TRIGGER: Why Me?
"Why me?"
"You weren't paying attention?" Johanna's face changes to a look of childish confusion as if what they had explained should have covered what she had asked. "We told you we need someone to go undercover-"
"I got that!" Katniss responded with a slight trace of anger in her voice, "I mean why me? Why did you pick me to work with instead of all the other more qualified agents that work here?"
"Should've said that to begin with Brainless," Johanna snorted with mild annoyance, "They're all much older then me, it's weird. I don't want to be fake married to someone so much older then me."
"You're older then me"
"But that's different."
"I fail to see it as being different. If you were uncomfortable working with them because of them being older how do you think I feel having to work with you? As your wife?"
"Cashmere's like thirty, the other's aren't that much older. Besides you need the experience one way or another. I'm sure I could teach you a lot of things." Why did every other thing this girl say have to have a double meaning? Katniss was sure if they could pull this off she could pull anything off.
"I hope you brought me someplace nice to propose to me," Katniss shot back before shooting Johanna a smirk of her own, "And I hope you were somewhat creative, that old Champaign trick wouldn't work on me."
"You'd probably choke on the ring Brainless," Johanna's teasing tone is slightly more lighthearted, "But if you simply can't remember Sweetheart, after months of you dropping hits that you wanted to get married with those bridal magazines all over the apartment we shared, I took you out to dinner to celebrate my promotion at work. After dinner we walked through the park, the one we used to play in as kids, and talked about how we played hide and seek there all the time. When we walked past the large oak tree where you liked to hide I got down on one knee-"
"Not both,"
"That was later in the evening," Johanna smirked as a blush crashed against Katniss's face, "And the I asked you to marry me, you said yes of course because here we are."
"All kidding aside, how did you think of that so fast?" Katniss asked trying not to sound too amazed at the fable Johanna told.
"It's a talent,"
"Lying?"
"Story telling," Johanna corrected. "Lying is on the spot. When you tell a story it has to be the same every time you tell it. You can add or take away some of the details to make it sound less rehearsed."
Johanna was good, Katniss wouldn't have known it was a lie if she wasn't the one Johanna was talking about. This was good, it meant she could rely on Johanna if they got stuck, let Johanna talk, let her cover for them. She was sure to be a good person to learn from in the field.
"So you're taking the case?" Haymitch asked, Katniss knew he only wanted clear clarification, so she nodded her head.
"I'll take the case."
"Perfect, let's go over the case," Finnick smiled as he took out the copies of the case file. "Now that the proposal is out of the way."
"Listen carefully, Everdeen, the perp we are going after has stalked and killed three different couples in the District 2 area. All the victims were stalked for weeks before their murder, the killer knew when they went to work, when they would be home, every aspect of their life.
What the victims have in common is they lived a very stereotypical lifestyle. One worked while the other played the role of a housewife and stayed home most of the day. The working half of the couple worked in reporting or in media, anywhere where they would come in contact with celebrities or other famous people."
"Johanna's going undercover as a photographer for Capitol Capture," Finnick gestured to Johanna, "Our friend Caesar Flickerman managed to sneak you in on his team, you'll work with him. He knows the penalty for compromising your cover."
"Katniss has the easy job, you're the housewife character, you'll observe from the house the neighbors and on goings. I'm going undercover as the mailman and Peeta here is the mover from the local U-Haul. We started our cover jobs weeks ago in order to throw off suspicion. We did other jobs in the area so you two moving in wouldn't be suspicious."
"Haymitch will watch the newsfeed, the house is set up with security cameras." Peeta started as he flipped through the file, "The entire perimeter of the house is under surveillance, as well as most of the bottom floor, upstairs hallway, and basement."
"You'll be watching us?" Katniss almost spat uneasily.
"The bedrooms and bathrooms don't have cameras, we figured you'd need privacy. And Johanna threatened us with death if we caught sight of either of you bathing or changing."
"Me and Peeta will be close by if anything goes wrong," Finnick announced, his tone carried an authoritative air, he was serious in his promise. If something when wrong he would probably be the first one through the door gun blazing.
