Chapter Text
It was impossible to not become fond of Jacob Colton.
The other two–Micha and Abigail–had been likable enough, but Leah had gone out of her way to distance herself from her Tributes this year. Last year, she’d made the mistake of getting too close and their deaths in the Bloodbath ripped her to shreds. So much so, that when she’d returned home to District 9 she’d locked herself in her house for a full week.
It had been her beau, Jackson Kent, and weirdly enough Neptune Waters of District 4 who’d dragged her out of her depression and back into the sun. Jackson told her that she’d done her best. That she’d done right by both of those kids and that no one blamed her.
And Neptune? He’d told her to learn from it, do better, and mourn them in her way. He’d had to the year she’d won and he’d lost his first two. Unlike her, he’d had the support of four Victors, but that didn’t lessen the pain or the reality that twenty-three more children paid what he called ‘The Iron Price’.
Micha, Abigail, and Tobias she was able to distance herself from. They were lovely, of course, and terrified of what awaited them. She’d coached them as much as she was able. Told them to be genuinely themselves in their interviews and to attempt to impress the judges in the testing with their strengths, but she’d shied away from getting to know them passed the most cosmetic.
Jace though….He was one of those rare people who dug under your skin and didn’t let go. He was abysmal at subterfuge so he’d defaulted to being himself in all things. Capitol Audiences found him charming, down-to-earth, and lovely. He was all of those things and more. She’d been surprised to learn he had a rather large fan-following at least amongst the younger people of The Capitol. A few of the younger sponsors, Aelia Balbus and Junius Laurentius especially, had thrown a good deal of money into his accounts and more, had asked after him in little notes to her. There was a bouquet of lilies on the table next to Jace's bed, and Leah knew they were from the Head Gamemaker.
She didn’t know the Coltons well. They owned a barley farm and only had six children–large for nearly any other district, but small for theirs’. Jace had an identical twin but had broken the mold by being the ‘good twin’ even being the younger. He was effortlessly kind and had a certain kind of strength she’d never made the acquaintance of. Even terrified, he’d done what any good man would do–even at barely fifteen–and put on a brave face for the girls.
She’d wondered if she were the only one to see that strength until they were all in the arena. Until Micha, Abigail, and Tobias met their ends in terrible ways, and the District 1 Tributes were all dead. It had been then that Ophelia–the Second Victor and first of District 1–came to her with advice on keeping him alive.
“If I must throw my lot in with someone, Leah, it will be that lovely boy. He deserves a fighting chance.”
“What about the Career Alliance?”
“I’ve never asked anyone’s permission to do as I please with District One’s sponsors. They want someone to back, and I’m here to provide it.”
She’d been sucked into a whirlwind of sponsor-halls and viewing parties, and did everything that Ophelia told her to do. Had talked about Jace honestly and completely. Turned him into a real person to the Capitol Elite until people were coming to her to offer sponsorship.
It felt like a month and not the terrifyingly short three days that it was. For all there were forty-eight Tributes for the Quarter Quell, it was brutally short. The last battle went by like a whirlwind, and then the promise was broken.
And she, at that moment, saw that bright and lovely boy turn ferocious. Saw something in him snap and call the Capitol’s bluff in a way no one dared to do since all of this started. District 4 had come to her rooms to watch those final moments along with Laurel of 7 and all of the Victors from 1. Eyes were met around the group when Rory and Jace called that bluff and won the day.
They were lifted away, the screen went black, and there were suddenly Peacekeepers there to take her away. She was slightly terrified until Ophelia gave her a look and told her that this was normal and that they were taking her to Jace. Taking Laurel to Aurora.
Rory was…fine, save a few scrapes and bruises, dehydration, and exposure. Per Laurel, she was letting them clean her up and get her fluids begrudgingly. She wanted to get back to Jace as fast as she could. Having her eyes off of him was sending her into a panic, which Leah supposed made sense.
Jace was another matter. He’d had to go into surgery for his leg and then had been brought into this stark white room. Rory refused to leave his side once they finally let her go and was currently in a chair next to the bed, head pillowed in her arms on the edge of it. Laurel made the token attempt to get her to get some sleep in a real bed, but the girl hadn’t budged and Leah was not inclined to try.
