gleeverse crossover!

[helinho]

Title: Panem et Circenses, and Glee
Rating: R for violence
Wordcount: 9,666 words (!!!)
Summary: The characters from Glee are reaped into their own version of the Hunger Games.
Warnings: OKAY, GUYS. This has HUGE, HUGE Hunger Games spoilers. Like. Basically, I rewrote the book only with Glee characters. So if you haven't read it and are waiting for the movie, maybe you should skip this one. If you're not familiar with The Hunger Games, the basic premise is that 24 'tributes' ages 12 - 18 are chosen from each district (the areas in which they live, this is in the future in a country called Panem, where there are 12 districts in the area where North America used to be, and the Capitol rules the country) to participate in the Hunger Games, where they must fight to the death. So yes, there are deaths. THIS IS VIOLENT, YO. Also, it's AU in the Hunger Games verse -- Katniss and Peeta have never been in the arena, and the events that unfold in the books don't really happen the way they should. This is not the best fic I've ever written, and I hope it makes sense/stays true to THG-verse. If anyone actually trucks through this whole thing, I APPLAUD YOU. And if you do read it and you haven't read THG and you're not familiar with some of the lingo/people/things going on, just ask me! This plot is really not all that fleshed out the more I think about it, but. HERE WE GO.



As she stands in the crowded square, the salty wind whipping through her hair, she gets a chill up her spine, and she knows, just knows that the name they pull out of the bowl is going to be hers. She holds her head high as she prepares for the cameras to train on her, though inside, her heart is beating so fast, she fears it might just jump out of her skin.

"Santana Lopez!" The elaborately made up Capitol woman smiles at her, out of pity, and it makes the rage in her grow, and she snarls as she makes her way up the stairs, looking at Finnick Odair, Annie Cresta, Mags, all the people she's grown up watching on television, and now they're going to be mentoring her, trying to keep her alive. But she's been training her whole life for this too, and though she's scared to death, she's also anxious and ready to just get into the arena. She knows the process of readying for the Games is a tedious one, and she wants to just get in there and kill, and if she's going to be killed, there's no delaying it, is there?

"Blaine Anderson!" is the name called for the boys, and she's relieved to find it's not anyone she knows. She knows that she could never, would never, kill someone she knows and likes, or even someone she knows and dislikes because the guilt would eat her alive. He steps onstage and she's surprised to find he's small, with dark hair and dark eyes, and neither of them fit the stereotypes of District 4 citizens, but she's kind of glad she's not the only outcast. He looks scared, his eyes watery, and he's scanning the crowd, presumably for his family, and she feels bad. This boy won't last a day in the arena.

They sit down together that night with Finnick, who is their mentor, and he smiles at them, though she can see in his eyes that he's not looking forward to sending them into the arena anymore than they are being there. He claps his hands together and clears his throat before he speaks. "What are your strengths?" he immediately asks, and they eye each other.

"I'm good with a knife," she supplies first. "Decent at all the other areas. But I'm not some trident throwing nutso like you are." She cracks a smile, to show him she's kidding, that it's just her sarcasm showing through. "Don't worry, I won't be a bitch on national television and ruin our chances at sponsors. I know how to put on the charm."

"No, the audience might like your spunk," Finnick counters, then grins that dazzling smile at her. "If you know how to work it right." He turns to the boy, who looks even smaller and scared up close. "What about you, Blaine? What can you do?"

"I'm .... well, I guess I'm okay with a trident," he says in a soft voice that she doesn't expect. He's effeminate and delicate, much more than he looks, and she eyes him curiously, wondering what to make of him. "I'm not much good with a knife, but I'm sure I could learn. Same with archery. I don't know, I ..." He hesitates, looking at them both, before blurting out, "We've never had to sign up for tessarae, and I never thought my name would be picked, and I've been deluding myself, and now here I am, hopeless, and --"

"Shut up," she barks, her tone louder than she means it to be. "Did you really think there was no chance of you getting picked? I've seen kids get picked with their name in that bowl one fucking time and --"

"HEY!" Finnick says, stepping between the two. "Come on, you two. You don't have to like each other, but be nice, okay?" He looks at Santana, his eyes begging her to understand. "He's the mayor's son." That would explain why she's never seen him before. District 4 isn't poor by any means, but even so, she's gone hungry plenty of times when the fish aren't biting, and she's had to take out tessarae a few times to get by. "He hasn't been through it like you, Santana. He's not used to this. Cut him some slack, okay? We'll get you both in shape and you'll be strong contenders." The two eye each other and an unspoken bond goes between them, that they won't let their district down, no matter how ill-prepared either of them are for what they might face.

They spend the ride to the Capitol together and train together and eat together and spend all their time together, and she knows it's a bad idea, a very bad idea. She's never had a good friend before, but now that she's finally learned what a best friend is, one or both of them is going to die. Life isn't fair, she thinks. The Capitol is a bunch of assholes for putting us through something like this. How can they put us all in an arena and expect us to kill each other? It's disgusting. But she's watched it on television year after year and she knows what happens when people get into the arena. They change, and she knows she will, and so will he, but the thought still hurts.