_FORGED WEDDING_
"Your going undercover?" Gale asked with surprise in his voice, they had sat down in the cafe near the building. It looked clean and elegant with the same expensive vibe as the PD headquarters.
"For a few weeks, they seem to think it wont be longer then a month." Katniss stated, "I'm really nervous about it. I know nothing about the girl I have to go undercover with."
"They might be for the best," Gale suggested with a sip of his dark colored expresso. The color of the hot beverage matched his hair almost perfectly. "It might confuse you if you tried to learn about your partner and her cover. It's easy for you to learn about her cover and that only. That way you don't mix facts."
"I guess that makes sense." The last thing Katniss wanted was to come back from her first case unsuccessful because she blew her and Johanna's cover. She felt better about the situation talking to Gale about it, even if she couldn't tell him all the details about the case, like how she would be married to Johanna Mason for a month. "They want to move us in over the weekend."
"That's pretty fast, but I guess they don't want to risk anyone getting hurt." Gale's expresso colored eyebrows came together in thought, "How does your mom and Prim feel about this?"
"I called them, Prim is a little worried but she's excited for me that I get to work on this case so soon. My mom was pretty much the same, she just wants to make sure I get home safe." Katniss leaned back in her chair as her fingertips grazed the edge of the round cafe table before her, "She never really liked my career choice to begin with, so it must be a lot on her to know I'll be going away for work. I left out the parts about being undercover."
"That's probably good, but just in case, you can tell them to call me if they want to know what's going on with you, I'll cover for you. That way everyone's happy." Gale offered a friendly smile that Katniss returned. "We can go out for a celebratory drink all together when you come back."
"Don't jinx it," Katniss rolled her eyes as Gale let out a deep chuckle,
"You'll be fine Katniss, you can do this."
_FORGED WEDDING_
Katherine Deans, that was her cover name. Katniss plays it over and over again in her head as she sits in the limo cruising up to their temporary-home. She's wearing one of the most elegant wedding dresses she's ever seen and it makes her think that it's a shame the dress doesn't see a real wedding. Hair and makeup professionally done, designer dress and shoes, all of which were for Katherine Deans. A newly married women who is starting her life with up and coming photographer Hannah Madison.
Sweat is covering her palm, what if she forgets her cover name? What if she accidentally blows Johanna's cover? What if she forgets-
The list is endless in her mind as she rubs her dampened palms against the sides of the beautiful dress she was forced into wearing.
"Geez your pale," Johanna's voice makes her jump as she looks over, gray eyes meet curious dark brown. They don't remind her of expresso like Gale's hair, they remind her of a dark chocolate latte or some other warm chocolaty beverage. "Calm down, people are going to think I kidnapped you."
"Sorry," It was all Katniss could mutter in that moment. Johanna sat next to her wearing a nice traditional black and white tuxedo, one she looked far to uncomfortable in. Her hair tied back nicely with pieces fall out to frame her face.
"Deep breaths," Johanna coached, "We're not even under the perp's radar yet, you have to calm down."
Johanna sounds far to serious now, far from the teasing girl she knew from the office. Her and Johanna hadn't had much time to get to know each other before jumping into this. The only reason Katniss doesn't fret over it is because of what Gale told her. Her knowing Johanna Mason didn't help her learn about Hannah Madison. Johanna cracks a far more familiar smile as the limo pulls to a stop.
"So do I have to like, carry you over the threshold? Real traditional like?"
Katniss rolls her eyes, they could just walk in. Peeta and Haymitch had unloaded most of the furniture and the boxes that held the belongings they had taken with them. Johanna steps out of the limo first and walks over to the Katniss's side to open the door. Katniss is almost surprised when she feels Johanna lean down to pick her up bridal style.
