Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the rather long hiatus… I kind of lost the track of what I wanted to do. But I'm back now! I've been mainly working on my Fictionpress stuff (Details on my profile).
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-ToAC

The following morning, as often was the case, Max woke up with a face full of hair. Of course, he didn't find this unpleasant, considering whose hair it was. He rolled slightly away from Janet and got up, trying not to disturb the brunette. Max headed into the shower. As he came out, Janet was sitting up stretching.
"We need to get down to the training room." Max's voice had no real urgency and was more a reminder than an order.
"OK, fiancé." Janet's response was delivered with a smile. The pair got ready for the day then began to make their way to the training room.
"You know, five years ago, I would never have dreamed what life would be like now." The statement from Max made Janet look at him with a confused expression
"What parts?" Janet asked for clarification.
"Oh, transferring, Being Dauntless, marrying you." Max listed off the unbelievable things, the happiness in his voice growing with each item. Janet smiled in response. It was at this point that the two reached the training room. Ollie and Laina already stood inside the training room.
"You're up early." The remark came from Janet.
"Everyone's up. There's a problem." The response came from Laina, who looked very worried.

Max and Janet hurriedly followed Ollie and Laina to the initiate quarters. Sitting with a black eye on his bed was Gabriel; on another bed sat Thea being comforted by other initiates. As soon as Max and Janet entered, Thea stood.
"Are you alright, Thea?" The query came from Max. Meanwhile, Janet stepped towards Gabriel.
"You understand this is a very serious crime;" Janet stated to Gabriel, who looked angry, though at what was undetermined. "It can be punished by expulsion."
"Yeah, right, as if you can find me guilty," Gabriel remarked cockily. "You have no evidence."
"I think eyewitness accounts by multiple individuals would be enough." Janet's tone had turned cold yet angry. "You sexually assaulted another initiate, Gabriel. You assaulted another initiate, in front of all the other transfers."
"She was asking for it." Gabriel snarled at Janet as well as the other initiates watching.
"OK, you were asking for this. Gabriel, I'm taking you to the leaders; Thea, Laina, Ollie, come with me as witnesses; everyone else, go to the training room with Max." Janet ordered in the same cold, angry tone. Each of the initiates, other than the four filed out. Before Max left, he worriedly glanced at his fellow instructor and fiancé: he had never seen Janet this angry. Janet attempted to non-verbally communicate that it was all going to be fine. Sort of getting the message, Max left the quarters. Meanwhile, Janet led the four initiated accompanying her into the pit with the hope of finding a leader. They were in luck, as Lewis was standing there talking to the head of intelligence.
"Lewis, sir," Janet greeted the leader, who turned to the instructor and four initiates. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a serious matter."
"How serious are we talking?" Lewis asked, brows furrowed; protocol essentially stated that leaders only had to be brought in if it was a matter of law-breaking.
"Gabriel here," Janet pulled Gabriel forward "has been accused of sexual assault on Thea."
At her name, Thea stepped forward.
"I had just come out of the shower, when Gabriel stole my towel and started, well, groping me…" Thea recalled, slightly timidly.
"There's no reason to feel nervous, Thea. You aren't in the wrong. You chose Dauntless, so you can be brave. Was it you who gave Gabriel that black eye?" Lewis' response sounded empathetic. Thea nodded in response.
"See, she assaulted me too!" Gabriel remarked, trying to sound hurt.
"Self-defence is not assault;" Lewis stated simply. He turned to Ollie and Laina. "I'm guessing you two are witnesses."
The two initiates nodded.
"Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, Janet." Lewis had gone into 'leader mode': his voice was impartial and authoritative. "Initiates, come with me to my office. Janet, you can go back to training your other transfers."
The entire group did as they were told. When Janet entered the training room, all eyes turned to him.
"What's happened?" The question was asked by numerous initiates and Max simultaneously.
"Lewis is dealing with it." Janet's response put mostly everyone at rest. Janet looked at the fights for the day. Gabrielle had originally been planned to fight against Laina, but Max had stricken this fight off the board. Therefore, the fights read:
Clarisse VS Finn
Lyla VS May
Martyn VS Ryan
Ollie VS Thea
Clarisse, Finn, Lyla, and May had already had their fights, so Martyn and Ryan stepped up to the mat. The circled then began to fight.