Her prep team is the typical crew from the Capitol, people made up grotesquely, in ways that she still can't get over after all these years of seeing them on television, and she literally recoils as she realizes just exactly where one of them has had surgical enhancement, and bright colored tattoos, and she despises them, along with her stylist, who dresses her in some elaborate costume that is supposed to represent a mermaid for the opening ceremonies. She's wearing just a bikini top and some weird fish bottom half, and Blaine, in his nets and weird fish half thing as well, is clearly thinking that they look like the two biggest idiots in the Games. But that isn't true, after further inspection, the two from District 7 are dressed as trees and she has to laugh at how silly they both look. The tributes from District 6 are in silly little car costumes, and she thinks that maybe she and Blaine have lucked out because even if they look ridiculous, they're showing skin and they're hot, and it might work to their advantage.

The other tributes are people she thinks she might have been friends with too, in some other life. Sugar and Puck from District 1, Quinn and Finn from District 2 (she has to laugh at their rhyming names, it's like they couldn't have planned it better), Tina and Mike from District 3. Then there's Lauren and David from District 5, and she doesn't much care for them, so she's sure they'll be the first she tries to pick off. The same goes for Sunshine and Jesse from District 6, and Harmony and Sam from District 7. She feels it's a cruel joke the first time she sees Artie from District 8, he's a boy in a wheelchair, and she knows he won't be able to hide himself like the others will, but then again, maybe people will take pity on him and work to keep him alive. The girl tribute, Brittany, has been pushing him around the whole time, and she notes that even though he's in a wheelchair, he's remarkably good with a bow and arrow, so maybe it's not as cruel as she once thought. She can't recall the names of the tributes from Districts 9 or 10, but they're tough and look like they've been around the block once or twice, and they scare her a little, though she adds them to her personal hit list. Mercedes and Azimio from District 11 are others she thinks she might have liked outside in the real world, and then there's Rachel and Kurt from District 12.

Kurt is a small, delicate boy, just like Blaine, though Blaine is shorter, and she can see that they immediately have a connection. Rachel is a small girl too, but she looks determined, like she would do anything to stay alive, and she admires her spunk, though she can get kind of irritating. They become allies with the pair, though it's almost unspoken, as they trail each other around the training arena, trading tips and helping each other out. The other tributes look curiously on at them, wondering what kind of an angle the two from District 4 are playing -- after all, 12 is the poorest district, and they're usually picked off at the Cornucopia, while 4 goes along with the 'popular' crowd, so to speak. There's a nagging thought at the back of her head that she should have the least amount of allies possible, it's going to make things so much harder if she's stuck killing friends, but she tries to push it aside.

They gather at dinner that night, and they all fill their plates, especially Kurt and Rachel, who are eating like they've never had a real meal to eat in their lives. She realizes, with a churning in her stomach, that maybe they never have. Things have been hard for her in the past, but never to the extent that she's sure they've been through, and she feels almost guilty eating as much as she does. They catch her staring at them and both set their forks down and look at her, embarrassed.

"We don't get a lot to eat at home," Rachel says softly. "I've never seen this much food at once before." She laughs, though it's a hollow sound. "I don't know if I've ever seen this much food in all my years combined."

"I know," Santana says, and her voice is gentle, which unsettles her. She's not a gentle person, but something about Rachel calms her. "We weren't judging you or anything. I just felt guilty, okay? Eating all this food in front of you when I've had more than you, and --"

"No, don't," Kurt says, and they all turn to look at him. "It's not like that here. We're just four friends eating dinner together." None of them brings up what is on all of their minds, how nothing is normal, and how at least three of them are going to have to die. "We don't care about what happened in the past." He lowers his voice, leans in, looks around as he does, and they all lean in to hear him. "We're all victims in the districts. Even districts like yours, and 1 and 2. No matter how good some of you have it, none of us are safe. And that's why we --"

They never learn what they need to do, because the Avoxes are coming around with more dishes and Kurt springs back, and they all look guilty, but accept more food, pretending like the conversation never happened. Instead, they fall into conversation about themselves. How Rachel loves to sing and often gets the mockingjays to sing with her. How Kurt likes to sing too, but his family has no patience for the practice, so he has to sing in private, which is hard to find. She learns that Blaine is a good fisherman, that he's been fishing since he was little, and he can practically make a hook in his sleep. They all learn about her that she's tough, that she can use her knife well, that she knows she can be off-putting and unlikable, but they all dismiss that as they smile at her. These people, these friends, she doesn't want to lose them.

The training days quickly wrap up, and they have their private training sessions. Blaine has actually gotten to be fantastic with a bow and arrow, and he knows he'll have to put a show when he goes in, but she has absolute faith in him. She's learned a few new skills, but she knows she'll stick with her knives for her session, and they wait nervously with Kurt and Rachel, both of whom are good in all areas, and she doesn't know what they'll pick to show off, but it's bound to be good for them. Blaine goes in first and they all sit silently, waiting for their time to come. When she's called, her friends wish her good luck, and she enters the room, sweating slightly from nerves. The gamemakers are attentive, smiling and appreciative, and she shows them a deadly knife throwing combination on one of the dummies, along with her close range combat. When she's dismissed, she feels good about herself, and she leaves with her head held high.

They go to dinner that night and sit with Kurt and Rachel as usual, getting deeper and deeper into each others life stories. When the subject of sweethearts comes up, both Kurt and Rachel exchange glances so secretive that she is immediately curious and knows she won't rest until she understands. "Are you two dating?" she asks, the thought somehow making her nervous. That's never happened in the arena before, and she knows that every sponsor in Panem would be drooling over a love story, fighting each other for the chance to give food and gifts to the tributes in love. She's relieved when they both laugh.

