the only limit is your imagination...

Now that you were finally resting and adrenaline no longer fueled your body, the delayed pain from your previous fight with Four was beginning to sink in. Your body was battered and tired drained of strength and you felt unbearably exhausted.

As you lifted your head, you quickly wiped your tear streaked cheeks before anyone could notice them and stared straight ahead at the steel wall. Your pounding heart and loud thoughts seemed to silence out everything around you. The images of the blissful moments created with Eric flooded your mind and hollowed your heart, washing away any residue of emotion that resided within. You sat alone with nothing but your memories, legs bent as your arms hung over your knees, staring apathetically into nothing less than a deep void.

But a faint voice began to slowly claim your attention, distracting you from your own thoughts. The momentary lack of emotion and care lured you to ignore it but as it grew louder, it forced you back to reality.

Drawing your vacant glare away from the wall, you scanned the faces of the group, searching for who the voice belonged to. The voice was a very familiar one and it called out your name once more, yet no one spoke or even opened their mouths. All eyes were curiously fixed on you and that’s when you all realized that the voice was not coming from inside the train but it was, in fact, coming from outside.

Caleb, Peter and Marcus gazed out from the window as Four and Tris peered out from the door and, though you felt too tired to stand, a spark of hope ignited within you. “It can’t be” you thought. You fought to put out the spark but it continued to burn and soon, it consumed you like a wildfire. Your heart begun to beat wildly in your chest as you made your way to join the couple and glance out the open door. For a moment, you couldn’t believe your own eyes. The air in your lungs pumped out quickly as you stood in disbelief, leaving you breathless while the emotions that had been recently flushed out suddenly refilled you.

After saying goodbye, the thought of seeing Eric desperately sprinting after the train was probably the only thought that hadn’t raced through your mind. But yet, there he was.

The look of determination on his face was strong and serious like a hunter focused only on his prey. His arms swung violently back and forth as they were locked close to his sides in a perfect running stance, wincing every time his weight was shifted onto his left leg. That’s when you quickly noticed the dark, large stain of blood on his thigh.

You didn’t dare linger. Without a second thought, you darted through the connecting doors, leaving the hesitant group behind, and sped down each cabin until you had reached the very last one. Before you knew it, you found yourself clinging to the door handle with one hand and stretching the other one out as far as you possibly could.

“Come on!” you cried out in encouragement. “Gimme your hand!”

He ran as fast as his body allowed him. It felt as if time slowed down, causing the desperation to grow more and more as he drew closer. He reached out, his fingers now inches away from yours. And though the distance was small, you felt he was still so far from your reach until he pushed his stamina past its ultimate limits, his hand finally gripping yours. Mustering up any bit of strength you could find, you pulled his heavy body up enough for him to climb the rest of the way.

After helping him inside, you knelt down beside him while he slowly crawled on his hands and knees. He tumbled over onto his back, his chest rising and falling as he panted, trying to slow his breathing down. Finally propping himself up with his arms stretched out behind him, you searched his face and a mix of emotions flashed throughout you. You wanted to hug him and never let him go though it was probably best to give him space, given the circumstances. But it didn’t stop you from wanting to cave his skull in with the heel of your boot for putting you through the pain of departure just to come running back.

“We’re dead either way, right? Regardless of what side we’re on” he panted. “Dying by your side doesn’t sound so bad.”

He held his wounded leg and couldn’t help but shut his eyes while he growled as the pain begun to spread itself throughout him. It wasn’t until after he finally caught his breath that he looked up, his steely eyes wondering around the interior.

“Besides…” He paused with a smirk curling his lips, softening his stern expression as his eyes fixed on yours before he continued. “Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?”

You smiled and rolled your eyes as you shook your head, feeling like an idiot for thinking that his explanation would’ve been more between the lines of “I love you” or “I couldn’t let you go.” You didn’t need to hear them, having accepted the fact that he was always a ‘action-over-words’ guy early into your relationship. But Eric, the notorious and ruthless Dauntless leader, leaving the faction and becoming a fugitive for you?? You really didn’t need to hear them.

“You’re such an ass” you joked.

“You’re the one in love with an ass.”

“I think we both know I’m not the only one” you smirked.

“But your ass is better to look at” he chuckled.

