Song Suggestion: The Civil Wars- "Devil's Backbone"
Thank You: Cat Beats, Figsy, Mistress-Cinder, jkteen22, Meg25, and Alexxis T. Swan
A/N: My ultimate goal for this story now is to get 1000 reviews, and I'm so close (I never thought I'd get this many reviews for such an odd pairing in the first place.) If you keep up with this story and like it, leave a review and tell me so. I don't get anything for writing this besides the satisfaction of having feedback.
A Darkening Sky
Prim entered their room, tiptoeing to the bed. The lights dimmed low, casting shadows when she walked. She stopped and rested near a chair. Cato slept longer than expected. Any minute he could wake. Prim understood she had to be close when it happened, and no one else could be around to interfere. She had fed the babies, sighing as the pressure was relieved, and handed them back to Katla and Mrs. Carthage to put to sleep.
Prim sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping with her weight. His body lay spread-eagle on top of the covers, still fully clothed in his uniform. He twitched sometimes, as if dreaming terrible things, though his chest steadily rose and fell.
Prim reached out and picked up his heavy hand. She turned it over, tracing the lines. There was an old woman in the seam who used to do palm readings, said she could read the future and the past. The words came back in spurts: heartline, life line, head line, fate line. Prim wondered where she was written in his story. Would the old woman have traced the lines and seen her face?
"I'm not sorry," Prim said. "You can't keep me safe and closeted away. Not in this way. I must protect our future."
The hand in her palm shot up and curled around her throat. A squeak left her mouth as she looked down and found him glaring at her, eyes liquid and moving, mercury sloshing around, promising to poison if handled incorrectly.
"Cato," Prim reminded him. "It's almost hurting me."
"If you can talk, it's not tight enough."
He tugged her down, and she tumbled forward and around him, until she ended up under him with his bulk pressing down, hand still wrapped on her throat.
"I told you to stay behind."
"I forgot to tell you I wouldn't."
"He almost killed you," he snarled in her face. His other hand brushed against her leg, curling on the fabric of her dress. He pressed upwards, bunching it along her hip, calluses tingling her delicate skin. "He placed a noose around my neck and a knife to yours. I should kill him."
"Don't… He had to," Prim said. His fingers slipped under the band of her underwear and tugged it down. "His district needed to be convinced, and he knew that."
"Yes, but you didn't."
He lifted his body enough to tug down the rest of her underwear, pushing it down her legs, until it slipped off her feet, and he threw off the side of the bed. She did not fight him. Despite his serious expression, a thrill of desire bolted through her. But she was also wary. She knew this look. She'd seen it many times before. He planned to take everything until she begged for release, and it would be punishing.
"Our sons could have been made orphans at just two months old. Their mother would have died because she refused to listen to common sense and do what her husband told her."
The word jolted something inside her. Heat shot straight through, pooling below her stomach. It sounded delicious somehow from his lips.
He slipped two fingers inside her wet heat and curled upwards, hitting a spot that he knew made her bones come loose. She arched the small of her back, giving a moan. He continued until she was on the brink and then pulled out his fingers, leaving her frustrated with want.
"You're not my husband," she corrected in a breathy voice.
He let go of her throat and ripped her dress down the middle, buttons popping off. He nipped the top of her breasts bulging over her bra hard enough to bruise.
"That will soon change." He rubbed his free hand down the side of her stomach, gripping her hip and tilting it upwards.
Prim reached out without prompting, unsnapping his pants and pulling them down his hips, showing her consent. There was no need for foreplay today. Desire already burned her skin. She shivered when done, leaning back and looking to the side, a little afraid of the pain, despite her desire.
Her fear seemed to soften him. The anger ebbed away a little.
"I'll go slow and gentle, but I'm still going to fuck you," he said and entered her.
He did what he promised. Slow and gentle at first. It didn't hurt as much as the last time they tried, but her body still tensed anyway.
"Trust me," he said.
She stopped fighting. He pressed all the way in and then held still for her to get used to his width.
After a few moments, he went back to moving. Growing steadily harder, as if his anger built with his desire. Prim gave a strangled moan and bucked against him. Cato closed his eyes tight with the sound, and his hand brushed down and touched in her in a way that made her whole body shake in need, and when he thrust again it was hard and violent. He leaned down, nipping her breasts, then her neck, and then opened his mouth biting her chin. It wasn't long before she shattered around him. With a loud moan, Cato held her down hard, one hand tangled in her hair, the other bruising her hip, and went inside her.
"Fuck, I've missed that," he said against her throat.
They stayed connected as they panted against each other. When he sat back, he relieved himself of clothes and pushed away whatever remained of hers so that they could rest flesh against flesh. Cato kissed and tasted her body, taking his time getting reacquainted with it. Prim traced his scars and then the muscles on his back.
"Let's get married," he said.
