Previously In Fanning The Flames: Cato, upon seeing a threat to Glimmer, refuses to fight Gale and Katniss. The four make clear gestures of rebellion and join together against arena hazards.
Chapter
Arm And Arm We Fight As One
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We stood together on top of the Cornucopia. Katniss and I were in the center, with Cato on her right and Glimmer on my right. It made sense, for melee weapon users to help shield those bearing ranged weapons. With our teamwork and the high ground, we were beginning to make quick work of the mutts. Cato threw a few spears and couched the last underhand and was using it as a lance. Katniss was becoming similarly depleted on arrows. I was running out of knives, but would never throw the one we had toasted with.
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There were a few of the creatures left when we saw a hovercraft overhead. A claw dropped, to pick us up as if we were dead. I suppose we might as well be. It started on Cato's side of the line and went in order. As I was pulled in, I saw nothing of Cato or Katniss. I saw the fat assistant Gamemaker. So Snow and Crane can't even do their own dirty work. I drew my knife at the sight of the Peacekeepers flanking him. I couldn't fight them, but could at least save myself from more torture or deny the Capitol the spectacle of a public execution. Haymitch came running from another room. "Hold it! Plutarch Heavensbee here is an undercover rebel!" I was left speechless, but I trusted him because he had every reason to hate the Capitol as much as I did.
Still in shock, I got something out somewhat audibly. "Assistant Gamemaker. Pretty high up. You running this show?"
He answered in the negative. "I report to Alma Coin, the president of District Thirteen." Already dumbfounded, the mention of the destroyed district silenced me again. "It's very real. 'Destroying' it was a ruse that is about to backfire on the Capitol horribly."
"It's time the scum got what was coming to them," I said, now able to match his fervor with my usual rage.
A woman with silver stars tattooed on her cheek interrupted us with "We've got shiny."
I countered, imitating her nicknaming scheme. "Where's fire?"
Plutarch answered for his assistant. "All four are on board, now let's get out of here!" I felt the craft lurch as the pilot acknowledged that instruction. Several people, myself included, grabbed onto the wall.
"Now where are our families?," I said impatiently. "We did this for them, not to have it blow up in their faces."
That was covered, thankfully. "Another hovercraft should be getting them, but we're both under strict radio silence." Well, they had been worrying about me for weeks, now it was my time to worry about them.
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Haymitch spoke to myself and Katniss. "Twenty-three years of mentoring losing tributes would have driven me to drink even if my friends and family were still here. Finally I get to see not only one but two go home. I thought that was about all I could ask for at this point, and now we're about to see the Capitol fall. That's what I really wanted from what was left of my miserable life."
"Katniss heard it over and over again the woods, my rage against their injustice…"
"That I did!," she interjected.
"I never believed I'd have such an opportunity to act on that rage," I said in a measured tone of voice.
"And act we will!" Haymitch said hopefully. "Act on plans that have been forming for a long time."
I interrupted him to say "Why did we not know about this?!"
Haymitch actually had a good explanation. "We feared it would prompt you to do something rash and premature. We hadn't expected such behavior out of Cato Adams. Now we're playing the hand we've been dealt. As it was, your natural reactions were perfect." He continued with "We campaigned for Crane to allow two victors this time. Fortunately, he had enough of a heart to see the light. Either that or he at least saw the audience appeal."
"So Crane was in on this too?," I asked.
"No, he just got outmaneuvered. Cinna has always been on our side." Katniss cheered at the mention of his name. "He made it out of the Capitol with us, and brought his prep team with him. Cato and Glimmer's mentors are recent converts. Brutus, he's a real piece of work. You can see where Cato gets it from. Cashmere also had a tribute take after her. They helped me make the case for two victors, but they were simply working for their own tributes' sake at that point. Cashmere easily convinced her older brother Gloss to follow her, as usual. We also evacuated some other mentors, and that's it for the occupants of this hovercraft."
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Haymitch pointed us to our area of the hovercraft while he went back with the other mentors. During the short walk, Katniss said to me "Mom will find our relationship very sudden."
I had a simple and sharp answer. "Catnip. You're coming back alive; she won't care." Also, Ingrid knew what it's like to catch hell for choice of mate, and she wouldn't dare dish that out.
"You have a point, and you did help bring me back," she acknowledged.
"And you helped bring me back," I admitted. "The two of us moving as one, as it's constantly been for the past four years."
Cato and Glimmer were headed in the same direction. "That's the first time I've seen him smile," Katniss observed. "I only smile when I'm with you," she managed to say. "So I understand, but I still don't like her," she finished.
