AUTHOR'S NOTES: Katniss is definitely not having a very good time out in District 2. It gets worse from here, but then gets slightly better. Those who have read the prequel to this story (The 74th Annual Hunger Games) might be aware that Clove was the victor that year, and as such, she's obviously somewhere around in District 2. In my later fics (91, 92, 93, 100) it's shown that Clove and Katniss are no longer enemies. This chapter helps explain how that happened and what it means. But enough of my self-advertisement. I've rambled long enough.
Happy Reading~

CHAPTER 26: Military and Masonry

Katniss panicked and began to hyperventilate. There were no words that this woman could have uttered to her that could have devastated her and shattered what last semblance of stability she thought she had, more than the strikingly poignant drawing that she had just been given. Camilla Stone was enraged, and Katniss knew it. Camilla had all rights to be angry with her, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Katniss had not been proud of what she did, and even Wallace and Winter had both accepted their fates. They knew what they had had to do, and during their confrontations with Katniss, both parties understood that the loser would be killed. She glanced around for Haymitch; for anyone, really, but the only thing she saw that really caught her attention was the man that had been standing in front of Winter's face during the speech earlier. She winced again, muttering under her breath a desperate plea for peace.

"Please don't make him do anything to me… please don't let him do anything to me…"

She glanced around, but where could she run? He was approaching her, with something in his hand.

"Ms. Everdeen," he spoke her name, and Katniss shielded herself as if expecting a blow.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured her. "I just wish for you to have this. It is… not as grotesque as what I see Camilla already gave you… but I no longer have a use for it."
He placed a ring box in front of her before pivoting on his heel and leaving. Maybe this was some sort of passive-aggressive ritual, but whatever these two were doing was working really well at decimating any semblance of emotional stability Katniss thought she might have had. She could understand why they were angry, but really, that just made the guilt of killing them hurt more. These 'gifts' were making everything worse.

Inside the box was an empty slot for a ring and a small note.

Ringo,

It's still crazy to believe the twist for the Quarter Quell… and right after our marriage too! I'm surprised that I made it to the stage, but I'm pretty sure I can win this thing. I figured my wedding ring would make a good tribute token. Soon I'll be home and we can start our new life together in the Victor Village, and I look forward to that as well.

Lots of love, ~Winter~

Ringo and Camilla had just played Katniss like a wind-up toy. They had stabbed her where it hurt the most and twisted the rusty blade, as Katniss grieved over the realization that she had literally been the only thing that had stood in the way of Winter returning home and living out her dream with her newlywed husband. She had been what had been the one to slay Wallace, leaving his wife a widow with a youngster that would never remember her father. She was disgusted that they had resorted to such vile tactics against her, but at the same time, she felt that part of it was warranted. She felt sick to her stomach, and the illusion of blood on her hands seemed all too real right now.

Maybe it was because of this, but when a familiar freckled girl showed up a few minutes later, Katniss didn't seem as wary as she had with the other two.

"Are you here to kick me while I'm down too?" She mumbled drearily.

"Me? nah…" the freckled girl shook her head, "I'm an ass, but even I wouldn't stoop to this kind of a low. Seriously… this shit right here is messed up. I mean, I can understand why they're pissed… but they broke you the same way the games break people. They don't know what it's like."
"You're taking my side?" Katniss looked up, realizing that it was in fact Clove Kazera, the victor of the 74th Hunger Games last year.

"Sure," Clove shrugged, "most victors, myself included, are a mess after our games and even on our tours. They don't know what it's like when a tribute acknowledges that the time has come for you to fight them to the death. They did not understand me when I squared off against Rue Keniye or Cato Salazar. They did not understand when you squared off against their spouses. I'm puzzled as to why they would resort to low-blow tricks like this, but I suppose it's to be expected."
"Do you realize how much that terrified me?" Katniss shuddered, "they saw my weakness on the stage, and they jumped at it, twisting the knife."
"Never underestimate what people will do in desperation," Clove frowned, "even the best of people can turn sour. They are not taking their losses well."

"And so they take it out on me?"
"Wouldn't you want to take it out on the woman that killed your spouse?"

"But they volunteered! I did only what I had to in order to survive. I did not revel in their deaths. I tried to make them swift and painless as possible. I was only removing the obstacles that stood between me and survival, since by that point Vex was dead."

"It doesn't matter to them. Remember, Everdeen—you were pissed at me last year just because I was friends with my district partner, who happened to kill your sister."

Katniss fell silent, and Clove continued speaking.

"But the important thing is that no one apart from other victors understands your plight, and similarly, no one else is going to take your side. It's a harsh truth that drives many victors crazy. It worked on me. We don't get therapists; we have the victors that came before us, and that's about it."

Katniss sighed. That might have explained why she felt so attached to Haymitch after crawling out of the arena. District 12 didn't have a multitude of victors the way District 2 did, and suddenly Katniss was envious of them because of that.

"Also, neither Ringo nor Camilla are going to ever admit it, but they're more hurt about their losses than anything." Clove pointed out, "they didn't want to speak to you or even really look at you. The real thing they aren't telling you though is that they're just as soft on the inside as you—and cried about it just like you. Now, I'm not about to go and put you through another guilt trip like they did; I'm just letting you know both sides of the story."
"Neither side is a pretty one." Katniss asserted. "And if people want me to be wracked with even more guilt than I already have, they've already won. There's no need to stab me while I'm still cringing from those same wounds."

Clove sighed, glancing at Katniss again. Both girls appeared to have aged considerably from their times in the games, even if Katniss was still only 17 and Clove was only 16.

"There was apparently a time or two when they had to call in Peacekeepers to prevent a victor from being attacked by angry members of a district," Clove remarked, "I'm not fully sure how true that is, but we in District 2 are disciplined enough to know better. On the other hand, do you realize what you've done that has '1 and '2 so defensive?"
"I killed people. They did the same thing to my people for the last 24 years. Fates forbid if they get a little taste of their own medicine, huh?"
"no; they're worried about you. You were the one that finally proved that District 12 could very well become a viable threat in the years to come. In theory they would be warier regardless of what district you're from though. They aren't fond of competition."
"District 12 and District 11 have been allying with one another for years though."
"And look how well that's worked out for them most years, Everdeen. The difference is that you've stirred people up. Peacekeepers that return here from trips in District 12, including my sister Chive, talk about how in the last half a year alone, the people have become fiercer and more stubborn, from the most grizzled adults all the way down the young children. You might not be trying to destroy the Capitol, but you've created a revolution of your own."

"I was just trying to survive." Katniss reasoned. "And that's going to remain my reasoning until the day I die. There's nothing anyone else can do or say about it that will sway me."
"No one who understands what you've been through is trying to sway you." Clove smiled. "not even the staunchest victors from District 2. Sure it's a bummer that our tributes didn't make it on the year we don't win, but unfortunately, it takes winning the games and suffering through all that trauma for most of us here in District 2 to see it. I was a model career: volunteered, trained hard, was a bloodthirsty killer, and after my games, I felt like my purpose in life had just been accomplished—and after you win their games, the Capitol doesn't care about you. You're just another has-been who lives to mentor more tributes and continue the cycle"
Clove took a deep breath and sighed. "Hang in there, Everdeen. You've got this."
"Katniss' breath was shaky from the traumatic flashbacks that had just occurred, but she retained her composure. Clove was right. She was stronger than this, and knew that she would get back up from District 2—and not let District 3 tomorrow drag her down in turn, either.