Don't worry, I try to stick to the story as much as I can. Tris will be first at the end of initiation. I wouldn't take that away from her. She earned there will only be six more chapters left of this story. Do you guys want more? I can keep going and follow the Insurgent plot line too. If I'm going to do that then I will need to figure out a name for the story. What do you guys think?
Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.
Chapter 15: Protection Detail
Uriah walks me through one of the many halls I haven't been in yet. I follow people, not much of an explorer. Why we are by ourselves, I don't know. But I like it. No expectations and people's comments. We just walk.
"How bad was it?" He asks me.
"I was chained to the wall in a white room. Peter first had Christina, Then Al." I sigh. "Will was more defiant and telling me I had to try to get free. Lynn flat out told me that I needed to get out, while Marlene just smiled and told me I could as Lynn got punched by him." Uriah remains quiet as I talk. "Then it was Tris. I went frantic seeing her. I still couldn't break the chains. I just sunk to my knees." I swallow hard and stop. Uriah moves his hand to my waist and pulls me into him.
"I get it. No more." He says quietly as he holds me. I pull away from him. I don't want to cry. It was all fake.
"I'm just glad Peter snapped me out of my funk. It was getting bad." I state as we walk again.
"Yes it was."Uriah agrees truthfully. I laugh.
"It was bad, wasn't it?" I know the answer. "Thank you for dealing with me."
"I deal with you because you're worth it." I roll my eyes.
"One thing Peter called me in my fear." I scoff.
"Don't believe that." Uriah says. The hall is getting darker and darker, but I don't care. I'm with Uriah. "Peter will never touch us." He smiles at me. "I would beat the living crap out of him before he can touch me. After all he did get third place in stage one and I got first in mine." He smirks and I can't help but smile.
"Thanks." I look to the ground. "It helps."
"I'm doing my job." He says cocky. I elbow him in the gut and laugh a little bit. "Ready to go to sleep."
"I don't want to." I tell him. "Would rather be walking with you. Not sure I can handle Peter right now."
"Fair. I can stay up a little bit longer with you." He says as we turn a corner. This is Bass's hallway. His room is the third door on the left side of the hall. I stop. "What?" I hush him.
"This is Four's hall. He is going to yell at me for earlier." I whisper to him. Uriah looks at me weird.
"He's not going to yell at you." He laughs. "Worst thing he would do is tell you to go to bed."
"You don't know him like I do." I whisper without thinking.
"I've known him for two years, Andy. How do you know him better than me?" I shake my head.
"He is frightening during training." I lie. "Christina is scared of him." I add. Uriah just shakes his head and walks. "What are you doing?" I ask him as I walk behind him. "You need to stop." He gets to the door before me and knock and I feel my face pale. I grab him wrist and pull him away from the door.
"Andy, Uriah. What are you doing?" I stop and turn towards my brother.
"Hi." I let go of Uriah's hand and wave at him. "Uriah accidently hit the door. We are just leav…"
"She thinks you're pissed at her." Uriah cuts me off and I punch him in the arm.
"Uriah." I snap quietly.
"I am." He says and turns and looks at him.
"See." I roll my eyes. "I'm sorry; Uriah made me do it…" I say quickly.
"I made you do nothing. You wanted to shoot the gun." He protests and Bass just looks between us.
"I mean taking me to the room." I tell him before looking back at Bass. "He dragged me there. You know the state of mind I was in. Well as soon as I got to the dorm. Peter made me snap and if it wasn't for Will and Christina, he would be in the hospital. It's not my fault." I stammer out. Bass just stares at me before looking at Uriah.
"All I need to do is stare at her to get her to spill her guts." He says before rolling his eyes and reaching his hand behind his back and pulls something out.
"My knife." I go to grab it, but Bass snaps it out of my reach. I press my lips and look at it.
"Andy, why didn't you tell me about Eric?" he asks. "I could have taken care of it." I glance at Uriah and groan.
"I can handle myself. Eric doesn't give me crap anymore. In fact he hasn't talked to me since the zip lining trip." I explain as I reach for the knife and he just moves it and holds it above his head. Why does he have to be an inch taller? "Please, give me the knife." I look at his face now. "I need it."
"Only because Peter went after you last time." He gives me the knife and I go to slip it into the band of my underwear and stop.
"I can't do that." So I turn away from them and slip the knife into my bra. I turn around and Uriah is laughing.
"Really?" He asks.
"What? I don't want to get there and not have a way to get the advantage if he goes after me." I defend myself. "Normally I have pants on."
