Aug 11 - Into The Woods
Aug. 11th, 2022 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grundyscribblingTitle: Into The Woods
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: Hunger Games
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Collins (Suzanne, not Phil). No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Katniss is a little puzzled by her doctor's appearance in Twelve.
Word Count: 1250
Note: Fits in the Games Without Frontiers series. Also, sorry, but it's been a day and it was just easier to change up fandoms.
Katniss did not jump as her head doctor appear out of nowhere.
Was she losing hearing? She hadn’t heard him at all.
And what was Dr. Aurelius doing out here anyway? There might not be a fence anymore, but there was still way too much uncleared out here for anyone who didn’t know the area well to wander around safely. Not that she had known any Capitols to go anywhere not sanitized and well-controlled in general.
He grinned.
“Hunting or just time to yourself?”
She wasn’t sure if she should glare at him or not.
“Both,” she said finally.
“Not a good day?” he asked, glancing at her obvious lack of anything to take back.
“It’s ok,” she said. “Doubt I’ll get anything now that I have company, though.”
He chuckled.
“Don’t worry, Bird. I walk softly. Won’t spook all the forest critters unless you want me to.”
He moved to take a seat on a fallen log.
That’s when she put her finger on what was bothering her.
He wasn’t moving like a Capitol. He wasn’t even moving like Peeta or Haymitch, who were local but didn’t know much about the woods and only came out here under the supervision of someone who did. (Usually her, but sometimes someone else. There were a few others she could trust with them.)
And his smirk said he’d followed her logic.
“There’s no one else around,” he remarked.
It could have been a threat, but it didn’t sound like one. And anyway, she had her bow…
“Ask your questions, Bird. It’ll be faster and easier. You’re not going to get the whole thing on your own. Might want to hold off on using the bow, though. Kill me, you’d have to answer to the Bit, and she’s a right terror when she’s hacked off.”
“Are you even a real doctor?” she demanded.
It was the first thing that came into her head, and evidently not one he’d been expecting.
“All the questions in the world, and that’s what you went with?” he snorted. “Yes, I’m a real doctor. You’ve been recovering, haven’t you?”
“That could have been just time,” she shot back.
“Time helps, but believe it or not, the meds and the talking were part of it too,” Dr. Aurelius replied. “It would have gone faster if they hadn’t sent you back here, but even with the Bit and the Bastard weighing in, we were outgunned.”
“Maybe they wanted me to stay broken,” she suggested.
To her surprise, he took her seriously.
“Some of them probably did. Wouldn’t surprise me if there was a faction from 13 that would have preferred it. And a few from the Capitol, too.”
“How did they win?” she wanted to know.
Haymitch hadn’t ever explained what all had happened to result in her being sentenced to a slightly expanded form of house arrest. District arrest, really.
“Paylor thought you’d given enough for Panem, and she didn’t understand that the Twelve you wanted to go back to wasn’t there anymore,” Dr. Aurelius said quietly. “She wanted to put you somewhere no one else was going to try to use you. Or take shots at you for how things turned out.”
Katniss frowned. That was something she needed to think over. She thought best in motion.
She started to follow her usual trail. The doc kept up.
Paylor had been kind to her in the Capitol. At least, she thought so. She has a right to anything behind that door.
Maybe it hadn’t been, though. No one else could have killed Coin. And Paylor had seen what Coin was…
If that was true, Paylor owed her.
“You think this was meant to be a kindness,” she said a while later.
“Something like that,” he replied. “Don’t know that she meant the you staying here to be permanent. Time changes things.”
Yes, it did. Five years ago, it wouldn’t have been her and an oddball doctor from the Capitol who somehow knew how to move quiet stalking through the woods. It would have been her and Gale. They both would have had mothers and sisters waiting for them at home.
Home would have been in the Seam, and the Games would have been something that happened to happened to someone else. For all those slips, it had never been her name drawn until the Quarter Quell. Maybe the odds had been in her favor.
But why Prim?
“Deer just over that ridge.”
She looked at him suspiciously. He smirked.
She was tempted to smack him when she discovered he was right.
She did the next best thing – shot the deer, and stuck him with carrying it back. She wasn’t sure if she was impressed or annoyed that it didn’t bother him at all.
“Why are you here?” she asked as they started back toward home.
“I thought you wanted someone to haul the heavy stuff back for you,” he said.
