AU, may be OOC. Feedback is appreciated.
She's glowing, and she hates all of it.
More than anything, Clove wants to get out of the Capitol and everything it stands for. She hates the bright colors, loud voices, clinks of glasses of champagne. She hates feeling like a possession, like a pawn for which they can choose the next move.
She's already given them a show. What more do they want?
But she knows that she has to keep being a form of entertainment, because as soon as they decide they're bored with her, she will be as good as dead, and what's the use of glory if you can't enjoy it?
So she smiles cruelly and keeps playing their game. She doesn't hide the anger in her eyes because as long as they don't know what it's directed at, they adore her and all she stands for.
And right now, as she sits beside Caesar Flickerman, her gaze cold and unfeeling like it should be, she just wants to tear her dress to pieces and grab her knife (her stupid escort said she couldn't carry it, but if that vapid District One girl could get a spike in her ring to pass up to the actual Games, then she could hide her knives damn well) and stab the person next to her, relishing his look of pain.
But she's not stupid. No, Clove is clever, and as she sits in front of the camera in some dramatic, sparkly, and sharply cut dress, she knows that the last thing he will ever do is surrender by showing pain.
(Most likely, he will kill her first.)
Cato may be her co-victor, but she knows that he wants it for himself too.
Watching the recap of the Games is surreal. She sits stiffly next to Cato, careful not to touch him in any way. Her face remains an impassive mask as she watches the screen cover each of their moments in the arena.
Every time it shows one of her kills, her lips curve into a smirk.
Finally, it shows Thresh being torn to pieces by the mutts. They show the sharp teeth ripping into his flesh, red staining his body, his eyes being clawed out.
What they don't show are his final moments, when he slowly dies off as a weakling and both Cato and Clove look at him with something like contempt.
They do show, however, their reactions when Templesmith announces that there can only be one victor. There's something like shock, but both faces harden and then there's – joy? Excitement? Whatever it is, it's not hurt, like the star-crossed lovers of District 12. There is no proclamation of love that the viewers for hoping for. There is only proof that both of them are monsters – whether born that way or shaped by the Capitol, no one will ever know.
The battle lasts 5 days. The Gamemakers try to make it more exciting by changing the weather, but it's no use. Both tributes are evenly matched, although having very different strengths and weaknesses. Clove easily provokes Cato at every turn, but is too quick to be caught. Her lack of stamina limits her from sticking him down with a knife.
Eventually, the Capitol citizens grow angry. It's become too boring. Why not just let both of them win? They were going to anyway. Besides, they make a great killing team.
When the decision is announced, they both snarl, still keeping a tight grip on their weapons. When Clove is sedated and starts to go under, they have to pry off her fingers from her knife.
The night before the train ride home is the first time she falls asleep since the arena.
It's also the first time she has a nightmare since the arena.
She screams herself awake, but all she can think of for a full minute is District 12's look of anguish and fear as her own knife trails the curve of her jaw.
She disgusted at herself for feeling weak. It wasn't her only kill, but District 12 was the only one she'd been able to completely torture first. She's promised Cato she'd give a good show, and she did, and she hadn't been remorseful about it at all.
(So why was the love-struck girl plaguing her dreams?)
She stares at herself in the mirror of her bathroom. Pretty face, perfect hair, clothes that accent her body.
Oh Snow, what happened to her? She doesn't recognize the girl in the mirror. She's beautiful, a Capitol clone with no functional brain, a girl that's so weak she can't even fall asleep without dead people haunting her.
She tosses her knife at the mirror – because she still keeps it with her in her sleep – and doesn't flinch as the glass shatters and the shards leave tiny cut on her face and arms. The sound of the pieces hitting the tile floor is almost musical, and the tinkering sounds more melodic than anything she's ever heard back in District 2.
She carefully navigates through the shards to avoid cutting her feet. Whatever the Capitol does to her, she will not let them take away walking – the only freedom she really has left.
She stands next to Cato as they ready to exit the train. Their escort, who Clove never even bothered to learn the name of, excitedly talks about the 2 houses being prepared in the Victors' Village. As much as Clove insists she isn't afraid of anything, she is a little unsettled by the fact that she might be living next to Enobaria. There's a difference between strength and ripping someone's throat out with your teeth. The new, pointed ones probably make it all the easier.
