AN: My schedule is now free! Finally, I get the chance to continue this (even though I just got out of the hospital and bed rest). Anyhow, I promise to pay attention with my grammar now since someone wants to be technical. I would also be having much difficulty on updating since my schedule suddenly shifts. Anyway... Enjoy!
Fata Transverse
by: lookingthrualice
Chapter 4: Saving Him
(Third Person's POV)
It has been three days since Peeta last saw either Marvel or Cato. Three days of playing hide and seek with the two blonds, opting to wake up early for breakfast and stay at his room after for the whole day. Thresh, who became Peeta's best friend and only ally on the boy's dorm noticed how Peeta refuse to go either lunch or dinner with him, whenever the teen ask. The senior shrugged it off for the first two days but when Peeta didn't arrived for the third day at the dining hall, he seek out Peeta's twin Scarlette. Thresh told her what has been happening to Peeta, all his observations and worry, and apparently the female twin knows.
"Why is it that you're just shrugging this off Ms. Mellark." Thresh asked Scarlette the first time he met her on the dining hall
"Scarlette please, and to answer your question Thresh, can I call you Thresh?"
The senior just nodded
"Peeta's okay." Scarlette answered "It's in his nature. The people in our district often say that I am the extroverted twin and he's the introverted one. It's just his way of coping up."
With that, Thresh almost dropped the issue. Almost. The following day, he went to the blond twin's room. Finding it to be unlocked, he let himself in and found Peeta on his study table typing away on his laptop. His face is focused, as if he did not heard the older teen enter his room. He was even sporting rectangular reading glasses and sipping on the cup, on what Thresh assumed to be coffee.
"Peeta." the older teen called
Peeta jumped from his sit, before swivelling and facing his visitor. Eyes widening in recognition, he removed his glasses and carefully placed it on the table.
"Hey Thresh." Peeta greeted with a smile, rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his hand "How's it going?"
Thresh face was serious, his eyes sceptical if Peeta was indeed alright or if he was just faking it.
"Good, I haven't seen you for a while."
Peeta gave a nervous laugh before scratching the back of his head.
"Sorry dude, I was kind of busy, my aunt sent me some documents that I need to look into." the blond said "Scar's done with her part though; she already finished the designs for the next project. All I'm doing is the marketing stuff."
The dark skinned boy raised an inquiring eyebrow, clearly confused as to what he is talking about. Peeta caught the implication before giving an explanation.
"When my pop died, Letti and I inherited his company. We we're supposed to be taking care of it and since we're still underage, out aunt manages it for us." the blond started "But we still want to help and learn how pop's company works so on our spare time, aunt MJ sends us documents or asks us to do design and stuffs."
"Is this how you cope up on a new environment Peet?" Thresh asked, making himself comfortable on the bed of Peeta instead of the newly purchased sofa
Peeta swivelled back, facing his computer and typing away once again.
"Hm yeah, I'm not really fond of crowds." the blond said without missing a beat on his typing "And seeing as that would be my life for three years, I'd like to cherish the moments where I can be alone and do some peaceful work."
'Not really' Peeta thought 'I just don't want to see Marvel or Cato as of the moment.'
"Do you want me to leave?" Thresh asked as he got up from the bed
Peeta contemplated. Thresh is his so dubbed best friend, and he's a cool guy. He doesn't want to lose the only ally he had on the jungle, also known as the boy's dormitory.
'Maybe it's time for us to hang out'
"It's cool dude, I'm almost done."
And with a final click to the send button he was finally done for the day. The blond stretched, cracking his neck before standing up.
"Let's hang out." Peeta said and a smile stretched on Thresh's face
"Yeah sure!"
Peeta picked up his phone, ignoring the twenty messages on its notification. He looked for Haymitch's number and dialled it. After the fourth ring, the dorm head picked up.
"What is it Casanova? I don't really want to be disturbed right now."
There was a moan at the background.
'Holy Fuck! Is that Ms. Trinket? Are they banging each other?' Peeta thought
"Really /grunt/ really busy right now"
"Thresh. Me. Off to town." Peeta immediately said before hanging up on the phone, without even waiting for a reply
"So what did he said?" Thresh asked
Peeta grabbed his keys before making his way out of his room.
"Let's just go."
\
"Whoa Peet, is this yours?" Thresh's was looking at the bike, almost drooling at its beauty.
Peeta smirked, twirling the keys on his hand.
"Property of Twin A and Twin B." Petta replied
The dark skinned boy caressed the bike, mouth gaping. Peeta looked at his friend with an amused expression. It's just how he first reacted when Scarlette showed him their new gift from aunt MJ.
