The train was passing through the districts just slow enough for them to get a glimpse. He couldn't believe the different landscapes and buildings she saw along the way. He began to really understand for the first time how cut off each district was to each other.
He thought he was supposed to meet with Erskine, Stark and Phillips on that third day, but instead Tatiana sat him and Maureen down and began instilling in them the proper "Capitol Manners".
He never realized there were so many rules on just how to interact with one another. He and Maureen practiced shaking each other's hands, greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek, and how to properly sit in any type of chair they were faced with. Which shouldn't have been so difficult but for some reason the capitol citizens loved imaginative furniture.
Next they were given the outfits that they would be wearing when they exited the train. They still didn't have clothes that fit Steve, but he said it was fine.
The outfits were simple; almost jumpsuits, but they cinched at the waist and each district had a different colored stripe running the length. The fabric was sturdy and soft and Steve thought that it would be a nice garment to have if it didn't mark him as the walking dead.
After lunch, Tatiana had a brief hair and makeup session with them. While Howard would be doing all the designing for the Tribute Center, Tatiana had apparently convinced him that they should have some sort of styling when they get off the train.
"First impressions are lasting impressions, my sweets."
Steve internally cringed but didn't openly react. Somehow she had started calling Maureen and him my sweets as a term of endearment. He wasn't sure how they ended up with that nickname."
"When you exit the train make sure you are smiling and warm. The capitol citizens love you, and you want them to love you."
"Love us as they cheer for us to die?" Maureen said with a hint of snark. Steve smiled but tried to cover it with his hand.
Tatiana's lips pursed tightly and she paced in front of them.
"The Hydra games were enacted to ensure that we would never have any more wars to prevent death on such a large scale!"
"Yeah, prevent death by killing 23 kids each year. Makes sense." Steve supplied.
Tatiana bristled and he could see that they were really agitating her. Capitol citizens didn't like to think of the games as anything other than that. Games.
"Now listen here, this talk will not do! The games are a huge celebration everywhere in the country and your negativity and this attitude will put you at odds with those you want to win as your sponsors! You two are only looking at this from the negative! Try to think positively!" She forced a smile and then walked off to fetch something for their outfits.
"Did she just-" Maureen started.
"Yep."
"Positive? When we're about to-"
"Yep. He said again with a huff of laughter. "Didn't you know Maureen? It's an honor to die for the capitol's sake." He made a ridiculous sweeping bow and she laughed and curtsied back at him.
"Of course! I can't wait to die honorably being stabbed in the back by a man trained from birth to fight."
"Ah, yes a most horrific and beautiful sacrifice we shall make." They laughed and the subject changed but soon grew silent as Tatiana didn't return.
"You guys might want to listen to her advice." Came a voice from behind them.
They both whipped around and Howard Stark stood there fiddling with a glass tablet.
"She's well-meaning if not completely ignorant to what you are actually going through. And I don't mean you need to act positive about the fact that you're being sent to die." He said quickly as he saw their expressions. "I just mean, she's right that the more you pretend you're excited or happy or whatever, the more likely you will win the capitol citizens' hearts. The more hearts, the more money. The more money, the more chance of survival. You hear what I'm saying?"
Steve's head rested back on the chair and he thought about it. He had promised his ma and Bucky that he would try his best. And that meant doing whatever he had to to ensure that. Which meant schmoozing the capitol people and winning sponsors.
"Okay. I get it, I understand. I won't tease her anymore."
Maureen nodded thoughtfully and Howard smiled, his mustache moving as he did so.
"You guys are some of the most polite tributes I've ever seen. I've only been doing this a few years, but man, you two… you could do some damage."
Steve wasn't exactly sure what he meant, how could politeness do damage? But he just nodded along.
"-mentioned your heart flutter- and your lung issues, I thought I'd whip up a monitoring device so I can monitor that. I figure if I install it now they're less likely to take it out."
Steve was brought back to attention and caught the end of what Howard was saying.
"A what?"
"A monitor. If you let me install one. It's up to you of course, but having the next couple weeks of training will let me see what causes your heart and lungs to give out, which means I can give you ideas of what to avoid in the arena."