Scooting back to lean against the cold wall, he groaned at the shooting pain from his thigh as the muscles contracted around the wound. This quickly drew your attention and you could tell by the dampness around the area on his pants that he had lost and was still losing a lot of blood.

“Shit…” you whispered as you quickly shifted to examine his leg.

“I’m fine.”

“Eric, you’re bleeding out.”

“It’s just a little bullet,(Y/N). I think I’ll live.”

“Excessive physical movements increase your heart rate. Your heart beats faster, the blood circulation in your body accelerates. Blood flow speeds up and you bleed out” you stated. Stripping downing into a black sports bras that reached the very last bones of your ribcages, you slid your shirt off over your head and ripped a piece of the cloth before pressing it against his wound.

The heavy footsteps of the group vibrated throughout the metal floor. Looking over your shoulder, you watched as they entered the train cabin. Caleb’s expression was a mix of fear and confusion. Poor kid must’ve been still shaken up with everything that had taken place back in the factions. Marcus seemed to be trying to process the chaos of the war that had broken out and Peter didn’t look happy in the slightest. However, you could easily guess what Tris and Four were thinking solely by the look on their faces while they both kept their weapons raised and aimed at Eric. They looked him up and down, expecting him to some sort of trick up his sleeve. But of course, that wasn’t enough to intimidate Eric.

“What are you gonna do, shoot my other leg?” he joked at Tris.

You glared at him, knowing that it wouldn’t take Four much work to put to actually pull the trigger. But still, it annoyed you that he was too proud to keep his mouth shut. Or just too cocky, perhaps.

Using the strip of cloth you had torn from your shirt, you tied it around his thigh to hold the shirt in place over the wound. You pulled the tourniquet tightly on purpose, knowing it would hurt him. He groaned and glared at you with a slight confused gleam under his furrowed brows as he held his leg. You didn’t want to hurt him, but it was the only way you could get him to shut up.

“Keep pressure on it” you demanded as you placed his hand over the compressed fabric. You then stood up, wiping your blood stained hands on your pants as you turned around to face everyone else.

“He shouldn’t be here. For all we know, he could be scouting for Jeanine.”

“He could be,” you shrugged as you crossed your arms across your chest, taking a few steps closer as they lowered their weapons. “I guess time will tell.”

“You shouldn’t trust him, (Y/N). We both know what he’s capable of” Four whispered as he torn his focused, doubtful glare away from Eric and fixed them on you.

“Everyone is capable of change” you argued.

“No” he snarled, switching his gaze back to Eric. “Humans are. He isn’t.”

Though you defended him, you struggled to contain the doubt growing in your mind. You refused to believe that Eric would betray you but you knew him very well. He’s a survivor, smart and very cunning, does what he has to do to live and fearlessly follows his orders no matter how heartless they might be. The embodiment of both Dauntless and Erudite. You loved that about him, when you first met. But now the question lingered. Did he come back for you or for Jeanine?

While you fought against the internal doubt, Four, thinking the argument was settled for now, turned around to walk into the other train cabin as Tris followed, wondering why you defended him at all.

“You’re right, Four” Eric spoke, stopping them in their steps. Tris turned around. Four, however didn’t. He merely turned his head to the left, wanting to hear what he could possibly have to say although he knew pleading for anything, even his own life, was below Eric’s morals.

“I could be scouting, just waiting for the right moment to slip away and report back to Jeanine. But thing is, I’m not here to play sides. I’m not here because I want to be part of some rebellion. But (Y/N)’s divergent and this is the side (Y/N)’s on. You make certain plans but then someone you weren’t expecting walks into your life and those plans don’t exactly fall through. Things just change. I’m sure you can relate to that, can’t you?”

Eric smirked, leaning his head back against the wall, as if he had mentioned something personal, something only the two knew about. Tris must’ve felt in the dark, just as much as you by the look of confusion on her face although she suppressed it well. Four, on the other hand, remained silent before finally walking out.

Eric’s words echoed in your mind and you couldn’t help but wonder what the subliminal message was. You knew the plans Eric had back in Dauntless. But what were Four’s? And though you craved for answers, you felt like it wasn’t much of your place to know and that now was just simply not the best time to ask for them. So you decided to leave for another day.

