Check the Cupboard For Your Daddy's Gun

"You can't be serious!"

"Watch it, boy."

Adric took a step back and blinked his eyes in restrained shocked. They were in one of the many offices of President Snow. In front of him Snow was sitting at his desk with General Trajan—Adric's father—standing at his side. Mironov was also there, Adric had asked him to be there.

President Snow rubbed his swollen lips for a moment in thought before smiling, "I think it's a wonderful gesture. Wonderful."

"Mr. President—" Mironov cut in, trying to remain as seemingly indifferent as he could, "Miss Sullivan is emotionally compromised right now. We have to give her time. She's not a trained executioner, she's simply a woman—a woman that has been through a lot."

"She wants to help us and I think it would be a great injustice to not give her the condolences she deserves."

"If you want to help her then why not send her back to District 7 for a few days—"

"Adric!" Mironov put his hand on Adric's shoulder and shook his head.

"But she didn't ask for that did she, Officer?" Snow cooed, rising from his chair, "She asked for this. This was her wish."
"She's in shock!" Adric objected, fearfully peering to his father, "She doesn't know what she's saying. You didn't see her, she was out of it. She barely looked like she was all there..."

"Is this true, Viktor? Is our Miss Sullivan mentally incapable of making reasoned requests?"

Mironov knew what Snow was doing—he had done it many times before. He asked him a question he already knew the answer to in order to prove a point. It was true…Pandora wasn't mentally unstable. She wasn't even in shock from what had happened to her. Pandora was angry.

"No, but I believe she is doing this for revenge."

"It's not revenge if the person is a criminal."

Adric furrowed his brow. Something was happening that he didn't have a strong hold on and he hated it. Mironov stumbled over a few words before clearing his throat and starting over.

"Sir, in my professional opinion it would not be healthy to allow Pandora Sullivan to do this. I have been her therapist for over a year now. I know her. She is being blinded by her own hate and she thinks this is going to solve her problems. She thinks this is going to heal her."

Snow let out a cruel laugh and glanced to General Trajan, "A little dramatic don't you think? It's not like she hasn't killed anyone before."

Disgust rose in Adric's stomach. He quickly turned away and put his hand over his mouth.

"That was different. That was survival. Letting her do this would be erroneous on our parts."

"I don't see how, if anything she should get a medal for it. I think it's ingenious. I should like to talk to her, of course."

"Of course," Trajan agreed.

"Sir—"

"That's enough now. There's nothing left to discuss. Tonight. It will happen tonight."

Adric's hand moved to the side of his face as he stared at Mironov. The doctor's eyes were bulging out of his skull. Rarely did he show symptoms of worry—his bedside manner seemed to blend in with the rest of his life—but it was clear that at this moment he was worried. He swallowed hard and took a step back.

Without another word Adric marched through the office and out the door, followed close behind by Mironov. Despite the doctor's limp he managed to catch the elevator just before the doors closed.

They rode in silence. Adric nervously unbuttoned the top of his uniform and licked his lips. His head felt like it was on fire.

"Viktor, you said you've been dosing her."

Mironov stayed silent.

"Could this be a side effect?"

"No."

"But all drugs have side effects."

"Believe me, Adric, this is not a side effect. The drug acts to strengthen cerebral activity. I've been giving it to her in such small increments that it wouldn't cause this. It's creates migraines occasionally, not mood swings."

Adric rubbed his lip, "But it—this can't be Pandora. She looked so angry and distant."

"That's because she is angry, Adric. I think we've miscalculated her breaking point."

"You told them she's not mentally unstable, though."

"Because she's not. Everyone has a breaking point, it just so happens that Pandora's was harder to break—"

"She hates the Capitol—why would she want to execute a rebel? Even if they tortured her, they're fighting for District freedoms. I want him dead more than anything but I'm loyal to the Capitol. You and I both know that Pandora's position and presence here is forced to a point."

Mironov took his glasses off and sighed, "Because I think she just realized for the first time that not everything is black and white."

Adric clenched his jaw and his fist. Suddenly he realized the only possible way to stop this. The elevator doors opened. He didn't look at Mironov as he exited, and Mironov didn't look at him. A goal formed in his head and he started to chase that goal. He ignored the car that was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps and quickened his pace. With his long strides and a boiling urgency fueling him he made it to her apartment door in just under 30 minutes. He knew this because he was watching the clock—an unconscious habit of his.

The door swooshed open efficiently.

Pandora's apartment furniture had been replaced since she had been abducted and saved. Even mirrors had been replaced, but there were still scratches in the floor from the shatter glass and rage, evidence that it all happened. Evidence that Finnick had left and she was alone.

Adric froze as Pandora came into the main area through the bedroom. She had showered for the first time since she had been rescued. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. She was even wearing a trimmed outfit and makeup. A cut on her lip and near her eyebrow could still be seen. Without smiling she glanced to Adric and started to put a pair of earrings on.