"Oh." Steve was processing this, "I mean, yeah I guess?"
"It's a major surgery Stevie boy, I'm going to need an actual Yes, not an I guess."
He gulped and then glanced at Maureen who was looking at him sympathetically.
"Yes, let's do it."
"Okay, we will do it this evening when we arrive at the Tribute center."
Steve "uh-hmmd" and Howard left.
—-
The train began to slow down. It was barely noticeable at first, but then the scenery changed. Steve noticed the buildings were getting bigger and were new construction.
The train began running slower and slower. They crossed under a mountain and Maureen gasped as the light hit the windows. Huge gleaming white and metallic buildings rose to the clouds. Huge expansive gardens and lakes surrounded them. Glass and metal were everywhere. Steve had never seen anything like it, his brain had a hard time processing what some things were. A huge vehicle that had wings flew past over top of them with a roar.
The train pulled into a large gleaming marble and steel station with thousands of people crowded around the tracks.
Steve was shocked. They were cheering for the train as it pulled in.
Tatiana was suddenly behind them and pushing them towards the door. Steve felt a rush of nerves. He faltered and tried to hang back, but Tatiana's grip was surprisingly strong, as she guided them to the smooth metal door.
The door slid open with a hiss and the roar of the crowd almost knocked him over.
"Smile, and wave my sweets." Tatian purred in their ears as she pushed them off the train.
They stepped off, one at a time, surrounded by four Hydra guards each. The crowd parted for them, but cheered the whole way.
He could see another train on the opposing tracks with tributes from a different district getting the same welcome but he couldn't see which one it was. They smiled and waved until his fingers cramped and his face muscles were tired. But finally they were put into some sort of car, and then were whizzing through the capitol streets.
Everywhere they drove there was something new to look at. Mostly the people who were walking the streets in the most ridiculous fashion he'd ever laid eyes on, but the buildings, shoppes, and street vendors kept making his eyes pop as well.
The stark contrast between where they lived and how the capitol citizens lived became a wider and wider gap with every passing moment. The word luxury didn't even begin to describe the capitol.
He noticed that Schmidt's face was everywhere. They worshipped him, and Steve had to keep averting his eyes. Something about President Schmidt's face made him uneasy.
Something else that stood out to Steve was the amount of red that painted the city. Peoples clothes, shoes, hair, pets, awnings, flowers, accessories, and anything that was a decorative surface included red. And it wasn't different shades of red, it was all one shade.
There were a million other colors too, but Steve couldn't help but see Capitol Red everywhere. On the train it had just been on the Guards tunics and armor, but as they passed through the city he realized that the color was used everywhere.
The car pulled up to a building and a huge bay door opened. They drove up a ramp and parked. They were led by guards into a door and up an elevator.
"Luckily, 12th District means 12th floor! We get the penthouse!" Tatiana chirped as her bright green heels clacked on the marble floor.
They walked from the elevator towards two huge golden doors, the handles were shaped like tentacles and were capitol red. Tatiana pushed them open with a flourish and stepped inside.
He followed hesitantly as he took in the sheer scale of their new temporary home. Huge glass windows stood opposite of him. It seemed like he could see the entire capitol from here, but he knew logically in his mind it was only the east side. The walls were covered in velvet or marble from floor to ceiling. The furniture matched in color but was all made of leather and metal.
She showed them to their rooms. Maureen's was decorated with copper and pearl. A beautiful and lavish room that Steve knew probably cost more to build than their entire city hall at home.
Next she opened his door and his eyes got wide. The floor was a carpet of dark jungle green, and the ceiling and walls were midnight blue with tiny lights mimicking stars. It looked like he was outside but the huge bed and other furniture reminded him that he was indeed on top of a 12 story building.
"These stars are beautiful," he commented.
Tatiana looked at him surprised. "You really think so? You like the stars?" She seemed genuinely surprised by his nice comment and that made him feel a little bit guilty. He'd take Howard's advice and be positive for her. It wasn't her fault she was born to the capitol and he shouldn't take his fear of the arena out on her.
