Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES NOR THE CONCEPT.
AN: As many of you have heard or seen there is a fanfiction purge going on right now on the site. I have read different things as to who is actually causing the purge but for the time being I am going to be writing cautiously. I am monitoring some of the more risqué Hunger Games fanfics right now to see if they get removed. If they aren't gone in say a week I will continue down the writing path I have planned for the intimate scenes. Just cross your fingers with me on this one.
Dougy: You have given me a BRILLIANT idea so know that I am sending you a happy kiss on the cheek (I am from Montreal it's how we express happiness) right through the computer!
NLockheart: Thank you for your kind words. I am very proud and invested in this story. As for your question about Annie I can answer that without giving anything away. In Chapter 5 or 6 Finnick thinks about how Annie has 'episodes'. I am treating Annie as a character that suffers from severe PTSD who has traumatic episodes of mental crisis that can last minutes or days. You will see more of her in the coming chapters.
Now I know that a lot of people now simply add stories to their alerts of favourites, but I am an old school fanfic user and writer and I WANT FEEDBACK! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty Six:
Piss Off The Pillows are Mine
"I can't believe it's gone." Katniss whispered. She and Peeta were sitting side by side on one of the top bunks in the first bunk room. Luctra and Cato had taken the third and locked the door, and the second was for Sedant, Blight and Johanna.
"It just doesn't seem real to me." Peeta astonished. Their whole District just completely wiped off the face of the earth.
"Do you think they managed to rescue any of our families?" She asked him. Peeta let out a long breath.
"I don't know Katniss." Peeta put an arm around her shoulders.
"If Prim is gone then what did all this matter. Who do I have left to fight for?" Katniss lamented.
"It's not much but you have the rest of the LLC." Peeta offered. He wanted to tell her that she also had him but now just didn't seem the time to have the 'what are we' conversation. Katniss sighed.
"It just feels like all we've done, the surviving and the escape was to get home and now we have no home to go to." She confessed.
"We still have some hope that they are a part of the people that weren't in the blast radius. The bomb was dropped on the Town not the Seam." Peeta told her dejectedly. Katniss looked to Peeta knowing that his family would have been right in the blast zone. He had less hope then she did and he was comforting her. She put her head on his shoulder.
"Where do we go from here?" She had silent tears running down her face. Peeta felt a small lift in his heart when she said 'we'.
"With the LLC." He told her putting his head on top of hers.
"I just don't know how we are going to find enough strength to get through losing everything." She confessed. Peeta didn't know what to say. Everything they were familiar with they had now been told was gone. Nothing left but ashes.
*BANG BANG BANG*
Both Cato and Luctra jumped startled and the sudden noise. They were just dozing off again after they had woken up because of the chill and pulled the thin blanket over themselves.
"Guys since its quiet in there we figured you fell asleep. Or that you both died quietly, but seriously we need the bunks so come unbolt the damn door." Marvel shouted. Cato growled while Luctra laughed as he got off the bed and unbolted the door. Cato opened the door and was surprised to see Foxy standing there not Marvel.
"He buggered off after yelling." She told him. Cato moved aside and let Foxy enter the bunk room. He had an idea. As soon as she was in he slammed the door and bolted it. He heard Marvel run up to the door on the other side.
"Cato. Care to explain why I am on the other side of the once again locked door?" Marvel questioned from the other side. Cato leaned on the closed door.
"Now I got both girls Marvel, behind a locked door in an underground bunker. They could get mighty cold." Cato taunted. Foxy grinned at Cato letting him know she was going to play along.
"Dude this is not funny! Let me in." Marvel started banging on the door. Foxy decided it was time to pay Marvel back for hiding behind her.
"You have really big arms Cato." Foxy cooed moving closer to Cato at the door.
"Thanks you know I think I could bench press you. Let's see." Cato shuffled away from the door so Marvel would think he was about to do just that.
"Don't you touch her you fat blond yeti!" Marvel snapped. Luctra put the pillow over her face to muffle her laughter. This was hilarious. Foxy shuffled over to Cato and then they both moved back to the door laughing acting like he had just bench pressed her.
"Do you think you can keep both me and Luctra warm?" Foxy asked sweetly. She was right against the door when she asked making sure Marvel could hear her perfectly clear.
"You know I think you, me and Cato could all fit on one bed…" Luctra speculated loudly.
"NO YOU CAN'T! THE BED WILL BREAK!" Marvel cried desperately pounding harder on the door.
"One of you might have to be on top of me." Cato was trying to keep his voice level. Like he was REALLY trying to figure out how they could all fit.
"Well I am the lightest." Foxy voiced like she was solving a math problem.