"Why are you wearing a dress anyway?" He asks me.
"I was wearing pants in my fear and I couldn't get the feeling of blood off of me. Dress took care of the feeling." I tell him simply before looking at my brother. "Get it done with." I groan. Bass just looks at me.
"Leave me alone." He says before shutting the door in our faces.
"See he isn't that pissed." Uriah says before walking down the hall again.
"You didn't hear him? He is pissed." I protest as I catch up with him. Uriah just puts his arm around me and I can't help but laugh. That stare. That gets me every time.
"What's so funny, I thought you were telling me about how pissed Four is." Uriah asks as he starts to laugh.
"You are." I smile as I look at him. "You're funny, Uriah." I punch him playfully in the arm. "That's what's great about you."
"Are you telling me you like me?" he purrs out.
"No, I'm not saying that." I tell him as I look to the ceiling, I love you... "I'm not saying that at all." A blush appears on my cheeks.
"Sure, Andy. Then why are you blushing?" he pokes my cheek.
"I was thinking something." I slap his hand. "None of your business." I protest. He goes to poke my cheek again. The slap didn't work. So I turn and bite his finger.
"Dang it. Let go Andy." He cries as he tries to pull his finger away. I smirk the best I can with his finger in my teeth. "Andy, it hurts." I reluctantly let go and he shoves the finger in his mouth.
"Gross. You just took the spit off my teeth and put it in your mouth." I say before pulling the thick strap of the dress up and wiping my teeth clean.
"It hurt." He whines as he starts to wave his hand in the air.
"Don't poke my cheek again." I scoff before walking again. I feel his hands grab my shoulders and push me to the wall.
"I will poke your cheek if I want to." He says jokingly as my back touches the wall. Uriah is right in front of me. "Tell me you like me." his smile drops and I swallow hard. "Just says it please. We know the truth; I just need to hear it." I nod slowly.
"Uriah…" I bite my lip and look at him. My heart starts to pound faster. "I… um…I'm a stiff." I sigh out and hang my head. "Sorry. I can. I'm just scared." I confess quietly. He tilts my head up to look at him
"As much as I love your hair, I would rather see your eyes." Uriah says. He is serious. I swallow as I stare into his dark brown eyes.
"I..um and little uncomfortable with this, Uriah." I stutter out as I look at the look he is giving me. It's as powerful as Bass's stare, but in a different way. My heart is pounding fast. He is right against me. There is no space in between us. I swallow again. I can't say it because I haven't said it in years.
"Uncomfortable? I thought you told me to push you a little bit." He says with a tiny smirk. My hands start to sweat and I'm suddenly glad I'm not holding his hand any more. "Come on, just say it." My mouth trembles. I want to say it. Everyone knows it. I really want to say it.
"Uriah, I… I can't." I breathe out in a quiet whisper. My body is freaking out. I know I'm not afraid of him, so why is my body acting like it does? My heart pounds faster as I stare into his eyes. "I… I …" I shut my eyes and groan. His hand doesn't leave my face.
"Come on, Andy. You can say it." He says with a small smile. "It's really simple."
"It's not simple." I snap out. "Last person I said I love you to someone was my mother before she left." I shut my mouth and start to cry. My head buries into his shirt and I sob. "I'm so sorry, Uriah." He places a hand on my head and one on my back. It takes him a moment to respond
"I didn't know. I'm sorry." He whispers after a moment. "I'm not going to push you anymore." I lift my head and look into his eyes. They are sad.
"I want to say it. I want to tell you. Pushing is good. I need it." I tell him as tear fall down my cheek.
"The last thing I wanted to do was make you cry." Uriah says as he wipes my face dry. "I'm sorry." I shut my eyes. I can't say it, but can I prove it? "You don't have…" Without much thought I stand up straight and put my lips on his. I don't know how to kiss, so I will wait for him. I feel the blush creep up worse on my cheeks after a second. I open my eyes and he seems confused. I pull back and I lower my head and stop looking at him. That's not what he was asking. Damn it. I grab his arm and yank it off of me and start running as fast as I can away. Tears streaming down my face. I was wrong. I was terribly wrong. I really don't know where I'm running. I just go. "Andy." I hear my name and ignore it. He doesn't love me back, Uriah only likes me. I was wrong. I somehow make it down the hall where the second stage was. So I run to my dark hallway and sink down in the corner and sob on the ground.
"I'm so stupid." I whisper to myself. "I'm so stupid. Marcus was right." I choke a little bit. "My father was right. I'm so stupid and worthless." I curl up into a ball on the ground. I deserved all of the beatings. I start to laugh in the mist of the crying. "I'm really stupid." Suddenly, I feel a hand on me.