"Yes, I do, they're beautiful. Reminds me of camping at home." He smiled at her. He hadn't done too much camping on account of him always being allergic to stuff around him, and sleeping on the floor hurt his joints, but he always had enjoyed looking up at the stars.
She smiled and hugged him, which threw him a bit off balance with her enthusiasm.
"Wonderful! I will keep that in mind!" She took out her tablet and began tapping away as she walked out of his room.
He settled in, setting his meager belongings in a drawer and then headed to the bathroom. The bathroom was black marble and it was also speckled with lights, but these changed colors, blues, golds, and silvers, twinkled in mesmerizing patterns.
He showered and stepped out onto what looked like a vent, but as he had guessed, warm air rushed up and dried him quickly. This was something that he'd learned on the train and had guessed this was a larger version. He then explored all the buttons, interested to see how they worked.
After a bit, he felt hungry and went in search of food. He put back on his jumpsuit from this afternoon and headed out. When he passed a servant, who nodded to him but did not speak, he asked where he could find some food. The man looked distressed and nodded "no".
This confused him. The entire train trip had been filled with food. Snacks, meals, treats, anything he could have thought of was there. It surprised him that their penthouse wouldn't have any food.
"Do we have a kitchen?" Steve tried again. The servant nodded yes and Steve asked for directions. The man still looked at him sadly, but pointed down a hallway and then made a turn left gesture. Steve thanked him and left.
He found the kitchen easily enough and was delighted to see all the food options before him.
He stepped forward to grab a plate, but a servant was there and stepped in between him and the counter.
He had a terrified look on his face and bowed.
"Wha-" Steve was now doubly confused. Why won't they let him eat?
"Can I grab some food?" He asked the man. The man looked at him, Steve could see the concern on his face, but he shook his head no.
"Can you tell me why?" The man opened his mouth slightly, and Steve saw it, the tongue. The front half was missing. That's why they never spoke.
"I'm sorry." Steve said immediately, feeling bad for pressuring him. "I shouldn't have asked I can-" He didn't know what he was trying to say. He still didn't know why he couldn't eat. "I'm sorry." He just said again and left the kitchen in a hurry.
He almost ran back to his room. The clean slice and weirdly pink muscle kept replaying in Steve's mind. He panted as he sat on his bed. How stupid was he? What had they done to deserve being silenced forever?
Then he realized, probably not much. He'd done nothing, and he was about to be silenced forever.
—
He heard a knock on his door and he sat up groggily. He must have fallen asleep. He stretched his stiff joints and sat up.
"Come in." He called.
The door opened and a woman stepped in wearing a lab coat.
"Hello, you are to follow me for your procedure." She stated simply.
His mind tried to grasp what she was saying through the fog of sleep.
"Mr. Rogers, please follow me." A guard stepped out from behind the door and he woke up quickly.
He grabbed his shoes and put them on and followed.
As he walked his mind reminded him of his previous conversation with Howard. Surgery. His hands got shaky with nerves.
They took the elevator down a lot more than 12 floors. They exited the elevator off to what looked like a waiting room, but they walked straight back into a long hallway. They took a few turns and then stopped in front of huge metal doors with glass windows. The sign above the door read Operating Room #3.
They ushered him forward and he saw Howard in a strange mono colored get-up.
"Hey kid. Good to see ya," then he looked at him seriously. "They didn't let you eat anything up there did they? I told them not to give into those pleading baby blues you got there."
"You are why? They wouldn't let me touch anything!"
"Well good. I just wanted to make sure your stomach was empty for the procedure."
Now Steve didn't want to know why.
They took him to a smaller room and gave him a strange gown to change into. He did as best he could and walked out holding his arms close to his body. The cold was getting to him.
They had to help him get up onto the operating table and he started to shiver from the cold material.
"Geez kid, you need some meat on those bones."
"Sorry." He said, teeth chattering.
"The anesthesia will help with that, just count down backwards from 10 okay?" He nodded and began counting, only remembering getting to 7 when it went dark.
