Soli Deo gloria
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who or The Hunger Games. I was going to update yesterday but I went to the mountains and IT WAS GORGEOUS. Thank you for the feedback!
The three people in District 12's mentor room remained silent as they watched the Games. Late afternoon, after several hours of walking, Haymitch's tributes and District 4 started to make a campsite a few feet from the force field, which they kept a wary eye on. Katniss went off to see if she could find water and suddenly a great many cannons went off.
"What's that? What's that with the cannons?" asked the Doctor, waving his hand around as he looked at Haymitch.
"Every time a cannon fires, that means that a tribute is dead," replied Haymitch, looking at the screen a bit worse for wear.
"How many was that, then?" said the Doctor.
"Eight," said Effie, powdering her cheeks. "We'll find out who they all were tonight."
"Yeah, real excited for that," the Doctor said sarcastically, shifting in his seat.
Effie shifted in her seat as well and said lightly, "How are Peeta and Katniss and what's-her-name and Finnick doing?"
"Horrible," said Haymitch quickly.
The big screen was filled with the four people in question. Finnick and Mags (the Doctor paid attention) were busy making a hut with mats of leaves. Peeta was peeling nuts when Katniss came over with a rat, saying she couldn't find any water.
"They need water, Haymitch," Effie said quickly, turning to the mentor.
"Has she already looked?" the Doctor asked, frowning slightly. He waved a hand around and said, "There's got to be some water there. They were just near a bunch of water this morning. Maybe it's on the ground, or in the trees, or something."
"It is in the trees," said Haymitch.
The Doctor looked at him and said, "What? You mean these trees have water fruits, like bananas or something?"
"No," growled Haymitch, and he pulled in a screen focused on some wildlife near some of the yellow tributes that were crawling about. He pointed to a rat licking at a tree and said, "It's like sap."
"Oh, I get it," the Doctor said enthusiastically.
"It's just a matter of getting the girl to notice it," Haymitch said through his teeth.
"How is she supposed to know how, Haymitch!?" Effie said, looking frantically at him. "You have to do something!"
"You have something you can send her, Haymitch?" asked the Doctor, looking to Haymitch.
"There's something, but I'm going to need a few more sponsors to get it," he said slowly. "Need to speak with Four's mentors, too."
"What?" the Doctor said.
"Mags and Finnick's mentors," Effie explained excitedly, "they might have some sponsor money they can pool with ours, Haymitch!"
"I guess," muttered Haymitch.
"Well, do it! It'll be helpful for both Katniss and Peeta, and Finnick," and Effie, at first sounding concerned, then turning into a sighing, dreaming mess as she watched Finnick move about in the arena.
The Doctor paid no attention to her as he looked over to Haymitch and said, "C'mon, how are they supposed to think that the trees have water in them, or is that something that's normal around here?"
"No, it isn't," said Haymitch, sounding irritated. Finally, he growled and stood up, saying, "I hate doing this," and he opened the door, revealing someone who looked very tan.
"Conso, one of the mentors for Four," Effie whispered as Haymitch let a red-haired servant looking girl into the room before he closed the door.
The Doctor, upon noticing the servant girl, asked Effie, "Who's that?"
"Doctor," she said, not even bothering to be quiet, "that is an Avox, a traitor, and you're not to talk to them except in an order."
"Why not?" asked the Doctor, and not even waiting for an answer from Effie, he looked to the Avox and said, "What's your name, eh?"
The girl, her head bowed, quickly put her tray on the already full buffet and then stood against the wall, not looking up.
"She can't talk, Doctor," said Effie quietly before she turned back to the screen.
The Doctor looked concerned as he said, barely moving his lips, "Why not? She ordered not to speak at all? Avox, you can speak if you want to, go ahead."
"She doesn't have a tongue," Effie hissed.
The Avox bowed her head even more, her red hair bouncing back at the Doctor, who looked very mad but calm. "Why did she have her tongue cut out?" said the Doctor, finally turning to face Effie.
