Fic: Long and Lost
Title: Long and Lost (11/?)
Fandom: The Hunger Games
Fandom: The Hunger Games
Rating: PG-13/R
Pairings: mostly gen, Katniss/Peeta is discussed
Warnings: canon typical violence, forced prostitution, bad medical care, abelist language, alcoholism, WIP
Notes: Things are nuts. I'm working on part 14.
Summary: Katniss volunteered to take her sister's place in the 76th Hunger Games. Then she was unlucky enough to win.
"How does it feel to be back in the Capitol?"
They looked like they were outside, in a park, but Katniss knew this interview had happened in a room somewhere with peacekeepers guarding the door.
She picked at an imaginary hangnail. "Do we have to watch this?"
Haymitch shushed her.
"It's nice." It was cringeworthy to hear how Peeta sounded. "I missed…going on walks?"
"One of our associates visited you in District Twelve. We were all very sorry to see the state of the district. It must have been very hard on you."
"The...whole district smells like smoke. It's all very...grey."
"Indeed it was. We were all very concerned for your safety. Which is why we were so grateful when the president authorized a revitalization crew to assist in the repairs."
There's footage, set to horrible music, of sad District 12 citizens meekly accepting charity from the Capitol. Mixed in with it is Peeta giving out treats at the community home.
It makes Katniss nauseous, but her prep team - now Hazel Tims' prep team - actually looked emotional.
"And we all know who was right there with you - your fellow victor, Katniss Everdeen!"
"What?"
This time it was Effie who shushed her. Haymitch had relaxed back into his chair.
A few of Katniss's trades were shown as her giving out food. Her mother and her sister were called 'volunteer medics' doing their best to 'provide mercy' in 'the most primitive of conditions'.
"This is her first year mentoring, yes?"
"Yes. She's...nervous."
They talked through her potential strengths as a mentor, barely mentioning the actual tributes at all. They had camera footage of her watching the tribute parade. Peeta called her focused; she looked nauseated.
The interviewer didn't ask him about the odds. Katniss supposed even the worst Capitolite knew better than to ask Peeta for betting advice.
Not that anyone needed it. Cinna and Portia hadn't been able to make the tributes look anything but what they were: starved and weak.
Katniss looked at them and saw Jack. They weren't from the community home, but that didn't make it better.
Peeta hadn't seen them at all. He'd left for the Capitol two days early, and the announcers on reaping day had remarked that conditions in Twelve were "truly truly awful" and “really not suited for someone in Peeta's fragile state".
This interview was doing it too.
"You're looking so much better, my dear," the host said. "I think we were all heartbroken to see the toll this had taken. You were so grey!"
Haymitch sighed. "They won't give up on that."
"On what?" Katniss asked, but he waved her away.
"All the usual sponsors have said the same thing," Effie said to Haymitch. "I've tried to talk them out of it, but that awful fire..."
Katniss hid a flinch. All those homeless people, because of her.
"We'll figure it out," Haymitch said. "This was just a warm-up. Now they're talking about us again."
"I thought we didn't want them to ta-"
"Tomorrow," and now he was speaking over Katniss, "when the kids are training, we'll work on our narrative."
Peeta was there in the morning, and so was Geiter, who'd dyed his hair again. This time it was a sickly green, and he traded tips with Octavia about the care and maintenance of green everything.
Peeta hadn't looked grey in District Twelve. He'd looked too clean, and he'd looked tired, but he hadn't looked grey. These people didn't know what grey looked like.
Right now he looked just as tired, and he was toying with his food rather than eating it. Again.
"It's good. Try it."
Hazel was clearly humoring him, but the boy tribute - Puck - dove into breakfast eagerly, experimenting with dipping everything in his hot chocolate, not just the bread.
Jack. It's Jack all over again.
"Try to, try to stick together. You're a team. And don't, don't, don't, stay away from weapons. There's no time."
Katniss realized the tributes were staring at her, waiting for her to interrupt Peeta. Waiting for her to take over. Panic squeezed her throat and her eyes went wide.
"Stick to, stick to edible plants." Peeta then corrected himself with a long list of relevant training stations, all related to survival skills. "No weapons. No weapons."
"That what you did?" Hazel asked Katniss.