She did glare at him for that. If he was going to come out here and dredge up all these memories, he should stick to what he’d offered in the first place.
“You said ask questions. You were giving real answers before.”
“Fair enough, Bird,” he sighed. “I’m here because it was time for Bit and I to get out of the Capitol for a while. And the Bit gets annoyed when people kill anyone she considers hers, which you lot definitely are. So it seemed like a good idea to come babysit for a while. Make sure none of those folks who want to take shots at you get a clear one.”
“You think people would come all the way out here to kill me?”
“You. The Bastard. Trinket. Hell, there’s even a few who hold grudges against the Boy, and I think we’re all agreed his only mistake was falling for a girl who can’t help being a trouble magnet.”
“What about Annie? And Johanna?”
“Safe enough. Most people don’t remember Annie, so she’s safer than any of you. And Mason was never the face of the rebellion, or known to be a mover and shaker. Yes, she was part of your pack in the arena, but she had no in with the Careers and everyone knows a pack eventually turns on each other. You played it beautifully, by the way – on screen, it looked like she’d genuinely broken the alliance.”
That was another new thought. She’d never watched anything of the Quarter Quell. She knew what the 74th games looked like to the audience, but not the 75th.
“You’re sure they’re safe?”
“If they weren’t, Bit and I would have split up, one of us in Four and one of us here. They’re fine, and there’s people we trust keeping an eye on them.”
“Good.”
The Meadow was just coming into view.
“Are you my new hunting partner now?” she wanted to know.
“I don’t know that I’ll go every time, but yeah, I think so,” Dr. Aurelius said thoughtfully. “If that was you asking if you’ll get another crack at twenty questions, definitely.”
They were almost to her house before she answered.
“I’ll let you know next time I’m going out.”
He nodded, and didn’t say anything about progress or productive sessions the way the head doctor she’d had a couple times when Dr. Aurelius wasn’t available used to.
He did ask where she wanted the deer carcass. Then he pocketed the cigarette packet that wasn’t hidden as well as Effie thought.
Babysitting indeed.
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: Hunger Games
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Collins (Suzanne, not Phil). No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Katniss is a little puzzled by her doctor's appearance in Twelve.
Word Count: 1250
Note: Fits in the Games Without Frontiers series. Also, sorry, but it's been a day and it was just easier to change up fandoms.
Katniss did not jump as her head doctor appear out of nowhere.
Was she losing hearing? She hadn’t heard him at all.
And what was Dr. Aurelius doing out here anyway? There might not be a fence anymore, but there was still way too much uncleared out here for anyone who didn’t know the area well to wander around safely. Not that she had known any Capitols to go anywhere not sanitized and well-controlled in general.
He grinned.
“Hunting or just time to yourself?”
She wasn’t sure if she should glare at him or not.
“Both,” she said finally.
“Not a good day?” he asked, glancing at her obvious lack of anything to take back.
“It’s ok,” she said. “Doubt I’ll get anything now that I have company, though.”
He chuckled.
“Don’t worry, Bird. I walk softly. Won’t spook all the forest critters unless you want me to.”
He moved to take a seat on a fallen log.
That’s when she put her finger on what was bothering her.
He wasn’t moving like a Capitol. He wasn’t even moving like Peeta or Haymitch, who were local but didn’t know much about the woods and only came out here under the supervision of someone who did. (Usually her, but sometimes someone else. There were a few others she could trust with them.)
And his smirk said he’d followed her logic.
“There’s no one else around,” he remarked.
It could have been a threat, but it didn’t sound like one. And anyway, she had her bow…
“Ask your questions, Bird. It’ll be faster and easier. You’re not going to get the whole thing on your own. Might want to hold off on using the bow, though. Kill me, you’d have to answer to the Bit, and she’s a right terror when she’s hacked off.”
“Are you even a real doctor?” she demanded.
It was the first thing that came into her head, and evidently not one he’d been expecting.
“All the questions in the world, and that’s what you went with?” he snorted. “Yes, I’m a real doctor. You’ve been recovering, haven’t you?”
“That could have been just time,” she shot back.
“Time helps, but believe it or not, the meds and the talking were part of it too,” Dr. Aurelius replied. “It would have gone faster if they hadn’t sent you back here, but even with the Bit and the Bastard weighing in, we were outgunned.”
