Author's Note: Back to my favourite district and perhaps a more ruthless side to them I don't show very often.

….

The Eighty-Ninth Annual Hunger Games: Aquaria Brooks, District Four (18)

Aquaria had won in the stead of Amethyst and Antigone, two fellow strong, beautiful volunteer victors. But it was perhaps Aquaria who was the most dangerous. She did not play games with the other tributes or try to enchant the Capitol audiences. She simply played the game as the Hunger Games presented themselves to her. She killed anyone who got in her way and walked out alive.

She was efficient, and brutal and did not care for the cameras or Gamemaker strategy. Aquaria left the arena as soon as the opportunity presented itself. She was not allowed a victory as swift as Halley's, but Aquaria was lifted out of her arena as a victor on only the third day.

Song, her mentor, had tried to warn her to slow down but Aquaria wanted to get the job done. That's what the Games were to her, her first job out of the Centre. A graduation of sorts, to prove her worthiness to District Four.

She had done it and was handed the crown and the house in the Victors' Village to prove it. Much was made of her apparent differences from her fellow victors from Four. But both Aquaria and Song knew they were all more alike than Aquaria had let on. Just because she did not play the part of the amiable, adaptable District Four tribute did not mean that she was an outsider. She was just as dedicated to survival and her home as they all were.

She knew what Song had been looking for and made herself into it in the best way she knew. Her mentor wanted another victor and Aquaria wanted to be that victor. Since returning home, Song had made clear to Aquaria her love for Annie and her pride in her first victor's progress, but that did not stop her from wanting to leave a legacy in the Capitol. To have someone under her wing to whom she could pass on the mantle as her role changed as she and Rowan grew older.

Aquaria knew of the likely fate that awaited her and understood that the others would support her. She was immediately accepted as one of the family and decided that she would be able to cope with whatever was thrown at her.

To her surprise, she immediately found a sisterhood with Annie Cresta. It was clear why they were both Song's victors. Their mentor had told Aquaria that at the start of their respective Games, they were similar. Annie was dangerous, the leader of the career pack, but there was something in her mentality that none of them, Annie included, were expecting.

But Aquaria returned home to find Annie having taken over Mags' business empire in District Four, running a string of hotels from the quiet of her home and office. Almost twenty years had passed since her Games, and she was thriving at home. The Annie Cresta following the Eighty-Ninth Games was a far cry from the screaming girl who left the arena of the Seventieth Games.

Annie was living openly in Four but in the shadows of public life to hide from the Capitol. The employees who knew the identity of their boss knew Annie to be a capable and effective leader and in return for their superior working conditions, they kept her identity secret.

Annie had admitted that she was not able to go to the Capitol, she would never cope under their glare and expectations. But she had flourished at home with the enduring support of Finnick and Song, living under the radar and able to recover from the arena. She knew it was a luxury afforded to no other victor and that her peers in Four had paid the price following the Seventieth Games.

Aquaria knew that they could work well together. They would become a team, making the most of their newfound bond. She could assist Finnick in feeding intelligence back to Annie, help secure the continued custom of Capitol guests in Annie's hotels and be the link between the Capitol and District Four as their mentor aged and Finnick's responsibilities increased.

Aquaria would be the rope; pulling gullible, rich Capitol dwellers to Annie's domain, Four's holiday resorts where they would be further sucked in by the charm of their district. Annie's businesses provided the perfect place for guests to relax, drop their guard and reveal information to Four's operatives. The victors had long found that bringing Capitol targets out of their surroundings to somewhere new left them vulnerable to spilling secrets and they thrived off what they could learn.

Under Song's continued mentorship, Aquaria found herself on a crash course in the ways Four really worked, how the victors interacted with the Capitol and just how deep their rebel loyalties lie. Of course, she later realised that Song was feeding her just the information she would need to know to operate effectively on her Victory Tour and through her first Games as a victor. There would be so much more she would learn later.

Secrets were Finnick's modus operandi, and it took some time before Aquaria discovered his deepest secret. She knew he was their lead in gathering intelligence, but he did not divulge until Song told him that Aquaria could be trusted, that he was the districts' rebel leader. He was powerful beyond Four and Aquaria could understand why. He was magnetic, even to those older victors who would have seen him at his worst and most vulnerable, so much so that he had begun to inspire a deep loyalty among so many of their peers.

Most rank-and-file rebel units did not know the identity of their main leader. They simply understood them to be someone from the west of the country and Finnick revelled in his greatest secret. Annie had told Aquaria that Finnick often struggled with the weight of the responsibility, but he had grown to enjoy the status and respect it brought from those who knew. He could finally be more than the prettiest victor in Panem.

Aquaria found herself at the beginning of that cycle. She was another pretty plaything for the Capitol to enjoy. As Finnick found company in Gloss and Cashmere, Aquaria formed bonds with Amythest and Antigone. Three beautiful, female volunteer victors, winning in the space of four years. They were united in their fates, the first letter of their names and through the supposed love of the Capitol.

