Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Divergent. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Veronica Roth.
Writer's note: Thank you delia, and munzke for your reviews! I know! Bella and Eric are fighting against their feelings for one another, and finally seeing a breakthrough is refreshing. *smiles* The next few chapters will be crazy. A lot happens! I can't wait! Don't forget to favorite, follow, and write reviews!
[Two Weeks Later]
Bella and Eric were in a good place. She felt happy with the progress they both had made. Neither defined the relationship, but they were headed in a direction that Bella could see herself being very happy with. She told Jasper she needed him to just be a friend but flirting was acceptable. She wanted to focus more on her training and she admitted that she was having too much fun lately, he understood and agreed. She also admitted to there being someone else.
Lukas and Bella were seen together more too. He got up at 4am to train with Bella before Jasper joined them. The three of them were becoming good friends, which to Tris and the others, seemed odd. Tris was moving up the board. Her firearms was getting better and she could throw knives without it bouncing off the target now. It was the small victories. Eric paired Tris with others around her same level, so he wasn't killing her so bad, except for the random spar with Edward. But Bella understood how strange it would be if Eric showed any sort of special treatment.
Things were good. They had four more weeks of round one before moving to round two and so every little bit was going to count.
They were doing something special tonight for training. Bella was excited for it, as was Lukas.
"Did Eric tell you what we're doing tonight?" Lukas asked as he tied his boots.
Bella raised a brow. "Are you asking me because you think Eric leaks information to me?"
"I mean." Lukas grinned and then looked up at her face and it fell. "Wait, you don't know what's happening tonight?"
"I do, but that's not the point." Bella said and smacked Lukas's arm when he stood.
Lukas smiled. "You know he never tells me anything about training. He doesn't want it to seem like it's a favoritism thing. Not many people know about us being brothers."
Bella stretched a little and Jasper walked in. "You're late."
"Well, you know." Jasper shrugged. "Got caught up with Claire."
"Claire?" Bella raised a brow. "Oh, you mean…"
Jasper smiled. "Maybe. She's actually really flexible." He said and Bella threw her water bottle at him with a smile. He caught it and he took a drink.
Bella smiled and then looked back at Lukas. "Hey, what about your appointment."
"Yeah, surgery is scheduled. Tomorrow. I wanted to do whatever the fuck this is tonight first." Lukas said. "We're wearing tactical gear. Has to be some sort of practice whatever."
Tris, Chris, Will and Al made it into the training area now, dressed similar.
Bella smiled at her sister. "You ready?"
"I suppose. I hope it's not something that makes us run a lot." Tris said.
"Whatever it is, it's different than the same bullshit everyday." Jasper said and then others filtered into the training area.
Four and Eric walked in a few moments later and there was a blonde woman with Eric, dressed in dark tactical gear as well. Her eyes were like violets and despite being dressed in all black, she didn't look tough or Dauntless like.
"Alright, listen up. We're doing some tactical training. I have with me, tactical expert Rosalie Hale. She is going to issue you specialized training weapons. They are loaded with nerve simulation darts that simulate being shot without you actually being shot." Eric explained. "Four and I are going to pick teams to make it even. I don't want to hear any fucking whining or complaining. This is going to be at the fairgrounds, so we'll be leaving here and going there after you are assigned your weapon."
Rosalie whistled and a couple guys help push carts in with the weapons Eric described. "These work like real weapons. Safety works the same way, they're just loaded with darts instead of live rounds. Check your chambers, make sure you are ready to go on your mission. Return these weapons to me when you are through, if you don't, I'm not that nice of a person." She said, her voice was stern, hard, like Eric's was and you could tell that she was in leadership for a while.
Four and Eric flipped a coin and Four went first. He immediately picked Bella for his team.
Eric picked Peter and it went back and forward to where it was split evenly. Tris, Bella, Christina and Will were on Four's team. But Jasper got picked by Eric and he was on that team with Lukas of course and Eric ended up with Al.
