Chapter Five
He can feel the disappointment leaching from his cousin the whole ride to her apartment.
She had been quick to help, as always, rushing to the two of them as Tawny pulled her pants back up, Tigris grabbed the woman's high heels and slipped them back on her feet while Coriolanus smoothed his outfit and stepped out of the dining room, going to the guest bathroom to scrub any unseen lipstick off of himself.
She helped them make everything appear as if nothing were out of place, smoothed the knotted up table cloth and scanned for anymore evidence.
She carried on conversation as they were saying goodbye, pretending not to see the stolen glances between Coriolanus and Tawny.
Even now, she chirps with Livia as if she hadn't witnessed her husband in a compromising position with his colleague whose anniversary they had celebrated moments prior.
When the car rolls to the front of Tigris' building, Coriolanus hops out and helps her out of the vehicle, too.
"Thank you, Coriolanus." She expects him to get back in, but he instead tells his wife and the driver, "I'm walking her up."
It's silent and dreadful all the way up, and when she finally unlocks her door and steps in, he comes in after her.
" She's married , Coriolanus." It's said gently after she shuts the door, assuming this is why he came up with her.
To get this settled away.
"I know, Tigris."
" You're married ."
"I know."
She doesn't say anything else for a moment, trying to read her cousin's expression.
Not a shred of guilt or remorse.
"Are you…leaving Livia, or —"
"—I'm not leaving Livia." He states.
"Well…are you unhappy with Livia?"
"No." He says it genuinely, as if he's wondering why she would even think he was unhappy.
"Is she leaving Dyess?"
"No."
"Is she unhappy with Dyess?"
"As if it weren't obvious tonight?" He scoffs, a frown tugging at her lips before she quietly asks, "Do you love her?"
"Ugh, Tigris ." He nearly groans it out, sighing and rubbing his forehead that's starting to ache with her questions, as she retorts, "I'm sorry, Coriolanus, I'm just startled."
"We're just…" He trails off, not knowing what to describe it as, Tigris waiting patiently for some sort of explanation. "…It doesn't mean anything." Is all he can come up with.
" It doesn't mean anything ?" She almost hisses it. "If Livia or Dyess finds out they'll be crushed . Your reputation, Tawny's reputation, will be ruined. It means everything , Coriolanus."
"That's the thing, though, isn't it, Tigris? They won't find out." His tone is cold, stern, certain.
She knew how he could get when he became paranoid of someone turning on him, betraying him, he'd become callus and distant.
They already weren't as close as they had been as children, the Tenth Hunger Games and the events after it had changed him.
Tigris chooses her words carefully.
"I'm not saying a word to them because it's not my place to say it. But if you two keep acting so brazenly they very well may find out. And I'm worried it will overshadow all of your hard work for the both of you." She warns him. "And if it gets back to Dr. Gaul…"
She's frightened by what the woman might do.
Tigris figures she'd be infuriated at such unprofessional behavior between the two of them.
Snow doesn't know if she'll be angry, or amused. She favors them both, guiding them both under her wing more than others. Perhaps she wouldn't be surprised at all.
"Nobody will find out." His statement puts the issue to rest then and there…the very image of his father when he does so.
Stoic, militant…
She takes in a breath and nods quietly, not daring to utter another word of it again — ever .
The next night, Tawny once more reads over the case Philo had dropped off to her, elbows propped on her desk.
It's practically the same one she just did that had failed.
Failed cases were revisited by others to see if it were truly a failure or a dumb mistake the first person had made, but she has a feeling that either Snow or her aunt changed a few things around and gave her her own failure to pick through.
She rubs her forehead, closing her tired eyes.
No longer does she have the energy to try.
There was no point, it was going to be a waste just like most of the ones within the last year had been.
A knock at her office door has her eyes opening, sitting back in her chair to try to wake herself up a little more.
"Come in." She calls, relief filling her at the sight of her aunt.
"I came to drop this off." Volumnia holds out a wrapped box. "An anniversary gift."