"You're not stupid." I jerk back and hit the wall. "Andy, I'm sorry. I didn't expect that." I feel more tears down my face. I feel a hand touch my cheek as he helps me sit up.
"I will bite that hand, if you're not careful." I say, in hopes he doesn't think I was crying, which he can feel.
"I might just poke you again." I feel his other hand poke me and I snap my teeth and bite his finger. "Damn it. I shouldn't have." He cries out and I can't help but laugh. Next thing I know, I can feel and smell his breath on my cheek. Oh God, he is going to kiss me. "Uriah, what are you do…" I feel his warm lips on mine and I stop. I feel them start to move slowly. What do I do? Follow him? He pulls away, but keeps his hand on my cheek. Rubbing the tears away.
"That's how you kiss someone." He says a little cocky. "You got to practice." I am sure he can feel the heat in my cheeks. "Follow my lead." I feel his lips on mine again and they start to move. Oh my God, Uriah is kissing me. Oh my God! Slowly I try to follow his lead. My lips move with his and my heart starts racing again and my hands start to sweat again. After about thirty seconds, he pulls away and I miss the feeling already. "There you go." I can hear the smirk in his voice. "For a beginner, you're great already. But then again. You have the best teacher." I can't help but punch him in the gut. "God, Andy." He groans out in pain as I move and sit up.
"Don't be cocky. I could have kissed a lot of times." I protest. That comment seems foreign to me.
"I doubt it." Uriah says as I feel him pull me over to him. "After all, you were from a faction of stiffs."
"I could have kissed some Dauntless or Amity or even Candors before you." I defend. I haven't, but still. He laughs and starts playing with my hair. "Stop that."
"Nope." He says as he runs his fingers through. "And no Erudite?" he ask. "Andy, I really don't care. I like you because of who you are. Not the faction you're from. Granted, Dauntless is the best." I playfully smack him in the face. "But being Dauntless doesn't mean you kiss a lot of people."
"Good. Because if this is going to work out, Uriah. I can't handle any of that." I tell him.
"This? Are you saying that…" Uriah asks just to be a butt. I smack him again. "Okay." He laughs. "I like it, just don't smack me when I'm trying to talk."
"I'm not going to willing kiss someone and not date them, you idiot." I tell him firmly. "I'm not some weirdo."
"You are weird, Andy." He laughs. I can't help but laugh too.
"You're weird too, Uriah." I deadpan and I feel his lips on mine again. My stomach starts to move as I feel his lips move. I think I like kissing. I feel his hands wrap around my waist and pull me closer to him.
"You need go to bed." He whispers to me as he pulls away. "You're exhausted." Uriah helps me up and we walk down the hall. "I will see you tomorrow." He says before kissing my cheeks and walking off somewhere. Wow, my head is full of I don't know what. I feel strange. I walk to the pit. And I hear a scream… just like the one from my fear. Al. I break out into a run. Why is Al screaming out here? I make it to the pit and stop I have a straight view of the Chasm. I see Peter, Drew and Al all around someone small. Then I hear her scream. Tris. I break into a run. I get there and the first thing I do is punch Al right in the temple. He stumbles away from Tris and I hit him again and again and again until I pin him to the wall.
"What? How!" I'm confused on why he is here, helping them. But my body is running in over drive. I look into his scared eyes and don't know what to do. I want to hurt him. There is too much adrenaline in my blood right now, but I fight it. I will regret killing him. I move away from him and turn to Peter. I got too carried away with him. Peter has her by the throat.
"There you are. You know you have a talent for hiding, like a coward." Peter growls out as he chokes Tris.
"I'm going to kill you." I shout before lunging him. He lets Tris go as I tackle Peter to the ground. Her arms slamming on the railing tells me I don't need to go after her. So I wrestle with Peter. I punch and he knees me in the gut. We are going to be at a stalemate on the ground. It's hit for hit, he rolls me over and he is winning, then I roll him on his back and I'm winning. There is no winner to this fight. We are evenly matched right now. I can't use my legs really well or dodge anything.
"Get up." I hear a male voice from behind me. I suddenly gain the strength to push Peter off of me and roll away. It's Bass. I stand up and let him take care of Peter.
