Graciela Purdue, 28

President of Panem

(TW for mentions of sexual abuse, physical abuse, mentions of attempted suicide and verbal abuse)

"I keep telling you that I'm doing everything I can," Graciela says into the phone, her impatience creeping into her voice. "My advisors simply won't accept a sixteen-year-old as the Vice President—"

"I'm doing everything I can," Ezra says in a mocking voice. "Whatever you're doing isn't enough! Don't you know that I can—"

"I'm going to have to cut this phone call short," Graciela says tiredly. "I have to go meet the Gamemakers for the Recap."

With that, she hangs up the phone, giving Ezra no second thought. After all, she has a recap to attend.

As she makes her way down the halls of the Tribute Center, she mulls over her conversation with Ezra. He's a problem and she knows it, but there isn't much she can do to fix it. Even someone as crazy as Etta Snow was didn't really believe in nepotism. It's clear to Graciela that Ezra doesn't exactly get that. Or maybe he does. The way of Ezra will forever be beyond her.

"Graciela, hello," Silas greets as she enters the Gamemaking Center. "We have much to discuss."

Graciela purses her lips and shakes her head as she takes a seat beside the Head Gamemaker. It's sad to think that this is his last year in the top spot, but, Graciela supposes, everyone must move on eventually. And Silas has had a pretty good run of it; all more-or-less acceptable Victors (minus Vin, Graciela muses), starting with Hestia and going to now…it's certainly nothing to sneeze at.

"So, we'll start with District 1, shall we?" Silas suggests, folding his hands in front of his chest and looking to Lanai Hollister, who dropped into her seat moments before and appears rather disheveled.

"Of course," Lanai says quickly, straightening her posture. "So, this is Calista Abbey."

The screen shows a rather short, eighteen-year-old girl with dark hair. Odd for District 1, Graciela notes.

Calista lunges for the stage as she calls out that she volunteers, apparently trying to beat someone else to the punches.

"As I'm sure you've assumed, Calista was not the chosen volunteer," Lanai says. "Court Academy has claimed that Silvera Prowess was the chosen volunteer, with Calista falling in seventh place. Calista herself comes from a fairly average background; both parents alive, although her relationship with her father is said to be strenuous at best. Calista lives full time at Court, likely because of her poor relationship with her family. No siblings, but she does have a boyfriend named Ryder. Court has said she is extremely competitive and determined, which may or may not hinder her in the arena. Any questions?"

Graciela silently shakes her head, gesturing for Lanai to go on.

"Alright, then. Shad Marcum, also eighteen-years-old," Lanai continues.

The screen shows a boy with dark brown hair confidently proclaiming that he volunteers. "He is, for once, the chosen volunteer. Apparently worlds ahead of the other trainees, at least in his own not-so-humble opinion. Sources state that he is a bit of a bully, possibly even a pathological narcissistic, but there's no medical data to back that claim up. He does have skill on his side, however, and is noted to have his spot be well-deserved. Home life is normal; two parents, a lot of siblings, no really awful relationships. Questions?"

Graciela contemplates Lanai's disheveled appearance for a moment before she says, "No. Go on."

"District 2, then!" Lanai says. "Now, I'm sure that Caius is going to be raving over Scoria but Wonder is certainly going to cause us some issues."

"First of all, Lanai, please keep the insults out of the briefing," Silas says curtly. "Secondly, yes, Wonder is a…small liability. Let's start with him."

Lanai raises her eyebrows, seeming annoyed, but goes on anyway. It leaves Graciela wondering what kind of person she's going to be dealing with next year. "Right. Wonder Hammerfort—I'm sure everyone here recognizes that name."

The surrounding Gamemakers nod their assent; Graciela knows that none of them could ever forget about Wake Hammerfort, after all.

If they had, then the twelve-year-old boy volunteering on the screen who bears a striking resemblance to his deceased sister will likely jog their memories.

"Wake definitely should have won," one of the mutt-specialists, who Graciela assumes is Caius, mutters.