"THAT IS NOT FUNNY OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Marvel hollered as he stopped pounding on the door.
"Let's do a test run." Luctra shouted excitedly bouncing up and down on the bed so it made creaking sounds.
"Uh…Marvel you need to breathe buddy. Your face is starting to turn purple." Thresh's voiced boomed from the other side. "Marvel….Marvel that is a really bad idea buddy. Marvel don't…"
*BOOM* Cato and Foxy jumped back from the door. Foxy looked a little worried.
"…body check a steel door." Thresh finished. Cato, Foxy and Luctra all looked at each other shocked.
"Oww…" Marvel said from the other side. Leaning back on the door he slid his down the door to the floor.
"How the fuck you all got out of the arena I will never understand." Johanna snipped from the other side of the door. Luctra walked up to the door to join Cato and Foxy. Cato unbolted it and pulled it open. Marvel fell back into the room flat on his back.
"You're an idiot." Cato told Marvel who looked up at him from the floor.
"Got you to open the door didn't it?" Marvel shot back with a grin. No one noticed Foxy had walked over and picked up a pillow off the bunk. Walking back she swung it down and hit Marvel right in the face. She continued her assault on him as she spoke.
"Do not scare me like that! Next time you run into a door it'll be because I slammed it in your face!" She cried bashing him over and over again with the pillow. Everyone was laughing their heads off watching Marvel, Career Tribute, getting his ass kicked by Foxy, Tribute uncomfortable with violence, armed with only a pillow.
"What's going on here?" Blight asked coming around the frame of the door. He watched as Foxy continued to beat down Marvel.
"Team bonding." Luctra grinned. Blight just shook his head and walked away. Behind him he heard the sounds of an all-out pillow war break out between the survivors. If someone had asked him 3 ½ weeks ago that he would we walking away from a pillow fight between escaped Hunger Games tributes that included kids from Districts 1 and 2 he would have had them institutionalized. Walking into the kitchen area he found Johanna sitting at the table.
"Their acting like a bunch of idiots." Johanna muttered coldly.
"No they're acting like a bunch of kids." Blight corrected as he grabbed a cup and filled it with water.
"They need to grow up and start acting like rebels." She hissed slamming her palm into the table.
"Like we had to Johanna?" Blight said sadly turning to her. Johanna looked at Blight angrily but he didn't flinch. "Let them have these last moments before they do have to grow up. Don't make them feel guilty for things because you're jealous."
"I am not jealous." Johanna threatened.
"Yes you are. And so am I but I don't resent the fact that the child part of them didn't completely die in the Games. I don't resent the fact that they get to be kids for just a little longer than we did." Blight finished. Johanna huffed.
"She's not strong enough to be the icon. Just look at her behaviour." Johanna changed the subject. Blight rolled his eyes. Johanna just had to find a problem with everything.
"Compared to whose? Yours? Because it takes so much more strength to hide out in the Hunger Games waiting for everyone else to die then it does to actively protect two kids who can't use weapons or fight." Blight said sarcastically. Johanna hurled her plastic cup at his head, but Blight was quick and dodged it easily.
"I'm going to talk to Sedant." Johanna declared.
"I am sure he will welcome your company." Blight called after her sarcastically.
"Are the Invisibles ready to plant the diversion in District 10?" Finnick asked from his seat on the hovercraft.
"Yes. As soon as we know it has worked and the Capitol forces have been shifted from 7 to 10 we will move in on the bunker." Reeter told them from his seat at the hovercraft control panel. Finnick nodded anxiously. The recon team only consisted of three people, as they would be meeting rebels there and picking up a few more that needed to be moved to 13.
"You're going to scare the shit out them." Finnick said looking at Haymitch who was strapped in beside him. Haymitch looked at Finnick with his best 'piss-off-and-what-does-that-mean'. "You're clean and mostly sober."
"Luctra should have dropped you in the fish tank like you said she threatened to do." Haymitch shot back. Finnick grinned but it faded suddenly. The last time he and Luctra had talked was the blow out over how he got her sponsors. Watching her during the Games he now realized how big of a mistake that had been. He wondered if getting out of the arena had given her the chance to forgive him?
"She probably should have." Finnick muttered his body deflating slightly.
"What did you do kid?" Haymitch laughed seeing the look on Finnick's face. Finnick looked over and glared at Haymitch. "That bad huh?"
"Captain there have been sightings in District 10!" The soldier shouted to the Captain of Capitol Defence as he ran into the war room on the hovercraft.
"District 10? Are you sure?" The Captain questioned.
"Yes. There are multiple sightings all bearing the same description and on the same pathway from District 7 to 10." The soldier confirmed.
"How did she get past the check points!" The Captain snapped.
