Tris. Shauna ignores his question and yells at him, "Did you turn the wheel on? You just gave away our position! I don't want to lose for a third year in a row, that's why I volunteered for your team Four!" "None of that matters. Due to your fellow initiate's quick thinking we know where they are." Four gestured to Tris who seemed to stand prouder as he acknowledged her accomplishments. "We?" Four turned and saw jealously from Christina and Tris' pride diminish slightly. He was too far in to let anyone insult her now, not caring who saw him stand up for her. Four responds to Christina, "Yes, while the rest of you were twiddling your thumbs, Tris climbed the Ferris wheel to look for the other team." Everyone turned and stared at her in amazement, some of the Dauntless born showing some more respect for her. They recognized, more than the transfers, what an act of true bravery was.
"What do we do now?" someone asked. Everyone turns to Tris, and Four follows suit giving her the respect she deserves. She straightens even more under the scrunty, which makes Four swell with pride. "We will split up, four will go to the right and three to the left. The group of four will charge and draw their attention as the three will sneak behind for the flag. It's hidden up in the trees to provide more cover." Four sees more resentment in Christina's eyes as Tris takes over command and he hopes for Tris' sake that it will blow over.
Tris breaks the groups up brilliantly although Four was sad she didn't pick him to join her. He knows why and realizes yet again his feelings are clouding his judgment. She chose Christina and Uriah who are quick and small, easy to move around while still avoiding detection. Eric would be watching extra close for Four so it's a good thing he is exposing himself to the group.
They all take off running with Four's group going to the right and Tris' group going to the left. Four gives her one last glance as the building separates them and enjoys watching her sprint, looking very carefree. He remembers the first time he was able to run after leaving Abnegation and it is a freeing feeling. As Four's group rounds the corner, he notices Eric's group lounging around not putting much effort into the game. This was how he lost the two previous years and Four isn't surprised he hasn't changed. Eric doesn't believe he has to put effort into it when he picks what he feels is a superior team. Fours group slows and then bursts out from the shadows when they all gather together. Eric's group sees them but can't respond quick enough due to their guns being on the ground. Three of the eight are disabled before anyone can shoot. Eric's pellets whiz over Four's head and he smirks. Eric never changes. Four slides behind a large rock and hears Eric rushing him. He waits until the last moment, stands, and shoots. Eric's chest is dotted with pellets and Four rushes past him.
As the team is finished off, he sees the other group slip through the trees and watches as Tris attempts to grab the flag. Sadly he watches as the new Dauntless qualities take over and instead of helping the teammate who devised the entire plan, Christina reaches over her head and grabs the flag before Tris. He sees her say something and it must have been bad because Tris turns and walks away. Amar would never have allowed that and if Eric weren't here, Four would have talked with Christina in front of the group. Unfortunately Eric was a supporter of every man for himself, so that wouldn't go over so well, especially since he lost.
Four finds Tris off to the side and walks over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder out of comfort. She looks up at him, slightly deflated from Christina's betrayal and he again wants to wrap her up in his arms to protect her. "Well done." He gives her a warm smile after whispering in her ear and walks off.
As they get back on the train, Four sees the silver lining of Christina's betrayal. Eric's team is giving her nasty looks due to her outsmarting their team and Tris is accepted by the Dauntless born which will provide her more protection when Four isn't around. He sees Uriah sidle up next to her and coat her face in paint as he plays with a paintball. He proceeds to coat his mouth as well and Four happily watches Tris laugh with them, some of the weight lifting off her shoulders, but wishing he could sit and be carefree with her. Maybe they will get a chance in the near future. Of course, Four is going to have to have a talk with Uriah about keeping his distance.