Title: On Fire
Author: karebear
Disclaimers (Hunger Games): The Hunger Games trilogy was written by and belongs to the brilliant Suzanne Collins. I'm just borrowing the characters and world for a short while. I swear I'll put them back in (mostly) good working order, and I promise not to make any money off of this.
Summary/Notes: I'm writing these over on the "Non Star Wars Fan Fiction" section at boards. theforce. net for a specific challenge there called the Ultimate Drabble Challenge (#6), but I thought I'd post them here as well since I actually really like the way they're turning out. It'll go all over the trilogy in terms of order of events and characters, though I will do my best to keep things chronological within each individual week.
This week: fun with perspective flip and intriguing revelations on character motivations. I do so love this stuff!
Week 10 (Snow)
Return
"It must be very fragile," she says carefully. "If a handful of berries can bring it down."
And he smiles, showing his pointed canines, his bloody gums. He's learned how to maximize his intimidating looks. He has to, if he expects anything he's built to stand. "It is fragile," he agrees.
She'd hate it if he mentioned it, but he sees a lot of himself in her. That cautious, calculating intelligence. That willingness to do anything to protect what's important to her.
And the way she can't stand tricks and lies. They're so exhausting to maintain.
He tells the truth.
Revenge
She thinks everything's about her, a personal war between the two of them.
It's true, he gives the orders, he's in charge, but despite their words in her Victor's house, he couldn't care less who she thinks she loves, who she sleeps with. He pulled out the Peacekeeper in District Twelve who didn't do his job and put in a new force that would. That thing with her not-cousin, the whipping, he didn't even hear about it until days afterward, it had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Petty revenge is not his style. He's all about keeping control.
Curse
He almost grins when he reads the card, the rules for the third Quarter Quell, the Seventy-Fifth anniversary of this annual event that keeps the nation focused on the wrong target. Because he knows as well as she does that there's only one female Victor that could be reaped from District Twelve. He could not have picked a better curse to doom her with if he tried. It gets her out of the way, distracts her, and whatever rebellion is following her now cannot make a move until after the Games. Their plans will certainly fizzle when she dies.
Wrath
He makes sacrifices. He takes life for very specific reasons. To minimize threat.
If that means taking out twenty-three children, or one revolutionary, or a hospital in a rebellious city, he does it.
If it means taking out an entire district, he does that too.
He sends his planes screaming over her district with firebombs the minute the forcefield over the arena breaks. That shield existed for a reason, and when she took it down she took away the only thing protecting everything she ever cared about.
He cannot let these people believe he'll ever let their mockingjay fly.
Attack
Katniss once made the false assumption that this was a private war between the two of them, but she's not the only one who made that mistake.
Oh, he has no doubt she'd still like nothing more than to kill him. But they both know this is about bigger things.
He meets her eyes, and smiles.
They've set her up to attack him; they've set him up to be helpless.
There are cameras running. They both know what she does now: something unexpected.
He'll still die, but Coin will not get the win. Katniss does.
It's all he's ever wanted.