Disclaimer: I own very little.
Chapter Forty-Eight: Set Ablaze
I struggled in Brutus's grip before I heard the sound of hastened footsteps coming quickly to see what was going on. Instantly, Enobaria threw her body weight against the large man to throw him off-balance. I quickly kicked him, watching him fall as I moved my way toward the door. Almost immediately, he jumped up as Enobaria held him back.
"Brutus, please!" Enobaria growled, literally throwing her body weight on him to keep him from coming after me again.
"Did you hear that? Did you hear what she said?" He roared, trying to break free of her grasp.
Enobaria's eyes met mine for some sort of explanation. I continued to step back, closer and closer to the door.
"I said what we all know is true!" I yelled, sick of the silence on the matter. "In Flux's last minutes, he showed his real identity, the bare bones of who he was. He showed that his strength and pride was all for show. It wasn't ever something that he wanted! You forced it on him."
"My son was more of a tribute than you ever were!" He growled, looking at me as though I were the next target to take out.
I bit the inside of my cheek, shaking my head and turning to exit the apartment. I saw that this was not a conversation that need be made so public. My place was back at work, where I needed to finish up some security measures. However, Brutus was going to make sure that I didn't make it out unscathed. Just as I was turning the doorknob to exit, I heard Enobaria yelp and within seconds he had pinned me to the ground. In a matter of seconds, I reverted back to one of the tribunal stages. It had been years since I had to use any of the skills that I learned, but it appeared as though I would have to use them once more.
"Your son wanted to commit suicide. I made it look as though he didn't," I hissed in Brutus's ear, struggling to get out of his grasp. "Had I not been there…the consequences he would have faced may have been much worse than death."
"You're lying," He snarled, grabbing my neck tight in his grasp as I choked for air.
"Really Brutus. I know you don't believe me, but please just watch the tapes," I groaned with what little air I had left.
At that, I heard something clatter and this was the distraction I needed. Immediately, I shot my knee up to weaken Brutus and throw him off-balance as he was distracted. I may have been older, but the process of hand-to-hand combat was coming back rather quickly. In a matter of moments from squeezing myself out from under his grip, I was the one pinning his arms behind his back and whispering harshly in his ear," Watch the tapes, Brutus."
With that I patted him on the back before standing up and looking to Enobaria, whose eyes were spelling out all sorts of apologies. Cato and Clove were standing in the doorway; they had seen the episode. I nodded to all of them before taking one last look at the apartment. Just as I was opening the door to exit, I looked to the two tributes.
"May the odds be ever in your favor," I said simply before pulling the door open and exiting into the main hallway.
I remember every day coming home from work to a very exuberant one-year old, which was so curious about the world around him. Of course, I was incredibly busy with work and keeping security measures in tact while the Games were in place, but Obadiah was certainly able to keep me just as occupied. He was walking all over the place and I would stand, just watching as he stumbled along.
His genes certainly didn't change as he was becoming more and more like Seneca. In fact, he even walked like him. The joke of him not being my child was starting to become less of a joke and more of, well, reality. I recall when I sat him upon the island we had in the kitchen and pulling open the cooler. Inside, we had several juices that he liked, but he wouldn't give me an answer. Therefore, I pulled out the containers for all three and held them, one at a time, in front of him.
The first one, purple, he blinked several times at before firmly shaking his head. I nodded before turning and putting it back into the refrigerator. Next, I held up a blue juice. He made a noise, almost as if he were considering it before shaking his head. I sighed and finally held up the green juice in front of him, assuming this was the one.
"No!" He firmly yelled and I shook my head before sighing and leaning against the cooler.
"Obadiah, you said you were thirsty," I said, folding my arms over my chest.
"No!"
Just as he denied me again, I heard the door open and in stroll Seneca. He dropped off his coat in one of the side closets before entering the kitchen. I looked at him, clearly frustrated as he put a wide smile on his face. He bent over and picked up his son, spinning him around before leaning to kiss me on the cheek.
"You're home early," I said with a small smile as I placed the juices back in the cooler.
Obadiah started to whine at this. I groaned frustrated as Seneca furrowed his brow, not understanding what we had just gone through.
"What's wrong? He seems to want one of those," Seneca commented, motioning to the drinks as he sat Obadiah down. "And yes, they ensured me that I could check the Games from my home station tonight."
"Just try to give him one. He said no to all three," I grumbled as he reopened the cooler and grabbed the containers. "How nice of them to give you that luxury, by the way."