"We don't know sir. There can't be many of them so it must have been easier to smuggle them across the boundary." The soldier justified.
"Move the Private Guard out of 7 and into 10 immediately. Reinforce the boundaries around 10. They cannot make it through another District!" The Captain ordered. There was no way Luctra was going to slip through his fingers again.
"GET OFF OF US YOU YETI!" Luctra shouted from the bottom on the dog pile. She knew she was somewhere underneath Foxy, who was under Azra who was wrestling with Marvel and they had all just been pounced on by Cato.
"IN COMING GRIZZLY!" Thresh shouted belly flopping on the top of the group pile up. They all groaned as the air rushed out of their bodies.
"I am a pancake." Luctra wheezed out.
"Well you look like one." Dash called from the door. Everyone that physically could in the pile looked up at Dash. "You people are seriously loud."
"Ok match over!" Foxy yelled from above Luctra. People tried to start moving until Cato squished harder holding everyone down.
"Wait who won? Nobody gets up till we figure out who won and why." Cato was seriously going to hold everyone down, including Thresh until this was decided. He was far too competitive to call it odds even.
"I vote for Thresh and the fake 'Luctra's hurt' shout so he could jump on Cato when Cato bent over to check on her." Marvel boasted from somewhere in the pile. That was actually what had turned the pillow fight into one giant wrestling match.
"I vote for Luctra the pillow hoarder!" Thresh laughed from the top of the pile. Luctra grinned. She may be flat as a pancake but she had every pillow from the pillow fight underneath her. She had made it her mission during the match to get all of them. However that mission meant she had to be on the ground to protect them, thus she ended up on the bottom of the pile.
"I vote for Azra and the flying elbow into Thresh off the top bunk." Luctra wheezed out. It had been a pretty epic moment. People began to murmur about how cool that had been. Azra had landed that shot in retaliation for Thresh throwing him into Marvel after they had gotten back from the river in the arena.
"Everyone for Azra as Victor yell 'AYE'." Foxy shouted.
"AYE!" Everyone yelled including Cato. He agreed with Luctra on this one. The flying elbow off the top bunk was a wicked and ballsy move. Plus it had gotten Thresh to release him from the headlock he had him in at the time. Slowly the group peeled off each other until only Luctra was left on the floor.
"You can get up now." Cato called down. Luctra didn't move.
"You're not getting my pillows." Luctra vowed in a fake crazy voice and pulled the pillows tighter underneath her.
"This is like the pants all over again." Cato groaned. The tributes looked around at each other having no clue what Cato was talking about. Luctra shot up off the ground with all the pillows in her arms.
"SHUT IT!" Luctra shouted turning to Cato. Cato weighed his options but Luctra's threat from the woods ran through his mind. He smiled and rolled his eyes letting her know he wasn't going to say anything. Luctra turned back to Dash still clutching the pillows.
"Did we wake you?" She asked him. Dash rolled his eyes and gave Luctra his 'Well DUH!' look.
"We should all probably get some rest actually." Foxy reasoned. None of them knew when they would ever feel this safe to sleep again.
"You're right. How are we going to divide up the bunks?" Luctra asked the group.
"Well we can probably assume we can take two of the rooms that have four beds each." Marvel noted.
"Katniss and Peeta are already in the other room." Dash had joined them in that room when he found that Cato and Luctra had locked the door to the room they were in.
"They must have been really tired to miss this!" Luctra laughed. She noticed the somber mood fall over the group. "Is something wrong with them?" She asked concerned.
"We found out something while you were gone." Marvel informed her.
"What happened?" Luctra demanded her alpha coming out again. People in her pack might be in trouble and it wasn't happy about that.
"Luctra District 12 was leveled by the Capitol." Cato told her calmly. He saw her alpha wake up and knew he needed to keep her calm. There were only so many targets for it in the underground bunker.
"What do you mean 'leveled'?" She whispered darkly.
"They dropped a bomb on the District Luctra. It killed everyone in the blast radius." He told her. She went into shock. They had destroyed one of the Districts because of her. Peeta and Katniss's families were now dead because of her. Clove had come to the door just as Cato told Luctra about District 12. Clove watched Luctra's face closely looking to see if Luctra internalized the information as guilt.
"They did it to send a message to the rebels Seaweed." Clove said monotone. Luctra looked at Clove with a blank stare. "They managed to evacuate some people from the District to safety but they don't know if anyone that Lover Boy or Fire Girl knew was part of that group."
Luctra clung to what Clove said. There was a small hope that Peeta and Katniss's loved ones were still alive. Marching past Cato and Thresh to the bunk bed Luctra dropped the pillows onto the mattress she and Cato had been sharing. Grabbing the edges of the medium mattress she hauled the end off of the frame and started to drag it.
