Red Sky in the Morning (1/1) + icons
This post is all dedicated to the amazing sirenofodysseus. I didn't want to be predictable with my gifting for you, so I really hope you like this!
Title: Red Sky in the Morning.
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Katniss/Peeta
Summary: How could Peeta, the boy with the bread, betray her like this?
Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, or any characters associated with it.
Notes: Set in an AU wherein Katniss was captured by the Capitol at the end of 'Catching Fire' instead of Peeta; part one of the 'Behind Closed Doors' Universe.
Red Sky in the Morning
Tracker-jackers whirl around her head, buzzing angrily. Katniss winces when she receives sting after sting. Her hands flail as she attempts to protect herself from the Capitol monstrosities. But there’s nothing she can do, however hard she tries, she cannot protect herself from them. She runs, or at least tries to; before she remembers that she needs the bow and arrow. It’s her lifeline, the only way she’ll be able to get out of the arena alive. Without it, it’s simply a case of when, not if, she’ll die. Katniss scrabbles back to Glimmer’s body, horrified by what it has become. The girl has swollen beyond recognition; she didn’t stand a chance when the hive slammed to the ground. Tracker-jackers continue to whirl around her head furiously as she tries to extract the bow and arrows from Glimmer’s fingertips. It’s difficult work, but Katniss knows she has to do this.
Footsteps approach and the world glitters. Everything she glances at is touched with a slightly unnatural shine. But this is real; Katniss can feel Glimmer’s flesh at her fingertips, she can hear the angry tracker-jackers buzzing furiously and she knows they are poised to sting her at any given moment; she can smell the woodland forest around her and sense the sweat trickling down her back from the exertion. She looks up to see Peeta staring back down at her and immediately, she feels a sense of relief. Peeta, the boy with the bread, he’s come back to help her, he’s come back to save her again and again. Katniss smiles as he kneels down beside her and covers his hand with hers. Her heart skips a beat, but she’d never dare tell him that. He’s not meant to have this kind of effect on her, it’s all for the cameras
Instead, he places a hand on her cheek and pulls her in for a passionate embrace. His teeth dig across her bottom lip, his tongue draws patterns across the roof of her mouth. The timing is entirely inappropriate, considering the tracker-jackers haven’t entirely dispersed and she still needs to reclaim her bow off Glimmer, but for once, she doesn’t seem to even care. Peeta practically shines back at her and reminds her that they are still alive, still fighting for their lives, and she still has a promise to Prim to keep. When she’s breathless, she feels a strange something dig across the back of her neck
And it is at that moment when Peeta roughly pushes her aside, as if she were worthless. Nothing. There’s a hint of darkness in his eyes which she just cannot associate with the boy with the bread. And there’s a look of callousness which appears foreign on his comforting expression. Tentatively, Katniss reaches to the back of her neck and is almost stunned when her fingers return to her vision coated in sticky red blood. Her own, this time. Then, the pain sinks in and she finds herself yelping in agony. Bodily, Peeta pushes her over and onto Glimmer’s body, but not without stealing her backpack of supplies.
“What are you doing?” she whispers, her voice surprisingly hoarse
“I never loved you, sweetheart,” he mutters in response as he slips the now-bloody knife back down into his pants. “It was all for the cameras. But don’t worry; District 12 will have a winner. Me.”
He turns on his heels and runs into the glimmering distance. She screams his name over and over, but he appears not to listen or alternatively, not to care. Katniss tries to pull herself off of Glimmer’s body but the exertion alone exhausts her. She knows she’s bleeding out and that the tracker-jacker venom is slowly but surely taking control of her muscles. Briefly, she imagines her body is swelling up in the same way as Glimmer’s has, but she cannot feel anything now. She’s numb. Peeta has betrayed her with foreign, cruel words. He’s stabbed her in the back, literally. Katniss wants to fight it, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult. She knows the cameras on fixated on her now, filming her very last moments for all to see. Prim’s pretty features flood her thoughts and she can imagine the disappointment and the heartache in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Prim,” she whispers before closing her eyes.
All she wants to do is sleep. And soon enough, a welcoming darkness envelopes her; it’s all she wants at this moment in time.
Katniss hears the cannon go off, the one signifying her death. But she’s still alive, she’s still breathing, she can feel the cool breeze tickling her skin. Tentatively, she opens one eye and then the other. Gleaming whites stare back at her and hurt the back of her eyes. Bonds hold her in position, but she doesn’t have the energy to fight back at them. White bars are directly opposite her; the girl on fire is trapped in a cage, she muses. Contained, perhaps, would be the more appropriate word.
An Avox walks in and sits beside her, the only flash of color that Katniss feels like she’s seen in a while. She wishes that the man would speak to her, offer her a few words of comfort, but she knows that it’s impossible for him to do so without his tongue. Instead, he feeds her a small bowl of mush slowly and carefully, and occasionally strokes back her matted hair. Katniss wishes she can find joy in finding that she is actually still alive, but then, she wonders if this is a fate worse than death.
She’s a prisoner of the Capitol now and being routinely tortured, but for what purpose?
But then, she knows that if she actually knew the answer to that question, it wouldn’t make her current predicament any easier to deal with.
