Surviving

Chapter 2: Surroundings

His counterpart shifted in her seat as Tim watched the ever changing view of Panem. It felt like he was just sitting at home but outside, the scenery rushed past as the train traveled rapidly towards the Capitol. His feet tapped the floor with impatience, kidnapping someone and bringing them to the future was plain rude, and these guys brought it to a whole new level. Feelings of humiliation and awe settled in his stomach then anger was brewed with the two. Years of training and he had been overthrown in his sleep, Bruce would have been disappointed.
He glanced at his partner, lines on the forehead, biting of nails, mouth breathing and the constant tapping of feet were signs of nervousness but he knew she was more than just nervous, she was terrified. He was thinking of whether to share his mission to her, but it might only add more pressure to their task.
When he woke up to a change of surroundings, he thought some villain was messing with him, his suspicions were almost accurate. They seemed welcoming at first but when he demanded answers, they turned dark and even threatened him to the job. If they had good intentions they won't get anywhere with that attitude. Then he got a whiff of that District air as he-

His thoughts came to an abrupt stop as a man entered the carriage. He adjusted his already breaking glasses and came to sit near them. A few seconds of silence followed as they took a fill on each other's appearances. Tim concluded that he was one of the people who went up on stage during the reaping, a former victor of the games, and their mentor. As soon as the moments turned awkward, the man put on a small smile and started speaking.

"I'm Beetee, your mentor," he came right to the point.

"I thought we were having Wiress," his fellow tribute asked.

It was obvious that Beetee was very nervous himself. He probably doesn't talk much and that's what probably kept him alive, geniuses often worked that way. District 3 was known for technology and Tim was wondering if his kidnappers put him there as a joke, guess they weren't so serious after all.

"Wiress is not fit to be an instructor, due to her… mental capabilities." In short, she was crazy, "I have had more experiences as a mentor and on the arena."

Beetee gave him a look and Tim knew there was something calculating in that man's head. His first day on the job probably surprised the folks of 3, tributes don't intentionally pop out of nowhere. Right now he could probably be the talk of the district, gaining more unsatisfied citizens and even more relieved teenagers...the lucky stiffs. Yet Beetee seemed to be trustworthy, Tim wouldn't be surprised he already knew about his temporary bosses.

"So are we going to talk about strategy?" He gave an innocent question for he was an "innocent" electrical engineer.

"I've decided to let you observe the reapings, a good start for… acquainting with your competition." The sound of an applause filled the train car as the film started from a TV in the wall. The surroundings were much cleaner than District 3 and bigger. Tim tried finding any faces he'd hope to recognize when he realized he was in a whole different timeline and everyone he knew including himself were probably dead.

This mission just keeps getting livelier by the second.

"As you know, this year's quarter quell challenges the Capitol to offer up its own tributes," Beetee narrated while the Panem anthem was being played. "So right now they do have the upper hand, who knows what things they'll be injecting into their tributes."

Tim had limited knowledge about the Capitol, yet their idea seemed to go on in his mind since he was briefed. He believed sacrifice was needed to obtain victory, it didn't add up in the moment as Tim watched a lady with an even more stupendous outfit climbed up the stage to draw the names. He looked upon the variety of teens of the capitol, wondering what faces they have pulled on for this day. Then his eyes turned to the picturesque background that was the Capitol. Any artist from his time would probably pay a fortune just to get their stained hands on that view.
Tim seemed to bore off in the background when he heard (unfortunately) a familiar voice from the crowd.

The little...

The view seemed distorted now as he watched Damian Wayne volunteer himself for another tribute whom he'd never seen before in tears. That last bit was sorta funny to see but right now Tim was just annoyed. Annoyed that he wasn't told that the little brat would be on it too, who knows who else is in this game, this useless game of theirs. His hands formed into fists as he turned towards the rushing surroundings of Panem again, the feeling of uselessness and defeat filling his eyes. The crowd clapped once more, clapped out of pure plastic joy as Damian and the stranger were locked in an embrace, looking as if love couldn't keep them apart.

This mission just keeps getting more annoying by the second.