"What are you doing?" Cato asked confused. He moved out of the way when Luctra pulled the mattress into the back of his legs as she dragged it towards the door without stopping.
"Right now they probably feel like they're completely alone in this world. Their home is gone and everyone they know might be dead." Luctra grumbled pulling the mattress through the door. The group followed the mattress she was dragging into the hallway still not understanding.
"So your mattress is going to help that how?" Azra questioned. Luctra stopped pulling for a second and looked at them all like they were stupid.
"Right now they need to know that they will NEVER be alone. They have us and while we aren't their birth family we sure as hell are going to make sure they feel like they still have a surrogate family." Luctra said passionately. She watched as it clicked in their heads what she was doing. She was going to sleep in their room so that they didn't feel alone and would be right there if they needed her. Azra jumped onto the mattress Luctra was pulling.
"Let's go!" He cried. Luctra grinned and pulled the mattress with Azra on it into the room where Peeta and Katniss were. Without looking at anyone else Cato turned around and went back into the room. He walked up to one of the beds and grabbed the mattress off the top. Marvel and Thresh were right behind him grabbing the other ones.
"We already had a pillow fight so a slumber party seems like the natural next step." Marvel spoke to himself. Thresh and Cato both stopped mattresses hanging in midair and looked at each other. They then both looked at Marvel.
"It was a wrestling match." Cato corrected strongly.
"And we are making the girls feel safe by sleeping in the same room." Thresh added. They were men. They did not have pillow fights and slumber parties. Marvel rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you need to tell yourselves to sleep at night." Marvel chimed walking out the door. Just outside the door he turned back to them. "Don't forget to grab your face masks and hair curlers." He then darted into the other room.
Peeta looked over the edge of the bed when he heard a bunch of people coming in. He was surprised to see Luctra dragging a mattress into the room with a mountain of pillows and Azra on it. Peeta nudged Katniss awake who was sleeping on her side beside him. Katniss looked at Peeta questioningly. Peeta motioned at her to look over the edge of the bed. Clove came into the room with Dash right after that.
"What are they doing?" Katniss hushed so they wouldn't hear her. Peeta shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know either. They watched as Cato, Marvel and Thresh all brought in mattresses. They then maneuvered them around covering the entire floor, with two of the mattresses going underneath the bunks partially so all four could fit. The door had to be shut to make it work though. Satisfied Luctra looked up at Katniss and Peeta smiling.
"Okay you both can't sleep up there cause if you roll off you'll kill one of us." Luctra joked. "Both of you move to the lower bunk please."
"What are you guys doing here?" Katniss was curious why they were all piling in one room when there was another one available.
"We've struggled, we've saved, and we've survived together. You got a weird ass family around you and we aren't going anywhere." Luctra declared standing in the middle of one of the mattresses on the floor with her hands on her hips. Everyone in the room knew there was no room for argument when Luctra when into alpha-mom mode. Peeta and Katniss looked at each other. Nodding they climbed down and onto the lower bunk and got resettled together.
The sleep arrangement worked out that Katniss and Peeta took one lower bunk, Foxy and Marvel took the other one, Thresh climbed onto the bed above Foxy and Marvel, while Dash took the one above Katniss and Peeta. Luctra and Cato shared the mattresses on the floor by the door, while Azra, Clove and Rue took a floor mattress each. Foxy had grabbed all the sleeping bags so everyone was warm and comfortable. Rue shut off the light and crawled into her bed on the floor.
"This is so a slumber party." Marvel chirped from his bed. He was behind Foxy with his back against the wall with Foxy curled beside him but not into him. This was one of those boundaries that Foxy and lectured him on.
"Marvel just shut up." Cato muttered. He had Luctra back in his arms and pressed into his body like a second skin. He didn't need Marvel talking and bringing him out of his happy place.
"Hey I don't have a pillow." Azra complained. Cato knew that there had been on per bed and he had a hunch where the missing one might be. Taking his arm off Luctra's waist he felt around her side of the mattress. His hand came across a squishy chunk she was holding between her arms.
"Luctra…" Cato drawled.
"What?" She asked sweetly.
"Fork over the pillow." Cato commanded. Luctra hugged it closer to her body.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She denied.
"Give me the pillow." Cato demanded again. Most of the group were in small chuckles listening to them.
"No."
There was that word Cato hated hearing from her again. Luctra was now territorial over the pillows. She had won them fair and square in her mind. Reaching up he grabbed the bottom of the pillow sticking out from under Luctra's bear hug hold and jerk it down quickly. The pillow popped out like a bar of soap.