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I heard a clear yet unfamiliar voice over the intercom. "Mockingbird and Jabberjay have landed."
"Must be Mockingjay's family," Glimmer decoded. Glimmer was getting along with Katniss better than Katniss was getting along with Glimmer. "I figure she would have gotten the Hawthornes while there."
"I can't believe Prim and I get to see each other again!," Katniss shouted.
"Good!," I barked a bit more rudely than I should have. "Now who's this 'she'?"
"Lyme, Brutus' fellow District Two victor. He figured she was involved." Glimmer turned to Cato to say "Lyme would have gotten Teresa before she left. Yes, big bad Cato still gets to see his mommy," Glimmer teased. Glimmer was probably the only one who could get away with saying that.
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A Modest Proposal
We were still barreling towards District Thirteen when Cato unclipped his restraints to go kneel in front of Glimmer. She was jumping with joy (as much as the restraints allowed) in anticipation of the obvious. He grasped one of her hands with both of his and said "Glimmer Rose Shinesmith, will you marry me?" Well, he got right to the point.
"Yes!," Glimmer screamed. "I've been thinking about that since The Announcement."
"So have I. Most girls didn't even make a nighttime impression on me. You quickly made a lifetime impression on me, so I want to spend the rest of our lives together. I simply intended to say it at our victor interview with all the fancy stuff going on."
"I heard it from you – that's what matters," Glimmer answered, still floating on air. So at worst she was a starry-eyed romantic instead of an airhead. Good.
I congratulated them with "Welcome to the getting married very young club. May the odds be ever in our favor."
Katniss gripped my hand as Cato continued to talk to Glimmer. "I saw right away how gorgeous you are, but the effect you had on me, cracking my shell, that's what's really beautiful."
Catnip whispered something sarcastic to me. "Right now, he could be teaching Prim a thing or two about producing cheese."
The moments were interrupted by a general announcement. "Everybody sit down - we're about to land."
Welcome Home – Sort Of
Lyme had indeed evacuated and rescued our families. "Snow and his ilk have no qualms attacking the families of their enemies. I went into action and managed to get all of them out safely. You can all meet them shortly. Adams, I'm very pleasantly surprised with you. The better part of valor is discretion, and you finally saw the light."
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As Cato hugged his mother, she said, "Since when did you learn to show emotion?"
"Since I met the person that is soon to be your daughter-in-law," Cato answered with a smirk.
"You staying with one woman? Eighteen days already breaks your record. May the odds be ever in her favor," Teresa joked.
"With this one that won't be a problem," Cato said in a tone that was especially confident even for him.
"Well, she definitely had a major positive influence on you, and I love it," Teresa admitted.
Ingrid was the only other person who had gathered with Teresa so far. "Mrs. Adams?," Mrs. Everdeen asked plaintively.
"It's Ms. Anthony - he died before we could marry," she admitted, the sadness palpable.
Ingrid identified with this immediately, and had an aside for me and Katniss. "Katniss, Gale, that was beautiful. You know much of the district had wondered if there was something romantic between you two."
Katniss explained to her mother with "There really wasn't. Until the train. And six days later, he's whispering 'bride' to me as I go to sleep."
"I knew you heard that, since you whispered 'husband' to me in the morning," I said while beaming a grin. "Well, Haymitch gave us a hint, and we took it," I added.
"Hazelle and I nearly broke down in tears, being so reminded of our marriages to your fathers," Ingrid admitted. "I haven't seen a man look at a woman like that since my Jacob. Welcome to the family. May you have many decades of feeling like that," she added.
"Wow. Thank you" was about all I could say to that.
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Ingrid turned back to Teresa. "We were approaching our twentieth anniversary, but I still know what it's like to lose the father of my children. Five years and I still miss Jacob's love tremendously. I gave up everything for him, and suddenly I had nothing except our two wonderful daughters." Who you abandoned to the depths of your depression.
Teresa said she had been through it for longer. "Nineteen years and I still haven't forgotten Julius one bit." At this point they hugged each other.
"I couldn't think of anyone else, and I couldn't subject myself to that again," Ingrid said.
Teresa had slightly different thoughts on the matter, but with the same result. "I tried, but most guys my age from District Two are off with the Peacekeepers."
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Then Ingrid turned to Glimmer. "Miss Shinesmith, I wondered if I was crazy going to a different part of the same district for the right man; I think you're the first to go to an entirely different district."
"You can call me Mrs. Adams soon." Glimmer said looking quite pleased with herself.
Ingrid responded with a simple "Congratulations".