"It was nice of them," He said with a smile before turning his gaze back to his little clone. "Orange?"
The first container he looked at, Obadiah immediately began jumping up and down, smiling. I bit down hard on my lip, trying not to make any sort of comment as Seneca grabbed one of his cups and poured a cup full of the orange juice. Obadiah grabbed the cup and immediately began sipping away. I made eye contact with Seneca once more before shaking my head," He seems rather attached to you at the moment. Why don't you put him to bed?"
"Bed?" Obadiah repeated, hardly understanding the word.
"Yes, young man," Seneca confirmed, sliding his hands under Obie's arms to pick him up. "Bed."
I placed a hand on Seneca's arm as he was walking away with Obadiah in his arms," I'll wait up for you."
"Good. We need to talk about something," He muttered to me before turning his attention back to Obadiah, grabbing his chubby arm to wave to me. "Say 'goodnight mommy'!"
"Goodnight Obie!" I immediately cooed as the blue-eyed boy looked straight at me and cackled.
"Night!" He squealed before both Seneca and I smirked.
I cleaned up the left-over dishes on the counter before shutting off the lights in the kitchen. Slowly, I sauntered up to our bedroom and washed my face. I tried not to think much about the Games taking places as I took advantage of all these luxuries in the Capitol. With a sigh, I entered our bedroom and took a seat on my side of the bed. I leaned over to grab the remote and turn on the television for the first time since the Games had begun. The first days were a blood bath anyways.
I didn't watch much of the live footage for it was showing either when I was at work or while Obadiah was awake. Thus far, we succeeded in Obie not seeing any of the gruesome footage. As soon as I turned on the television, the footage of a fire was shown. I sat up on the bed, leaning my back up straight against the headboard as I watched Katniss Everdeen running from a blazing fire. I noted the irony of the "girl on fire" at the mercy of flames. A piece of me wished to pity her for as she ran and ran…she couldn't escape the blaze. As if the tension weren't enough, she even had a burning branch fall on her thigh and burn through her clothes. I cringed at the sight of this and watched as she pressed on through many other close-calls. It was "by the skin of her teeth" that she even survived that fire-filled forest. Just when she received relief by falling into a small pond of water, I saw the group of Careers come running around the bluff above the pond.
I didn't like Katniss, but I pitied her, at this moment. Only slightly. Was she dangerous? Absolutely. Would killing her now be smart on the Careers part? Certainly. That didn't change the fact that a piece of my heart wanted her to run away unharmed from the Careers. They chased her for a long time, taunting her all the way. If Clove and Cato killed her, then I wouldn't be proud of the manner in which they did it for I knew it would be inhumane. Still, they managed to chase her until she had pigeon-holed herself to a tree.
"Strange, isn't it?" Seneca's voice echoed in the room as he leaned against the door, watching the screen. "Her little boyfriend didn't stick by her side."
He was referring to Peeta Mellark, the other boy from twelve who supposedly loved Katniss. Me, being the less "romantic" than usual type, didn't entirely believe this to be true. I looked at Seneca before turning my attention back to the footage of the Careers shooting, climbing, and bickering among themselves to get her down.
"Which makes me wonder if their 'relationship' is real or not. Perhaps, he only had a crush on her, but realized it was useless to hold on to it if they both die in the end. Perhaps, he never had a crush on her and was only doing it for show," I suggested as the arena became dark and the Careers, along with a treed Katniss, set up camp for the night.
"You doubt what he told Caesar?" Seneca asked as he walked into the room, turning into our closet before unbuttoning his top shirt.
"People will say anything for a little attention, Seneca. Surely, you know that," I answered, looking at him as he turned back to meet my gaze.
He shrugged," Only time will tell."
"Looks like she nearly got herself killed," I commented as Seneca pulled his top shirt off and began unbuttoning the undershirt.
"She got too close to the property line. We had to do something," He answered. "I couldn't be too generous, you know."
I smirked at this before pressing mute on the remote as Caesar came on to give his commentary.
"You still feel the same way about her?" I asked as he pulled the undershirt off, tucking it away into the dirty clothes carefully before delving deeper into the closet, out of my sight.
"I still think she's got a lot of potential. The boy, however?" He paused for a moment. "I don't know if he's nearly as impressive, but she certainly has the prospective to change things around here."
"It doesn't make you nervous at all?" I asked, after several moments of silence.
At this time, he closed the closet doors behind him before coming to sit on the bed beside me. He swallowed hard before looking right at me.