“Maybe they wanted me to stay broken,” she suggested.
To her surprise, he took her seriously.
“Some of them probably did. Wouldn’t surprise me if there was a faction from 13 that would have preferred it. And a few from the Capitol, too.”
“How did they win?” she wanted to know.
Haymitch hadn’t ever explained what all had happened to result in her being sentenced to a slightly expanded form of house arrest. District arrest, really.
“Paylor thought you’d given enough for Panem, and she didn’t understand that the Twelve you wanted to go back to wasn’t there anymore,” Dr. Aurelius said quietly. “She wanted to put you somewhere no one else was going to try to use you. Or take shots at you for how things turned out.”
Katniss frowned. That was something she needed to think over. She thought best in motion.
She started to follow her usual trail. The doc kept up.
Paylor had been kind to her in the Capitol. At least, she thought so. She has a right to anything behind that door.
Maybe it hadn’t been, though. No one else could have killed Coin. And Paylor had seen what Coin was…
If that was true, Paylor owed her.
“You think this was meant to be a kindness,” she said a while later.
“Something like that,” he replied. “Don’t know that she meant the you staying here to be permanent. Time changes things.”
Yes, it did. Five years ago, it wouldn’t have been her and an oddball doctor from the Capitol who somehow knew how to move quiet stalking through the woods. It would have been her and Gale. They both would have had mothers and sisters waiting for them at home.
Home would have been in the Seam, and the Games would have been something that happened to happened to someone else. For all those slips, it had never been her name drawn until the Quarter Quell. Maybe the odds had been in her favor.
But why Prim?
“Deer just over that ridge.”
She looked at him suspiciously. He smirked.
She was tempted to smack him when she discovered he was right.
She did the next best thing – shot the deer, and stuck him with carrying it back. She wasn’t sure if she was impressed or annoyed that it didn’t bother him at all.
“Why are you here?” she asked as they started back toward home.
“I thought you wanted someone to haul the heavy stuff back for you,” he said.
She did glare at him for that. If he was going to come out here and dredge up all these memories, he should stick to what he’d offered in the first place.
“You said ask questions. You were giving real answers before.”
“Fair enough, Bird,” he sighed. “I’m here because it was time for Bit and I to get out of the Capitol for a while. And the Bit gets annoyed when people kill anyone she considers hers, which you lot definitely are. So it seemed like a good idea to come babysit for a while. Make sure none of those folks who want to take shots at you get a clear one.”
“You think people would come all the way out here to kill me?”
“You. The Bastard. Trinket. Hell, there’s even a few who hold grudges against the Boy, and I think we’re all agreed his only mistake was falling for a girl who can’t help being a trouble magnet.”
“What about Annie? And Johanna?”
“Safe enough. Most people don’t remember Annie, so she’s safer than any of you. And Mason was never the face of the rebellion, or known to be a mover and shaker. Yes, she was part of your pack in the arena, but she had no in with the Careers and everyone knows a pack eventually turns on each other. You played it beautifully, by the way – on screen, it looked like she’d genuinely broken the alliance.”
That was another new thought. She’d never watched anything of the Quarter Quell. She knew what the 74th games looked like to the audience, but not the 75th.
“You’re sure they’re safe?”
“If they weren’t, Bit and I would have split up, one of us in Four and one of us here. They’re fine, and there’s people we trust keeping an eye on them.”
“Good.”
The Meadow was just coming into view.
“Are you my new hunting partner now?” she wanted to know.
“I don’t know that I’ll go every time, but yeah, I think so,” Dr. Aurelius said thoughtfully. “If that was you asking if you’ll get another crack at twenty questions, definitely.”
They were almost to her house before she answered.
“I’ll let you know next time I’m going out.”
He nodded, and didn’t say anything about progress or productive sessions the way the head doctor she’d had a couple times when Dr. Aurelius wasn’t available used to.
He did ask where she wanted the deer carcass. Then he pocketed the cigarette packet that wasn’t hidden as well as Effie thought.
Babysitting indeed.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 04:17 am (UTC)Thank you for coming back to this series, I bounce like a kid any time you add to it! Hell, it was you who got me into The Hunger Games in the first place, you and Jedibuttercup.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-19 07:16 pm (UTC)Not sure if there will be more before the end of the month or not.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-12 06:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-19 07:16 pm (UTC)