"What? Right now?"
"Sure," he shrugged, kissing her shoulder and then moved to her collarbone. "Why not? I'm cashing in your promise for forever."
"What if I say no?" Prim teased.
He flipped her so that she rested on her stomach, and then he grabbed her hips, lifting her bottom into the air, pressing his erection against her entrance. With a free hand, he spanked her hard enough, she was sure he left a red welt. For some reason, it made the pleasure sharper.
Prim moaned and pressed against him, allowing him to enter.
"It's too late. You've already sold me your soul." He dug his fingers into the red skin on her bottom. "Now it's time I punished you."
Before he let her come undone, he made her scream and beg and promise him forever again.
One Week Later
Cato sat in a chair, a black curtain behind him. The bright lights of cameras trained on his face. He fidgeted, uncomfortable with what he was about to do.
"Are you ready?" Jeremey, District's 13's propaganda director, asked.
Cato met Prim's eyes. He didn't want to do this, but she convinced him that it would help win the District's love for the Lion, help unify them all. Panem needed to know even the victors suffered under Snow. The districts were fractured, still hating District 1 and 2. This might be the only thing that softened the image.
"I'm ready," Cato nodded, and his jaw clenched with tension.
The light on the camera flickered on, and Lion of District 2 glared into the faces of Panem.
"Snow would like you to believe winning the games is the ultimate victory, that once you win you will be gifted riches and shelter and food. But this peaceful world is a lie. Instead, the victors—most still children and underage—are sold off to the highest bidder like prostitutes."
The sentence elicited gasps from the few people in the room. Cato took a small break, breathing hard. When he began again, his voice turned into a sword.
"I was the most popular of the victors for this purpose. The women and men of the Capitol wanted a piece of the Lion of District 2, and it was never enough." His face hardened. This was one of the few times she ever saw him vulnerable in public. But Cato's vulnerability turned into agression. "It's astonishing the things people spill against the pillow when drunk on pleasure. Listen closely, Panem, as I list the sins of the Capitol. It's a tale of deceit and murder. Of treachery and debauchery…"
Cato talked for an entire hour. He aimed his arrows, telling how Snow had everyone around him killed. How he poisoned himself slowly, so that he could drink from the same cup, relieving him of suspicion. It left permanent sores in his mouth that he tried to cover up with the smell of roses. He didn't stop with Snow. He told the sins of Gamemakers and sponsors, dragging down the entire pyramid, until the elite of the Capitol landed in the rubble.
"Holy shit," Jeremy said when Cato finished, and the camera turned off. The entire room was silent, including her. She knew about the women, but she didn't know the extent of the rapes and secrets. Because that was what it was—rape. Some of it was violent, some of it with men, some if with women, some of it drugged with Vice. She wanted to cry, but one look at Cato told her she shouldn't. Not right now.
Hannibal couldn't pretend to be stoic. Tears swum in his eyes.
"I never knew," he said. "You never told—we could have helped you!"
"You couldn't have helped me," Cato answered and then looked straight at Prim, "But you did."
He got up and walked out, locking himself in a separate room for an entire day, unwilling to come out, even for Prim. The next day she found him hovering over the bassinets, one hand on each of the twin's blankets.
"I lied to you that day on the mountain when I gave you this ring."
He held up her engagement ring. It glittered in the dim light. She had slipped it off before taking off with Coral, leaving it in her room at the log cabin. It was just another thing that she regretted from that day. She hesitated to take it, not sure if she still deserved it.
"I said I'd have a lot of children, so I could've sent the strongest to win the games." Cato leaned down and kissed the babies. "But I couldn't have sent any of them. Not even the strongest. Because no one is strong enough for what they'd have to endure. I wonder how my father could bear to send me. He was popular in his day too. There was a woman that claimed she'd had us both."
Prim walked over and placed a hand in the middle of his back, and he melted into her body. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight and kissing the top of her head.
"Your touch is like medicine."
Prim made a decision and pushed his chest towards the bed. He looked back at it with one eyebrow quirked. He obeyed her and walked backwards, sitting on the edge.
She walked forward and kneeled before him, working on unbuttoning his pants and pulling him out.
He tangled his fingers in her hair.
"You don't have to," he said.
"You said my touch is medicine," Prim said. "And now that I know, I feel a compulsion to heal you." She leaned forward and brought him in her mouth.
"Fuck," Cato answered with a loud moan, leaning his head back.
After he came, he tugged her up by her shoulders and laid her gently on the bed. He kneeled in the same position she had been in and settled between her thighs, pulling out the ring again and putting it on her finger. Prim placed her hand on his cheek, as he kissed the inside of her knee, giving the soft skin just above it a little nip.
"Let me show you how I feel," he whispered against her skin.