"She is a traitor, Doctor, and it isn't good manners to ask about things like this," said Effie quickly in a firm tone, and with that, she fluffed up her wig and stopped the conversation. The Doctor threw her a look before he looked back to the Avox. "You can leave now," said Effie, not looking back as she applied some lipstick. The Avox nodded, even though Effie didn't see her do so, and turned to open the door.
The Doctor cleared his throat and whispered, "I'm so sorry," very, very quietly. The Avox paused for a second, and to his surprise, she gave him the slightest nod before she left the room.
The Doctor watched her leave before he slowly turned back to the screens. What he wanted to know was what kind of a barbaric country was this Panem that sent their people into an arena to kill each other like the gladiators and turned their traitors into serving mutes?
He sighed and leaned against his chair, and his eyes caught on Rose. If she wasn't there in the arena, in danger, he would be doing something against this, this disgusting society. He sighed and Effie, clearing her throat, turned to him and said, "So, who is this Rose of yours?"
He couldn't help but smile at her name and said, "Ahh, Rose. She's . . . my friend, a person I let come with me through my crazy adventures."
"Sounds exciting, your adventures," said Effie.
"Oh, they're exciting, all right," said the Doctor. "They're more exciting with her. My newer adventures are better than my old ones."
"Because she went with you?"
"Yeah," said the Doctor quietly, his smile fading, "because she came with me."
"Sounds lovely," Effie said with a happy sigh.
"It is lovely," murmured the Doctor. All the adventures, no matter what, despite all the pain and loss and suffering, were better with Rose, and now he was contemplating again why he had left her alone here.
The door behind them cracked open and Effie turned excitedly, clapping her hands, saying, "Oh, Haymitch! Have you got it?"
"Yeah," he said, and he took his seat and began to push buttons that meant nothing to the Doctor. The Time Lord leaned forward and watched as Haymitch pressed a button here, imputed something here, pulled a lever here, and then, leaning back, said, "There."
"What'd you send them?" asked the Doctor.
"A spile," said Haymitch. "The girl better well know how to use the thing."
"What on earth is a spile?" asked Effie.
"A spile is a metallic or wooden gadget, depends on which one you have, that you stick into a tree—then the sap in the tree comes out," explained the Doctor. He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Haven't you ever known how maple syrup is made?"
"What's that? Something the districts eat?" Effie wanted to know, and the Doctor merely sighed, wiped at his eyes, and said, "Nothing."
A small grey parachute floated to the tributes, and after a few minutes, Katniss figured out what it is (those few minutes made Haymitch look very annoyed that she didn't figure it out earlier) and they were rewarded with water.
After that, things became quieter. It began to grow dark and the tributes were all setting up some kind of camp. That is, except for Johanna and Rose and their group. They kept walking, which meant the Doctor kept himself awake.
Effie left around ten after drinking several drinks with the two mentors. Haymitch and the Doctor decided to take turns watching the screens so that one of them could be constantly watching the tributes. They were still a bit wary of each other, for the Doctor knew that Haymitch would do anything to save his kids, and he knew that he'd do anything to make sure that Rose survived.
Haymitch took his nap on one of the beds while the Doctor, wiping at his eyes occasionally, watched the screens. The Careers had their camps set up and the weak crawling tributes leaned against trees. 4 and 12 had their camp, and so he kept his eyes on 3 and 7 and Rose.
They kept walking. They were trying to make up for lost time when 4 and 12 made their way quickly. Johanna, hot, sweaty, and bothered, made the Doctor frown, worried, as she slashed about with her axe.
Wiress looked like she could faint right there. Rose looked so tired helping her, and the Doctor closed his eyes, for there was nothing he could do, and he didn't want to see her suffer.
"HOW MANY MILES COULD THEY HAVE GONE WITHOUT US FINDING THEM?" Johanna yelled loudly to no one in particular.