She nodded, short and jerky.
That's when Haymitch stumbled in on a cloud of stale air. He wasn't horrendous, the way he often smelled in District Twelve. Just the normal amount of awful a man could pick up in twelve hours. Sometime between last night and now he'd started drinking.
This is what you're stuck with, Katniss thought. This is who you've got to mentor you.
Games related buildings took up an entire "district" of the Capitol. Most everything was in walking distance, but important Capitolites took cars or taxis pulled by humans.
They took a car. Haymitch swore he wouldn't take "a damn fifteen minute walk anywhere", though Katniss knew for a fact the walk from Victor's Village to the Hob was longer, and Effie was horrified by the thought of her victors having to do something so pedestrian as be pedestrians.
"This is where we'll woo our sponsors," Effie said, waving a hand at the building in front of them. "Or, at the very least, we'll do our very best. We had wonderous luck last year. I think the odds might be in our favor."
"Don't get your hopes up," Haymitch said. He smelled better, but he looked scruffier than ever.
Effie forced her smile even wider. "You must remember, Katniss, that you need to stay optimistic. Sponsors won't believe in our tributes if we don't believe in them first."
There weren't a lot of sponsors around this early. Once they passed the concierge, who'd had her nails capped with glass points, they entered a giant room with Games coverage one wall and betting odds on the other. Katniss recognized a few victors right off the bat. One of them was Chaff, from District Eleven. Haymitch ditched them to join him at the bar.
"Now, once you get a sponsor to agree, you can either summon an attendant or lead them to this wall. See those little terminals? They can chip in right there. Of course, this isn't the only way to find sponsors but you'll soon learn that -"
Effie talked like she didn't need to breathe. The rules blurred together until only a few snapshots stood out. Bar there; private rooms there, "but Katniss I strongly recommend you don't go in them"; viewing area in the center; "this is a family friendly environment, so don't either of you get rowdy"; "don't get drawn into bets while your tributes are still on the board".
"Don't worry Katniss, I'll be with you every step of the way."
That wasn't as reassuring as Effie thought it was.
"We won't spend long in here today," Effie promised. "There's so much to see! This is just one small part of the honor you've been granted, my dear."
Honor. What honor?
When Effie finally ran out of steam, she sent Peeta to fetch Haymitch. He was walking sideways.
"Oh shut up," he slurred when Effie started complaining. "'M pacing m'self. Gotta keep an eye on the kids."
They passed by the Games Medical building without stopping.
Effie didn't even point it out. Katniss read the sign on her own.
"This is where we'll be spending most of our time," Effie said, and swept her arms wide at a large gold drenched courtyard.
Katniss blinked at it. "Okay."
Effie sighed and kept on rolling. "This is Headquarters. There's a whole wing of the building set aside just for mentoring! Now, I can't stay in the Mentor's Arena for the entire Games, but I will be close by, and I know Haymitch can help you with the rest."
She shot Haymitch what she intended to be a stern look, but he wasn't paying attention. He and Peeta had fallen back to whisper to each other, and Katniss couldn't make out what they were saying.
She found herself hating them, just a little, for being caught up in their own world and leaving her alone with Effie.
Effie wanted to give her a tour of the building, down to the recruitment office for the prep teams, but they didn't get past the lobby before Haymitch butted in.
"You realize we have a whole week to do this?"
"Well excuse me for wanting to show her how things were done before opening day."
Katniss was learning to tune out their arguments for the sake of her own sanity. She stood there, like a child caught between bitter bickering parents. Then she walked off.
It wasn't as effective an exit as it could have been. She almost turned an ankle in her stupid shoes. Then Peeta caught up with her.
"Where are you going?"
"Away from here."
He looked over his shoulder. "Back to the tower? Training should be over soon."
She stopped. She couldn't go back there. She couldn't deal with those tributes. She couldn't look at them and see coffins. She couldn't go back there. She couldn't deal with those tributes. She couldn't look at them and see coffins. She couldn't go back -
"Or," Peeta said, drawing it out.
Katniss took a ragged breath.
"Or we could go to Victory Gardens. Some of the other victors might be there, but we could always hide in my apartment."
Tribute Tower, Effie and Haymitch, or Peeta's.