"HEY!" Luctra shouted.
Cato launched the pillow backwards to where Azra should be. Apparently Azra had been sitting up and Cato had great aim because the pillow clocked Azra right in the face.
"OWF…thanks Cato." Azra muttered. Cato grunted a you're welcome. Cato turned back to Luctra and wrapped his arm around her waist. He pulled back into his chest. He felt her run her bare hand over his forearm. He grinned. She had taken her gloves off again because she was with him.
"Dirty rotten pillow stealer." Luctra muttered. Everyone in the room chuckled again. They really hadn't seen or heard how Luctra and Cato were with each other. It was actually pretty funny how stubborn she got and how calm he became. They really did balance each other.
"I owe you a chocolate bar." Cato grinned planting a kiss on her cheek. Luctra smiled.
"Make it two. I really liked that pillow." She teased. Turning her face up to his they quietly and gently kissed.
"THERE WILL BE NONE OF THAT WITH EVERYONE HERE!" Thresh thundered making everyone jump. He hadn't exactly heard them kiss but he figured that's what was happening and took a chance at getting to tease them. Everyone in the room burst into laughter. Cato loved that in defiance Luctra deepened the kiss by pushing her tongue into his mouth and massaging his. He leaned up on his elbow so he could bear down on her lips. They broke apart when then needed air.
"None of what?" Rue questioned. It just made everyone laugh harder. Cato buried his face in Luctra's neck as he laughed trying to muffle it. Luctra reached up and ran her fingers through his hair as she laughed. It was good to hear everyone laughing. Laughter helped heal the soul.
"Pillow stealing Rue." Thresh said saving himself. Everyone but Rue and Dash were in stitches they were laughing so hard.
Katniss reached out and took Peeta's hand in hers as they lay face to face. Peeta had been right. They weren't completely alone. When they found out the truth about their families it was going to crush them if they were really gone. But they had friends, no a surrogate family that would be there to help take some of the weight. Peeta squeezed her hand. They both came from families with a person they loved and a person that had let them down. Oddly enough that void had been filled by 10 other people that they were supposed to have been trying to kill. Peeta brought Katniss's hand to his lips and placed a small kiss on it.
Blight walked out of the control room with Sedant and Johanna. Things seemed to be on track even though they were on communication lock down. They had been going over the back up plans in case the recon team couldn't make it to the bunker. He was passing the first bunk room door when he stopped.
"Where did they go?" He pondered aloud looking into the room. All the sleeping gear was missing and so were the Tributes. When they had gone quiet about an hour ago they all figured the Tributes had gone to sleep. Johanna looked in the room and then looked to Blight. They moved down the hall quickly worried that the Tributes all decided to bolt like Luctra had before. They came to the last bunk door which was shut.
"Do you think they are all in there?" Sedant asked staring at the door. Blight placed his ear against the door and listened. The door was thick but he could hear them laughing at something.
"Yeah they're all in there." Blight confirmed. Johanna looked surprised and so did Sedant.
"This is a very unusual situation." Sedant commented. "Most expected only a few Tributes to have made it out, and even then it was expected they would have scattered separately."
"It's what should have happened." Johanna snapped.
"Well it didn't. I have no idea how the hell this happened but they are all close and attached to each other." Blight muttered rubbing his hands over his face.
"Yeah well that might not fucking matter to 13." Johanna said condescendingly. Blight and Sedant looked at each other. Johanna had a point.
"I don't think they will allow themselves to be separated." Sedant said knowing that the Tribute dynamics that now included the Career Tributes had not been predicted by District 13.
"They may not have a choice." Johanna snarled as she headed into the other bunk room. Blight sighed and followed Johanna with Sedant right behind him. Blight knew that Johanna had a point.
"What developments do you have to report Captain?" President Snow demanded unimpressed over the viewing communicator.
"They have made it into District 10. There have been multiple sightings but we have not been able to determine her exact location or future path." The Captain informed Snow tightly.
"So they made it out of 7. That is a complete failure." President Snow was cold as he spoke.
"Yes President Snow. We have District 10 on lock down. We are running non-patterned sweeps as we speak." The Captain supplied hoping to improve the President's mood.
"Find her. We need to contain this spirit of rebellion before it grows anymore." President Snow spoke and looked like ice at the moment.
"Yes President Snow." The Captain saluted and the communication was cut.
Blight was in the kitchen the following morning. Sedant and Johanna were in the control room going over the weather reports for the last few days. They were making sure to know whether the hovercraft could be delayed because of bad weather systems. The Tributes were all still in the one bunk room sleeping. Blight couldn't blame them. The week after he got out of the Capitol he had slept for 3 days straight, and he hadn't even been on the run.
