A/N: Ahem. For the purposes of clarification, I do not own The Hunger Games.
"Surprised, aren't you?" :D
And yes, that is a Nightmare Before Christmas reference. Moving along, this was written a Christmas/New Year's present for the lovely and dear Writting2StayHalfSane. It was delayed because my beta ran away over break and I had to proofread it by myself, which is slow going. All the same, happy late assorted holidays, my Ninjane.
This is written in an almost dialogue-only format, so I'll clarify a couple things. This conversation is meant to have occurred via walkie-talkie-ish things. "Bzzt" begins and ends almost every line. When that is not the case, it means the other character buzzed in and cut the speaker off. This contains two characters: Xoi Catchall (a girl) and Deverian Lourde (not a girl). Deverian speaks first. If anything else is confusing to you or you can't figure out who spoke a specific line, feel free to ask me via review or PM.
Bzzt. "Recon Red, this is Recon Blue. Come in." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I hear you, Recon Blue. Just coming up the top of the peak." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, hurry it up. We don't have all night." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, technically we do, sir. Our exact orders were to be back 'before dawn'. Thus, we've got until the night ends." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Watch the smart comments, Recon Red. This isn't a play date." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Might as well be. This is all going to be over in a week or less; I'd bet you ninety credits on it. Coin's already made her mind up about the final strike. We're only out here so the armies don't start feeling ignored. We're not going to be fighting anybody." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "If you don't take this seriously, Recon Red, I can have you discharged. Public scandal sound like fun to you?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Empty threat, Deverian. I'm the best shot in our squad. Besides, as much as you whine, you know you like having me around. All those generals and commanders are so fussy. Plus, they don't tease you, and I think you secretly love to be teased." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "One: don't call me by my name. What if someone taps the audio feed? You want to get me arrested and executed? Two: no, I don't like being teased. Stop it. I will have you discharged, soldier." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "One: what does it matter? The war'll be over in a week, anyway. And we're going to win. Nobody will arrest you, because you're fighting for the good guys. Two: yes, you do. And no, you won't." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "This is childish. Now shut up and start working." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Fine, fine. Well, I'm over the peak now. It's slow going in the dark, but I haven't seen anything. As far as I can tell, this pass isn't booby-trapped. At least, not this far out. How far are we from the Capitol, anyway?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "About three miles. Does this have any real relevance to our mission, Red?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I was just curious." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "So, no. Somehow I didn't think so. And before you ask, yes, we do have to cover all of it tonight." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Aw, man! That's ridiculous. Not like any of our troops will be traveling by foot, anyway. It'll be all hovercrafts, and-"
Bzzt. "Quiet, Red!" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "What? What is it?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "People, two of them, maybe three hundred feet away. At the edge of the clearing." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Where? I can't- Oh, there. Well, what do we do, Blue?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "We have to finish our sweep, Red." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Okay. So, we just wait, then?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "We...no, we don't have time." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "So...what? We go around them? We'll miss a huge patch of our assignment, Blue. Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Hello, Recon Blue? Blue? Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Recon Blue, this is Recon Red. Do you read me?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yes, I read you, Recon Red." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Good. For a second there I thought I'd lost you. Goodness knows I'd have made a mess of this mission on my own, haha. Not to mention you'd be dead and Commander Lanewhyte would have killed me for that. You've always been her favorite." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Ah. Yeah. Look, Recon Red, we're going to- to have to...remove them." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Come in, Recon Red?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "R- remove? You mean...shoot them?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Affirmative, Red." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "But... but...no! I mean, look at them! They're kids. They're just children!" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "They're at least sixteen, Red. And they're obviously Capitol." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah, and sixteen is legally a child, Deverian. And does it matter if they're Capitol?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "They're old enough to sneak out, apparently. And yes. Of course it does. They've spent their whole lives watching kids unlucky enough to be born in the Districts die for sport. I'm not going to feel guilty for killing them because they happen to be lucky enough to have been born in the Capitol." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "But they don't know any better, Deverian! They were raised that way; they can't help that-"
Bzzt. "Yes, they can. Caesar Lifton in my old platoon was a Capitol defector. So's Iphigenia Trinket and General Ramsay and-"
Bzzt. "Okay, I know it happens, but...still. They don't deserve to die just because Coin felt the need to go through the motions and send us on a reconnaissance mission." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, your sister didn't deserve to die just because some idiot pulled a piece of paper with her name on it out of a glass ball. Clearly, these people don't care about fairness, Recon Red." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Red? Come in, Red." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Xoi?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "You swore you wouldn't bring Cesalem up anymore, Deverian." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, I know, but-"
Bzzt. "You promised me that." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I- I know. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to...to shove her in your face, or anything, Xoi. I'm sorry. You know I...care about you. I wasn't trying to...sorry." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "You know what I want, Deverian? More than anything else in the world?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Xoi, don't-"
Bzzt. "I want my sister back. I want somebody in the Capitol to have thought, 'You know, even though the Districts rebelled all those years ago, I don't think this girl deserves to die.' I wish someone had shown her mercy. I wish someone had stepped in. I wish Cesalem was alive." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I know, but-"