At some point his brain registered lots of beeping and shouting. Something was wrong. He thought he might have seen faint lights but he didn't know if that was his imagination. There was a deep ache, and then warmth seemed to spread on his skin, but that left a coldness underneath. Nothing else registered after that except a deep sense of heaviness.
—-
His mind was awake before his eyes would open. He could sense people in the room but no one was saying anything.
He wasn't sure how much longer it took, but eventually he found the strength to open his eyes. He blinked and took in his surroundings. A guard stood at the door. A servant stood in the far corner, and breathing drew his vision to his left side. Howard was sleeping in a chair next to his bed. His head was rolled back with his mouth open and breathing heavy. The sight was humorous and Steve found himself chuckling. His throat was dry but the sound came out and three sets of eyes trained on him.
"Steve!" Howard stood up so fast that he tripped over his own feet. He regained his composure and pulled his chair up closely to Steve's bedside.
"How do you feel?" He asked, poking at Steve's monitors and checking his vitals.
"Like I have a 1,000lb blanket sitting on me," Steve said wryly.
"That would be the sedative we gave you." He said, nonchalantly, "any pain? Anything that feels uncomfortable?"
Steve began shifting his limbs and seeing if he felt any pain or resistance.
"No, not that I-" He twisted his torso, rotating his shoulders and a sharp jab in his chest made him gasp. He grabbed at his chest and Howard's hands shot out and pushed him to lean back on his bed. The headrest was elevated and when he was leaning back the pain subsided.
His breathing was heavy. He panted as the pain faded out.
"I'm sorry kid. That couldn't have felt good." He pulled one of Steve's arms in a certain position and moved the hospital gown to the side. He pointed at Steve's side.
A long red line with tiny black stitches was very visible against his skin. But what surprised him was the intense bruising that was splattered across his chest and torso. Blue, black, and purple bruises with green mottled throughout. It looked like he'd been hit in the chest repeatedly with a metal club.
"What happened?" He asked, his expression must have been bad because Howard winced.
"Well, the problem with these outlying districts is there isn't much of a medical history. And well-" His hand ran nervously through his hair. "You were allergic to the type of anesthesia we gave you. And then you were allergic to the medication we gave you to counteract the anesthesia and that gave you an intense seizure. We got that worked out." Steve's heart was now beating too fast and his monitor's picked up on it. " Yeah, kid, that heart of yours…. We'd gotten it under control and when we thought it was going fine, your heart gave out mid-surgery. So we had to focus on that. But then you began bleeding internally, we're not really sure why... After we got the bleeding to stop, we gave you a transfusion and then a sedative. After you thankfully didn't reject the donor's blood, We tried one more medication. Which thankfully worked and we completed the surgery. But all that damage led to that pretty painting on your chest."
Steve couldn't respond. His heart monitor was still beeping too fast and Howard leaned forward.
"I know that's a lot but I need you to calm down. The heart monitor's too new. I need you to relax."
Steve took deep breaths and focused on his breathing. His heart rate slowed a bit and he kept going until Howard was happy with it.
"How close was I, to dying?" He asked.
"Well. I'm not going to lie kid, it was touch and go there with your heart there for a second. But actually… I think it may work out for your benefit."
"How?"
"Well, on the 15th hour of surgery, the capitol's busybodies got a bit upset about the fragile state you were in, so I was able to convince them that, since they really wanted you in the games, and they really want a good show from you because of your celebrity status with the citizens, I could make sure you last longer in the arena and they approved." He smiled as if pleased with himself.
"What does that even mean?"
"I can't tell ya, part of the rules, but you'll be happy about it, promise."
His heart rate started to rise and Howard began circling him like a vulture.
"I'm going to put you back under, just for a bit. You need more rest."
Before Steve could protest, a warmth flowed through his veins and he drifted off.
—-
Instead of arriving in training a day late, he was arriving three days late. As they headed towards the tribute training center, Howard was next to him. Howard was like a shadow to him now and Steve was starting to enjoy their easy banter. After getting over the fact that he'd almost died before he even got into the arena, they'd spent the next three days of his recovery talking and learning about each other.
