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Chapter Text

Chapter 1: An Indecent Proposal

Coin wants to see me.

As I walk through gray corridor after gray corridor, I try to imagine what she wants from me but none of my ideas have any substance. I’m so distracted that I nearly bump into Haymitch.

“You too, sweetheart?” When he sees the questioning look on my face, he shakes his head and continues “Don’t bother asking. They don’t tell me anything. It can’t really be good news, though. Can it?”

He doesn’t look good, sallow skin, dark rings under his eyes; the forced sobriety of 13 doesn’t suit him. But he’s right, I’ve been in training to go on a mission to the Capitol for weeks, my final test before the Assignment Board is days away. Coin’s given me what I asked for, a ticket to the Capitol, so any news is bad news. Could she have changed her mind, decided to keep me in this prison?

The thought of being kept in 13 paralyzes me; I have to get to the Capitol. I don’t have another plan. My whole life revolves around killing Snow. I turn to Haymitch and I know he can see the terror in my eyes.

But he’s unfazed. I feel his hand on my shoulder as he says “The odds aren’t exactly in your favor. But how much worse can it get?”

With that, we’re outside of her door. The guards nod to us and we step inside the large, but poorly lit room. Alma Coin, President of District 13, sits behind an enormous desk with Plutarch Heavensbee, ex-gamemaker, fidgeting behind her nervously.

There are three chairs evenly spaced in the front of her desk. Two are empty, obviously intended for Haymitch and me. The occupant of the third chair turns his head and I’m met with a blank gaze from the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.

Peeta

O- - - - - - - - - - - - -O

I’ve seen him in training, at a distance, surrounded by guards. The last time I was this close to him was the cafeteria. He was in handcuffs. I stormed off with Gale and he had to be dragged out after he got into an argument with himself.

Haymitch and I just stand there for what seems like minutes. We stare back and forth between Coin, an unshackled Peeta and a pair of guards keeping watch in the dark corner of the room. Eventually Coin breaks the silence. “Please sit down Soldier Everdeen, Citizen Abernathy. We have serious matters to attend to.”

For want of another option, we sit. Haymitch takes the middle seat, separating me from Peeta. Coin clears her throat loudly before continuing. “As I’m sure you’re aware, Soldier Everdeen, your responsibility under our arrangement, in exchange for all of your demands as ‘The Mockingjay’, is to unite the districts under one banner. And to put it bluntly, you haven’t.”

I try to respond but my tongue feels sluggish in my mouth. “I… I’ve done what you’ve asked. I went to 8, to 2. I danced at Finnick and Annie’s wedding.” I can hear desperate pleading start to creep into my voice, “What more do you want me to do?”

Coin’s grey eyes and mine meet like crossed steel swords and her mouth is curled in a sneer when she speaks. “Plutarch’s office is constantly bombarded with requests for propos of our pair of star-crossed lovers. But you’ve refused to help us. I don’t think I need to remind you that our agreement is predicated on your cooperation with Citizen Heavensbee.”

Of course. That’s why Peeta’s here, because they want us to shoot propos together. Plutarch brought this up weeks ago and I turned him down flat. It isn’t as if I’m much good in front of a camera anyway, but pretending to be… whatever we were, friends… lovers… allies, with this Capitol-made Peeta that hates me, it’s impossible. She must see that.

I’m still trying to force words out my mouth when Peeta speaks up. “We’ve already been over this. It doesn’t matter what you can get her to agree to, my answer won’t change. I’ve told you that I’m through being her accessory. So if that’s what we’re here for, I want to go back to my cell.” His tone is even, controlled but it’s still hollow. It doesn’t have the passion or the warmth that made people melt when Peeta spoke before. I don’t know whether to be happy that there’s still one thing we agree on or hurt because he hates me too much to even shoot propos with me.

I expect Coin to be angry but when I look back at her I almost think I can see a smile. “I appreciate your forthrightness, Soldier Mellark; I believe that will save us a great deal of time. So let me be open and honest with you in return; I am under incredible pressure at this moment. This district paid dearly to rescue you from the Capitol. I was so impressed with your ability to inspire others that I gambled away many of my most highly-placed agents to rescue you from Snow.”

She’s lying; she only rescued Peeta when the guilt and worry about his captivity in the Capitol left me unable to function as her precious Mockingjay. But I don’t try to correct her.

Now Coin’s face hardens, her eyes become darker. “But there are those, even here in District 13, that dare to call me a fool because that costly mission gained us nothing but ‘damaged goods’.”

I scowl at the idea that she can dismiss them, Annie, Johanna and even Peeta, so casually. How can she have any idea what they’ve been through? Of course as someone who used to wear a “mentally disoriented” bracelet, maybe it’s not surprising that I sympathize with insane torture victims. Peeta doesn’t flinch at the characterization, though. His face remains blank while his hands grip the arms of his chair.

Coin’s eyes flit back and forth across the three of us as she continues to lay out her grievances. “We had hoped to begin the assault on the Capitol weeks ago but we still don’t have the strength. We in District 13 simply don’t have the manpower on our own; we need more volunteers from the other districts. Districts, I might add, which are hounding Citizen Heavensbee here for news about the Star-Crossed Lovers of District 12.”

