Authors Note: No matter how many time I wish upon a star: Eric will never ever belong to me. Nor will Tris and Eric be a couple.*sob*

Fanfiction is written for the Author's enjoyment. I write for my readers too but if you don't like the pairing please don't send me reviews or pms saying it sucks. I'm not forcing you to read it. You chose to read this and you can stop at any time. I'm all for constructive criticism or even idea's (you will be credited for giving me it) and I'm not a mean person I swear!

This is written for ChiaMarie23, and her request to use Save the Day by David Archuleta. She had gotten only one sneak peek at this so I really hope she likes where I went with it.

Notes for My readers

All characters look like the movie version

Divergent belongs to Veronica Roth

Recognized Character's might be OOC at times (Just giving you fair warning!)

Lyrics are in Italics and centered.

Chapter 1

Eric had worked himself to the bone recently. The failed attempt from Erudite to overthrow Abnegation made any Erudite born or transfer like himself look bad. It wasn't that he didn't like Abnegation, He disliked them sure and how they ran the government but he hadn't wanted to kill them. He had managed to default the blame much to Four's clear disgust. He had been spreading more rumors about Eric, which the blond never responded to. Never defended himself. Just went back to his office and worked harder to make the faction of warriors better. Through other members of leadership he had heard that Tris. The stiff, had taken to defending him. She pointed out the flaws in Four's rumors like an Erudite and he kept that thought to himself. He wasn't hunting Divergent's anymore. It didn't matter if she was one or not.

Pushing away from his desk he decided to go for a walk around the outside of the compound to clear his head and get himself ready for bed. It was almost 2 am and he wanted to be up at 6. Not much sleep but he was used to it by now.

Tied to the tracks and I hear you call
your voice is shaking
the train is coming faster than you thought
and there's no escaping it

Walking out around the back, he was nearing the tracks when he heard it.

"Four! FOUR!" The sound of someone yelling at his rival was unusual at any time in Dauntless, but with the voice, female, shaking in fear was something he couldn't ignore. Breaking into a run he stopped short stunned as Four was leaving his tied up girlfriend on the tracks, Tris struggling to get off the tracks and glancing down the tracks franticly. Glancing at the watch he had taken to wearing he broke into a run again. The train was coming and unless she was able to get away, she would die. He didn't know what Four had been planning but he wasn't going to let a Dauntless die under his watch. Not when he could prevent it.

And you think that you know
How the end of the story goes
That's a page I rewrote
And I'm taking away the ropes
There's more hope than you'll ever know

When he reached Tris he could hear the train and see the faint outline, tears silently sliding down her cheeks but she didn't cry out. She didn't beg. She thought she was going to die. The thought floored him, before he shook his head and grabbed his knife cutting the ropes that held Tris to the tracks before pulling her to his chest and pushing them back, the train going past them, as he cradled her head into his shoulder. Rocks dug into his shoulders before he sat up and grabbed his knife and started cutting Tris's hands and legs free.

Tris opened her eyes to see Eric, the man she had never really liked but had defended to everyone recently because she couldn't stand to see someone beaten into the ground even if they deserved it. He was cruel yes, but to be torn down and reduced to nothing like they made him do in Candor was crazy. Eric under the truth Serum had scared her. She was used to seeing something in his grey eyes. Contempt, rage or anger but never blank. The Serum reduced him to a blank canvas and he spilled everything he knew. It wasn't as much as Jeanine and Max, but he knew a fair bit. What had saved him was how he had tried to find ways to not inject people, to keep people safe. But being injected with the serum himself had almost made that impossible.

Eric like her feared the loss of control, and the serum took that away from him, made him slightly more irrational. Max and Jeanine were sentenced to death and Eric was given back his post as Leader. They had elected Four as a new member of Leadership, and Four was reluctant to agree with any of the improved idea's for Dauntless.

New idea's had to be told to the faction as a whole and then were voted on, so everyone got a say, and Eric's ideas were amazingly detailed, showing his Erudite background, but he thought of everything and there was people that thought like Four and sided with him. The first time she had gotten up in one of the meeting's Four had looked almost proud, until she started talking. She had asked Eric every possible question she could think of, and sometimes he had to think but most of the time he was able to answer her write away. When he had to think he wrote the point down to fix the plan later. But she wouldn't forget the surprise in his eyes.

"Let's get you back inside." Eric said helping Tris to her feet, his arm slipping around her waist when he noticed her sway slightly.

"I got it" she said hating the fact that she was appearing weak in front of him.

"I know you do. It will make me feel better if I walked with you though" Eric said calmly the two of them making their way into the compound and through the dark hallways.

"I have nowhere I can go." Tris mumbled as they walked, Eric frowning.

"What do you mean?"

"Christina and I got into a fight, mostly because I agree with your idea's you propose, Uriah and Marlene are a couple and I'm not going near them with a ten foot pole. Will if he lived alone I would be he lives with Christina. And Four just broke up with me" Tris said as calmly as she could her voice starting to shake again.

"He has the oddest way of breaking up with you I've ever seen" Eric muttered before leading them down a hallway.

"You can stay with me in my apartment. Tomorrow I'm sure we can get you an apartment of your own and you can move your things." Eric said calmly his arm around her tightening slightly as Tris opened her mouth to protest.

"Tris, you've been in my corner for the last little while. Let me repay you in a way that I can" Eric said firmly as she sighed before nodding. Chuckling he opened the door to his apartment and lead her inside, his fingers stroking her arm as he helped her sit down on the couch. Watching her lean back Eric went to his bedroom behind the small wall and pulled out the box he had in the back of his closet of clothing he had worn back during initiation. Carrying the box to the couch he set it down as Tris looked up.