You took a deep breath, forcing the doubtful thoughts out of your mind and pressed your back against the wall, sliding down to settle beside Eric. You stayed pretty quiet for a while until he finally decided to break the silence as he let out a soft groan.

“So I’m guessing we’re going to Amity?”

“Yeah” you whispered. “From hunters to hunted.”

“But you’re only prey if they catch you.” His cold and calloused hand wrapping around yours captured your attention and made you to look over at him. “I’m not gonna let that happen.”

You snaked your free hand around the bicep of his arm and gently kissed the side of his shoulder. His lips twitched, suppressed a smile as he looked down at you. He squeezed your hand, gently but strong enough to let you know he was enjoying your touch. And hugging his strong arm, you leaned your weary head on his shoulder, finally resting even if it was just for a few minutes.

They were your friends. Tris helped you through initiation by teaching you how to hide your divergence and Four covered you in the fearscape simulation. You wanted to fight against it but control was far from your reach. You knew it wasn’t real yet you couldn’t stop it. The serum that coursed through your veins was now in total domination of your actions.

As Tris dealt with Jeanine and the program, Four covered her by fighting off anyone who threatened to get in her way. Most of those who did were Erudite members and their lack of physical combat training worked in Four’s favor.  You, however, were slightly more challenging.

Watching you two to battle one-on-one was like watching two wild, rage-driven animals to fight for territory, clashing against one another with such strength; no human would dare attempt to intervene. A flicker of fear ran down his spine as he fought to defend himself against your ruthless and vicious attacks when he looked into your eyes. They would’ve been vacant if not for the cold, merciless gleam of pure determination. It quickly became very clear to him that he was merely an obstacle and you were willing to fight to the death.

He tackled you against the wall and pinned your wrists down behind your back, trying to stall long enough for Tris to carry on with the shutdown. Despite the fact your resolute and unwavering hunger for accomplishment, he wanted killing you to be his very last resort. You were one of the very few people he held dear. Hell, he even came to you for advice on his relationship with Tris.

But it didn’t stop you from lifting your leg up to knee him in the stomach repeatedly. With his shoulder against your torso, he groaned as he struggled to keep you held against the wall. But the blows from your knee forced him to loosen his grip, just enough for you to break free and jab your elbow into his back over and over again. As you lifted your arm for a third strike, he quickly stood and took a step back while throwing a perfect right-hook to your cheekbone. Before he could throw another, you grasped the collar of his jacket and pulled him in to slam your forehead into his in an unexpected head butt, one strong enough to make him dizzy. Then, clutching his head in your hands, you drove it into your powerful knee and knocking him down as a loud thud escaped from the contact of his back against the ground.

He weakly crawled over onto his hands and knees, trying to focus his vision as it spun the whole room around him. Once the setting became fixed, his eyes locked with Tris’s before they both looked down a loaded serum injecting gun that rested just a few steps away from the shadow of your figure as you walked over to complete your mission. Quickly realizing the knife in your hand, he mustered up his strength and lunged at you, struggling not to stumble on his tired feet. In an act of desperation, he tackled you from behind, knocking the knife out of your grip.

You reacted fast by rolling over to be on top of him before lacing your fingers around his neck and squeezing as hard as your small hands allowed you to. Rough and ragged breathing escaped from behind his exposed, gritted teeth as he tried to pry your hands away. Being unsuccessful, he struck the inside of your arm with the side of his fist until you lost strength in it for a moment. After rolling over so you were on the bottom now, his fist hit your jaw and eye in two punches before he reached to the side to throw something over to Tris.

Taking advantage of this quick distraction, you grabbed the nearby knife and rolled over to be on top once more. He pushed against your arms with every fiber of strength left within him.  You could feel the blood streak down from the gash on your eyebrow past the outer corner of your eye. The taste of greasy metal in your mouth made your stomach curl and contract in disgust.  But you pushed down harder, the knife now only centimeters away from his neck. And as the blade drew nearer, the desperation grew stronger in both expressions.