It was about a quarter of an hour before Ollie, Laina, and Thea returned.
"Lewis says he wants to see both of you after you've finished here," Ollie told Max and Janet "he wants your opinions on what to do."
The two instructors nodded and thanked Ollie for relaying the message. After checking that Thea was alright to fight (to which she said she was), it was Ollie's and Thea's turn to fight. The two initiates stepped onto the mat and began to fight.

After the fights, as they walked to Lewis' office, Janet filled in the book with the fight results. They decided to give Laina a point for her defence of Thea, as well as the fact that she was the lowest scoring initiate; Clarisse beat Finn, Lyla beat May, Ryan beat Martyn, and Thea beat Ollie. When they reached Lewis' office, Max knocked lightly on the door. They were told to come in and did so. Lewis was sat at his desk, and Gabriel was nowhere to be seen.
"You wanted to see us, sir?" It was Janet addressing Lewis.
"Yes. I was wondering if you could give me some light into how Gabriel has behaved since he transferred." The statement from Lewis matched what Ollie had told the two instructors.
"He's been quite… cocky." Max stated, originally planning on using a more offensive word, but rethinking at the last moment.
"He was rather sexist towards me, and the female initiates." Janet's statement gave extra detail and made Lewis frown.
"Right, so he's been a disturbance since the beginning." Lewis placed his hand on his chin, engaged in the conversation. Both Max and Janet nodded.
"Thank you both. My mind was already mostly made up about what to do, but your report has further solidified my opinion." Lewis stated. "Gabriel has had his last night in Dauntless."
"You're expelling him?" The request for clarification came from both trainers simultaneously.
"Yes. He'll be removed from the Pit as soon as tonight. Tell Thea that it is all sorted." Lewis remarked, a tinge of pride.
"She was really brave to do what she did," Janet commented.
"We're Dauntless. We're meant to be brave." Retorted Lewis "However, I do agree."

After they were finished with Lewis, Janet and Max headed to the Pit. They met up with Percy and Tanya in the Pit. Tanya was on a short break, having to work until the tattoo parlour closed at 10pm, while Percy had clocked off work for the day. The two ex-Candors noticed the ex-Erudite's drained expressions.
"What's happened?" Tanya queried, concerned about her friends.
"One of our initiates has been made factionless. " Max summarised, which seemed to satisfy the two ex-Candors' curiosity. The four continued their quiet chatter, with Reggie and Jo eventually joining. It was about an hour later when there was a large 'BOOM!', then sirens
"All medics to the trains, all medics to the trains." The voice of the head doctor commanded over the pit's speaker system. Exchanging a worried look with his friends, Max began to head towards the train stop. Janet caught his hand before he could get out of reach.
"Be careful. Stay safe." Janet essentially ordered, worry clear in her eyes. Max quickly drew Janet in and pecked her on the lips.
"I'll be back before you know it." Max promised, placing his free hand on Janet's cheek. She nodded then let go of her fiancé. Max quickly turned and sprinted to the train stop.
"Max!" A voice shouted from the doorway. Standing there was Luke, a fellow medic and Dauntless-born from Max's initiation year. He threw a bag to Max, which Max recognised as the basic emergency response kit. When the pair got on the train, each were handed a gun by a Dauntless just on the inside. The head medic, known as Porter stood in the centre of the carriage. Porter was a young woman, about 10 years older than Max and Luke, with black hair, now flecked with grey. She always wore a fierce expression, and her numerous tattoos stood out starkly against her pale skin. Most were covered by her jacket at the moment, though.
"Now, we're unsure what exactly caused the blast, but guns are a precaution" Porter began to brief the carriage full of medics.
It showed the popularity of the job thought Max They could fit all the medics in a single train carriage
"Keep your wits about you. We're there to help the wounded and potentially neutralise any hostiles." Porter finished her briefing. There was the unmistakable sound of the train horn, and the medics next to the doors opened the door. The train was running alongside a street, and Max could see the smoke of their destination spiralling into the sky. Each of the medics, including Luke and Max jumped out of the train, and ran to the site of the blast. According to Porter, doctors and medics from Erudite were also on their way. When Max saw the blast site, he immediately mentally assessed the situation. A building had completely collapsed, and there were shards of glass, metal, and brick all across the street.
"Let's go, people!" The order came from Porter. All the medics ran to the scene and began calling out for any survivors. There were various weak shouts, and medics responded to each shout. Max tried to find a shout that wasn't responded to, but couldn't hear any. What he did notice was a hooded figure across the world. The figure looked factionless, dressed in both black and grey. From their clothes, the figure drew a silver object.
"GUN, GET DOWN!" Max shouted to warn the other medics. Some of the medics dropped, while others drew their guns and aimed at the hooded figure.
"You may kill me, but we are many." The factionless man laughed maniacally, before aiming and firing. The bullet hit Max in the shoulder, and Max fell from the force. Another medic immediately shot the factionless man who collapsed and crumpled. When he fell, Max hit his head and was knocked out.

