A/N – Firstly apologies for the major delay in getting this chapter written, although I won't apologise for the main reason because I GOT MARRIED! Huzzah! Best day ever and all that! So been understandably busy doing other things :)
Secondly I had an idea for another fic which I have started; please check it out. It's called Sabotaged Heart and is a modern AU, and this is the first time I have attempted such a thing, so I would really appreciate the feedback.
Finally this was an incredibly hard chapter to write. A few people wanted warnings if there was going to be any more Finnick/Peeta. Well, consider yourself warned. This chapter contains more non-con sex as well as mild drug use so please look away now if you are going to be hugely offended. This was not easy to write but was very necessary as you will see eventually.
One other random little note; everyone has a different idea about how Peeta's prosthetic works. Just so you know, I always pictured it as non-removable. Quite realistic looking but nowhere near as advanced as say, Luke Skywalker's mechanical hand. So it would only be obvious up close.
At midday there is a downpour that covers the entire arena, with the absence of the lightening that came with the rain at midnight. Briar had said that the general consensus on these Games so far has been that too many deaths have occurred too soon, and too many of them due to the arena. It appears that the gamemakers have listened to the fans in the Capitol. With only a small handful of tributes receiving gifts of water, and dad being the only one with regular access to water, many of the tributes were so close to the brink of collapse that the gamemakers have been forced to provide something safe to drink.
Once safely inside the jungle dad managed to erect a shelter similar to the original one. He had already provided the small group with drinking water, and then got to work on the shelter, which meant that when the rain started to pour they were able to hide from it and stay in relative comfort. Other tributes have become soaked to the bone in their desperation to quench their thirst. After around half an hour the rain stops abruptly. Who knows when the next life giving downpour will come?
Even though I know that no-one has died since dad's battle with Titus I can't help but check the boards every few minutes. Not much more than a day in and already the forty eight tributes have been whittled down to eighteen. All Districts have lost at least one tribute but we seem to be doing better than most. Along with us, Districts One and Four have only lost a single tribute each. All others have lost at least two or three. Districts Eight and Nine are out of the games entirely.
Having finally sent Haymitch to bed as he was proving no use to anyone, Katniss and have spent the morning talking with some of the Capitol citizens to try and convince them to sponsor our tributes. This hasn't been proving easy. Katniss shows her disdain for them far too readily and most of the ones not put off by her abruptness only want to sponsor Rafe. It is little wonder that Haymitch struggled to get help to the District Twelve tributes over the years. They simply aren't interested in such an outlying District, unless someone with real skill and intrigue, such as Katniss, or vicious bloodlust, like Rafe, is handed to them. The affable, likeable approach simply doesn't attract their attention.
As if to underline this fact the noise in the bar starts to grow to fever pitch. It would appear that Rafe has just been found by the man from Seven, who looks as if he is only just past standard reaping age himself. He is armed with a spiked club and is both fast and strong. I can't remember his score awarded by the Gamemakers, but a quick check of the board informs me that this is Ash Burrell whose current odds stand at 10-1. Not bad. I can't believe I'm actually willing someone from a different district to beat one of our own tributes, but the thought of what Rafe will do out of spite if he finds dad is far too chilling to entertain.
Ash and Rafe were momentarily startled by the appearance of each other as they stumbled from opposite ends of a slight clearing but soon regain their composure.
"Alright, Twelve?" says Ash as he swings the club by his side.
"Not bad, Seven," replies Rafe, pretending to examine his own weapon and holding the cleaver up so that the blade glints slightly in a ray of sun. "As good as could be expected. You?"
"I'll be better soon," he replies.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. When you're out of the way."
Rafe smirks. "Killed anyone yet?"
"Injured the woman from Ten. She's not dead yet, but it's only a matter of time."
"Oooh, bravo," he says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've done three myself, and managed to fight off the Careers. I think it's about time I made that four, don't you? Unless you think that you injuring some girly means I should just give up in fear now?"
"Maybe you should." He swings the club one more time at his side and across his body before he lunges at Rafe.
They are a match for each other in speed and strength, but Ash has the advantage of having a longer weapon. Rafe is going to have to get much closer to be able to do any damage, and with the spiked club swinging purposefully in front of Ash, that won't prove to be easy. Rafe side steps and ducks and weaves out of the way of those lethal looking spikes, getting cockier each time. "Is that all you've got?" he taunts.
