Divergent Short Stories (Eric & Tris Fanfics)

Three

This Sunday night ritual becomes regular.  Tris brings us meals she's made.  Spike growls through the door every time Four comes over to her place... but after a while, he stops growling.  I don't know if he's taken a liking to Four or if he's not coming over. 
The next week, Tris actually invites both of us over.  I decide to take her up on that offer.  We enter in at about the start time.  Spike approaches Tris and she pets him before he goes exploring through her apartment.  I'm welcomed in as she finishes up the meal in her kitchen.  Next to arrive is Christina with her dog.  He is a fat little thing and Spike doesn't know what to make of him. 
"Your giant dog isn't going to kill my baby, is he?" Christina teases. 
"I doubt it," I shrug.  "He's not growling."
She smiles at me as the two check each other out and sniff one another. 
We sit down and talk.  Candor isn't half bad.  Her boyfriend shows up along with their other friends.  Zeke and Shauna arrive and I'm glad I've got a friend here.  We talk quite a bit and enjoy the meal—the transfers talking about waiting for marriage while the Dauntless born aren't for that.  I figure that if I want a girl in the future, they're probably right and I should stick with a former transfer.  When several of the girls go to the kitchen to clean up, I turn to Zeke. 
"No Four?" I ask. 
"No, man," he shakes his head.  "They broke up about a month ago.  From what I hear your dog was barking like crazy. He thought he'd break the door down."
"He does hate Four," I nod recalling that he did mess up my door at about that time frame. I wasn't home at the time, though. When I returned, I discovered that I had to replace it.  That must be why it's been so quiet lately.  He hasn't been around.
We stay for a while, even after everyone else has gone.
"What happened?" I ask her since we've become closer.
She flushes and turns away.
"You don't have to tell me," I insist.
"It's kind of awkward," she admits. "Let's just say that I believe in certain values and Four doesn't. I think some behaviors should stay in the confines of marriage. He wanted them outside of marriage. I told him no. He threw a fit and left."
"That's all?" I question.
"We had an argument—several in fact," she admits. "They had been ongoing from the start. This last one was the final straw. I saw no future with a man that didn't believe the same moral things I did. Plus, the constant bickering was too much."
"What kind of things did you fight about?" I ask confused. They seemed fine out in public.
"It was always behind closed doors," she shrugs divulging what I hadn't voiced. "He picked apart everything I did. He didn't like me taking this position, being around you... he constantly treated me like I was weak, small, useless, incapable... it was never ending and I got tired of it."
I nod and don't ask any more. She's flushed and embarrassed. It's obvious he wanted sex and she wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. They hadn't been together that long, just a few months. I try to keep conversation more mellow after that and it's evident she's more at ease—petting Spike and talking to me. We thank her for the invite and she says we're welcome every Sunday. I smirk at that and accept.