"Four." Tris whisper. I walk over to her and wipe the blood off of my lip before grabbing her by her arm pits. I hear him hit him over and over again. When it's done, I turn and look at him. Bass looks pissed as he looks at Tris, against my chest. I silently hand her to him and he takes her. That's when I stare at the scene before me as Bass stares down at her. He doesn't move until she passes out. My heart is racing, but not like with Uriah, this is the anger that I felt earlier. Peter and Drew are passed out before me. I can kill them right here and right now. They hurt Tris. I reach my hand into my top.
"Ann, come." I break my glare at Peter and look at Bass. He is carrying her away. I drop my hand and breathe hard as I follow him away from them.
"Al was there too." I tell him through my teeth. I helped him.
"I know. I saw what you did to him." He deadpans as we walk into the hall that leads to his room. I'm silent as we walk through his door and he sets her on the bed. Tris looks like she did in my fear. I bite my lip and hit my head on the door frame.
"Damn it." I cuss out. "I should have been there." I really hate myself.
"What happened?" I shake my head.
"I don't know. I heard Al scream and I ran to the pit. Then Tris screamed. My body moved without me." I tell him with gritted teeth. "I should have killed him earlier."
"From the looks of it, He kicked her head pretty bad." Bass says above my comment. "She will recover, but I don't want her near them." I turn and sink down to the ground.
"Okay." I sigh. "I can't make sure she isn't when she's not with me." he nods and gets up from the bed. "Where you going?" I ask as I stand up. Bass glares at me.
"I'm going to get them to the infirmary. You are staying here." He says firmly.
"I can help." I protest, but he knows my real intentions.
"You're staying here." He says finally before walking over to me and the door. "Watch her." I nod and look over at her.
"With my life." I tell him as I look back at him. His eyes look almost black. "You love her." I whisper and he just walks out of the room. That's a yes. A loud yes. I get up off the wall and go into the bathroom. This is like my third or fourth time here. I know where most things are. I pull out a rag from the small cabinet and rinse it in the sink. I see my hands for the first time. They are coated in blood. Peter's and Al's blood. Never thought I would have Al's blood on me. I don't rinse my hands though. I turn off the water and look at my face. I have a split lip and blood around my mouth. Peter kneed me pretty well in the gut. I have a few cuts around my eyes were his knuckles cracked on my skin. Thanks to him I will have a black eye and a few bruises, but I will be fine. Tris, I don't know. I trust my brother. But I'm still leery. I walk out of the still dark bathroom and walk over her. Tris is eerily still, like when Peter made her pass out. I swallow hard and try to control my shaking and start cleaning the blood off of her face, arms and anything else that is bleeding or dirty. My heart is twisting see in her like this. "You're like a sister to me, Tris. And it's not because we come from Abnegation. I really don't know the reason." I laugh a little bit. This is sad. Tris shouldn't be like this. Edward shouldn't be factionless now. If I was there, I could have done something. I stand up and clean the rag and wet it again. Bass used to take care of me like this. I ring out the rag and fold it nicely as I walk back to her. I wonder when she will wake up. Not soon. My hand holds up her head and I slip the rag at the base of her head, right where the head meets the neck. Not sure what it does, Bass just did this to me. I set her head back down and walk over to the bathroom and turn on the water and fill my hands with water. I bring my hands to my mouth and drink. It's my fault. All my fault. I drop the water and turn off the faucet. The water tastes bitter when I think like that. Why can't I just stop doing that? I punch the frame to the door and I hear a little crack. "Shit." I pull my hand back and feel the frame. Only a little dent, but Bass will notice. I walk out of the bathroom and sit on the edge of the bed and curl up into a ball. A few moments later the door opens and Bass walks in with a hard face. "What?"
"Peter got away." He says.
"How's Drew? Is he dead?" Bass looks and me.
"No, he's breathing… barely. Helen is looking to his injuries." Bass deadpans.
"I would have stabbed him and thrown him into the chasm. No one will find him, or care too." I scoff as I pull out my knife. I hold it by the blade. Bass takes it without even having me ask.
"You shouldn't think like that." he says as he sets the knife on the table. "You're too young.."
"Bass." I shake my head. "I'm not sixteen mentally. Part of me is as old as you and the other part is as young as a little child. You can't protect me mentally anymore. Physically… I will greatly welcome, but don't waste your time with my innocents. Most of this I won't understand anyway." I look him in the eyes. "Thank you, though."
"You shouldn't have to go through this. Abnegation was the best choice." He says as he looks at Tris. "I would rather have you both there and never see you or met her. This wouldn't have happened there."
"I would have ended up killing Marcus." I shrug my shoulders. "But what does it matter now? We are both here. Plus, I made a promise to you. I'm here because you said you wanted me here before you left. We are a team. We get beaten together and we beat people together." I laugh a little bit before I yawn. "I prefer the later honestly. No one should prey on people like her, she is too pure."