Once they were all set with their weapons, they boarded the train and got ready for their jumps.
[Old Chicago Fair Grounds]
Bella looked around. She had never been to the fairgrounds before and she actually liked it. The distance from Dauntless was a good three miles away and she memorized the way the train came, so she could use the area to run. They were entering the fourth week and they were given more permissions to leave the Dauntless recruit areas, so she would be able to get better cardio in with running here to the fairgrounds and back.
"Alright team captain is Bella. Listen to her strategy. The object is to capture the other teams flag without being shot. If your shot, you will go down and it will hurt for a while. The effects of the nerve simulation will wear off, but you won't be able to do anything for a good fifteen minutes." Four explained.
Bella looked around. She thought about how Eric would think. Lukas would be the team captain. In which case, Lukas would go for high ground to take the advantage. "Okay, under the assumption that Lukas is team captain, he'll hide the flag in the highest part. So we want to get to that tower over there. Split into pairs. Watch each other's backs and keep your guard up. They have Jasper and Edward on their team. They are swift. Edward is quick and his aim is impeccable. Use the shipping crates for cover. Don't get yourselves in a bind and don't get isolated by yourself. Understood?" There were some nods and then the gun sounded, where Eric popped it off and the game began.
Bella and Four worked together, taking a military stance as they walked through the darkness to the shipping crates. Tris and Christina stuck together, covering each other to get to the tower. It would give Tris a boost if she was the one that actually put her hands on the flag. She saw Edward run across quickly and she motioned to Four for him to cover her and he nodded. She moved across the shipping crates quick, got a better angle on Edward and she fired at him. She tagged him immediately in the chest and he went down, groaning in pain. There were other groans as people were lighting each other up, but hopefully they would get to the tower before too much of their enforcements were scattered and down.
She saw Jasper and she ducked behind the container as he shot at her.
"Darlin, you might as well take the shot." Jasper teased.
Bella smiled and nodded to Four, who doubled back around the container and he shot Jasper, getting him in his shoulder and Jasper went down. She moved, kicking Jasper's gun away from him, but she paused briefly and winked at him with a smile before she moved on, Four on her right as they scanned the containers. She made a motion for Four to take the right of the container as she herded around the left and they trapped Al. Poor Al, he didn't stand a chance.
Peter shot at Bella and she ducked. His darts missing her barely. She waited for Four to get in position and he nodded to her and she took fire as he moved, shooting at Peter, nailing him in the chest three times before he went down. When Four rounded the next corner, he went toe to toe with Eric. They were too close to shoot each other so it started in a spar and Bella was actually impressed. She had never actually saw Eric or Four spar before, but Eric was the stronger fighter and he managed to get the distance from Four and shoot Four, sending him to the ground in agony. Bella found herself by herself now, something she told the others never to do, but she didn't think about it as being alone.
"Bella, I saw you." Eric said. "You won't win."
"I think you underestimate my abilities." Bella said and then she saw a shadow, and she turned her gun, shooting Lukas before he could surprise her. He went to his knees, groaning. "That was poor execution Eric, I thought you were a leader." She said and she moved around the shipping container, seeing the ladder. She quietly climbed it, getting on her belly. She heard Eric's footsteps circling to look for her. She peered over the edge of the container seeing his contemplation on where she had gone then she cleared her throat and shot him in the chest when he turned.
Eric groaned, going to his knees like Lukas had. He found the stimulation and pulled the dart out, but the wind was knocked out of him from the pain.
"Better luck next time." Bella said with a wink and she ran across the shipping container, firing down at the rest of Eric's team, as Tris and Christina exploded from the tower waving the flag. It was a well deserved victory.
Back at Dauntless base, they celebrated their win by going to the bazaar to drink and have fun. Bella was excited that Tris finally made it out of the red. She was 23rd on the board and that meant she didn't have to go home. Now they just had to keep her above the line.