"Are we seriously riding this to town?"
"But of course, darlin'. It's a date." Peeta said, imitating a somewhat acceptable southern twang "And I'm going to drive."
Thresh gave a snort before riding the bike. Peeta followed suit after handing his friend a helmet. Starting up the engine, Thresh placed his hand on his friend's waist, not wanting to fall down.
"Hold tight big man!" Peeta yelled before releasing the breaks, making the tires squeal
Unbeknownst to them, two guys were watching their very interaction. Marvel and Cato saw the whole exchange up until the time the two boys left. Cato's arms were crossed, but his knuckles were white as he gripped his arms, while Marvel may look calm, but his eyes shows that he wants to kill someone.
"Are you sure he's on our side?" Marvel finally asked after a few minutes of silence
Cato merely nodded, not trusting his voice or he might just lash out.
"Then why the FUCK is he having a date with PEETA?" the smaller blond seethed
Cato releases his hold on his arms, and pulled out his phone. Pressing the speed dial, he waited for someone to answer on the other line.
"Glimmer here, what are your two other wishes?"
"Hey Glim, wanna go shopping?"
\
A few minutes of drive to the main city, and an almost ticket from the peacemakers, Thresh and Peeta arrived at an arcade on downtown Capitol. The two played anything and everything their eyes and hands got into. They even played DDR on an extreme level, even though Peeta has no eye-feet coordination. Peeta decided to park the bike on some random mall this time, having decided to walk to a nearby cafe instead of driving around, which Thresh was grateful for.
"I like you Peeta, but I don't want to be your passenger ever again!" Thresh exclaimed as they were seated and handed with menus "You're insane!"
The blond laughed at Thresh. Seriously his friend is exaggerating. Maybe they almost hit a car, or be hit by a bus two times, it's no big deal. The waitress arrived with two glasses of water, placing it on the table.
"What will be your order gents?" she asked
"I will have a Roasted Chicken and Vegetable on flat bread and a Raspberry Juice with additional Raspberry Syrup on it." Peeta replied
"I'll have a Chicken Alfredo and Lemonade with that please." the older boy replied
"Okay, I'll be back in a jiffy for your drinks." and with that, the waitress left.
While waiting for their food, the two friends talked about their lives before their acceptance on the academy. Thresh came from an old family in Spain, where they are hailed as one of the most influential families in all of Europe. And although most if not all has already migrated to Panem, their family still has a strong hold on the country's political system.
"Here you go sir, one Chicken Alfredo and one Roasted Chicken and Vegetable." the waitress laid down their orders, then promptly left after
"Thank you."
The two ate in silence for a few minutes, relishing the delicious foods that they had.
"So Peet, tell me something about your family. You guys are basically off the radar."
Peeta took one last sip from his drink before answering his friend.
"Well, you've met Scarlette. She's the only living family that I had. Well I mean, by blood. I have an aunt, she's aunty MJ and she spoils us a lot." the blond haired boy started
"You mean, the same aunt that gave you that sex on ride beauty?"
Mellark laughed at his friend's comment. Honestly, if the bike magically turned into a woman, Thresh would have married her.
"Yes, the very same." the younger continued "She's currently the OIC of my pop's company. Scar and I would be handling it once we finish off school, but as of the moment, Aunt MJ trains us via sending us some stuff to do."
It is quite obvious that the male Mellark is trying to hide something about their business. Not wanting to scare of his friend, Thresh decided not to push thru on the topic even though he is dying to know what sort of business does Peeta and his sister had.
After getting their bill, in which Peeta insisted on paying, the two decided to take a walk one last time before heading back to the academy. Peeta still needs some stuff before the actual school work begins, and he also needs to get his sister something to abate her sudden curiosity on his phone. After he told Scarlette about the dreaded sms from 'them-who-is-never-to-be-named', his sister kept on pestering if he had another "hot boy on boy sexting" message as she puts it.
The two students went to the mall where Peeta's bike was parked. Peeta decided to buy something for his sister first before the things that he needs. It was pretty awkward for two guys to go and roam around on the female section of a boutique, but both friends decided to just get it over with. While looking for a new skirt (AWKWARD), Peeta heard a voice that made his blood turned into icicles.
"Honestly Glimmer, anything you wear looks gorgeous. Why not buy them all?"
"But alley-Cat, I look ridiculous on this one but I like the colour!"
