So one side note, I wasn't sure as to whether Zeke was Divergent in this story or not but I made him be just to help my side of the story along. Just go with it :) Let me know what you think of the story so far if you get a chance!
Four and Tris walked to the dining hall together, everyone too distracted to notice the pair. Four couldn't remove the smile from his face after the time spent in his room. He felt closer to Tris than ever and hated that he had to pretend like nothing happened again, at least it was only for a little bit and then he didn't care who knew. He felt Tris looking at him and he met her eyes with a goofy grin. He could tell she was worried that he regretted their time together so he reached out and gave her hand a small squeeze to reassure her. He allowed her to enter the dining hall first, gave her a minute to get to her friends and then walked over to the table with Zeke.
Zeke tried to hand him a beer but Four declined, knowing if he put any alcohol in his system, he would walk over to Tris right now and kiss her in front of everyone. He needed a level head to get through this last hour apart. "Where have you been buddy? You are all smiles!" Zeke wanted information but Four wasn't going to give it up. "I'm just glad this is almost over," Four responded.
"I'll bet you are. What's the first thing you two lovebird stiffs are going to do once you can be public?" Zeke teased him. Four smacked him and then snuck a peak at Tris. He saw her talking to Christina and recognized the look of jealousy on Christina's face. She mustn't be happy with Tris' success but Four did notice Christina was sitting a little closer to Will than normal. He hoped that her new found happiness would allow for her to see past any favoritism she may think Four had toward Tris when their relationship was exposed. Four loved using that word when it came to Tris, he was in a relationship with her, he was her boyfriend. He couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face and Zeke elbowed him in the ribs.
"Maybe you should at least hold a beer bottle so people will think that stupid grin is from too much alcohol or they may start asking questions about why the biggest hard ass of Dauntless looks so freaking happy. Some people may not even recognize you, I'm surprised you know how to smile." Four was in too good of a mood to allow Zeke to spoil it so he just laughed at his joke and took the bottle, holding it but not consuming it. Four heard a microphone squeal and looked over at Eric standing on a table. 'Here it goes, once this is over I am heading straight for Tris,' Four thought.
Eric waited for everyone to quiet down and then began, "I'm not going to give a long speech, that type of eloquence is saved for the Erudite." People laughed and Four eyed him cautiously wondering how many people knew he was from there. Eric continued, "It's been an interesting year with our new initiates, regardless of how much smaller the pack was this year. We offer them our congratulations for completing initiation." Eric was drowned out at the noise of the crowd, everyone was banging cups and bottles on the table and shouting. Four saw Tris grinning and couldn't stop himself from matching it.
Eric continued, "We believe in bravery and taking action. We believe in freeing ourselves from fear to acquire the skills necessary to rid our world of the bad so the good can prosper. If you also believe in those things, then we welcome you. Tomorrow, as your first day as members, you will choose the job you would like to pursue in Dauntless. As everyone is so patiently waiting for the results, I will get to it. We've combined the initiates scores based on combat, simulations, and our fear landscape. The rankings will appear on the screen behind me." Eric steps off the table and Four shifts his body so he has a clear view of the screen, he wants to see her name at the top for himself. The names appear and Four is barely able to contain himself from standing and shouting, Tris is number one. He looks over to see Tris' table erupt in cheers, hugging and celebrating with each other. Uriah joins them and he congratulates Tris but keeps his hands off from her. Four assumes the talk he had with him the other day made its' point. Four sees her looking at the list again and he follows her eyes and sees her excitement at Drew and Molly's names on the bottom, cut from Dauntless.
Four wishes Peter would join that list as well but now that initiation was over, Tris was welcome to defend herself in any way possible and any attack on her would be taken much more seriously. Four glances back over at the table to see Tris' face still plastered with a smile and behind her Christina and Will locking lips. With everyone distracted, Four assumes this would be a perfect time to congratulate her. He makes his way over there, trying to stay out of her line of sight to surprise her.
He comes up behind her and taps her on the shoulder, aware she was just looking around for him. She turns and is beaming even brighter at the sight of him. Four leans in and asks, "Would it be too obvious if I gave you a hug?" Tris shakes her head and then answers, "You know what, I don't care right now." With that, she pulls him in for a kiss and it was the best moment of Four's life. Not only had she made it, was number one, but she chose him and wanted to be with him. The hiding was over, they could finally be seen together without any repercussions. As they break apart, he brushes his thumb across her neck and feels her stiffen. He pulls back and looks her in the eyes, "Tris?" She just shakes her head and says, "Not now." Four sees Christina and Will staring at Tris behind her. He motions their way and she turns, seeing the look of surprise on their faces.