"You didn't have to get us anything." Tawny stands and accepts, sweetly eyeing the silver wrapping paper.
"Oh, no, no, no, no ." She says tsks. "It is not for him . Only you ."
Tawny's brows furrow, looking at the box, now afraid to open it.
"I'd like for you to open it after my Game has been played." She adds.
"Okay." Tawny politely replies to Dr. Gaul, setting it aside.
Volumnia takes the opportunity to glance down at the woman's desk, full, red lips twitching at the sight of her niece's new case at her fingertips.
"I see Mr. Snow has given you another case." She starts.
"Yes, it's similar to my last failure…just on a different species." Tawny replies, somewhat glad she won't have to be cutting into any more Avoxes for now.
"Hmm." Dr. Gaul hums. "I do hope it works the way it's intended to, Dr. Crane." She adds. "I've been waiting quite a while to see one of your wonders in my arena…with this particular year being an exceptional opportunity."
"What is it you mean by that, exactly?" Tawny questions, curiously.
"The Twenty Year Anniversary of the Hunger Games. The arena is changing, the stakes will be higher — "
" — The arena will be changing?"
Dr. Gaul lets out a soft breath, stopping herself.
"I thought Mr. Snow would have told you by now." She says, raising her brows.
"Told me what?"
"Years ago, he had implemented the idea of a…change in scenery, if you will. Fortunately it's ready this year." She pipes.
"Which is why everyone's been pressured to come up with so many successful mutations to be picked from." Tawny adds, to which her aunt nods.
"We need only one more. Everyone has submitted all of theirs for review, except you." Dr. Gaul states, next. "Mr. Snow has been more than generous with his patience…so many believe you shouldn't even be in the running for it."
"Well, they might all get their wish. My last one was a failure, they've all been for the most part." Tawny huffs out, rolling her jaw.
"I have a feeling this one won't be so bad." Dr. Gaul says surely, her tone a promise more so than an optimistic thought as she walks to the door.
"Dr. Gaul," Tawny stops her, a question itching at her ever since Dyess had brought it up, "There's a rumor going around that the creators of the three mutts that are picked to be incorporated into this year's Games will be awarded medals by President Ravinstill…is that true?"
"Why, Dr. Crane, I never took you as the type whose mouth watered for accolades and recognition." Dr. Gaul pipes.
"If I'm breaking my neck to try to make the Games better, I believe I need to be recognized for my hard work." She admits, watching as Dr. Gaul nods slowly.
"Good night, Dr. Crane."
She neither confirms nor denies the rumor.
Coriolanus paces the floor of the morgue, Philo standing near him, waiting patiently for Dr. Gaul.
"This is bullshit." The blonde mumbles, glaring over the open carcass of the dead Avox.
He had been shown the injection site of where Dyess had given the high concentration of Iron to the subject, thus setting fire to the whole case.
"Umm…Mr. Snow, I don't think it's appropriate for me to be here." Philo mumbles, worried Dr. Gaul will be displeased with his presence despite him quickly becoming Snow's righthand man in terms of somewhat shady and odd dealings like spying on Dr. Crane – the both of them – reporting back to him.
He knew Dyess Crane was no good, using his wife's intelligence to get on top before throwing her off, and he knew Snow wanted him exposed and gone…
But it still seemed like a personal matter that should stay between Snow and Gaul.
"I want you here, Mr. Marius, so you're here until I dismiss you. Do you understand?" Snow hisses.
"Yes."
The doors open and in walks Volumnia, her shoes padding across the sterile, tile floor.
"I want him dead, Dr. Gaul." It's the first words that fall from his lips. "Strung up from the tallest building we've got!"
"I really shouldn't be here." Philo whispers, though he's certain Coriolanus doesn't truly mean it…surely.
"Mr. Snow," Dr. Gaul starts, but he continues, "Or fed to a mutt, or thrown in the Games himself. He's wasted Capitol resources, he's sabotaged work for the Hunger Games…he's betrayed all of us and I want him dead ."