"No, no, no," Rachel says, and she shakes her head, and she can't stop giggling. "I'm not really Kurt's type." It's clear they're very close, that Rachel knows something she and Blaine don't, and the two stare them down until Kurt finally caves.

"I ..... I'm gay," he finally says, and she knows it's an old word that doesn't get used much anymore, at least not in their district, and she's not quite familiar with the term. Blaine looks equally confused, and Kurt explains, "I like men, and not women." Being gay isn't something that happens much anymore, as everyone is meant to have children so they can keep the Games going, but she thinks back to things she's seen in the past and she knows that Kurt isn't the first gay person she's met. He glances at Blaine, and she can tell he's checking to see if he's made the other boy feel funny with the confession, but curiously enough, Blaine is looking at him like he's the most fascinating creature he's ever seen.

"I didn't know that people could do that," he says softly, and he looks at Santana for confirmation, that he wasn't just being stupid, and she shakes her head too, the thought of it opening up a whole world of possibilities. She's never had any shortage of admirers, and she's taken up with a few of them, but none of them has ever interested her in the way she sees her parents looking at each other. She thinks back to the way she used to eye the golden haired girls at school, the way her heart beat faster when they all swam together, and she realizes with a shock that she might be gay as well. The conversation continues on after that, but she's quiet, lost in her own thoughts.

They get their scores after dinner. Right off the bat, Puck gets a 9 and Quinn gets an 8, and she realizes they might be out of their league but then she gets a 9 too, and she ties for highest ranked girl with Lauren from District 5. Blaine gets a 6, but he's pleased, glad his score wasn't lower. The rest of the tributes are somewhere in the middle, Artie surprisingly pulling a 7, and Kurt and Rachel both have 6's as well. She wonders what her allies think of her having the highest score of them, what the other tributes think of her now, and yet she still can't stop thinking of what happened at dinner.

She hears a knock on her door that night, and she gets out of bed, knowing it can only be Blaine or Finnick, or possibly her prep team, which sends chills of disgust through her and she's grateful to find Blaine when she opens the door. He looks scared, small, nervous, and he kind of makes his way into the room without invitation, which she finds she doesn't mind. She likes Blaine a lot, and with each minute they spend together, she wants to cry, wants to find a way out of these sadistic games so that they can live full lives, spend years and years as best friends, instead of just days. They sit together on her bed facing each other, each in their pajamas, both hugging their knees to their chests.

It's amusing to both of them when they open their mouths at the same time and both blurt out, "I think I might be gay." The first reaction is a wide eyed stare, almost in shock. The next is to laugh, and she shakes her head, rocking back a little bit. "Really?" she finally asks. "Here we are, two tributes who have never heard of the damn word, and we both think it applies to us." He looks more serious now, and he pulls his knees tighter.

"I've known for awhile, Santana. Only I told my dad that I thought I liked guys, and he got all quiet and angry, but not in the usual way. He took me out fishing and he made sure I knew how to use my trident really well. He told me that that wasn't possible, that I must be mistaken about my feelings, and ...." He lets out a shaky breath. "That's why I never signed up for tessarae. My dad always told me that no male that was so weak and girly would ever last in the arena, and he wasn't going to give them an extra opportunity to pick me and turn me into the laughingstock of District 4." He shrugs his shoulder up, and she can see the tears in his eyes. "But here I am."

"Blaine, that's awful," she says softly, and she rubs her hand up and down his arm soothingly. At least she hopes it's soothing, she's never had any real need for the emotion in the past. "You won't be the laughingstock of District 4. You're really strong, and look at us. We've got allies. We can get sponsors. We'll do okay in there. I won't let you down." She realizes that they can't both get out of there alive, but then she thinks that Blaine is the kind of person she would be willing to sacrifice her own life for. No one deserves that kind of treatment, but especially not Blaine.

"So you're gay too?" he asks quietly and she curls up tighter, scared to speak about her feelings. She nods a little, biting her lip, and she can feel her cheeks coloring.

"It's not anything I even really realized before," she says. "Like I was always looking at the girls at school, but I looked at the guys too." She thinks back before adding, "But the girls were better. I just .... never realized it could be like that." The two fall into a comfortable silence and they end up laying in bed together all night, arms around each other in a gesture of friendship, and clearly not romance.

The next day, they are eager to see Kurt and Rachel, eager to talk about everything they've learned about each other, but they are pulled aside for training on their interviews, which will be held that night. She feels a twist in her stomach as she realizes the interview is basically the last step before the Games officially begin. Before she has to start killing these people. Before they kill her. Her stylists dress her in a very flattering blue dress, one that makes her dark skin look even more beautiful, her arms painted with tattoos that look like waves so she resembles the ocean, and she is pleased to see that Blaine matches, a blue bow tie around his neck against his black suit. They might not have the most imaginative outfits there -- that would go to Tina and Mike, who are simply radiating energy, being from District 3, their outfits literally twinkling and pulsating to look like an energy field -- but at least they look better than the ones from 9 and 10, who look as if they have simply forgone any help from their stylists.

Caesar Flickerman stands on the stage, his color this year a brilliant pink shade, and he begins the interviews. She can see immediately the kind of personality everyone has, what kind of angles they're playing. Sugar is the helpless girl who has no idea what she's saying, trying to convince everyone that she has some kind of disease that makes her scathing, and the Capitol eats it up, blowing her kisses and telling her they will accept her no matter what she says to them. Puck is trying hard to be tough, but she can see he's got a soft side, and it shows when Caesar brings up Puck's family, the tears in his eyes enough to cause everyone in the crowd to well up too. Quinn is aloof, cutting at times, but very self-assured, and Finn is doofy, but lovable. Tina is quiet, she doesn't say much even when Caesar tries to help, and Santana sees that the interview has done her no favors, though she does look stunning. Mike is shy too, but he's determined and has a quiet sort of strength that she immediately likes and knows the crowd will too. And then it's her turn.

