Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the reviews last chapter! It was great seeing people were still reading - especially the unexpected ones that had never reviewed before. I really appreciate it and it's for you that I am going to finish this story. Once Crowd of Two is finished up completely I probably won't do any more Hunger Games fanfiction. I'm working on my own story right now and I might think about posting it somewhere online. But that's for another day.
Hopefully this chapter lives up to the expectations of last chapter's cliff-hanger. I wanted to get this chapter out because tomorrow is my first day of school! Anyway, enjoy this chapter! :)
Crowd of Two
Chapter Twenty-Six
Grey's POV
Though Cato is unconscious and cradled in my arms – with both his wrists and ankles bound courtesy of the Peacekeepers –I have unfortunately been awake the entire time. We were placed in what I assumed was the holding cell on our exit from the craft, and we've been here ever since. Unconscious and bound Cato has the better deal out of the two of us, because I've been forced to listen to the laughter and plans that the Peacekeepers loudly exclaim from the other side of the door. 'Rotting in a cell' and 'He won't want her after this' are just two of the comments said just loud enough that I can hear them, and I pull Cato's motionless body closer to me both for comfort and protection.
His mouth is open partly in sleep – or whatever state he's in – and a line of dribble has escaped from his relaxed mouth and made a line down his chin. Using my thumb I wipe it away and can't help but smile at the innocent expression on his face. With his head in my lap Cato looks like a child, and in the back of my mind I picture what he'll look like when he's sleeping with his own child in the crook of his arm. No, I can't think that. If I think of the baby I won't be able to function – especially when its father may not even survive his time here in the Capitol.
I hear a noise coming from outside the room we are being held in, and even though I came in through a door I can't remember where it is. The sound of a lock unlocking seems like it is coming from all around us, and I figure that everything the Capitol does is done to frighten their prisoners. Finally a door in the wall swings open and a bright light shines in – I hadn't even noticed that it was dark in here until now – and peering into the light I see large forms standing with their arms crossed in a military action.
"You're free to go." One of them says. He sounds irritated as if he would want nothing more than to lock us in here forever, but is merely following orders. My mouth falls open in shock when the man's words process in my mind. Free to go? I begin to stand on shaky legs – attempting to drag Cato up with me with an arm around his torso – but one of the figures quickly steps forward and reveals himself. It's the Peacekeeper who knocked Cato out back in the rebel hovercraft, and the sour expression on his face makes me falter in my action.
"No," He states roughly, "You're free to go, Four, but he isn't." If I had been in another situation I would have made a fuss for being called by my district number, but as it was I just stood up and clutched Cato to me tighter like a child's doll.
"You can't do that! I'm not letting you separate us!" In my desperation I subtly start to pinch the vulnerable skin underneath Cato's arm, hoping that the discomfort will arouse him, but the Peacekeepers begin to flood in through the doorway and the heavy blonde in my arms makes no move to wake up.
One of them grabs me not-so-gently and tugs me away from the ex-career, while another catches his limp form when I lose my grip on him. I scream out his name as I get dragged out – right into the ears of the man holding me in the hope that he'll let go – and I see Cato's eyelids flutter briefly. This makes me shout even louder and, getting sick of my protesting, the man with his arm clamped around my arm picks me up and throws me over one shoulder. After that I have no more leverage to fight and I am easily carried out kicking and screaming. My last look into the cell is of Cato slowly beginning to come to consciousness, and right before the doors slam shut I see him mouth my name in his stupor.
"Where are you taking me?" I demand once we are out of sight of Cato's cell and I have been placed on the ground again.
"It's your lucky day – we're taking you back to your little arena buddies." I turn to face the man in Peacekeeper garb, his face covered with a mask that makes me unable to see his features and nearly trip over myself in my shock.
"What do you mean? Why are you letting me go?"
