Guess what? I'm back, fools!

Trigger: implied potential harm to children which might be a trigger given the recent Texas shooting.

Beatrix Carmen, District 2

"Poor picker-pockets, bring 'em in."

The Decemberists, Youth and Beauty Brigade

Beatrix Carmen never wanted to go into the Hunger Games.

To her knowledge, no one did. No one except fanatics like Orion Rossi and Marshall Thornburg, and they were special cases.

So when Orion Rossi found her on the street and told her he was going to start training her for the Games, she didn't want to say yes. All his promises of a better life than on the streets, bringing glory to the district, etc., and she was still flatly opposed to taking his offer. A life on the streets was preferrable to a death sentence.

So when Orion returned a couple of days later, this time with the promise of a better life for Lucius, she was a little more alert to his offer.

"You win the Games, and he comes with you to the Victor's Village. He gets everything the Capitol has to offer, just like you. Doesn't that sound nice?"

It did. A better life for her brother, who's birth had claimed the life of their mother, and, once their father had died, became her only link to her family. She would do anything to protect Lucius.

But even she could recognize that killing herself wouldn't do him any good.

However, Orion was the kind of person who didn't take no for an answer. He was relentless. He assured her that his training would be enough to get her through the Games alive. He told her of all the wonderful things that both she and Lucius would have access to once she was a victor. He would have shot down the moon if she'd asked him to.

But she didn't.

And that made him angry.

A few weeks after Bentley Ford won, a furious Orion returned to their little hole in the ground, this time with a gun. He walked in and aimed it straight at Lucius.

Her heart nearly stopped.

"Listening now, eh?" he asked, his face cold. "You're going to come with me to train for these Games, or I'm going to put a bullet in your brother's head. Is that understood?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now come with me."

And so training began. Orion was a relentless mentor. He didn't take no for an answer, considered any failure punishable by death, but some moments of rare humanity gave him a little spark of compassion, one that neither Beatrix nor Lucius or even Marshall, who popped in to watch training from time to time, expected. More than anything, however, Orion taught his mentee how to adapt. Two weeks after training started, Orion heard a rumor the Arena would be an orchard, so he dedicated two hours to climbing lessons. During the Victory Tour Bentley made an offhand comment about popularity in the Capitol, so Orion set up his own private finishing school. A year after Bentley won, Gizmo Meloy emerged victorious because no one in the Arena thought hard enough to train for people like him. Orion intensified her training regime, halved the amount of sleep she got, worked her harder than he'd ever done to himself, or probably ever do again. Beatrix went to bed every night exhausted but proud. Everything she was doing, she was doing for Lucius.

The night before the reaping, Orion took her and her brother, along with Marshall, out to dinner. As they ate, Orion asked Lucius something.

"Tell me, Lucius. If your sister wins, would you want to as well?"

Beatrix almost choked on her chicken. As Marshall passed her a glass of water, she just caught Lucius' response. "Well of course," he said. "Who wouldn't want to be as cool as you guys?"

That night, she snuck into Lucius' room. She wasn't surprised to see he was still awake.

"Hey, Lu?" she asked as she crawled over to him.

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"Of course."

She sighed. "Promise me that whatever happens in that Arena, you'll never, ever volunteer. Even if I win. Especially if I win."

He frowned. "But Bea-"

"Promise!"

He sighed and nodded. "I promise."

Two weeks later, she won the shortest recorded Games up to that point, killed twelve people, and cemented her title as a living legend of Panem.

But all she wanted to do was make sure Orion hadn't hurt her brother.

Ayo, guess who's not dead!

Update: Junior year low-key kinda sucked! Free time was a foreign concept, plus writer block do be real though. Still not super happy with how Beatrix turned out but I think it'll work.

ANYWAYS… on to more important things, Organized Chaos has a massive question mark next to it, and honestly right now I'm just happy to be back to a computer. Anyone with questions regarding my ff dot net life can pm me. Also my bad for spoiling the biggest plot twists in my apology letter which I will definitely be taking down, but if you didn't read it, don't! Be surprised. That's all for now, see you next time with another canon victor.