The atmosphere became increasingly tense, at least for two people since Grace's disappearance. The resentments they had kept were growing, and the need to vent their anger at each other increased as they bumped into each other in the hallway. They were never friends, never exchanged a smile, and over the years, they swore mutual enmity. But circumstances and life's twists made them face each other and work as a team. Four never had any affection for Eric, but he was willing to face him to join the search for Grace, as since she left, he had the responsibility of the second stage for both initiates, and to top it off, Uriah made him promise to find her. However, everything got worse when Hill told him how she was kidnapped, the unpleasant circumstances that led her to leave the faction, and it was something the brunette couldn't tolerate.

On the other hand, Eric was trying to redeem himself, seeking his own forgiveness and he would only achieve it when he saw her and took her out of wherever she was. He would kill all those who captured her and would even be willing to kneel before her. His routine had become monotonous, his eyes would burn to the point that when he blinked, his tears would flow after spending hours in front of the computer screen in his office. The video lasted 3 minutes, a fairly short time considering he spent hours in that room repeating it over and over again. The camera's distance from the kidnapping event made the task of seeing a single face more difficult, but it wasn't an obstacle, he searched for every detail, every movement, face, color, sound, the force of the air, and the shade of her clothes, but nothing, he failed epically in rescuing Grace, feeling the guilt weighing on his shoulders when he left, slamming the door to warn everyone of his bad mood. But he couldn't lose hope, he simply couldn't, and he reflected it in the care he took of Horus, every night when he returned, even in his excessively drunken state, he made sure the cat had clean water and food.

His bad mood increased in the first few days when Uriah approached to ask about her, he still remembers how he punched him in the eye and Max had to intervene. Especially because of the rumors and gossip he heard in Dauntless. Grace was becoming the unluckiest girl because of the pregnancy, the misfortune of being kidnapped at a crucial moment in a future mother's life, although Eric knew Grace wasn't pregnant, he couldn't help but feel his insides twisting, feeling even more guilty. Jina stopped insisting the moment Eric took her by the shoulders and slammed her against the walls of Dauntless while he angrily explained the mistake she had made, and in the crudest way he knew how to speak, he asked her not to come near him again.

With a grimace of disgust, regardless of the late hour of the night, he sat on a giant rock by the pit with a bottle of liquor in hand, nearly finished. That was his routine at the end of the day, after coming back from Chicago and searching every possible corner, or at least that's what he thought, he returned to Dauntless and drank whatever he found first, sat until no Dauntless was in the pit, then sighed and went back to his cold, raw, and sad room.

But that night was different, that day Four had seen something that Eric couldn't see in four days, and with increased excitement, he walked straight towards the blond. There was no need to search for him, everyone knew where he was, and they could see each other from afar. Four was quite focused on his purpose of finding Grace, while Eric was frowning, angry, and above all, jealous.

He hated seeing Four in the search, he detested knowing that he was also looking for her, and he hated himself even more because he didn't feel worthy of her. It was a terrible vicious cycle in his head, a whirlwind of emotions that urged him to pull out his gun and shoot the brunette.

The first of his class, the tenacious, the bravest, he was everything Eric wanted to be, and he hated to admit it.

He remembers turning to his left to see the brunette while he informed him about the tenacity and the mishandled strength that the innocent ex-Amity had. He remembers seeing how Four smiled and watched her from afar while she practiced kicks. Eric wasn't stupid, he knew that in the first week when Four was training them, it was enough for the brunette to notice the girl that shortly after the blond wanted for himself.

Eric was the first to reach the heart of the brunette, and Four stepped back.

His girl, the first of her class, strong, brave, fearless, tenacious, simply perfect. An excellent duo with the brunette, and it sickened him just to think about it because she was his girl, not Four's.

Four approached while Eric maintained a serious expression.
"I found a clue, it might be useful."he spoke from below.

Their distances were not far, at least a meter apart could separate them, but it was enough for Eric to ignore him for a few more seconds.

"The sweatshirt was found near Amity, a few meters from the fence, and a sneaker near Abnegation. And if you already searched the south side, only the north remains, there has been abandoned activity walking around there. It's a collapsed building, but they continue to go there." Four continued with annoyance.

Eric turned to look at him, cautiously jumped off the rock with a perfect leap without letting go of his bottle, and with an air of superiority, he raised his chin in front of Four.

"You're very interested in finding her, aren't you,
stiff ?" the blond growled with annoyance.

Four looked away with annoyance for a few seconds. He hated those moments, Eric didn't know how to work in a team, and if he didn't care about Grace, he would have left already. But he couldn't because he gave his word to Uriah, and he's worried about his friend's whereabouts.

Four knew the delicate situation, he couldn't see Grace without feeling the burden of guilt, especially seeing Eric and thinking about what he had done. For a moment, he felt like he deserved such treatment, enduring his behavior. But he couldn't just tolerate it, he hated it.

"We all want to find her. Will you search, or shall I?" His patience had exceeded its limits, the glass of tolerance was starting to overflow.

"You know everything, don't you? The great Four." Eric mocked, his laugh filled with bitterness. "Why don't you go out and look for her? Be a damn man and search for her yourself, let's see how long you last out there." Eric sneered.

The brunette simply clenched his fists, trying to calm himself, to contain his annoyance to avoid a problem. He didn't want a conflict, especially not with an idiot who held the position of leader and liked to boast about it.

"If you think I could do it, I would. Keep drinking, I'd do in a day what's taken you four."Four shrugged.

The threatening staring contest between them didn't last long. Eric's patience was running out, and he could attack, while Four concluded it wasn't worth it; it was a waste of time talking to someone like Eric. He had an objective, and that was to find Grace. Eric was like a caged beast, the grumpy wild animal with a terrible temper, and the only one who could keep him in check was Grace, and she wasn't there.

Four was the first to step back, turning around ready to leave.

"You're very interested in her, huh? Go on, get out of here. We both know it wouldn't do you any good to find her, she'll never pay attention to you even if you're her lapdog." Four stopped, the first drop in the glass had fallen as he turned around to face Eric. "I'll tell you the same thing I told the other idiot. She's mine and—"

After the drop fell, he couldn't tolerate it anymore. The glass called tolerance shattered, and with it, the fury came crashing down on his shoulders. His fist went straight to Eric's face, he didn't care about being the center of attention, he let all the Dauntless see as he grabbed Eric and slammed him against the wall, causing him to fall to the ground. But that didn't stop him, he hit his cheek again with his fist, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him closer.

"I'm not going to waste my time explaining something you don't understand. If you hurt her again, I'll kill you." he opened his hands, letting Eric fall to the ground. "She's my friend, and I'm going to save her from the hole your idiocy put her in."

Four walked away quickly as if his life depended on it. He felt ashamed for allowing himself such lack of control, he wasn't like that. He shouldn't have let his impulses take over and stoop to someone like Eric.

Meanwhile, the blond watched him go, feeling the impotence run through his veins. He had an immense need to destroy everything in his path, tear off the brunette's limbs, torture him to death because his pride had been wounded. But he had a problem, and that was when he stood up ready to go after him, Grace's disapproving face came to mind, and he stopped.

He wants to be worthy of her, even if it means going against his impulses.