(A/N): Here we are at last! It's time to introduce this year's tributes, and we are oh so excited about this. :) This chapter features a new writer, BandGeek24601, whose Thea Queen is an absolute joy and who helped us to write her district partner so we could get you this Reaping chapter for this beautiful Friday update :)
Thank you to our writers who reviewed our last chapter and to Slim Summers 2002 for his review. (Groot hasn't even said "I am Groot" yet so we'll just have to see on that count!)
Without any further ado, then, here is the Reaping of District One!
Chapter Three - Trust Issues
Written by BandGeek24601 and our editorial team
Thea Queen of District One
Written by BandGeek24601
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." - Richard Bach
Sweat dripped down Thea's back and face as she hit the padded post with her elbow for probably the millionth time that morning. It wasn't like Malcolm to be late. It was a month before the Reaping for the 25th annual Avenger Games, so maybe he was training one of the older kids. But in the five years she had been at the academy and the nine months of private training with Malcolm, short compared to some of the other students, he had never been late. If anyone was late, it was her.
She swiped her hand to strike one of the padded arms of the post and followed up with a kick at about the same spot. Whether Malcolm showed up or not, she needed to train. If she was going to justify her decision to leave home for the academy, she wanted to have something to show for it. Especially since, as it turned out, her trainer was also her father.
Malcolm walked in the door of the private training room, a full hour late. Thea stopped her practice and gave a half smile to her father as she walked over to her water bottle. "What took you so long?"
"I had some business to attend to," Malcolm responded, his expression one of triumph. Thea rolled her eyes. Of course he did. "I see you've been busy."
"Well if my trainer's going to be late, that's not going to stop me from starting on time," Thea said, taking a sip of the cool water she had brought with her. She set it back on the ground next to the wall and followed the wall to where the wide array of swords was mounted. Picking out one of her personal favorites, she turned to see that Malcolm had done the same. They did this every morning, though it was usually first.
"Well this business was very important," Malcolm said as he walked slowly towards his daughter. They began to circle each other with their lips spread into matching sly smiles; they both relished the challenge that the other presented them.
Thea took the first swing but was blocked by Malcolm. "What could be important enough to make you late for our daily duel?"
Malcolm tried an attack combination as he answered. "Nothing that concerns you at the moment. Just focus and remember all that I've been teaching you."
Thea blocked the attacks and succeeded in her own attack attempt. Malcolm seemed a bit distracted, even with a longsword at his throat. "It may not concern me yet, but I can tell it's concerning you. What's your problem? You're never this happy in the mornings. Or this distracted."
After a moment of silent inner debate from her father, he moved the sword swiftly away from his throat with his own weapon and answered her with a proud grin. "You'll find out soon enough."
The two began another duel, as per usual. Thea dropped the topic and decided to listen to her father. She just needed to focus and remember her training, for now. Once the Games started, she could focus on watching the District One tributes and taking note of their rights and wrongs. But for now, she needed to train.
Soon, Thea had her father's blade at his throat along with her own, having beat him in combat yet again. Malcolm nodded and she backed away, handing his weapon back to him.
"Hey, Dad?" Thea asked as she walked back to her water.
"Yes, Thea?"
"I promised Ollie that I'd go to see him today. Can we end this early so I can meet up with him?"
Malcolm looked at her with the hard eyes of a trainer, not the eyes of a father. "You need to train, Thea. As I told you on the first day that you came here, there is never an excuse that will outweigh the importance of learning what I can teach you."
"Dad, I need a break. Just for today. I promise I'll be back by dinner. Ollie always seems to have something going at night, anyway. I just need a chance to see him," Thea pleaded. She loved her brother more than anything and desperately wished to see him more. But, because of her training, as well as her mother, her visits with her big brother were few and far between.
"In the Games, the other tributes will not give you a break," he answered harshly, raising his blade to her throat to emphasize his point.
Thea kept her calm. This was not the first time her father had pulled a weapon on her. "I'm only thirteen years old. I won't end up in the Games for a while. It's the eighteen-year-olds that volunteer to go in. But for now, I want to see my brother." She used her arm to move the blade out of her way quickly, causing her preoccupied trainer to drop the sword. As Malcolm looked down at the weapon, he was knocked over by a kick in the shoulder. Before he could grab the sword, Thea had it, a sly grin on her face showing her joy in catching the great Malcolm Merlyn off-guard.
Malcolm looked at his daughter, pride evident in his features as he lay on the training room floor. He pointed at her with a slight smile, his lengthy, golden, talon-like ring glistening in the fluorescent lights. According to the story he had told Thea, it was a gift from his mentor. "Just this once. But I expect you to train that much harder tomorrow."