His moment of arrogance costs him. Ash swings the club low, catching Rafe in the shin, and knocking him off his feet. One of the spikes has cut him quite deeply but he hasn't given up. As Ash steps closer to finish him off, Rafe uses his cleaver to send an almighty blow to just above his ankle. He practically severs Ash's entire foot from his leg, sending him toppling to the floor, his eyes wide from shock and fear. I look at the now useless appendage, hanging on by just a few sinewy tendons and feel a phantom sympathy pain in my own missing limb which very nearly causes me to lose my balance.
There is no way Ash will be able to survive an injury like this. Rafe knows this too. Despite his own injury, he quickly crawls to Ash's side, raises the cleaver high above his head and brigs it down hard and fast over Ash's neck. I close my eyes before the moment of impact, and turn my face away from the screens, hearing the cannon blast just a second later. I open my eyes and am about to look back but Katniss hisses, "Don't look." I have seen plenty of death over the years, but am still grateful to Katniss for at least trying to protect me from the tribute I fear the most.
A familiar voice invades my thoughts. "Well that was unnecessarily graphic. Have you got some kind of vendetta against us or something?" Johanna Mason again. "Three of our tributes taken out by three of yours. What, don't you like us or something?"
"Do you want something, Mason?" Katniss snaps.
"Alright," she says sounding exasperated and holding her hands up in front of her in a gesture of peace. "Just trying to be friendly."
Almost as soon as she stalks away we are inundated with requests to help Rafe. He is unable to put much weight on his own leg and if it isn't treated soon he'll probably end up with septicaemia if he doesn't bleed out. The medicine his leg requires is bound to be expensive and there are not many patrons who would be able to afford it alone. I know of one who certainly could but I couldn't be in any way less inclined to ask her for help just for Rafe. But there are enough individuals offering to help him that resources could be pooled in order to send him what he needs.
I find the thought thoroughly galling. How can they possibly expect me to send life giving medicine to the boy who has made it apparent from day one that he's going after my dad? I try to steer the conversation to him instead, and see if they would care to sponsor one of our other tributes; even Ava as now they are working together then at least dad may see the benefit of any gifts they choose to send. My attempts are met with stares as if I had spontaneously sprouted an extra head. No, they make sure that it is quite clear that the money they donate is to be used for Rafe's medicine and for that purpose alone.
If only we hadn't sent Haymitch away... He could have dealt with this with the detachment that comes from twenty five years of being involved in the Capitol's games. Seeing how much this pains me, Katniss offers to deal with the sponsors. "But you'll have to show me what to do," she finishes.
Unlike with Briar who can afford to pay for individual gifts single-handedly, these sponsors will donate money into a 'pool' until we have enough to afford Rafe's medicine. Part of me wonders what would happen if that money 'accidentally' was spent elsewhere. I wouldn't take the risk. The sponsors would complain and I daresay the ground under dad's feet would immediately turn to quicksand as punishment to me.
I lead Katniss to the elevators that descend to the main games room, and my breathing becomes more laboured. I can't be any part of this. "Just….head to the lowest level. They'll ask you what you want and who it is for."
"You're not coming with me?" she asks.
"I…I can't," I reply.
Katniss nods her understanding. She kisses my lips so softly before taking the elevator down. I wander almost blindly back to the bar, returning to our usual spot and maintaining a vigil of the screens. I stare at dad's screen hungrily. They aren't doing much other than gathering more nuts, berries and roots, but I don't want to miss a second.
Before long Katniss returns to my side. She sits silently beside me and wordlessly takes my hand. I know what this means; any second now Rafe will be receiving the parachute containing the medicine he desperately requires. Even though I am prepared I still feel the bottom drop out of my stomach as I watch the silver parachute drop down. Rafe gleefully slathers his wounded leg in the thick ointment and leans back against a tree while he waits for it to take effect.
I cannot watch him for long. With every passing moment his chances of winning become greater and he knows it. The crowd love him. What chance does my dad possibly have against him?
The cannon fires again and the sound jolts me back to reality. I snap back to dad's screen and immediately feel myself sag with relief as he is still ok. The girl from One has killed the girl tribute from Four with well-aimed throwing knives.