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Glimmer's father got in Cato's face. It was kind of funny watching anyone (especially him) try to intimidate Cato, but Sunstone Shinesmith played his part anyway. "You better take care of my daughter, especially after doing that to her."
"Don't worry, we even got engaged on the flight over here." That truth is exactly what he wanted to hear.
"Attaboy," Sunstone said laconically.
"Even without your future grandchild involved, why would I want to be with anyone besides your gem of a daughter?" You're smart enough, Adams. "We're both people who get what we want, and we want each other bad." Tell him!
"Well, you did help my girl make it out of the arena, and you do seem exactly like the kind of guy she always wanted, whatever I think of that type." That's about as much as he was going to come around, at least publicly.
Ingrid butted in with "I hope you weren't seriously thinking of objecting. I was shunned over my choice of husband, which damn near wrecked me."
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While I was waiting for my family to show up, Cato started talking to me alone. "Hawthorne, I'm surprised this is my first kid."
I knew exactly what he meant. "During my ladykiller phase, I was too young to be fuckin' 'em – a lot of kissing going on at school though. Then I grew closer to Katniss and waited for her to be ready. Seems Glimmer fell for you a lot quicker."
Cato agreed with "The feeling was mutual … can you blame us?"
"No, I can't. Congratulations on finding such a pretty girl who isn't an idiot," I offered.
"Glim kinda feels the same way, 'strong but not stupid' she says. We had dreamed of the Games, but I never dreamed of such a torrid romance to go with it," Cato said happily.
"Watching your kind kill Rory with smiles on your faces would have been a nightmare. And one thing's for sure, a life of violating Capitol law ensures you're no coward," I said in a steadily rising tone of voice.
Cato admitted that "Career training gave me a bravery that almost seems foolish and reckless now. Yet I had shut out my mother, Clove, other classmates, anyone who I could have loved at all in any way. Then Glimmer showed up. I thought I had just another way to get my rocks off. Wrong! We sure got each other off, but she cracked my shell – I finally loved someone. I knew she was powerful. I knew for sure when the arena couldn't dampen our little affair, even before The Announcement."
Well, I of all people would know what he's talking about. "I'd say it's because of the arena. Katniss and I have so many things in common, and sharing this situation as well brought us even closer. We'd been pretty much everything but lovers, and finally making that next step was the one thing that could dull the pain. I've seen how Haymitch 'handles it', and I'll take Katniss' mouth over the mouth of a liquor bottle any day."
Cato winked as he said "Yeah, I'd rather fuck than drink. Several times, mind you, both before and after the Games started."
Glimmer found out the hard way that Katniss hated girl talk. However, I thought guy talk was swell. I answered with "We spent the night before the Games together, just that. We were tempted while in the arena, but we knew better".
Evidently Katniss and Glimmer both rather liked it when we went down on them. "We did actually get some sleep, after best evening workouts I've ever had," Cato joked.
I turned the conversation sober-minded. "I was born when Ma wasn't much older than Glimmer is now. My sister was born shortly after Dad died in the mines. I'm the closest thing to a father Posy will ever know," I said.
Speaking of which, the little girl came bounding into the room and Cato correctly identified her. "I heard you're Posy."
"Yes, I'm this many," she said holding up four fingers.
"I'd need more hands for that. But I never knew my daddy either. I heard a lot of great things about him too," Cato answered cheerfully. And you nearly ended up exactly like him.
"I have great big brothers though – wow, you're even bigger than Gale," Posy said eagerly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Glimmer smirking. Anyway, it's good that Cato's getting along with Posy.
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After the obligatory greetings, I asked "So, Ma, what's the big news from home?"
"Pretty much all of District Twelve was elated, since either of you gave us our best hope in decades. We all saw a toasting, clear as day. I was one of many who cried thinking of their own weddings. Your Hob friends led what turned out to be a districtwide sponsorship drive. We knew since the announcement that both of you were going to make it out…" One and Two had been just as confident. "…but none of us expected this."
"That's for sure! Anything else?," I admitted and asked.
She definitely had something else to announce. "Apparently you two aren't the only Hawthorne-Everdeen couple."
"I'm willing to guess it's Rory – Vick is still in the 'girls are icky' phase," I said somewhat sarcastically.
She shifted to graver matters. "I can't believe I'm thinking about your wedding instead of your funeral."
"Me neither. I was afraid I'd be burying her instead of marrying her, or vice versa," the relief clear in my voice.
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Prim held up a sign, which I recognized as being in Rory's handwriting: 'The saved welcome home their saviors.' Rory greeted me with "Big Man! Is it real?"
Katniss cut in with "Big Man? You're more right than you know."