The crowd pushes into the intiates at full force and as hard as Four tries, he can't stay connected with Tris. He is pulled away by families of the Dauntless born to discuss their rankings, especially Uriah and Zeke's mom. He tries to keep Tris in his line of sight but loses her in the crowd, cursing her height for the first time. "Zeke, have you seen Tris?"
"That eager to get this thing out in the open huh?" Zeke laughs, clearly buzzed from all the beer he has been consuming. Four shakes his head, "No it's not that, she had something to tell me, something important." Zeke laughs very loudly and grabs Four, "I'll bet she does. Did it involve a lack of clothing?" Four pushes away from Zeke and tries to find Tris but is unable to. She must have headed to the dorms. He will find her later when things have calmed down. Four heads back to his apartment, convinced he will head out when everyone else falls asleep but exhaustion from the day of excitement takes over and he falls asleep.
Four wakes up hours later to noise outside his room. He opens the door a crack to see everyone marching down the hallway, like zombies. He quickly gets dressed and steps out into the hall, staying in the shadows. He sees Zeke walk past and grabs him and pulls him into the shadows. He hears Zeke yelp slightly but then looks at Four. "You're awake? Divergent huh? What is happening?" Four shakes his head, unsure of what is going on, but then realizes what Tris was trying to tell him. "The serum they injected us with, it's a mind control thing. Everyone is in simulation, which means anyone who is Divergent isn't. You have to get to Uriah, tell him to act natural. I'll find Tris." Four and Zeke hug quickly and head off, slipping into line, acting natural.
Four tries to slide into the hallway toward the dormitory but sees Eric coming his way and looks straight ahead with blank eyes. He hopes he looks like he is under simulation, picking up a gun with the others as they pass the tables. As they continue through the Pit, he hears part of Eric's conversation with another Dauntless member, apparently they aren't under simulation. "We need to find all of them, they won't be responding the way the others are. If you see anyone who is aware, shoot them on sight. No questions." Four's stomach drops. He knows Tris is smart enough to play along but if she isn't even aware this is happening and they find her….his mind trails off and he stops himself. She has to be all right.
As he follows the group, he realizes they are heading toward the trains. His stomach drops as he realizes they are headed into the city and he would bet they are headed toward Abnegation. He scans with his eyes,not moving his head, but can't see Tris, she is too short to see over all these heads anyway. He has to hope she is looking for him and checks around him for any other leaders who may be awake. He sees only a sea of Dauntless so he continues to walk, hoping she can see him. He stops automatically to help the others on the train and notices Max watching the crowd. As he aides his fellow Dauntless on the train, he sees her coming toward him. He holds his body rigid, eyes blank. If he moves now, he will give them both away to Max and they won't stand a chance. He helps her onto the train, feels her eyes bore into him, but he doesn't acknowledge her. He can feel her body drop with the idea that he is under simulation. He helps the last person on the train and steps on himself, spotting her blonde head immediately. He keeps his eyes forward, acting as if he is going to move back to his previous place in line but stops next to her. She is looking forward and he can see she looks broken. He has to let her know he is awake but he sees Dauntless leaders scanning the trains, looking for Divergent. Since they are in the middle of the group, he feels a small movement would be safe.
He shifts his hand ever so slightly until it brushes up against hers. He laces his fingers in hers and pressed as much of himself into her as possible, which ends up being a shoulder and his palm. The little contact gives him hope they will get out of this alive, or at least together. He feels her jolt at his touch and then stand a little straighter. That was all he needed, to let her know he was there with her. He wants to look at her so badly, to reassure her with a touch, a look, a kiss, but he keeps his head forward, imagining that gun from her fear landscape pressed to her head, not wanting to experience that in real life. The least he can do is rub small circles on her hand, focusing on the person in front of him and the feel of Tris' hand in his. The train screeches to a halt and Four's stomach drops at the sight of the grey houses, he was right. He quickly glances at Tris and sees her horror shocked face. "Run," is all he says. Tris whispers, "My family."