Lanai casts him a disdainful look and continues. "Wonder has had quite a time in the past few years; first with the death of his older sister, who was the shining beacon of hope in his life. Second with the continued sexual abuse from his father, Yoldan Hammerfort. Third with three unsuccessful suicide attempts. Fourth with the murder of his abuser by one of his teachers, Rupert Stonehold, who was later executed. Wonder himself was later taken into Peacekeeper custody, and was scheduled to be executed shortly following the Reapings—"

"I would bet people didn't like that," Graciela comments.

"Oddly enough," Silas responds. "most people felt it was a fair and just punishment for a young, severely abused boy who happened to be an accomplice to murder."

"People certainly have odd judgement, then." It's beyond odd to Graciela that no one would care; especially with the huge fanbase Wake had garnered in the last Quarter Quell. She would think that that, if nothing else, would have come to Wonder's aid.

"So, to save his own life—" Silas begins.

"Or lose it," Lanai mutters, earning a pointed glare from Silas.

"Wonder volunteered," Silas finishes, carefully setting his hands in his lap.

"Scoria Primer," Lanai says suddenly, cutting over the end of Silas's sentence. Graciela may not be the sharpest tack in the box, but it doesn't take a genius to see that Lanai has something else on her mind.

On screen, Scoria calmly walks toward the stage and volunteers, as if knowing she would face no opposition. "The daughter of the head Peacekeeper of District 2, which certainly puts her a step above most everyone else. Sources say her parents trained her rigorously—perhaps a little bit too hard—from the tender young age of four. She started attending Stander at the same age as everyone else and showed exceptional prowess from the moment she set foot inside. Nothing of note happened for the next few years until…well, let's just say, her new boyfriend didn't go over so well with her parents. She was dating a boy named Favio, who reportedly disappeared after they became a couple. There have been no leads on the case, but it's mainly because her father keeps shutting it down before it can get off the ground."

Graciela swallows visibly. If Lanai is implying what she thinks she's implying…Scoria may already have some kills to her name. She can't decide if it will help or hinder Scoria in the arena.

"Questions?" Lanai asks.

"I say Scoria's got one hell of chance of taking Victory," Caius says proudly from his seat.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Viktus," Lanai says, sighing annoyedly. "So, District 3. I gotta say, not much to show for these guys. Normal kids, especially when compared to what we've had in the past. I daresay it makes it worse."

Graciela wonders for a moment what Lanai means by "makes it worse". What makes what worse?

"We'll start off with Lana," Lanai says.

On-screen Lana looks calm for a long moment before she gasps and stumbles to the stage, her eyes blank and wide. "So, Lana Meadows. At the age of six months, her family moved from 10 to 3, as a part of the program to get intelligence recognized and utilized. Lana herself is said to be an extroverted and likable girl, but at fourteen you have to think about her chances, you know?"

"Don't count anyone out of the running, though," Silas says quickly. "After all, Divinity…" he trails off as if he doesn't know where he's going with that.

Graciela has never been particularly troubled by Divinity's victory. She likes the Hunger Games to be as fair as possible, so she refused to allow Silas to count Vin out of the running. Rebel or not, Divinity deserves a chance to see the error of her ways.

"Any questions on Lana?" Lanai asks, seemingly eager to change the topic.

"No," Graciela answers.

"Darwin Abner, then."

Darwin appears from the crowd of fifteen-year-olds with his brow furrowed. One of the Peacekeepers seems to decide he's taking too long and roughly grabs him by the arm to drag him to the stage. Darwin angrily rips his arm from the Peacekeeper's grasp and stalks to the stage, staring out at the crowd with stormy eyes. "Back at it again with a nice, normal tribute!" Lanai exclaims, but her face doesn't match her tone. "Darwin has a bit of reputation as a spitfire. He'll argue to anyone about anything with worrying about the consequences. It has, as expected, gotten him into trouble time and time again. He's seemingly cleaned up his act a bit as of recent, after a spell where he got suspended from school for initiating a fight that turning violent. Questions?"

Graciela shakes her head as District 4 appears on the screen.

A strong voice calls out that she volunteers from the fifteen-year-olds section, and Ottilie Blackwell appears from the crowd. Graciela raises her eyebrows at the lack of opposition Ottilie faces in volunteering and looks to Silas and Lanai for an explanation.

