A/N: Hello everyone! This one-shot is based off of a role-play I am currently taking part in on twitter. The basic back-story is that Glimmer and Gloss fall for one another while he is mentoring her for the games before having to send her in to her possible death. Anyway, all credit for the idea goes to my lovely RP partner OhhMyGlimmer on twitter. She is a genius and this is her brainchild, I only hope I have done it justice!
Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this! Reviews are always appreciated although I prefer if you stick to constructive criticism rather than bashing me in a simple minded manner. I've never had problems with flames before, I just feel like since this isn't exactly a conventional pairing it needs to be said.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters mentioned in this story. That honor belongs to Suzanne Collins.
Cruelest Fate
A terrible, all-consuming feeling of dread plagued Gloss as he watched his tributes in the arena. The feeling had originated the moment the career tributes had formed an alliance with the silver tongued boy from District Twelve. He was good with words, a quick thinker and speaker and the easy trust Cato had placed in him to lead them to that pesky 'Girl on Fire' was, in Gloss's opinion, misplaced. He had confessed his love for the girl in front of the entirety of Panem for God's sake, what made Cato so sure it was a ruse was a mystery to Gloss. As far as Gloss was concerned, the words the boy had spoken in his interview with Caesar were nothing but the truth. Gloss could tell because he too was in love. His love for this girl made him willing to do anything possible to save her, to keep her alive, to bring her home to him. His Glimmer.
To her credit, Glimmer did seem to be skeptical of Peeta's motives. She even had the good sense to voice her opinion, suggesting to the others that they simply rid themselves of him sooner than later. Unfortunately, she was overruled by the oafish, self-proclaimed ring leader of their little alliance. Gloss could feel his blood boil as he recalled the way he had spoken to Glimmer in such a condescending way, making it seem like his course of action was the obvious one. He wasn't sure why a woman as strong and independent as his Glimmer would put up with such mockery of her intelligence, but he hadn't missed the way the two had been flirting on a nearly non-stop basis and it was beginning to wear on his last nerve. Didn't Glimmer remember the promises she made to him? She was his.
Gloss had to force the thoughts of Glimmer and Cato from his mind momentarily as he caught up with the scene playing out before him on the screen. They had managed to trap fire girl up a tree, her leg injured by the firestorm the Gamemakers had provided especially for her and making her unable to outrun them. After a few failed attempts to scale the tree after her and a poorly aimed arrow from Glimmer than made Gloss's brow furrow in confusion, mister silver tongue suggested they simply wait her out citing that she would have to come down eventually to eat and drink. Although the boy's logic was sound, Gloss still couldn't bring himself to trust him. Clove had yet to try her hand at killing the girl and it was a well known fact that Clove never missed, especially a stationary target. No one seemed to realize this obvious course of action and went about their plans to make camp at the bottom of the tree. The only person who seemed aware of Clove's lack of involvement was Peeta himself, making his intention glaringly obvious. He was buying her time, trying to protect her. Scowling at the screen, Gloss knew that his instincts were correct as usual. The boy couldn't be trusted.
It didn't take long for them to get settled, making a fire and sitting around it. It also didn't take long for Gloss to become disgusted by the interactions between Cato and Glimmer. They were flirting shamelessly, Cato letting his hands wander idly over Glimmer's body in ways Gloss was fairly certain only he should be allowed. The worst part of the whole scenario was that Glimmer made no attempt to stop him or rebuff his actions. In fact, she encouraged them by giggling flirtatiously and playfully shoving at his arm if he tried to take it too far. Had she really forgotten him so easily? Had she discarded the memories of their time together, of the love and passion they had shared both physically and verbally the night before she left for the arena? She couldn't have. There was no way she could have forgotten such an experience, that much he was sure. Was she angry with him then? Perhaps because of the hidden poison spike he had planted in her ring, the one he gave her as her token, the one attached to her promise to come home to him. The spike had been discovered, much to Gloss's dismay, and Glimmer had been stripped of her right to wear her token of his love into the arena. The thought saddened him, but not enough to override the anger that was welling up inside of him at the sight of her with Cato. Jealousy burned within him, forcing him to avert his eyes from the screen as she giggled at one of his ridiculous jokes. Deciding that sleep was perhaps his best option at this point, Gloss grabbed a blanket from the back of the chair he had been perched in all day and draped it over himself. He drifted off fairly quickly, hoping beyond hope that tomorrow would be a better day than today, the screen in front of him forgotten and left on in his tired state.