Jasper made it to the bazaar, looking a little sore and so was Lukas.
Bella smiled at them when they walk in. "Look at you two. A little sore?" She said, smacking Lukas in the chest.
Lukas flinched, but smiled. "Yeah, yeah. You're better at tactical than us. Laugh it up." He said and then hooked his arm around her, pulling her to him, wrapping her in a hug.
Bella smiled up at him, her arms wrapping around him too. "Hey, you good?"
"Yeah, I'll be alright. No pain no gain." Lukas said and then he kissed her lightly. Something established in the last two weeks, was Lukas's part in covering for Bella and for Eric, since Bella did talk to Lukas with Eric there. Lukas was willing to help his brother and help Bella since she had helped him so much.
Bella smiled, and then reached up and patted his cheek. "Are you worried about surgery tomorrow?"
"Nah. I don't have many fears." He said. "Though I can't drink tonight."
Jasper smiled. He liked seeing Bella happy and Lukas seemed to make her smile. "Well, I'll drink for you brother." He said slapping his shoulder. They all moved to the bar, getting drinks to celebrate.
It didn't take long for them to be loose and fun. Tris was always so up tight and now she was having fun, dancing on the dancefloor with Jasper and Al. It was something else, watching Tris dance and grind with two of the men in their group.
Bella stayed at the bar with Lukas while the others went to have their fun. Eric came to the bar after a short while. She looked over at him, refraining from smiling. "Your chest hurt?" She asked, raising a brow.
"Nah. I'm used to the nerve darts at this point." Eric said and the bartender brought him a beer, when Eric held up two fingers. It was his way of communicating with the bartender without actually verbally saying anything.
Bella leaned against Lukas chest carefully and Lukas's hand went to her hip as she took a sip of her drink that had some sort of vodka in it, and berries.
Eric looked down at his beer. He knew that it was important to maintain an image, but he was getting used to seeing his brother's hands on Bella. He sighed. "Lukas a beer?"
"I can't." Lukas said. "Water for me only, at least for the next hour."
Eric frowned. "What? Why?"
Bella looked up at Lukas over her shoulder. "You need to tell him." She murmured.
Eric looked at Bella and then back at Lukas, who was only looking at Bella now. "What's wrong?"
Lukas nodded. "You're right." He said and sighed, looking at Eric. "I'm having surgery tomorrow."
"On what? Your face is healed, Carlisle cleared you."
"It's not just that. Um. I have had a brain tumor… for several years. Before staying in Dauntless, the tumor grew. It was inoperable." Lukas explained.
Eric's facial expression was pure shock, his mouth dropped a little.
"When Bella sparred me and I seized, then my heart stopped. I was supposed to die right there. I shouldn't have woke up from that. It was a miracle she resuscitated me."
"You have had a brain tumor and you didn't tell me?" Eric was appalled.
"I didn't want to worry you. I know you came to Dauntless for me, so I stayed for you." Lukas said. "I was going to change factions. Even if I scored Dauntless on my aptitude. I was going to change to Candor. But… I stayed and I didn't want you to think any less of me."
"Fuck. Lukas, I need to know these things. I would have never put you on that stage with Bella that day if I had known."
Lukas nodded. "Exactly, which is why I didn't tell you. But, the tumor shifted somehow. Carlisle can't explain it, but he can operate now and remove it."
Bella rubbed Lukas's hand when she felt him tense. "Eric, listen. He-"
"You've known all this time?" Eric asked her pointedly.
"Eric, don't take it out on her. It was my decision. I'm going to be okay. The tumor will be gone and I'll be normal again. You can't act like this. You need to drop the expression on your face, right now or Tris and the others are going to know." Lukas warned his brother.
Bella looked at Eric. He was in a mix of feelings, she knew. He was angry, she knew that much. Lukas kept something important from him. But she did too. "He's right. Calm down." She said and then turned to look at Lukas. "Let's go dance. Make it less apparent." She suggested and Lukas nodded and looked at his brother before he went to the dance floor to join Bella.