"We're being watched, laugh." It's raspy and serious and makes Katniss's cheeks go red as her arms wrap around the older girl's neck. Her heels scrape against the car door as Johanna lifts her out of the car and across their lawn, too green to really be grass. She laughs lightly into Johanna's neck, only because the neighbor's kid looks confused as to why two girls are walking up to the house dressed as a newly married couple. She could feel the eyes of housewives looking out their windows as she tries to keep a natural-sounding fake laugh until they reach the doorway. The doorway is open so they can walk in at Johanna's brisk pace.
"I'm starting to think you're having too much fun," Haymitch jokes lightly as Katniss feels her heels make contact with the dark colored hardwood floors. The house was pretty spacious for just the two of them, deep colored hardwood ran throughout the house, high ceilings, very expensive looking furniture that was rented for the cover operation, fake wedding photos that were taken a few days back.
"You're only supposed to get married once," Johanna shoots back with a playful half-smile playing on her lips. "Can I get out of this monkey suite now?"
"Same," Katniss jumped in, "These heels are killing me and the dress is too much."
"I'll help you take off yours if you help me take off mine."
Ok, Katniss will admit she walked into that one. Johanna's smug look only causes Katniss to roll her eyes.
"Everything's in place, except for your clothes and personal items, we left them in the master bedroom." Peeta stated, "Good luck, we'll be close by."
Peeta and Haymitch leave quickly allowing Katniss and Johanna to look around their very impressive home. The kitchen was large, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, electric stovetop, double oven, the whole nine yards. The living room off the kitchen was furnished with a huge sectional and large screen TV mounted on the wall.
"This place is tight," Johanna comments as her fingers run over the granite of the island.
"It's huge," Katniss agreed slightly. Johanna seemed just as amazed by the place as she was.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Johanna asks lightly, "After changing."
"OK" It's not like they had much else to do, that and it would be good to start pushing their presence in the neighborhood. They walk up to the master bedroom where their boxes are placed on opposite sides of the room. Johanna rifles through hers and pulls out jeans and a flannel shirt. Katniss pulls jeans and a T-shirt of her hers. Johanna heads to the second bedroom to change and Katniss takes the on-suite in the master. Almost imediantly after closing the door does Katniss realize that she made a major miscalculation.
She can't get the zipper of her dress undone. At least without risking damaging the borrowed dress. Katniss sighs, if the damn thing wasn't so tight in the torso she could just shimmy out of it. She looks in the large mirror of the bathroom trying to construct a way to get out of the dress without damaging it. Her attempts end in vain when she finds the zipper caught on the fabric of the dress.
"Are you having trouble in there?" Johanna asks from the other side of the door. She changed rather quickly, but she was also the one wearing the tuxedo so that would be easier to get off.
"The zipper's stuck," Katniss stated as she leaned her head back for a moment. "Could you not be a pervert for five minutes and help me?"
"Since you asked so nicely," Johanna responded with sarcasm dripping from her voice. Katniss smirks and opens the door, showing Johanna in her usual jeans and a black and white flannel shirt. Black camisole exposed the top part of her chest and a black script writing tattooed just under her color bone. A small detail her usual halter tops in the office covered.
"So turns out I will be helping you get that off after all?"
"Just get me out of this."
"You move fast huh?" Katniss rolls her eyes and moves her hair over her shoulder as she feels Johanna's one hand on her shoulder while the other messes with the zipper. Katniss's eyes scroll over to the large mirror on the wall over the double sinks.
"So, what does your tattoo say?"
"Semper Fidelis is means 'always faithful' is was the motto of the District 7 Fire Department." Johanna hums as the zipper slides down Katniss's back.
"You were a firefighter?" And from District 7, someting Katniss should have guessed from the lumberjack-ish appearance.
"I practically grew up in that big red building." Johanna chuckles as she steps back. "But yeah, they trained me to be a firefighter since I was fourteen. I starting going out to fight fires with them when I was seventeen. An arsonist case got me promoted to Panem PD, Haymitch recruited me."
"Is that your only tattoo?"
"I have a few more, I could show you if you returned the favor."
What fav-oh Katniss remembered Johanna's taunt about taking each other's clothes off and turned to point towards the door.
"Out."
Johanna laughs but makes her way out of the room as Katniss slams the door.