Thea smiled wider and dropped the swords on the ground next to him. Taking her water with her, she walked towards the door as Malcolm got up from the ground with the swords. "See you at dinner."
"Thea, wait." Thea turned around to look at her father. "How did you do that? I didn't teach you that move."
Thea's smile turned mischievous as she shrugged. "It's like you've always said: a magician never reveals her secrets." She then turned and walked out the door, ready to get out of the academy for a while.
Thea walked with her brother away from the restaurant, their stomachs happily full of food. She smiled up at Oliver, happy to finally spend some time with him.
"So, how have you been since we last met? Any girls catching your eye?" Thea asked, teasingly nudging her brother's arm.
Oliver laughed a bit and shook his head. "No, no girls."
"Really? What about Laurel? I feel like you'd do well with her." Thea wanted her brother to be happy but felt like he was still trying to deal with her leaving home.
"Speedy, I can't even think about girls right now. The Reapings are in a month. I don't want to end up falling for someone and then going into the Games. This is my last year, though. Maybe next year, I'll find someone." He wrapped an arm around his little sister as she shook her head a bit with a smile
"Wow, I miss that nickname. But, you don't have to worry about being chosen. Someone from the academy goes every year."
"But volunteering isn't even allowed when the victors choose the tributes. Plus, what if you go in? I would volunteer for the Games to keep you safe, whether they allowed it or not." He squeezed her shoulders protectively. Thea knew he loved his baby sister and would hate for anything to happen to her if there was some way he could stop it.
Thea grabbed his hand and pulled his arm tighter around her shoulders, snuggling into his side. "You don't have to worry about anything happening to me. I'm only thirteen. The victors are looking for someone with more training than me, someone that will give them another victory. I've only been at the academy for five years. There are plenty of other choices for them to pick from."
Oliver kissed the top of her head, happy to have such a strong sister, and Thea smiled at the affection from her brother. "You're right. I'm allowed to worry, though. I'm your big brother. Protecting you is my job."
They walked in silence for a while, happy to simply be with each other. After a few minutes of quiet walking, the Queen siblings found themselves at the grave of their father, Robert Queen. Even after Thea found out her relationship to Malcolm Merlyn, Robert was still a father figure for her.
They spent nearly two hours at the cemetery. For a while, neither of them spoke. Eventually, Oliver broke the silence by speaking to his father. He spoke about his day: how he had gone to work with his mother, how he'd met up with Thea for lunch…
Thea was amazed by the casual tone her brother used while talking to the headstone. She could never understand how he could talk to stone as if their father could hear him. When her brother had finished his one-sided conversation, Thea gave it an uncomfortable try. This wasn't the first time that she had done this, but she obviously did not go as often as Oliver; her conversation was much shorter.
"What about you? Any guys on your radar back at the school?" Oliver asked her once they'd begun to leave the cemetery.
Thea laughed a bit and hid her face as she answered. "No. No guys for me. I have other things I need to focus on."
Oliver turned her to face him, leaning down with his hands on her shoulders, and saw the lingering smile on his sister's lips. "You're lying," he said with his own smile. "What's his name?"
After a few moments of embarrassing silence on Thea's part, she finally answered. "Roy Harper, though the other students call him Arsenal. He's a year or two older than me. He's been teaching me some archery when we are not in classes."
Oliver straightened up and smiled. "So, Speedy's got herself a boyfriend! That's great!"
Thea waved her hands, trying to stop and correct her brother before he ran too far with that idea. "He's not my boyfriend. He's just a—"
"A guy you meet up with in secret to hang out, do activities together, and occasionally kiss?" Oliver offered, interrupting the obvious lie that his sister was about to weave. "Isn't that how most of your relationships have been?"
Thea was at a loss for words, her mouth hanging open at the incredible perception skills of her brother. Thankfully for her, she was cut off by the sudden brightening of the sidewalk they were on. The two Queen children looked up as the street lamps turn on, indicating the end of their rather short visit.
"I've gotta go. I've got some business to attend to," Oliver said with a sad smile. He always loved visiting with his little sister, but he hated having to leave her. Thankfully, the business he had to deal with was for her.
"I need to go too. I told Malcolm I'd be back by dinner." She reached up to hug her brother around the neck, just as sad to see him go as he was to leave. He grabbed her around the waist and held his sister close with a firmer grip than the last time they met. He was obviously getting stronger. "I may not get to see you again until after the Reaping. This close to the Games, the trainers always have us going overtime," she said into her brother's ear, a single tear threatening to escape her eyes. When the two finally broke apart, she looked him in the eyes and gave him a small smile. "I'll see you later, though, 'kay?"
Oliver gave the same small smile back to his sister and nodded. "Be careful, Speedy."