Whilst Antigone had found a way to take some enjoyment from their fates and was fighting for control, Amethyst seemed to genuinely thrive off the attention. Aquaria reacted differently to them both, seeing it as a business transaction, a way to try to help Four's efforts. It was what helped her manage. Antigone and Amethyst did not seem to need an ulterior motive or coping mechanism, but Aquaria knew that this was not a weakness on her part. Four's training had retained the importance of emotions, well-being and not denying how an experience made you feel, something that was lacking in the other volunteer districts. Four needed their victors to connect with people and feel lived experiences to drive them forward. Maintaining their connection with the trials of their district was what made them so effective when working at home.

Four's victors also provided support at home in a way that Aquaria knew Amethyst was not receiving, despite Aria's best efforts. District One simply did not operate in the same way and Amethyst would deny having any troubles at all. Antigone would be well-supported in Two, but their attitudes to life as a victor were completely different. Aquaria could always rely on Song for guidance and support and her mentor allowed her to be her most human and vulnerable whilst retaining the strength that saw her leave the arena in style.

It was her methods in the arena which allowed Aquaria to realise that she was the most dangerous of the three. Antigone and Amethyst would deny this, but Aquaria knew it to be the truth. Malachite's constant presence alongside his victor confirmed that Antigone needed supervision and both women knew how much Amethyst resented Aria's watch over her. But Aquaria knew she was the only one to have killed since she left the arena and by the time they met as a group, she had only entered her arena a year ago. Antigone and Amethyst played a great game, but Aquaria was the one to continue playing. She knew the Games were not over just because she walked out of the arena alive.

….

She was able to leave the Village without Song remaining two paces behind. Four's victors had a great deal of trust in Aquaria. It was when she was out alone one evening that she realised there was a threat to their operations, and she decided to take decisive action. She was unsure whether the others had known they were being watched, and it was a shock to her, so Aquaria decided to put a stop to it before any threat could take hold.

She was walking home as night fell following some time spent surfing alone. Song had decided that her victor did not need to be accompanied to the water as she was safe there, in the style of any young person who walked through the Centre's doors. The Capitol expected them to be exceptionally adept in the water, so they all were.

People were used to Aquaria's presence, so she did not attract any unusual attention when starting her journey home. It was this comfort in her presence and the growing darkness of night that seemed to enable the conversation that the young victor overheard.

"It didn't work before, going to the Victors' Village. We need to use the Centre. The victors aren't there all the time, it's only the instructors."

"We still need to get their attention."

"And we will. They will notice it's missing soon enough. You know what to do."

"I know where it all is. It's just a matter of getting in, grabbing the data and leaving without being noticed."

"Security?"

"I copied the key card, like you suggested."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem. What are you waiting for?"

Aquaria had heard enough. She dived straight from the shadows onto the man who seemed to be instigating the plan and knocked him to the floor. The younger man, the one who would breach the Centre itself, attacked in response. But Aquaria's reactions were honed from the arena, and he found himself on his back too.

She decided to focus on the older man as he seemed to be the leader. He tried to stand but Aquaria forced him back down again, slamming his head into the floor. She rolled him over to his front and looked right into his eyes as blood started to pour from the impact of his head hitting the ground.

"Whatever you're trying, it won't work. You won't get away with it," Aquaria hissed.

She noticed that the younger man had made the wise decision to run away so she knew must get the job done quickly. She would ask Song what to do with the accomplice later.

Just months on from her Games, there was only one way this was going to end. Aquaria had the man pinned and her hands to his throat as the life drained from his eyes and his breathing stopped. Aquaria stood, stomped on the man's throat, and knocked his head into the floor once more. A cannon hadn't fired, and she could not be sure he was dead until she stopped and realised she was at home. There would be no cannon and the job was done.

Aquaria realised there would be no hovercraft to remove the body either so the task of disposing of the corpse would fall to her. She panicked briefly, before remembering that it was dark and nobody else was around. She took hold of her surfboard with one hand, dragged the man under her other arm and ran back towards the sea.

Once in the water, she hauled the dead man onto the surfboard, pushed out further into the sea and swam as far as she dared before tipping him from the board and into the waters. She could only hope he would not wash up in the same place tomorrow. But the only thing linking her to the murder was the other man and she would need help in deciding what to do about him.

Song was worried when Aquaria arrived home. Whilst she trusted her victor, she had been gone for hours and it was completely dark. Her victor did not seem to have too many lasting effects from the arena, but Song knew she could not be entirely sure merely months after Aquaria returned home.

Aquaria was brusque and firm when she reached the Village, "Song, Annie, let's go round the back."

Realising that her victor had not met their eyes, Song instead led them to the cliff point where Four's victors had their most private discussions. She already knew this was a conversation they could not risk being overheard.

"I've killed a man and I need to know what to do with the one who saw me," Aquaria started.

Annie's jaw dropped and even Song, who was not easily surprised could hardly find the words.

"You're going to have to tell us more than that my girl."

So, Aquaria retold the night's events as Song and Annie listened in silence and tried not to panic.

"You didn't think to tell us first?" Annie asked.