"I spoke with President Ravinstill, and informed him of our ongoing investigation into Dr. Crane. He will only allow him to be sent off to the districts as a Peacekeeper."
Snow's jaw rolls, his teeth gritting together.
He wants to scream.
"A Peacekeeper ?"
"His work has been too good." She quotes him.
"The work he used your niece to achieve?" Coriolanus seethes.
Snow wants his tongue cut out, at least, and be made an Avox.
He wants to hang Dyess' polished university diploma in the maid's bathroom of his home with Livia, so Dyess could have something to look at while scrubbing the toilet.
Matters will need to be taken into Snow's hands.
As always.
Everyone around him was always too gracious to get their hands dirty.
"I have ordered two more autopsies for past cases of her's that have failed, Mr. Snow." Dr. Gaul says. "They should be concluded by next week and once the results are in, if it's clear they've been tampered with, then we'll have enough evidence to move forward."
"And then what? He's arrested and shipped off to the Districts? Going practically unpunished?" He asks, bitterly.
"Oh, I have no doubt he won't go unpunished." She assures him, looking at him knowingly. "In fact, I believe he's being punished now, and doesn't even realize it, yet."
Coriolanus doesn't know if she's insinuating about her own ideas for his reprimanding, or if she somehow knows that he's got the man's wife strung out on him like a morphling addict.
Perhaps it's even a mix of the two.
"Be patient, Mr. Snow." She assures him. "Winter is closer than you think…"
…And Snow lands on top.
The next few days are a stressful blur, Gamemakers and Scientists alike scrambling to finish their deadlines and meetings, the next Games only a week away.
In that time, Snow hadn't acknowledged Tawny sending Philo for her work, and anytime she would try to go to his office to ask him things personally, or need his advice, he wasn't there.
She knew the Gamemakers were just as stressed — if not more — especially with the change of arena.
They were bending over backwards trying to make the Games the best they've had yet, and she appreciated and admired their work and effort.
But she also needed her partner to help her — not his apprentice.
"…Mr. Snow wanted me to ask you how your work is coming along?" Philo asks her as she checks the mutt's vitals.
It's a rather large lizard, almost the size of an alligator, but not quite.
Docile and calm — for now — thanks to its sedative.
"If Mr. Snow wants to know, he can come find me." She grits out, refusing to indulge anymore information.
"I—Dr. Crane, I really need to know so I have something to tell him. I don't want to anger him."
"He knows where my lab is, he knows where my office is, he knows where I live." She grits out, not looking at him, still, while she watches the blue blood of the Lizard flow into the vacutainer. "If he wants to know so damn bad, he can come ask."
Once it hits its mark she pulls it from the dispenser and quickly clicks a new vacutainer to it for more than one blood sample.
"Dr. Crane, he's been quite stressed lately, and I really think he'd appreciate your cooperation." Philo tries once more and she finally glares at him.
"You tell Mr. Snow that if he wants my cooperation, he can come collect it himself." She hisses. "Get out of my lab, now, please. I have to clean up."
Philo hesitantly steps back out, heart pounding in his as he goes back to Coriolanus' office, waiting patiently for him to get out of his meeting.
When he does, Snow offers him a somewhat friendly smile.
"So, how is her subject?" He asks Philo, in a halfway decent mood, excited for his findings.
"Umm…" He doesn't quite know how to phrase it without angering Coriolanus.
He knows he has a temper, and he doesn't wish to see his blood boil through his porcelain skin or his jaw roll with his rage as he tries to keep from having a fit.
"Dr. Crane didn't give me any information, sir." He confesses, swallowing nervously.
His superior's brows pull slightly.
"Excuse me?"
"She refuses to give me any information." He repeats it, before scrambling out, "But I did see it, and it looked healthy and well, she was taking blood sampl—"
"—She refused you information?" He cuts him short, blue eyes growing irate.
"I told her that you were far too busy to look for yourself, so you sent me to ask about it, and you'd really appreciate her cooperation…and she said that if you wanted her cooperation, that you would go collect it yourself."