Max was quickly taken into the infirmary, and the bullet was taken out of his shoulder. The wound was stitched up and he was put in a bed. When he came round, Janet was sitting by his bedside.
"We seriously need to stop ending up in hospital." Was the first thing Max said. The statement made Janet chuckle.
"Well, the nurse says you're free to go when you come round, but to keep activity using your right hand to a minimum." Janet informed Max.
"Well, I'm left handed so that's not too bad." Max's response was delivered as positively as Max could manage with a dry throat.
"Wait, do you need some water?" Janet's eyes widened slightly with realisation. Max nodded, and Janet handed him a glass of water. Max took it gratefully. He eventually got out of the bed, his arm twinging as he did so, and walked with Janet back to essentially their apartment. It was still early in the evening, so the two stayed in. At about half past 9pm, the pair received a call from Percy and Tanya. It was Max
"Max, can you get here as soon as possible?" It was Percy's voice, and he sounded worried. "I think there's something wrong with Tanya."
"Sure, I'll be right there. What are the symptoms?" Max queried as he grabbed his keys. Putting his hand over the phone for a second, Max quickly repeated what Percy had said. Janet nodded.
"Don't get shot in the shoulder." Janet joked. Max gave her a look as if to say 'Seriously?' before exitingto the ex-Candors' apartment. He already had an idea, going from the symptoms: Tanya was experiencing backache, cramping, and nausea. When he got to the apartment, he knocked on the door. Percy answered the door, and let Max in. Tanya was sitting on the couch, rubbing her back.
"Hey, Max." Tanya greeted the medic thankfully.
"Hi, Tanya;" Max responded, trying to sound positive. "Now, Percy's ran through your symptoms, and I think I have a pretty good idea of what's happening, but I need to know one thing: have you been feeling overtired lately, even if you get a good amount of sleep?"
Tanya nodded in response.
"I just thought it was work stress getting me down." Tanya confessed. The confession made Max unintentionally smile
"Have your tastes in food changed recently? Like finding things you used to like not so tasty." Max asked, just to further cement his theory; once again, Tanya nodded.
"Tanya, I can't say that it's definitely true, but I recommend you take a pregnancy test." Max remarked.
"You're kidding?" The response came from Percy. Max shook his head. Both of the Candors' were wide-eyed. They looked at each other and began to smile brightly. Percy, after kissing his expectant fiancé, ran to Max and gave the medic a hug and pat on the back. Unfortunately, Percy hit the wound, causing Max to wince, but the medic was able to keep the other boy from noticing.
"Thank you for the fantastic news." Tanya remarked, standing despite her back pain. She also hugged the redhead medic, though her hug was less boisterous. Max decided to leave the couple to celebrate the news, and walked back to his own apartment. Janet sat on the couch when he arrived.
"You'll never guess the news." Max remarked when he sat next to his fiancé. Janet looked at him and shrugged. When Max told her the news, Janet's face lit up.
"Tanya will probably want to tell you, so you'll have to act surprised." Max's tone was joking and showed he was as happy for the ex-Candor couple as Janet was. After Janet had calmed slightly, the two ex-Erudites settled in for the night, and rested for whatever the next day would bring.

A/N: Please remember to R and R. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Keep on Reading
-ToAC