*****

During the week, I take Tris out on her first routine inspection through the Factionless sector. It should be pretty basic and straightforward. We travel a safer route for her first time—one that is closer to Dauntless territory and never has had any documented Factionless occupation whatsoever. I pretty much just give the orders with her by my side while our squadron inspects our surroundings. Jax heads the team at the front and we're bringing up the rear.
We stride down the deserted streets of Factionless. It's kind of boring but at least we're out getting some fresh air and sunshine. I almost wish I could've brought Spike. He would've loved this.
There are some mostly intact buildings here, some crumbling a little. A few have all the windows broken out and some are solid. There's a tree growing up against the side of one and weeds and grass sprouting up through the cracks in the sidewalk. The center of the street is mostly clear since we do drive through here from time to time.
We usually spend the entire day out on these missions and today is no different. We started before the sun rose. We're currently taking a break—eating our rations for dinner since they're compact and easy to carry. Mine is at least jerky and a protein bar which aren't terrible. Tris actually seems to be enjoying hers. I'm surprised but it probably tastes better than anything she ate as a Stiff—with no seasoning.
We rise when we finish and move off with our crew. We take up the rear again and keep an eye out for any unusual movement. It is a rather boring day in my opinion. I glance to my side to see the Stiff hanging back.
"What's going on?" I ask her.
"I thought I saw something," she tells me softly.
"Here?" I question surprised.
"Yeah," she nods. "I could've sworn I just saw two Factionless scurrying past that alleyway," she tells me motioning down the alley she's standing in front of. I call it in on my radio. As I'm informing them, she faces my direction and glances at me.
"Eric! Look out!" she shouts.
I start to move but feel a searing pain in my shoulder. I wince and fully turn to hear a firearm discharge and a Factionless hit the ground grabbing his arm. Tris proceeds to stand over the old man—likely ex-Dauntless by the tattoos all over him. She points her weapon at him and calls out verbally for reinforcements. I tell Jax into the radio to send everyone back. I wince again at whatever is sticking out of my shoulder.
"Eric? We've got company," Tris tells me. "Back off or he dies," she tells them in a warning tone.
They progress toward us and we're surrounded. She shoots the Factionless again like the soldier she is and rips something out of my shoulder tossing a rusty piece of metal used as a shank to stab me aside. I stand back to back with her, both of our weapons ready. As we become surrounded, they hold up random found objects of varying degrees of danger. One has a lead pipe, another a plank of wood with nails sticking out of it. A girl has made a dagger with a broken piece of glass. An old man is using a pair of rusty discarded scissors as well. Others are on par with those—miscellaneous everyday items being used as weapons.
"Let's just shoot 'em," I tell her.
"What?" one of the Factionless questions surprised.
"If you don't want a fight, walk away. Otherwise, you're dead," Tris tells them harshly.
"I don't want to die," the girl with the glass says and runs off. A few others follow but most of them stay.
I give the order and we shoot. When we run out of ammunition, we fight. I'm not able to fight at a hundred percent—even against the untrained. I can't believe this little wound is causing me such trouble.
"Where the crap is our backup?" I shout.
"They're coming," Tris says as she fights two opponents. I see her with my peripheral vision. She has improved. I feel sluggish and weak, though. I get hit in the head with something as I fight another and I fall hard.  I lose my sight briefly and revive to see Tris standing in front of me between the Factionless and me—protecting me.  Backup finally arrives and takes them out, cuffing them and hauling them back to Dauntless for questioning.  An armored truck arrives and takes me to the infirmary.  Tris stays behind and handles the cleanup of the dead then she'll be writing the reports.  She really is exceptional.  I'd never noticed how much so until now. 
A soldier helps clean my wound a bit with water but he realizes how much blood I'm losing and just puts pressure on it until we arrive at the compound.  Dana—our head nurse—meets me at the infirmary entrance with an assistant and a gurney.  I lay down since I am feeling incredibly weak and let them do their work.  I'm stitched up in two places, injected with a tetanus booster, given some of my own blood from storage, and given fluids since I'm also dehydrated.  The cut was deep apparently and jagged—most likely scarring but whatever.  It'll heal.  But the pipe I apparently took to the head gave me a concussion.  I'm told that I'm allowed to leave after an overnight stay if everything looks good in the morning. Tris enters my room in the infirmary shortly after that.
"Hey," she greets.
"Hey, Stiff," I reply.
"How are you feeling?" she asks.
"I've been better," I respond.
"I hear they're keeping you for observation overnight," she states.
"Yeah," I say.
"Do you want me to take care of Spike for you?" she offers.
"I didn't even think of that," I mention.
"It's fine. I'll get your key from Ryan," she tells me.
"What the heck happened?" I ask her.
She's been handling the report.
"Apparently there was a disturbance further ahead and they were distracted and held back for a while. Once Jax got your message, they started heading for us," she explains.
"Wasn't the control room doing their job?" I ask gruffly. They're supposed to be keeping an eye on us.
"I'll be looking into what happened and who is responsible starting tomorrow," she tells me.
I nod in understanding. She's already thought about it and handling it. I've taught her well.
"So... I've met with the others..." she tells me hesitantly.
"And?" I question.
"They're forcing you to take a leave of absence until you've healed," she divulges biting her lip.
I curse at that.
"Yeah, I know," she replies apologetically. "I'll cover some of your duties while you're gone."
"Yeah, yeah," I grumble.
She stays with me a bit and has the cafeteria deliver a real dinner for the both of us. We eat together and then she wishes me a pleasant night. I thank her... for everything.
Once she's gone, I fall asleep easily. I have the strangest dreams... about the Stiff. When I wake in the morning, I'm questioning what is real and what is fantasy.
I'm released from the infirmary and I head home.  Spike rushes to the door as I step in and jumps on me.
"Hey, I missed you, too," I chuckle petting him.
I step over to his bowl. It's empty and still has some water in that dish so she's fed him today. It looks like he probably licked it clean. I see something on the floor and pick it up. Scrambled eggs? He jumps up again and takes the bite from between my fingers. I chuckle. Yeah, she fed him well. He's not a fan of kibble but he'll eat it. He'll usually leave some in the bowl as a sign of disdain, his little bit of protest in me feeding him dog food.
I look around my apartment and really don't feel like being stuck here for the next two weeks to a month. I especially don't want to be in the compound where everyone can see me not at my best. "How about a vacation?" I ask Spike.
He looks up to me and wags his tail regardless of not understanding me. I pack up a bag for me and another for him. I inform leadership of my intentions and head down to the parking garage.  I grab my keys and one of the guards jumps back in surprise. 
"What the heck is that?  ...Sir?" he stutters remembering his place. 
"My dog," I tell him. 
"That's a dog?" he questions in shock. 
I snort at that and walk out of the guard shack toward my truck.  I put the two bags into the trunk carefully trying not to hurt my shoulder.  Spike notices.  He actually sniffed my back while I was bent over packing.  He knows something's going on with me.  I sigh and close the trunk.  I open the backseat door for him. 
"In," I tell him motioning to the truck.  He looks at me confused.  I repeat myself more forcefully.  He looks back and slowly climbs in.  He was like that with the stairs the first time.  Not to think poorly of the dead, but I think his previous owner had him take the elevator and didn't take him outside much.  He's put on some serious muscle with me. 
Once he's inside, I close the door.  He paces a bit as I climb in the front.  "Sit," I tell him and he complies.  I start the ignition and we're off driving to the fence.  He scares the crap out of the gate guards.  They actually ask me to bring him out and he growls at a couple of them.  I call him to me and he sits beside me in the grass while they inspect my vehicle.  I let him back in and we drive through the opened fence off to my cabin. I pull up and climb out. I've done a little work on it here and there but I haven't been back since I got Spike. I bet he'll love it here, though.
I let him out and he climbs down quickly and looks around. He sniffs the air and sees a butterfly. I smirk. He appears excited and curious.
"Spike, come," I tell him.
He follows. He actually doesn't need the leash anymore. I just use it for the wimps in my faction. I climb up the steps and let him in. He looks around inside before he goes exploring. I let him. I set his spare dog bed down and his toys before I take my bag up to my room.  I have some groceries delivered and we get situated here.