"I know what you're thinking," Lanai says. "'A fifteen-year-old volunteer! Who's the chosen volunteer though?' Well, through a statistically improbable turn of events, Ottilie was chosen as the volunteer at fifteen. We're not exactly sure how it happened, but we can guess Ottilie is extremely talented. The youngest chosen volunteer in District 4 history, in fact. Anyways, Ottilie has dedicated almost her entire life to the Hunger Games. She has no siblings, her only family being her mother whom she doesn't see often. Questions?"

"So you have no idea why she was chosen as the volunteer?" Graciela clarifies.

"Yes," Lanai says impatiently. "Although, we should tell Alistair to remember that—it would make a good question for the interviews."

"Continue," Graciela says, puzzled.

"Bayou Hacksom, then," Lanai says as the said tribute volunteers on screen. "Bayou comes a background that most people in District 4 describe as "backwater" or even just "lesser". The backwater-tidewater rivalry isn't particularly well known, but that's mainly because backwater citizens tend to get absolutely nowhere. It's practically unheard of for one to be the chosen volunteer, which must mean Bayou is special. Bayou himself is described as being respectful and "as tactful as a backwater boy can be"—Faustus's words, not mine—so I doubt he'll pose us any issues. Questions?"

Graciela shakes her head.

"District 5," Lanai says as the power district appears on the screen. The escort, apparently, chose to reap the boys first, as fourteen-year-old Sterne Colvin comes to the stage. He appears neutral, almost bored as he takes his place beside the escort. "Sterne comes from a normal background. His childhood has been far from difficult, and Sterne has a bit of reputation as a troublemaker. Nothing extreme, but he and his friends are pretty well-known in their part of the city for being jokesters. Basically, he's a good-natured kid with a normal family and a normal life."

Graciela can't miss the hint of some emotion in Lanai's voice, but she's not exactly sure just what emotion it is. Sadness? Regret? Longing? Annoyance? Well, that last one is pretty much true for everything Lanai says. Graciela can't think of a time she's seen Lanai and she hasn't been annoyed.

"Liesel Leenheer, seventeen-years-old." Liesel sports dirty blonde hair as she emerges from the crowd. Once she reaches the stage, she snatches the microphone from the escort's hands and shouts,

"You know what? Fuck this shit! Fuck all of this shit."

Graciela raises her eyebrows at the girl. "Wow."

"Yes, wow," Lanai agrees. "Anyways, Liesel's family owns one of the largest power plant chains in District 5; they run almost every hydro-power plant in the whole district. So, bottom line is: the Leenheers are rich. They're so disgustingly rich they probably eat their money for breakfast and—"

Lanai catches Silas looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Um, right. Anyways, Liesel used to be dating a girl named Noor until she caught Noor cheating on her. She now dates Dyna Halsey, whom, I might add—and this is the height of pettiness—Noor used to have a crush on. Liesel, as far as I can tell, only dates Dyna to piss Noor off. Questions?"

Graciela shakes her head, her eyebrows still raised at the sight of Liesel's…well, everything. "Carry on."

Lanai nods once. "In District 6, we have a second tribute who has been affected by the intelligence utilization program President Snow set up. This is Jayce Dotter, eighteen-years-old." The screen shows a tiny girl with short brown hair silently makes her way to the stage, her eyes blank and her face like stone. "At the age of fifteen, her family was moved from District 12 to District 6, which split Jayce and her girlfriend, Ishtar. Jayce's family had been on the poorer side of things back in District 12, but had a nice amount of money when they came to District 6. Jayce is currently in a relationship with Drew Huck and appears to have more or less forgotten about Ishtar. Questions?"

"Go on," Graciela says.

"So, Larch Tyre," Lanai says as the boy appears from the crowd of eighteen-years-old. He seems angered by this turn of events as he stalks up to the stage. "At the age of seven, Larch's parents and older sister were murdered while out at the store."

I need someone to look into lowering the crime rates in District 6, Graciela thinks.

"Several years later, his older brother was killed in a machinery accident at the plane factory that they both worked at. Chances are, Larch is pretty traumatized from seeing his brother die before his own eyes," Lanai continues, starting to seem bored. "After that, Larch continued to work and live at the Community Home. People describe him as quiet and closed off, especially after everything that has happened to him. Any questions?"

