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 everyone for so much support! As a treat, here are three chapters at one time! AND in addition, I have released a new fic ahead of schedule. Dear Soulmate is not a crossover, it is just a fic on Twilight and a surprising pairing. *Winks* Head over to Dear Soulmate to check it out when you have the chance! As always, don't forget to follow, favorite or review!

Bella stretched a little when she made it to the training area. The foursome that Bella and Eric were in with Jasper and Lukas happened last week and the only one weird about it was Lukas. He couldn't believe that they actually went through all that. Bella had to talk him down a couple of times, but Lukas was okay now. Their cover was still intact. Tris was okay with Lukas now. At first, Tris wasn't sure about Lukas or what Bella saw in him, but after Lukas was committed to helping them all stay above the line, he meant more to Tris then. Bella was feeling a lot better than she did last week. Last week she was still recovering from her stitches but it was all fading now, giving Bella better stamina to keep up. She was still stagnant on the board which wasn't a bad thing, but she felt like it wasn't a good thing either. Eric had mentioned something about fear landscapes happening this week. They were just the practice ones until the final one that really counted, which would be at the end of this round. He said that round two was going to be brutal and that she needed to avoid getting stabbed again or hurt for that matter. So she promised she would try her best to avoid being impaled again.

"You're here early." Bella said as she looked up at Eric as he moved into the training room.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you before the others got in." Eric said quickly. He was tense. His meeting with Jeanine and Max wasn't great.

Bella frowned, realizing that Eric was tense. "What's wrong?"

"Max is watching training this week. He will personally be watching the practice fear landscapes." Eric said and blew out a breath. "Things are being moved up. I don't have time to fix shit and I think he's doing this because Jeanine is rushing him."

Bella shook her head. "Okay, the fear landscapes. Won't they be public anyways on the final?"

"Yes, but it's also how we flush out Divergents Bella…"Eric said lowly.

"Oh."

"Right. Which means you can't mess up. Not one time. You understand?"

"I understand. I'm good."

Eric nodded. "I'm not worried just about you."

"What does that mean?"

"Jasper… Lukas…"

Bella blinked a few times realizing what he meant. "Okay. Well, I'll talk to them. Let them know what's going on."

"Al."

"What about him? He's above the line now. Right under Tris."

"Not that." Eric said and glanced around. "I need you to talk to Al too."

Bella's mouth dropped open. "Are you saying that Al is Divergent?" She asked in a low whisper.

Eric nodded. "He… wasn't supposed to come to Dauntless, but… he had no choice when Jeanine changed plans and I didn't know. He risked a lot coming here. Now that he's above the line… that helps, but he needs to realize that the simulations are going to weed out the Divergents. Tori overrode his results the same day as you for your aptitude test. That can't happen again. He needs to run the sim like he's Dauntless. Tell him that. It's very important."

Bella swallowed and nodded. "I'll talk to him. Does… does he know about me?"

"The only ones that know about you being Divergent Bella are me, you, Lukas and Jasper."

"Okay." She nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to the guys. Let them know. Just… stay calm. We'll get through this."

"I can't lose you." Eric murmured, his steel eyes holding hers. He was serious. He didn't know what he would do without her.

Bella nodded and took a step back, hearing footsteps. "I got it." She said and stretched.

Eric looked at his palm pilot and pretended to look at it when Lukas and Jasper walked in. He glanced up and felt relief that it was them. "It's just you two."

Lukas raised a brow. "We're usually here at five, you however are not."

"Important talk." Bella said. "I'll tell you guys later. Tris and the others will join soon and I don't want Lukas to give it away with his face."

"I know how to keep a straight face."

"This is too important." Eric said and looked at Bella and kissed her temple quickly. "I love you. I'll be back in a couple hours." He said and then slapped his brother on the shoulder and then Jasper before leaving the training room.

Jasper looked at Bella. "Eric's all anxious. This isn't good is it?"

"It's not." Bella said and dropped it when more footsteps arrived as Tris, Al, Chris and Will joined them.

Max looked over the recruits. He watched from the railing up above in the pit. Eric came to stand next to him. He didn't bother looking at Eric, his focus trained on the recruits. They were going through sparring with Four's instruction. "The top 23, they're sound?"

"Pretty sound. Haven't seen any Divergents emerge. I can usually tell by now." Eric said.

Max nodded. "Good. Jeanine will be pleased." He said and then he looked at Eric now. "I want this fast tracked. Round two needs to happen sooner than later. Their fear landscapes start tomorrow. I want to watch the top ten. Something tells me I need to study them. They're on the fast track for leadership." He stated.