"So, Santana," Caesar starts. She looks at him, the right bit of malice in her eyes, and he cowers in pretend fear, laughing. "Wow, that's a death glare if I've ever seen one. You're living up to the spirit of the Games very well, aren't you?"

"Yeah, killing won't be hard for me," she says, her voice taking on just the right tone of bitchiness. She surveys the other tributes, milking it for all it's worth. "I can think of a few people I'd like to take out right now." The crowd gasps a little, but they laugh, and she knows she's doing a good job, even though this person she's become is no one she likes.

"Names, names!" Caesar jokes, and she coyly looks up and down the line before shrugging her shoulder up, an eyebrow raised.

"You'll have to wait and see that in the arena," she says. "I didn't get that 9 for nothing, that's all I have to say." The crowd goes wild, and he tries to settle them down, but it's clear that she's winning great points for herself, for the district, and she starts to think that maybe with good sponsors, she has a chance. But then she remembers that if she lives, Blaine has to die, and she can't bear the thought. No, Blaine has to make it out. He has to be the victor. She sighs, looking out over the audience with a bored look on her face, careful to not let her eyes show what she is really feeling, and Caesar finally turns back to her.

"You clearly don't care what people think of you," he says in an interested voice. "You could be really messing up some potential deals that way, you know." She rolls her eyes, and her answer is directed to the crowd.

"This is who I am," she says, loud and clear. "I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not just to get food or weapons or anything like that. You don't like me, then deal with it. I'm not telling you that you have to do anything." Her words are bold, and she feels stronger with each one. "I tell it like it is, Caesar."

"And what do you think of me?" He asks, his ridiculous pink eyebrows raised. The crowd laughs, and begins gossiping, and she looks him up and down, a critical look on her face.

"I'd say pink isn't your color," she snaps. "And that maybe you need to cut that stomach back a little bit, huh?" Then she grins at him, to let him know she's kidding, although really she's not. The crowd roars, and she holds her arms up, as if daring the Capitol to tell her any differently. "Thought they could make you look beautiful here!" The laughter grows even louder, and her time has ended, and Caesar is looking at her with his own evil eye, but he laughs too and moves on to the next tribute. Blaine. Their interview is much more heartfelt, down to earth, sadder.

"So Blaine, what did your family say when you were chosen for the Games?" he asks. She feels a clench in her heart, and she wonders whether he will tell this audience of repulsive people the truth, or if he'll create a brilliant lie. The truth will win him sympathy, but a lie will protect outrage back home. She leans forward, watching him and waiting, as if she doesn't know the answer yet.

"Well," he says slowly. "My mother was heartbroken. She never wanted to send her son away to be killed, you know? I'd never even signed up for tessarae." The audience lets out a noise of sympathy. "And my dad ...." His eyes seem to focus on her, and she gives him an encouraging smile. "My dad didn't think I'd last in the arena. But I'm going to prove him wrong." Caesar is shaking his head.

"Your own father," he says, his voice sad. "He doesn't believe in you?"

"No," he says, and she can't help but admire his courage, which is far stronger than hers. "But that's okay. I've met people here who have helped me believe in myself. And isn't that more important than having someone else's approval?" The crowd cheers in agreement, though she knows they don't actually agree with that. They thrive on approval from others, yet they don't care about how silly they look to the other districts, so maybe their cheers are honest. The conversation goes on about living in District 4, about his life otherwise, how he's gotten on, and when the tone sounds, the crowd is in love with Blaine Anderson.

She doesn't pay much attention to the other interviews, instead holding Blaine's hand for the rest of the time and giving him constant reminders of how proud she is of what he said by squeezing his hand. The crowd absolutely loves Brittany from District 8, her naiviety causing them to laugh at a near hysterical level, especially when Caesar asks her about her life back in District 8 and she reassures everyone that things will be okay, that her cat has taken over her job in the factory for her, so they don't have to worry about missing her hands because 'he has four hands, and that'll make faster work'. Then it comes to Kurt and Rachel.

Rachel comes across almost bossy in her interview, but it almost works in her favor, though Santana isn't convinced that everyone actually likes her. But then she's doing something weird, she's asking for permission to be interviewed with Kurt, and the crowd starts murmuring about the rules, asking if it's allowed, and finally Kurt is summoned forward with her. His interview is much more charming, sweet, and he's very feminine, which makes everyone see him as delicate, a beautiful thing. Then they reveal why they wanted to be interviewed together. They sing.

The song is one she's never heard, it's a beautiful thing with lots of high notes and she's pretty sure Kurt is the one hitting the highest parts, and their voices blend together beautifully, and she can feel her eyes filling with tears because there's singing at home, yes, but nothing like this. It's all old sea chants and things that people called pirates invented, and it could never sound like this if it tried. They finish their song, and the crowd bursts into applause, some openly sobbing, and she knows they have absolutely won everyone over. District 12 so rarely gets a chance to shine, but they are absolutely glowing.

They all meet up afterward, hugging each other, and the four stand in a circle, holding hands, taking in each others faces. Tomorrow morning, one of them could be dead. All of them could be, if they aren't careful. They silently look over each other, smiling, squeezing their hands, and they know things will be okay if they stick together.