"Always am, Ollie." She gave his hand a quick squeeze and walked away from him, back to the academy for dinner.
Today, the Fantastic Four would announce their choices for tributes to all of Marvel. Today, there was no training, no uniforms, and no early wake up calls. You could train after the Reaping was over, but there were no formal classes today. In Thea's mind, this was the best and worst day of every year.
She got out of bed at six, unable to sleep anymore. Whether she had class with the others, her solo training with Malcolm Merlyn, or no training at all, she always woke up at six. She went down to breakfast in her pajamas as always. As she mindlessly ate her food, a figure sat down next to her.
"Hey, Roy. You ready for today?" she asked the boy. He was as close to a boyfriend as she'd ever had, so she tried to hide the fact that she just didn't feel right about today.
Roy gave her a half smile. "Yeah. I think so. You?" He rubbed a hand on Thea's back with a mix of affection and reassurance.
Thea nodded and gave a half smile, happy that he was by her side.
"Well we have plenty of time before we need to get dressed up for the Reaping. So, do you want to go try some archery in the main training room? It's bound to be empty this early on Reaping Day." Something about Roy's tone told her that he could tell something was bothering her.
Thea finally turned to look at him. Taking a deep breath, with an unusual glint of fear in her eyes, she finally said aloud what she'd been thinking all morning: "I have a bad feeling about today."
Roy looked at her with a hard gaze. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he answered her with a firm tone. "Don't think about if you get chosen. Only start worrying if they say your name."
Thea gave him a slow nod and pulled herself together. Few people ever saw her broken, but she trusted Roy enough to let him be one of those people. "Speaking of which, it feels great to hear my real name for once. Everyone in class just calls me Arsenal."
Thea laughed a bit at that and brushed his hands off of her shoulders as well as the feeling from her mind. "Let's get going, Roy."
As she approached her room at top speed, she stopped and leaned against the wall to catch her breath and let Roy catch up. He rounded the corner and doubled over in front of Thea. "Dang! You're fast, aren't you? Your nickname should be Speedy, Thea!"
Thea smiled and straightened up. "It already is. Ollie calls me that all the time." Once Roy straightened up as well, mirroring her smile, she glanced at her door. "Well, I should go get ready. We have to be in the square in less than an hour, and Malcolm will kill me if I end up late." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and opened her door. "See you there, Arsenal," she added with a wink as she walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Taking a deep breath and looking at the clock, she went to her closet and pulled out one of her favorite dresses from before she joined the academy: a sleeveless, scarlet dress that hugged her curves all the way down to just above her knees with silver accents on the bodice and a sweetheart neckline. Being from the district of luxury definitely had its perks. She paired the dress with some sliver flats, put enough makeup on her fair-skinned face to make her emerald eyes pop, and curled her short, brown hair away from her face. By the time she was ready, she had less than twenty minutes to get to the square.
Making it in record time, she got in the check-in line and didn't even flinch when they pricked her finger. This was only her second Reaping of being eligible for the Games, but she had felt far more pain at the academy than a simple prick of the finger — especially with Malcolm as her tutor.
As she walked down the center aisle between the girls' side and the boys' side, she made eye contact with Ollie, who stood by his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. Little did they know that Tommy wasn't just a family friend. Thea and Oliver shared reassuring smiles as she kept walking towards her section.
Once she joined the rest of the thirteen year old girls, she found Malcolm in the crowd. He returned her slightly worried gaze with his own pride-filled one.
Why does he seem so proud of me today? We're not training, and I didn't just beat anyone up. What happened that warrants that look? Thea thought to herself, her earlier bad feeling returning. She looked over at the boys' side, trying to see Roy for another reassuring look, but she couldn't find him in the crowd.
She kept looking even after the ceremony started, only stopping when Wilson Fisk, the district escort for the Avenger Games, turned the mic over to Reed Richards, the designated leader of the Fantastic Four. She finally got a good look at the stage. Instead of the usual two large bowls filled with slips of paper, there were two smaller bowls with one slip apiece inside. District One always was a bit showy.
"Ladies first." Mr. Richards said, then reached into the bowl on his left. Pulling out the single slip of paper, he walked back to the microphone, and Thea began to wonder which of the students had gotten chosen. But she froze as soon as the victor read the name.
"Thea Queen."
She made sure to hide her reaction as much as possible. Her brother(s) were watching, along with her father. Even her mother was watching, wherever she was in that massive crowd. I wonder if she's proud of me. On second thought, I wonder if she even cares.