*BANG* *BANG*
Blight jumped when he heard the bangs on the hatch. He waited a moment. The banging came again in the rebel code. He walked into the hallway and to the hatch. Johanna and Sedant had the door shut to the control room so they probably didn't hear it. Climbing up the ladder he released the hatch and climbed back down. Four people dropped down into the bunker after him.
"Good to see you Gadven. I didn't think you were part of the recon team." Blight remarked seeing two of the four people were Tribute mentors.
"We figured there would be fewer problems with trust getting them to go if they had familiar faces." Finnick told him as he wiped off his hands. "Where are they?"
"Sleeping. But I think you need to come with me. There are some developments that you need to know about before you see them." Blight said cryptically leading the way to the control room. Once there he knocked on the door and Johanna let them in.
"Recon team is here." Blight announced.
"No shit." Johanna cracked glancing over the recon team. "They sent the drunk? What no one else wanted to come?"
"No one else wanted to risk having to talk to you." Haymitch shot back. Johanna was a little startled that Haymitch insulted her back. He wasn't normally in a state where he could really do that.
"Look we have two hours before the hovercraft lands at the rendezvous point so fill us in on what you need to. Also where are they? The bunk rooms are empty." Finnick told them.
"They're all in the first one." Sedant clarified. Finnick felt his heart drop.
"So not many made it out then?" He disheartened. Blight laughed and Finnick glared at him.
"Actually there are 11 of them in the room." Blight remarked smartly. The three newcomers were shocked.
"11 of them made it out of the arena." Finnick was flabbergasted.
"Apparently all 12 of them did but they lost one along the way. None of them will say how though." Johanna said bitterly. She wasn't happy that the group was keeping a secret from them.
"Wait which ones are here?" Haymitch questioned.
"The boy from 1, both from 2, the boy from 3, both from 4, the girl from 5, both from 11 and both from 12." Blight listed off.
"Wait the Careers are here? And why are they all in the same room? With the door shut." Finnick was really confused as to what the hell is going on. "Wait did you say the girl from 11? Rue's alive?"
"Seriously one question at a time Odair." Blight laughed. It was fun seeing the normally suave and cool Finnick Odair looking like his head was about to explode. It was a nice change.
"You won't believe most of it till you see them all together." Sedant muttered still staring at the control panel. Haymitch and Finnick looked at each other then back to Blight.
"First yes Rue is alive. Luctra mentioned something about bartering for medical supplies after the pause and that the girl from 5 saved Rue. She is alive and well. Actually stuck like glue to Dash." Blight laughed, you never really saw one of them without the other. Finnick smirked knowing how loyal Dash was to his friends so it didn't surprise them. "Yes three of the Career Tributes are here. Now the answer to your last question is a little complicated."
"What do you mean complicated?" Haymitch asked him tightly. His Tributes were alive and he was relieved, but now they were in a locked room with three trained killers and that didn't sit well with him.
"They're a bunch of fucking idiots." Johanna muttered. Blight rolled his eyes. Finnick and Haymitch were not sure what Johanna meant by that comment.
"What she means to say is that the Tributes have become seriously attached to each other." Blight offered. Finnick sighed.
"Let me guess. They act like a family." Finnick huffed.
"Exactly. Some of them have paired off but they are a family. They took down the shield together and had traveled the whole way here together, mostly. I'm not sure exactly why they moved into the one room but all of them are in there willingly and were joking around last night." Blight wasn't sure that was an adequate explanation.
"Paired off?" Haymitch questioned.
"From what I can tell you have one serious friendship and three couples." Blight thought this part was funny.
"Couples?" Finnick sputtered. There was no way there could be romantic intentions between the Tributes, especially not the Careers.
"The two from twelve, the boy from 1 and the girl from 5 and….." Blight trailed off grinning. He wanted to enjoy this moment.
"No. You're fucking with us." Finnick knew it couldn't be true. It couldn't have continued outside the arena.
"Luctra and the boy from 2." Blight finished and burst out laughing as Finnick became stone still. Finnick's mouth kept opening and closing making him look mentally challenged.
"Those two also seem to be the leaders of the group. When I found them they looked to the boy from 2 to decide if they went after the 'Goddess' or not." Gadven supplied. Gadven had already filled Haymitch and Finnick on what the Tributes had told him. Haymitch thought it was hilarious that they kidnapped him.
"She fucking got 11 damn people out of the arena." Finnick muttered to himself rubbing his hands over his face. He would have to eat both shoes now. Blight laughed harder since it was astonishing but once you met Luctra and the group together it really wasn't.
