This is for Dokinchan, who has to go in for surgery on Monday.
Cato
He was having a really hard time convincing himself that it would be a bad idea to throw the timing chain across the yard. Haymitch had once again removed something but this time he had been cleverer and Cato was two hours into work and still couldn't find the missing piece.
"I am just going to stand over here while you take it out on the car." Katniss said backing away from where he stood.
"No it's fine. You wanted to know about the Victory Tour, anything in particular?" Cato leaned in and tried for a nasal he had missed earlier.
"All of it?" Katniss sat on the back steps several yards away from him.
"What has Haymitch told you?" Cato asked trying to adjust the battery connection to no avail. He turned to see Katniss giving him a look that spoke volumes. "Right, nothing." Katniss nodded.
"Basic stuff. You start here and head to lower number districts with the big finish in the capitol. Each district requires either a speech or public appearance plus some kind of large social event. They are going to take a lot of pictures." Cato shrugged. "Try not to throw the furniture too much, they got mad when I did that. Also breaking limbs of peacemakers is seriously frowned upon."
"Was any of that on purpose?" Katniss wondered aloud.
"Some of it." Cato smiled a bit, but he knew it wouldn't reach his eyes. He had still been in the grips of his nightmares then. They kept him so sedated that it was harder to tell reality from ghosts and that made it worse. He would have rage fits over things no one had said or feel hands that weren't there.
Yet despite his clearly fractured mental state they had pushed on. Each district more exhausting than the next. Cato pushed those thoughts from his mind he wasn't that person any more he was better now.
"Are you going to come with me?" Katniss asked. Now that stopped Cato. He turned to look at her and was punched in the gut by the look on her face. It was so familiar to him and yet on her, it was so wrong. Katniss should never know that kind of worry.
"As if they could stop me." He walked over and brushed one grease covered thumb across her cheekbone. Katniss smiled at him and that concern and worry left his face.
"I don't know if I could do it without you." She admitted shyly.
"Haymitch has made it clear that you can do anything with or without the rest of us. It's one of his favorite rants." Cato reminded her. Katniss scrunched up her face in disgust and effectively smeared the grease further.
A high pitch wail came from inside the house. It startled them both. They were still not used to the noise that the telephones made when they rang. Of course Haymitch knew what it was and started yelling from somewhere in the house.
"If that doesn't stop in five second I will rip it off the wall again!" Cato was used to the threat, this was their third phone since he had moved here five months ago.
"I have to get that." Cato told Katniss and ran into the house to grab the phone before it could begin shrieking again. "Hello?"
"Good I was hoping you would answer." Cinna's smooth voice leaked out of the earpiece.
"Cinna." Cato wasn't really sure what one said on the phone.
"There have been a few developments in the capitol I thought you might want to know about." The way he said it told Cato that something was wrong and that it was going to be another read between the lines kind of conversation.
"Oh anything good?" Cato asked.
"There hasn't been a picture of you and Katniss in several weeks. All the pictures show only one of you." Cinna was trying to convey something but Cato couldn't get it.
"That's odd we were rarely out in public with out the other." Cato could only think of a handful of times after the games and most of those had been public appearances.
"I thought so as well. And a friend of mine who works in the board room noted the change first." Cinna said it casually but the words struck like knives in his veins. That was the reason Cinna was calling, to warn them that the plan was slipping or being negated.
"While I have you on the phone do you think you could see what kind of engagement rings Platinum offers for me." Cato could only think of one way to guarantee neither of them went back on the boards.
"I am sure I could get the best selection sent out so that you can choose one personally." Cinna offered but Cato had a better idea.
"I am going to be coming for the Victory Tour; I might make a personal visit to see the whole selection." That way everyone could see him in the store looking for rings. It might even be a good idea to let the press know to follow him that day. But Cato was sure Cinna would handle that part at least.
"That would be best. Well, give Haymitch and Katniss my love." Cinna hung up and Cato stared at the phone for a moment. He walked back outside to find Katniss still sitting on the steps.
"We need to sober Haymitch up." He told her and went back into the house.
"Who was that?" Katniss asked following him into the house and up stairs to where Haymitch was currently holed up.
"Cinna, and this is a talk he needs to be awake for." Cato paused at the bathroom. "He had the white stuff get the bucket." Katniss picked up the bucket that Cato now kept by the bathroom door in case of emergencies. They didn't have to go much farther to find Haymitch, who was currently asleep in the middle of the halway.
Cato had been making a small effort to keep the house clean enough to live in but Haymitch was not helping. He tended to throw up all over the place. Then Cato would hide the booze and try to clean or at least throw things away. At which point Haymitch would sober up and steal something off the engine. There was no throw up yet so they were in the middle of that cycle.