She walked up to the stage with her head held high and a slight smile on her face, though the smile held no joy. She aimed to keep that demeanor as long as possible, especially with Malcolm around — and Ollie. If she were to show how utterly terrified she was, it wasn't Malcolm's disappointment that she would hate herself for. She'd hate herself forever if she were to break Oliver's heart like that. She needed him to think of her as strong, at least until she could no longer pretend. She found Oliver in the crowd and tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he just looked too broken for a smile to make a difference. She might not have to worry about acting strong; Ollie's heart already looked as broken as it could have ever been. The last time she had seen that expression on her brother's face was when they found out that their father had died.
She barely heard Mr. Richards announcing the male tribute over the uproar of the crowd. Almost every person there was furious that Thea had been chosen, and they made sure that the victors and the capitol knew that. After the noise died down, Mr. Richards reread the male tribute slip.
"Slade Wilson."
One of the eighteen-year-olds from the academy walked up, confident-looking, very fit, and much more mature than Thea was. She recognized him from classes at the academy, but they didn't really talk much. He was five years older than her, after all. She couldn't help but think that he and Oliver may have gotten along, if they had known each other.
His reaping did not cause nearly the reaction that hers had, so the ceremony ended not long after that, the district clapping and cheering wildly. It seemed that they had quickly accepted that either Thea was tougher than she looked or that the district was about to lose the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in the district.
The two tributes were led to different rooms in City Hall so that they could see visitors before they were brought to the Capitol. Not long after the door closed behind Thea, it was reopened by Malcolm Merlyn, who was grinning ear to ear. The two walked to each other and embraced, though for two very different reasons. Merlyn was proud that his daughter was chosen, but Thea was terrified and looking for the support of her father.
"I told you you would find out soon enough," Malcolm said in her ear. At these words, Thea's mind jumped back to that one day he'd been late and the business he wouldn't tell her about. She had thought about that day often since then, and it finally started making sense. She shoved him away, fire in her eyes, as she realized what that business was.
"You told the victors to choose me!?" Thea yelled at her father. "Why would you do that!? I'm going to be killed in there!"
"No you won't. You are my daughter," Merlyn responded calmly.
"Not anymore," Thea retorted in almost a growl.
This seemed to surprise Malcolm. "What?"
"I will be your student. I will be your soldier. Even if I have to, I will be your tribute. But never again will I be your daughter." She turned away from him, arms folded, and refused to look his way. Even after a moment of silent tension in the room, when Malcolm began to remind her of her training, she still would not look at the man that may have both created and signed her death warrant.
"This is what I've been training you for, Thea. You could win this. Trust your instincts. Don't be afraid to strike first. If you can hit them before they realize you're there, that's even better."
Thea was visibly uncomfortable with the thought of killing someone at all, let alone someone that didn't have a chance to fight back.
"You're young. Use that to your advantage. They won't think you are skilled enough to be worth killing, so you have the upper hand on them."
She looked at her trainer with her face conflicted. She didn't like lying either, though she knew that it would be her best chance.
"Get involved in the Career pack, but be on your guard. Don't actually trust anyone, just make them think you do. Use them to your advantage, don't let them use you. And most of all, don't be afraid to take a life to save your own."
Thea finally interrupted his list with an almost pitiful plea. "I don't want to have to kill anyone."
"People do it every year, Thea. It's not as bad as you think. It's a commitment, but if you prepare yourself, the only damage done will be to your opponent," Malcolm said. He seemed to know how it felt to kill, but Thea was still too angry to speak to her father unless it was absolutely necessary; asking when he had killed was not necessary at that moment.
The Sentinels opened the door to lead Malcolm out of the room. He tried to give Thea one last hug, but in her mind, he didn't even deserve a parting glance.
Roy came in next. His visit was brief, though still meaningful to the both of them. "I am so glad I met you, Thea Queen. If you don't come back, I want you to know that. When I entered the academy, I had no family, no one that cared about me, no money to show either. I entered to either die in the Games or get a status boost from my unlikely win. But when you showed up, and we got closer, you gave me a better reason to fight."
Tears streamed down Thea's face at his words. She had never realized the impact she had had on his life until that moment. Roy cupped her face in his hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. He tried to have a reassuring smile on his face, but it appeared more pained than he intended.
"You'd better come back. But if you don't, just know I love you." After many kisses and a few tears, he was taken from her too.
As Roy left, Tommy and Laurel came in. Their visit was just as brief as Roy's was. Much fewer tears were shed, since she was not as close to them as her brother was, but they were still upset by her being chosen. Laurel left first, since she only really went so she could support Tommy, but Thea pulled Tommy aside as he went to leave. "There's something you need to know, Tommy."
"What?" he asked, oblivious to the impact that Thea's last words to him would have on his life as a Sentinel came in to remove him from the room. She held onto him with a desperate grip, trying to hold him there long enough to hear her words before he would be pulled from her.
