A/N: Hey! I'm new to the Divergent Trilogy fanfics, so hopefully I don't disappoint. You can read other stories of mine in the Expendables-movie section of this site, and get a feel for my writing style and the story lines I like. My Eric is definitely movie Eric, and the story line loosely follows the movie too. In my story however, there's little mention of Divergence and no war.

I also believe that underneath all Eric's cruelty is a lonely soul just waiting for his mate, so while there may be dark moments involving Eric, there also will be light. Please read and review, enjoy!

Beatrice glanced around the choosing ceremony. The hubbub had died down since she'd chosen Dauntless, and everyone was waiting to hear who would be called next.

"Arianna LaRue." Marcus called out.

Beatrice scanned the factions, eyes alighting on a girl who stood up in Amity. She strode confidently towards the bowls, her head high. Beatrice was stunned by her. She was tall and athletically built, and even from where she sat Beatrice could see that her eyes were huge and long-lashed, her skin flawless. But her most striking feature, by far, was her mane of red hair. Beatrice instantly thought of a fox, an animal she'd studied in science class; this girl's hair was the same vibrant shade, and, Beatrice saw, flowed like the mane of a lion, another animal Beatrice had read about.

Arianna had reached Marcus and the bowls and accepted the knife from his hand. She spun to face the factions, and, turning her head, Beatrice followed her gaze. She gasped quietly when looked at Amity. The peaceful faction was glaring at Arianna with what could only be hostility, anger and defiance. Beatrice looked back and saw the same emotions reflected on Arianna's face. Savagely, the tall girl sliced the knife across her palm and closed her fist. She shot her arm straight out, palm up, and held it over the Amity soil. Beatrice looked back at the faction, their expressions had not changed. Why is Amity so mad at her? Beatrice thought. They're supposed to be peaceful and loving? What has this girl done to make them hate her so?

The girl's beautiful face twisted in anger, and she curled her lip at her old faction. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Then, with a sudden jerk, Arianna snapped her arm to the side and turned her palm down, opening her fist. A large gout of blood splashed onto the Dauntless fire, sizzling and hissing and snapping. Dauntless roared in triumph and Amity visibly relaxed. Beatrice gasped again, realizing that she hadn't drawn a breath since the girl had cut her palm.

Handing the knife back, Arianna accepted a strip of bandage and turned to her new faction. As she was the next one to choose Dauntless after Beatrice, she would have to stand next to her. Beatrice held her breath again as the redhead made her way over, Dauntless still roaring and stomping their feet, impressed by her defiance. Arianna stopped beside Beatrice and faced forward.

"Wow...that was amazing." Beatrice said, stumbling over her nervousness.

Arianna turned her head and flashed her an amused glance. "Thanks."

"And your hair, it's like...like a fox." Beatrice babbled.

Quirking one side of her mouth, Arianna looked down at Beatrice again. "You talk a lot for Abnegation."

Slightly embarrassed now, Beatrice straightened her spine. "We're both Dauntless now." She replied. She saw that Arianna's eyes were a kaleidoscope of amber and brown, like a Tiger's Eye gem she once saw in a museum.

Having expected her comment to shut the girl up, Arianna's eyebrows lifted at Beatrice's grit. "Yeah," she grinned. "You're right." Her mouth widened into a genuine smile and she turned back to the ceremony as a 'Jacob Hunter' was called.

When the ceremony ended Dauntless began filing out. Beatrice looked over at her old faction, at her parents, but Arianna held her head high as they passed Amity. As they neared the stairs, the Dauntless began to yell and broke into a run. Grinning back at Beatrice, Arianna joined the crush and, unwilling to be left behind, Beatrice followed. They stayed side by side as they ran through the streets, Beatrice sensing that Arianna was holding herself back to keep pace with her. As they neared the tracks, they slowed with the crowd and Beatrice and Arianna traded glances when they saw that the Dauntless initiates were beginning to climb up the trestle to leap aboard the an oncoming train. Breathlessly, they followed, reaching the top just as the train began to pass.