Shifting a little bit, Peeta found Cato and a gorgeous doll like girl, who he presumes to be Glimmer a few feet away from him. The girl was trying on a lace skirt on a soft pink colour. She looks like a model and true to Cato's word; anything she wears looks great on her. Not that it's the priority of Peeta's brain as of the moment. Ducking from view and repeating the mantra that has already formed at the blond boy's head, Peeta inch by inch left the store.
'Please don't let him see me. Please don't let him see me. If there is even a god out there, please don't let him see me.'
"Hey Peet, check this out!"
'There is no god.' Peeta thought as he stopped on his tracks to look back at his friend
Said friend happened to be coming from the stack of clothes near Cato and Glimmer.
"Thresh!" the blonde girl squealed and practically hugged the dark skinned boy
"Hey Glimmy!" Thresh replied, spinning the said girl who squealed more in delight
Cato stood up and gave the senior a hug after Glimmer was put down. Peeta was contemplating on leaving, forgetting that he needs to buy his sister anything but Thresh was already there by his side, ushering him to the other two students.
"I believe you haven't met Glimmer." Thresh introduced the blonde girl, who gave a smile "Glimmer, this is Peeta."
"Ooh~! Mellark! You must be Scarlette's twin." Glimmer cooed before hugging the boy "You guys are so good looking."
"Oh yes he is." Cato muttered
Peeta looked at the other blond blushed. Cato was looking at him, as if he is going to eat Peeta. Noticing what Cato was doing to the poor boy, Glimmer nudges Cato, making the smouldering gaze stop.
"What are you guys doing on this section anyway?" Glimmer asked
"Well, Peeta here is looking for a gift to his sister." Thresh answered on behalf of the now mute Peeta
"I think you need my help for that." the blonde girl said "Let's go Peeta."
Glimmer practically dragged Peeta on to some of the stacks of clothes. While searching, five men wearing gas masks arrived at the boutique and suddenly shots were fired. Peeta ducked dragging Glimmer with her.
"Everybody on the ground! Get your phones and wallets out people! We're going shopping!" one of the robbers yelled, he was holding an automatic gun on one hand while a bag on the other
The other two guys were spraying paint on the CCTVs making it blind while the other two took positions on the door, blocking it. The other robber, who seems to be their leader, was already roaming around, demanding the customers' phones and wallets. Cato and Thresh were on the ground, muscles tensed and ready to take down the robbers if worse comes to worst. The leader went to the place where Peeta was currently holding Glimmer.
"Ah, pretty young thing here are yah" the robber gruffly said, snatching Glimmer out of Peeta's embrace "You'll be a nice dessert after our work here"
Glimmer was shaking, fear evident on her face.
"Let go of her!" Peeta heard Thresh yelled, dashing on to the robber, and even though the dark skinned boy was stronger than the robber, he was not as fast as the bullet that snagged his knee
"Tsk tsk blondie, this girl is mine."
Peeta was on the state of panic now. He badly wants to use his gift, but there are a lot of possible witnesses, plus the fact that Cato and the others are there.
'But this is an emergency.'
Peeta has decided, he will use his gift and just pray that he can alter the memories of the people on the boutique.
Closing his eyes, he conjured mist that will cover him up. He also mixed sleeping gas on it.
'The lesser the witnesses, the better.' Peeta thought 'That leaves me with the five robbers.'
"Wha- what is happening?!" the leader screamed as the mist almost enveloped the whole boutique, his hold on Glimmer slipping, make the girl fall. Peeta luckily caught her, and gently laid her on the ground.
He focused on his hand, making electric current flow on it, and while the leader of the robber was preoccupied, he stunned the man. The leader screamed in shock, making the other robbers looked for the perpetrator, randomly shooting. Peeta ducked, and now focused as to where the robbers are.
'I have one on the left, two on my north and the other on the right'
Using his gift, he chose the guy from the right and levitated the guy making him hit the ceiling with a resounding crack. This was followed by the other two guys.
'One more.'
The focus of Peeta was slipping as exhaustion wash over him. The mist that he conjured is almost gone, and the last robber can practically see him. And the robber did see Peeta. He turned his gun to him, aiming as he prepares to shoot.
"Peeta!"
Peeta turned to Cato who is dashing to the robber, fist balled. Said robber turned to Cato and aimed his gun.
"Cato!"
"BANG!"
Cato shut his eyes waiting for the bullet to hit him, but nothing came. When he opened his eyes, the bullet was a few centimetres off of his face. Peeta was holding it telepathically; his nose is already bleeding from over exertion. The younger blond focused on reversing the bullet's target.
"What the..." but before the robber even finishes his word, the bullet zoomed on to his skull
"Peeta, what are..."
And everything went dark, as Peeta fainted from over exhaustion.