"I thought they were going to the Centre tonight. I wasn't sure if there was time."

"So, you took everything into your own hands and didn't think about the consequences?"

"I don't think they'll be coming for us tonight anymore! We have time to check our security and make sure they don't steal whatever they were planning to take."

"You could have been seen! There could be peacekeepers looking for you now. Who knows what the other man has done or who he is?"

"The peacekeepers are with us, aren't they?"

"About ninety per cent are. That still leaves one in every ten who could move against us."

"So, what do I do?"

"I'm getting Rowan. He has experience in this sort of thing," Song said as she hurriedly went to find her partner.

"Song isn't mad that you killed him," Annie said, now that they were alone. "I think you did the right thing. She's more surprised than anything. Her main worry now will be the other man and how we hide this."

"How will Rowan be able to help?"

"He's done the same thing that you did. He's killed a peacekeeper too. Not long after the Quarter Quell announcement. He didn't take it well when it all failed after the Seventy-Fourth, not when we were so close."

Aquaria laughed, "I'm not all that different to you all, am I?"

"We've all got experience hiding bodies, Aquaria," Annie laughed in return.

Aquaria decided not to ask Annie about her own experiences and before she had time to consider Annie's reply further, Song arrived with Rowan behind her.

"You sure move fast, girl," he said.

"I bet it took longer than this for Noah to leave you in a mess."

"Sure did, but I'm not mad at you. We've just got to sort it before anybody acts on it."

"We'll go for a swim early tomorrow, make sure nothing has washed up," Song said.

"But we need to know who the other guy was so we can find him but that's easily done. We have the records of who's who in Four. You'll just need to point him out, Aquaria."

They got to work immediately, sifting through the database they held for anyone in the age range estimated by Aquaria until they found him. That soon led them to determine the identity of the man Aquaria had killed.

"We have history!" Rowan shouted as Annie winced, looking at the image on the screen.

"It seems trouble still runs in the family," Song replied.

"And we still need to do something about them. Fifteen years on and they haven't changed their ways. The same methods, uncles using their nephews to do their dirty work."

Aquaria was confused and looked to Song for an explanation.

"After the Seventy-Fourth when we had all that trouble, victors dying, attacks on the Villages, the man you killed broke into Shai's house. Annie confronted him and thanks to you he's no longer a problem. His own uncle, a peacekeeper, put him up to it and he was dealt with. Now he's followed the family tradition with his nephew."

"So what do we do?"

"We need to try to nip this in the bud before anything catches on. For now, it stays with the four of us. Keep everyone else out of it. Annie, don't tell Finn. We need to keep his hands clean. Rowan and I will visit the nephew."

"If that doesn't work?"

"We will do whatever is necessary. Just like you did."

Aquaria heard nothing more from Rowan or Song. She did not see the man or any of his family members again when she went surfing. When she asked Annie if she knew anything about it, Annie just replied that the matter had been resolved and that Rowan or Song had not yet had to kill anyone.

The matter had not harmed Aquaria's relationship with her mentor either. After the initial shock, Song had taken everything in her stride and simply told Aquaria that if she were to come across anything else, she should inform her before taking matters into her own hands, unless it was urgent. They would travel Panem on the Victory Tour together as if nothing had happened and they would begin preparations for Aquaria's first Games as a victor as if her kill tally had not increased since the arena.

In Aquaria's mind, it had cemented her status as one of them. She was part and parcel of District Four's family of victors. She was the slightly troublesome, impulsive younger sister to Annie and a friend of Ossian, Noah and Finnick. She looked up to Chloe and Coral and held them in high regard, especially after hearing about their decades of adventures together as the victors tried to encourage Coral to revisit her memories. Song and Rowan were her immediate source of guidance, and she knew she could turn to them no matter the situation.

Amethyst and Antigone were going to be her friends as well as the most natural source of comparison, but Aquaria knew where she stood. She was a woman of action, not words, she got on with the task at hand and did not need the cameras or the Capitol's attention to do what she wanted.

She did not need the drama of the Hunger Games now that she had left the arena. She had used them to reach the life she believed she was made to have and had started work on her latest roles in becoming a mentor and an intelligence asset. She was business-like in her attitude to work and life and had managed to close the door on the arena behind her.

She believed she was one of the few victors to have no apparent ill-effects from the arena. She doubted the same could be said for Antigone or Amethyst. They would simply disguise what they did not want others to find out. But Aquaria felt no need. Perhaps in her swift attack on those who posed a threat to the Centre and her fellow victors, there were signs of lasting effects from the arena. But, she realised, that instinct was what made her a victor. Even Annie had been able to kill ruthlessly and had indirectly admitted to doing so after her arena.

Aquaria was not a tribute who wanted to befriend the others or play the part of a happy prospective victor from Four. She acted quickly, got the job done and came home. That was what set her apart from the likes of Antigone and Amethyst who had to do that bit more. But it was what made her who she was. Luckily, the others in Four loved her and did not see her as something different to them. They had moulded her, and she ran with Song's ideals and survived. It would be the game she would always play until Four's victors came out on top.