Three Weeks Later
Lux walked into District 2's mountain compound with a swagger, in a dapper suit and a watch that must cost more than a normal house, studded with diamonds. He was surrounded by an entourage, including Ace, who wore a face plastered with a permanent scowl.
"Give up your weapons," a Circle soldier said to him before he could go beyond the front entrance. Lux stopped and gave a side-ways grin, noticing Prim waiting behind a line of black-suited soldiers.
"I don't have any," he teased.
"I'll need to check to make sure. Cato's orders."
Lux raised an eyebrow at the man, but he lifted his arms, allowing the soldier to pat down his clothes and then the legs of his pants. He bit his lip in amusement and glanced at Prim, giving a wink, showing he did in fact carry weapons, they just weren't the type to be found.
"Congratulations," Lux said to Prim. "Though the luck is all on his side. The Mockingjay could do much better, if she desired. But alas…" Lux trailed off, and Prim was glad that Cato decided not to be part of the greeting party for District 1, still harboring hard feelings. "The shine of the rock on your finger is nearly blinding. I guess he's serious. Never really thought I'd see him married. He doesn't seem the type."
Their wedding was also a ruse to get the top soldiers and leaders together to strategize the final assault, which Cato hoped would happen within the month. Security for the event was intense. She'd be surprised if anybody got in a butter knife. Though Lux wouldn't have shown up without a weapon. He probably had a pen that shot lasers, or a cufflink that turned into a shield.
Cato didn't want Prim to greet Lux either, still not trusting him, but eventually agreed it would be foolish to insult such a finnicky rival. Prim neglected to tell Cato about the way Lux grabbed her shoulders and kissed her, not once, but three times. It wasn't necessary in the end and would only end with Cato breaking treaty by stringing Lux up somewhere gutted and mutilated.
Prim fiddled with the ring in a nervous gesture, still not confident with the weight on her finger.
"And who's this?" Lux nodded at the girl beside her. Madge froze and turned crimson in response, brushing nonexistent wrinkles out of her pretty green day dress.
Prim turned and quirked her head, studying the girl. She was still shy but duty to her disbanded district forced her out of her shell. Usually, she mustered up enough courage to at least extend a hand and a few pleasantries.
Today she kept her eyes on the floor and shifted side to side, and Prim didn't blame her. Lux presented an intimidating figure, sleek and powerful like a Capitol hoverbike. He exuded power, a natural born leader, dripping in wealth. The rose crinkled on his cheek as he grinned, eyes flashing like a predator that spotted its prey.
"This is Madge Undersee," Prim said, nudging Madge with her shoulder. "She's the newly crowned mayor of District 12, voted in several months ago by unanimous decision."
Her parents died in the firebombing of District 12. Madge only made it out because she visited Prim's mother that morning. Brutus had to drag her out kicking and screaming. Since then, the remaining district members looked at her like a North Star.
Since reuniting, Prim and Madge fell back into their old patterns. They took walks around the compound, now with Prim's double stroller. Most of the time it was in comfortable silence, but sometimes they talked about serious things. Madge was thrilled when Prim told her about a democracy, the idea of voting in leaders that would step down later.
And sometimes they talked about Gale. The two had been sweethearts once upon a time, but Gale turned bitter since Coin's betrayal, refusing to talk to anybody, even Madge.
Instead of moping, Madge threw herself head long into her work, into her legacy. When she got past her shyness, she had a good head on her shoulders for leadership and inspired trust and loyalty.
"We have much in common then," Lux said. "Come, let's talk about the trials of leadership while you show me around. Weddings are always awkward affairs. I would be charmed if you sat next to me." He gave a little bow, holding out his arm for Madge to take. The front strands of his hair broke free from his slicked hairstyle and fell into his eyes in a boyish way. He smirked, flashing those eyes that looked so much like Ruby, and Prim understood why Madge blushed and accepted, finally glancing up to look at him with her green eyes that Prim always thought were striking.
Lux went still, and they seemed to hover there staring at each other.
"District 12 must have magic water to produce such beautiful women."
"Ah, well," Madge said in her calming voice, "You haven't met Greasy Sae."
"Is she beautiful too?"
Prim snorted at the thought as they turned to walk away, arm in arm, forgetting her as they strolled down the hallway.
"Her cooking gave her a certain glow." A very diplomatic way of stating it.
"What was her specialty? I may have to try it sometime, if she's still around to make it."
"Squirrel."
Lux gave a big belly laugh that echoed down the hall.
He was the last of the dignitaries to arrive. Her wedding drew close, and Prim couldn't decide if she was terrified or elated. Something gnawed at her insides, a ball of dread bouncing around. It reminded her that today she could wear silk and tomorrow armor; today she could clasp flowers and tomorrow a gun; today she could laugh and tomorrow weep.
Prim saw the blood on the horizon, darkening the sky, and there was no way to stop it.