"Don't hang around in the Cornucopia too long," Kurt warns Blaine and Rachel. "Santana might be tough enough to handle that crowd, but you're not, and I don't want anyone taking you out in that bloodbath, you hear me?" Neither are insulted, and they just nod, knowing he will get out as well.

"We'll meet up when we can find each other," Blaine says, and he hesitates. "We won't let anything keep us apart. But we're not going to risk our lives trying to gather up there."

"We're going to be okay," Kurt says firmly, looking each of them individually in the eye, and she knows it's not true, that they can't all be okay forever, but she nods. Then he's doing something weird, and he mouths, "I'll make sure of it" and then he drops their hands and walks off toward the elevators. Rachel raises her eyebrow and shrugs, and she follows him, looking back over her shoulder with a smile. They make their way back up too, her heart beating nervously because she knows what the morning brings, and they say goodnight before they head to their rooms.

When she wakes up, she is brought to the roof where a hovercraft picks her up, and she has a tracker injected into her arm, which hurts, and she rubs at the small bump on her arm nervously, scared for what the arena is going to bring to her. Will it be water? Will it be woods? Will it be a desert? What could it possibly be, the place where she will fight to the death? They reach the arena in record time, and she is dressed in a form fitting brown shirt, warm black pants, a dark jacket, and boots. Nothing she ever would have worn at home, and the thought scares her. She is helped onto her metal plate, holds her head high, and feels herself rise up into the arena.

"Ladies and gentleman, let the Seventy-third Hunger Games begin!" She hears Claudius Templesmith's familiar voice boom out through the arena. There are 60 seconds to survey what surrounds her, and she makes her eyes scan every bit that she can see. The Cornucopia stands in front of her, big and filled with weapons, with packs of food, with other survival elements. The sun beats down on them, and she can see that the arena leads off into a giant body of water on one side, a huge forest on the other, with thick, dark trees she's never seen in her life. The area with the Cornucopia has a sandy ground, but it doesn't look like the sand in District 4. It looks darker, more menacing, and she feels nervous. She looks around at the other tributes, sees them doing the same. Artie's chair has been replaced by two metal contraptions on his arms that serve as legs, and she sees Kurt and Rachel, looking nervous.

The gong rings, and she's off and running, but something feels wrong. The ground is twisting under her feet, pulling her down, and a word she's never had use for pops into her head. Quicksand. She realizes it before she gets too stuck and she's pushing and pulling herself toward the giant golden structure, just desperately wanting to get her hands on something, anything. She hears screaming behind her, but she doesn't turn, and she knows people are getting sucked into the quicksand, the heavy grain the place where they will take their last breaths. She grabs two knives sitting close to each other, a backpack, and since it's so close to her, a bow and a sheath of arrows for Blaine, and she feels a hand on her shoulder. She doesn't hesitate to drive the knife deep into their face, and when she turns, it's the tribute from District 9, the girl whose name she didn't even bother learning, her bloody body sinking into the sand. Her eyes quickly scan to find more weapons, and she finally snatches up a third knife, running far out of the area. The screams and the blood are everywhere, and she shuts her eyes, blocking out the thoughts of the dead tributes as she makes her way toward the water.

Here, the sand is what she is used to, and she feels relief as she runs along the beach, finally finding a patch of trees like what she is used to at home to hide between. She sets down the pack, opening it up to find some dried food, a flotation device of sorts which makes her laugh because she's been swimming all her life, a bottle of water, matches to start a fire, and some sort of small shovel that she knows must be used for digging in the sand or dirt, something valuable underneath, or else why would they have included it? She leans against the tree, letting the sun beat down on her, and then she hears the cannons. She counts them as they go off, and when it ends, there's seven in all. Who were they? Were Blaine, Rachel, or Kurt any of them? She hears a sound behind her, and she turns, peering out of the trees, knife in hand and she feels a flood of relief when she sees who it is.

"Blaine!" she hisses, and she sees him startle, looking around for her voice, and finally he spots her in the trees and comes running. They embrace, and she breathes him in, nearly crying into his shirt but she doesn't want to show weakness for the cameras. She knows everyone in Panem is watching them right now, and she has to hold herself together. "I'm so glad they didn't get you," she allows herself. "Are Kurt and Rachel okay?"

"I don't know," he admits. "I ran out of there as fast as I could, like I told Kurt. I saw that Sugar girl get speared, and I think I saw one of the people from 10 being sucked in by the quicksand, but that's all I know." He shudders at the thought, and immediately, she knows his dad was right, as awful as it sounds even to her. This arena is no place for someone like Blaine. He will probably cry at every death, be traumatized for life, and she hates the Capitol for picking this boy to be in the Games. They huddle together, occasionally peering out the trees to see if anyone is coming, but they don't see anyone at all, and she wonders if the other tributes know that District 4 will have gone to the water, if they're purposely avoiding it and hiding in the woods. Or it could be that there's so little in the way of coverage in the beach area, she thinks as she ventures out to get some food for them. Immediately, she finds a ton of shellfish, and she brings it back to their location under the trees, she and Blaine feasting as the sky grows darker.

