Of Trials and Tributes

Chapter One

The Right Direction

The smell was overpowering, the hygiene of the place was sickening. I stared up at the white ceiling, counting the tiles as my hand was unbandaged. Four days later and it was still bleeding. I guess it didn't help that I mindlessly unbandaged it sometimes and picked at the wound. I didn't mean to do it; it was just something that happened when I thought of her. And I thought of her often.

Katniss has taken a large chunk from my hand, but it was worth it. I knew what she was going to do before anyone else did, before even Katniss herself did. I was across the balcony faster than any land animal could travel, my hand clamped tightly over her pocket.

"Let me go!" She had snarled, but I refused to move my hand. I hadn't spent all this time fighting for the girl I loved just to let her swallow a purple pill and end it all.

"I can't." I told her, but I wasn't sure if she heard me as the guards came and dragged her away. I ripped the pocket and the pill fell to the floor. It was trampled, now forever apart of the carpet. The commotion around was loud and noisy, the old man who was wheezing and coughing, choking on his own blood, but using his last breath to cackle. The shouting and whispers of the Capitol audience. Katniss was yelling for Gale, and I knew that this was it.

It was nothing less than a riot as Peacekeepers started pushing the audience out the door and collected both Coin and Snow's bodies. I found myself backing into a wall, slipping into a forgotten door and falling to the floor in pieces. I just laid there, letting the blood pour from the fresh teeth marks she had left on me. I tried to block all of the outside away, but it was no use. It got to me, it made me snap. All of the screaming was too familiar and my mind was sent back to a time where everything goes shiny and the edges are blurred.

I tried not to think about it as the doctor wrapped a new gauze around the wound and the rest of my hand. It was a different doctor doing it every time I went in to have it changed. I assumed they were too busy with the serious injuries to care too much about what doctor was tending to me. Though, I know that a lot of doctors were too full of fear to attend to me. It was a well-known fact that I couldn't always be trusted to control my actions. And when something such as the pain of the wound stung, I could have easily killed the closest person in sight. That was one reason why I was usually left to be rebandaged in President Snow's own private clinic which was really just a doctor's office in one of the many rooms in his mansion.

The rebellion had left everyone so distraught and delusional. No one had seen it coming, except maybe those partaking. But even then, those from 13 who had made it to the Capitol were still confused as to what to do now. I hadn't actually been out of what used to be President Snow's mansion since...My head started to throb as I tried to remember how long it had been.

I'd talked to Haymitch, who had turned his guest room into his own house; there were no words to describe the filth that came with a stench that could knock you out cold. The drunk didn't have a lot to say. Unlike Effie who never could keep quiet about the turmoil we were in. The four of us were supposed to be a team, working together. Effie was quite annoyed that Katniss had had a plan of her own. Shooting Coin, what was she thinking?

But that was the point; no one knew. Katniss was locked away somewhere, no one knew where it was exactly. I'd tried to catch Paylor and ask, wanting to talk with her desperately, but she was always busy with one thing or another. Four days she had been president, four days and she already had greying hair and sagging eyes. I did vote for her in the emergency election. It was mostly just the remaining victors with a few other guests such as Effie Trinket and Plutarch Heavansbee. Paylor won the majority, much to Plutarch's annoyance.

After my trip for a new gauze, I found myself pacing the corridors again. I'd found comfort in not staying still for long. Aside from my daily meetings with Dr. Aurelius, I had nothing to occupy my time. No one to talk to, no one who wanted to talk to me. Pacing helped think of other things. Not of her. Not of what had gone on. The only bad thing about pacing around the mansion was the mirrors. Almost every corner you turned you would find a mirror, a reflective surface of some kind. It brought myself into attention and it could easily have brought on a flashback. I tried not to look back at the monster staring at me, but sometimes it was hard. My eyes moved by themselves and all I could see was the destroyed man staring back. He had dirty blonde hair and a patchwork of skin. His eyes were tired, strained and bloodshot. He wasn't the same sixteen year old boy who got himself tangled in this mess he now called life. It had been two years and all he wished for was the chance for things to go back to normal, back to the way they had been before his name had been reaped. Before she had volunteered.

Dr. Aurelius would be wondering where I'd gotten to, and I think he would be impressed with how much I had been thinking of the past over the last couple of hours. It wasn't a subject I was fond of; it was a terrifying monster that sank deep in my memories. It sometimes brought on the attacks, which was not something I cared to induce. I was on plenty of medication for it, but as no one else in history had been successfully hijacked, it was unknown whether any of the pills were doing me any good. Better safe than sorry, that's what every doctor who examined me had said. They were right, of course. It was better to try and drain me of the Tracker Jacker venom than to have me walking around without any control over my actions.

I walked over to the Capitol hospital from the President's Mansion. It wasn't too far away; easy enough to get some fresh air and have people pass me strange looks as I wondered down the broken and repaired streets.

The hospital was a massive building, like nothing that had ever been seen in 12 before. It put our Justice Building, the fanciest place I could think of, to shame. We'd only had the apothecary and Mrs. Everdeen back home when we were feeling sick.

As I entered through the main doors, a few nurses smile politely. The people who worked at the hospital were used to seeing me. They were there to help me, one of the many people they saw on a regular basis, get better. But I wasn't there to pick up any more meds or have any more tests done. The office I needed was nearer to the top floor, and I was grateful for the elevator in the back of the building that took me straight to my destination. Walking the stairs with my prosthetic was a nightmare. And the last thing I needed was to have nightmares while I was still awake, they were bad enough at night.

"Peeta, I didn't expect to see you today." Dr. Aurelius looked genuinely confused about my appearance in his office. I visited daily, he should have expected me. There hadn't been a change to the schedule. I guess he could see I was confused and answered my unasked question. "Katniss' trial starts today. Are you not attending?"

Katniss' trial? No one had told me about it. I had no idea she was even having a trial. I assumed they were just discussing what to do with her, not actually holding a trial. Sure, she had assassinated the President, but after everything she-we'd been through, I didn't find it to be a big deal. Katniss had every right to do what she had done, in my opinion. But, obviously, no one else had the same opinion as I did.

"It starts in half hour, in the main Court House." I knew where the main Court House was and I found my feet were already dragging me in the right direction. I would have to be there for her this time. I wasn't going to miss this.

A/N: Hello, my name is Chloe and I will be your author for this fanfiction.

...Sorry, I have just ALWAYS wanted to start an authors note like that xD haha!

But yeah, I'm Chloe and this is my 3rd venture into the world of Hunger Games Faniction writing. This is my first multi chapter HG story, so do go easy on me, I'm new to the prospect.

I started writing this two months ago and I struggled for a while...But while sitting bored outta my mind in Soccer Sports, waiting for my brother to buy his new school shoes, I completed it. I was so happy, must be said :P

I hope you enjoy reaidng this story as much as I enjoy writing it :D

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, DysfunctionalFamilyMember (Chloe for short)