AN: I forgot to mention that this story alternates from Ronan's POV to second person. Also, I'm going back to class on Tuesday, hopefully I'll get time to write a chapter here and now as it takes a lot of effort to get myself immersed in one chapter. I'll try my best to manage my time for this and college. R&R! : )

Chapter 3

When I was a young boy, I had a habit of jumping on my mother's bed whenever a day had an occasion to be celebrated about, whether it is my birthday or hers or the first day of summer, I never failed to surprise her by jumping on her bed until she'd catch me and tickle me back. I loved making my mom laugh because sometimes when she's not looking at me, I can see her green eyes grow dim and her mouth frown.

Sometimes when we'd go for a walk down the beach, I'd look back at her in the middle of looking for seashells and see her eyes distant towards the sea, her expression so far and longing, like she's waiting for dad to come back. It's those moments that I see my mother as someone else, a woman wishing for her lover to come home. So in those times, I don't try to distract her with anything, instead I try to make her smile, by asking her about him.

My mother painted a picture of my father, the way a writer would describe every tiny detail about love through words. She'd tell me the shade of his eyes and how clear and loving they were when he'd look at her, or how he wrote her a lot of corny poetry and leave them everywhere for her to find, she'd tell me how strong he was or how sometimes he'd wake up only to tell her he'd go back to sleep. She'd tell me how he used to kiss her stomach back when she was pregnant with me and she'd tell me he loved us very much enough to die for us to be safe, at this point, her eyes would get watery and she'd stop talking altogether.

They used to call her mad.

When I'm out running errands through the local market, I'd hear a few whispers, here and now about "the mad woman's son". They're very cautious about asking me about my mother, probably because she doesn't go out too much in places like those. Sometimes I ignore their whispers but other times I'd defend them with positive descriptions on how lovely she is or how she makes a good dinner. Other times I'd listen and feel sad about it, because sometimes it occurs to me that while I have love my mother very much, I'd wish my dad would be alive to tell me about her too.

And here I am, 20 years into the past with a madman himself, looking into the eyes of Finnick Odair, the man I was named after. Everything my mother ever told me about him was true, the clear shade of his sea-green eyes, the cocky smile and the way his hair was messy even his demeanor. He's holding a tray full of fruits covered in plastic (probably for my mother).

He's looking at me like he's seen me before and I couldn't deny that. We both look like one another, except for the fact that I have my mother's shade of hair. He's assessing me, I could say that from the way his eyes leave mine and travel from my feet to my uniform and back to my eyes. I could feel the Doctor's eyes on us too.

The woman, the Doctor was talking to introduces herself as "Paula Everdeen", Aunt Katniss' mother. She explains to dad how we're lost and that we don't know how to find the exit (I think the Doctor was referring to the exit that was the entrance to this place).

"I'm really sorry I couldn't help the both of you, but I'm sure Finnick here could." She apologizes and looks down at her watch, realizing she's late based on her suddenly alarmed expression, "If you could excuse me, I have to get back to the hospital"

The Doctor smiles at her, "No problem, Paula. Thank you for your help." He says.

Mrs. Everdeen smiles at both of us, acknowledges my father and leaves in a hurry. I watch her as she exits the cafeteria because it's so awkward being scrutinized by my not dead father's eyes.

"Have I seen you before?" he asks as if to break the ice.

I look back at him, thinking of a clever way to answer. No, of course you haven't seen me before. Or ever will, but I'm glad you've considered the possibility of seeing me before.

"Uhm…no."

"Are you from the Capitol?" He asks again.

"No, we're from District 4." I answer. Somehow I don't think telling him I'm from Four would clear up any future confusions.

"Funny. I'm familiar with a lot of people from Four, but I've never crossed paths with you before." He says, his eyes deep in thought.

"Yeah…I don't go out a lot. I usually stay with the Doctor," I explain, giving the Doctor the full floor of this conversation, seeing as I'm not good in one.

"Finnick right?" he asks, taking his free hand and happily shaking it with his. The Doctor smiles excitedly at him, to which my dad-or should I say Finnick Odair looks back at him with an unsure smile and nods.

"Finnick Odair, yes. And you are?"

"I'm the Doctor!" he says.

"Doctor?" he asks again, expecting another name to come after the title. The Doctor smiles in a secretive way as if being asked to answer a riddle only which he knows the answer to.

"Just the Doctor" I answer for him. He looks back at me, and I can see how clear his eyes are, thoughtful and piercing. It's hard to believe I inherited the same.

"What about you, kid?" he asks with a smile.

"Ronan." I answer. I didn't want to give him my first name, which was his. I felt like it would make things more confusing and awkward.

"Ronan?" he asks in the same manner as before, waiting for another name to come after. I look back at the Doctor for help before he takes the queue.

"Ronan Smith. My trusty companion." He tells him.

Finnick looks back at both of us and examines us together. He's still trying to figure out how he doesn't know us, since presumably, we're from Four.

"We're on sea a lot, so we basically don't spend too much time at Four." I explain, suddenly conscious of the things he's probably thinking of.