"You are too, even though you went through all that crap." Bass crouches down next to me. "The fears don't say anything about your mind, Ann. Your mind is fine." I just stare at him. What? "You have a different mind than most people, but it doesn't mean you're messed up as he is." He sets a hand on my knee. "Do you understand me?" I can't move. So I just stare at him, he has a few cuts on his face and some blood, but not bad. I blink twice and his stands up. "Now get some sleep, you need it." He says before walking to the bathroom as I lay my head down on the bed like I did on Tris's hospital bed. "Did you punch my door frame?" I hear him as I shut my eyes.
"Yeah, sorry." I mumble before sleep instantly takes over me. I have been running on nothing all week expect the adrenalin I got from the fears, which didn't do my body good at all.
000
"Touched you." I hear my brother's low voice. I always wake up when he uses it.
"Not… in the way you're thinking." I hear Tris's voice. "But… almost." What? I move a little bit to signal to Bass I'm awake. "What is it?" She asks after a minute or so.
"I don't want to say this," He says. "But I feel like I have to. It's more important for you to be safe than right, for the time being. Understand?" there is a pause and his voice lowers. "But please, when you see an opportunity…Ruin them." My body gives one small jerk. He is serious. I had to miss something. I hear a little laugh.
"You're a little scary, Four. Your even scaring Andy. She is hard to scare." Tris tries to be funny.
"Do me a favor." Bass says. "And don't call me that." What?
"What should I call you, then?" I am tempted to shot my head up and look at him. I resist it.
"Nothing." He says. "Yet." Damn, I wanted to tell her. I stir a little bit more. I don't like lying here when I'm awake. I feel a hand on my head. "Andy." I open my eyes and look around. He looks at me hard. His eyes are dark. I yawn and look at him lazy.
"You are pathetic." I mumble as I sit up and stretch.
"How are you feeling?" Tris asks me as if the conversation never happened.
"Dead. You?" I ask her, trying to be funny.
"I'm okay." She says a little weakly.
"Good." I look at Bass. "What's the plan?" I yawn out.
"You're going to stay by her side in the cafeteria and basically help her look weak." I nod as I yawn again.
"Sounds good. I know how to be weak." I state.
"You being weak?" Tris asks a little confuse. I look at her.
"Yep. One of my famous past times in my old life." I mumble. "If there anything else I need to be aware of?" I look at them both with tired eyes. I see my knife in his hand. Blade in his hand. I reach for it and slip in my bra, too tired to care.
"Don't use it unless you have to." He tells me firmly.
"Tris. Remind me of that, will you doll." I stand up and stretch.
"And clean yourself up. You look like crap." Bass adds. "Tris looks better than you."
"Tris always look better than me, Four. What will change if I wash the blood of my face? I will just get more on it." I mumble as I walk to the bathroom.
"She is never like this in the morning." I hear Tris state.
"Forget about it." I hear Bass muffled voice. He is probably rubbing his nose right now. I smirk and turn on the water and look at my face.
"I look like shit." I comment as I look at my bruised and bloody face. My eyes are a little swollen because of lack of sleep. Suddenly I feel a wet rag hit me right in the face. The sting hurts. "Damn it, Four. That hurt." I take the rag and throw it in the water and rinse it off. I hear a light laugh come from Tris. "Oh shut up." I mumble before using the rag to clean the dried blood off my face and neck.
000
I feel the bed shift and I open my eyes. Tris is looking at Bass. He and I sleep the same, one hand around our head and the other by our side as we lay on stomachs. She turns and sees I'm awake and looking at her. Her bruise is forming fast.
"You two sleep the same." She whispers. I nod.
"Cool." I tell her as I sit up. "Why were you staring at him?" I yawn. Tris looks at him quickly. "You like him." I say with no smile. "You can nod or something, that's alright." she stares at me and slowly nods. "I knew it. Don't worry. I won't say anything to him. I promise."
"Just like you like Uriah?" she whispers.
"Yeah, I guess so." My heart pushes me to tell her. "I'm just more ahead than you are." I say as I glance at Bass.
"Oh. Okay." She says as she winces.
"I thought I should tell you." I mumble out. "I'm sorry."
"No, I'm just hurting." She says as she lies down again. "I'm glad that you told me. I don't want to find out from someone else." I nod.
"I don't want to lose our friendship over anything." I tell her as she settles back down. If I do something that offends you, let me know." I tell her as I get off the bed.