Finally, the anthem plays, the seal of the Capitol is shown in the sky, and they watch the faces of the dead tributes come up. Sugar from 1, Sunshine from 6, both Harmony and Sam from 7. The girl from 9 that Santana herself killed, and both from 10. The sky goes dark, and they both let out a sigh of relief. Kurt and Rachel are okay. But so are a lot of other people, strong competitors, and she feels slightly nervous. They hear another canon then, and she can't help but feel whoever just killed purposely waited until the tributes had been showed so that everyone would have to wait an agonizing 24 hours to find out who it was. They eye each other, and speak in soft voices.

"You don't think it was one of them, do you?" she asks, and he shakes his head.

"No, they're smart," he says. "They found someplace to hide tonight, I can guarantee it. Tomorrow, we'll go looking. We're strongest with four people. And ...." He hesitates. "I don't want anything to happen to either of them, that's all." But she sees more in his eyes, and suddenly it dawns on her, her own eyes widening.

"Oh my god," she breathes softly. "Blaine, please don't tell me --"

"Santana, stop," he pleads, and his eyes are filled with pain now, and she knows she guessed right. He has fallen in love with Kurt, here of all places, where one of them, maybe even both, must die. She feels her heart ache, and instead of saying anything, she just wraps her arms around him and lets him cry into her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the silver parachute fly down and she feels disgust at the sponsors, though she feels grateful that Finnick was able to get them something. She knows that they have received this gift because the sponsors are eating up Blaine's love story, that they have already fallen in love with the idea of two tributes who can never be, and it makes her sick, although she is pleased at the fact that they could back a gay love story. Her feelings conflicted in every way, she reaches for the parachute, and they open it together. It contains rolls from District 4, and they each eat one, missing home. The rest get wrapped up and put in her backpack, and she lets Blaine sleep while she takes the first watch.

The night sky is as clear as it is at home, and she finds the constellations that she's spent her life looking at, and her heart aches, wondering if she'll ever get to be back there again. She leans against the tree when she hears it. Two sets of footsteps walking along the beach. She knows they're trying to be quiet, that they think they're doing a good job, but growing up in District 4 has taught her things that most normal people wouldn't pick up, and she gets her knives ready to throw as she looks out, but then she sees them. What kind of luck is it, that the only people she's seen all day are the ones she's looking for?

"Kurt," she whispers, peeking her head out of the trees and he whirls around, on guard, a spear in his hand ready to be thrown. But when he sees her face, he grabs Rachel's hand and runs over to them, quickly concealing themselves in the trees.

"We've got to get into the woods," he says immediately. "Rachel and I have a place all set up in there, somewhere that no one can see us, and we need to stay there. Things aren't safe here."

"I haven't seen anyone but you two all night," she argues. Kurt shakes his head.

"This beach, it's not safe. We heard one of the other tributes talking about how they were going to stay far away from there because ...." He hesitates, and she knows he's risking something announcing out loud where the Gamemakers can hear that they have figured out something about the arena. She holds up a hand, silencing him, and she nods.

"We'll get up and join you, don't worry," she says, and hesitates, wondering if she should say something about Blaine. If it will change the dynamics of their group. But she thinks that that probably won't be a problem when she sees how Kurt looks at the sleeping boy, and she and Rachel exchange glances. Kurt shakes Blaine awake and at first, he looks shocked, then sits up and before any of them realize what's happening, he is kissing Kurt on the mouth, and the two are wrapped up in each other, and she doesn't know what to do to herself, so she and Rachel look away and give them their privacy. She can imagine the citizens of Panem going crazy at this public display of affection, especially between two men, and she spots yet another parachute fly down, which surprises her. Inside, there is a pot of stew, and she immediately hands it to Rachel, who looks starving already. They pull Kurt and Blaine apart and she and Kurt devour it, also eating some of the bread that Blaine and Santana received earlier.

When they are all full, they gather their things and plan to make it back to the woods. Kurt and Blaine hold hands as they walk, a spear in Kurt's free hand and the bow and arrows Santana salvaged for Blaine slung over his shoulder, so she and Rachel take the lead, trying to keep quiet so that no one can spot them and kill them.

"So that's some news about them," Rachel says, gesturing back toward Kurt and Blaine. "You know, Kurt told me he liked Blaine, but we didn't think he was gay."

"Blaine told me he was gay the other night," she responds, and she carefully leaves out the part about herself. "I just found out about the Kurt thing tonight. Lucky for them." She laughs hollowly, and shakes her head, and Rachel laughs too. They look at each other for a second, then look away, and she wonders if maybe there's something about Rachel she doesn't know. But that would be crazy, the four allies all gay? No way, that would never happen.

They're finally walking in the woods when they hear the telltale snap of branches under feet, and immediately, they're all on guard, when she feels a knife fly past her head. Immediately, she's throwing a knife in the direction it came from, an arrow is flying, and they hear the fall of the body. A cannon fires, and they rush forward to both check who it is and retrieve the weapons. The boy from District 6, Jesse, lays motionless on the ground, and he looks peaceful in death. Though she never liked him much, she can't help but feel sad at his death, and they all give him a moment of silence before moving on. One more down, she thinks, and her heart feels sad that she's thinking that way.

They reach the area just as the sun is coming up, and tired from traveling, they all sit down, taking drinks of water and eating small amounts of food for energy. They hear a cannon fire as they're settling down and they all look at each other. The area is very well concealed, like they were told, but she can't help feeling nervous that maybe someone is outside, plotting to kill them next.

"Who do you think that was?" she asks, and her voice shakes.

"I don't know," Rachel says. "We saw someone get killed last night." Her voice trembles too, and she takes a deep breath before she says, "It was Artie." They are all silent, thinking of the boy without working legs, the boy who scored so highly without even being able to walk on his own, and she bites her lip for fear of crying.