At the moment of the tribute from Four's death, a movement in the peripherals of my visions catches my eye. Finnick stands up and storms out of the room, looking thoroughly annoyed. This surprises me somewhat, as I thought he had been mentoring long enough to not be too bothered by the deaths of his tributes. Maybe I was wrong about him?
Ava has been busy setting a few defensive snares up near their group. They are still oblivious to the fact that the arena's traps will not be going off like clockwork anymore, and from their discussions it is apparent that they have decided to wait a few hours in one location before moving on to the next area, in order to try and stay ahead of any of the arena's dangers. I curse myself again for missing the vital piece of information off; they are as safe where they are as anywhere else, but moving a group through the jungle, they could easily be exposed.
As I watch Ava weave the vines into her traps I am distracted by a tap on my shoulder. An Avox stands before me, a letter in her hand. She delivers this and walks away from me. I look down at the envelope as if it is a bomb that could go off at any moment; the handwriting on the front is immediately recognisable as Briar's. With shaking hands I prise the letter out and read.
'It is time for you to pay me. Do not keep me waiting. You will find my hovercar outside.'
Everything seems to stop as I stare at those words. Out of fear for my father I had promised her anything and now that she was claiming on that promise I feel terrified for what I have let myself in for.
Katniss sees the worry in me. I fold the letter up and pocket it before she can read it. "Again?" she asks, shaking her head. "She's obsessed."
"I have to go," I say, and I am ashamed to hear the fear in my own voice.
As I stand up she grabs hold of me. "Listen to me," she says, her voice strong. "This doesn't mean anything. You're still you. You're still my Peeta. Don't forget that."
I swallow my nerves. "Thank you," I whisper to her before I begin to make my way towards whatever fresh hell Briar has in store for me today.
My legs feel like lead weights have been tied to them, but I force myself ever onwards. As I reach the front doors to the training centre I see the waiting hovercar and part of me considers turning back, running away, hiding, pretending none of this is happening. What good would come of that, though?
The car's doors open as I approach them, and I step inside. The doors shut immediately behind me and I stumble slightly as the doors take off.
Briar is sat on the sofa sipping at her usual champagne. She looks deadly serious and makes no acknowledgement of my presence. I look around the room, unsure of what I should do. Instead of the usual Peacekeeper and Avox, today there are two armed Peacekeepers. My fear mounts. She clearly expects me to protest vehemently against her request.
I step further in to the room and as I do the bedroom door opens, and Finnick comes striding out, carrying more champagne. As soon as he sees me he stops mid-stride. "Miss B, what's he doing here? I told you before. You can't have both of us at once legally."
"I don't like being denied what I want, Finnick," she speaks up, and her voice is laced with venom.
"I'm sorry, Miss B, I can't change the law."
"The law needn't ever find out." She nodded to one of the Peacekeepers who stepped forward and handed her an envelope. "They work for me directly, so I don't think anything said in here is in any danger of being passed to the authorities. Peeta, you aren't going to be difficult are you sweetie? You already promised me anything I wanted, and you know precisely what is at stake."
I can't speak. My eyes focus on the floor as I desperately try and think of a way out of this.
"What did you promise her, Peeta?" says Finnick. "What, exactly?"
"Anything," I confirm, still unable to look at them.
"Then you're an absolute fucking moron," he snaps at me before returning his attention to Briar. "But you can't hold me to what this idiot kid promised."
"I thought you may prove to be difficult," she says, holding out the envelope towards Finnick. He places the bottle of champagne he is still carrying on the coffee table and snatches the envelope from her grasp, tearing it open. All the colour immediately drains from his face.
"What is this?" he asks, and all the confidence has gone from his voice. He appears to be holding a series of photographs, and he shakes as he flicks through them. "Where is she?" he asks, his voice quiet and tremulous.
"She's here in the Capitol. Behave yourself and she will cease to be harmed. Misbehave… and she will cease to be."
He collapses on the sofa and I catch a glimpse of the photographs he had been looking at. They all appear to be of the same woman in various states of distress; her eyes bruised, her lips swollen and bloody. He swallows with difficulty. "Where do you want us?" he says, his voice toneless and expressionless.