He too the bucket from Katniss and dumped the water on Haymitch and then jumped back a foot. Cato grabbed Katniss at the last second and pulled her with him so that when Haymitch came roaring up he missed both of them with his knife.
"Charming, why the hell am I wet?" Haymitch shouted.
"They are going to put one or both of us back on the boards." Cato learned that with Haymitch it was best to cut to the chase.
"What?" It was a unison question from Haymitch and Katniss.
"Cinna called. Said they are only publishing photos of us separately for the last few months and that the boardrooms have taken notice." Cato needed this to sink in faster.
"Well shit." Haymitch rolled over and burped.
"How long do we have to fix this?" Cato demanded.
"Hell if I know there could be invitation on the next train as far as we know." Haymitch muttered unhappily.
"But the Victory Tour is only a few weeks away. The prep team will be here in days." Katniss had a confused look that Cato was having trouble placing.
"Well then they are going to wait until after you are pretty and hairless." Haymitch thought about for a second. "Victory Tour is now our danger zone."
"What do we do?" Cato asked.
"Let me eat and think and then come up with a plan." Haymitch groaned and got up. "Get me something dry to wear." As Cato walked off to find Haymitch some clean dry clothes he could hear Katniss and him having a conversation.
"I won't be sold Haymitch." Katniss's tone was pure steel.
"I am going to try to stop them sweetheart, but if it comes down your pride or your family you pick your family." Haymitch commanded. Cato knew what he was saying and he also knew that the capitol would not get the satisfaction. All he needed was Katniss to agree.
Cato came back with clothes and they all ended up in the kitchen making a valiant effort to feed Haymitch. And when they were all settled and Haymitch had eaten most of what they had slapped together it was time to think.
"I told Cinna I was going to buy an engagment ring when we come to the capitol." Cato spat out before Haymitch could begin.
"Charming, I am really liking this initiative I am seeing from you." Haymitch stuffed toast in his mouth. "How do you feel about that sweetheart?"
"What is an engagement ring?" Katniss looked between the two of them.
"Old tradition. The Capitol and the better off districts bought it back. Men buy an expensive ring for the woman they are going to marry. She wears the ring for a while before they get married and then adds a second ring once they are married." Haymitch explained.
"Are you asking me to marry you?" Katniss looked at Cato and he knew all the blood in his body had moved to his face.
"No, not really. Not unless you want me to. It was for show." Cato mumbled.
"It would have to be real eventually." Haymitch shook his head. "They made both of you too memorable for them to ever take you off completely without the real deal." Haymitch thought about something and shushed Katniss when she tried to speak. "I am going to go have a chat with Sue."
"Why?" Cato and Katniss asked in unison.
"The two of you need to be publicly living together." Haymitch told them before leaving without any further explanation. Cato sat there silently with Katniss for a while neither of them sure what to say.
"We don't have to if you don't want to." Cato felt himself say the words more than think them. But it was true. He had put the suggestion out there to save them both from a horrible fate, but now he was starting to put together some of the larger ramifications. Like living with Katniss and sleeping with her.
"No, it's not that." Katniss turned a bright red that sent heat to his own face and another place.
"Oh. Good." Cato answered feeling completely useless. "I am going to go see about the engine."
"I think Prim had some sewing she needed help with." Katniss rushed out and then ran out the back door. Now having nothing else to do Cato did get back to his engine.
Several hours later Haymitch returned looking worse for wear and muttering to himself. He handed Cato a very tiny part out of his pocket, which must have been the missing piece.
"Tomorrow you move over there. We start uping the game as well." Haymitch told him.
"Understood." Cato replied feeling a thousand different things.
"It never ends." Haymitch said mostly to no one and then walked inside leaving Cato to contemplate the coming month.
This chapter just kept getting longer. It was going to be short and posted much sooner and then I couldn't stop.
I know some of you don't really love Gale but I see him as this boy who had to grow up to soon and who is angry at the world for what his life has become. And that is pretty much me in a nutshell. So I like him because we share the loss of our father's early and our need to react in anger when emotionally wounded. But I don't think he ever loved Katniss the right way.
Also thank you Jawsome for being the only one to know I was making a Skyrim reference there. I have made a lot of subtle references that most of you have missed. No one said anything about when Prim talked about taking credit for the rain, which was clearly from Pride and Prejudice. There are more but I forget the others right now.
Sex might be coming sooner. I am now not sure on the timing. This chapter should have been later originally but when I sat down to write it just came out like three chapters sooner. Shrug.
I am so tired I gave myself a migraine. But I kept writing to get this to you tonight. I worked through light sensitivity for you bitches. -E