He looked so small under the blankets and surrounded by machines that were monitoring his heartbeat, his breathing, and even his pain. She’d watched a doctor come into the room and inject something into the I.V. when Jace’s face even showed the tiniest pinch of pain. For people who threw him into an arena for their own entertainment, they certainly seemed to want to keep him comfortable now.
She could do him no good if she were dead on her feet, even if sleep had been difficult to come by before she’d asked one of the District 11 Victors for some help. They’d smoked on her balcony before she’d gone to bed and slept…well. Incredibly well. Then she’d come back for her own vigil.
She took a careful seat on the edge of the bed, pushing those dark strands out of his face. He wasn’t as gray as he’d been. There was color coming back into his cheeks, and those unfair eyelashes were quivering in ‘real’ sleep rather than a drugged one. They’d backed off the medications some when the healers told them he was out of the woods and he was able to have visitors who weren’t his Mentor or Rory.
“Leah?”
She jumped a little but carefully wrapped a hand around one of Jace’s small, calloused hands before she answered. “Sorry, Neptune. I wasn’t expecting…”
“I have his bracelet.”
She was confused at first, though when he held up the iron band she realized what he meant. “They took it while he was in surgery and gave it to Hyperion. They thought we’d want it back. We’ve all agreed it’s his. The Fallen Lallek gave it to him…and Coraline wants to see him soon. She wanted me to make sure it would be alright.”
That was…odd. She hadn’t expected anyone in this room save herself and Rory. Maybe the District 7 Mentors as well. Ophelia told her she wanted to see him when he was awake and aware, but that District 4 wanted access, and were asking permission for that access…
…She wasn’t sure what that meant.
“Of course. Come in.” There had always been something calming about the District 4 Victors, though that wasn’t what they called themselves. They treated the Hunger Games like a spiritual calling, and whether their Tributes won or lost, they were honored just the same. They were here for Lallek. They wanted access for Lallek, which…she supposed made sense. It didn’t take a genius to see Lallek had feelings for Jace that in District 9 would have been inappropriate but in Four, as she knew, would be just as celebrated as any pairing. She hadn’t known what to do with it, deciding in the end to let him have what little happiness he could have in this place.
Of course, they’d want to at least make sure of Jace’s comfort.
Neptune was a big man, with blondish hair clipped close to his head and sea-green eyes. He had a scar down the side of his face, far too close to his right eye for Leah’s comfort. She knew he got it in the Arena. Like the others, he was trained for what they called ‘The Battle’, and he was built well. He was only dwarfed by one of the District 2 Victors. Onyx made everyone seem small.
He came toward the bed, stepping around her and fitting the bracelet on the wrist of the hand she was holding.
“I was right about him.”
It took a moment, but Leah realized what he meant. When they’d been watching their Tributes train last week–was it really only last week?--, he’d said that ‘her little warrior was strong’. She’d frowned. Told him that all four of her Tributes were too young. That no one had ever won the Hunger Games at their age. She’d almost been too young at sixteen, and Jace Colton had turned fifteen a week before the Reaping.
Neptune was fast to tell her he had the heart to survive the whole thing, and he’d been right.
“You were.” She stated. Jace would be the youngest Victor to be crowned, and he’d be crowned–with Aurora–as a Victor of the Quarter Quell. The sheer magnitude of that was just hitting her. “By the One, how is he going to do this?”
Neptune nodded. “He’s not alone. He has you, and Aurora. He has all of us . Except maybe Silver.”
She looked away from Jace to see Neptune grinning. “At least at first. He’s sore that his Tributes had such a poor showing this year, but he’ll get over it. Jace has a way about him. You can’t hate him for long. It is known.”
Neptune sobered. “They’re going to come for them. You know that.”
It was something no one had spoken about yet. That act of defiance at the end of their journey would have been noted by Capitol officials. The districts weren’t as broken as they believed if even their children had that sort of fight in them.
Neptune was right: The Capitol would be coming for both Aurora and Jace for the sheer audacity of doing what was needed to survive. They’d unwittingly revealed a chink in the Capitol's armor.
“They’re just kids, Neptune.”
He put a hand on Leah’s shoulder. “So are we.”