Assurgent

Chapter 1

Closing the file in front of me, I groan. There is still a whole pile of them that I have to work through today.

It's been six weeks since I accepted my position in leadership and started training with Eric. Six weeks of never ending paper work. Six weeks of getting my ass kicked by my co-leader every morning during physical training. Six weeks since Four and I have gotten into our worst argument – about me working with Eric, of course. I know that he's afraid that Eric might find out about my Divergence. I also know, however, that my boyfriend is simply jealous and doesn't want me to spend so much time around his nemesis.

A knock on my door breaks me out of my thoughts. I almost groan again. Speak of the devil.

"Four," I greet, "What can I do for you?"

"Do you have a minute?" he asks, nervously scratching his neck. Behind him, across the hallway, I can see Eric looking up from his own pile of paper work, raising his pierced eyebrow.

"I'm busy," I answer, "Can we do this later?"

Or never, I silently add.

"Please, Tris," he begs, "I really need you to hear me out."

I sigh and nod toward the door. Eric raises his second eyebrow and I roll my eyes at him while Four closes the door behind him.

I get up and step around my desk before casually leaning against it.

"So," he starts and I already know that I'm not going to like his next words, "Did you tell him?"

I furrow my brows. "Tell who what?"

I know exactly what he is asking me but I want to give him the chance to not repeat what we once again talked – or rather, screamed – about last night.

"Eric," he continues completely oblivious, "Did you tell him that you want to switch jobs?"

I cross my arms in front of my chest.

"No? I told you, I won't quit. I love this job. I like being part of leadership."

"For fuck's sake, Tris," he curses, ruffling his hair in exasperation, "The more time you spend with him the higher the risk that he finds out about you. He will kill you. Or hand you over. I'm trying to protect you here."

"No, you're trying to control me," I counter, getting angrier by the second, "Because if you're being honest, worrying about my safety is not your only reason."

He stays quiet and it's all the confirmation I need.

"Please, just go," I sigh, "I can't do this anymore. You and I – we aren't working. Not anymore."

"Well, we would still have a chance if we actually worked through our problems," he snaps, "but for that you'd have to spend more time with me and less with Eric."

My mouth falls open.

"You really want to blame this on Eric?" I half shout.

"Well, you are spending an awful lot of time with him," he continues, "Every morning two hours of training, then eight hours of work. Lunch breaks. I hardly get to see you anymore. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're already replacing me."

"With Eric?"

"I've heard my name twice now," Eric barks from across the hall, "Either stop talking about me or open the fucking door!"

"You know what," I say to Four, completely ignoring the idiot in the other office who only wants to provoke anyway. "You work in the control room. If there was something going on between me and Eric you would've seen it."

His cheeks turn red and my eyes widen.

"You've already looked at the footage, haven't you?"

Again, he doesn't answer and I can feel my pulse starting to race.

"Alright, that's it," I say, my voice breaking. I'm not sure if I want to scream or simply cry. "Relationships are about trust and you obviously don't trust me. Leave. I'm done."

I turn around, but halt in my steps when his hand falls on my shoulder.

"There's something else I wanted to tell you," he says, his tone full of regret. When I face him once more he doesn't meet my eyes.

"What?" I ask, suddenly scared. What could he possibly have to say to me that was so bad he couldn't look at me?

"After you stormed out last night," he starts, finally meeting my gaze and I can see that whatever he's about to say really hurts him, "I had a breakdown. I went down to the bar and drank – too much – and … I ran into Shauna."

My heart is pounding even harder against my ribcage now. Please, don't say what I'm thinking.

"I slept with her."

At first, I can only stare at him in utter shock. Then I snap.

"You asshole!" I scream at him, "I can't believe – after all we – after all the crap you gave me about – after implying that I was cheating on you!"

"Tris, please, you need to calm down," he says, nervously glancing toward the door.

"Oh, so now you're worried someone might find out?" I yell at him, "God, I can't believe this! And with Shauna of all people – you know how she thinks about us, about Div-"

Before I can finish the sentence, Four's hand is on my mouth and he shoves me backward with such force, that my head hits the edge of the book shelf behind me with full force.