"I wouldn't call it being 'let go'. You're going to go back to your mentor like a good girl, but we're keeping your little boyfriend with us." Furious at the way the man has posed his phrase it takes me a few seconds to actually realise what he's saying, but once I do I immediately try to tug away from his hand on my arm.
"No! I won't leave him!" When the man's hand doesn't let up and we continue to keep a fast pace in the opposite direction to Cato, I begin to pound at any bit of body I can get to. It's useless due to the armour that covers him, but the action makes me feel like I am doing something productive.
"We're going to deliver you back safe and sound like we were asked to, but if you decide to come back and get shot as soon as your foot crosses the threshold then it is not our fault. We only need the boy for this – you're just a liability here. More harmful to have you together than to have you separated." We're nearing a sliding door now and I can hear sounds outside that tell me we're about to leave the building and enter the Capitol streets. After being called a liability the conversation fizzles out and I'm stuck thinking about his words as I'm warded through the doors. Why were we more harmful together? Surely having us apart will make us want to fight to get back together. It didn't make sense – what were they planning?
I'm about to ask that exact question to the Peacekeeper – it couldn't hurt, could it? – when I hear my name being shouted as a recognisable figure outside starts waving with outstretched arms.
"Finnick!" I shout, feeling a little like a teenager being bailed from a cell by their loved one. I'm released by the Peacekeeper holding me and I run to my old mentor who instantly wraps a protective arm around my shoulders.
"Let's get out of here." He murmurs as he begins to lead me away. Turning my head to look at the Peacekeeper in the entrance to the building – from the outside I realise we were being kept in a warehouse – he gives us a mock salute before slamming the door closed.
"But-but Cato! He's still in there!" I argue but Finnick merely keeps walking with his arm around me.
"I know, and it was hard enough to persuade them to let you go. We'll come back for him eventually – right now you need to focus on training." We walk towards a small hovercraft that hasn't been parked very inconspicuously near the warehouse, and it's obvious that this is a planned and agreed upon extraction. It makes it worse knowing that it was always in the plan to leave Cato behind.
Haymitch is standing in the doorway to the craft with a barely contained smirk on his face. I'm not in the mood for his jokes and instead I push past him and stomp up the ramp. At the top I turn back around to look at both ex-mentors.
"If it was always in your big plan to just save me why did you even bother? I would have preferred if you had just left me there!" With a childish scream I run into the hovercraft and lock myself into the first room I can find. I notice Finnick's jacket is in a pile by the door and with a slight smile I lock the door from the inside and imagine what the brunette heartthrob is going to think of sleeping on the floor outside for the journey.
I fall asleep fully clothed on the bed and wake up sometime later. The room is dark and it's black on the other side of the small circular window in the room that I can see from the bed. Sitting up I reach for a light and shriek when I see a masculine figure in the chair beside the door.
Haymitch wakes up with a startled grunt and we both take a few seconds to compose ourselves.
"What are you doing in here? How long have you been here?!" I ask as I clutch my hands to my quickly beating heart.
"Someone had to make sure you didn't jump out the window and run all the way back to the Capitol, didn't they?" Both of us look in the direction of the window and I wonder how I could have ever fit my body through the gap even if I wanted to. "Finnick is still upset that he had to sleep on a bench – his hair got ruined apparently." I laugh to myself but the memory of getting dragged away from Cato resurfaces as I wake up more and the giggle dies out into a choked off sob.
Haymitch moves off the chair and lifts his hand into view to show me that he's holding a bottle of liquor. I shake my head at his silent question and he takes a swig for himself as he sits down.
"He'll be okay, you know."
"You didn't see him there. He was drugged and bound – he's completely at their mercy. What are they going to do with him?"
"It's all theory right now," Haymitch replies as he scratches his bristly stubble, "But we think the Capitol is going to force Cato to fight for them against us when we try to take District Two. By separating you they think that they can control him better, and it will also prevent you from fighting him. You never hurt the father of your child, would you?"
I shake my head and press one hand against my stomach.