Four gets out ahead of her and hopes she stays behind him. If anyone shoots at them, he wants to make sure those bullets are directed at him and not her. They continue walking with the other Dauntless and suddenly come upon a scene of a Dauntless member shooting an Abnegation council member in the head without even blinking. As he looked closer, his stomach dropped as he saw Tori behind the gun, with the same blank expression as the other members. Four saw various Abnegation members dropping to the ground around him and hears Tris gasp behind him. He hopes for her sake, neither of her parents were out on that street.
As the other Dauntless begin to spread out, Four finds himself and Tris lining up along some buildings. He hears a voice near Tris and risks a glance in her direction and sees Eric, walking around the group staring at them. "This is insane," Eric cooed. Four was barely able to control his body as Eric poked Tris' cheek. He held his breath but Tris stayed still as Eric stared into her face. "They really can't see us?" the other person asked Eric but Four couldn't see who it was.
"Oh they can see and hear but they aren't processing what they see and hear the same way. They receive commands from our computer into the transmitters we injected them with and carry them out seamlessly." Four feels Eric move toward him and he hopes his eyes are blank and holds his body still. He feels Eric's arrogance as Eric stares into Four's eyes. "Well isn't this a treat. The legendary Four. No one is going to remember that I can in second to some Stiff anymore are they? I won't have to hear anyone ask me again, "What was it like to train with someone who only has four fears?" Look at how mighty you are now, all those skills gone to waste with the transmitter inside your body." Four is barely able to keep from punching Eric, the only reason he did, was the girl standing next to him, his only goal to keep her alive.
He sees Eric grabs something and feels the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple. Four doesn't flinch; thanking all that training Dauntless gave him to stay steady. He can feel Tris stiffen and hopes she stays calm, doesn't make any unwise decisions. Four knows Eric would never shoot him, he can't, or at least he hopes that is the case. Eric laughs at the mysterious woman and says, "Think anyone would notice if he accidentally got shot?" Four hears the woman respond, "Go ahead, he's nothing now."
Four hears the bullet click into the chamber as Eric continues to taunt him, "Too bad you didn't take Max up on his offer Four. Well too bad for you anyway, it worked out pretty well for me." Four's lungs are burning, not having breathed since Eric approached him. He didn't want to move anything in case he gave away that he wasn't under simulation. He feels his hand twitch toward his gun but stops himself. He doesn't move but hears something to his left. Tris had her gun pressed against Eric's head and Four tries to keep his body slack, knowing he would do the same thing if a gun was pressed to her head. Tris shouts at Eric, "Get your gun away from his head."
Eric looks at her in surprise, "You won't shoot me." Four can't believe Eric is still underestimating Tris' abilities, even after she was awarded the number one spot. Four sees her hesitate slightly at taking another person's life but watches her arm shift and shoots him in the foot. The moment Eric's gun leaves his head, Four spins and shoots Eric's friend in the leg, moving faster than he ever has before. Tris' life was the most important thing to him right now and he needed to get her out of here. He felt her grab his arm and they sprint for their lives.
As they turn into an alley, Four has hope they will escape but his stomach drops as he hears footsteps behind them. Tobias squeezes Tris' hand to reassure her he would protect her, pulls her forward and sprints even faster, dragging her behind him. He is glad he ran all those mornings, keeping himself in shape to get them both away. He couldn't run fast enough though, as he hears the gun fire, he braces himself for the impact but hears a sound that will stay with him forever. He hears Tris muffle her scream and feels her fall to the ground. As Tobias turns, he sees blood pouring from her shoulder and turns back for her. She is forever Abnegation as she tells him to keep going but there is no way he could leave her behind. She is his life now, feeling his devotion toward her remove any fear still in him.
Tobias drops to her side and as calm and quietly as he can tells her, "No, I won't leave you." As he helps her up, he sees they are surrounded but the only thing on his mind was to keep Tris safe. He supports her weight, rubbing his hand on her back to try to take her mind off the pain. Eric had caught up to them but Four was happy to see he couldn't stand on the foot Tris shot.
"Divergent rebels, surrender your weapons." Four's heart dropped, assuming the worst but glad Tris was by his side. He just hoped it happened quickly, but knowing Eric, Four would suffer greatly before this was all over.