Briar points to the bedroom and Finnick stands and grabs hold of me with a strength even I can't match, frog marching me towards the bedroom. He pushes me forward roughly and I collapse on the bed. I try to spin around and as I do his hand clamps over my mouth. I feel a pill drop into my mouth and Finnick says in a commanding tone, "Swallow it." I struggle and refuse him but he pins me in place. "Swallow it," he says again. "You're a fucking idiot but I don't want to hurt you. This will help to take the edge off. Swallow it."
At that moment Briar appears in the doorway. I notice she has a camera set ready to film whatever is about to happen. "Undress," she says. Finnick does as he told immediately and gives me a pointed look. I attempt to dry swallow the pill in my mouth, feeling it scrape the inside of my oesophagus as it goes down, and begin to remove my clothes. The anticipation is worse than I have ever felt it before and I am certain Briar is getting more and more impatient with me. When at last we are both naked and I feel more exposed than I have felt in my whole life she presses something on the camera and sits beside it. "Perform for me."
I don't know what she expects me to do. I hug my arms across my chest and try to speak, to beg her to let me go but my mouth is so incredibly dry and my voice catches. Finnick pushes me back on to the bed and lies down next to me. "She wants a show," he whispers in my ear. "Fuck this up and I swear I'll make your life hell myself."
His hand runs down my body, pausing over my hip where I feel his thumb making small circles. He grabs a hold of me and rolls me towards him and at the same time thrusts his tongue deep inside my mouth. I have no choice but to comply. I place my hands on his back and force myself to respond to his kiss, but it's too much, his hands are too rough and strong, his tongue too forceful….
He pulls away for a moment and pulls my earlobe into his mouth, taking the opportunity to whisper to me again. "Tell me when you're feeling it. It won't take long."
Feeling what? What exactly did he give me?
His hand runs down the back of my spine and I shudder from the sensation. He keeps going lower and hitches my leg up and over his waist, pausing only briefly to raise an eyebrow at the sensation of my cold prosthetic against his skin. He pushes his body in to mine and my breath catches as I feel his erection press in to my body. He is too big, and the fear and anxiety wells up inside me and I want to scream and I want to cry at the injustice of the world but his mouth covers mine again, smothering any sound.
His kiss is gentler this time, his hand coming back up to cradle the back of my head. Instead of dominating, his tongue softly probes my own and without realising what I'm doing I allow him to explore my mouth, returning the kiss. My heart beats a little faster and my breath quickens, and I feel a tingling rush on my skin starting from the point where Finnick's hands lay upon me.
As soon as I become aware of these sensations I pull away, not wanting to lose myself. Finnick looks straight into my eyes for a brief moment then brings his attention back to my ear. "It's starting, right?"
I nod my head. "I think so," I breathe, and as I do Finnick leans over me and kisses me again, and this time I return the kiss straight away. I don't know why I am doing it, and hear my own voice in my head screaming at me, asking me what I'm doing. 'Wake up,' says this voice again and again. But I ignore it and continue.
Finnick pulls away from me and I whine a little at the lack of contact. He unhooks my leg from his waist and tells me to sit up on the edge of the bed. I do as he asks without question. The anxiety I was feeling earlier has transformed into nervous excitement, and I push the sensible, sober voice further from my mind. I don't understand why I was so apprehensive before. Every time Finnick touches me it sends a jolt of pleasurable ecstasy across my skin in a way I have never felt before.
Finnick kneels in front of me, and my mouth becomes dry as I understand his intentions. My cock is straining impossibly upwards and my breath shortens as he lowers himself down towards me. 'Katniss should be the first one to do this,' says the sober voice but I can't listen to it. My body wants this more than anything. His tongue flicks lightly over me before he grasps me in one hand and takes me deep in his mouth.
I have never felt anything like this; his hand pumps and twists what won't fit in his mouth and I find that I can't stop myself lifting my hips to thrust further and deeper in to his hot, wet mouth. 'Fucking wake up!' screams the sober voice, but my body refuses to listen and I push his head down on to me even further, getting closer and closer to orgasm.
Suddenly Finnick releases his hold on me, and I whimper in frustration from the denied release.
"Not yet," he says. "I think you need to earn it."