Eric was not happy. He couldn't believe that Lukas kept something this important from him. He looked up at his brother and Bella dancing. It was a show, he knew, but it frustrated him enough to swap from beer to whisky.
Later, Bella waited in Eric's room. Lukas went to bed, needing rest for the surgery in the morning, but she wanted to check on Eric. She didn't see him when she left the bazaar. She heard his door open and he walked in, seeing Bella. He shut the door and walked over to the dresser, past her and set his gun and palm pilot on the dresser.
"Eric."
Eric peeled his shirt off, throwing it in his basket and walked past Bella again, not saying anything again. He went to the bathroom to turn on the shower.
Bella sighed and followed him. "Eric, please stop shutting me out." She said as she watched him take his pants off and get into the shower. He was still ignoring her. "This is fucking stupid." She said and walked out of the bathroom and went to the bed and sat there and waited. She wasn't leaving until he spoke to her.
After a short while, the water cut off and Eric walked out the towel around his waist. He pushed his hair back on his head, flipping the water out of it. He stopped and looked at Bella sitting on his bed, her arms crossed. He was too drunk for this. He drank entirely way too much.
"I can't tonight with you Bella." Eric managed to find words, though they were slightly slurred.
"You're drunk." Bella said and sighed then stood. "Eric, you can't avoid me. I didn't do anything wrong, I don't understand. I thought we were past this stupid shit."
"It's not stupid Bella. My brother, has a brain tumor and you both didn't tell me." Eric yelled at her.
Bella raised a brow, crossing her arms again.
Eric sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't… I didn't mean to yell."
"Yes you did. You're angry. I'm sorry. Lukas didn't want you to know about it. It's a trust thing. What am I supposed to do?"
"Tell me."
"Just because we have sex Eric, doesn't mean I tell you everything. I have to have stuff to myself. Believe it or not, you don't need to know everything."
Eric stared at her, his steel eyes swirling with both the emotion of his brother going into surgery in the morning, but the realization that Bella was right. He didn't have to know everything. It was a control thing and he didn't have control, he realized that that, was his biggest fear. "I'm sorry."
Bella nodded and walked towards him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry too. Right now, you just have to be there for him. The surgery will go fine. Lukas will be okay." She reassured.
Eric nodded and then he leaned in, kissing her. It was suppose to be a simple kiss, but it turned into passion again. Eric was really drunk and Bella was having to control his movements, getting him on the bed before pulling his towel off so his cock could spring free. "I don't have the stamina right now."
Bella smiled. "I didn't say you needed it. I'll do all the work." She said and peeled her shirt off then took her pants off so she was completely naked now. She slid down, straddling him, his cock dipping inside her. She moved her hips, rolling them as she grinded over his cock. She sat, her back straight as she rode him slow, making Eric moan loud. It had been like this since he lowered his walls. Sex was fantastic, they connected more and it was emotional sometimes. She picked up her pace as she felt her orgasm rise. Before long she was riding him fast and hard, pressing both of them to their climax. When her orgasm hit, his did too and his hands stopped her hips as his cock exploded inside her. Bella felt electric. She leaned down and kissed him still straddling him. His hands wrapped around her, as they kissed. He felt the tears. He used to fight the tears, but now, with her, he let his emotion out with her. She slid off of him and then she rolled, pulling her his face to her breast and she held him, feeling his tears hit her chest.
"Shhh. It's okay."
Eric buried his face there in her breast, wrapped his arms around her and held her like she held him. It was comforting, her holding him and it did something to him inside. "He'll be okay." He murmured. He was worried about Lukas, a lot. Brain surgery wasn't a walk in the park. It was serious and he just wished that he knew sooner.