"So what are we going to do to help him?"
"Hope that when they break him we can still pick up the pieces and put him back together."
Haymitch makes me talk to him for the rest of the journey to District Thirteen. I find out that the darkness outside the window is due to going underground and it's actually only mid-afternoon. District Thirteen had been underground since it was destroyed by the Capitol, but no one knew where it was located so those travelling there had to spend most of the journey in underground tunnels so they aren't be followed. A small bump and the sound of engines dying down tell us that we have arrived at our destination.
Only two people are waiting at the bottom of the ramp for me when I disembark the hovercraft. What had once seemed like a large crowd that could take on anything is now a dwindling number of tired teenagers. Katniss and Titus both stand there uncomfortably as I walk down, and the first thing I notice is the odd uniform that they are both wearing. It's put at the back of my mind when my best friend runs at me and lifts me into a crushing hug.
"You're so stupid, Grey. I can't believe it. When everyone was in that hangar and I couldn't find you or Cato I knew you had done something idiotic. But giving yourself up to the-"
"Titus. Give her a break." Katniss scolds. "Grey, are you alright?" I nod slowly and force a small smile onto my face.
"I'm okay. Could someone take me to my room now please?" Titus, having put me on the floor again, offers to take me and I even let him hold my hand when he catches it with his own. It makes me miss Cato a little bit less.
"Why is everyone wearing the same thing?" I ask as we walk down sterilized white corridors. Each person we pass wears a variation of the same outfit. The men – including Titus – have dark blue baggy pants and a buttoned up jacket in the same shade. The women wear a more tailored version of the jacket with a short pleated skirt. All the navy blue makes the crowds of people look more like oceans in my opinion.
"Oh. That. It's this strict rule the district has. They like everyone working like a military machine before we even begin fighting."
"Will I need to wear it?"
"Of course. I'm pretty sure there will be a uniform on your bed in your room." I grimace at the idea of having to wear the outfit and Titus lets out a bark of laughter.
"How am I going to train in that?" I whisper, eying the short skirt of a young girl passing us in the halls. "It's so short!"
"Unfortunately, you have to wear shorts underneath." Titus sighs, looking as if the addition to the uniform is a crime against mankind.
"I guess that's okay. Someone will have to let out the jacket when I start looking more pregnant." I ponder as we turn a corner into another nameless corridor.
"Commander Steel said that we were going to try to take over District Two in a months' time. After that you'll be free to have your baby in peace – hopefully. Oh look, we're here!"
The door we've stopped in front of indeed has my name engraved on the door, and looking around I can see various other doors for the other tributes. Titus swipes some sort of card through the lock on my door and it opens to reveal a plain bedroom. There are no windows and apart from a door leading off into a bathroom it is relatively unfurnished. A large bed takes up most of the space, with a desk and a cupboard built into the wall. I move to the bed where an outfit has been laid out for me. I decide not to put it on just yet.
"Oh! Ah, you don't need to see that." Titus stutters as I reach for the other outfit laid on the bed. The dark haired boy tries to grab it but I pull it out of his reach so I can look at it. When I recognise it as a man's uniform I drop it and it floats to the floor while I heavily sit down on the bed with tearing up eyes.
"You know, I can just take this to my room." Titus comments. He picks up the jacket and pants that are crumpled on the floor when he sees I am about to cry but I make an indignant noise that makes him pause.
"No. Please just leave it there on the floor."
"Okay, Grey, I'll leave it here." He replies, making a show of dropping the clothing back onto the ground with his hands raised in surrender. "I'm going to go back to my room now if you don't need me. It'll give you time to settle in. I'll come and get you in the evening so we can go to the cafeteria together for dinner. I'm right next door if you need me." I don't answer and he eventually leaves after gently rubbing my shoulder. I grab the jacket from the floor and spend the next few hours lying curled up on the bed with the uniform jacket that was meant to be Cato's wrapped around me.