Graciela is beginning to wonder why Lanai bothers to ask for question. She has never been one to wait for her turn to speak; if she has a question, she'll voice it.

"Right. District 7," Lanai says.

The screen shows Mercury Harrigan stalking calmly to the stage. His face betrays no emotion whatsoever, but from the sounds of someone crying in the viewing section, there's definitely people back home to miss him. "So, Mercury Harrigan. His parents died when he was a baby, leaving him in the care of his aunt and uncle, Marion and William. They were, to put it…well, not nicely, but simply, extremely abusive. Sources say they demanded absolute perfection for Mercury and violently punished him when he failed to comply. It is also said that he has a fear of speaking. So, a few years ago, Marion and William were caught and executed, and Mercury was adopted by Zela Weber. She has been helping him heal, so he's certainly better off than he was two years ago, but that's some pretty low hanging fruit. Questions?"

Graciela shakes her head again.

"Moving on to a surprising volunteer; Eris Rowan, thirteen-years-old," Lanai continues. "Sources say the girl she volunteered for was her older sister, who is paralyzed from the waist down. Apparently her sister was paralyzed after Eris fell out of a tree and landed on her a few years back. Other than that, she's got a father who always busy and a dead mom. She's gonna get attention for being a volunteer, and an extremely brave one at that. I assume no questions?"

"Go on," Graciela says, looking at Eris's face as she stands on the stage. She's much braver than I would have been at her age.

"So, this is Lyndie Franklin," Lanai says. Graciela's eyes follow the fair-skinned girl from the crowd to the stage as she clearly fights to keep it together. "Lyndie is the youngest in a family of seven siblings, all of which are brothers. Her family attends one of the small, underground churches that remain in District 8, which already puts her on a list of…potential risks."

Graciela is well-aware of how the Capitol views religion; it's awful. After all, many high-ranking Capitolites think that the Capitol should be worshipped, not a so-called "God". Graciela herself has never seen a problem with religion, as long as it poses no problem to the Capitol's security. Let people believe what they want to believe unless it becomes an issue. Would people agree with that standpoint? Probably not. "Continue."

"Navarro Lune," Lanai begins only to be interrupted by Silas.

"Navarro is a huge liability," he says, watching on-screen Navarro scream at the audience and demand someone volunteer for them. "He's twelve-years-old, but he already poses an enormous threat to Capitol security. He falls in a similar vein to Mercy Mitsui; the child of a major drug-lord who needs to be taken down a peg."

"So their children are targeted?" Graciela asks incredulously.

"Graciela, please. These kids are going to one day grow up to be exactly like their parents," Silas says, shaking his head. "It's easiest to eliminate them early with something like the Hunger Games."

"And," Lanai says loudly. "Rigging their deaths is, after all, always an option."

Graciela nods. "I see. Continue."

"Ainsley Platte, then," Lanai says, watching the girl approach the stage with an odd mixture of terror and excitement written on her face. "Ainsley is said to be a little…weird, so to speak."

"Weird how?" Graciela inquires, looking the girl up and down.

"Weird is the way of she doesn't listen to what anybody says," Lanai answers. "Basically, you tell her to do something, and she's more likely to do the complete opposite, just because you told her to. In terms of family, however, everything is pretty normal. She has two brothers and both of her parents are present in her life. She's relatively normal—depending, I suppose, on what your definition of "normal" is—but some people might peg her as crazy. Questions?"

Lanai waits for less than a second before she powers on. "Everett Reed, seventeen-years-old." Graciela watches as he makes his way to the stage, his face conflicted. "He takes being a "work-a-holic" to a new level. Ever since his mother cheated and got pregnant with twins, he's been doing nothing but working to keep his family fed. Sources say he's bitter toward his mother for what she's done, but doesn't blame his half-siblings for being born. Questions?"

Once again, Lanai plows on without waiting for an answer. "Afandina Hariri, seventeen-years-old."

Afandina looks out to the crowd of viewers as he stumbles to the stage, and, after a moment, begins to cry. Graciela raises her eyebrows at him.