Whether he was in heaven or hell, Jason couldn't actually decipher which. He never actually remembered visiting any of the two during his unbecoming silence, but he was damn sure it was boring.
So when he woke up and caught the whiff of a funky smelling gunpowder, he knew he wasn't back home. The sense of alarm brought him to his feet, then he had a feeling some guns would point to him eventually, he just was a walking target that shoots back.
His mysterious assassins awaited his next move, slim guns rested on their hands. Unfortunately, he wasn't armed… bed sheets would have even more use than him. Fortunately, there were bed sheets. The gunmen were blinded for a second as Jason laid the thick cloth over their eyes. He then made a huge leap for the door, in a few meters he would know where he was. Before reaching the exit, he hesitated. Those gunmen should have been shooting by now, but only silence came from his kidnappers, as if they were afraid to make a sound. Instead, a sharp voice addressed a warning to him:

"I can assure you it's better staying in here than out there," but Jason was already running outside before the sentence was finished.

The darkness of twilight engulfed him as he continued his escape. The curiosity of his surroundings wasn't in him. He was just used to unfamiliar places, so he just examined it. The town was asleep, or holding its breath, for nothing made a sound. The air smelled foreign, mixed with toxins and dirt. His instincts carried his feet to the forest.

The wind was knocked out of him when a hand covered his mouth and four more grabbed his arms and feet. Shouting didn't seem like an option as he was dragged back to the cabin before he had a chance to struggle free. Once the temporary gag was pulled out, Jason managed a curse. He was held back by two muscular arms that it felt like they were going to rip his hands out any second. The voice addressed him once again but whoever owned it was out of Jason's area of vision.

"You'll have your explanation soon enough, right now we have to move. If you make a sound they'll kill us all." Jason was flattered two gangs were fighting him over, if he only knew who they are.

The three captors hauled Jason outside and once again he was met with its strange atmosphere. It didn't feel like any of the countries he'd visited, or any world or dimension he was dragged into. He wasn't sure why he was following them, something about their warnings seemed true, and he didn't trust the place yet, much less be familiarized with it. He'd wish any of his friends would come to the rescue, not matter how humiliating it may be.
The town looked old, but between the houses there were wide gray buildings. They looked dull and thick, with huge number 2s stuck on their surfaces. His kidnappers tried their best to avoid these buildings and to Jason, they looked like giant Legos that fell out of the sky. But if you'd look below, it seemed heavily guarded by dudes in white suits. Jason assumed those people were the they his kidnappers were talking about. They walked on what seemed like 30 minutes when they pushed him to the forest.

That was where I was going for Jason thought as they were swallowed by the forest's grasp.

Another 30 minutes crawled by when Jason started hearing whirring sounds like some helicopter. He was then forced to break into a run by his captors as the sounds drew nearer and nearer until a dark shadow loomed over him. When he had the nerve to look up he spotted the strange looking aircraft of doom that was (unfortunately) chasing them. He then glanced at the mysterious people who kidnapped him, confusion and anger was found on their faces. Jason felt the same way, but at least they knew what they were doing or where they were. Jason felt like he'd been resurrected again.

They continued to run until the hovercraft got close enough and let down half a dozen people with the same white suits he'd seen earlier. Soon they were also running after him with the hovercraft deeper into the woods, it felt all too familiar.

About two people were shot before the chase ended. One of the people who took him to this damned place and one of those weirdly dressed policemen. Jason didn't know who was the bad guy at the moment, he just felt more anger as he was carried up to into the hovercraft. His series of curses stopped when he entered the aircraft. Inside was an oval shaped room divided by a clear glass. Through that glass sat Dick Grayson, handcuffed and surrounded by more thugs. Dick's eyes widened from confusion and he said something that couldn't be heard by the glass, but Jason knew well enough he said his name. Looks like Jason wasn't the only one who wasn't told about what was happening.

"The hell is going on?!"

So, I finally got to write chapter 2! I'm so sorry it took so long to write it, I got a really annoying writer's block and I had to sort out some things in the story, mixed with a lot of other work too.

So I guess this puts some light into some questions. I hope you'll still continue following this fic for more answers. And I'll make sure there won't be some four month gap between each chapter.

Thanks for reading!