"Malcolm Merlyn is my father. You're my brother, Tommy." Before he could fully process what she had said to him, the doors of the room closed and she was left alone.
The last time those doors opened for her visitors, Oliver walked through with tears already in his eyes. Without words or hesitation, they pulled each other into what could be one of the last hugs they would be able to share. Her earlier stoic expression was shattered in that instant, and her body was wracked with sobs.
"It's going to be okay. You're going to get through this. You have to. I can't — I can't lose anyone else. I've already lost Dad. P-Please don't make me lose you too."
Thea had never seen her brother so distraught. He was usually so cocky and was never afraid to stand up to anyone or anything. But with his baby sister's life on the line, all of his strength was gone.
"Ollie. Ollie, I'm scared." Suddenly, with that one simple sentence, Oliver returned to his protective older brother position and held her tighter to him.
"Don't be, Speedy. You could still win this. You've been training with Malcolm. You have the skills. Now you just need to use them. I don't know what kind of training the academy does, but our tributes always do well. We may not win every year, but we will this year."
At the mention of training, she realized one thing she needed her brother to know in case he ended up being wrong about her making it to the end. "Ollie, speaking of training...I know."
She felt him freeze in her arms for a moment before he pulled away from her. "You… what?"
"I know what you've been doing at night. I know you've been training yourself in secret. Why would you do such a thing?" She honestly could not understand why her brother would have been training in secret, or at all for that matter.
"How did — How did you figure it out?" Oliver asked, shocked slightly.
"You think I didn't notice when you would walk with a limp? Or when you'd have a bandage wrapped around your arm? Or when you'd meet me with bruised knuckles? Or how every time we met, your hugs seemed to have more muscle behind them? I'm not stupid, Ollie. Why have you been training?"
With little hesitation, he answered. "To keep you safe," he said. "I wanted to be able to protect you in case you ended up actually going into the Games. I knew I would never be able to volunteer in your place, but I always hoped to at least protect you in the arena. But — we can't volunteer this year. Still, it should be me going in there, not you."
Thea pulled her brother back into the hug, grateful for the efforts he had made to keep her safe. After a few blissful moments of silence, moments where the Queens could pretend that they'd never be separated, one question burned at the back of Thea's mind.
"Where's Mom?"
Oliver held her closer and she felt a tear drip onto her shoulder. "She's not coming."
Of course she's not. I bet she's still mad I joined the academy in the first place.
"She was so distraught that she said she couldn't handle seeing you. She practically ran home after I talked to her. She couldn't stop crying long enough to say much else."
This time, it was Thea that pulled away from the embrace. "What?"
"She still loves you, Thea. No matter how mad she was at you leaving, you're still her daughter."
All too soon, the doors opened again with Sentinels to usher Oliver out.
"Wait, Ollie! How am I supposed to win this thing!? What do I do!?" Thea called after her big brother, terrified that she may never see him again. In response, he called out one word.
One word that rang in Thea's mind for rest of the time she sat in that silent room, awaiting direction.
One word she would never forget.
"Survive."
As she walked onto the train, the plush couches that awaited reminding her of her childhood home, she looked back at the view of her district as the Sentinels ushered her inside. For a moment, Thea could still see her brothers, both Oliver and Tommy, as they stood on the platform of the train station to see her off. She hated the idea of leaving them — particularly since she knew she may never see them again. Thankfully for her, the boys seemed closer and happier than they had the last time she saw them together as she lost sight of them behind the doors of the train.
I guess when you find out you share a sister, it brings you closer.
She sat down in a bit of a daze, only to be pulled from her thoughts by the entrance of Slade Wilson, the male tribute that had been chosen. Without saying a word, he sat across from her and grabbed a roll from the table between them. He also took the liberty of pouring himself a glass of a yellow liquid that Thea couldn't quite name.
Slade seemed to ignore her, for the most part, but looked at her with an analyzing gaze that had a strange softness to it. Every time he saw her looking at him, he would look away and scrutinize something else in the train car.
Three of the victors sat at the other end of the train car and spoke in hushed tones, but Mr. Richards had shut himself away as soon as they entered the train. Malcolm had taught Thea how to read lips, though, which made the hushed tones of the Storms and Ben a pointless effort to hide their conversation.
"Why do you think Reed is so standoffish today?" Johnny Storm asked, leaning towards his sister. Susan shrugged but didn't answer.
Ben Grimm leaned forward with his elbows on his knees as he looked at the Storm siblings. "I think he's just regretting his choice to send such a young girl into the Games. It's about time he felt it." He obviously was mad at Reed.