"President Snow has insinuated that I need to keep an eye on her," He said, tucking one of the pillows under his arm as he sat back. "It hasn't been anything major, but he certainly has taken notice of her."
My heart nearly skipped a beat," He has spoken to you personally about her?"
He held my gaze for a moment," Yes, he has."
I folded my arms over my chest before looking away from him. This was not good. It was still my responsibility to keep Seneca from doing anything bold. President Snow didn't like anything too radical and if he had already taken notice to a spark he didn't like, then Seneca needed to take care of it and not veer from Snow's plan.
"Then you need to do what he says. I know you think she has potential, but you can't do anything stupid, Seneca. Snow may like us, but he doesn't like us enough to be played for the fool in anything," I said tenderly, choosing my words carefully.
"I did what he said today, Savera. I kept her from crossing any borders; I could have not, but I made my presence known, alright? In the end, though, I have many to please. The people love Katniss but suppose Snow thought she was too much of a threat? I would not only be killing the chance I've been given to help change Panem, but I would also be setting the people into riot. You know how protective they are of their favorites. If she became too spirited, I would be conflicted between a man who wished me to dispose of her, a crowd who wished for me to keep her alive, my own conscience would which would want to do what's best for the country, and a wife who just wants me to keep myself alive. How would I ever be able to satisfy all of those?" He asked solemnly, but speaking with a tone of adamancy to his voice.
I swallowed hard and ran my fingers through my hair," You'd have to prioritize."
He nodded before repeating what I'd said," I'd have to prioritize. Do tell me how."
"Well, I would decide who the most dangerous to anger is. If you anger the people, you may have a riot, but you've handled riots before. If you anger Snow, you'd be placing not only your life but Obie and I's lives, as well. And the other two, your own conscience and my opinion may not even matter if you offend Snow. Therefore, I think it's important you don't anger the wrong people," I said simply, trying to make my point as clear as possible.
"I sacrifice what I think is best for the country then? Savera, all I've ever wanted is to change this place somehow. Katniss might be able to do that and-"
"Seneca, I think you're forgetting that we are only speaking theoretically now. Unless Snow has made his threats more severe, why don't we just consider this all food for thought, okay? Let's wait until the situation forces you to decide. Maybe, if Katniss is smart…she won't do anything ridiculous to draw attention to herself now in the Games," I said quickly, raising my hand to silence him briefly.
I watched him bit down hard to keep from saying anything before finally," You prove a valid point; I will continue to ponder all the options, however, should the situation arise."
Softly, I placed my hand atop of his," I just don't want any trouble with this Seneca. You know how much Obadiah needs you and you know how much I need you."
He smirked before wrapping his arm around me to pull me closer," I know you don't and I know how important it is to not mess this up."
"I just want to know everything will be okay. I guess that's a little unrealistic, huh?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Sometimes, Savera, I don't know which is more dangerous. Being in the Games or running the Games. Don't think you have to watch any of this, by the way. I know that those memories are still fresh," He muttered, kissing my temple.
I nodded," I know. You're probably right, actually."
"I just don't want to hear you scream like that again. I can't imagine the horror of that and I don't want any of this to bring that on again," He said with an air of concern to his voice.
"Besides that," I started with a smirk on my face. " Last time I had a nightmare…we ended up with a child. I don't think we want another child now."
He laughed at this before shaking his head and standing up. I looked at him, slightly baffled before he squeezed my hand one last time and said," This is true. And slightly humorous, but that's beside the point. I've got to go check in on some business matters. Don't bother staying up for me; I will probably be up late."
"Very well then," I said with a nod. "Goodnight, then. I love you."
"And I love you too," He returned with a grin before turning to return to the piles of work that awaited him in the other room.
I had been able to put it off for this long, but I didn't know how much longer I would be able to do it for. Deep within me, I felt guilty for talking to Cato and Clove, but as I looked up at the paused image on the screen with Katniss Everdeen, I couldn't help but ponder the possibilities. Surely, there would be someone else who could come up? How easy it would be for her to die in the Games and we would then never have to deal with an angry Snow! Sure, the crowd would be upset, but they would be angry at whoever killed her in the Games.
It wasn't humane; it wasn't just, but it had to be done.
A/N: I'm going to try to post another chapter before I go back to school on Monday, but I can't make any solid promises! Thanks to those who reviewed!
To answer a question, I tend to stay true to what happens in the original stories while adding my twist. I don't want to say much else, but the retelling of the Games itself will be very similar to the book/movie. :)
