Four/Tobias Eaton Imagines

The Replacement

The high-ceilinged training room is filled with clusters of newly-arrived Dauntless initiates. The sound of their chatter echoes up through the rafters, but their talking disperses as they see a woman approaching them. She's dressed all in black like the rest of them, but she strides with a motivated confidence that makes the initiates quiet down and turn to face her. Four, the training leader, looks up with a grin and holds out an arm to present her to the transfers.

"This is Y/N. She'll be teaching some more hand-to-hand fighting today. Usually, she teaches a higher-level combat class, so if you're planning on getting to one of the top jobs here you'll have to go through her. Trust me, if you thought you had it bad here, just take a couple of classes with her. You'll be wishing you were back in initiation within a few days."

You flash a grin to Four. "Thanks for the introduction. So, let's get started. I expect blood on the mats by the end of practice today." The initiates exchange nervous glances and furtive murmurings, and Four tries to hide his laugh. Poor transfers- they have no idea what to expect and so they believe every word you say. You cross to a square training mat, and step up onto the familiar gray surface. You glance back down at Four. "Who's our first victim?"

Four folds his arms across his chest, considering. You hear a murmur coming from the back of the clustered initiates, where a greasy-haired boy is leaning over to whisper something in his friend's ear. Four's head snaps around and he points to the talkative boy. "Looks like we have a volunteer. Step on up." A scowl twists its way onto the boy's face. "I wasn't even doing anything." Four's intimidating gaze doesn't break for a second. "I thought you knew better than pointless disrespect. Step up, initiate."

With a not-so-quiet curse, the boy eventually pushes his way through the crowd to jump onto the platform next to you. He gives you a once-over, then speaks again. "My name is Tyler." Your face remains impassive. "I don't care." The boy looks surprised, and starts to move forward, presumably in an attempt to lunge at you. You take advantage of his unsteady motion to knock his legs out from under him, and when he stumbles, you just throw him to the ground. His head bounces off of the training mat, and his hand flies to his jaw, nursing some barely visible injury.

You direct your voice to the gathered transfers. "His mistake was that he tried to attack before he was ready. If you're going to attack first, you had better be fast and keep your balance." By now Tyler has stood up again, anger starting to storm in his eyes at the public humiliation. You barely give him a chance to rest, and your fist flies out to knock into his nose. The boy spins to the side, and blood spurts out of his now broken nose. "Like that." You finish. You glance over at Tyler, whose hands are clutching his face in an attempt to stop the blood, and jerk your head towards the door. "Someone take him to the medical wing. Everyone else, get in pairs and start working. Four prepped you on some drills this morning, I want to see you use those at least twice in your sparring."

It's later now, the day having finally stepped aside to let the cool darkness of night flood through the windows of the Dauntless facilities. The rest of the training session was a success- whenever you make an example of someone, the others always work twice as hard. It's a strategy that pays off every time. You're still restless after the day ends, so you make your way down to the training room for a little practice yourself.

You've been throwing punches at the punching bag for only about ten minutes or so when you see Four approaching from the other side of the room. He crosses the room to you, and leans his arm against the punching bag. You stop your methodical sequence of attacks, and rock back on your heels. "You're out late," Four says, "I figured you'd already gone to bed because you've been in here practically all day."

You send a tired smile his way. "Never too late to get in some practice. Besides, you're in here too, so I guess I'm not the only one." Four tilts his head to the side. "How do you know I wasn't just in here because I saw you and wanted to know why you weren't relaxing like the rest of us?" You absentmindedly run your fingers over the bruises starting to appear on your knuckles. "Because you want to get in your late-night practice so that if Eric tries to fight you in the middle of training you'll be able to beat him in front of all the initiates."