_FORGED WEDDING_
They had walked through the busy neighborhood, most of the neighbors waved to them on the way. The entire neighborhood looked like something out of a movie. Johanna walked with her arm around Katniss's shoulders. Johanna seemed so much more natural then Katniss could image she looked. Katniss was too jumpy, she looked at every person as they walked by while Johanna glanced naturally or raised her hand in greeting. Eventually Katniss tried to flash smiles, but she was sure her reputation was quickly turning into "that bitch down the street" with her not to friendly looks at the clearly wealthier passersby.
They quickly learned that neither one of them was a proficient cook. Katniss could make simple things and Johanna seemed to be the same. So they did the most natural thing and had Finnick order them pizza, only so Finnick could monitor their food so it wouldn't be poisoned before it got to them.
"One of the girls was poisoned." Johanna mentions as they sit in the living room, a box of pizza on the coffee table and a ABC family movie playing on the screen. "Only the one, he seems to match his MO with his victims"
They didn't talk much about the case, Katniss had been filled in all before they set out. She felt calmer, like the first day was almost over and it went on without too big a hitch.
"I have to admit Mason, I didn't foresee my honeymoon looking like this."
"There's a bottle of Champaign in the wine fridge," Johanna smirked, "We can still get to the fun part of a honeymoon."
"I'll pass," Katniss rolled her eyes, "You can hit the shower first if you want, I'm going to make a call."
"Calling your boy friend Gale from Unit 3?" Johanna asks with the slightest edge to her voice as Katniss shakes her head. The tone was slightly altered from the usual tone she was used to hearing from Johanna, but she let is slide.
"My mom and sister, Gale offered to talk to them for me, but I really want to talk to them myself at least once to let them know I'm OK." Katniss stood and picked up her cell, "My mom worries, so I want to make she she knows she doesn't have to worry too much. As far as she knows I'm working a case with my team."
Johanna shrugs and stands up from the couch to stretch before heading upstairs. Katniss waits until she can't hear her footsteps on the stairs before she hits call and puts the phone to her ear.
"Katniss?"
"Hey Prim," Katniss smiled hearing her little sister's voice.
"How's the case?" Katniss could hear the excitement in her little sister's voice. Prim was almost eighteen, she already knew she wanted to be a doctor and was working hard in high school so she could go to a good medial school. Katniss was proud of her.
"It's slow right now." Katniss sighed and she walked to the staircase and sat at the bottom step. "How's mom?"
"She's doing good, she went to bed early tonight. They upped her anti-depressant so she's been sleepier lately."
"I promise as soon as this case is over I'll be back to help you take care of mom." Katniss stated as she heard a light giggle from the other end of the phone.
"Don't worry, it's good practice." Prim started, "I can say I have experience working with patients."
"I guess so," It was always good to hear from Prim, her light airy laugh and her innocent way of talking about everything. She heard Johanna call from the bedroom that the shower was open.
"I have to go, I'll talk to you later Little Duck."
"OK Katniss, Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Katniss waited to hear the click on the line going dead before she stood up and walked up the steps. Johanna took quick showers, she couldn't have been in there longer then ten minutes. When Katniss stepped into the master bedroom Johanna was sitting on the left side of the bed with the table light on and a book in her hands. Katniss grabbed her things and headed from the bathroom to take her shower.
It's weird having a glass door instead of the shower curtain, it's like standing in a little box that fills with steam. Katniss wants to get to bed so she takes a quick shower and changes into her sweatpants and an old T-shirt before emerging back into the master bedroom.
Johanna still where Katniss left her, book in hand. Katniss is about to leave the room when a thought occurs to her. The second bedroom wasn't set up, there wasn't even really a bed, just an air mattress that was void of air. Where was she supposed to sleep? Surely they couldn't be expected to sleep in the same bed? But they were supposed to pass themselves off as married so didn't it make sense that they sleep in the same bed?
LIVE TRIGGER
C, Head towards the door
B. Ask Johanna
A. Get into the master bed
Sorry for previous uploading error and thanks again for all the positive feedback!