"Afandina is—or used to be—a chronic gambler. It was an addiction that he has since been more or less broken of after blowing thousands of caps to a game at a casino. He now resides at a farm with one of his father's friends to learn the "value of hard work"." Lanai does air-quotes around the word "value of hard work" as if to accentuate how stupid she clearly thinks it.

Graciela, meanwhile, doesn't quite understand why Lanai thinks that's so unrealistic. It seems like a perfectly acceptable solution to her. "Carry on."

"Tamarah Colt," Lanai says as the camera zeroes in on a clearly-hungover girl in the sixteen-years-old section. "As you can see, she likes her alcohol a little bit too much. When she was a little kid, her father got into an accident, which cut out their main source of income, and Tamarah started to drink shortly thereafter. It was her way to cope with…everything, I suppose. Apparently, Tamarah is not super welcomed around her home because of her late-night activities. Questions?"

"Is her father dead, then?" Graciela asks.

Lanai consults the manilla folder in front of her. "Yep. For eight years, apparently."

"Continue."

"Ashe Illyrian," Lanai says as the stone-faced girl emerges from the crowd of fourteen-year-olds. "Sources describe Ashe as a studious, intelligent girl. Her family life is relatively normal, aside from her older sister marrying into the mayor's family and completely abandoning the rest of the Illyrians. A few years ago, Ashe did run with a crowd of…worse-for-ware kids, but has since moved on from that period. Questions?"

"No."

"Quinn Bayers," Lanai exclaims. "Another volunteer, this time for different, but similarly noble reasons. His father built up a huge pile of debt to a local gang, and after his death, Quinn's remaining family members were saddled with the required payments. Quinn eventually decided that the only way to successfully pay everything off was to volunteer for this year's Games. His philosophy appears to be that if he wins, more money. If he loses, less money to waste on food. Questions?"

"Go on."

Lanai appears to breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay, here is where things get…interesting. This is Ishtar Marmaduke, the third volunteer in District 12 history."

Graciela looks skeptically at the girl as she volunteers on the screen. "Isn't that…?"

"Yes. Jayce Dotter's former girlfriend," Lanai says regretfully. "As far as I can see, when Jayce moved to District 6, she and Ishtar made an agreement to both volunteer for the Hunger Games when they turned eighteen. Ishtar, clearly, held up her end of the bargain, but we don't know if Jayce was planning to volunteer as well. Other than that, Ishtar's parents are more than absentee. They are rarely home, and tend to forget Ishtar is even there at all. They are extremely well-off, though. Perhaps one of the richest families in District 12, which is not saying much, but they've definitely got a pretty penny. Questions?"

"So Jayce was or wasn't planning to volunteer?" Graciela asks.

Lanai sighs impatiently. "We don't know. Can I move on now?"

"Of course."

"Alright then. We're closing out strong with Geo Stryker, fifteen-years-old."

Graciela notices the blank look in Geo's eyes as he robotically makes his way to the stage but chooses not to comment on it.

"Geo takes being a people-pleaser far too. He basically has different personalities, tailored to work for whatever person he's currently with. Other than that…that, his family is extremely poor. His parents work long hours in the mines, which Geo would likely do as well if it was legal. Questions?"

"No," Graciela says. She chuckles a little bit. "Problematic bunch, aren't they? Jayce, Ishtar, Lyndie, Navarro."

"Sure are," Silas agrees in a joking tone, but it doesn't take a genius to see that he's concerned about it. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

"Yes, I'm sure it will," Lanai says impatiently. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be. See ya, bitches."

"How that woman keeps her job is beyond me," Caius mutters.

Graciela can't help but agree with that sentiment.

A/N: Reaping recaps are boring, fun fact. It's just the same thing over and over again. "This is Bob. Bob does this. Bob's family is this. Questions?"

1. Who is your favorite tribute?

2. Who is your least favorite tribute?

3. Who do you think will die in the Bloodbath?

4. Who do you think will make it to the Final Eight?

Random Question: where does Lanai have to be?

My answer: you'll find out soon since this is a double update with another interlude.

-Amanda