Eric's table was littered with papers stacked neatly in rows. Three years' worth of papers. Max was seated at the breakfast bar currently going over one of the last stacks left to be sorted. The two of them were organizing and reviewing Tris' leadership training paperwork and making notes here or there. The oldest Dauntless leader was finally stepping down. Max had confided in Eric that he wanted Tris to be the front runner amongst the candidates because he thought that the two of them would balance the rest of the group well. They were both young enough to hold the positions for a long time to come.

The three of them have gotten along really well over the last couple of years. Max had done all the faction relation training with Tris for the first 18 months and then Eric had taken over the rest of the in house training. Eric had learned that Tris had caught on fast and moved through rather difficult tasks rather quickly. Eric had actually come to enjoy training her. She was still feisty and kept him on his toes. She had also gotten her friends to be somewhat friendly when he was around. He still hated Four and Four still hated him, but for the most part they just ignored each other.

"She only has two weeks of history left and then her three months of physical, sparing and weapons training. She should be able to step up in about four months. She should excel at the physical training," Eric told Max remembering how hard she had worked as an initiate.

"I'm surprised that you are praising her so highly," Max commented with a questioning look.

"I don't have a problem with Tris, just with Four." Max chuckles at Eric's words. "He's just so…so goddamn broody."

"Well then it must be fun being their neighbor. Two Abnegation have to be pretty quiet though?"

"It is relaxing," Eric admits while chuckling. "I never hear as much as a whimper from over there. My old neighbors loved to fight loud and fuck louder." Eric chuckled while he crossed to the kitchen to grab the bottle of whiskey from the counter. "When do you want to tell her about the advancement?"

"Well definitely not tonight. I overheard her telling Dana that it's Four's birthday and she was making him a surprise dinner. She was going on and on about an old cookbook that had recipes she had never seen."

"I lent it to her last week."

Max and Eric continued looking through the pile and commented here and there before moving on to the next pile. Eric was pouring them both another drink when a pounding on the wall next door broke their conversation. Besides the knocking against the wall they heard load moaning coming through.

"So much for not a peep, huh?" Max smirked at Eric.

"I didn't think Four had it in him. I am going to love teasing her about this." The moaning was picking up and growing loader. "Let's just go to office and finish up. I'm not gonna be able to concentrate now."

They grabbed the stacks of papers from the table and made their way to the hall. After Eric locked his door he turned and walked straight into Max's back almost losing all the paperwork. When Eric looked past Max he was shocked. Walking towards them was Tris. She was struggling to free her keys from her pocket while carrying a casserole dish, a gift box and a bottle of whiskey. She looked up at them and smiled.

"Hello there, oh fearless leaders," she said with a smile from ear to ear.

"Shit," Max muttered as he glanced at Tris' door. He looked to Eric who was wearing a grimace on his face. Max turned back to Tris with pity in his eyes.

"What is wrong with you two?"

Before they could answer they heard the scraping of metal against concrete through the door, followed by loud moaning. Tris took a step away from the door with a shocked look on her face.

"Oh, fuck Four, you are so deep."

"God baby, I love your sweet little pussy. Fuck, turn around."

"Oh God, Four don't stop, don't stop, I love you Tobias."

"Fuck baby, I love you too, so much."

Eric looked at Tris who was just frozen looking at her door. She glanced up at Eric with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Here Max, surprise Dana with dinner," she shoved the dish into Max's hands. "For your set," she told Eric handing him the gift box.

She took one last look at the door and turned and walked down the hall clutching the bottle of whiskey to her chest. They watched her until she disappeared around the corner. Max looked over to Eric and saw his face glued to their door.

"What a fucking asshole," Eric said looking at Max.

"I agree."

They continued on their way to Eric's office and Max called his wife to come meet them for dinner and to also bring plates and forks. Eric opened the gift box and saw a row of silver throwing daggers with the Dauntless logo engraved on each tip. They were deadly and stylish. There was a note but Eric didn't want to read her words that were meant for Four. It seemed wrong to invade her like that.

After a long and silent walk they arrived at Eric's office. Dana had arrived shortly after and the three of them immensely enjoyed Tris' homemade pot pie. It was delicious. Sweet peas, juicy chicken, flaky pastry crust. They had chatted and guessed about who had been in the apartment with Four. Neither Max nor Eric had recognized the voice. Dana expressed concern about what would happen to Tris if she went home. As Max and Dana chatted about something Eric was also worried for Tris. He knew she was strong, but what would Four say to her? Would he weasel his way back in? He knew she was too good to say with a cheater, but did she know that?

While they were winding down dinner and cleaning up they heard glass shattering followed by a pained sob from down the hall. Peeking his head out the door Eric noticed that the light in Tris' office was on. He heard more glass crunching and told Max and Dana he would take care of it. He walked to her office door and stood there watching her. She was holding the half empty whisky bottle in one hand and staring at a shattered photo hanging on the wall. She had silent tears streaming down her face. She gently swayed back and forth. She had yet to notice Eric standing in the door way. She suddenly punched the frame again and then again.

"Fuck" Tris said dropping the whiskey and clutching her hand. She slowly dropped to the floor while soft sobs escaped her lips.

Eric quickly passed to her and kneeled down. She met his eyes and the tears continued to silently fall. She remained silent while he took her hand gently noticing the slivers of glass embedded into her swollen knuckles. He stood up never dropping his eyes from hers and offered her his other hand. She looked into his for a few minutes before she took his hand and stood up on wobbly legs. Eric broke eye contact and looked at the photo she had smashed with her tiny fist. It was a photo of her and Four taken at her initiation. They weren't posing, just looking at each other and smiling. Eric laughed to himself and walked her back through the hall pausing briefly at his office door.

"Max, Tris and I are going to take tomorrow off and have a three day weekend." Max regarded Tris for a moment, noticed the blood dripping from her hand and nodded at Eric.

Eric led them down a maze of corridors until they reached their floor and were in front of his apartment. Once inside, he led her to a kitchen stool and helped her up on it. He grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and his bottle of whiskey. He poured two generous portions and slid a glass towards her. She finished her glass quickly and pushed it back to him. He refilled her glass and slid it back. She has still yet to speak but her tears had stopped falling. She just looked empty. Eric went down the hall into the bathroom and grabbed a wash rag, tweezers and a healing salve. When he returned to the kitchen she had her arm resting on the bar top with her head laying in the nook it created. He took a seat next to her and gently took her injured hand in his. He slowly worked with the tweezers and starting to remove the shards of glass form her knuckles. He worked slowly to make sure that he got every little piece. He then took the damp rag and wiped away the blood. He gently rubbed the salve all over her fingers and knuckles checking again to make sure all the glass was gone. When he was finished he looked at her and she was fast asleep.

He picked her up and walked her over to the couch. He laid her down and took her boots off followed by her socks. He went to his bedroom and grabbed a pillow and a blanket off his bed. He placed the pillow under her head and covered her with the blanket. He went back and cleaned up the glass and rinsed the wash rag. He was worried about how much pain her hand would have in the morning. After setting a glass of water on the table in front of the couch he slumped into his armchair and watched her sleep. At least he could stop worrying about her for a few hours.