As soon as they step off, there's a surge in the crowd as it rushes toward the returning victors. Clove watches as Cato is welcomed by his mother and two brothers, a strange feeling twisting in her stomach. For once, she admits to herself it would be nice to have someone do that to her.
The Peacekeepers hold the crowd back as the escort continues to blabber about their responsibilities as recent victors while heading in the direction of the Victors' Village. Cato's family follows them, and his mother clutches to his arm tightly, as if she can't believe he really is home. Clove almost laughs – it was pretty obvious that Cato was going to return home after the Games.
Clove knows she wasn't a favorite to win the Games, or even be chosen to go for that matter. Her days spent at the orphanage gave no indication that she would ever be something beyond a housewife.
She trained in the shadows of the Training Center, never drawing attention to herself, dreaming for the year that she would be 18 and she could escape from the monotonous life of District 2, away from the orphanage where she was left after her father died in the quarries.
But eventually, the harsh conditions made Clove impatient. She volunteered at the age of 17, and her speed enabled her to reach the stage first after the escort asked for volunteers.
She didn't even want to win. All she had wanted was this life to end. Whether that was by death, or glory, or both, had been undecided.
The first night in her new home is the second time she's fallen asleep since the arena.
It's also the second time she sees District 12'a contorted face in her dreams.
Again, she wakes up with a scream, her body sweating and shaking. She pushes the covers off her bed, the moonlight filtering in through the window and casting strange shadows on the floor.
(In that moment, she thinks she might have heard a man's screams not too far away.)
She finally has the freedom to do what she wants, or at least, what she wants that the Peacekeepers won't restrict her from.
She visits the Training Center and talks to Lyme, her former trainer who is coincidentally a victor. Lyme pulls her into a hug when she sees her, and Clove almost goes into shock. Lyme had been her mentor throughout her time at the orphanage – she'd been close friends with Clove's parents – but she'd never been one for displays of affection. Clove, for one, finds it slightly disturbing and hastily steps out of the embrace.
Lyme looks into her eyes, and Clove sees something like grief, which doesn't make sense. Shouldn't she be happy that Clove is home?
Lyme turns back the trainees, who had avoided their eyes at the embrace, and barks at them to do 5 more laps. Clove can't help but notice how her voice breaks at the start of the order.
Clove is heading back to that cold, empty house when she runs into Cato's mother.
The woman, who looks almost disturbingly thin to the point that it is strikingly beautiful, introduces herself as Virgilia and offers for Clove to come to their house for dinner that night.
Clove searches her eyes for any signs of pity, and finds none.
Thinking of the cold, empty house she has to return to, she accepts.
The brothers are amusing; she has to give them that. She tries to remain silent, but Marcus and Octavius are both ridiculously funny, and although they are tired after a hard day at the quarries, they remain spirited and lively. Clove is amazed how Cato chuckles at his older brothers' antics, his brutal personality completely gone.
And Clove laughs genuinely from joy for the first time since her father died.
At the sound, Cato abruptly stops and turns to look at her with calculating eyes. But Clove is too happy to care, smiling as Marcus teases her for finally saying something.
Virgilia just smiles knowingly and asks Clove what she's been eating for the past few days. Clove knows this isn't in a prying manner, just natural motherly instinct, but if Clove was any other girl she'd go red from embarrassment and reveal that she had been eating prepackaged snacks for the past few days.
But Clove is Clove, and she looks at Virgilia straight in the eye and answers that she's been taking meals at Lyme's house.
It's a lie, and Clove knows that Virgilia knows it is, but the woman only smiles and insists that Clove start eating in their home. There's enough food for three humungous boys, and Clove won't make much of a difference, she says.
Clove is reluctant to be such a burden, but Virgilia is nothing if not persistent. Clove glances to Cato only to find him silently watching her. She turns back and says she would love to.
That night, Clove dreams of her father and the mother she never knew.
Clove spends her days in the monotonous cycle she was trying to escape.
She wakes up early, sometimes from her own screams and sometimes from Cato's. She takes breakfast with Marcus and Octavius, who both have to leave early for work in the quarries.
