A/N: Hello Everyone! After a long disappearance I am finally back with a brand spanking new story in a fandom that I have not previously touched. My Eric (based off the Jai Courtney movie version #swoon) is definitely a touch OOC but he's still an asshole, there's no doubt about that. I hope you guys enjoy my OC, she's everything I think Eric needs in his life. Sort of.

"Silence, everyone. Today we hear the case of one of Dauntless' very own leaders, Eric Coulter," Max and the group of 3 other Dauntless leaders made out the tribunal that would be at Eric's hearing today—all of them seated around the table with him at the other end.

He's fidgeting, and his face is set into a hard scowl. The other leaders are staring him down.

Some, like Lana and Gabriel, have disapproval etched clearly upon their faces. Others, like Max and Georgine, look slightly more sympathetic yet still disappointed.

Eric clenches his jaw, while he was used to being under scrutiny—from both his peers and superiors, he had worked so hard to prove himself to his faction, to Dauntless. This level of judgment was not something he thought he would ever have to deal with again.

A warm, firm hand squeezes his thigh underneath the table and Eric turns to see Bluebell smiling reassuringly at him. Eric's eyes soften momentarily but an admonishing cough hardens him once again and he's facing the leaders of Dauntless.

"Faction before blood. That is the motto that runs our entire system. Those words, more important to our livelihood than anything else. The faction system has helped our city thrive in the wake of terrible war. And now, what we have presented to us, is a digression from the path that our founders paved for us," Max spoke clearly and neutrally—trying to stay objective in his wording as to not sway the other leaders.

To Eric, those words were like knives to his gut—no matter how "neutral" he knew Max thought he was being.

"In the eyes of Dauntless, in the eyes of the whole faction system, you have broken one of our most important rules," Gabriel stated, frowning in harsh disapproval, "Can you explain to us Eric Coulter, to your faction, for what?"

Meeting the eyes of all the leaders in front of him, before looking to his side at the woman beside him Eric spoke only two words, "For her,"