Eric nodded, looking at the palm pilot. "Lukas, Demetri, Sam, Uriah, Andrew, Conner, Peter, Bella, Jasper and Nick." He repeated the top ten.

Max nodded. "Yes. I'm interested in the top Prior girl."

"What about her?"

"She should have never made it that high. She was supposed to die weeks ago." Max muttered and sighed.

Eric frowned. "How so?"

"My minion failed. But, she's stronger than I gave her credit for. I guess she's really not a Prior then."

"She's not. She was adopted by the Priors."

Max frowned and looked at Eric again. "What?"

"Did you not read her file?" Eric asked, raising a brow.

"No, I don't have time for that shit, that's why I have you." Max scoffed.

Eric sighed. "Bella Prior was adopted by the Priors when she was little. She was raised with Tris Prior. She's Andrew and Natalie's daughter."

Max looked back down at the recruits. "I picked the wrong Prior." He muttered. He sighed. "It doesn't matter now. I don't have any backup and I can't do it now that the attempt failed. It would be too suspicious."

Eric couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You wanted to take out Bella Prior? For what reason? She's clearly one of the strongest."

"It had nothing to do with that. It had everything to do with that bastard Andrew."

"Andrew Prior. This was because of a vendetta with Andrew Prior?"

Max made a hmph noise. "It's not a vendetta. He just thinks that he can win is all."

Eric sighed. "Sounds like a game. A stupid childish game. Next time you want to off one of my recruits, let me know first." He muttered.

Max raised a brow. "I don't have to tell you anything. You work for me."

"Yeah, yeah. You know how I get with my training."

"I do."

"I want the best. The best deserve to be here."

Max tilted his head. "This is true, but Bella is only number 8th. Don't you think if she was the best, she would on top?"

Eric actually laughed. "Well, that's where she would be if it wasn't for your failed assassination attempt. The doc had her out of training for two weeks."

"So, you would bet that Bella has what it takes to be number one?"

"I would. She's won ever spar against the 7 above her. The only reason why she isn't number one is because she's been injured too many times. It pushes her down every time." Eric said, crossing his arms. "But, hey, what do I know, I've only been training recruits for years."

Max smiled. "Alright. Call a spar. I want Bella to spar, starting from the top and working her way down. If she can beat the top seven in a row. She can have that top spot."

"You're joking."

"I don't joke about things like this." Max said his voice amusing.

Eric nodded. He knew that Bella was capable of beating all of them. Lukas wasn't going to be an issue. Peter was a hot head and would fight the hardest. Andrew and Uriah were a bit soft when it came to fighting a girl. Conner would be a challenge along with Sam. Demetri posed a threat too. But he nodded. Accepting the challenge. "Alright. We'll do it." He said and then he left, going down to the training pit, Max with him.

"Listen up!" Eric said, breaking everyone out of their sparring routine. It was Tank and Myra on the stage anyways and Eric didn't give a fuck about those two. "Say hello to our fearless Dauntless leader Max."

Everyone turned their attention to Max. Max was shorter than Eric, his dark skin made Eric look extremely pale, but it wasn't so dark you couldn't see his tattoos. He had a red patch on his jacket, followed by two black stripes that meant he was the top of the top there in Dauntless.

"This is a challenge. It's meant only for one person and one person only." Max said, his dark eyes settling on Bella.

Bella raised a brow. She had her hands perched on her hips. "Okay, you're looking at me sir."

"Yes, you. I want you to fight the top 7. If you can beat them all in a row, you get the top spot on that board." Max said nodding to the board with all the names on it.

Bella didn't blink, she didn't hesitate. She shrugged. "Alright, if you say so." She said, her voice casual.

Eric kept himself from rolling his eyes at her nonchalant attitude. He just nodded. "Tank, Myra, you're done, get off the stage. Lukas, you're up." He said and crossed his arms and watched his brother get on the stage and face off against Bella.

He watched as Bella took down Lukas. Lukas put up a fight, at least good enough to trick Max that he was really trying. Lukas could give Bella a run for her money, but he knew that ultimately, Bella would win, why fight it that long. Bella knocked Lukas out without blinking an eye. She turned, pulling her shirt off as sweat started to raise up on her skin. She faced Demetri next. He was quick, and Bella had anticipated his movements.