Why would he be mad at Reed Richards? I thought those two were friends…
Susan put a hand on Ben's knee and furrowed her brows. "You've got to let that go, Ben. That's not on him. Whatever he told Reed when he pulled him from that room… it changed his mind, scared him into this choice, made him think it was the only option. It's not Reed's fault that Thea's here. That's on Malcolm Merlyn. Who knows what he said to Reed to make him change his mind?"
Once Thea heard that Malcolm had been the one that made them choose her, even though he had told her himself, she poured herself a glass of the same liquid that Slade was drinking and took that to her room. Her "father" had been known to lie, but the victors' conversation confirmed the truth she hadn't wanted to accept. So as her brain let that fact solidify and the train began to move, she simply collapsed onto the bed of her designated train car and hoped that the foul-smelling liquid in her glass was alcoholic.
Slade Wilson of District One
Written by the combined forces of robbiepoo2341, Canucklehead Cowgirl, and BandGeek24601
"Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them." -John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
Slade started every morning the same way — with a run. Then, when he'd reached the limit and started to feel the ache in his calves, he would take the time to stretch before he headed into the mountains to meet up with Oliver Queen.
It was never his intent to find himself an apprentice of all things, but he seemed to have one anyhow — and a most unlikely one at that. Oliver Queen. Not a soul alive in One would ever guess that ol' 'Ollie', better known as the district playboy who had on more than one occasion gotten in trouble with the Sentinels for his lavish, blackout drunk parties, would be the type to work even half that hard on making a man out of himself instead of just remaining as another spoiled rich kid with a silver spoon.
It had surprised him even more when he found himself liking the guy. For as much flack as Slade gave him, Oliver was doing all he could for his sister, Thea. When he'd met the kid, he was scrawny, small — and determined, trying to train himself when he had realized that his sister would be turning twelve sooner than he was comfortable with.
It was there in the woods, a few years back, that Slade had found Oliver trying to train himself to fight, punching the rocky cliffside and bare vegetation and shadow boxing. With God-awful form.
"You're going to break your hand," Slade called out, unable to stop himself when faced with someone that incredibly stupid. "Give it up and go home, kid. You got no business out here."
"Got just as much of a right to be here as anyone else," Oliver defended, his chin jutted out the way only a skinny rotten teenager could do.,
"That's where you're wrong." Slade laughed to himself at the kid's response, then decided to push him — to show him that, frankly, he had no business even attempting to 'train' himself, especially not out here where Slade preferred to find a little solitude in the mornings.
In a flash, he rushed Oliver, and the scuffle was over before it started, with Oliver on the ground and Slade's boot to his neck, holding him in place. "If you wanted to train, you should have enrolled in one of those schools. Best way for you to pretend like you're something worthwhile. Might even get you further than battling saplings and tumbleweeds."
"Got kicked out," was the muffled response in the sand.
"It helps if you don't show up smelling like a still," Slade replied. "You have no discipline. Worthless."
Oliver narrowed his eyes from where he was still pressed into the ground, trying (and failing) to get out from underneath the pin. "Get off. What do you care?"
"You're out here acting like an idiot on my turf."
"Who made you king of the mountain?"
"Certainly not you. I've fought little girls with more fire," Slade hissed low. When Oliver continued to struggle, Slade simply shook his head. "Get out before you get hurt."
"No."
"Leave on your own, or I'll put you in the hospital myself."
Oliver shifted again. "Just for disturbing a pile of rocks and sand? Geez, what's the matter with you?"
"Just for stickin' your nose where it doesn't belong." He finally took a step back to let the young man up. "I took it easy on you."
"Yeah, yeah, I got that much from the 'little girl' commentary," Oliver said, shaking his head as he brushed out some of the sand in his hair.
"You didn't really go to the academy, did you?" Slade asked, watching him with a frown.
"Dad made me go, said it was a punishment," Oliver admitted, not looking Slade in the eye as he continued to brush himself off.
"Well you didn't learn a damn thing. What are you doing anyway?"
With most of his hair now sand-free, Oliver let out a sigh and plopped down onto the nearest rock at about knee height for sitting. "You wouldn't understand."
Slade smirked at the response — typical. "I think I have a better chance of understanding than you do of learning how to fight from a rock."
Oliver considered him for a moment and then quietly matched his smirk. "Alright. Let's make a deal. I tell you what I'm doing out in 'your turf', and you tell me what I was doing wrong to break my hand earlier."
Slade watched him with a tiny smile, sure that the kid had no idea what an easy deal that was from his side of things. "Alright. Make it good."
Oliver shrugged. "I have an idiot sister," he said simply.
"Pretty as your hair is, you can't volunteer for her."
Oliver paused and gave Slade a dry look before he shook his head. "No, but I can protect her," he said. "Or ... I want to. I don't know if it'll be the Games or some guy making too close a pass, but she's getting older — and people are noticing, not just me."