"He's going to be okay." Bella reassured him. She held him until she felt him relax and he was sleeping. She smiled before sliding out from beside him and getting her clothes back on. She took one last look at Eric before she left him to rest.
Bella stretched a little as she passed into the training area. She decided to stop and practice some on the bags. It always felt good to throw some kicks and rock the bags. She had a lot of power in her legs, which is why she was so good at grappling with them and also sparring with kicks. The smack of the bag against her leg always sounded good. It was peaceful training by herself sometimes. She didn't know how long she was there for, but she certainly didn't hear anyone when they entered because of how focused she was on the bag. Before she knew it, she felt a stabbing pain in the left side of her back. It forced her to stop what she was doing and when she reached to her back she felt the handle of the knife. Someone had thrown a knife at her. The pain radiated in her back and she didn't want to pull the knife out because she didn't want to bleed out. So she spun to see who it was that threw a knife at her. It was someone, but they were hooded.
"Who the fuck are you." She yelled at him, she went towards him fighting the pain and the blood as it leaked around the knife. The guy moved fast, getting to her and slamming his fist into her face, before he pulled at the knife out of her back, blood spewing a little as he did.
He got Bella on the ground, but she didn't go down without a fight. She felt the stab into her side again as he stabbed her in her side with the knife. He mounted her getting her pinned, before he tried to bring the knife back down, but she kicked him back off her, making the knife go flying across the floor. She fought against him against as he grabbed her legs and dragged her across the floor, blood smearing as they went. She fought against going unconscious and she knew it was because of the blood she was losing. She fought more, trying to loosen his hold, but he pulled her towards the darker part of the training room, before he ripped at her pants. She kicked her feet, while she felt she was moving faster, it was sloppy and he got her nearly naked from the bottom down. Her fear engulfed her as she thought about the showers again, when she was assaulted. This had to be the same guy. She felt her consciousness waiver in and out, she felt him pinned on top of her. She knew what he was about to do to her and she bucked her hips before he got the chance, unseating him. She slid backwards, her blood making it slick and then relief flooded her when she saw Jasper. He ripped the guy backwards away from Bella and he hit the guy with a hard right hook, sending him to the ground. The guy scrambled to his feet, taking a stance, that Bella recognized.
"It's Edward." She managed to choke out.
Jasper was shocked, staring at the masked man.
The man straightened and ripped his mask off, revealing that it was Edward.
Jasper didn't care, he attacked Edward and then went into a full on spar.
Bella groaned, getting to her feet, blood pouring out of her side. She was in a dangerous situation. She stumbled, but she managed. She was near the supply closet at this point and she opened it, going inside. She didn't care about not wearing pants. She was still wearing her panties, so she wasn't naked. She stumbled around in the closet before she grabbed the throwing knife from the bucket of knives and she made it out of the closet. Jasper was struggling with Edward, but that was because Edward was faster than Jasper and Jasper had yet to win a spar against Edward. Bella blinked a few times trying to clear her vision since it was blurring a little. But she stood her ground.
"Jasper, move." She called and Jasper did what she said then she threw the knife and it hit Edward in his chest.
Jasper looked wide eyed, shocked that she was able to throw like that. He rushed back over to Bella as she started to fall and he caught her in his arms. "Jesus, Bella, hang on damn it."
Bella was completely limp in his arms now, as she blacked out for a moment.
"No, no, no, no, no. Bella wake the fuck up." Jasper said as he carried her, hurrying towards infirmary first.
Jasper felt his heart race as he got Bella to infirmary. Carlisle was doing prep work with Lukas for the morning when Jasper rushed in.
Carlisle got to his feet quickly, and Lukas shot up out of the bed. "What happened?"
"She was attacked. Stabbed, I don't know how many times. I-"
"Lay her on the bed." Carlisle said and Jasper laid her on the bed.
Bella felt her consciousness waiver back in, and she opened her eyes.
"Bella!" Lukas went to her side.