I groan against his hand, stars erupting in front of my eyes. I feel something warm running slowly down the side of my face.

Four's eyes are wide. "Shit, Tris-"

"Okay, that's it," Eric's angry voice rings out before the door is suddenly thrown open, "If you want to kill each other stop doing it he-"

He stops mid-sentence when he realizes the position Four and I are in and starts to smirk.

"Oh, you're already making up again," he drawls, stepping closer, "Well, I'm terribly sorry but there is still a lot of paperwork on this desk, Four, so if you could postpone fucking her it would really be appreciated."

His gaze meets mine and he freezes, his grin disappearing. I can see his eyes flicker from Four's hand on my mouth to the side of my head. His eyes turn cold as he addresses his former co-initiate.

"Step away from her before I fucking kill you," he growls, taking another step forward.

Four looks like he's about to protest but then thinks better of it and withdraws his arm before retreating.

Not leaving Four out of his sight, Eric reaches out a hand and tilts my head to the side. Slowly, I raise my own hand and touch the part of my head that has hit the wooden shelf; it comes away red with blood.

Again, my eyes widen as I stare at Four. Eric sets his jaw, his eyes full of something I can only describe as rage.

"Get out," he says to Four, his hand grabbing my elbow softly, "Get out und be glad I don't report you. For now. Go."

Four opens his mouth, then closes it again and simply heads out the door.

Eric pulls me closer, my nose almost colliding with his chest. My head spins.

"Let's get you to the infirmary," he says, his voice oddly emotionless, "I want someone to look at that wound. Has he done this before?"

I shake my head, then wince when the dizziness gets worse.

Eric lets go of my elbow and instead grabs my chin, forcing me to meet his cold gaze. I furrow my brows at his uncharacteristic behavior.

"Has he done this before?" he asks again, eyes searching mine.

"No," I croak. "It was an accident."

He keeps looking at me for another couple of seconds before releasing me.

"Okay," he says, "Then let's go."

I've barely taken a step, when the edges of my vision begin to blur.

"Eric", I murmur, slightly panicked, just as my legs give out beneath me.

I eye the drink the bartender has set down in front me suspiciously. Eric rolls his eyes next to me.

"Drink," he says, shoving the glass into my hand.

"Not sure this a good idea with the painkillers and all," I reply. Another eye-roll.

"Drink, Stiff," he repeats, "That's an order."

I sigh, grab the glass and down its content in one swift gulp. It burns the entire way down and I cough, tears springing to my eyes.

Eric laughs before downing his own drink without any sign of discomfort, of course. Then again, he is probably used to it.

He motions for the bartender to bring us another drink.

"So what happened with Number Boy?" he asks a couple of minutes later, swirling the gold-brown liquid around in his glass.

"Why do you care?" I counter, crossing my arms on top of the counter in front of me.

He snorts. "He pushed you into a shelf so hard it caused a concussion. You passed out in my arms and needed stitches. And besides, my name came up a couple of times."

"It really was an accident," I say, not sure how to convince him that it was indeed unintentional. I can hardly tell Eric that Four kept me from putting our lives in danger.

He raises his pierced eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with my answer.

"We've been fighting ever since I started leadership training," I continue, taking a sip of my drink.

The smirk returns to his face. "He doesn't like you working with me."

It's not a question but I nod anyway.

"Don't worry, Stiff," he says then, brows furrowing, "He'll come around. You two will be back to being disgustingly in love before you know it."

"We might have been if he hadn't cheated on me with Shauna," I mutter before I can stop myself.

Eric stares at me in shock.

"I should've killed him earlier," he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Oh please," I snort, "Don't pretend you'd kill him for me. You'd simply use it as an excuse to finally get rid of him."

He smirks. "Guilty as charged."

Then his face turns serious again.

"If it's any consolation," he says, "He couldn't have enjoyed being with Shauna. I guess a dead person is more enthusiastic than her."

