KATNISS
Public support was turning away from her and Peeta. Who cared about a few chaste kisses and some lingering looks when there was another couple who killed as a team? Cato and Clove were willing to play with much higher stakes than her and Peeta, and wasn't this all about entertainment at the end of the day?
Katniss understood that minding Rue was seriously impacting on her and Peeta's romance. No, minding sounded awful, put like that. It wasn't minding, it wasn't a chore. Katniss loved Rue, like she loved Prim, but the cameras didn't care much about that kind of love, the real kind. They just wanted her and Peeta, staring at each other, senselessly smitten.
The message was simple, really. It was glaring from every gift and every note that Haymitch sent them, and in every point less they earned. It was time to amp it up.
She knew that if the points stopped coming in for the them, then they'd be killed immediately, as they'd be no good to Cato and Clove if they weren't earning. The deadly duo had been pacing themselves until now, but they'd gladly break their rhythm to kill her, she reckoned.
And so she worked at it. She began to dress a little more like Glimmer had. Peeta relished in the newfound attention she lavished onto him. She was trying, yes, but it wasn't enough.
She knew they were not strong enough to take on Cato and Clove in open warfare. That would be suicide.
Katniss knew what they really needed to do, to get the points back. They needed to kill. She saw Rue, and she knew. People voted for strength, and her and Peeta had not showed it, not where it mattered.
She would not kill Rue. She would never do that, never even think about that, and when it came down to it, she didn't have to. There was another choice. It was her virginity or Rue's life, and Katniss chose.
It wouldn't be done like a sex tape. She still had more dignity left than that. It had to be done more like the heart-wrenching consummation of two young sweethearts' love, the naive young couple who had only death in their future. It had to turn the spotlight back on them.
RUE
Rue was in the laundry room. She had pulled herself into the washing basket, and Katniss had piled a ton of clothes on top of her. No one ever did any washing in the house, and they agreed it was a pretty good hiding place, even if there was a faint, lingering smell of sweat.
What Rue didn't know was why she had to hide in the first place, why Katniss was leaving her at all. Katniss had said that she'd be fine, that it was only for an hour or so, that she just had something she had to do with Peeta, and would not say anything else.
Rue didn't know what to think, but it was a little painful, being left out like that, but it wasn't her choice. She snuggled in deeper with the washing, and tried to fall asleep.
Katniss dropped her dress, and it fell to the floor like a sigh. She stood naked, her hair free of its braid and spilling out over her back in loose long curls. She shook her head softly and the curls danced, the light caught in them.
Peeta was transfixed, captivated by this woman in front of him, and yet he felt more like a frightened rabbit, that he was being lured in by the bait, and that the trap was going to fall at any moment, than that her boyfriend, her equal. It was too perfect.
MARISSA
Marissa did not hide under the bed anymore, not since Clove had found her. She was in a different place every day now, stowed away like a squirrel hides her food. It was Clove who assigned the hiding places, like Clove decided everything.
Marissa waited for the day when Clove would lead her to her death, for the day she would come not for kisses but to kill her, and each day that passed she could not decide whether to trust her more or less than the day previous.
Today Marissa was in the laundry room; there was a big round boiler tank in there that hummed away and it had its own little cupboard. She was crouched in the darkness beside the tank, with some old blankets thrown over her. Marissa liked the old boiler. It reminded her of a grandfather, stout and warm. Clove was cold to touch.
She had never thought that Clove would be her ally, that it would be a Career would come and bring her food and kisses, and she didn't trust it, even if she did like it.
PEETA
There was going to be no sleep tonight. Peeta fell back onto the bed, and Katniss fell against him. He was warm, and she was cold, covered in goosebumps and very wary of each and every eye on her, every single eye in Panem.
He kissed her forehead softly, and murmured sweet nothings, and she wanted to cry then and there, but instead lifted her head and raised her lips to his.
CLOVE
"I'm going to find that bitch today!" Cato swore and threw a cup against the wall. It exploded into shards, but Clove did not flinch. She was almost bored of Cato's explosive anger at this point.
"Sweep that up," she said lazily. He turned on her, his eyes mad in his head. "Say that again," he warned. "Grow up," she shot back. He breathed in deeply, his nostrils flaring.
This was the real Cato, the vicious and violent man who was thought it was his godforsaken right to be victor. The Capitol had never seen this side to him. Cato had been dashing in his interview, and he would grow up to be the darling of the Capitol. This murderous rage would be forgotten just as easily as the other's tribute's names; it would all wash off his hands like water.
"Fine, we'll go find her," she relented, maintaining eye contact as if he was a dangerous animal and not a teenage boy, "but only if you clean up the mess." They glared at one another for a moment, and then he nodded.
KATNISS
"Katniss," Peeta said, and it was almost a question. They had dragged the wardrobe in front of the door, and it was probably the safest they had been since the games began, and yet Katniss felt intimidated somehow, on edge.