The tip of the knife had now reached his skin, piercing it lightly enough to form a small drop of blood. Beads of sweat dripped from your head and as you pushed down, the small drop filling faster and thick enough to slide down the side of his neck. He growled loudly as the metal dug deeper into his skin and his resistance seemed to weaken with every second. But before the incision was deep enough to fatally harm him, the tension of your pressure eased as you fortunately retreated. Looking down at Four, you realized that it wasn’t just in your mind. It was real. It was all real.

“I’m sorry…” you pleaded, horrified from your actions as you climbed off of him and helped him up. It felt as if you had wakened up from an endlessly, dreadful nightmare. ”I couldn’t stop it. I knew what I was doing and I wanted to stop but I-I-“

“I know, don’t worry. It’s not your fault” he said, cutting you off as he wiped the blood from his neck. Having been in a sim himself when he attacked Tris, he understood.

The three of you exited quickly after grabbing rifles the knocked out members and assembled with a young Erudite guy and an older man dressed in gray. Introductions were quick due to the circumstances, but you quickly learned their names and who they were. The boy in blue was Caleb, Tris’s brother and the man in gray was Marcus, Fours’ father. And of course, the last person you wanted to see right now. The cruel, loathsome, arrogant asshole named Peter. Your blood boiled underneath your skin, causing you to push him against the wall and press the sharp edge of the blade in your hand to his neck.  The only thing that stopped from slitting his throat was Tris’s grasp on your wrist.

“Now’s not the time, (Y/N)” she started. “We have to get out of here before the rest of the faction comes back.”

It took all your will power to fight against the urge and the smug smile on Peter’s face made it even harder to resist. Just one quick and swift movement and he would’ve bled to his death. But Tris was right. Now was not the time so you gave him a burning glare and turned around to run through the corridors of the compound. The group followed you and soon, you had reached the exit doors of the building and made your way towards the train tracks.

“If I remember the schedule correctly, the train should be here in a few minu-“you were cut off by a searing hot flash that left a flesh wound on your shoulder. A bullet shot from a distance caused Four and Tris quickly turned around with their rifles raised, only to find a wounded Eric with a gun in hand. You yelped, clutching your wounded shoulder in one hand before turning around also, only to quickly recognize the pale face and steely eyes, short blond hair and bold tattoos. You placed your hand on Four and Tris’s weapons, demanding they hold their fire and they, out of respect for you, obeyed though they refused to lower their locked aim.

“So that’s how it works? You’re just gonna fucking leave? ” Eric yelled. The raging war of confliction roared within him ever since your last encountering. The hurt and confusion in his eyes left a swelling lump in your throat and every step you took towards him felt heavy as if bound in iron chains. This was goodbye, you both were well aware. And the words weighted down within you as if caught in the haunted depths of the compressing ocean, immersing your body with its crushing pressure.

“We both know I have no choice, Eric“ you began as you willingly walked into his aim, just a few steps away from his gun. “I can’t let you risk yourself for me anymore.”

“No! Don’t you dare give me that fucking bullshit. This was not part of the fucking plan, you were not supposed to be one of them!”

His emotions and thoughts battled against each other and he was lost and stuck in the crossfire. His hand began to shake as he struggled to keep his gun aimed but he eventually surrendered. What stood before you was a strong soldier, fighting to maintain his pride, honor and dignity. But as he failed to do so, he switched his gaze to anywhere else but you. Neither of you could look each other. Knowing it would be the last time you did was too much of a burden to bear.

“I didn’t plan any of this either, Eric. I don’t know what’s gonna happen from here. But what I do know is that if I stay, we’re both dead. “

“What difference does make it? Jeanine won’t stop until you all are.”

“Then come with me…” you whispered. “You’re meant for more than this, Eric, for more than just being her attack dog and doing her dirty work. I know you can live with the blood on your hands. But can you live knowing you’ll die for something we both know you don’t believe in? Can you live knowing you’ll die a slave of her commands?”

The only reply you received from Eric was silence. But, as he looked down, his thoughts raced through his mind, echoing your words. And he knew you were right. He knew, deep down, you spoke nothing other than the truth that he fought to admit.

“(Y/N), we have to go. The train’s almost here. “Four stated as the train rumbled in the distance.

You stepped closer and gave him a gentle, lingering kiss as you held his heartbroken face in your hand. “I love you, Eric. But I choose to die free and if not free, I choose to die fighting for it” you whispered as your eyes searched his for the last time.