"Care—careful, Johanna," said Beetee, "you might call in the Careers."
"So what? WHO CARES ANYMORE?" yelled Johanna as she sliced away at the foliage. "I HATE THIS STUPID ARENA!"
Rose gulped and held on tighter to Wiress. One day in, and she was already feeling like she could crumble onto the ground. Her eyelids were heavy and she felt like she couldn't take another step. Her body had better limits than her mind, it seemed, and she somehow kept up with the angry Johanna and Blight and Beetee.
What was the time? That was what she wanted to know. And how big was this arena? What shape was it in? They had been going straight with a few twists and turns and nothing happened.
That's when Rose heard a loud rumble, and she said, "Is that thunder?"
"Is that rain?" asked Beetee. A lightning bolt flashed briefly.
Johanna looked up. "We need water," she said, her voice hoarse from yelling and lack of water.
Rose pleaded inwardly for it to rain, and suddenly felt herself get covered with the liquid; it splashed down her body and soaked her clothes. "Rain!" she yelled, and in the dark, she could see Johanna hold out her palm and after getting some, drank it, made a horrified face, and spat it out.
She looked disgustedly at Wiress, who was doing the same thing, and yelled, "That's not water, Nuts! IT'S BLOOD."
Rose immediately looked properly horrified as the blood rain came pouring down on them, saying, "This is blood?" Immediately her mouth was filled with it as it poured down harder.
"Yeah, it is," Johanna spat, "and we're covered in it."
Rose gulped and looked to Wiress and said above the noise of the rain, "Don't drink it, Wiress!" She quickly spat out the blood in her mouth, just getting some more in her anyway. It was irony and disgusting.
"Now what?" asked Blight.
"We keep walking," Johanna said. She looked angry as she looked at Blight and grabbed Beetee, saying, "I'm tired of leading this stupid group around—you lead us for once—I'll take Volts!"
"Fine, Johanna," spat Blight, and he turned and they all followed him, all getting soaked in blood. Rose coughed as she held onto Wiress, which was a hard thing to do, for the blood was making her shoulders slippery. Rose looked about and wondered if the entire arena was getting coated in blood rain. She wouldn't be surprised if in the morning, she saw the entire arena painted a dark bloody red.
They walked on a few more minutes, the rain never relenting, when suddenly Blight seized in front of them and was thrown back, hitting the ground with a CRACK!
Rose looked horrified while Wiress and Beetee looked a bit surprised and Johanna looked curious. "What the hell?" Johanna said, and she let go of Beetee, saying, "walk after me, and I'll kill you."
Rose gulped. She could barely see Johanna grabbing a rock and throwing it ahead of Blight where it bounced off and zoomed at her so she had to move out of the way.
"What happened to him?" Rose asked slowly.
"He walked into the force field," Johanna spat, "he got electrocuted."
"Can we save him?" Rose asked above the roar of the storm, and she saw Johanna shake her head as she checked his heart.
"He's dead," she said emotionlessly, her words gurgled with the blood filling her mouth. She stood up straight, wiped at her red forehead, and repeated, "He's dead."
Rose couldn't help but feel her heart sink. Even though she had barely known Blight more than a few hours during which they barely exchanged more than a word or two, she felt terribly bad about his death. She felt bad about all the deaths that happened around her when she went traveling with the Doctor.
She knew that the Doctor did not like deaths at all, but she hoped that this was one death that he did see.
She swallowed thickly as Johanna turned back to them. Blight had been her district partner, from what Beetee had quietly told her on their long walk. She had known him for much longer than Rose had, and now he was dead. Rose hadn't a clue of how Johanna was feeling, and all she could choke out was, "I'm sorry."
"Yeah." Johanna picked up the axe laying beside him and said above the pounding rain, "He had to go." (She shook her head.) "C'mon." She wrinkled her nose as she said bitterly, "Guess I'll have to really help with Volts now."