Howard was from District 3: technology. That didn't surprise Steve at all. Howard had grown up rich and since he was a kid had always dreamed of being involved in the games. At first Steve didn't like hearing that, but as Howard kept talking Steve realized it was because Howard had wanted the underdogs in the arena to have a chance. He'd refused to work for Districts 1-4. This was his fifth year in the games, and after last year he'd decided he wanted to work alone and not with a team, which is how he ended up with 12.
Steve had given a detailed history of everything he'd ever come in contact with that he'd been allergic to or harmed by. He listed his health problems so Howard knew everything. Eventually they'd started talking about their families and friends and anything else they could think of. Steve realized a friendship was forming. Steve didn't know his exact age, but he guessed around 25.
The doors slid open when they approached them and Howard led the way inside.
Steve could see tributes all over the place, fighting, sparring, swimming, and then he saw some learning how to tie knots and discerning what plants were edible. They took a left and heads began to turn. Steve kept his eyes on Howard's back but could feel the heat of each gaze as it turned his way. A guffaw sounded from one corner of the room and Steve clenched his jaw. It was fine. It's fine. Being made fun of because of his size was nothing new.
They arrived at what looked like high-tech lockers. Steve's name and district number were on the second to last one. Howard had him place his hand on it and it opened for him.
A training suit that had a similar color scheme to his train jumpsuit hung on a hook, and training boots sat on the floor of the locker.
"Go ahead and get changed," Howard told him.
"Where?" Steve asked.
"Here" Howard said cautiously.
"You want me to change in front of all of these people?" He asked in a distressed whisper.
Howard looked at him closely. Then he smiled. "Yeah Steve. I do. Do you trust me?"
Howard had not done a single thing to Steve, since they'd met, that was untrustworthy.
"Yes. I do." He huffed. Howard nodded and Steve sighed. He unzipped his jumpsuit and climbed out of it. Thankful for the skin shorts he wore underneath. The mirror wall to the side caught his attention and he grimaced at the sight of himself. If possible, the bruising looked worse. The green was shifting towards yellow, and the black and purple were as bright as ever.
Howard grabbed his shoulder and rotated him to face the main bulk of the tributes. Steve began to protest, but Howard began poking at him as if inspecting Steve.
A gasp from somewhere up above him caused his eyes to shift up. A level he hadn't even noticed was suspended from huge cables. It looked like an obstacle course.
He froze. Her. It was her. She was looking down at him and the look of sheer concern on her face as she stared at his chest made him flush deep red from head to toe. He quickly turned and grabbed the suit. Howard's tablet that he always had at his side began beeping rapidly.
"Hey, buddy, calm down, take some breaths, your heart rate's going crazy."
He pulled the suit up over his legs and the sleeves onto his arms, being careful not to rip his stitches. He tried to breath but her look of pity at him was seered across his vision.
He zipped it up and tried not to focus on how quiet it was in the training center.
He stared at Howard, who read the anger on his face. He leaned in.
"Hey Steve. You ever been underestimated?" Howard asked quietly with his eyebrow arched. "Because you're about to be." He tapped a few more things on his tablet. "Maybe no hand to hand combat today, okay?" He smiled and passed Steve his shoes. "Have fun." He walked back out the door and Steve watched him go.
When he finished putting on his shoes, he walked back towards the center door so he could enter the training room properly. He stood inside and looked at the tributes moving around him.
He didn't know where to start, but Maureen called him over to the plants table and they spent the afternoon deciphering which plants were edible. He excelled because of his studies for his book and he could tell the girl from 8 was impressed. She hung around until he asked her to join them; she nodded eagerly and sat down.
He smiled when it hit him again, as it often did. She would be dead soon, probably.
He shook the thought from his mind. Maybe that would be true, but it wouldn't be because of him.
—
*A/N - Sorry this may seem like an in between chapter, but I wanted to make sure we had proper set up for him in the arena and setting some groundwork for later! I'd love to hear what you're thinking so far!