"C'mon." Arianna grinned, sprinting towards the car. She easily leapt in and turned back to help Beatrice. Laughing they flopped against the wall and grinned at the Candor girl beside them.

"I'm Christina." The girl said, extending her hand.

Arianna nodded at her and Beatrice took her hand, introducing them both.

Too soon, a fervour ran through the crowd. The three girls watched in shock as the people in the cars ahead of them started jumping out of the train cars onto a roof.

"Holy shit." Arianna breathed. Then, "well, you ready?" She glanced back and forth between Beatrice and Christina. At their nods, she turned and sprinted forward, flinging herself out of the car. The two remaining girls, with wide-eyed glances at each other, followed behind. They landed hard, rolling into the gravel and coming to a stop at Arianna's feet. She appeared unruffled and reached down to help them stand.

"Alright, listen up!" A deep voice called.

They turned and walked with the crowd over to the edge of the building. A tall muscular man stood on the edge, dressed all in black. Tattoos ran up both sides of his neck and his eyebrow was pierced. "I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders."

As he continued speaking, his eyes scanned the initiates. They skimmed over Beatrice and Christina but hitched over Arianna. Something passed through his eyes.

"Someone's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?" He called.

Beatrice and Arianna traded a glance. Arianna quirked her brow in a 'you first' gesture.

"Me." Beatrice called out, walking towards the leader. Arianna followed her.

Beatrice stood on the ledge, readying herself to jump, Arianna felt eyes on her and glanced to her right. Eric was staring at her, but as she turned, he directed his attention back to Beatrice.

"Today, initiate."

Beatrice leapt.

Arianna followed, landing on the net and rolling off in time to hear the dark-haired man's last words to Beatrice and to hear her answer.

"First jumper, Tris!" He turned his attention to Arianna and raised his eyebrows.

Arianna glanced at the newly named Tris and smirked. Turning her gaze back to the man, she grinned. "Fox."

He nodded and called out. "Second jumper, Fox!"

Training began the next day.

It didn't take long for Fox to see the tension between the two leaders assigned to them, the enigmatic Eric and the dark-haired man, Four, who helped her and Tris out of the net. Although Four had identified himself as the trainer of the transfers, Eric was often there, overriding Four's orders. Fox kept her head down, intent of moving up the board. The physical part came easily to her, she'd always been athletic; and after the Incident, Fox had thrown herself into strength training and conditioning, refusing to be a victim again. She helped Tris as much as she could, as the blonde Abnegation struggled, and was relieved to see that her friend started succeeding, despite all the challenges facing them.

They got tattoos together, Fox chose a stylized fox on her left shoulder blade, and watched Tris with a grin while her tattooist drew three birds on her collarbone.

Days later, Fox and Tris watched in shock as Eric threw Christina over the chasm and forced her to hang there as he lectured the transfers that Dauntless do not quit.

Christina was spitting mad about it later, and most of the transfers felt the same, but Fox stayed quiet. Once, she might have sympathized, but after the incident, she had hardened and no longer felt such things. She understood tough love and saw what Eric had been trying to accomplish with his demonstration.

Fox hadn't missed the way Eric watched her during training, and although she found him attractive, she refused to return the stares. She's already broken her own rules by befriending Tris and Christina, and by interacting with the other transfers. She'd been a pariah and loner in Amity, and it had suited her. If you didn't let anyone close, you couldn't get hurt.

Fox prowled the pit late at night. She frequently had nightmares, and learned long ago that she was far more likely to fall back asleep after one if she got up and took a walk, rather than laying there in bed staring at the ceiling. She found herself at the chasm, as she often did, hypnotized and soothed by the rushing water. It was easier not to think about things when she stared at the beautiful chaos beneath her.

Standing up to leave, Fox paused, wiping away liquid on her cheeks that she refused to admit were tears. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she ripped a small dagger from her belt and whirled to face the intruder.