"His name is Beetee," Rose couldn't help but say, though she knew it was rude to say so quickly after what happened to Blight.
Johanna threw her a look as she put an arm under Beetee and said as she raised him up, "Yeah? Well, he'll always be Volts to me." Johanna lifted him and said sharply, "C'mon!" Her head looked up and she said, "Let's hope this rain will stop soon."
Rose straightened and lifted Wiress higher, and suddenly the crazy woman began to murmur in a sing-songy voice under her breath, "Hickory dickory dock."
"Oh, for Pete's sake," groaned Johanna as she turned. "SHUT UP, NUTS."
Rose nodded slowly to Wiress as she followed Johanna, who took a slight right turn so they were following along the force field, having it to their side about ten feet apart from them. Rose sighed softly and reinforced her grip on Wiress as they continued walking, and she hoped and wished and prayed silently that the rain would stop. And soon.
The Doctor had been alarmed when he had seen Blight fall, and he knew now that one could simply use a highly dosage of CPR on him to bring him back, but apparently neither of the remaining four knew how to apply it before he was gone.
He sank back in his chair, just glad that the one who was ahead of the others wasn't Rose. If she had walked into that force field, he knew that none of them could have brought her back, and the thought sobered him still as he put an elbow on his armrest, his fist propped up against his face. He was getting tired, but he had to keep an eye on her. This was his only way of protecting her, for he couldn't just go into the arena. Haymitch had explained everything with the tubes and such, and how only one tribute could use them. How there was a protective shield on the arena, so no one could penetrate it. How it expelled anyone trying to enter from the outside.
Haymitch had also been the one who stopped him from snagging a hovercraft and trying to find a way into the arena with it. He told the Doctor gruffly it was just better for everything to play out. The Doctor just hoped that the way it played out wouldn't include Rose's death.
It was two o'clock, the Doctor couldn't help but notice, when he sat up excitedly. The blood rain had stopped, and Johanna looked at least a bit relieved and not angry as she yelled for Rose and Wiress and Beetee to hurry up.
Smiling, he decided to look around at the other screens, and his eyes automatically went up toward the screen with Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, and Mags. He could see Katniss keeping watch; his eyes squinted when he saw something coming toward her camp. It looked like a fog; he immediately felt its ominous quality as he heard Katniss begin to call her companions' names.
"Get out of there, get out of there, now," he said rapidly under his breath as he saw Katniss and everyone there start to blister. "Get out, get out!" He knew enough from the blisters and his own experience with fogs of mysterious origins that it was not best to stay put.
"Run! Run!" yelled Katniss.
Finnick woke up and yelled, "What is it? What is it?"
"Some kind of fog. Poisonous gas. Hurry, Peeta!" Katniss yelled, and the Doctor still keeping his eyes on the screen, said, "Good, she's got it, now get out!"
As they began to run, the Doctor turned quickly and said loudly, "Haymitch, Haymitch, get up! There's a poisonous fog in their camp and I don't know if they're going to get out of there!"
Haymitch stirred and sat up in bed, groaning as he said, looking to the Doctor, "What on Earth are you babbling about?"
"There's a fog in your tributes' general area. It's poisonous," explained the Doctor quickly, and Haymitch instantly got out of bed and took his seat, watching the screen intently, and the Doctor couldn't help but notice a knife in his hand as he quickly looked back at Rose's screen, where she and her companions had turned to walk south.
"Just don't go to your left, just don't go into the fog," the Doctor whispered to himself frantically, hoping that in some way, Rose would hear him.
Haymitch watched, his look unchanged, as Finnick carried Peeta and Katniss carried Mags. His eyes looked different, though. They looked concerned as the tributes began to fall, their limbs twitching, their movements almost robotic.
The Doctor looked back to Katniss and Peeta and Finnick and Mags and instantly said, "Their nerves are being played with. The fog took control over their nerves and it's making them twitch . . . like that."