They danced around on the stage, Bella deflecting Demetri's blows and landing a few hits on him. Within two minutes Bella had him on the ground, where she was the expert at. She got him in a guillotine headlock and soon he was going to sleep on the mats.

Bella was panting a little. It was clear that her lungs were struggling to keep up because of her injuries, but she was pushing it. She faced Sam on the mat. She sparred him one time and she knew that he was left handed even if he stood like he was a righty. She baited him, boxing him a little to pull him out of his guard, before she reacted fast, her foot catching him in the temple with an inside crescent kick. He was knocked out on the mats. Bella jogged in place a little, trying to keep her heart rate up and ready for her spar against Uriah.

Uriah squared off with Bella. He exploded on her, nailing her in her jaw once, making her taste blood, before she jumped, swinging her legs around his shoulders and pulling him to the ground, startling him. It was a risky move, because he could have kneed her in the face as she done this trick, but he was too amazed that she was able to jump like that and pull him into her guard. He struggled with her on the mats, trying to land punches on her face as she kept him in her guard, but her hands were fast, deflecting his blows like they were nothing. Before he managed to slip, he placed himself in a worse position, when she wrapped her legs up over his shoulder, pulling his hand towards his chest and he realized it too late, when she starting choking him out with a triangle choke. He lost consciousness and she released him, letting him fall to the mats.

She did a kip-up getting to her feet without struggle, though her lungs kept screaming at her. Sweat coated her now, but she kept going.

Max watched as she flawlessly took down the first four opponents. She was very skilled. He could see why Eric knew she would make it to the top. When she took down Andrew and then Conner right after without any injury to her, he crossed his arms, watching her square off against Peter. Peter was the angriest of the seven above her. He could see how out of control the boy was. He was one of Jeanine's minions. He tried to warn Jeanine that he really was dense and not really worth it, but she had repeated something about knowing his father. Either way, Bella took him down to the mats. He busted her nose and she was bleeding over him, but she didn't hesitate when she saw her own blood. She just pounded her fist into Peter's like she hated the guy with a passion and finally he was unconscious on the mats. She stopped, her breathing heavy, but she stopped, looking straight at Max.

Max's lips curled in a smile and he looked at Eric. "Well. She did it."

Eric nodded, hitting something on the palm pilot and Bella's name took first spot. He had been tense the whole time watching her. She was hurt a little, her nose likely fractured, but he would look at it later. Right now, he was proud that she made it through the challenge without batting an eye. Her confidence that she could do it, exuded from her. He knew that she was strong and she defied the odds. He never doubted her ability to finish the challenge, he was just worried about her pushing herself too far too fast.

"Congratulations Bella Prior. You're number one." Max said with a clap. "See you tomorrow in your landscape." He said and he walked away, leaving Eric there with the recruits.

Eric's steel eyes met Bella's and a silent understanding passed between them. "Alright, chow time. Clean yourselves up before you eat. You're not animals." He muttered and then he walked towards the clinic after motioning to Bella.

Bella followed him, going to the clinic room. She closed the door behind her and she turned and looked at Eric. She had wiped at her nose with her shirt and she got the bleeding to stop, but it was swollen a bit. Eric went to her and he inspected her face. "It's not broken. He just busted it a bit."

Eric nodded. "Yeah, I thought it was fractured, because of how much blood it was. How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted. I don't know how I managed all that." Bella said and sniffed a little. "So, what the fuck was that all about."

"Max tried to have you killed. He's the reason why Edward went after you." Eric said, anger filling him.

Bella raised a brow. "What does he have against me?"

"He has something against your dad. Andrew Prior."

"Why? My dad is the greatest."

"Something about a vendetta. I don't fucking know. He didn't realize you were adopted. HE said he targeted the wrong Prior. But now it didn't matter anymore because you and Tris are above the line and it would be too suspicious now. I don't think this has anything to do with Jeanine and everything to do with Max being a bastard." Eric said and sighed. "I want to keep a close eye on Tris though… just in case."

Bella nodded. "I wont leave her side."

"Good." Eric said then he leaned in and kissed her softly. "I love you." He murmured against her lips.

Bella smiled, kissing him back. She felt better after he kissed her. He had this magical power to just make her feel so at ease when he touched her or kissed her and she loved that. "I love you too."

Eric smiled a little, running a hand down her arm. "Go get some food. I'll see you later okay." He said.

Bella nodded then leaned in and kissed him again. "Okay." She said and gave him one last kiss before she left him in the clinic to his thoughts.