"Ahh," he nods, accepting my statement and somehow clearing the confusion in his head. I'm feeling a bit relieved until the Doctor asks another question, a question he's been trying to pinpoint out since we've found out where and when we have landed ourselves into.

"So, Finnick, I'd like to ask, considering how far I and my companion have journeyed, what part of the war are we in?" he asks.

This is something my mother had never talked to me about. The War in which dad partook of. I didn't bother asking her about it, not once. I always knew for a reason that it always upsets her, so I didn't try to ask her. I never wanted to see my mother upset.

I look at Finnick in curiosity, and he smiles and tells us, "We're one week from invading the Capitol. Hopefully when we successfully penetrated it, we're sure as winning this war as easy as coming back here,"

The Doctor smiles, like its' forced. I feel like he's seen this before in some other period. I briefly consider in asking him about it, when Finnick turns to us for another question.

"Mrs. Everdeen mentioned that both of you were looking for an exit. It's at the other side, from here, just take the hall from the left and you'll find it. Mind you though, it's heavily guarded."

"Thank you Finnick. It was nice meeting you." The Doctor says.

Finnick smiles at us and tells us "It was nice meeting, you too". He takes one more curious look at me before, leaving with the tray in his hand. I can see the silver ring in his finger, proudly glistening in the light before I follow the Doctor's sudden hurried footsteps.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"The TARDIS." He says.

"I thought you said we could stay here for a day?" I remind him. I've only just met my father, and now the Doctor seems to have realized how much of a mistake this would be. There's something else though.

The Doctor's eyes harden at my statement. He looks at me seriously and starts explaining, "Ronan. We've created a paradox. You just met your dead father back there."

He reminds me too, giving me a glimpse that this man could hurt too. More than anyone could.

"He's alive and well." I counter back.

"You know that it won't be for long." He says and I feel his sympathy boring on me.

The statement hits me, yes. He's dead. He's been dead for 20 years. I've watched my mother for 20 years sink into sadness from time to time because he's been dead for 20 years. He's dead. He's not coming back.

But here he is. Alive and well and strong, and practically happy being married to my mother. I know for a fact that my parents got married in the middle of the war, which was a good thing, knowing that they brought happiness with their love even for a single moment.

But the Doctor's sadness bores on me as well. I'm guessing he doesn't want me to see more of this period since we both know how it'll end.

"So you want us to leave to spare me the damage?" I tell him quietly.

I think I've voiced his thoughts out loud when I feel his arm on my shoulder and his eyes level with mine.

"It'll hurt less."

I look back at him, his eyes desperate to leave, and I am suddenly finding the means to trust him completely. Half of me wants to stay and find out more about my dad, and another half of me wants to leave and really spare me the damage that inflicted my mother. I want to ask him if he's been in war before since he seems to know something about it that I don't when he cuts my thoughts off.

"I heard a planet where people can breathe as fishes do." He says with a smile.

The thought of people with gills suddenly sounds ridiculous but knowing the Doctor for the past hours, I think everything about him is.

"Well, as long as those people don't have the appetites of a human eating shark, you can count me in." I say.

My statement must've lightened things up because he's smiling much easier than before and he excitedly walks us out towards the exit.

The exit has seemed to be having been more tightened since I've last saw it. There weren't any soldiers around like before but it's tightly locked. I try to open it with all my might but alas. It's too tight.

The Doctor pushes me aside and pulls out his sonic screwdriver and points it at the lock. It responds after a few clicks and starts to open along with the sudden sound of alarm blazing through the hallways.

That we did not expect. I look at the Doctor, and he looks back at me, an alarmed look at his face. Of course. It's accompanied with a tight security itself. How could we have missed that?

The sudden steps echoing the gray hallways bring us back to our senses, so we run. I try to remember the closet where we'd landed into, as I pass the empty hallways.

The Doctor follows behind me and though I'm leading up, I can still hear the loud footsteps.

We're nearing the janitor's closet, when the Doctor lets out a loud cry of pain. I look back at him only to find him having some sort of seizure, there's a contraption stuck in his back causing the seizures. I can't touch him but he seems to have dropped his screwdriver so I pick it up and try to point it at the contraption, not knowing exactly how it works so I try to push some buttons on it.

It seems to work though because he's stopped having seizures and lays still. I try to make sure he's still breathing, by placing my ear near his mouth and when I have, I pick him up, and put his arm on my other shoulder and try to make it to the TARDIS before they can catch us. I can still hear the nearing footsteps, so I drag him instead.

It doesn't work though because of the Doctor's weight. I try to find some remote cover near the closet and when I do, I place the Doctor beside me and wait for them to pass us by.

There seems to be four of them. The heavy footsteps echoing through the halls rings in my head as I catch my breath. I look at the unconscious man besides me, and decide that I have to wait for the soldiers to pass.

It takes a while. Minutes pass with each heaving breath until I can finally breathe in a normal pattern again.

When I'm sure the coast is clear, I help the Doctor up to his feet and start dragging/carrying him again towards the closet. I'm about to open the knob when I feel a sharp stinging pain in my back and electricity shooting in my nerves before everything fades to black.