"Not like this you can't," Slade replied. "Games or no. All you're going to do is make her feel sorry for how much you're bleeding."
Oliver gestured around the area. "Well, this is what I've got. I was kicked out of the other schools, so here I am." He looked defensive for a moment. "I think I'm doing alright with what's available."
Slade shook his head. "The only people who have ever taught themselves anything have been highly disciplined. That's not you, playboy."
"Yeah?" Oliver asked, one eyebrow high. "Try me."
"You like eating dirt then? Fine by me."
The scuffle that followed was actually a bit longer than the first, though it did end almost exactly the same way. But this time, it was Oliver shouting up at Slade at the end of the fight. "You didn't tell me what I was doing wrong."
"I didn't agree to help you."
"You said if I told you what I was doing out here, that you'd tell me what I did wrong — how I was going to break my hand."
Slade shook his head and couldn't help but smirk as he leaned forward over Oliver's prone form. "You were hitting a rock, genius. What did you think was going to happen?"
It was Reaping Day — Slade's last — but Oliver and Slade still met up for a solid spar to start out the morning before they headed down to the square to line up with the other kids their age. No sense in letting the day pass without it; wasn't like the day was going to give their muscles a pass on losing form just because it was 'special.'
Slade didn't see what was so special about the solid heat of the middle of summer in the middle of a desert. A couple years back, at least he would have had the shot to see Shado in something new, but she'd run afoul of a nasty Sentinel two years back, so the past two Reapings there had been a distinct lack of 'spot the dragon tattoo in the crowd'. Childish, maybe, but a much better distraction than the same. old. speech.
This year, at least, it was a little different. The so-called Fantastic Four would be announcing their picks instead of going through the charade of a drawing, though Slade had the feeling for One, and possibly for the other Career districts, it wouldn't change a thing. The tributes had always been preselected at the training centers anyway. Not much in the way of the element of surprise either way.
Richards came forward first after all the fanfare was over. They really were trying to sell the "Quarter Quell" angle and how different it was, as if twenty-four deaths was any different just because the dressing had changed.
"Remember what the deal is, right?" Oliver said quietly, glancing around them.
"Kid, your sister's got about as much chance of being reaped as you do," Slade said without even turning to look his way.
"I know," Oliver said, unable to stop himself from searching out Thea in the group. "Doesn't make the wait any better though."
Slade let out a sigh and shook his head. "Look, they didn't ask me to be part of this year's final academy tryouts, so I can't tell you who's going up there to ease your mind."
"I heard they didn't do them at all," Oliver said before he met Slade's gaze. "I have other friends, you know."
"Bloodsucking social leeches don't count."
Slade smirked when Oliver fell into a silent glare, and the victor on the stage cleared his throat with the declaration of "Ladies first" that had Oliver holding his breath so obviously that an untrained person could see it.
"Take it easy, kid; you've got another six of these to get through with her."
"And it only gets worse every time," Oliver replied.
Richards unfolded the slip of paper he was holding on the stage and cleared his throat to read out the name — Thea Queen — and Slade whipped around, forgetting form, to see the completely devastated look on Oliver's face.
Damn. Thought he was just paranoid.
The crowd around them, both adults and children alike, were already murmuring as Thea made her way to the stage. The Queen name was the most powerful one in the district, after all, and that combined with her age had half the murmurers already asking just what the Queens had done to piss off the Fantastic Four — though if the looks on Johnny and Sue Storm's faces were anything to go by, Slade had the feeling it was just Richards. The two blondes on stage were almost as much of an open book as the blonde standing next to Slade.
Slade watched Thea Queen with a critical eye as she strolled up the stairs and held her head high, even smiled for her big brother, like that was going to keep him from having a cardiac episode right there in the middle of the square, the way the blood had drained from his face.
"She's got a better handle on it than you," Slade told Oliver under his breath, and Oliver almost glared at him, but it had no power when he still looked like the rug had been pulled out from underneath him.
The problem was that the rules didn't apply this time around for the Quarter Quell. Nobody could volunteer, so there would be no last-minute salvation for Thea, and neither Oliver nor Slade could step in either, even though that had been Oliver's plan.
So it was either a brilliant stroke of luck or some kind of cruel joke that the next name called was Slade's.
Slade glanced toward Oliver, who had gotten some of his color back but not anything approaching the mental capacity for words, and he took long strides toward the stage. Even if he'd never intended to use his training for the Games, it kicked in automatically — head high, never breaking eye contact with Richards, vaulting the stairs like child's play.
Closer up, he could see that the younger Queen wasn't managing the panic as well as she looked from far off, so he grinned her way, full of the arrogance that the younger kids needed that said he knew the way out — and turned toward the district to wave their way, two fingers to his forehead for a mock salute.