"Also I should warn you though they are extremely protective over one another, all of them, but it escalates when Luctra is with them." Blight warned. He recalled how Clove had told Johanna if she made another comment about Seaweed she was going to cut her tongue out and make earrings. Johanna seemed to respect Clove after that, but they both were still very angry bitchy girls in Blight's opinion.
"But the girl from 12 seems to take over when she's not around." Gadven added. Haymitch smiled. Luctra and Katniss must have figured something out after the Cameras went down if Katniss felt comfortable taking charge when Luctra was gone.
"The Careers, where do you think they stand?" Haymitch asked. They hadn't been prepared for the possibility that the Careers would be so engrained into the group of survivors.
"They stand with her and the rest of the group. Go for one and you're taking on all of them. The boy from 2 has some serious temper and territory issues so I would not upset Luctra or he'll probably kill you." Sedant declared looking over at Finnick. Finnick cracked his neck thinking about that one.
"Okay time to kick the sleeping beauties out of bed. First bunk door right?" Haymitch said walking down the hallway with Finnick right behind him. Blight called a confirmation after them.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Cato groaned at the offending noise that pulled them from their sleep. Being against the door the sound was the loudest for him. The banging continued. Cato hadn't even felt Luctra move. Listening he could still hear her light snoring. She really was a heavy sleeper.
"Fuck off we're sleeping." Thresh called to the door rolling over.
"Get your asses out here." A voice called to them.
"The door is dead bolted so piss off before we get really mad." Cato shot slamming his hand on the door. He smirked at the startled grunt from the other side.
"Sweetheart. Get up and open the door." A different voice called.
"I am not your sweetheart you fucking pervert!" Cato shouted.
"Haymitch is that you?" Katniss called out. She had heard the commotion and as soon as she heard sweetheart she wondered if it could really be him.
"Wow you really are smart!" Haymitch called back sarcastically. "Open the door."
"One problem with that." Dash shouted having woken up when Cato slammed his hand on the door.
"And what would that be?" The other voice called.
"Finnick?" Dash called out excited.
"Yes it's me. Now why can't you open the door?" Finnick demanded.
"Luctra's asleep in front of it." Dash laughed telling him. He heard Finnick let out a string of cusses from the other side. Rue got up and turned the light on and everyone groaned at the sudden shock to their eyes. Cato looked over Luctra's shoulder. They were still in the same position they had fallen asleep together in.
"She hasn't even stopped snoring." Cato astonished. He wondered if a bomb went off if she would even roll over.
"Look you're gonna have to wake her up. Who's the closest to her?" Finnick told them. At least he didn't have to do it.
"She's sleeping with Cato." Dash shouted back. There was a long pause which confused Dash.
"He means they were sleeping on the same mattress." Clove clarified coldly. She swore she heard Finnick mutter something along the lines of 'thank god'.
"Look kid Luctra is a heavy sleeper." Finnick started.
"I can see that asshole." Cato interrupted. Finnick glared at the door.
"Since you don't have a bucket of water you're gonna have to shake her hard to wake her up." Finnck wasn't going to warn the kid about Luctra's tendency towards violence against people who physically woke her up.
"You know what. I'm gonna do this my way not yours. Rue turn off the lights for a minute." Cato ordered. He laughed as he heard Finnick yelling his objections from the other side. Rue turned off the lights but wondered why Cato wanted them off.
Now back in the dark Cato took the hand that was around Luctra's waist and ran it up under her shirt over her stomach. He felt her push back into his chest trying to get closer. He smiled and continued to move his hand over her hip and feminine stomach. He brought his lips to the side of her face. He placed a small kiss on the side of her neck. She titled her head to her side in her sleep. Cato's animal was grinning that Luctra recognized its attentions even while sleeping. Cato kissed up her neck to her ear and growled into knowing how much it turned her on. He felt her shiver and rub her legs together. She was so responsive it was addictive. He kissed her at the skin below her ear and then traced over the outer shell of her ear with his lips and tongue.
Cato smiled at her small moan. He felt her arm move.
"OWF!" The air rushed out of Cato's lungs. Luctra had driven her elbow into his abdomen hard.
"I want 5 more minutes." She told him, but she was awake now. Dash was laughing his head off and the rest of the group was in small chuckles.
"Rue you can turn the lights back on." Cato said after filling his lungs with air. "What the hell was that for?"
Luctra rolled over and looked up at Cato with a glare. "I hate mornings and I hate you." Cato was taken aback by the comment.
"She doesn't mean it. Give her 10 minutes Cato and she'll be back to normal." Dash assured him. "At least you didn't get a lamp thrown at you like Finnick did."
"She threw a lamp at you?" Haymitch asked Finnick who was leaning on the door frame.