"I will, but where you going?" Tris asks.
"For a walk, Four is here and he is the safest person here." I tell her before walking to the door. "He is smart and will do anything to protect you." I add before slipping into the hallway and shutting the door. I walk to the pit and to where the attack happened. It's four in the morning and no one is up. So no one will see me. I walk into the Chasm and see Bass already cleaned up all the blood, or the blood was cleaned from the river. That's chance. I crouch down where I saw Tris on the ground. Why? Why hurt her? Did Peter really convince Al to help try and kill her? Drew, that's obvious. He is Peter's lackey. But Al? I shake my head as I stand up. What happened to him? He had a crush on her then suddenly, is willing to kill her. No one flips that quickly, other than me. But I'm different. I walk over to the railing and look down at the rushing water below. It seems peaceful, to a point. What if I just throw myself over? End it all? I shake my head. That is cowardly. I have lived through hell and back. I can do it again, go deeper and come out with the devil's heart… When did I start thinking about killing Eric again? I hang my head and laugh quietly. Looking at the water, rushing by, is calming. Uriah was right. Slowly, I stand up and stretch. I need to get out of this dress. I can't believe I fought in a dress last night. Tris is going to need cloths and I could use a shower. So I shake my head and walk to the dorm.
I get to the door and open it slowly and walk to my drawer. I don't see anyone up. Not that I care. I will kill Peter and Drew if they came after me. I pull out an outfit and crouch down and set it on Tris's bed. There is a shift in a bed and look around. Molly moved. I pull the drawer and watch her. She just rolled over. Still asleep. I pull out a simple outfit and shut the drawer and grab my clothes. No one wakes up. Good. Without a sound, I slip out and head to the shower. When I'm done, it's six. How long did I stand at the Chasm? Oh well. I apply some eyeliner and walk down to Bass's room. Some people are in the pit, but not much. I turn into the hall that leads to Bass's room and run right into Eric. No Uriah to save me today.
"Andy." Eric's voice is a little strained.
"What?" I lead on my left leg. He looks tired as me.
"Excuse me." He walks past me into the pit. What's gotten into him? I roll my eyes and walk to Bass's room. I slip in and close the door as quiet as possible.
"She needed fresh clothes."I hear Bass. I turn and see he's awake. He nods and I set it on the table and lean on the wall.
"I had to slip out and clear my head. Al shouldn't have been there." I inform him.
"He got jealous and confused." He tells me as he looks at Tris. "That's what I told her." I slowly nod.
"He isn't in the dorm room. She shouldn't go in there until I get enough sleep." I tell him. "I will need to talk with Will and Christina and explain it to them. I need the sleep if I'm going to keep her safe."
"The intention isn't for you to protect her. It's for them. They need to think that she is still the girl from Abnegation that just happens to be special." I nod in an agreement. "Even if she isn't."
"Was she the one you deleted the fear for?" I ask him as I look at her sleeping form.
"Yeah, she figured out how to crack the glass that was filling with water to drown her." He states. "You should sleep more." I look back at him.
"I should, but I can't figure this out. I should have been there in the Dorm." I shake my head.
"Where were you?" he asks me. I turn and look at him.
"Still with Uriah. He has been helping feel better after the Fears." I tell him truthfully. "He left me and I barely started to walk and I heard the scream from Al. I guess Peter hit him." I add.
"Okay. Go to sleep." I nod and walk over to the end of the bed and curl up into a ball and I fall asleep almost instantly.
000
"Well." Bass starts off. "I would only go if there was Cake." I jerk my head up.
"Cake?" I ask as I look around. I hear laughter and I turn my head around and see Tris and Bass right next to the mirror. Tris is still in her cloths from last night and Bass in only pants. "What?" I ask as Tris holds her hand over Bass's hand on her side.
"What's up with you and Sweets?" I hear Bass mumble as he shakes his head.
"What?" I narrow my eyes and Tris stops laughing and groans. I stand up and walk over to her clothes. I lift up the shirt to reveal the bandage I had around my ribs. "This will help." I lift it up and look at it. "It will be tight and you can't fight, but that's why you have me." I give her a big smile, which gets interrupted with a yawn.
"I'll go in first." Bass says as he moves his hand from her side. Then he looks at me. It's a look I know that says help her. I nod. "See you soon, Tris." Bass says as he pulls on a shirt and walks out the door.
"You don't need to shower, I cleaned you up pretty well already, so go put on these and I will help with the wrap after you get dressed." I hand her the cloths. "If you need me, I will help. Just ask."