"Who did it?" Blaine asks softly.

"That big guy, Azimio," Rachel practically whispers. "He's ruthless. He waited for the anthem to finish before he killed him." So they had guessed right on that one. "He didn't even care how wrong it was. Artie should have won, if it couldn't have been us." She mouths the next words. "He shouldn't have even been in the Games." They all nod in agreement, and Santana begins to speculate just how to take out someone like Azimio, who is such a killing machine that he won't even spare the life of a boy whose life has clearly already been hell. But then she thinks, maybe his life is better out of this world, and she sends a silent thought to him, to his family.

The sun is warm, and they decide to risk going out to gather food, because even after the rolls and stew and seafood, they are still hungry. It isn't called the Hunger Games for nothing, she thinks bitterly as she walks around with Rachel, gathering nuts and different leafy plants. They had studied what was edible back at the training center, but Rachel has a knowledge unlike anything she ever could have learned, and together, they get a huge store of things, along with other plants that are apparently medicines. It scares Santana how close she is getting with Rachel as they walk around together, and she feels something funny tug in her heart, and she knows immediately that she has done the unthinkable. She has fallen for another tribute.

They meet back up with the guys after a bit, and Blaine has taken down two animals with his bow and arrows, so they start a fire and get to work on cooking the food. Kurt and Rachel have a better idea of how to cook things, so they get to it, while she and Blaine hang back and she looks at him. He looks at her guiltily, and she shakes her head.

"Don't," she says. "Don't feel guilty. I ...." She hesitates as he did, and his own eyes widen and he looks at her in disbelief. They already can read each others actions, she thinks, and she hates that her best friend is going to be taken from her in some way. She nods slightly, and he smiles, and takes her hand.

"You understand then," he says, and Kurt and Rachel both turn around, and both seem surprised that the two were having a conversation, because they weren't speaking. She nods, and they join the others to eat, and then they hear the cannon. Immediately, they stamp the fire out, on guard, but no one comes. They all silently wonder who it was, and they hide themselves back in their spot, making sure to not let anyone see them. The rest of the night is cold and quiet, and they spend their time having silent conversations, while Blaine and Kurt continue to kiss on and off. She can feel herself moving closer to Rachel, and the two hold each other, under the guise of keeping each other warm, though she thinks they both know that something else is happening.

As it gets dark, Kurt announces that he has to go to the bathroom, and they all let him go, telling him to be careful. Not a moment too soon, the anthem is playing, and they look up to the sky to see who has died. Jesse, which they already knew. Artie, which makes her heart hurt. The boy from District 9, and Mercedes from District 11. She feels weak every time she sees a new face, and by the time the sky goes dark, she feels like crying. Kurt is back a few moments later, and the boys take their turn to sleep, while Rachel and Santana stay up.

"Listen, Rachel," she whispers softly after they have been sleeping for what feels like an hour. "I have something to tell you." The other girl looks at her curiously, and she studies her full lips, wanting to kiss them. "I .... when Kurt told us about being gay," she starts, and Rachel's eyes light up, and before she can say anymore, they're kissing and they hold each other close, and she can feel her heart beating faster, and they kiss for what feels like forever, when one of the guys stirs. It's Kurt, and he opens his eyes and smiles, and he claps his hands together happily, softly. That's when they hear it.

The screams, the gunshots, the sound of feet trampling the floor of the woods, and they know they have to get out. The four quickly scramble, grabbing their weapons, and they run as fast as they can, their hearts pounding wildly. She grabs Rachel's hand, making sure she can run fast, and they see the bullets whizzing past their heads. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees someone drop out of a tree, dead, their body filled with holes, and she can't even pause to see who it is. This is a trick of the Gamemakers, a way to drive them out of their spot, and she hears the loud roar of another group of people coming from the opposite direction. The group consists of Quinn, Finn, Puck, Lauren, and David, and they are running from the same thing, but when their groups pass each other, the larger group takes out their weapons and takes aim. A knife grazes Blaine's shoulder, and an arrow nearly hits Rachel in the head, but Santana pushes her away just in time. Blaine shoots arrows at the group, and he hits Lauren in the chest, but she pulls it out and keeps going, though she's losing a lot of blood. Santana throws her knife hard, and it hits Finn, and she doesn't stick around to assess the damage, she just runs with the rest of her allies, ducking bullets. The shooting finally stops, and so do the screams, and then they hear two cannons go off. Lauren and Finn, she assumes, and they stop to breathe, panting hard.

"We can't go to the beach," Kurt insists again. "We've got to somehow make it back to where we were last night." They stop to eat rolls, eating the last little bit of their food, before they start to walk back to where they camped the night before. She counts in her head as she and Rachel walk hand in hand, there are six tributes left, not including them. Quinn, Puck, and David, for sure. But who else? Does Brittany live? Mike? Tina? Azimio? One of them is dead, and she doesn't know which.

It takes awhile, but they finally make it back to the spot as it's getting dark. Kurt immediately runs off, checking the area for them, and they all sit, resting finally, feeling scared. Things have calmed so much that none of them could anticipate the last bullet, shot straight through Rachel's arm. She screams hysterically, blood spraying from the wound, and Santana and Blaine leap up, running around trying to gather the things they need to stop the flow of blood. The moss is easy to find, and she immediately presses it to Rachel's arm, though it's not enough, and the hard metal of the bullet is lodged in her skin. The anthem begins to play, covering the sound of Rachel's shrieks, and Santana looks briefly up to the sky and sees Tina, knowing she was the one who must have fallen out of the tree earlier.