Bzzt. "And I'm not going to make another Xoi Catchall somewhere in the Capitol. I'm not going to leave some little boy wondering why those heartless District soldiers took away his big sister before she was ready to go. While she was still just a kid. When her biggest worry should have been finding a date to a school dance. I'm not going to blast some man's daughter to bits because she was in my way. I won't take my revenge on two kids who didn't do anything but sneak out on the wrong night. Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Deverian, can you hear me?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Man, it's so cold." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Deverian." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I can see my breath fog up even without my night vision goggles." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Deverian. I'm not kidding around, here." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Neither am I, Xoi. I'm just...avoiding the truth. Putting it off." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "What truth?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "That we have to, Xoi. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just taking it out on them that the Capitol killed my best friend and made me watch. Maybe we should pack up and leave things be. But it doesn't matter. We have our orders." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, if the orders mean we have to kill a couple of kids, then they're wrong." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "It's war, Xoi. People die, and you knew that when you enlisted." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah? Well that was the Hunger Games, Deverian. 'People die.'" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Shut up about Cesalem, Xoi." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "You loved her, right? As much as a fifteen-year-old boy can really love someone?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I- what?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "You heard me." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I- no, I didn't." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Don't lie. Yes, you did. Look at them, Deverian. It's a girl and a boy. They must be almost exactly the same age you and Cesalem were. He's kissing her fingers. Their foreheads are touching." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "We're soldiers, Xoi. We have to do our duty." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "You can see the blush on her cheeks, if you look closely enough with the night vision goggles." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Recon Red, I'm ordering you as your commander to stop!" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Do you remember what Cesalem said to you when she gave you her final goodbye? I do. Every word of it. I remember every last tear and drip of snot that got smeared on the shoulder of my dress. It was dripping down her face because she was crying so hard. Sobbing really." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Xoi, stop it! Stop it or I swear I'll-"
Bzzt. "Do you remember how beautiful she was? I do. We couldn't afford to have any actual pictures taken before they stole her from us, but we were sent a free copy of her Hunger Games so we could wonder over and over again why nobody saved her before the Careers dug into her and-"
Bzzt. "Xoi, shut the hell up!" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I don't know if you noticed, but the whole time I was in love with you." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "What?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, maybe not love. I mean, I was twelve. But 'I liked you' just sounds so juvenile. But it's the truth, anyway. You didn't notice, did you? I was always just the kid sister." Bzzt
Bzzt. "Xoi..."
Bzzt. "Hey, don't worry; I'm over it now. I haven't wasted my life pining after you, Deverian. But even after I stopped loving you, I still always idolized you." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Xoi, please just-"
Bzzt. "No! For once you're going to shut up and listen to me. I idolized you. I thought you were so perfect, and I always wanted to be just like you. You're the reason I joined the District army. I felt like if you were backing them, they had to deserve it, because you'd never fight and kill for a cause that didn't." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "They do. Freeing the Districts is a worthy cause." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Not like this. If you go ahead with killing those children, then you prove me absolutely, one-hundred-percent wrong. If you can't even stop to spare the lives of a couple of crazy kids in love, then the guy I loved and idolized has been replaced by...I don't know." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Deverian? Look at the girl. She's a kid. The boy, too. They've got lives to live, unless we steal them. Just like Cesalem had. Please, Deverian. The world can keep throwing punches forever. We can keep avenging the people we lose. But unless somebody steps up to the plate and is willing to stop, it'll just go on and on. Nobody will ever be satisfied, and then we'll self-destruct. Please, Deverian. Be that somebody, for me if not for the rest of the world." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "He's still kissing her fingers, isn't he?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah. He is, Deverian." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Wonder how long he'll keep that up for?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I don't know. Sometimes it doesn't last, but...maybe he'll keep it up forever. Maybe it'll one of those magic loves that just goes on and on. Maybe it'll be their own personal fairytale. Maybe he'll never stop unless somebody takes her away from him." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Cesalem really was beautiful, wasn't she?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah. She really was." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Xoi, I don't think I can do this." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I never believed you could. You're not that sort of man, Deverian. You're better than that." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "But I'm not, am I? If you hadn't been around I would have plowed right through them. Maybe I wouldn't have liked it, but I'd have done it all the same." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Well, then it's a good thing I was here. And I'm still here, Deverian, and I'll always be here when you need me." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Thanks. That sounds really stupid and lame, but...thanks." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "No. I get it. Anything more'd just sound sappy, wouldn't it?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Ha. Yeah." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "So, what are you going to tell Lanewhyte? She's going to be really mad that we didn't finish the sweep, and you're going to be the one taking the flak since you're in charge at the moment." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll tell her the truth. I don't think any lie would be a good enough excuse." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah, probably not." Bzzt.
Snap.
Bzzt. "Deverian? Was that you?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah. Just broke a branch to scare them off. Looks like it's working. They probably wouldn't still be around if Lanewhyte sent another sweep out, but you never know. Wouldn't want this whole mess to be for nothing. We better head back. If two teenagers can get here in the middle of the night, it might not make such a great ground route after all. Maybe that'll work for a report…" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yeah." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "So, you're...not in love with me anymore?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "No." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Could you maybe be again, do you think?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I dunno. Maybe." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Huh." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Yep. But, Deverian?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Hm?" Bzzt.
Bzzt. "I'm proud of you." Bzzt.
Bzzt. "Hm. Well, I guess that's a start." Bzzt.