I gape at him. "You didn't-"

He just shrugs his shoulders. "I was horny, she was willing," he pauses to take a sip, "She's been getting around after her break-up with Pedrad and believe me, no one I know of thought she was worth it."

I stare into my glass, avoiding his gaze.

"She's still more experienced than I am," I reply self-consciously, "Four and I haven't slept together that often and-" I blink, suddenly realizing who I'm talking to, "Why the hell am I telling you this?"

"It's the alcohol," he smirks, "and maybe the concussion."

I roll my eyes and am about to snap at him when someone says my name.

"Tris!" I turn to see Uriah coming toward me. He grabs my hand and drags me from my barstool, pulling me into a hug.

"You alright?" he then asks, holding me at arm's length and giving me a once-over, "Will told me he had to stitch you up. What the hell happened?"

"I'm fine, it was an accident," I repeat for possibly the tenth time today. I see his eyes dart to Eric before focusing on me again.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Would I be sitting here with him if he did?" I sigh. If Eric heard us he doesn't show it.

Uriah grins. "Thank god – I don't wanna be factionsless because I had to kill one of our leaders. Well, now that I know that you're okay, I gotta go, my shift starts in about five minutes. I see you around."

I hug him goodbye and then take my place next to Eric again.

"You do know he's been trying to get into your pants since initiation, don't you?" he comments dryly.

I groan. "You sound like Four," – he sends me an icy glare – "and no, he's not. We're just friends."

"If you say so," is his only reply.

I down the remaining content of my glass, grimace and then stifle a yawn.

"Time for bed I'd say," he grins, "Want me to walk you home?"

"Thanks, but I'm fine," I reply, hopping off my stool, "See you tomorrow?"

He nods and I turn, ready to leave. After a couple of steps I stop and turn back toward him.

"Hey, Eric?" I wait until he looks up before I continue, "Not that I'm not grateful for everything you did today – but I honestly hope you'll be back to your normal asshole-self tomorrow."

He glares at me but I can see his lips twitching at the corners. "Go to bed, Stiff."

I barely sat down at my desk when Eric comes to lean in my doorway, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Where were you this morning?" he asks coldly.

"What do you mean?" I reply in confusion, "I was in my apartment of course."

"Oh really," he counters, jaw set, "Well, that's funny because I was in the training room waiting for you to show up."

I gape at him. "You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Will said I'm not allowed to train for at least a week, remember?" After all, he was standing right next to me when Will told me.

He pushes away from the door frame and steps toward my desk, before bending down, bracing his hands on the surface and bringing his face level with mine.

"Do you think an attacker would give a damn about your condition?" his voice is deadly serious, his eyes dark.

"Oh come on, that's-"

"I asked you a question, trainee!" he barks and I immediately snap my mouth shut. It's the look in his eyes, the authority emanating from them that finally makes me shake my head.

"Exactly," he replies, leaning back a bit, "And that's why you have to learn to fight even if you're not in perfect health. Now get to work. Since you decided to get a concussion yesterday you are quite behind on your paperwork."

He pulls himself up to his full height and sends me another glare before turning around and leaving my office.

I gape after him, my mouth hanging open.

"Asshole," I finally mutter, angrily shaking my head.

I'm finishing the third file when he pokes his head into my office again.

"I'm heading out now, to that meeting with Erudite. I should be back around lunch time."

I simply nod and he leaves without another word. A couple of days ago he told me it would be his last meeting without me. The next one I would attend by his side as an official leader in training.

Those meetings were another reason I decided to join leadership. I'm hoping to find out more about what Jeanine has planned. We – as in Four, me and a few others – are pretty sure that she is indeed hunting Divergents and planning on overthrowing the government. Maybe, just maybe, I can get some insight on those plans.

Determined to prove to Eric that he can count on me even when I am not in perfect health as he put it, I throw myself into my paperwork again.

It's shortly before lunch when I hear someone coming down the corridor.