Back to Rory, I said "Yes, it's really me."
"I mean, you with her," he clarified.
I was honest with him. "Neither did us. It's totally real, although sometimes we hammed it up for the cameras."
"So you finally picked one…I think I might have too," he said to directly confirm what Ma had told me. He silently pointed to Prim. I didn't really notice her greeting Katniss – I was lost in thought about how to help Rory with this. "I think we bonded over being relatively lucky enough to have the best older siblings in the world," he continued.
"Thank you, Little Man! … but remember that they're different – in short, Katniss is a daddy's girl and Prim is a momma's girl. Also, I always wanted to make sure you behaved around the ladies when the time came, but especially this one, got it? If she's anything like her sister, you aren't going to be able to think of anything else."
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I then turned to my youngest brother. "Happy belated 11th birthday, Vick. As we all know, I had to miss it," I said with a curious emphasis on the last line. "And remember, girls aren't icky – you do icky things with them."
"So it's fun?," he wondered.
"It's about more than that, but you got that right…as for the Games, they're beyond icky in a way that non-tributes just won't quite understand," I said, feeling the need to be brutally honest.
"We thought if anyone from 12 could win, it would be one of you two," he said, cheering me on. "But not both of you."
"That's what we told ourselves too," I answered simply.
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I turned to Katniss and said "I sometimes wasn't sure if I'd make it out alive…" I emphasized this by showing off the scars on my neck and left arm. "…so it's beyond my wildest dreams to be returning home together." Go for it now. In one smooth motion, I knelt down and said. "Katniss Ingrid Everdeen, will you marry me again?"
"Of course!" She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my head towards hers – among other things, I had taught her how to kiss.
"I'd say that's a 'yes'," Ingrid understated, and the small crowd went nuts. We stood up and Katniss grasped my arm at the elbow as we took a bow together.
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I wondered aloud to Cato. "What a difference a day makes. Did you ever thing we could be so close, like brothers?"
"Well, you take that word pretty damn seriously, so you must really mean that," he acknowledged.
"Very true," I agreed. "Well, once you went rebel, there wasn't so much different between us. We came from different places to have a common background in the arena. I hope those memories can become distant and buried in the past forever."
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Prim finally broke away from a Katniss bear hug and ran over to me to say "Shoulder!". She did sometimes like me walking around carrying her. I knelt down so she could climb up, and I held on to her threadbare shoes. Lustre decided to copy the idea, and Cato was poked by the heels of her shiny leather boots. Rory gave Posy a lift while we were at it. It was in this state that the crowd greeted the rest of District Thirteen. Glimmer and Posy came off as the stars of the show. Of the former, Cato joked "Treating her like a princess is her prince's job", which Glimmer herself found particularly amusing.
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We were addressed by a plain looking woman with a regal bearing. She must be the one in charge here, the President Alma Coin that Plutarch had mentioned. "Welcome to District Thirteen, and welcome to the beginning of the end of the Capitol's rule." There was a feeling of change as soldiers passed by that August summer night.
I decided to take her to task with my burning question. "Why did you abandon the other twelve districts to Snow and his ilk?"
It immediately became apparent that she was not accustomed to being spoken to this way. "We barely escaped with our own lives, let alone strength to escalate the fight. It takes a long time to set up these plans, boy." Like her or not, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
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Our new home could best be described as orderly, worst described as a stultifying plainness and sameness. The food was not too much, not too little, not too palatable, not too revolting. They had it down to a science, including the science of growing or synthesizing it underground. The menu was lacking in imagination, as opposed to Greasy Sae's excess of imagination. The Army uniforms and much of the other clothing was a solid gray.
Gale's Rant
The rebel leaders wanted to counter Capitol propaganda with some of our own. I volunteered with "Let me handle this. I was practically born a rebel – live in the poorest part of the poorest district, and you pick up on that real quick. What I've said only to Katniss in the woods, I now get to say to the entire country."
Beetee was giving some instructions to District 13 techs, and I overheard him say to them "Of course I can hack the Capitol communications network. I practically designed it. And we're live…"
"I understand that many of you were overjoyed at the announcement. The Capitol wasn't just going to let one couple win, they were still going to make one die. Killing 22 instead of 23 is not my idea of mercy! I had never believed the Capitol propaganda, but at least Cato Adams finally saw through it.
"I sometimes wasn't sure if I'd make it out alive," I said, showing off my wounds again. "So I was surprised to escape with Katniss and doubly surprised to escape with Cato and Glimmer as well. You think other districts are the enemy, as the Games are designed to do, but the Capitol is the real enemy."