I hear a slight rustling noise from the corner of the room. Briar watching and smirking at us. Why is she here in our room? 'Peeta, please, this isn't you. Look at her. Look at what she's making you do. Wake up. Please…'
"Lie down on your stomach," instructs Finnick. "Face towards the camera."
Camera? I look around and see a camera next to Briar. Why is she here in our room? 'Peeta, you have to sober up. Come on.'
I do precisely as Finnick asks me. My body is on fire and I will do anything he wants if it means he'll go down on me again. I feel his weight behind me and my breath quickens. I turn around and look at him; he is sitting up over me looking down at me. His erect cock is in his hand and he is running something wet and slippery over it. "Try to relax," he says to me.
'No. No no no no no no no no, you don't want this Peeta, fuck no you don't want this, please wake up, please.'
I rest my head back down on the bed as Finnick lies down on top of me. I feel his erection press into me as his finger traces down the side of my face and he plants gentle kisses along my neck. He begins to push further in to me and I feel a flash of sharp pain. Why is he hurting me? Why would Finnick ever do anything that would hurt me? He doesn't stop and pushes further and further and the pain increases and I cry out for him to stop and I bury my face in to the sheets and grip them tightly with my fists.
"Hold his head up. Make him look at the camera," screams a harsh voice, and I feel Finnick's hands ball in to my hair and yank my head upwards and hold it there. He's fucking me harder and harder and I desperately want him to stop but he won't, I'm begging him to stop, he's hurting me but no matter how much I beg he won't stop. "Make him shut up," says the harsh voice, and I feel Finnick's hand clamp down across my mouth. I keep begging him to stop even though I can't get my words out through Finnick's hand and after a while his body spasms and he collapses on top of me.
"Finish him off," says the harsh voice, and I feel Finnick pull out of me. He turns me around and takes me in his hand, gently rubbing his thumb over the head, making me go hard again. He bends down and takes me in his mouth once more. He flicks his tongue up and down the shaft and then takes as much of me in his mouth as he can. His tongue works over me furiously until I feel pressure building up inside. 'Don't do this. Don't let this happen. Don't lose control.' I can't stop the pressure and I don't want to. My hips thrust forward propelling me deep in to Finnick's mouth as my orgasm washes over me and I come hard. He swallows as much as he can and spits out what he can't.
He sits up in front of me and cups my face in his hands, kissing me deeply. I can taste myself in his mouth.
"I think that's enough for now," says the harsh voice. "Peeta, get yourself ready. I'll be needing you a little longer."
"No," says Finnick. "He won't be able to. Take me."
Briar. I remember, the voice belongs to Briar. I focus on her and she seems to be considering something. "Fine," she says. "Peeta, wait outside."
I stand up, grab my clothes, stumble out of the door and collapse on the sofa. The sober voice in my head is becoming louder and clearer and as it is I begin to feel more and more empty and abused. The sounds coming from the bedroom soon become more and more intense. Before I know it, the effects of the pill Finnick forced upon me have worn off and all I can feel is the shame of what has just happened.
Eventually Briar steps from the bedroom, followed by Finnick a few minutes later. "Where is she?"
"She'll be returned to you later tonight"
The hovercar begins to descend and as soon as the hovercar hits the ground he storms away. I also leave without a backward glance and as the hover car takes off again I hear Finnick calling me. I can't look him in the eyes after everything, and it seems that he has the same hang ups with me. "She won't get away with this," he says.
"Sure," I say hollowly.
"She won't. She can't do this. Everything about this illegal. Kidnap. Her forcing us. You being underage. You being with her at all. It's all illegal."
"And you said she was powerful enough to do what she wanted."
"Yeah, well, you don't get to be in her position without making a few enemies." He pulls out a small disk from his pocket. "And now I have proof of what she's done. I think a few people may well be interested in this."
A tiny flame of hope ignites in my chest. Can we really do this safely? "You think we can stop her?"
"Leave it with me," says Finnick. "Once I know that….someone….is safe, I know exactly where to take this."
Finnick tucks the disc back inside his pocket and walks back inside the training centre. I pray with all my might that Finnick knows what he's doing.
A/N - There you go! The beginning of the end of Briar! Please leave a review and yeah, please also check out my other new fic Sabotaged Heart :) Thanks all!