All the tributes were gathered in a large room, waiting to be called so they could present their talents to the Gamemakers. They would start with District 1 until they got to District 12.
As they waited, everyone was quiet, except for a bit of whispering. Molly was beginning to become uncomfortable with James's gaze from across the room.
"District One, Irene Adler," The voice over the com boomed. Molly watched as the girl from District 1, Irene, sitting next to James, stood up and walked confidantly out the door. She saw Sherlock break his gaze on James to glance at Irene. Something squeezed her insides at the look he was giving her.
Molly put her face in her hands, trying to focus on something else other than James and Sherlock. She pictured the steel spear in her hand. She imagined aiming, throwing and hitting the target.
She wasn't sure how much time passed when the voice over the com spoke again. "District One, James Moriarty."
Molly looked up to watch him leave. He continued to watch her and Sherlock until the doors closed behind him. Sherlock and Molly looked at each other.
"You ready?" He asked. Molly did not sense one bit of nervousness from him. She was next.
"I hope so," She answered, looking down at the ground. "What about you?"
"Always," He said with a confident smirk.
"District Two, Molly Hooper," The voice announced after a few minutes. Molly stood up, taking a deep breath. She looked to Sherlock for extra confidence, but he was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, ignoring everything.
Molly frowned and walked out the door as confidently as she could manage.
She searched for the spears before even batting an eye towards the Gamemakers. They were chatting, probably about the first two performances. They watched Molly as she strode towards her weapon of choice. She knew they were expecting great things from her and she hoped she could impress them, even if it just made her feel more like the Capitols pet.
She took a silver spear in her hand and focused on her target. She thought she would try for the closest target first, as a warm up.
She threw the spear. It didn't land exactly where she wanted, which was a bit of a disapointment. At least she didn't miss. Still, she could hear the laughter from the Gamemakers. She frowned.
Just a warm up, she reminded herself.
She suddenly had an idea, and almost smiled. Could she do it? She quickly grabbed two spears, one in each hand. She heard a couple of ooo's from the the Gamemakers. She had to do good now, and she knew that she was taking a big risk. Maybe her fantasies of hitting the center of the target with both spears were too much, but it was too late to back down now.
She arched her arms back, aiming for two seperate targets, one closer than the other. She took a deep breath, and steadied herself. Her eyebrows furrowed in consentration. She threw the spears as hard as she could. The Gamemakers gasped but Molly ignored them. The spear she threw with her left hand hit the target she aimed for, two inches away from the center. The spear from her right hand did not hit the target she aimed for, but instead, embeded itself in a dummy about the same distance as the other one, almost like the first time she threw a spear in training. She looked over at the Gamemakers stunned faces, and she walked out with a huge smile on her face.
She could not wait to see what the scores would be that night. She was pretty proud of herself, but she was more curious about what Sherlock's score might be.
She had controled her excitement until she saw Sherlock again. She wanted to tell him what had happened, how he was right all along, but he did not look so happy. He had the same emotionless mask he always wore, but Molly thought she spotted something underneath his disguise.
"Are you okay?" Molly asked, her excitement flying away.
"Fine," Came his usual retort.
While Mycroft and Tim talked, as usual, during meals, Molly and Sherlock were silent. Molly was waiting for him to speak, but he just stared at his dinner, taking the occasional bite.
"What happened today?" Molly finally asked, needing to know why Sherlock was more quiet than usual.
Sherlock slowly looked up at her, a puzzled look on his face. "Showing off to the Gamemakers, obviously-"
"I mean," Molly said. "Did something happen with James, or Irene?"
"We'll see," Sherlock mumbled.
Molly opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Mycroft filled in the silence for her.
"How do you think you did today?" He asked both of them. Molly didn't know why he bothered asking. He could probably just deduce how well they did. Maybe he did deduce it, and that's why he worded the question in such a way. How do you think you did?
"Well, I didn't kill anyone," Molly said, attempting to joke. Tim made a sound that sounded like a genuine chuckle. Mycroft smiled politely. Sherlock rolled his eyes.
"Joking's not really your area, Molly," Sherlock sighed. Molly blushed, embarrassed. Sherlock stood up and walked towards his bedroom.
"Ah, Sherlock, don't be gone too long. They will announce the scores in an hour." Mycroft told him.
"Yes," Sherlock mumbled, disapearing quickly to his bedroom.
Molly looked down at her food. Was he mad? At her? Mycroft? Did he mess up in front of the Gamemakers? Of course he didn't. That wouldn't be like him. He doesn't fold under pressure. But something was definately on his mind, and she needed to find a way to break it out of him. Would he ever open up to her?
About an hour later, they were all seated in front of the television, listening to Panems Anthem. Molly and Sherlock sat next to eachother, Sherlock on a white chair, Molly on the end of the sofa. Hewa and Fordan were also there, and of course, Mycroft and Tim. They all watched as the Host of the Hunger Games, Jarem Clark, came on the screen, papers in hand, seated behind a glass table.
Jarem Clark was a very happy man, even happier than Tim, and Tim was a very happy guy. Jarem Clark was what Molly would call a pretty man. He was always dressed-to-impress. He had very long hair, even longer than Molly's. Longer than Molly's mothers hair. His hair reached just below the small of his back. No one was really sure what Jarem's natural hair color was, but for this years Hunger Games, his hair was as black as midnight, and it sparkled like the stars in the night sky. It was almost as pretty as the actual midnight sky. His clothes matched his hair, and his grin mirrored an upside-down, half-moon, like he was the sky. His voice was deeper than Sherlock's, which was pretty deep. It made goosebumps form on Molly's arms as he started speaking. Sherlock noticed.