"I need to talk to you."

Pandora dropped her eyes and picked up a pair of boots she had carried in with her before taking a seat.

"So talk."

"You know that you'll regret this, don't you?"

She pulled the first boot on and vacantly stared ahead, "Do I?"

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I thought you'd be pleased. After all he's a rebel. I thought it was the military's duty to kill rebels."

"I am not pleased with this—" for some reason his words reminded him of his father, "Pandora, you're upset. I understand."

She laughed darkly and fastened a few of the buckles, "No you don't. You have no idea. I was in a hole for days, helpless and bleeding. They branded me like an animal. They tortured me. Even when I screamed for them to stop they didn't. And all I could think was why me? How pathetic is that? My father was a part of this coming rebellion—I'm sure you knew that. Saw that in the files President Snow has on me. I had no clue when I was little, when he was hanged I thought it was for stealing too much food or bartering with people he shouldn't be bartering with. When I found out the real reason something sparked in me. I thought the rebels were brave for believing, for hoping—" she almost sounded like she was about to cry but a quick pause changed that, "—now I see what it's all about."

"Which is?"

"They're fools."

She only side-glanced him before picking up the other boot.

"It's eat or be eaten," she continued, "And in the short amount of time I've lived I've been consumed and spit out over and over again."

"If you think you're being brave by doing this you're wrong. This man should pay the price for what he's done but it shouldn't be at your hands."

"The world's a dark and cruel place, Adric. Perhaps you've forgotten that or maybe you never knew that. You haven't seen and experienced what I have. You don't know how hard it is to go through life with fear. I'm done being afraid. I'm done hiding in the shadows and waiting to be eaten again."

He drew back and grinded his teeth. So far the intervention wasn't working. He was grasping at straws.

"This is because Finnick is gone. You're just having problems coping because he's gone."

Her fingers stopped moving. Her eyes lifted, landing on his face with unblinking intensity.

"I'm done with Finnick."

"That's not the point though is it?"

"No. The point is this, the only emotions I feel for Finnick Odair is hate. I hate him, you understand me? I don't hate him for leaving. I hate that he was too much of a weakling to stay in the first place. And trust me when I say that this has nothing to do with him."

"Then why did you call for him…you called for him when you were bleeding to death."

She stood up and adjusted the small collar of her shirt.

"Do you think I'm that obvious, Adric?"

"No—I'm just—"

"No, of course not. You think that I'm suffering from a great emotional loss. You think I need you to save me."

He parted his lips. His eyes widened. "I think you're hurt and sometimes when a person gets hurt enough they start to believe that the only answer is to hurt back."

"I'm not a wounded dove, Adric."

Her boots thumped against the floor as she past him. He turned around and shook his head.

"If you do this, Pandora, you won't be able to take it back. What's dead stays dead, but you'll have to live with his face in the night. It will be another face in your nightmares."

"Good," she whispered back. "You know it's funny, really, because if it wasn't me who was going to pull that trigger you would be happy to watch him die."

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes, "So why does it mean so much to you, huh? Are you that much of hypocrite?"

He had to look away. He felt sick and light headed, but something pulled his eyes back to Pandora's face and as he looked he didn't try to hide the sadness.

"It matters to me because you aren't a killer and you seem to be trying so hard to be one. It matters to me because someone like you shouldn't want to kill another human being."

"Someone like me?"

"Yes."

"So tell me, Adric, who am I? This is normally how this goes isn't it? You tell me how I am, we fight, you proclaim you're undying loyalty to me. So tell me how good I am, tell me that I need time. C'mon, I'm waiting…"

"I think you're lost."

"Oh this is a new one. "

His eyes stayed on her face as he tensed his jaw, "I think you actually believe that doing this is going to push out all those dark memories. You can't stomach you're on pain. You know…I've always admired you, Pandora. You always thought you were never brave enough, but you were. You were one of the bravest people I had ever met. But right now you're a coward and what's worse is you're a coward who actually thinks they're entitled. If you're going to kill this man at least admit you're doing it to make yourself feel better."

Pandora dropped her eyes and rubbed her lips together. It took her a second to absorb everything he had said, like swallowing an arsenic-laced pill. Her lips shook once she lifted her eyes again. Her face seemed darker, graver.

"And you know what, Pandora?"

"What?" it was harsh and bitter as she said it.

"I'm going to be standing right by you when you put a bullet in this man's head, and when you do it I want you to remember we had this conversation."

He started walking towards the door but she whirled around and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait—"

He met her eye line but with reservation.

For a moment she looked like she was going to cave. Her lips parted and her cheeks flushed. She almost looked apologetic, but the longer she stared at him the more her face hardened. He noticed every muscle movement in her changing expressions and stepped away from her hand. He remembered what he had promised her as she was being carted into the operation room. He had said he'd stay with her, loyally. Nothing had changed since then. She had been abandoned by so many people, left in the dark…the fear was very tangible to her and he could see that fear in her eyes right now.

