Star-gazing: Eric Coulter

Chapter 2

TW- mature content

Song: 25 to life
Artist: eminem

Layla's pov:

"Come in!" Max's female assistant called to me, from his office. I opened the door just enough to slip through, closing it behind me. Then smiled at my boss (my bosses' boss), "Sit down Layla. We have a lot to talk about." He said, before motioning towards the woman to leave the room. Taking in a deep breath, I took it upon myself to disrupt the silence between us- once I had taken a seat opposite him. "What did you want to discuss, Max?" I questioned.
He paused (thinking carefully) before answering me, "It's about your team, we have just had more intel on the whereabouts of a dangerous Factionless sector and we need it eradicated as soon as possible. We need you all at the location in a few days-" he interrupted himself, "You have five days to get prepared. Tops."
"Yes sir." I stated, annoyed that I had to leave the base within a couple of days of returning. "I'll inform my team. Is there anything else that we should know about before the mission?" I wondered, standing up to leave.
He sighed, "I'll email you the rest of the information that you will need."
I nodded, leaving his office and finding myself back out in the corridors.
Ping.
I looked at my tablet, Max had already sent me the remainder of the details. I picked it up and tapped my finger over the notification that had popped up.
As I read the message, I felt myself grow extremely uneasy. (The Factionless had been becoming more and more powerful over the past few months, more now than ever. And it was almost scary to think of what they were capable of and how they were getting all these resources and training). I finished the email still feeling queazy- I knew one definite thing about this mission. Someone wasn't coming back.

After figuring I wouldn't make it back to training the initiates today, (since there was only fifteen minutes of their lunch break left) I decided gathering up and briefing the team was probably my best bet at productivity today. It wasn't hard finding them, the stereotypical twenty-ish year olds were sat around a table in the canteen obnoxiously laughing and messing around. They weren't rude or nasty people, unlike some of the other Dauntless members, they were genuinely good people fighting for the safety of their faction.
I laughed to myself as I approached the table. "Pass me the meat!" Zak yelled towards Harry. I stood there for a moment until the lads realised I was there, "Hey guys, sorry but Max has a new mission for us. I need to brief you all asap, so finish your lunch and meet in my office." I told them, they nodded and grunted in response. It was expected for them to be frustrated, since we had just gotten back from another mission which had almost ended in a catastrophe...

Whilst wandering to my office, I noticed Tori walk towards my direction. "We need to talk." She stated, pulling me into a storage cupboard and locking the door. "You're not going to kill me here are you?" I joked; she put her head to the door listening and making sure that noise was outside in hearing distance. I quickly realised whatever she was going to tell me was serious so I piped down, "Tori what's going on, you look..." I trailed off waiting for her to speak.
"The stiff."
I moved my hand in a circular motion, asking her to carry on, "What about her, I've got to dash in a minute to brief my team." I told her, she nodded as if understanding.
"I'll make it quick." She said, grabbing something out of her pocket and handing it to me. My eyes widened as I noticed it was the girls' abnitude test printed out. "She's divergent, you and Four are going to have to protect her at all costs."
I couldn't lie to one of my friends, "Tori I don't know if I can, Eric's already watching her like a hawk."
She rolled her eyes, "Just do it for Fours' sake."
That left me confused, she opened the door and walked off, "Four? What would Four have to do with her?" I muttered under my breath.

A bang interrupted my thoughts as I sat at my desk, I looked up wondering who it could be. A darkly dressed figure strode in and sat at the desk next to me- crossing their arms in clear frustration. "Were you going to tell me?" They grunted. I sighed and rolled my eyes, "Who told you now?" I asked.
"I know people."
"Whatever. You're just being a selfish ass like usual. I'm doing this for the safety of our whole faction system." I groaned, scribbling some notes down on a sheet of white paper. "I need to work without your huge ego distracting me. This is important." I motioned to the piles of paperwork scattered separately around my desk and on the floor behind me. I raised my eyebrows, "Please leave Eric. I'm busy and my team will be here soon anyway."
"How long?" He grumbled, great we're back to the typical grumpy Eric again.
"I'll be leaving in five days maximum, don't know when I'll be back." I mumbled like it was not a big deal.
"Right..." He paused, giving me the look. I chuckled as he walked a few steps towards me, playing one of his hands on my desk and the other on the back of my chair for stability. He leaned down, his surprisingly soft lips roughly crashing against mine. "Make sure you get back to the apartment by six, I need to have my time with you before you're gone again." He growled, before walking back to his desk just in time for me to hear the sound of footsteps ascend the flight of stairs outside our shared office/admin room.