Haymitch is shaking his head as he leans forward in his chair. “This is crazy, Alma. You can’t ask them to do this.”

I can feel hysteria rising in my chest the longer this conversation goes on. “Do what? Hold P- … hold his hand while you film it? That won’t fool anyone!”

I’m on my feet now; I can’t breathe. I can’t believe we’re talking about this. This is worse than my conversation with Snow before the Victory Tour; he wanted me to pretend to love a boy who loved me. Coin wants me to pretend to love a boy who hates me with every fiber of his being, a boy I can’t bear to look at because he reminds me so much of someone I’ve lost forever.

Plutarch breaks the awkward silence. “Katniss, believe me. No one wants to force you into anything but the reality is that the situation is difficult. And we understand your concerns, but Peeta’s made fantastic progress; he’s been training for weeks without any incident. I-”

I don’t find out what Plutarch was going to say next because Peeta interrupts him. “What you mean is that I haven’t gone crazy since the last time I was near her. That isn’t an argument for putting us together for your cameras. I’ll admit that I’m confused, that I can’t tell what’s real sometimes.”

Peeta lets that sink in before he continues. “But this,” he gestures between us, “what you keep asking me for, isn’t real. It never was.”

I can hear a catch in his voice but he maintains the same even tone of speech. “I can’t act anymore; you can’t lie properly if you can’t keep track of the truth. So why don’t we just stop pretending that I’m not a worthless cripple and have these nice men take me back to my padded cell.”

His honesty is painful to listen to. I’m staring down at my shoes waiting for Plutarch’s response when I hear Coin’s voice. She practically spits out “You had better hope that you’re still worth something, Soldier Mellark; because even after the tragic loss of your family, there is still plenty that this war can take from you, both of you.”

My eyes must be as wide as saucers as I stare at her mutely. She gives a small nod to me. “I see that you understand what is at stake here, Soldier Everdeen. If I don’t get the cooperation I need from the other districts, I’ll be forced to make use of every resource we have available here. That will, of course, entail using some of our less experienced citizens in the assault, including those from District 12. For example: Soldier Everdeen’s “cousin”, Rory Hawthorne, and your friend’s brother, Cordwainer Cartwright, are both in training as ground support personnel. And as I’m sure you’re both aware, Primrose Everdeen has passed all of the necessary courses to be a combat medic. You don’t want them sent to a dangerous battlefield, do you, Soldier Mellark?”

I struggle at first to even make a sound, but eventually I manage to speak, my voice cracking with the effort. “No! We’ll do what you want. We’ll do anything you want! But… but leave Prim out of this.”

Coin gives me the faintest smile before she turns to Peeta. “Well, Soldier Mellark? Soldier Everdeen is willing to cooperate. You aren’t going to be difficult, are you?”

I can’t stop my heart from hammering in my chest. This isn’t the old Peeta, my Peeta, the boy who would deny me nothing. Will this new version of him be willing to help me save Prim from Coin?

Haymitch puts his hand on Peeta’s shoulder but I can’t make out what he starts to say under his breath before Peeta bats his hand away and snaps “Save it, Haymitch.” He removes his other hand from the arm of the chair and straightens up before he tells Coin “Tell me exactly what you want me to do.”

O- - - - - - - - - - - - -O

I can only listen half-heartedly as Coin and Plutarch lay out their script. We’re reunited when Peeta publically joins me for training. We share staged, tender moments, kisses for the camera and in a few weeks, District 13 holds another wedding of victors. It’s the Victory Tour all over again, but this time I’m in it alone. How can this new Peeta play the doting lover when he hates and fears me? Can he maintain the deception when he can’t even hold himself together around me long enough to finish a meal? I keep glancing over to him, looking for some sign of what’s going on inside his head but his face remains impassive. Eventually part of my brain registers that Plutarch has stopped speaking and I see Peeta’s lips start to move.

His voice isn’t hollow when he speaks; it’s hesitant, fearful, nervous. “So that’s the deal? If I pretend that I’m in love with her, you won’t send any of those kids into the Capitol?”

Coin’s tone is as hard as his is soft when she replies “The deal, Soldier Mellark is that if you convince the populace of the districts to provide me with the manpower I need, then none of your friends will be needed for the final assault.”

Peeta turns his head towards me slightly and I can’t tell which one of us he’s making the promise to when he says “I’ll convince them.”

Notes:

This was inspired by Prompts in Panem’s “What if” from the previous round of prompts (I write slowly and didn’t want to release until I was sure I could finish it).

I suppose I’m a sucker for Katniss/Peeta marriage fics and there are several that I think are great; “I Do” by Halfhope and “A Marriage between Victors” by Optimus-Pam are personal favorites and I’d also highly recommend Missi Marie’s trilogy on the subject. To my knowledge, this is the first story in which Katniss and Peeta are forced into marriage while Peeta’s still recovering from the hijacking in 13. There are numerous passages from Mockingjay that I’ve adapted for this story because I like them and I think they fit nicely. Naturally Susanne Collins owns not only those passages but the characters, setting and most of the plot as well. I don’t own anything and I’m ok with that.