"What's that?" Tris asked leaning forward her curiosity making him smile slightly.

"Clothes I had from my initiation. They should fit you better than anything I have now." Eric said watching as Tris pulled out one of his old vests, before pulling it around her shoulder. Looking at the vest on her small frame to the man sitting on the coffee table she started giggling.

"I'm sorry I can't see you in this. It's like two sizes too big for me. You must have been" Tris couldn't keep talking she was giggling to hard Eric looking at her amused.

"I was tall and thin, and no muscle mass I realize this but must you laugh at me?" Eric said as Tris's giggles slowed to nothing, her fingers in the pockets of the vest.

"I can't think of you anything but like you are." She said as he shrugged.

"I'm sure your old faction thought the same of you" He countered as Tris pulled her hands out of the pocket and opened them. In one hand was a broken chain, the other contained a pendant in the shape of a dull razor blade.

"Huh, I thought I lost that in the fight with Four back during initiation." Eric said reaching over and lifting the pendant from her hand.

"You used to wear it?" Tris asked holding the broken chain up to the light, Eric's calloused handed taking the chain from her.

"All the time. Back in Erudite I used to cut myself since I didn't have the proper way to deal with my stress and the pressure they had me under. Coming to Dauntless I told myself I wasn't going to anymore, and I bought the pendant. I used to rub the blade's edge when I wanted to cut and it reminded me not to" Eric said turning the pendant over in his hands

"When Four and I fought, I remember feeling a tug on the back of my neck as the chain broke and it wasn't until that night when I was changing to go to bed, that the chain and pendant fell to the floor. I must have tucked them into my vest to get it fixed and never did." Eric said his eyes far away. She was sure he never would have been this open with anyone. Blinking he looked back over at her before setting the chain and pendant on the table before turning his arm over and showed her in inside of his arm. There was a number of faint scars running up and down his forearm, before he turned his other arm over and showed that one to her.

"You haven't since you gotten here?" Tris asked reaching out and touched his forearm gently, her fingertips light on his skin.

"No. I've seen enough dependants and initiates in my last few years as a leader and even someone from my initiate class commit suicide in the dorm." Eric said as Tris pulled her fingers back.

"Get something to wear and I'll let Veronica know you're here. This way if I'm going to get framed they know I actually didn't do it without dragging me to Candor. The bathroom is just on the other side of the wall, by my bed. You can get changed and clean up." Eric said getting to his feet before leaving his apartment, Tris watching him go before going through the box, and pulled out a pair of soft black pants and a worn but comfortable black t-shirt, her fingers lingering on a hoodie before she added that to her pile and went to the bathroom to change. Standing in the bathroom in nothing but the black pants and her bra she looked over the marks on her shoulders and sighed.

Pulling on the t-shirt and hoodie she walked back to the couch and curled up on it, her eyes on the pendant. She was still staring at it when Eric came back into the apartment, Veronica in tow to see Tris. Seeing what she was staring at Eric pocketed it before sitting on the table, Tris finally stirring and looking at them.

"Sorry I was lost in thought" Tris said softly as Veronica sat beside her.

"Tris I wanted to make sure you were ok. Four came and told the rest of leadership that Eric had tied you to the tracks and he couldn't get to you. When Eric came in saying the opposite I said I was going to make sure"

"If it wasn't for Eric there wouldn't be anything left of me" Tris said as she shuddered and curled herself into a ball on the couch, Veronica's hand rubbing her back gently.

"Alright I'll pass the message on. We'll move your stuff in the morning" Veronica said before leaving Tris and Eric alone.

"You can have my bed, try and get some sleep ok?" Eric said as Tris's head snapped to face him.

"No! I'm not taking your bed. I'm small enough to fit on the couch here" Tris said and after a staring contest he sighed.

"Fine. But only because it's going on 3 am" Eric said moving to his bedroom and grabbed a spare pillow and comforter he had and dropped them on Tris making her squeak in surprise. Chuckling he went back to his room and started pulling off his jacket and boots, his eyes lifting over the wall to see Tris laying the pillow down and curling up under the comforter, her eyes drifting to Eric as he pulled his shirt over his head. Closing them she turned onto her side and listened to him stepping out of his pants and pull on his sleep pants before crawling into bed and turned off the lights.

"Goodnight Tris" Eric said as he buried his face in his pillow.

"Good night Eric." Tris called back as she yawned and felt her own eyes start to close.

So keep breathing
I said that I'll always be there
Now I mean it more than ever before
There's a future worth fighting for

Eric woke no more than an hour later to the sounds of soft whimpers and tossing and turning. Turning the bedside light on, he pulled on a shirt and walked over to Tris and sat on the table before catching her shoulder.

"Tris?" He said as she bolted upright, her eyes wide, and her lips parted in a soundless scream.

"Breathe, Tris just take a couple deep breathes" Eric instructed doing his best to calm Tris down. It wasn't going to be an easy task, since her hands were shaking as she grasped his arm.

So don't be scared
I know how you must be feeling
No one to help you carry the pain
I'm coming to save the day

"It's ok Tris. I got you" Eric said softly, before picking her up blankets and all, and carried her to his bed and leaned against the headboard, Tris cradled against his chest as she started to cry, his lips pressing against her forehead lightly.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. Your safe now" Eric said his fingers running through Tris's hair slowly, her sobs quieting down slowly until she was slowly starting to drift off to sleep, Eric following her, the bedside lap having been turned off not to long after he had set them in his bed.