There were never better options.
-------
There were too many tvs in the Garden Club on a good day.
"I was honored to help Mr. Mellark at the community home," Geiter was saying to some two-bit interviewer who'd lucked into a great opportunity. "I know myself how life changing the right sponsor can be."
Still a whole load of nonsense to Haymitch, but convenient. No one was going to sit down with Katniss until the Games were underway. If they were lucky, a tribute would make it to the final eight. If they weren't, it meant they were just laying foundations for next year.
Depending on your definitions of lucky and unlucky, of course. The Games had a way of twisting things around.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Chaff grumbled.
"Hell if I know," Haymitch said, "but it helps our image, since we need one of those."
Chaff laughed. "Good luck with that. What are you hoping for: early exit or top five?"
"I don't know. I'm not exactly thrilled by either one. You?"
"One I hope goes in the bloodbath. The other might make it."
Haymitch tried to remember Eleven's tributes. "The girl?"
"Vetch. Not bad. Best we've had since Thresh anyway."
They clinked glasses over Thresh; it had been his year.
"That was a fucked up year," Chaff muttered.
Haymitch thought about what Finnick had told him about the 74th. "Yep."
They didn't comment on the 75th. The District Eleven tributes had been picked off early. They were the lucky ones.
The tv gushed about a recent sighting of Peeta and Katniss scurrying through town. Haymitch's ears were still burning from the fit Effie threw when she realized they were gone.
"You gonna knock him out again?"
"I'm playing it by ear."
"Well, figure it out before he has a melt down in HQ."
Haymitch grunted at him.
On the tv, they got tired of talking about District Twelve and moved on to their favorite topic: Finnick. Apparently he made a cameo in Orelia's new movie, as one of the handsome men rescued by a mermaid. They even showed a clip of her swimming. Haymitch wondered what Finnick had to do to get that featured in the coverage.
"I hope she knows what he's getting her into."
There were pictures from a professional photoshoot where they were posed together. Her hair was pink.
"She thinks it's worth it."
Chaff shook his head. "Careers."
[Next: The Dark Horse] This entry was crossposted to My DW Account. Please feel free to read or comment on either site.
Fandom: The Hunger Games
Fandom: The Hunger Games
Rating: PG-13/R
Pairings: mostly gen, Katniss/Peeta is discussed
Warnings: canon typical violence, forced prostitution, bad medical care, abelist language, alcoholism, WIP
Notes: Things are nuts. I'm working on part 14.
Summary: Katniss volunteered to take her sister's place in the 76th Hunger Games. Then she was unlucky enough to win.
"How does it feel to be back in the Capitol?"
They looked like they were outside, in a park, but Katniss knew this interview had happened in a room somewhere with peacekeepers guarding the door.
She picked at an imaginary hangnail. "Do we have to watch this?"
Haymitch shushed her.
"It's nice." It was cringeworthy to hear how Peeta sounded. "I missed…going on walks?"
"One of our associates visited you in District Twelve. We were all very sorry to see the state of the district. It must have been very hard on you."
"The...whole district smells like smoke. It's all very...grey."
"Indeed it was. We were all very concerned for your safety. Which is why we were so grateful when the president authorized a revitalization crew to assist in the repairs."
There's footage, set to horrible music, of sad District 12 citizens meekly accepting charity from the Capitol. Mixed in with it is Peeta giving out treats at the community home.
It makes Katniss nauseous, but her prep team - now Hazel Tims' prep team - actually looked emotional.
"And we all know who was right there with you - your fellow victor, Katniss Everdeen!"
"What?"
This time it was Effie who shushed her. Haymitch had relaxed back into his chair.
A few of Katniss's trades were shown as her giving out food. Her mother and her sister were called 'volunteer medics' doing their best to 'provide mercy' in 'the most primitive of conditions'.
"This is her first year mentoring, yes?"
"Yes. She's...nervous."
They talked through her potential strengths as a mentor, barely mentioning the actual tributes at all. They had camera footage of her watching the tribute parade. Peeta called her focused; she looked nauseated.
The interviewer didn't ask him about the odds. Katniss supposed even the worst Capitolite knew better than to ask Peeta for betting advice.
