Katniss' POV
District 13
1900 hours
I sit on my bed in my isolated room, looking at my feet. Fresh out of the shower, my hair cascades over my shoulders, small water drops appearing on my slacks. I've yet to dress my upper half, and when I do I do it slowly. I was thinking about Mellark earlier, and his reasoning for chasing after me like a hungry wolf. I can come up with nothing. There are better looking privates out there he has easy access to, but then again maybe they all know how truly crazy he is and I've yet to find out. A man that has an IQ of-what did Hawthorne say, 143? - And he totes around a gun that he could kill you with from a mile away. That doesn't sound stupid or dangerous at all.
I also think about if I really want him with me for the next few weeks as I search in the enemy's territory for two soldiers that honestly mean nothing to me. I take that back, they mean something to me. They're a certain unspoken pride I have. Women like me can make it anywhere and are definitely stronger than half the men here. There's no doubt in my mind I'll need Mellark's expertise and his power when I'm going somewhere unsafe alone; I'll need him perched on a building high above, watching me through his scope. The thing is I don't have confidence he won't pull the trigger with his sights set on me. He's a danger and a necessity, but if I'm afraid of a simple madman, why am I in the army?
That's right Katniss, you're not afraid. You never have been. I button my shirt conservatively-all the way to the collar-and head out to find Mellark.
Gale's POV
District 13
1900 hours
I see General Everdeen walking towards the men's barracks and sigh in frustration. Can't she just stay away from Mellark? He draws her in like a… magnet. That sounded stupid.
I jog after her, calling her name, and she turns to me with the ordinary scowl, as if she didn't want me to see her there. "Ma'am, where are you going?" I ask, not bothering to salute her. Maybe-just maybe-I can de-formalize this outlook she has on me by removing the salutes and "yes ma'am's".
"To get your men. They're coming with me to the Capitol to find my missing soldiers." Halfway through her first sentence, she turns and strides forward, and I walk alongside her.
"General, they're most likely dead and you know that." She turns with wide, angry eyes when I say that.
"They are NOT dead." She snarls, "And it's you and your dumbass soldiers' fault that they're MISSING!" I don't allow myself to flinch, but stand stoically still and she relents, sighing heavily. "I don't give a damn what you say, Lieutenant. They're coming with me."
"Even Mellark?"
"Especially Mellark."
Peeta's POV
District 13
1900 hours
Deep in a dream filled with naked women and ecstacy, I'm awoken by yelling; the voice of none other than the beautiful General Everdeen. My eyes fly open and I sit up excitedly, hopping in line at attention between Beetee and Finnick. They both glower at me. General's eyes slice towards me as I pop up, and I can't contain my smirk.
"All of you," she says loudly, pacing slowly with her hand behind her back, "are coming back to the Capitol with me to find the two soldiers you so graciously left behind." There's an arrangement of flashy pins on her chest-her left breast to be precise-that draw my eyes towards their sheen permanently. I feel Lieutenant Hawthorne's glare before I see it, and now he's striding towards me as well. He stands before me, towering over me, looking down on me with a disgusted scowl.
"Is something distracting you, soldier? Something you'd like to share?" The others continue looking ahead as if they heard not a word of what anyone was saying.
"Just those pretty medals, LT." I murmur, still staring, leaning back to see General Everdeen's chest around him.
"You are pathetic, Mellark. You think I don't know what you're looking at and it's truly comical."
"I'm sorry, was that directed towards me?" I ask. I really was paying no attention, but my brain has an annoying trait of picking useless information up anyway. I still have half a mind to rip the buttons off of Lieutenant's shirt.
"Before we hop on the plane to the Capitol, expect punishment, you piece of shit." He snaps quietly, walking away. I didn't really deserve that, but okay. I continue to watch General as she talks.
"Pack your things. We leave at 0800 hours tomorrow." She concludes, and my eyes widen when I realize she's exiting already.
"General?" I ask, and with a roll of her icy gray eyes she looks to me. "Will the man with a stick up his ass be coming?" I point to Hawthorne.
She smirks and looks to him. That's not a good look. "Why don't you have a word with Mellark in private, Lieutenant?"
"Will do, Ma'am."
Damn.
Gale's POV
District 13
2300 hours
I have really enjoyed my time watching Mellark pace in a cell through a one-way mirror. I've decided his punishment will be isolation and branding, which may I add is completely okay in the rule book. I'm just not allowed to lessen his work on the field, and an aching burn constantly reminding him to behave will do no such thing. It's been five hours now, and Mellark has been reduced to staring at the door to his chamber with his nose basically touching it. When it opens he stumbles back with a wince. He's yanked out of the cell, and as I join the sergeant escorting him to his next room, I ask him if he really enjoys this.