She wanders to the market, spending her money at nearly every stall. Although District 2 is favored by the Capitol, it is still that – a district under the control of Snow. Most of the stall keepers are widows whose husbands died in the quarries and left them with children, usually more than one.
Although Clove is famous across Panem for being ruthless, she doesn't want those children to starve.
She knows that when they do, they'll make the same mistake as her and end up waking up screaming every night.
(She still can't get District 12 out of her head.)
In the afternoons she heads to the Training Center to visit Lyme. Cato is there training everyday unfailingly. Most days she ends up picking up the knives as well.
They all occupy themselves to hold onto their last shreds of sanity.
All too soon, the Victory Tour arrives and her stylist comes to squeal about all her new ideas for Clove's outfits. The hygienists groan about her unshaven state, and Clove still is on her guard when they brandish a mascara wand. It looks like it will poke her eyes out, and Clove murderously glares at them until they relent and allow her to carry her knives.
She's ready to show the Capitol that she hasn't changed. At all.
The most fun part is that she didn't work on a talent, and her escort almost has a nervous breakdown. Apparently every victor needs one (what does Enobaria do? Wolf impressions?). Lyme's official talent is "teaching," which Clove almost smiles at.
Almost.
Even Cato's been doing something, which explains what he's been doing the past few months. However, Clove doubts that he had to work much on his "abstract art." It was a flipping circle on a piece of white paper, for Snow's sake!
Eventually, Clove intimidates her stylist into agreeing to say that the designs are Clove's.
The ride to District 12 goes on without a hitch.
District 12 nearly suffocates her.
The way the people look at Clove – it shouldn't affect her, but it does. They glare at them for killing their tributes. Granted, Cato and Clove ended up killing most of the tributes, but District 12's girl and boy, the star-crossed lovers, had almost made it to the very end.
They didn't stand a chance to District 2.
There's a small, blonde girl that screams when Clove is repeating the lifeless words the escort made her memorize. The girl's mouth is tightly shut by her mother, but not before the Peacekeepers are dragging both of them out of sight. Clove continues to talk, the words flowing automatically, and she refuses to let her eyes follow the pair.
She finishes her speech, and the crowd remains silent. Then, an old man holds up his fingers towards the sky while looking upward, and the rest of the people follow his motions.
The Peacekeepers quickly usher them back onto the train. The escort is especially disgruntled at the treatment. Lyme looks especially pleased.
The Victory Ball is spectacular.
So, naturally, Clove hates it.
She's instructed to stay on Cato's arm all night, which she reluctantly does, if only to avoid dancing with the men whose eyes follow her as she passes each table of food. Cato and Clove sample many dishes, but none of them compare to Virgilia's cooking.
Snow makes a speech about the victors, which is followed by hearty applause. He approaches the pair and offers his congratulations. The smell of blood and roses still hangs in the air after he leaves them.
The escort pushes the two together for a dance. Clove's dress, covered in swirls that are modeled after those in stones and is supposedly her own creation, doesn't make Cato's job any easier. Clove is quick and light on her feet, but Cato clumsily executes the steps they were shown by a dancing instructor. Clove can't help but let out a small smile. Cato reminds her of District 2, of home, of a family that she's never had, of security and safety and maybe even happiness.
Cato glares at her, which makes Clove giggle.
A pair of snake-like eyes watches them.
They've been at home for a week, in which time Cato and Clove have settled into a tentative friendship, when they get a visit from Snow.
Virgilia, Marcus, and Octavius hastily excuse themselves to be elsewhere after his arrival.
Sitting at the dining room table, he explains what he wants from them.
He wants them to pretend to be in love.
Apparently, the Capitol has been fantasizing about it. They aren't the star-crossed lovers from the arena, but two lost souls who find each other after the dilemma.
He makes it very clear to them what the consequences are if they don't manage to convince the public. Namely, an explosion in the quarries and a burglar who has no qualms about killing a helpless woman that is home alone.
The smell of blood and roses hangs in the air, even after dinner.
They carefully plan their relationship.
Step one is convincing Virgilia that it's real. Although Clove feels bad about lying to her, it's for her own protection. Virgilia is practically her own mother now, and she will not let anything or anyone hurt her.