"It's okay, it's okay," she said back, and she kissed him quiet. It needed to look like she wanted this, after all.
MARISSA
Marissa heard them coming. She knew, she knew that Clove had only been playing her, in this game that only Clove understood, but it still strangely hurt.
Cato's voice. "Why are you being such a bitch?" "I'm not," Clove drawled. "Look, let's just find her and you can kill her and work out whatever problems you have, and we'll talk then."
Marissa hadn't thought that she'd ever empathise with Cato, and yet she understood what it was like to be at the end of Clove's anger. Cato was coming to kill someone, and yet Clove still brushed it off as insignificant, that he was the dumb brute, mostly useless. Marissa nearly wanted to laugh, but that would only lessen her chances.
She pressed herself closer to the boiler but did not close her eyes. She wanted to look Clove in the eye when they found her.
PEETA
Katniss smiled at him, and he knew it, he knew there was something wrong because she never smiled like that. He ignored the fact that the girl he loved was naked, and he gently lifted her off him.
"Look Katniss, I don't know what you think is going to happen, but it's okay, alright? We're going to be just fine. We don't have to do this now. There's no rush or anything. We're going to survive these games Katniss, I swear it, and there'll be time for this then okay? But not like this, please."
She nodded slowly, and he pulled her back into his arms and they stayed like that for a while. Katniss was strong, a better tribute than him, and so it just felt good to hold her, just for a moment, to touch that passion and fire and not let go. If she was upset, well they didn't need to discuss it further. Weaknesses were not to be drawn attention to after all. The cameras would just think she was being emotional about their romance, but he knew her better. He brushed his fingers through her hair and wished that they could talk freely.
CLOVE
Clove tried to draw Cato away from the laundry room but he insisted. They had searched most of the house, but left Katniss' room. They weren't looking to engage with Twelves just yet.
Fine, so she didn't want Marissa dead, and that was a flaw yes, that was a weak spot, but who gave a damn? Katniss was allowed mind the kid, didn't Clove deserve to protect one person? Let Cato get his kicks killing someone else. Marissa was hers. Except of course, they were running out of people to use as mood pacifiers, weren't they? The disposables were dying at a shocking rate.
There were limits to that protection Clove was willing to offer Marissa though. She hadn't lied that first night. If Cato found Marissa, Clove would let her die. Marissa was not the one who would get Clove out of the Games alive. She was pretty, yes, but Cato was about the only thing stopping Twelves from killing Clove outright, not Marissa's kisses. Katniss and Peeta didn't fear her like they should, and that meant she needed Cato on her side, Marissa or not.
"What is up with you?" Cato spat at her. Gone was the charm he had used on Thresh days ago. The facade was slipping now. She shrugged, and he kicked a basket full of dirty clothes in response. It skidded along the floor and nudged the wall, heavier than it rightfully should be. Cato glanced at her, with that smile, his murder smile, and moved in.
She circled around the back of the basket, and on her nod, she tore the top layer of clothes away, and there was Rue, who had peed herself judging by the smell. Cato clamped his hand over the kid's mouth before she could scream. Rue barely fought at all. Pathetic. Clove wondered how the kid had even lasted this long.
MARISSA
Marissa listened. They were only feet away from her, but she was blind, hidden in the cupboard, and could only imagine what the scene looked like from their voices. "Bring her into kitchen, it's more fun in there," Clove said, and Marissa heard Rue whimper.
She imagined that Cato had Rue by the arm -or the neck even- but it seemed the kid wasn't dead yet. Marissa could have attempted to save the Rue but that would leave her exposed. She stayed where she was instead, hugging the boiler.
"C'mon then," Clove said, and she heard their footsteps leave the laundry room, drawing Cato away from Marissa. So Clove had Marissa's back after all. They had been looking for Rue, not her. She smiled to herself. So what if Rue was going to get killed? At least she was still alive. Clove would be rewarded tonight, if not by points, then by Marissa herself. She had the craziest urge to laugh again.
CATO
Cato dragged Rue the few feet into the kitchen, where they would be allowed use knives and all sorts of utensils to their hearts' content. "You guard the door, I'll kill the kid," Clove told him. He glared at her and she raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you think that I'm strong enough to hold off both Katniss and Peeta? Cause they're both gonna come running when she," and Clove kicked Rue, "starts screaming."
Cato was so sick of Clove's shit, but he didn't want to kill her just yet. He didn't want to rush it. That one would be the most fun, and he wanted to savour it, not waste it in a petty squabble. He tossed the kid at Clove, who quickly muffled the screams by covering Rue's mouth with her hand. "What?" Clove asked sweetly. "Did you just think that you could scream and that Katniss would come save you?" She dragged Rue over to the knives drawer as she spoke. "Well darling, hate to be the bearer of bad news at all, but no one is coming to save you." Cato watched her at work, and he did have to admit, Clove had style. He'd been right to keep her on for another few days. She murdered on her own terms, and that was nothing if not entertaining.