It had been spur of the moment, didn't mean anything, but he could see Oliver's sister keeping an eye on him and her surroundings, so he'd just keep up the show. If he was going to get her out, she needed to see that he knew what he was doing. Couldn't have her having a meltdown in the middle of all this mess on top of the fight to the death.
The two of them were led toward the Justice Building, and Slade could see in the way Thea held herself, arms in toward her center, mouth set in a thin line, that she was mad.
Good. Mad would keep her alive.
He didn't say much to Thea, still gauging her, and split from her without a parting word as Wilson Fisk directed him on which room he was supposed to sit in to wait for a family he didn't have. If he was being honest, the only person he'd expect to come would have been Oliver, but the kid had to be with his sister, probably a wreck more than she was and—
No, nevermind. There he was, standing in the doorway with that same openly destroyed expression from before.
Slade stood up from the single chair in the room and gestured to it. "You need it more than me. Look like you're gonna pass out."
"I'll make sure that both of you get sponsors," Oliver swore rather than address anything Slade had said. It was likely the kid hadn't heard Slade at all.
Slade nodded. "Not too concerned on that account," he told Oliver. "But it can't hurt."
"You keep saying I can't throw money at everything, but this is one time you're wrong," Oliver pointed out, his hands clasped tightly in front of him as if he was just holding onto his own sanity in front of him.
Slade had to smirk at that, pushing the chair Oliver's way with the toe of his boot. "Alright, prove me wrong, kid. Send me a sword, would ya?"
Oliver almost smiled, just a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth. "You mean if you don't get one right off? I'll do my best."
"I'll be too busy getting your sister a bow, I'm sure," Slade said, waving his hand. "We've crossed paths at the academy. Word is she's not half bad. I'll have to see for myself in training…" He shook his head and clapped one hand on Oliver's shoulder to physically pull him into a seat before he collapsed. "She'll be fine. I swear it."
"Thank you," Oliver replied as sincerely as he could. "Really."
Slade just nodded once, leaning back against the wall and watching Oliver rest his head in his hands. He waited until there was a little more color in his face before he tipped his head at the door. "Your sister's gotta be waiting for you. Can't see her off if you're sitting in my chair."
"Right. I just — I had to come see you too."
"I already told you I'll take care of her. Get moving, kid. This sentimental goodbye isn't going to last forever."
Oliver was on his feet again quickly, and he paused at the door, giving Slade one final nod before he slipped out. That left Slade alone again to pace the small room once and sit in the chair Oliver had vacated, resting his chin on his folded hands with his elbows on his knees as he considered the matter.
He had promised Queen he would protect his sister, but it had always seemed so absurd that she would need it in the Games, of all things. On the streets, sure. Thirteen years old and she looked sixteen — she'd need it. He could see why Oliver was concerned. But an arena had always seemed like the worst-case scenario.
Slade always planned for the worst-case scenario, mind; he just hated that Oliver had been right to be that worried. Made the whole thing smell a little fishy.
Finally, the Sentinel outside the door gave him the signal that it was time to leave, and he followed the man — smaller and slighter than he was — out to the train. This time, he noted, Thea looked much more ruffled than she had on stage.
So she can keep it contained while there's an audience, he thought, nodding approvingly to himself as the young girl sank into one of the train seats with a look much more like her brother's on her face this time. Almost dazed.
He sat down across from her and did two things. The first was to snag a roll, since someone had so graciously left them on the table and he wasn't going to pass that up. Maybe she'd have one too; bread was good for an upset stomach, and she looked a little green. The second was to hit the cabinet and pull out the tequila that Johnny Storm clearly hadn't locked properly to pour himself a glass.
She didn't take the bait — so she was better than her brother at that age anyway — though her attention was occupied by the Four having a family spat further down the train. They weren't as quiet as they thought they were, and Slade nodded approvingly when he saw the concentrated look on her face. Eavesdropping. Successfully. He could work with that.
It didn't help that Thea was the topic of conversation for the Four, though he noted with raised eyebrows that the moment she'd heard all she wanted to hear, she did take the bait, pouring herself a healthy measure for someone his size, let alone hers, and taking it off to her room.
Gotta watch that in the Capitol, Slade noted. The girl was good under public pressure, but if she was anything like her brother, that would go out the window if she got herself plastered. Last thing he needed was for her to let slip something she shouldn't or get too friendly with someone angling for an easy kill.
Slade sat forward and rubbed his temples with the index and middle fingers of both hands. Damn Queen and his paranoia, he thought to himself before he poured himself another measure of tequila and followed Thea's lead, taking it with him to explore the rest of the train.