"Yeah, and they better figure out how to move by themselves before they're engulfed," said Haymitch sarcastically, leaning forward
The fog was still several feet behind them, but it was moving fast toward them, like a sandstorm, with poison instead of particles of rock.
The Doctor's eyes searched, hard, for any sign of them becoming themselves again as they began to walk slightly, Katniss carrying the smaller Mags while Finnick carried the injured Peeta. The looks on Katniss's and Finnick's faces betrayed just in how much pain they were in.
The fog came in, quietly, and Haymitch, who had been cursing under his breath and looking snarly, looked quiet and solemn as it came over them, ready to take them when they had gotten enough. The fog wasn't a regular fog, the Doctor knew, and he wasn't sure how it was a poison. If it was a poison, wouldn't it have gotten them already? Wouldn't they be on their knees, fallen to the ground, or choking?
A sudden thought came to the Doctor and he whispered, "That's not fog with water. That's acid." He straightened and said louder, "That's acid fog. They're going to be in for a lot of pain." In another part of his brain, he could hear quiet chanting, "Just don't go to your left, just don't go into the fog." Endlessly, pounding into his head, hoping that the faster the words were, the more chance that somehow Rose would make sense of it.
Katniss fell with Mags, and asked if Finnick could leave both her and Peeta. The Doctor and Haymitch knew already that that wasn't going to happen.
That when Mags takes control of the situation. The Doctor's thoughtful face looked horrified as she gave Finnick a kiss on the lips and then turned and walked straight into the woods. While the Doctor knew that decision was to benefit Finnick and 12, he was still horrified as he watched the remaining three run as a cannon shot rang out.
They ran out of the fog and collapsed into a pile on top of each other. The Doctor expected the fog to follow them, but it didn't. Instead, it became thicker and thicker, as if it was in a room, being contained by an invisible wall. The Doctor leaned back, running a hand through his hair, saying, "What is this?" Had they passed some invisible line that magically stopped the fog?
He couldn't think of a thing when Haymitch said under his breath, the same time as Peeta, "Monkeys."
The Doctor looked back to see that the three were startled to be greeted by two large orange monkeys that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Oh, no," he said quietly.
The humans watched the monkeys until Peeta started him and Katniss and Finnick crawling down the slope and onto a part of the beach, which looked like a triangle. They crawled to the water, and Katniss put a hand in the water. The Doctor straightened when he saw a milk-like substance come off her skin; she looked relieved.
"Water. The water draws out the acid, it—it draws out the poison," whispered the Doctor.
"No kidding," said Haymitch, and within the next couple of hours, all three of them had stripped to their undergarments and been in the water, and Peeta, once finished, went to get water from one of the trees, leaving Finnick and Katniss floating in the shallow water.
"They should be all right, then," said the Doctor, looking to Haymitch.
"Hopefully," said Haymitch sullenly.
It was then when they began to notice something. All peeking out of the jungle, showing up not all at once but gradually, was several dozen of the orange monkeys. Huge, hideous things, hiding in the branches of the trees, waiting for a chance to pounce.
"Ach, no," said Haymitch leaning forward.
The Doctor quickly sent a look at Rose's screen, making sure that she wasn't too close to the area where the monkeys were. His breathing hitched when he saw that she and Johanna and 3 were headed that way.
"No, no, no, no, no, turn back, back, BACK ROSE, GET BACK," said the Doctor rapidly, his voice quickening with bits of panic. He squinted slightly at the monkeys, and for some reason, he thought they looked vaguely familiar, but the thought quickly left his mind as he inwardly wished for Rose to stay away.
"Shut up," whispered Haymitch in a warning voice, leaning close to the screen. Katniss had noticed the monkeys and Peeta was slowly making his way back to her and Finnick.