"Eric." Bella murmured and then she fell unconscious again.
Carlisle frowned. "Eric did this?"
"No, Edward did. Carlisle, I'm sorry."
Carlisle didn't understand. "Wait, why would Edward attack her like this?"
"I don't know." Jasper said. "Fuck." He said and ran a hand through his hair. "Lukas, I didn't stop to check Edward, I was focused on Bella. She threw a throwing knife. Nailed him in the chest. I didn't even-"
"I'll go." Lukas said and he left, rushing out of infirmary to go to the training room.
Carlisle couldn't think about Edward right this moment. He was working on saving Bella's life. "Jasper open that refrigerator over there. Get a bag of blood. Do exactly as I say. I need you to run it up. She needs blood and I need to figure out if she's got a lot of major inside damage."
Jasper nodded, rushing over to the refrigerator and grabbed the blood which he brought it over to the table. Carlisle talked him through it and he did it quickly, his hands not shaking yet, his adrenaline was just still flowing through him. He got it strung up like Carlisle instructed and he rolled her arm to the side. Sweat dripped off his face. He hadn't realized he was sweating so hard.
"Find the blue vein. Hopefully they're not floating. Stick it, pull had on the butterfly and unclamp." Carlisle instructed. Jasper followed instructions and got the blood going in.
Carlisle got the stab wounds under control. The puncture in her side wasn't as deep as her back.
"Carlisle. Say something. Is she okay?"
"So far. She's breathing, her heart and blood pressure are under control." He said and started inspecting her back further. "The position of this hit nothing vital." He said. "Take a breath. She's going to be okay."
Lukas returned, carrying Edward. "Carlisle." He said and Carlisle looked up. "He's gone. No pulse. She hit him in the heart."
Carlisle looked back at Bella, focusing on sewing her side up. "Lay him over there. I'll… I'll deal with it later."
Lukas ran a hand over his face but had to sit. He felt a little lightheaded. It sometimes hit him after exertion. It was the tumor, he knew, that kept him weak.
Jasper saw how winded Lukas looked and frowned, but he looked back at the unconscious Bella, hoping that she would be okay.
Lukas sat there a moment and then thought about Eric. "Fuck." He cursed. "Eric."
"What about him?" Jasper asked.
"He needs to be here." Lukas said, running his hand over his buzzed head. "I should-"
"You're going to sit right there." Carlisle said. "You pushed yourself too much. I still have testing to do on you before the surgery in the morning.
Jasper swallowed. "I'll go get Eric." He said and left, even if he didn't want to. He knew that Eric's bedroom was somewhere around the training room, but he wasn't sure exactly, so he took the stairs up. He saw a couple empty rooms, but he found one room with the door closed. He took a gamble and then knocked on the door. He knocked for a while and sighed. It could be that Eric wasn't even in his room.
Eric heard the knocking and it pulled him out of his sleep. He sat up, running a hand over his face. He was in bed alone and naked. He knew Bella likely went back to the sleeping quarters, so he got up, pulling on his pants and answered the door shirtless. "What." He said sharply, looking at Jasper.
"Um." Jasper swallowed.
Eric noticed Jasper covered in blood. "Are you hurt?"
"Not me." Jasper said. "Bella she-"
Eric moved out of the door, closing it behind him. He didn't even put his boots on or a shirt. "Where is she?"
"Infirmary." Jasper said, following him down. He had never seen Eric move so fast before and it was surprising.
Eric ran into infirmary, seeing Bella on the table and Carlisle was just popping off gloves. "What the fuck happened?" He said, winded slightly.
Lukas stood. "Eric wait."
"No. What the fuck happened Lukas?"
"She was stabbed." Lukas explained.
Eric ran a hand through his hair. "Is she okay. Carlisle-"
"She's going to be okay. I'm transfusing her now. She's unconscious, but that's expected. She'll likely be out for a bit. Let her rest." He said then stood and walked over to his son, Edward, who had attacked Bella unprovoked. He didn't understand it. He was strong, a big fighter there in Dauntless, but he wasn't the type of person to just attack like that.