"First time I threw water on her. Caught me in the ribs with it. I threw the water from the door for the rest of the week." Finnick said like it was the most normal thing in the world. Haymitch just stared dumbfounded.
Cato looked down at Luctra as she continued to glare at him like he was the spawn of Satan. He didn't move knowing it was a bad idea to make an irate woman even madder. It was a tense 5 minute stare down until Luctra yawned. When her eyes opened again they weren't glaring but they weren't happy.
"Why are you waking me up?" She demanded crossing her arms.
"Finnick and Haymitch are here and they want us to open the door." Cato told her calmly. He still had his hand under her shirt on her stomach.
"What no water asshole?" Luctra shouted at the door. She heard him laugh and then her mind woke up a bit more reminding her of how he had betrayed her.
"No just me and Haymitch." He called back. Maybe Luctra wasn't as mad as he thought she would be.
"What no sponsors here to collect from me?" She snapped viciously. Cato hadn't heard Luctra use that tone with anyone, not even Glimmer. Cato began gently caressing her abdomen with his hand. Luctra looked up at him and saw the question in his eyes. Luctra shook her head telling him this wasn't the time to talk about this. He wondered what Finnick had done to her to warrant that voice, and got angry at Finnick because it must not have been good.
"Okay fun time over. Open the door. We need to get you ready to be evacuated." Haymitch ordered when Finnick went quiet. Haymitch had watched all the color drain from Finnick's face and his whole body slump when Luctra had asked if her sponsors were here.
Cato and Luctra got up and moved their mattress away from the door. Luctra walked over to Azra's mattress and sat down beside him on it leaning her back against the wall. Cato slipped the dead bolt and then joined Luctra pulling her onto his lap. Finnick and Haymitch opened the door and walked into the room. Even though they had been told the Tributes had really bonded they were still surprised to see them all bunked together on the beds and floor so they would all fit. Finnick did a double take seeing Luctra sitting in Cato's lap.
"Well kids congrats on making it out of the arena and becoming the most wanted people in all of Panem." Haymitch greeted. Most of them all rolled their eyes. Like they needed to be reminded of that fact.
"Congrats on walking in a straight line." Katniss shot back. Her and Peeta were startled by the fact that Haymitch looked almost sober, and showered.
"Good to see you too sweetheart." Haymitch cracked back.
"You woke me up for this shit." Luctra snarled. Her mood and shifted now that Finnick was back in her life. Haymitch was going to make a smart ass comment then caught the look from the boy from 2. He rethought his wording.
"No. We need you up because we are evacuating you to District 8 in about an hour. You need to be ready." Haymitch told them. Finnick remained quiet wondering if Luctra had told Cato what he did because the kid was looking at him with murder in his eyes. Luctra softened her glare at Haymitch.
"Alright. How are you evacuating ALL of us?" Luctra drew out the all making sure it was clear that everyone was to be evacuated.
"A hovercraft will be landing in a clear cut part of the forest at a designated time. We will board there and it will take EVERYONE to District 8." Haymitch got her message and made it clear he understood.
"What about the Peacekeepers and Private Guard?" Cato demanded in a dangerously low voice.
"There was a diversion set up in District 10 to make it look like Luctra had escaped to there. After the first sighting they moved them over and locked down District 10." Finnick informed them but Luctra still wouldn't look at him.
"Fine we'll be ready to move out when needed." Cato assured. Haymitch and Finnick knew that Cato was basically dismissing them. Neither was happy about being ordered around by an 18 year-old punk but they let it slide. They still didn't know how the group would react when one of their own was challenged. Both nodded and left the room.
"You might want to watch your back." Haymitch laughed on the way to the control room.
"Excuse me?" Finnick turned to Haymitch.
"Whatever you did to that girl must have been pretty bad with how she was treating you." Haymitch said seriously.
"She wouldn't attack me like that Haymitch." Finnick defended. She may throw a lamp, her fists and other minor violent things but she would never try to really hurt him.
"I'm not talking about her." Haymitch was extremely serious and that worried Finnick. "I'm talking about the 6"2 trained killer with a violent temper who has feelings for her. He was looking at you like he was trying to decide just how many pieces he should cut you into."
AN: This story needed some serious comedy before things got heavy. I hope you had a good laugh because I wanted to have a chapter where the Tributes got to be kids for a little bit, since they are to show how they would have to change when the are evacuated. I'm not going to set a number so I can see what types of reviews I get without it. I love the long feedback many of you have sent and thank you for your kind words. The flamer didn't bother me but I had been asking myself if Cato was to OOC and wanted to check with my lovely readers! Thanks for getting back to me!
All suggestions welcome!
Luv
Rayn