A few hours in, his sleep became increasingly restless as horrible images plagued his dreams and morphed them into nightmares. Cato and Glimmer kissing unabashedly and admitting their love for one another, horrible visions of his own games that still haunted him regularly, even images of some of the Capitol 'customers' he had been forced to entertain for the sake of his family's safety. His final dream before waking, however, was the worst he had encountered in years. It was Glimmer, she was in the arena and running for her life from a threat he couldn't see. Her eyes were wide with fear, not something she usually showed, so he knew the threat must be severe. Suddenly, a ball of flame slammed into her body, quickly catching and beginning to consume her whole. The shrill scream that ripped from her lips was the last thing he heard before jolting awake. It only took his mind a few moments to register the fact that the screams hadn't stopped when he woke.
The moment his mind shook off the haze of sleep and caught up to his surroundings, his eyes shot to the screen in front of him. His heart nearly stopped at the sight before him, the feeling of dread that had slowly been building up in his stomach errupting into full blown horror. A shattered wasp hive lay strewn across the ground, but knowing the game makers as he did, Gloss knew those weren't ordinary wasps. They were tracker jackers. Angry tracker jackers who were now searching for the one responsible for the disruption and destruction of their home. Tracker jackers who were now swarming viciously around Glimmer. A lump formed in the back of his throat as he swallowed a cry of his own, watching her fight valiantly for her life to no avail. The fight was in vain and his girl, his beautiful, brave, strong Glimmer was dying in one of the worst ways possible with Gloss completely powerless to help her.
As she began to succumb to the venom now making its way into her blood, poisoning her mind and body with twisted images and alternate realities, she fell to the ground in a heap. The screams falling from her lips began to fade until they were nothing but soft gurgles and whimpers of fear and pain. Gloss desperately wanted to turn away, but his body was seemingly frozen in place, his eyes locked on the screen as the life slipped away from her. Gloss hadn't realized he was shaking until it became so violent that it nearly caused him to lurch forward, but he regained his balance at the last second. The torrent of emotions sweeping through his mind paused as her swollen lips gasped in a breath, shaky and raspy as her vacant eyes searched frantically for something unknown. "Gloss…" Feeling as if he had been punched in the gut, Gloss stared brokenly at the girl he loved as the final words she would ever speak passed her lips. " I…L-love…y-" Suddenly, before she could manage the last word, her body retched violently and the tiny light that had remained, the flicker of hope that had remained in Gloss's heart vanished.
It only took moments for the shaking in Gloss's body to worsen, his fists clenching at his side as his jaw tightened in an attempt to hold in his emotions. She couldn't be dead. Gloss was supposed to have time, years of time to spend with her. Time to grow together, get married, maybe even start a family. She couldn't possibly be gone. But she was. The cannon booming in the background was his final confirmation. The one woman he truly loved outside his family, the woman he had intended to spend his life with, was gone. Forever.
Before any more logical thought could be formed within his mind, the rage and pain overwhelmed him. An animalistic cry of anguish ripped from his throat as he grabbed the edge of the coffee table in front of him and flipped it, sending it flying into the wall. The satisfaction brought on by the sound of the splintering wood was momentary, not nearly enough to dull the pain throbbing in his chest, so he grabbed the next available item, then the next, then the next. He continued until there was nothing else to throw, nothing else to destroy, then he broke down. The sobs wracked his entire body, his hands flying to his head and weaving into his hair as he fell to his knees. The impact of the floor barely phased him as he hunched over, his forehead resting against the cold floor as he wailed uncontrollably into it.
It was nearly an hour before Gloss managed to resurface from his pool of sorrow and regained control of himself. As his eyes locked back on the screen in front of him, a new fire lit within his chest. Revenge. He would avenge her death, if it killed him. A reply of her death was playing on the screen and he found his eyes locking on the figure clumsily approaching her body as the canon sounded. As soon as she came into focus, he recognized her. The Girl on Fire. Katniss Everdeen. She was responsible for his pain, a hole in his heart that could never be filled. She was the one who had to pay.
A/N2: Hope you guys liked it! Please let me know if you find any mistakes, it was requested that I post this straight away without having my Beta go over it! I am human, so mistakes are entirely possible! Thank you so much for reading, your support means the world to me!