Not that anyone needed it. Cinna and Portia hadn't been able to make the tributes look anything but what they were: starved and weak.
Katniss looked at them and saw Jack. They weren't from the community home, but that didn't make it better.
Peeta hadn't seen them at all. He'd left for the Capitol two days early, and the announcers on reaping day had remarked that conditions in Twelve were "truly truly awful" and “really not suited for someone in Peeta's fragile state".
This interview was doing it too.
"You're looking so much better, my dear," the host said. "I think we were all heartbroken to see the toll this had taken. You were so grey!"
Haymitch sighed. "They won't give up on that."
"On what?" Katniss asked, but he waved her away.
"All the usual sponsors have said the same thing," Effie said to Haymitch. "I've tried to talk them out of it, but that awful fire..."
Katniss hid a flinch. All those homeless people, because of her.
"We'll figure it out," Haymitch said. "This was just a warm-up. Now they're talking about us again."
"I thought we didn't want them to ta-"
"Tomorrow," and now he was speaking over Katniss, "when the kids are training, we'll work on our narrative."
Peeta was there in the morning, and so was Geiter, who'd dyed his hair again. This time it was a sickly green, and he traded tips with Octavia about the care and maintenance of green everything.
Peeta hadn't looked grey in District Twelve. He'd looked too clean, and he'd looked tired, but he hadn't looked grey. These people didn't know what grey looked like.
Right now he looked just as tired, and he was toying with his food rather than eating it. Again.
"It's good. Try it."
Hazel was clearly humoring him, but the boy tribute - Puck - dove into breakfast eagerly, experimenting with dipping everything in his hot chocolate, not just the bread.
Jack. It's Jack all over again.
"Try to, try to stick together. You're a team. And don't, don't, don't, stay away from weapons. There's no time."
Katniss realized the tributes were staring at her, waiting for her to interrupt Peeta. Waiting for her to take over. Panic squeezed her throat and her eyes went wide.
"Stick to, stick to edible plants." Peeta then corrected himself with a long list of relevant training stations, all related to survival skills. "No weapons. No weapons."
"That what you did?" Hazel asked Katniss.
She nodded, short and jerky.
That's when Haymitch stumbled in on a cloud of stale air. He wasn't horrendous, the way he often smelled in District Twelve. Just the normal amount of awful a man could pick up in twelve hours. Sometime between last night and now he'd started drinking.
This is what you're stuck with, Katniss thought. This is who you've got to mentor you.
Games related buildings took up an entire "district" of the Capitol. Most everything was in walking distance, but important Capitolites took cars or taxis pulled by humans.
They took a car. Haymitch swore he wouldn't take "a damn fifteen minute walk anywhere", though Katniss knew for a fact the walk from Victor's Village to the Hob was longer, and Effie was horrified by the thought of her victors having to do something so pedestrian as be pedestrians.
"This is where we'll woo our sponsors," Effie said, waving a hand at the building in front of them. "Or, at the very least, we'll do our very best. We had wonderous luck last year. I think the odds might be in our favor."
"Don't get your hopes up," Haymitch said. He smelled better, but he looked scruffier than ever.
Effie forced her smile even wider. "You must remember, Katniss, that you need to stay optimistic. Sponsors won't believe in our tributes if we don't believe in them first."
There weren't a lot of sponsors around this early. Once they passed the concierge, who'd had her nails capped with glass points, they entered a giant room with Games coverage one wall and betting odds on the other. Katniss recognized a few victors right off the bat. One of them was Chaff, from District Eleven. Haymitch ditched them to join him at the bar.
"Now, once you get a sponsor to agree, you can either summon an attendant or lead them to this wall. See those little terminals? They can chip in right there. Of course, this isn't the only way to find sponsors but you'll soon learn that -"
Effie talked like she didn't need to breathe. The rules blurred together until only a few snapshots stood out. Bar there; private rooms there, "but Katniss I strongly recommend you don't go in them"; viewing area in the center; "this is a family friendly environment, so don't either of you get rowdy"; "don't get drawn into bets while your tributes are still on the board".
"Don't worry Katniss, I'll be with you every step of the way."
That wasn't as reassuring as Effie thought it was.
"We won't spend long in here today," Effie promised. "There's so much to see! This is just one small part of the honor you've been granted, my dear."
