Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Six; Monsters

The clinical white flooring was cold.

The fact made Stephanie scowl darker as she walked just that little bit faster alongside Seneca towards the cafeteria on the second floor.

Seneca however was in no rush as he strolled along at a leisurely pace which only infuriated Stephanie more. She was convinced he was doing it on purpose, given that as Stephanie had no idea where she was going she inevitably had to stop and wait for him to catch up.

And while she was waiting for the Gamemaker to take his sweet time about ambling up to her, her feet were getting colder.

"There's no need to rush," Seneca drawled as he reached her for about the fourth time on one hallway, "we have half an hour to kill," he reminded her.

"I'm c-cold," she stated. However it was difficult to appear very intimidating with her teeth chattering preventing her from being able to speak without stammering.

"I offered to carry you," Seneca said with a charming smile.

Stephanie scowled, "a-and I said I-I'd ra-ra-rather walk," Stephanie managed to get out.

"Well then walk and don't run up the hallways as you are currently doing," Seneca replied.

Stephanie's brows drew down further; she couldn't believe that for a moment she had allowed herself to believe that Seneca Crane may well be concerned for her health!

No sooner had the thought ran through her mind though when she felt her legs swept quite literally out from under her.

Stephanie scrabbled for purchase, finding her arms latching around Seneca's shoulders as he lifted her effortlessly.

"P-p-put me do-down!" Stephanie screeched as Seneca began walking.

Stephanie struggled in his arms and Seneca stopped, "if I drop you it's your own fault," he warned nonchalantly, before he forwent the lifts altogether at the bottom of the hall, opting instead for the stairs.

Stephanie sucked in a sharp breath as the stairs came into view. In typical Capitol style architecture and the aesthetic value of the stairs had been given more thought than actual practicality and more importantly safety.

There were no hand rails of any sort. Each step seemed to be suspended individually by some sort of magic Stephanie conjectured because there was no visible means holding the stairs up. And there was a sizable very real plummeting drop between each stair.

"I-is this a b-bloody o-obstacle c-course?" Stephanie choked out; unsure if her stammered words were because of the cold or her very real panic.

Seneca plunged forth though without a moment's hesitation though and Stephanie found herself clinging to him tighter.

She turned her head instinctively, burrowing it against Seneca's shoulder as she made a whining noise, "d-dirty trick," she muttered against his blazer.

Seneca chuckled, steadily descending the stairs to the second level.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Seneca asked her.

"I-I'm afraid o-of falling," Stephanie corrected him immediately.

Seneca smirked, "it's over now," he told her as he shouldered his way through the cafeteria doors.

Wirin looked up from where he was seated, arching a brow as Seneca carried Stephanie over to table.

He put her down in one of the chairs and Stephanie scowled up at him.

"I've got something for you."

Stephanie's expression smoothed to one of shock as she turned to face Wirin who had spoken to her.

Wirin smiled tightly, "it will take care of the tremors, the general icy feel you have and hopefully tackle the nausea."

"N-no more n-needles," Stephanie said resolutely. She didn't want to add another pinprick to her arm for decoration.

Wirin chuckled condescendingly at her and Stephanie frowned. But then Wirin opened his palm to reveal a small bright orange pill.

"And this will take care of the effects of the surplus serum?" Seneca asked.

Wirin looked up at him, "it will take care of the physical symptoms such as the tremors and the nausea caused by the elevated heart rate but the serum will still take time to be metabolised by her body. Eating something and hopefully the half hour wait will do the trick," Wirin answered before looking expectantly towards Stephanie again.

Stephanie sighed as with shaking fingers she took the small pill from Wirin. She glanced about her, "w-water?"

"Wirin," Seneca prompted.

Stephanie could have sworn she saw the briefest flash of anger in Wirin's eyes at that moment. He's probably annoyed that Seneca is ordering him around for a tribute Stephanie thought just as Wirin got up to go and get her some water.

Wirin returned with a polystyrene cup a few moments later filled with icy water.

"Here you are," he said pleasantly as he placed it carefully down in front of her on the table.

Stephanie frowned, mumbling an uncomfortable thanks. She shoved the pill in her mouth then washing it down with the water, grateful for the opportunity not to speak.

"What is there in terms of food here then?" Seneca asked as he took the seat beside Stephanie.

"I'm not quite sure," Wirin replied genially, "but I'll go check," he added knowingly, not having to wait for Seneca's prompt this time.

"I'm afraid the food will be sub-standard," Seneca said, genuinely regretful as Wirin disappeared around the corner.

Stephanie had the sudden urge to laugh at Seneca, "I'm used to it," she replied sarcastically, refusing to look at him.

Stephanie heard Seneca sigh wearily, "everything with you is one step forward, two steps back."

Stephanie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye feeling exasperation singe at her patience; first flirting and then this!

Stephanie curled her hands tightly around the empty polystyrene cup in front of her, crushing it within her grip.

"You're the Head Gamemaker and the President's Son – I'm a tribute from the districts," Stephanie said each word with cool deliberant.

She needed Seneca to be slapped in the face with cold reality; he may have been able to forget who she was for a few moments to flirt with her but she could never forget who he was. And his ability to act as though there wasn't a hundred different dark bloody secrets separating them irrevocably irked Stephanie.

Seneca stiffened beside her and Stephanie allowed herself a quick sigh of relief until Seneca's next words.

"And what if for a few hours I was merely Seneca and you were just Stephanie?"

Stephanie's scowl darkened.

It just didn't work like that!

Seneca couldn't just decide he was allowed to erase all his crimes. That the fact that he was a murderer, that so many innocents had died at his hands and his complete lack of remorse was all forgotten. He couldn't just erase the part of him that was a monster and neither could Stephanie ignore it.

It had been something Stephanie had come to realise as she accepted the fact that Seneca quite possibly actually loved her.

She was sure that she and Seneca had different ideas as to what it meant to love someone, but somehow in some way; Seneca Crane the man beneath the monster loved her. She was sure of it.

And that was what had become such a dangerous thought because with each encounter with Seneca she had seen less of the monster and more of the man.

The monster was unredeemable, guilty beyond comprehension of a whole multitude of crimes and without any moral compass.

The monster had blood on his hands; innocent blood and it chilled Stephanie to even consider the heinous things he did when he played God up in his control room.

But…the man's eyes had burned with genuine emotion when she had spoken of Lark at the dinner date. He had delayed training for her, tried to show affection in the way he was used to in the Capitol with gifts like gaudy necklaces. He was planning to destroy his own Games so she could get out alive, risking everything including his life.

Yet there were things Stephanie would never forget.

The monster had spent every waking moment trying to destroy Haymitch's life; murdering a 16 year old boy's entire family and driving him to drink with five years of being forced to watch his tributes being slaughtered in the most inhumane ways possible.

Stephanie scrubbed a weary hand over her brow; Seneca was something she couldn't understand and didn't even want to try and understand.

Because Stephanie couldn't be naïve.

Seneca Crane wasn't divided into two personas ignorant of each other.

The same lips that had told her they loved her had issued the orders to have Haymitch's entire family killed.

The monster and the man were one in the same; Seneca Crane; inseparable.

Stephanie found one thought occurring to her as she arrived to the same conclusion she always did about Seneca.

Could monsters love?

Thanks to girlworthfightingfor for the review; that's exactly it! I'm also surprised by your reversal in 'shipping' :P just because of the backlash Seneca received initially when he first appeared on the scene :P