"This is bad," said the Doctor, and Peeta alerted the monkeys, and they all sprang from the trees and screeching, ran at the three tributes. Their screams seemed to echo, even though the Doctor and Haymitch were not anywhere near the arena. Katniss picked up her bow and arrows which she had remembered to bring along from their campsite and began to take down monkeys, though she was seriously overwhelmed.
Peeta and Finnick join her, and they formed a triangle as Katniss shot and Finnick used his trident, which he had retrieved from the cornucopia yesterday, and Peeta used his knife he had. They had remembered the things they had when they left the cornucopia.
Katniss soon ran out of arrows and a monkey went after Peeta, the tension growing. The Capitol must be enjoying this, thought the Doctor angrily as he gripped the armrests of his chair, sure that the blond-haired boy was a goner. There was practically nothing, nothing, that made the Doctor more angry when someone killed just for the fun of it. He knew life was a precious, precious thing, and to see it being killed for the amusement of others brought his blood to boiling.
Haymitch remained silent as the monkey drew closer to Peeta, and suddenly, out of thin air, another tribute ran in front of him, and the monkey chomped its jaws into her instead.
"What?" the Doctor couldn't help but say incredulously, his eyes wide. "What?"
Peeta stabbed the monkey repeatedly until it let go of the tribute.
She was gone.
The Doctor leaned back and so did Haymitch as a feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed them. They kept their eyes open enough to see Peeta and Katniss send the dead tribute off in the water where a hovercraft picked her up before Haymitch said in a tired, frustrated voice, "Get to bed, Doc, I'll watch."
"No, no," said the Doctor, instantly sounding awake as he looked to Rose's screen, displaying her and her companions resting against some trees. "I-I can't. I need—"
"I'll let you know if something happens to her," said Haymitch.
"I-I can't," said the Doctor weakly, waving a hand tiredly around. "I-I need to watch her. It's my fault she's in the arena, if I had just taken her with me to—"
"Shut up and go to bed, please?" said Haymitch sardonically.
The Doctor looked back at Haymitch and he found his resolve to stay awake and watch her growing smaller. "I can't . . ." It was his fault, he knew. He had promised—promised—her mother that she would be safe. She was not safe now because he wasn't with her. He wasn't there protecting her.
"Just go to bed," said Haymitch in a firm, getting-really-annoyed-with-the-Doctor voice.
The Doctor looked back to the screen to find her sleeping. She—she was surely going to get attacked by a wild animal, or Johanna would turn on her with that axe, or she would die in her sleep from some poisonous gas, or something the . . . the Gamemakers . . . set on them . . . .
Haymitch let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Doctor close his eyes.
Rose woke up with a start, and she let out a gasp when she realized where she was. She gulped and backed up against the tree she was already leaning against and let out a deep breath. Okay. She was okay, at the moment. She was in the Hunger Games, and she was with an angry woman with an axe and two people who needed help moving.
She pushed some of her hair out of her face and looked around. The four of them were in a little huddle of trees, protecting them from the vast forest they were in. She looked about, watched some birds fly about—no doubt they were deadly. She saw now that practically everything was dangerous here in the Hunger Games.
She pulled her legs to her chest and held them to her. Even though she had three people near her, she felt very alone. Maybe it was because she had been around with the Doctor so much that she didn't remember what it was like to do things without him. A selfish part of her wished for the Doctor to be in the arena with her, just so she knew that she wasn't here alone.
She quickly admonished herself, though, for she did not want the Doctor to be here. It was like a gladiator arena. Kill or be killed. To tell you the truth, she was not sure why she had not been killed by Johanna yet. Maybe it was because the idea of the Doctor helping that she kept her alive. Maybe the idea was enticing enough, but at the moment, Rose had practically nothing to back herself up with.
She didn't know if the Doctor was watching, or had seen her at all. Had he been near a TV since she entered the arena? She knew that he would have sent her some kind of a signal if he could that he knew where she was and that he was going to help her. He hadn't, yet, though. But he would. Rose had confidence in the Doctor.