Eric stood not more than a dozen feet away, where the bridge met the rock. If Fox hadn't been preoccupied, he never would have made it that close.

His eyes narrowed. "Initiates aren't allowed weapons outside of training."

Fox sized up the situation. Eric didn't sound as pissed as he could be, there was a slight leniency in his voice and Fox took a chance.

"Good thing you didn't see anything then." She replied, replacing the blade in her belt. She walked towards Eric, he was blocking her exit and she was finally tired enough to try sleeping again. Eric let her pass, but suddenly grabbed her shoulders and slammed her back against the rock wall.

"What the hell is your deal, Banjo?" He growled, using Dauntless's slang for Amity.

Fox understood violence. She tipped her chin up at him and said nothing.

"Well? Say something." He pressed, punctuating his words with another slam backwards.

Fox waited until Eric sighed sharply and released her, he dropped his hands but he didn't step back. Fox realized she was not going to get away without some explanation.

"You have access to other faction's files?" She asked bluntly.

Eric's brow furrowed. "Maybe." He hedged.

"If you really want to know why I carry a knife everywhere, go look up Amity's files from seven years ago."

When Eric didn't reply, only stared at Fox like he was trying to see through into her soul, Fox huffed in exasperation and moved to leave. Eric's arms shot back up to pin her against the wall again. Fox struggled briefly, but Eric was larger and stronger. After a moment, Fox ceased and tipped her chin up, fixing Eric with a cold gaze.

"Why don't you just tell me?" He asked quietly. Something flashed through his eyes, something akin to empathy and he moved his hands from her shoulders to the rock wall behind her.

His proximity to her, his scent and heat were getting to Fox. He'd managed to get past the wall she usually had up, she'd dropped them momentarily while gazing into the chasm and hadn't yet shored them back up. Fox wet her lips and Eric's eyes immediately dropped to them, his breathing becoming heavier. Fox realized that he wanted to kiss her, and jolted slightly when she recognized that she wanted to kiss him back. When the hell did that happen? Still breathing heavily, Eric dragged his gaze back up to Fox's, his eyes had darkened with desire and Fox decided that, when his face wasn't twisted into a sneer, he was actually really hot.

Her eyes closed a moment before their lips touched, and a bolt of heat shot through Fox. Without conscious intent, she stepped forward from the wall and leaned into Eric. His lips were softer than she thought they'd be, warmer too. Fox curled her fingers against the back of his head and pulled Eric closer, parting her lips to accept his tongue. A deep groan vibrated in his chest and his arms tightened around Fox, one hand reaching up to cup her cheek. Fox moaned quietly as Eric pulled away, panting, and rested his forehead against hers. They breathed each other's air a moment before Fox opened her eyes. A moment later, Eric opened his, fixing her with a steel grey stare. His lips brushed hers again and Fox pulled away.

"I can't." She backed away, then turned and ran, leaving Eric to stand there, his chest heaving.

Days passed, Fox avoiding Eric, making sure to stay with the transfers, to never be alone. He watched her constantly now, enough that Christina noticed and made a biting comment in the cafeteria.

"What's his problem?" She gritted.

"What?" Tris asked, distracted.

"Eric. He's always looking over here."

"Just ignore him." Fox muttered. She's woken up from nightmares the last two nights, but hadn't dared venture out walking. She wasn't scared of Eric, the exact opposite in fact. His kiss has startled something awake in her, something she thought she'd never feel again. Fox wanted to kiss him again, wanted to do so much more, but, no, she couldn't. If you get close you get hurt. If you trust someone you pay for it. She's spent the last seven years alone, pushed everyone away, became such a loner and outsider that even the most peaceful faction had turned against her, was happy to see her transfer out. With one kiss Eric had shattered all that, made Fox yearn for human contact again. She wanted to breathe in his scent again, wanted to feel his lips on hers, his hands-NO. Fox snapped her head from side to side, banishing these traitorous thoughts. You'll just get hurt.