Honor. What honor?
When Effie finally ran out of steam, she sent Peeta to fetch Haymitch. He was walking sideways.
"Oh shut up," he slurred when Effie started complaining. "'M pacing m'self. Gotta keep an eye on the kids."
They passed by the Games Medical building without stopping.
Effie didn't even point it out. Katniss read the sign on her own.
"This is where we'll be spending most of our time," Effie said, and swept her arms wide at a large gold drenched courtyard.
Katniss blinked at it. "Okay."
Effie sighed and kept on rolling. "This is Headquarters. There's a whole wing of the building set aside just for mentoring! Now, I can't stay in the Mentor's Arena for the entire Games, but I will be close by, and I know Haymitch can help you with the rest."
She shot Haymitch what she intended to be a stern look, but he wasn't paying attention. He and Peeta had fallen back to whisper to each other, and Katniss couldn't make out what they were saying.
She found herself hating them, just a little, for being caught up in their own world and leaving her alone with Effie.
Effie wanted to give her a tour of the building, down to the recruitment office for the prep teams, but they didn't get past the lobby before Haymitch butted in.
"You realize we have a whole week to do this?"
"Well excuse me for wanting to show her how things were done before opening day."
Katniss was learning to tune out their arguments for the sake of her own sanity. She stood there, like a child caught between bitter bickering parents. Then she walked off.
It wasn't as effective an exit as it could have been. She almost turned an ankle in her stupid shoes. Then Peeta caught up with her.
"Where are you going?"
"Away from here."
He looked over his shoulder. "Back to the tower? Training should be over soon."
She stopped. She couldn't go back there. She couldn't deal with those tributes. She couldn't look at them and see coffins. She couldn't go back there. She couldn't deal with those tributes. She couldn't look at them and see coffins. She couldn't go back -
"Or," Peeta said, drawing it out.
Katniss took a ragged breath.
"Or we could go to Victory Gardens. Some of the other victors might be there, but we could always hide in my apartment."
Tribute Tower, Effie and Haymitch, or Peeta's.
There were never better options.
-------
There were too many tvs in the Garden Club on a good day.
"I was honored to help Mr. Mellark at the community home," Geiter was saying to some two-bit interviewer who'd lucked into a great opportunity. "I know myself how life changing the right sponsor can be."
Still a whole load of nonsense to Haymitch, but convenient. No one was going to sit down with Katniss until the Games were underway. If they were lucky, a tribute would make it to the final eight. If they weren't, it meant they were just laying foundations for next year.
Depending on your definitions of lucky and unlucky, of course. The Games had a way of twisting things around.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Chaff grumbled.
"Hell if I know," Haymitch said, "but it helps our image, since we need one of those."
Chaff laughed. "Good luck with that. What are you hoping for: early exit or top five?"
"I don't know. I'm not exactly thrilled by either one. You?"
"One I hope goes in the bloodbath. The other might make it."
Haymitch tried to remember Eleven's tributes. "The girl?"
"Vetch. Not bad. Best we've had since Thresh anyway."
They clinked glasses over Thresh; it had been his year.
"That was a fucked up year," Chaff muttered.
Haymitch thought about what Finnick had told him about the 74th. "Yep."
They didn't comment on the 75th. The District Eleven tributes had been picked off early. They were the lucky ones.
The tv gushed about a recent sighting of Peeta and Katniss scurrying through town. Haymitch's ears were still burning from the fit Effie threw when she realized they were gone.
"You gonna knock him out again?"
"I'm playing it by ear."
"Well, figure it out before he has a melt down in HQ."
Haymitch grunted at him.
On the tv, they got tired of talking about District Twelve and moved on to their favorite topic: Finnick. Apparently he made a cameo in Orelia's new movie, as one of the handsome men rescued by a mermaid. They even showed a clip of her swimming. Haymitch wondered what Finnick had to do to get that featured in the coverage.
"I hope she knows what he's getting her into."
There were pictures from a professional photoshoot where they were posed together. Her hair was pink.
"She thinks it's worth it."
Chaff shook his head. "Careers."
[Next: The Dark Horse] This entry was crossposted to My DW Account. Please feel free to read or comment on either site.