000
I flank her as she leads me into the dining hall. I walk with my arms crossed over my chest and show my head proudly as I walk with Tris. She keeps her face visible, but low. I look around the room and I find Molly and Peter at a table in the same row as Christina and Will. Not right behind them, but close enough. That's not good. I find Uriah sitting with his friends in the table next to our normal one. One glance at Will's table and I see no Al. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. I walk with her to the table and let her sit down next to Will. I don't sit because I see Uriah stand up and walk over here. His eyes move from my face to hers. I let him sit in the seat I would have taken and crouch behind her, with my hand on her back gently.
"What happened?" Will is able to ask first. His voice is very quiet. Tris glances over his shoulder at Peter. Bass told me I can't touch him unless I needed to in order to protect Tris. I don't need to, by that definition.
"Peter, Drew…" She says quietly. Tris holds her side as she reaches out for some toast and it hurts her. I start rubbing her back as she hunches forward. "And… and Al."
"Oh God." Christina gasps. I don't move my gaze from the side of the face I can see.
"Are you all right?" Uriah asks. I feel Tris's body tense and look over where she is looking. Her and Peter made eye contact. I slowly stand up and glare at him as Tris turns away. Good girl.
"Not really." She says almost painfully. I can't kill him. I promised Bass. I have to force myself to turn my head and crouch again.
"But you're just…" I watch Uriah's glance at me as he presses his lips together. "It's not fair. Three against one…"
"Yeah and Peter is all about what's fair. That's why he grabbed Edward in his sleep and stabbed him in the eye." Tris deadpans and Christina laughs.
"Al, though? Are you sure, Tris?" She asks her.
"I took him off of her." I snap at her. "You will see the bruises to prove it." I bite out.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Tris says.
"It has to be desperation." Will says. He doesn't get it either. "He's been acting… I don't know. Like a different person. Ever since stage two started."
"That's because his fears where too much for him. I did the same thing as him, to a point. It would have been worse for me if I let myself sleep." I explain to him. I notice Tris drop her toast and I look at where she is looking. Drew is walking in. I smirk. Bass got the kid good. His face is swollen and there are cuts on his face. One goes through his eyebrow. I watch him as he walks over to the table with his head down.
"Did you do that?" Will hisses at Tris. She shakes her head and they look at me.
"No." She glances at me.
"What?" I look at them. "I was pissed." I think she doesn't want people knowing it was Bass. Understandable. I will tell him later.
"She came right before..." Tris stops. "I got tossed into the chasm." She says slowly. It's painful to her to hear.
"They were going to kill you?" Christina is the first one to process it.
"Maybe. They might have been planning on dangling me over it just to scare me." Tris shrugs on shoulder. "It worked." I look at the two fellow transfers. Christina is looking at her sad while Will is staring at the table. I look at Uriah and there is a small crease between his eyes. He looks at me and I shake my head slowly.
"We have to do something about this." He says quietly. Uriah is serious.
"What, like beat them up?" Christina grins and looks at me. "Looks like that's been taken care of already."
"No. That's pain they can get over." Uriah says as he looks at her. "We have to edge them out of the rankings. That will damage their future. Permanently." I smirk at him.
"I like the idea. If I can take another swing at them." I scoff. "I didn't get it all out last night. Peter and Al ran off when I was getting Tris from the railing." Uriah looks at me and shakes his head. "I'm just glad I was up at the time and within hearing distances. Thanks." I tell him as I see Bass walk over to stand next to me.
"Transfers. We're doing something different today." He says. What? What are we doing? "Follow me." He turns and starts walking. I help Tris up and I see Uriah is worried.
"Be careful." He tells her.
"Don't worry." Will places a hand on her shoulder, in between her and I. "We'll protect her." I can't help but smirk harder as Christina and Will lead her off.
"You okay?" Uriah asks me as he touches my hand. I look at him.
"I will be fine." I tell him.
"You look like hell." I look to the table and pull a muffin from the middle.
"My brother said the same thing." I laugh as I watch them walk off. Bass is leading them out of the hall. Uriah knows I can catch up with them.
"Your brother?" He asks.
"I took her to my brother's room afterward and got her cleaned up. Not smart to take her to dorm and she doesn't want it reported, apparently." I bite my muffin.
"Did she meet him?" Uriah is curious. I shake my head.
"No, she doesn't remember it anyway. At least I think she doesn't." I tell him. "Thanks for last night. I won't have been there if it wasn't for you." I smile weakly at him.
"No problem." Uriah smirks. "I enjoyed it." I can't help but blush.
