AN: Sorry for taking forever to update, I just finished finals and made it home for break so hopefully I'll be able to update more before heading back. I also want to thanks everyone who has read this story and especially those who have reviewed, you guys seriously make my day. Anyway, happy holidays and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Two: Capitol Bound
If you would have asked Peeta Mellark what his life would be like, say, eight years ago, he would have told you something vastly different then the horror story it has become. Maybe he would have taken over the family business for his Pops, the old man was getting tired in his age, or hell, maybe he would have even carried on a full conversation with a girl who wasn't completely incompetent. Okay, so maybe Delly wasn't completely incompetent but still, a girl with fractionally more intelligence than a spoon would be nice.
It wasn't like Peeta was shooting for the moon. Never once did he think that he would be picked for the Hunger Games, tell a girl he hardly knew that he loved her, win the games with aforementioned girl, continue to very publicly date that girl, and all the while watching kids he had watched grow up walk straight to their deaths.
Nope, that one sure was a shocker.
To be exceedingly specific, he had never pictured himself sitting with Katniss Everdeen on a Capitol bound train with two kids he would probably accompany back in boxes. Oh the perks of being a victor!
"Hey Peeta," the boy, fifteen years old, precisely at the median reaping qualification age, asked from the other side of the table. For being a clearly malnourished and underprivileged kid, the boy wasn't letting this whole ordeal get him down.
"Yeah Jax, what is it?" he said with a perfectly mastered fake smile. Peeta worked hard to make these kids not give up before they even got into the arena. Katniss wasn't much help. The first few years, she was perfect—told them what they needed to hear, the best ways to survive—but after watching a pair of fourteen year olds from the Seam that she had literally grown up with, the Katniss that could help these kids died.
"All this food, it's just for us? Just the six of us?" He seemed quite unsure of the sweets and platters set out by the Avoxes just prior to their boarding the train. Even despite his scrawny frame, Jax wasn't jumping to eat the surplus of food on the table. Unconsciously, Peeta noticed that the table had been replaced for the third time since his first time boarding as a tribute. The first time, Effie had it replaced after Haymitch stabbed it, the second was actually during the victory tour after Katniss accidently lit it on fire, and the third time the table had been damaged had been three years ago—one of the tributes (Sal, a boy from town who had lived a few streets over from Peeta as a child) has smashed a bottle of red over the side of the table. Effie hadn't known about that one for a while, the scratches edge of the table from the broken glass somehow escaping her knowledge. He supposed that she had finally noticed.
Peeta nodded at the boy, mentioning that he needn't bother waiting for Effie to start eating. The Capitol escort was currently handling a hair "emergency" in her quarters. Apparently, her wig had ended up red rather than magenta, a tragedy of the highest caliber—clearly.
"You sure she won't mind?" Jax asked as he stabbed a piece of salmon on the center plate and brought it to his own plate. He was a nice enough kid, Peeta would be sad to watch him die in just a few short days.
"I'm sure Effie won't give two—" Haymitch didn't finish his sentence before the now pink haired Effie Trinket made her entrance. Thank the lord she had managed to get that wig pink, Peeta was concerned that the world would end if she hadn't.
"Tisk tisk, you tributes have had deplorable manners the past few years and oh my, what a lovely spread! The Capitol provides so much for you tributes, such hospitality! Katniss, dear, pass the cranberries" Effie turned her feather eyelash accentuated eyes to the tributes across from her.
Jax was eating a bit of everything from the table, especially favoring the smoked salmon he had started with. In contrast, Percy had taken only steak and a bowl of salad without dressing. Peeta could already tell that Effie was not impressed with Jax. He couldn't tell what she thought of the female tribute though, actually he wasn't even sure of what he thought of her.
"The Capitol always cares for their tributes, Miss Trinket, it is truly an honor to be treated so graciously" the smile Effie gave Percy let him know exactly what Effie thought of the girl. This girl was exactly the tribute Effie had dreamed of escorting, a Capitol loving, games endorsing, Career tribute in every way except district. Effie could over look the District 12 aspect of Percy's upbringing if the girl was truly as talented as she was stoic.
Looking at the girl's rather slight frame, Peeta doubted that she could actually pull out a victory. Katniss had said that she didn't know anything about the girl, that she had spent a few nights on the couch in her new victor's house after Prim or her mom stitched the red head up. His fellow victor said that she had never talked to the girl but that Prim had asked her to try her hardest to help this girl. Of course, Prim asked this same thing every year, it was in her nature.
Despite her slim appearance and the likelihood of her doom, Peeta could see a fire in her eyes that made him question if maybe, just maybe, he could bring back a living tribute this time. He wasn't too hopeful but that little glimmer of a chance gave him something to hold on to. There hadn't been a single tribute he had much hope for, not even Geo and his ten days in the arena, so he wasn't putting much faith into Percy Gallagher—just a little bit, enough light to brighten the doom and gloom of the Games, for a few minutes at least.
"Finally a tribute that understands the consideration of the Capitol, marvelous!" Effie exclaimed and raised her glass of wine in excitement. Percy smiled brightly at Effie but when her eyes met Katniss's across the table, Peeta could have sworn he saw her smirk ever so slightly.
"You should eat more, girlie" Haymitch piped in, surprising everyone at the table. For the past seven years, the elder victor had not been much help to a single one of the tributes they had escorted to their death. He hadn't told them what to do when the games started, the best way to survive, how to get sponsors. Nada. His interest in this one's desire to not eat her veggies was surprising.
Percy stabbed a head of broccoli and stuffed it in her mouth, a firm glare locked on Haymitch as she did so.