" Oh ." Snow says it lightly, despite the frustration itching at his skin. "Well, if you'll excuse me, Mr. Marius, I have to go collect my own partner's cooperation." He offers a tight smile.
"Yes, of course." Philo stands to his feet and bids him goodbye before scurrying down the hall as fast as he can.
The moment he's alone, Snow's smile slips from his face, his fingers curling, shaking.
Ungrateful, infuriating, vexing, woman , he thinks to himself as he grabs his coat and makes his way to her office.
He can already imagine the many ways she'll try to work her way out of it.
Falling to her knees, reaching for his belt, whispering about how sorry she is and how she didn't mean what she had said, kissing his neck, catching his lips with hers…
Perhaps she was so rude, so dismissive, so demanding of his attention because she wanted him to come find her.
He assumes she'll walk in, see him at her desk, and get breathless with her want.
The idea angers him even further.
If she'd wanted him at all this week, she should have just flagged him down and asked.
He would not be manipulated with mind games, or pretty brown eyes, or soft moans that wisp from full lips.
Getting up from her desk, he goes to hide behind the door at the sound of what he assumes are her steps growing closer, a heavy breath leaving her lips as she walks in.
She nearly jumps from her skin when the door slams and locks, dark brown locks still pinned up from her time in her lab, eyes wide when she looks at him.
"Oh." She flatly speaks when she sees him, sighing relief.
" Oh ?" He asks, sharply, taking a step forward.
"Your mole must have given you my message." She says without looking at him as she walks to her desk and opens one of the drawers, fumbling through files.
"Philo was only doing his job and you were unforgivably rude to him." He sneers out.
" Unforgivably ?" Tawny questions with an amused scoff. "I do tend to shoot the messenger." She admits. "Keep that in mind next time you go days without even acknowledging my existence." She cuts next.
"I've been doing my job, part of which is maintaining an eye on your job, and you've been acting like a child not getting her way." He barks.
"Because your eye hasn't seen my work." She states. "I've needed you , I've needed to speak to you, I've needed your opinion , your advice , you . So, I do apologize for being so unforgivably rude to Mr. Marius, but I wouldn't have to be if you would just show up some time."
"Well now I'm good and shown up, Dr. Crane, so what exactly is it that you need ?" He throws out.
She stares at him, taking in a deep breath before she's sitting on the edge of her desk, reaching behind her to grab the new subject's case file.
Extending it to him, he steps closer, merely touching it before she's snatching it away.
His nostrils flare, knowing what game she's playing.
Any other time he'd want to entertain her, to see her splay out for him, craving him anyway she could get him.
But right now it angers him more than anything.
"I'm not doing this with you. Not right now." He tells her. "Give me the damn file."
Reluctantly, she hands it over, watching his back as soon as he grabs it and turns to get space between them as he looks over her most recent notes.
"So, it's a success?" He questions, seeing that everything is running smoothly thus far.
"It can't technically be counted as one until the seven day mark."
"Which is…?"
"Three days."
"The Games are in a week from tomorrow. If it is a success and you're chosen, that will barely be enough time to create more of them." He mutters.
"I don't care if I'm chosen or not at this point, I just want to stop marking 'time of death' on my notes and what I believe the cause to be."
"Bare minimum." It's mumbled flatly, he's tossing the file to her desk.
He nods, looking at it for another moment before shutting it, handing it back to her.
"Is there anything else you need?" He asks her, half sarcastically, given that she'd thrown out a whole list of why she just had to see him.
"That thing that you told Dyess was just a rumor," She starts, Snow taking notice of her swallowing thickly, slowly stepping to her, "about Ravinstill…is it truly just a rumor?"
He stands over her.
"It might not be." He says quietly, raising his brows. "But what does it matter to you? You just want a successful case."
She thinks a moment more, his eyes watching her as she does so.
"My aunt said the only case left to be submitted for review is mine." Tawny replies. "Are you being so patient because you like looking at me?"
The self-doubt is written plainly on her face.