"You're full of yourself." I mumble and look around. They're not in here anymore. "I got to run. See you later, Uriah." I smile at him and pat his head, messing up his hair, and run after the group. I run out of the room and into the pit. My eyes find Bass and the group in a matter of seconds. They are the only group of people more than three. I smirk and run. Looks like Bass is leading them up the path, so I run at full speed and make it there in a minute. Running past Drew, I have to grip my hands together as I run. I stop and walk next to Tris and Will. Will, is holding Tris as she walks. I don't remember her hurting her leg. Oh well. I stand on the outside edge so she can't stumble and fall off. This is the highest path.
"Pick up the pace Drew. Andy got here faster than you and she stopped to talk with her friend." I can't help but smirk and scoff at Bass's cruel joke. I look at Bass and nod my head in approval. I see his eyes look at Will and something flashes him his eye. God, Bass. He is just helping her like you wanted. We are getting to the top of the pit to the glass ceiling. Well, floor for the people up there. Four turns around and walks up the stairs that lead up past the ceiling. The light is almost blinding. Almost. I let Will and Tris go before me and walk slowly up the stairs. There are glass walls and the view isn't spectacular. Abandoned buildings are normally not the ideal view, but it's the Dauntless. I really could care less about what's going on in the room. I just stay in between Peter and Tris's line of sight. I will not hesitate killing him in front of everyone. Bass leads us into a room and it's dark. The first thing I see is the word Dauntless written on the wall behind him.
"This is a different kind of simulation known as the Fear landscape. It has been disabled for our purposes, so this isn't what it will be like the next time you see it." Bass explains. Uriah and Marlene called it a Fearscape. Guess it's short. "Through you simulations, we have stored data about your worst fear." I can't help but groan. Bass glares at me, but continues. "The fear landscape accesses that data and presents you with a series of virtual obstacles. Some of the obstacles will be fears you previously faced in your simulations. Some may be new fears. The difference is that you are aware, in the fear landscape, that it is a simulation, so you will have all your wits about you as you go through it." Great. So useless to me again. I groan and Bass glares at me. I just look away from him to the ceiling. "The number of fears you have in your landscape varies according to how many you have." Dang. I'm going to be the first to die. I shake my head. "I told you before that the third stage of initiation focuses on mental preparation." He says. "That is because it requires you to control both your emotion and your body-combine the physical abilities you learned in stage one with the emotional mastery you learned in stage two." I shift my eyes back on him. What mastery? "To keep a level head." He scans the crowd and look behind me. "Next week you will go through your fear landscapes as quickly as possible in front of a panel of dauntless leader. That will be your final test, which determines your ranking for stage three. Just as stage two of initiation is weighted move heavily than stage one, stage three is weighted the heaviest of all. Understood?" He glares at me to keep my mouth shut. I glare at him. Bass goes on and on about now about how to get through the scape. Either face it head on or calm down, like he told me earlier. "So I suggest that you take the next week to consider your Fears and develop strategies to face them."
"That doesn't sound fair." Peter says as my mouth hangs open. Did he just say Fair? I shut my mouth quickly and hold my tongue. "What if one person only has seven fears and someone had twenty? That's not their fault." I want to laugh hard and chew him out. It's getting hard to hold it in, so I let it out. Bass starts to laugh too.
"Do you really want to talk to me about what's fair?" I watch as the group part and he walks over to Peter. Deck him! Bass folds his arms. "I understand why you're worried, Peter. The events of last night certainly proved that you are a miserable coward." I smirk as narrow my eyes at him. Peter can't say anything. "So now we all know." Bass's voice is quiet. "That you're not only afraid of a tall slim girl but also afraid of a short, skinny girl from Abnegation." Bass smiles cruelly at him. Peter just stands there and looks at him.
"You're really afraid of me?" I walk over. "I would be too after I ruined your perfectly planned murder attempt." I get to Bass and go to walk closer. "You worthless…" I feel a hand on my shoulder pulling me back. "Keep your eyes open. You might just loose one." I hiss out as the grip on my shoulder tightens. Peter just stares at me, unsure how to respond. "Or both. Depends if you pray for mer…"
"Enough, Andy." Bass's voice is firm. I just shut my mouth and continue to glare at Peter. I fake lunging at him and his body jerks back only a little. Most people probably missed it. I laugh.
"Worthless coward." I shake Bass's hand off of me and walk back over to Tris and Will, still glaring at him. "Stupid." I mumble as I roll my eyes and look back at Tris. She is smiling.