"Are you some form of genius turned sadist?"
"Are sadists not allowed to be geniuses?" he asks, looking to me with a faked, quizzical frown.
I shake my head. "You're an idiot, Mellark. I swear, if you act like this while we're in the Capitol I will literally feed you to the dogs."
"What kind?" He stops as he says it, looking to me. I frown, mouth agape. I really have no idea what he's asking me. He gives a short, manic laugh. "What kind of dog?" He clarifies.
"For Christ sake… Go!" I snap. He walks again, and is forced through a narrow doorway with his oversized escort.
"Oh, this looks fun…" He mumbles sarcastically as he looks at the shackles around him. His shirt is taken off, and I hold off a grimace at the still-raw gashes on his back as his arms are lifted and closed in the handcuffs. His feet are locked in clamps bolted to the ground. I sit in a chair, readying my ears for the worthless soldier's scream when the door opens. The oversized sergeant turns the branding iron as its front half heats up in the small warm fire. I look to the door, seeing a small, petite soldier standing there, looking to me with oversized and sunken in blue eyes.
"… Yes?" I ask.
"General Everdeen sent for you." She says with a voice sounding like it belonged to a child. My brow furrows. General Everdeen wants me to join her at this time at night? The reasons behind her crave run through my mind, and I get excited before I even respond. "I'll be there in a moment." The girl nods shakily and backs out of the room, closing the door decisively. When I look back at Mellark, he's watching the sergeant pull the prodder from the fire.
"You really must learn to keep your mouth shut, Private." I say, standing and swinging open the door. I close it seconds before his earsplitting scream echoes through the building. Punishment after punishment, he still recovers and acts as if it never happened.
I forget Mellark completely and head to General Everdeen's room, making sure I look rested and well, even though I'm tired and feeling a bit worn out. I knock on her blank, gray door and she opens it moments later.
"There you are." she says, "Where've you been?"
I sigh heavily, stating one name. "Mellark."
"Still?"
"Yes, still. He deserved what he got, just like last time." I slide into the room nonchalantly, looking around. "You called for me?"
"Yes. I wanted to speak with you. Originally, I didn't want you there when I took your soldiers back into the Capitol, but now I'm rethinking that." She admits. I see her nervously rub her elbow; maybe she thinks I wouldn't catch that but I did. She gnaws on her lip as well.
"And why's that?" I question softly.
"Because of Mellark." She blurts. Of course. "I can't get control of him but you can. I think, maybe I'd be unsafe if you weren't there to tame him."
That's why she's looking so bashful. She's standing before me, admitting a fear. Admitting she wants me by her side and that she actually may need my help. It actually makes me smile. "There's no taming Mellark… But if you'd prefer me there with you…" I lay the charm on thick. Her gray gaze darts up to meet mine, and I start to worry I might get a hard-on standing here looking at her. That would definitely make her revoke her offer. It was silly of me to come in here thinking anything sexual was her intention, but that doesn't mean I can't change the outcome of this meeting.
"I would just like you there keeping an eye on him. Not me." She says, and I feel a wash of disappointment. Is she onto me?
Katniss' POV
District 13
2300 hours
I stand here, looking up at Hawthorne. I don't understand the look he's giving me or his tone. It's soft yet… I don't know, intentional?
But if you'd prefer me there with you… It makes me feel dependent. So I tell him, "I would just like you there keeping an eye on him. Not me." I don't need him babysitting me. His eyes dart to the left for just a moment and then back to me.
"I didn't say I thought you wanted otherwise, General." He recovers smoothly. "In fact, I'd like to come." His smile is the bite of a snake, quick and unprovoked.
"Why?" I ask.
"I really should go gather my things," he says, his eyes alight as he turns away, opening the door. "See you in the morning, Ma'am." I frown, standing there in my slacks and uncomfortable shoes at midnight, wondering what the hell just happened.
I undress and lock my door, setting my alarm clock for 7 o'clock. I slide in bed, thinking of Mellark once again. His peculiar actions and his ways of thinking and speaking, his lures like that of a wild animal in an exhibit. They all keep my mind reeling, as if he was a puzzle that my mind obsessed over figuring out. I fall asleep with that wily laugh riding my train of thought.
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