She saw that Wiress and Beetee were sleeping beside each other, their heads against the other's shoulder. "Aren't they cute?" Rose looked up to see that Johanna leaning against a tree branch high in the tree that the two were leaning against. Rose sat up straighter.
Johanna had told her about the districts briefly last night before they all collapsed and now Rose asked her quietly, "Which district are you from?"
"Seven," Johanna answered her nonchalantly, looking down to her. "The wood district."
"Did you like it, back home?" asked Rose.
Johanna shrugged. "Better than this stupid arena or the damn Capitol!" she shouted. Rose winced, and looked around to see if Johanna had called anyone to their tiny camp.
"What about you?" asked Johanna. "Did you like it back home?"
Rose shrugged as well, remembering her job as a department store employee, and Mickey, and Mum. It had been a few weeks for her since she had seen them last, though only a few days for them. She had been . . . happy, yes, but then the Doctor had come around . . . and changed her . . . .
"It was fine, I guess," she said.
"Little Rosie doesn't want to tell Johanna?" asked Johanna with a smug laugh.
Rose's face turned to stone as she looked away from Johanna, trying to ignore her. She didn't feel like she should have to reveal anything to Johanna. No one could know that she traveled through time and space.
Johanna smirked after a moment. "So, well? Anything to spill?"
"Nothing," Rose said quickly.
"Oh, come on. How's things back home? How's your mom? OH, how did you meet this Doctor?" asked Johanna with mock excitement. "Who will magically save us from the Capitol's arena?"
"It's complicated," said Rose quietly in a defensive tone. Just because she was in an alliance with Johanna didn't mean she had to explain her and the Doctor to her, especially since there were tons of cameras all around them.
"'Course it is. Isn't everything?" Johanna asked, even though she didn't sound like she wanted an answer.
Rose looked up at the victor, and suddenly found herself wondering why she was so . . . hard. Bitter. Mean. "What about you?" Rose asked her quietly. "Have family back home?"
Johanna took a moment before she said, "No." She quickly sat up and jumped off the tree, saying quickly, "Let's get going. Wake them up." Johanna looked away from Rose, her elbow leaning against the tree with her head propped up on her fist, her back to the three of them.
Rose helped Wiress and Beetee up, keeping a wary eye on Johanna before the victor turned to them and said, marching up to Beetee and getting a grip on his hand, "Let's go."
Rose gulped, her aching legs protesting, but she tried to ignore them as they started their walk through the jungle. She knew that complaining was not going to help her, and complaining would just make Johanna mad at her. (Not that Johanna wasn't already annoyed with her. It was just easier not having her being angrier than necessary.) She held onto Wiress and kept her up and looked about, hopeful that she would not have to stay in this arena much longer.
The Doctor woke up to see that Haymitch was not there at all. He looked around through his chair, wiping a hand at his forehead as he tried to keep awake and not get sleepy. Wiping his eyes, he was able to spot Effie Trinket smiling at him on his left. "Oh. Hello, Effie," he mumbled, wiping at his eyes, "where's Haymitch?"
"Off negotiating with the mentors for District Four," Effie explained cheerfully, "Finnick is the only one left for District Four, and Haymitch is going to see if he can send them medicine while they send them food."
The Doctor instantly straightened, his hand falling from his forehead, looking instantly interested. "You can send stuff to them, can't you?"
"Yes," Effie said quickly, not realizing that the Doctor was more musing to himself than asking her a question. She said in a sympathetic, sort of disgusted voice, "Don't they look horrible, covered in those blisters?"
"Blisters . . ." and the Doctor spared Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick a small glance before he quickly looked to where Rose was with her alliance. She was walking again, helping Wiress, Johanna leading with Beetee hanging on to her. He frowned when he saw that even though she was trying to hide her emotions, Rose was looking exhausted and sleep deprived.