"Eric?" a female voice asks and I almost bang my head against the surface of my desk in frustration. Shauna.

I clear my throat and force myself to remain calm. "He's at a meeting in Erudite. He should be back any minute, though, if you'd like to wait for him."

She barely glances at me when she answers. "No, it's fine."

"Suit yourself," I shrug my shoulders and look back down into the file in front of me. It takes me a couple of seconds to realize that she's still standing in the hallway.

"Can I help you with anything else?" I ask, irritated.

She sends me a calculating gaze before smiling sweetly. I almost cringe.

"Do you happen to know where Four is?"

It takes every ounce of self-control not to throw myself across the desk and beat the shit out of her.

Instead, I return her false smile.

"Unfortunately no," I say before nodding my head toward my communication device, "If you want, I could send a group message informing them that you're horny. I'm sure someone will answer and come to fulfill your needs."

I can't believe I actually said that and by the looks of it neither can Shauna.

"I'm going to talk to Eric about this," she finally hisses.

"Oh please, do tell him," I reply, smirking, "Better hurry, though, before I'm a full member of leadership and therefore your superior."

"No need," Eric's voice sounds before he too appears in my doorframe, "I heard everything and I forbid you to send such a message."

Shauna smirks at me but I keep my gaze on Eric's. Though he's keeping a straight face I can see the amusement in his eyes.

"I don't want to have another hour long meeting with our IT people about spams."

He grins at me then and I actually burst out laughing while Shauna sends us both a death glare before rushing off.

"Come on, Stiff, let's get to lunch," Eric sighs, "I'll tell you all about the meeting. If you're done with your paperwork, you can leave early today. But meet me in the training room at five."

"I can't," I answer, while joining him and locking my office door behind me, "Not today. I'm gonna pick up my remaining things from Four's apartment."

He stops and looks at me then, clearly thinking.

"Okay. But l'm coming with you."

I roll my eyes. "No, you're not. You just want to rile him up."

He smirks. "A nice side effect, yes. But mainly I want to make sure yesterday doesn't repeat itself."

I groan, knowing full well that nothing I say will stop him from accompanying me.

I hesitate when we reach the door to Four's apartment. I know the key code of course, have used it hundreds of times, but it seems wrong to just barge in now. I ignore Eric's raised eyebrow and instead knock a couple of times.

A heartbeat later, Four opens the door and immediately freezes.

"Tris?" he asks in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get the rest of my things," I answer, "Can I come in?"

"Uhm, it's not a good time right now."

"Why?"

"He's not alone," Eric answers before Four can even open his mouth.

"Why did you bring him?" Four stares at me like I've lost my mind. My eyes narrow.

"Who's with you?" I counter. Not that I particularly care about that but his behavior is just odd.

He doesn't answer so I simply roll my eyes and brush past him and into his apartment.

I halt in my steps when I see Shauna sitting on the sofa in his living room.

"Really?" I say incredulously, whirling around to stare at Four.

"Nothing happened, Tris, I swear," Four hurriedly says, "She showed up a couple of minutes ago. I don't even know why she's here."

"I do," Eric's low voice comes from the doorway, "She overheard us talking earlier. She knew you'd be coming here."

Of course she did. I snort.

"Alright then," I finally say, shaking my head, "I'll grab my stuff."

I turn and walk down the hallway toward Four's bedroom, hoping that he and Eric won't kill each other in the five minutes it will take me to gather my things.

When I return, both men are still alive and breathing. Completely ignoring Shauna and Four I stalk toward the apartment door.

"Tris, please," Four grabs my arm when I pass him and Eric immediately straightens up to his full height. The way he stands there, arms at his sides and ready to intervene if need be, emanating the power and authority every true leader radiates, I am reminded of the Eric that hung my best friend over the Chasm.

In this moment I realize what I seem to have forgotten in the last couple of weeks while working with him: Eric is dangerous.

Four seems to think along the same lines because he lets go of my arm and takes a step back, nodding in defeat.

Without another word I rush out of the apartment, Eric following behind me.