"Don't worry, Pandora. I promised I wouldn't leave you. I won't. But I'm not going to pretend that I'm happy."

Even after he left she stood exactly as she was. Her lips twitched into a frown of frustration. Her eyes squinted to the floor. Pandora knew he meant every word he had said but a part of her didn't care. She had made up her mind the moment she came back to life, and she wasn't backing out now.

A scarlet sun was setting. Night was coming. When her driver came to pick her up she was prepared. Her hands rested on her lap without nerves or worry. That was the strangest part of all this—she wasn't nervous. She was stoic and statuesque. Hallways of the PSO slipped through her vision. An escorting soldier was trying to make light of her presence but she barely heard him. Her eyes shifted around once she was escorted into a barren room with chairs and a table. On the right side wall a one-way mirror had been implanted. The room Pandora was in was the observation room.

The execution would be private. Her lips pursed as she studied the empty room beyond the glass that would be the location. She stared at every detail of the room—the pipes, the tile walls, the cement floor—she stared until she heard the door open.

President Snow smiled before he let the door slam shut behind him.

"You can leave us," he whispered to the soldier that had escorted her.

In obedience the soldier left.

Snow cupped his hands behind his back and waltzed next to her. He didn't face her, instead he stared through the glass just as she was doing.

"I was worried you wouldn't make it. For a moment when you're heart stopped I thought that was the end of our relationship, Miss Sullivan."

"How gracious of you to worry," she bitterly replied, "I know how much our relationship means to you."

"I must say I was pleasantly surprised to hear that you volunteered to execute this rebel."

She didn't respond. With every moment that passed with her and Snow alone together, the more she longed that she was shooting him in the head too.

"A woman scorned, is that how that saying goes?"

"I'm not familiar with that one."

"You're so brave, Miss Sullivan, I do commend you. These rebels, well they're like insects, you see."

Pandora recalled Adric's words and dropped her eyes. Snow's prejudices should have made her doubt her actions but they didn't. If anything she wanted to get it over with sooner now. She wasn't doing this to damn the rebels. Adric had been right—she was doing this for herself, and no matter how much Adric told her she wasn't entitled to pull the trigger she knew she was.

"If you wouldn't mind I was enjoying the silence before you came in."

"Oh—my mistake," he pulled out his pocket watch, "But I'm afraid it's almost time."

As if on cue the door opened and several people were ushered in. There were military men of various ranks. Pandora recognized a handful. General Trajan stood at the front. Adric was to his side—he wouldn't look at Pandora.

"I think we've gotten all we can get out him, Mr. President. He refuses to relent any information about the rebels."

Snow nodded, "Alright, bring him in then."

Metal churned close by. Pandora turned back to the window just as the door to the other room opened. Nyx Starson was dragged into the center of the room and chained to the ground. He looked like he had been tortured for information but Pandora felt no sympathy for him, she didn't even feel pity. He shouted obscenities at the soldiers that were restraining him and laughed like a madman.

"Ready?" Adric was suddenly to her side, staring at her.

She peered to him and nodded, "Yes."

They passed by the audience of military personnel and out the door. Adric closed his eyes for a few seconds before pushing the neighboring door open and letting Pandora go in.

She waited calmly for Nyx to look up before she took her first step into the execution room. It was colder in here. The air was staler. She could hear the lights above buzzing and hesitated to move again when she caught sight of their reflections in the one-way mirror.

Adric followed close behind, shutting the door before turning towards Nyx.

"Well isn't this a treat…" Nyx mumbled with a laugh.

Pandora stared down at him silently.

"Come to see me die? And here you were saying you're so good—" his eyes dropped to the branded scar on her arm, "At least you have something to remember me by."

She lowered her eyes to scar and tilted her head.

"I think's it's rather pretty." She finally said, "Now every time I look at it I can remember the look on your face when the life left your eyes."

Adric shifted uncomfortably. He did not like that.

She held her hand out with her eyes still on Nyx. Adric pulled his gun from its holster. His eyes sadly dropped as he placed it in her hand and took a step back.

"You and I both know you're a fraud, Miss Sullivan."

She cocked the gun.

"I bet you've never even shot a gun before."

She gripped the handle and pointed it at Nyx.

"You're right. So forgive me if I miss the first few times."

She quickly pulled the trigger aiming at his leg. He screamed in pain.

"Mr. Starson, you surprise me. I didn't know you screamed so loud."

She fired the gun again this time aiming at his arm.

Blood dripped on the cement floor. She walked until she was face to face with him and then she placed the gun under his chin.

"Let me ask you something. Are you afraid?" She mimicked the tone he had used on her when he had asked her the exact same question, when she was bleeding and mangled and screaming in agony. Then—without waiting for an answer—she pulled the trigger for the last time and blew his brains out.