They try to make it seem real by spending more time together – which isn't too hard since they have to plot together anyway. Then there are the little things – Clove sitting next to Cato for dinner, him smiling at her when she laughs, indiscreet touches of hand to arm, trips to the market together, all with Marcus and Octavius' constant teasing.
Clove finds it almost too easy for her to pretend to be falling for Cato.
And that thought scares the shit out of her.
Everything changes with the announcement of the Quarter Quell.
Suddenly, Cato and Clove have to worry about more than just a simple fake relationship, but a possible second entry into the arena.
Virgilia cries for both of them before the reaping, and her eyes remain red throughout it.
Clove relaxes a little when Enobaria's name is called.
But it's when Cato's name is called that her breath hitches and her heartbeat quickens.
It isn't until when Brutus volunteers and Cato is safely off the stage that she can breathe again.
They travel to the Capitol – it's not like they have a choice.
They exit the train with intertwined fingers, and there are cameras flashing everywhere. The white lights blind her and she stumbles a little bit. Although no one notices that it might be too slightly exaggerated. Cato wraps his arms around her waist as she leans her body towards his.
It's not until they are safely inside that they smirk at each other.
With the year mark approaching, Clove starts to see District 12 in her dreams again.
Her screams reverberate off the walls of her too-large room, and Cato slips in during the night. He cautiously pats her head and tells her stories of Marcus and Octavius as toddlers. He reminds her of who's waiting at home for both of them.
(When her eyes flutter shut, she doesn't see District 12's misty gray eyes, but his startling blue ones instead.)
Clove doesn't know how, but the whole Capitol knows that she and Cato meet late at night, and their ideas are not exactly innocent.
Her stylist insists she dresses more feminine. Clove, willing to play the part, agrees, only if she can still hide her knives under her skirt.
They're spotted everywhere together – parties, events, talking to potential sponsors, going to the jeweler's, eating with Lyme and some other victors. They're all anyone can talk about, and the star-crossed lovers of District 12 are far from everyone's minds. President Snow is most pleased; he sends his congratulations, along with a diamond ring for Clove.
They realize that this ruse will never end.
The night before the Games, Cato and Clove are making their rounds at an event, hoping to pick up any last sponsors. The fact that Finnick Odair is in the mix has made it considerably harder for them, but Enobaria and Brutus still are terrifying, and that, combined with the fact that Cato and Clove are the most famous people in Panem right now, gains them a lot of help.
The funniest part is, they don't even have to act like they care about the people of Panem. They can be as cold and unforgiving as they want, and people are satisfied knowing that there is a different side of them, a side that is completely in love.
Cato and Clove laugh over how easily the Capitol citizens can be fooled.
Clove wonders if she is starting to fool herself.
In secret codes and carefully placed words, Cato and Clove learn of the rebellion.
Snow thinks he's controlled the districts with Cato and Clove's romance, but in truth, there have been whispers of an uprising circulating, and Lyme has been working in District 2 for quite a while now.
She and the other past victors fill them in on their plan involving the hovercraft after the tributes break the forcefield.
Cato and Clove scoff at the idea until Lyme mentions that Virgilia, Marcus, and Octavius have all been relocated to District 13.
They wonder if breaking the shaky peace is worth it. They have satisfied Snow, convinced the Capitol, found a family and become friends – maybe even more – and now some person named Alma Coin wants them to join rebellion? Move to an unfamiliar place? Place themselves on the front lines of a war they will probably lose?
But Clove trusts Lyme even more than she trusts herself, and she looks at Cato with those eyes that, for once, are not cold and piercing, but pleading.
She doesn't know what she stands for, but she knows what the Capitol does stand for. She knows what they think she stands for.
Maybe Cato is the only one who really knows.
Fin.
This didn't really make sense. I will probably rewrite this if I get the chance.
I loveloveloveloveLOVE this pairing. Cato and Clove are such complex characters, not enough people write about them. I love Peeta and Katniss but it's tiring to read the same story about them over and over.
Virgilia, Marcus, and Octavius are all names from Shakespearean works.
This was my first ever long-ish oneshot. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I will write a sequel, because I kind of like the way this ends, with a cliffhanger. BUT if people want me to, I can write an ending, or two different versions of the ending.
Please review to let me know what you think! And also if you agree that the movie was amazing and Cato was very, very attractive.