"James Moriarty of District One has a score of, eleven," Jarem said, his moon-like grin never leaving his face. Molly inhaled slowly, trying not to gasp. The highest score you could recieve was twelve. Eleven almost seemed unbelievable. When Irene Adler received the same score, Molly resisted the urge to stand up and storm into her room and cry hopelessly.
"Sherlock Holmes of District Two recieved a score of," Molly held her breath. He seemed to pause for a lifetime, even though it was only a second. Maybe not even that long. "Twelve." Jarem made sure he read it right and then nodded at the camera, his grin returning. Molly's mouth split open. It was only quiet in the room for a second before everyone shouted as they congradulated Sherlock. Mycroft was the only one who seemed unsurprised by the score.
"Molly Hooper of District Two has a score of," Another very short pause that seemed like a lifetime. Molly was very hopeful. "Eleven." The shouts went up in the room again and Molly and Sherlock smiled at each other.
There's a little bit of hope after all, Molly Thought.
As Jarem continued, Molly watched as Greg Lestrade got a score of nine and John Watson, a score of ten. A lot of the other, poorer District Tributes did not do so well. The Tributes from District 11 got fairly good scores. The girl whom Molly caught the name, Sally, got a score of eight, while the boy, Molly only caught the last name, Anderson, got a score of seven. Molly knew that Sherlock did not get along with them very well during training, and he scoffed as their faces popped up on the screen.
Molly memorized a couple of other names, mostly because she had seen some of them make contact with James or Irene in one way or another. One particular boy named Sebastian. Molly had seen him next to James a lot during Training, and took that as a sign that he was an ally. Sebastian Moran was from District 3 and he got a score of eleven. Molly chewed on her thumb nail, something she only did when she worried, and she was very worried about James and Irene. The fact that they may have another person on their side was not a good sign, especially when that person got a high score.
Everyone had gone to bed. Well, almost everyone. Molly and Sherlock were heading to bed. Molly opened her door and turned back to look at Sherlock, but he was not heading towards his room. Instead, he headed towards a window. Molly knew that by opening that window, it would lead to a part of the roof that slanted down just a few inches. Not very steep. It could be used as a small balcony, but you had to be careful, because there was some force-field that would electrocute you if you touched it. The purpose was to keep the Tributes that were living there from jumping off the roof and killing themselves. The shockwave would be enough to throw you back a little, but not kill you.
She watched as Sherlock climbed out the window. She debated whether to follow him or not for a minute. Her body knew before her brain, and she climbed out the window and sat down beside him, carefully staying away from the edge of the roof.
"What are we going to tell them?" Molly asked after a few moments of silence.
Sherlock was quiet for a second, sighing. And for once, it wasn't an impatient sigh. It was more... sad.
"We could do it," He said. Molly looked over at him.
"Be on their side?" She asked.
"You told me you might need them to survive," Sherlock looked at her. She could barley make out the expression on his face. He tried to hide how tired he looked. And not like sleepy-tired. Like, bored, sick of this life, tired. "But you don't. You could make it without them. We don't need them." Sherlock stared at Molly for a while before looking forward and speaking again. "But, of course, if I refuse his offer, he will not stop hunting us down."
Molly also looked forward, thinking about what he was saying. Sure, she got an eleven, but that was only with spears. Did Sherlock really have that much faith in her? Would he stay with her in the Arena?
"Sherlock," She started. "If we agree with them, there's no telling when they will turn on us. At least if we disagreed with them, we would know what to watch out for."
Sherlock looked back at Molly. "I thought you said being with them was a good idea."
"Maybe, when it comes to food and weapons. But trusting them? That's something only an idiot would do."
Sherlock smiled. "What about doing what we discussed? Making them think we trust them whole-heartedly, but sleep with one eye open."
Molly had run this plan over and over in her head since they had talked about it before, and it seemed like the best plan they had, that would help them get far.
"But what if they make us prove it?" She asked in a soft, nervous voice.
Sherlock squinted his eyes in confusion, running through the possibilities, then nodding. "As in, make us join in the blood-bath. Kill the other Tributes mercilessly."
Molly frowned and nodded. She did not want to kill people. Sure, she has been around plenty of dead bodies, considering that her mother helped plan funerals for people from the Capitol. But to be the reason for a dead body lying on the ground, a look of terror on their face, that was a whole different situation. Molly did not want to play the Capitols Game any longer, and she had only just started playing.
"Tell him yes," Molly said. Sherlock turned his head to her, almost in shock. "He wants us to join his chess game. Lets force him into check-mate."
(AN: I am soooo sorry I took so long! D: I was very busy and during my free time, I was having MAJOR writers block with this story! Any ideas would help :) I Especially need ideas for Mrs. Hudson, because I realized that I should have made her Molly's makeup artist instead of creating Hewa but it just did not cross my mind until now, so if you have any ideas on how to use Mrs. Hudson, I would really appreciate it! :) Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING AND FAVORITING! You guys are the best! :D I will try harder to update more, but I can't make any promises :) If you want daily (or every other day :P) updates, follow my story "The Sherlock Diaries". I'm pretty proud of that one :) I LOVE YOU GUYS! 3)