"I don't mean to tell ya how to play the games, Perce, but you should save that glare for the other tributes. Freeze them to death" Jax said with a smile to his fellow tribute. Percy dropped the glare and patted the younger boys arm before eating more of the steak she had cut.
This year was going to be different, Peeta was going to care when his tributes died. That was something he hadn't done in a long, long time—it was how he dealt with being a mentor, figured it was more conducive than Katniss and Haymitch's approach.
Hours later, when it was just he and Katniss sitting in the living quarters of the train—the rest of dinner went quietly, what did they really have to talk about? The weather is great, perfect to die in? I heard Snow hired a new Game Maker this year, all the better to kill you with? All were really great talking points—he figured he would get her input on their tributes.
"The boy has stamina, don't you think?" Peeta said as he poured a glass of whiskey for Katniss. She quietly thanked him as he handed the amber liquid to her.
"He doesn't have a chance Peeta, you and I both know it. Difference is I've already accepted it," she said, tipping the glass slightly towards him.
He laughed a bit at her before lifting her feet and sitting down at the other end of the couch
"You're such a downer Katniss" he said and smiled at her she finished off her drink. Quite honestly, Peeta wasn't sure how she could drink it—the stuff burned like hell going down.
"And you, Mr. Mellark, are ever the optimist. I think that's why they all love us so much, because of you. You put on a brilliant show" she said and leaned over to kiss his cheek before picking herself up off the couch and setting her glass on the table in front of them. She had that look in her eyes, the one that he knew now was the only proof that she still cared about these children they led to the slaughter.
"Well, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning and," she pointed an accusatory finger at him "if you wake me up before then I won't hesitate in putting an arrow through your chest"
"Goodnight, Katniss" he said, brushing off her threat as empty. Once upon a time her words would have scared him. That time had passed, now it was just comical to him.
"Goodnight, Peeta." She took a few steps towards the door "And Peeta," her voice sounded unsure
"What's on your mind?" he asked with his usual comforting smile.
"You know what, never mind. Just thanks, for everything" Katniss walked out of the room before he could say anything. Not that he was really even sure that he could.
They didn't really do the whole mushy-confession thing or the 'thank-you' thing, they kind of avoided that like vampires avoided wooden stakes. It wasn't like they sat down and decided not to talk about those things, the cards just kind of fell that way. Peeta didn't need to hear her say anything, her silent nods and smiles were all the reassurance that what he was doing was what she needed.
"Hey, Peeta, do you have a second?" a voice broke him from his musing and he looked up to find Percy Gallagher standing in the doorway to the cabin the set of pajamas that had been left out for her by the Avoxes on the train. Her tone was strong, but not in the same way it had been when she volunteered. Percy seemed to be more at ease, still frighteningly impossible to read, but her veil had slipped just a bit.
"Sure, come sit" Peeta said, motioning to the seat beside him. After a moment's hesitation, Percy came and sat next to him and gave him a look that told him that she meant business.
"I'm sure you know, but my mom's a quack. Thing is, she doesn't have anyone besides me and, well, if we're being quite frank here, I'm not sure who's going to win these games. I don't doubt that the Capitol has the interests of the nation in mind, but my mother does not. Should my death come in the arena, she will need to be sent—ahem—elsewhere. I'm not really sure where you send people like my mother, but I know there is somewhere. And that somewhere probably costs money; I want my father to pay for it. He always sends just enough money to pay for the little house we have and nothing more but he should have to put her up. It's only fair. Of course he won't know about what happened, at least I don't think he will, I've never met him, you don't have to tell him. I doubt he'll really care—I don't even know his name, but our land lady Ms. Figg, she should." He could tell just how hard it was for Percy to be saying any of this to him, the physical strain was evident in the lines on her forehead and the fidgety tendency of her hands.
Being from Town, Peeta didn't really understand the pride and stubbornness that the people of the Seam had but he did respect it. He knew that they wouldn't ask for help, or handouts, or pity. Percy wasn't doing that, she was asking him to make sure that the only family she had didn't rot in the house she would never live in again.
"I can do that," he said with a smile.
"Good, otherwise she might massacre the District" she said completely deadpan. He wasn't sure if she was joking or not, probably not all things considered.
"Anything else you need?" Peeta asked, expecting her to say no and head on back to her quarters to sleep (or just lay there, whichever the fates allowed). He remembered on his first trip to the Capitol, when he was sure that he was going to die in the arena, sleep was not a thing that could actually come to him.
"Actually, could you get this to Gale Hawthorne?" she handed him a letter, sealed inside a plain white envelope with 'GALE' written across the flap. "No matter what, I want him to have that"
"Of course" He held the envelope in his hands for a few seconds before telling her that she should go and get some rest before they got to the Capitol in the morning.
This girl was odd, that was a given considering her mother was the town crazy and the fact that she just up and volunteered for a kid she wasn't related to. Peeta just hoped that she could pull off a miracle and live. Maybe then Katniss would sober up for long enough to continue selling the 'power couple' act and keep Snow off his ass for all of thirty seconds. Peeta sometimes wondered if maybe Snow was secretly gay with a raging man crush on him and that was the real reason he called all the time inquiring about his relationship with Katniss.
Eh, it was possible, right?
AN: Peeta and Katniss clearly need to have different ways to handle the Games because they had such different ways of playing the games. And Effie, I love Effie, but holy Moses is she difficult to write. Anyway, thanks for reading and, if you want, tell me what you thought. Next chapter we'll get a peak into Percy's past and visit Cinna.