Eric looked over at the dead Edward and looked at Jasper. "You need to fucking talk, now."
"Um. I went to the training room. When Bella hadn't made it to the sleeping quarters. I figured she was training. I found him on top of her. He had pulled her pants off, there was blood smeared everywhere. I didn't know it was Edward at first when I pulled him away from her. We went into an immediate spar. He was masked, so I didn't know it was him until Bella said it was Edward. I guess, she recognized something. I don't know." Jasper said, running his own hand through his hair. "I fought, she got to her feet. I don't know how she, she managed it. She came back. I heard her say my name and for me to move, so I did. She threw it. She was double the length away from where we stand in practice and she hit him in the chest. She started to collapse and I rushed to her." Jasper relayed what had happened.
Eric went to Bella's side and he sat on the chair. He stared at her. She was so pale now and the blood that stained the sheets under her. He was silent, thinking about how scared he was, seeing Jasper covered in her blood.
"Eric, she's going to be okay." Lukas said walking over to his brother and lay a hand on his shoulder. "She's going to be okay." He said again, squeezing his shoulder.
Eric reached his hand up, squeezing his brother's hand. His jaw was clenched, fighting back his emotion. "Yeah. She's strong." He said with a nod.
Jasper was confused. "What's going on?"
Eric closed his eyes, thinking about it all now. He reacted in a way he shouldn't have for just being her instructor.
Carlisle sighed and covered Edward with a sheet, before going back over to Bella. "I want to do some scans, makes sure everything is free and clear. Give me some room." He said and Eric got up, moving away, Lukas with him. They hadn't answered Jasper and they didn't plan on it right now. There were more important things. They watched Carlisle work. He pulled a machine over and he did some scans. The technology was made from Erudite, but every faction had access to these machines. They could scan everything in just a few seconds. It acted as an x-ray, mri and ultrasound all in one. All Carlisle had to do was change the functions.
Carlisle looked at the screen as he moved the machine to the damaged area. He captured the images and he frowned.
Eric took notice. "What's wrong?"
"Fuck." Carlisle actually cursed and moved the machine away.
Lukas was the one that stepped forward. "Carlisle, tell me. What's wrong with her?"
Carlisle looked at Lukas. "Lukas, she's pregnant."
Lukas looked at the screen. "Are you sure?"
Eric was stunned into silence. He didn't even move, didn't even say a word.
"I know what a pregnancy looks like. But the baby isn't going to make it. This shouldn't even happen. All the women are given the shots when they arrive. The serum keeps this from happening. The serums should definitely not have worn off until the six month mark." Carlisle explained.
Lukas ran a hand over his face. "Okay. What do we do?"
"I have to do a procedure. She's unconscious, I have to wait for her to wake up."
"There's no heartbeat?" Lukas asked.
Carlisle shook his head. "It doesn't. Looks so early. So new." He said.
Lukas nodded. "Wait, if she's early then there's a chance that the babies heartbeat hasn't had time to show yet. Fetal age is what, four weeks?"
Carlisle sighed. "I wish it was just that simple. Look, there's too much fluid here, where the blade punctured there. It's filling with blood, which I can fix with the procedure, but the pregnancy won't survive any of it."
Lukas wanted to hit something now, so he turned away, his hands on his hips. He looked over at Eric, who looked like he was just frozen and was pretty unreadable at the moment.
Jasper cleared his throat. "Um. Four weeks?" He said, his voice tight.
Carlisle and Lukas looked at Jasper, they nodded.
Jasper ran a hand over his face, disguising his emotion.
Eric swallowed and finally spoke. "Do the procedure Carlisle. She… she doesn't want kids and she wouldn't want to put her life in jeopardy any longer."