If she hadn't been looking up though, she might have missed the parachute flying down, and she runs to get it, ripping it open to find a jar of medicine. Though she's never seen it before, she knows it has to be the kind of medicine to fix the bullet wound, and she calls out, "Thank you, Finnick!" before running back, unscrewing the lid and applying it to Rachel's bloody arm, which looks worse and worse as time passes. Kurt comes back, and he's pale, and he sees what's happened to Rachel. Blaine holds him close before he can lose it and they leave Santana to care for the other girl. She isn't squeamish, so she digs her fingers into Rachel's arm, pulling the bullet and another small piece of metal out, assuming the latter is a scrap piece from the bullet. The medicine is healing almost as fast as she can apply it, and pretty soon, the hole isn't deep, it is just sore and slightly bloody, and the two look at each other and start crying, knowing things could have been different if Rachel had been sitting differently. Maybe the bullet would have gone right through her head.

Just as they begin to calm, they hear yet again another noise, and it's a noise she's familiar with. It's the sound of a large wave, crashing against the ground, and as deep as they are into the woods, she is stunned to see the water lapping up on them. She sees the dead, drowned bodies of Quinn, Puck, and David next and she screams her head off, not caring who hears.

"That's why we needed to leave the beach," Kurt says tiredly. "That's why we've got to get out of here." The second half of his sentence is masked by the sound of the wave, and she looks up at him, startled. He whispers, "Tomorrow." She doesn't know what that means, doesn't understand what's going on, and she's scared, and just wants to go home. The cannons go off for the three dead now, and she realizes they're down to seven in just two short days. The citizens of the Capitol must be upset, she thinks, with the Games going so fast and all. Things needed to be sadistic to keep their interest.

The rest of the night is quiet, officially, and Rachel and Santana sleep first this time. She realizes it's the first sleep she's gotten in days, and she dreams of home, of her family, of getting out of the arena. She dreams of Kurt, mysteriously making the arena vanish and teleporting her home, and she dreams of Rachel, of living their lives out together, of being friends with Blaine and Kurt forever. She wakes up to rain, to cold air, and she shivers. They gather food again, and eat it raw this time, not wanting to risk bringing attention to themselves with a fire. She looks around as she eats, trying to see if any tributes are in trees, if anyone is trying to sneak up on them, when she first sees them. Tracker jackers.

The genetically mutated bees are flying around in a tree not too far from where they have camped, and she tells the others, making sure they keep note of the nest, to not disturb it in any way. They spend the majority of the day huddled up together, though Kurt keeps slipping out, for what she doesn't know. The day is quiet, with no deaths, but as the sky is growing dark, she sees the person in the tree above them. The flash of blonde hair tells her it's Brittany, and before she can shout a warning, the bees have gotten to her, stinging her body, blowing it up to grotesque proportions, and she falls out of the tree, her body mutilated, and Santana feels like crying as the cannon fires.

Suddenly, Kurt has her hand, and he's pulling her, and she's pulling Rachel, and Blaine follows, and as the anthem plays, he's hissing, "Quickly, quickly!!" and pushing her into a hole. The hole is deep, and she falls hard, and it leads to a tunnel, which she crawls down. She has no idea what's happening, no idea where she's going, but she knows she has to be fast because this can't be legal, what they are doing. She feels the others behind her, and she crawls quicker and quicker, and then she finally sees the sky above her, before the hovercraft grabs her.

She goes to scream, but the force field is holding her in place, and then she sees the others get grabbed too, and when they've all been lifted up, they collapse on the floor, and Kurt is crying, but it looks like tears of joy.

"We're out, we did it!!" he shrieks, and he and Rachel hug, and dance around, and she and Blaine are utterly confused, standing back and looking around and wondering what exactly is going on. Kurt then explains that District 13, which was supposedly destroyed in the Dark Days, has been thriving underground, that he and Rachel found out about it and devised a plan to revolt against the Capitol, when they were picked for the Games and the leaders of 13 helped them to escape, helped dig a tunnel outside the arena for them to get out through. Immediately, Kurt, Santana, and Blaine are taken to a room where their trackers are cut out of their arms, Rachel's already inadvertently removed by Santana, and they sit silently in the hovercraft, taking in everything that has happened.

They escaped from the Games. They will be able to live their lives, though maybe not as they once wanted. They will all be able to live, to stay friends, to continue to date, to grow old. She feels overwhelmed as it all hits her and she begins to cry, holding Blaine close, and he is crying as well. After she got picked for the Games, she had never let herself think of a life past that. But that all has changed now.

Ten years later

It didn't take long after the breakout of the Games for the war to start in Panem. The districts rebelled against the Capitol, just as they did in the Dark Days, and a new leader from 8 has taken over, reviving something called a democracy that was apparently used back when North America existed. The Games are a thing of the past, something that children learn about in school and nothing they ever have to worry about again.

Santana smiles as Rachel comes into their home, the bright sunlight from 4 streaming in over her shoulder as she carries their little girl. A little girl who will never have to worry about her life being taken from her in such a brutal way, a little girl who will live to see a bright future, who loves to play with Uncle Blaine and Uncle Kurt's daughter, who will know nothing but happiness. Just like her mothers do now. Just like all the citizens in Panem do, thanks to them, the four final allies from the very last Hunger Games.