"How's Rose doing?" asked Effie, showing a little concern as she took a dainty bite of a spiced roll. "There's food over there, by the way," she reminded him, pointing behind them to the buffet filled by the Avoxes.
The Doctor shook his head at her offer, and still looking at Rose, said in a distant voice, "She's looking . . . exhausted." He straightened and turned to Effie, saying, "Do you think that we can get Haymitch to send something to her?"
"Doctor, gifts that go into the arena are very expensive," Effie told him quickly, as though he was a child. "My goodness, Haymitch just sent Katniss a spile yesterday, which was a lot, and now he's trying to get them medicine to get rid of those ugly blisters."
"Yeah," the Doctor said, looking back to the screen, "but she needs something. She needs . . . to know that I'm here, that she can make it. Look at her. Aw, Rose."
"If you could send her something, what would it be?" Effie asked curiously.
The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, "Something that would cheer her up. I dunno."
Effie continued, her fluffy eyelashes moving about as she blinked, "Well, the single food items are relatively cheap, but asking Haymitch is the problem. He's fixed on spending all the sponsor money on Katniss and Peeta, not some girl who meandered into the arena."
"You're really cheerful, Effie," said the Doctor, and looking to the door, he said, "I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" asked Effie quickly, sounding alarmed.
"Mentors Seven and Three," the Doctor said, peeking around the door, "they haven't sent anything yet to their tributes. Maybe they're'll have a bit of something," and he disappeared out of Effie's sight.
Effie looked ruffled when a minute later Haymitch arrived, getting into his seat and muttering about something to do with medicine and bread. He quickly looked at the screen and saw Katniss yelling at him for medicine. "Four should be sending it now," he said, leaning against his chair. Just then he saw the ruffled Effie and no Doctor and sitting up, he said quickly, "Where's Doc?"
"He went to go talk to Bandio, Redia, Wico, and Halop about sending something to Rose," Effie told him, recovering quickly as she dabbed at her painted lips with an elegant napkin.
"Damn it," Haymitch hissed as he stood up. He reached the door and opened it to see the Doctor standing in front of it, ready to enter District 12's mentor room.
"Where the hell were you?" asked Haymitch quickly.
"At Three and Seven's mentor rooms—hasn't Effie told you anything?" the Doctor said cheerfully as he ducked under Haymitch's arm, which was against the doorframe, and walked into the room, his hands in his pockets, a cheerful smile on his face.
"What did you ask them to do?" Haymitch growled, knowing fully well that the mentors knew nothing about the Doctor's presence amongst them.
"Oh, just send a little something to their tributes' alliance, no problem," said the Doctor. "I can be very persuasive."
"What did they send?" Effie asked him.
The Doctor pointed to the screens where Rose, 3, and 7 were and said, "Take a look."
Effie and Haymitch, looking over the back of his chair, saw Johanna opening a parachute to find four bananas.
The Doctor grinned just as Rose's face lit up. That's what he needed to see. Her delight, and her trust in him. Bananas was always something a Time Lord needed, and Rose as well. She'd get him and his bananas.
"You sent her a bunch of bananas?" asked Haymitch, annoyed, as the four in the arena resumed their walk, eating bananas. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"She'll get it," the Doctor said confidentially. "Don't worry. She's all right."
"How did you get the other mentors to send her bananas?" Effie asked in surprise, laying her napkin neatly on her plate.
The Doctor looked at her with a quick smile and said, "Told them they were a good source of potassium." Haymitch rolled his eyes, Effie looked confused, and the Doctor grinned to himself as he looked back to the screens.
He saw Rose look at one of the cameras, and somehow, as if she knew what camera was going to be showing herself to him, gave him a slow and understanding nod. He leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, smiling as she began walking again.
Things were starting out rather well this morning.
BANANAS. HE HE HE HE. Thank you for reading, and reviews are beautiful things. :)