"I don't favor you." He denies it, truthfully. "I admire your work, and I know you can…" He wants to gag on his next words, knowing she'd be more successful if not for her spineless husband, "…do better than what you have been the last year." He explains.
"Oh." She almost whispers it, trying not to sound too relieved before saying, "I'm sorry I was rude to Philo. He always seems like a nervous wreck."
"I always seem to make him a nervous wreck." Coriolanus scoffs.
"I can't imagine how you'd ever make someone nervous." She furrows her brows, lips pulling upward…another thought comes to mind. "Did you speak to Tigris?"
He pulls away from her at the mention of it, she wants to reach out and grab him to stop him, ask him to talk to her about it.
"She's not going to tell anyone." He says to her.
"...She doesn't think we're horrible people does she?"
He wants to laugh at her question, believing his cousin has long believed him to be a horrible person to some extent.
"No, Dr. Crane, she doesn't."
Tawny almost flinches at what he addresses her as.
Things had changed since they'd been caught by his cousin – as if it made their affair palpable, real…neither of them had acknowledged it, however.
She wondered if guilt drilled at him, he wondered if she was falling in love with him.
Both of them were repulsed by the thoughts but didn't utter a word about it.
"I have to get home." She says next, breaking the small space of silence between them.
"Me, too." He replies, walking around her desk to grab his coat he'd rested on her chair.
He notices the box on her desk, now, small and silver…the same box he had seen Dr. Gaul slip the syringe they had found in Dyess' office into earlier in the week.
"She said it's an anniversary present." Tawny tells him, noticing his eye caught on the package. "Apparently I'm not supposed to open it until after the Games."
Did this mean that Gaul had officially found enough evidence from those other autopsies? Was Dyess going to be dealt with after the Games?
Coriolanus sneers at the idea of the man's creations even being featured in the arena at all anymore.
The only reason his mutts even had a chance at being picked was because he ruined Tawny's.
Snow thinks back to Dyess' smug comment.
Tawny's gotten the pick of the litter, right, Snow?
Coriolanus looks at Tawny, who is now filing away the case he had looked over.
He thinks of her driving herself mad trying to right the cases that she believes she did wrong, for the sake of the Games, to put on a good show, to help continue to prove a point to the Districts whose rebels stole her daughter away from her.
Perhaps he's gotten the pick of the litter…
"Everyone knows he's the best Gamemaker we've got aside from Dr. Gaul. And Tawny gets him all to herself," Dyess' voice rings out in his mind, again.
No, Tawny didn't have him all to herself…she has to share with Livia.
Though he's certain Tawny doesn't mind sharing with his wife.
The idea of him sharing with Dyess is a brand new issue that needs to be remedied, and if all bodes well with Dr. Gaul's investigation, it will remedied quite soon.
"...Mr. Snow?" Tawny asks him again, his blue eyes coming back from being zoned out for a moment. "Were you needing something? I was about to leave, and I've got to lock up."
He can start the process of digging under Dyess' skin furthermore the sooner Tawny's subject is chosen as the third and final addition.
"I do need something, actually." He nods, slowly, a small smirk on his lips. "Come here." He says to her, watching as she puts her stuff down and walks toward the desk, keeping it between the two of them.
"Closer." He tells her.
"I have to go home, I can't do this toni –"
She hushes when his palm goes against her lips, fingertips gently holding at her face as he leans over her desk to be eye level with her.
"I'm just looking ." He defends himself, unable to even get his mind on anything other than making sure they don't fail so she can get picked.
Her lips tug upward under his palm, and she nods a couple times before he removes his hand. "Now, Dr. Crane, would you mind showing me what you've been working on?"
Brown eyes nearly sparkle at his interest.
"Really?" She asks him.
"So I can actually get my eye on it." He replies, repeating her words and her small grin turns into a toothy smile.
Her lips quickly press to his before she's plucking the key to her lab out of her desk drawer.
Before she shuts it, she places the gift from Gaul inside, and ice blue eyes watch it disappear into the polished wood, his mouth growing bitter at the memory of its content.