Carlisle frowned. "Eric, I can't just-"
"I'm telling you, to do it." Eric said and looked at Bella's face. She was pregnant and he hadn't known.
"Now wait a fucking minute." Jasper said, stepping in. "You can't decide things for her. The child she's carrying-"
"Isn't alive." Carlisle said, interrupting.
Jasper shook his head. "She still needs to know. The child, alive or not, is part of me, I-"
"It's not." Eric said sharply, looking at Jasper.
Jasper stared Eric down. "You don't know Bella. I have been here with her since the beginning. I think I would know since I'm the one that was sleeping with her at that time."
"One time?" Eric asked.
"That's all it takes." Jasper said. "You have done nothing but set her up to fail. You know that she's the strongest here in Dauntless and you want to break her. You don't care about her, you-"
Eric pushed back. "I fucking love her. You do not get to stand there and talk to me like that. I don't fucking care who you are." He yelled at Jasper.
Lukas put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Eric. Calm down."
"Don't fucking touch me." Eric said, moving away from his brother. He turned away, feeling his anger just rising. He wanted to hit Jasper just now, but he didn't. He turned away and he looked at Bella.
Bella groaned a little, waking up from the shouting.
Eric was at her side first. He grabbed her hand, squeezed it and his other hand went to brush her hair out of her face. "Bella, you're awake."
"Yeah." She said weakly. She blinked a few times, her vision focusing on Eric. "What's wrong?"
Eric laughed to keep himself from crying tears of joy that she woke up just now. "You got stabbed. Twice."
Bella lay there trying to remember everything. "I was… It was Edward."
"We know." Eric said. "Do you know if he said anything?"
"No, but it was him. He assaulted me the first time and then tonight…" Bella croaked.
Eric felt the rush of anger. "He's the one. From the shower?"
Bella nodded. "I told you." She said as a tear slid down his face.
"Shhh. I know." Eric murmured and lifted her hand and kissed it. "Um. Doc, has some bad news."
Carlisle went to Bella's other side. He wasn't even going to address Eric's apparent involvement with Bella. "Bella. You escaped death."
Bella looked at Carlisle. Her brain was feeling foggy still but she fought it. "Just spit it out Carlisle."
"You're pregnant, but the baby didn't make it." Carlisle said and waited.
Eric squeezed her hand. "Hey. It's okay."
"Um." Bella frowned. "It doesn't make sense."
Carlisle nodded. "It doesn't. The serum just… didn't work on you good enough."
Bella looked at Carlisle. "It didn't work." She swallowed, knowing that it was possible that the serums wouldn't work on her because she was Divergent. "Okay. What's next?"
"I have to do a procedure. There's a lot of blood filling in around the baby and in your belly. It's simple. I have to pull it out and you'll be okay."
Bella nodded. "Okay. Do it."
Carlisle nodded. "Of course. I'll put you to sleep for the procedure. It will be like you're sleeping and then you'll come to when I wake you back up."
Bella nodded and looked at Eric. "Eric…"
"It's okay." Eric murmured. "I'm okay." He said, knowing she was worried.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Eric said and then he leaned in and kissed her softly. He didn't care right now. He only cared about her. That was it. Nothing else mattered.
Bella looked at him. "Eric, you can't…"
"I don't care."
"You'll lose your position. You can be killed." Bella said, worried now.
Carlisle cleared his throat. "Who's going to report it? I'm not." He said, crossing his arms.
Lukas sighed, looking at a stunned Jasper. "Jasper, it's a long story, but please… give us time to explain it."
Jasper blinked a couple times. "I'm not going to say anything. I would never hurt Bella." He finally said, sounding a little defeated.
Eric looked back down at Bella. "See. It'll be okay." He murmured and kissed her again softly.
Bella felt tears, but she nodded. She felt so tired and she was fighting against blood loss and injury. She was lucky to be alive and she wouldn't waste it anymore. She would be the best there in Dauntless, no matter what.