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Chapter Text

Charlemagne Royage’s first official act as head gamemaker was to recall all of the victors for that stupid calendar shoot idea that Plutarch had last pitched. It was for this reason that Fulvia found herself on a photoshoot set at 8 in the morning. Granted, it had evolved into a catch all photoshoot, and granted, the photoshoot timeline aligned with the most recent media campaign that the President’s Office had requested, so it wasn’t a total waste of a trip. Still, it created more work than Fulvia wanted, especially during what was usually their one calm month of the year. Fulvia hadn’t even had time to review the outfits the stylists had submitted! Crispus had managed to get Maureen and Brento out of it, given that the victory tour was in a month, but the rest of the victors hadn’t been so lucky.

“Could be worse,” She commented to Crispus as he handed her a coffee. The prop table and craft services tables had been set out next to each other. The contrast of doughnuts, swords, and victor crowns made for a funny picture. Fulvia motioned that the photographer should capture it. It could be suitable for a B reel. Crispus shrugged as he hopped into the chair beside her.

“The photographers need 15 minutes, then they’re ready.”

“So we’re behind already?”

“Yep.” Crispus popped his “p” and took a deep breath.

“Typical.” Fulvia sipped her coffee and debated if it would be better to pop some pain medication now or later. She eyed the makeup chairs across the room where Felix and Max sat. Tigris was over by them, sipping coffee and swapping gossip like they had all day. Technically, she was supposed to be supervising the students applying gold glitter to Max’s hair, but they seemed to have it in hand. The District Two escort was arriving with Brutus, Cael, and the other District Two male victors. Fulvia sighed. It would be a long few days.

“Max! Do some pushups and then come on over!” Crispus called. The senior mentor nodded. Felix waved his mentor off.

“Have fun.”

“Thank you,” Max replied.

Fulvia took her seat at the computer, where she’d be able to review the images. She took a breath to steady herself. So much had already changed about media. Charlemagne’s “New Era” had affected her and Crispus the most. The new rules were blunt. No more ad hoc media with victors speaking; Caesar had sole interviewing privileges, except for elimination press conferences. Victors would be expected to handle engagements solo, but it would be permissible for victors of the same district to attend parties together. Exceptions would be made (and had already been made to assemble this photoshoot), but they needed to be preapproved.

Fulvia didn’t get it. Allowing the victors to give separate interviews was essential for building confidence, enabling them to secure more sponsors. Sending multiple victors to the same party ensured that everyone had a chance to meet them. The new rules would just exoticize the victors they had and make it harder to develop the freshly minted victors into mentors. Suffice to say, the “Fed Games” was dead, and Fulvia was a little upset about it.

Plutarch joined her a few minutes later. He and Crispus were running camera calls today, and Fulvia would implement the President’s vision for the latest poster campaign tomorrow.

“We’re out of body oil, so we’re just using olive oil. It’ll photograph the same.” Plutarch didn’t seem stressed about it. Fulvia blinked. That was a major screw up, and it could very easily come down on her. She turned to him. “I know, I know.” He added. “We’ll figure out how it happened later, but for now, the olive oil will do.”

“Can we just have one normal day?” She asked. Fulvia rested her forehead in her hands as a movement. She looked up and sighed. Plutarch laughed. He clinked his coffee against hers.

They sped through the first few photos. Max was a seasoned (in this case, literally seasoned) victor who hit his poses effortlessly. Between the flexes and the piercing eyes he sent into the camera, Fulvia knew that every Capitol housewife would be clamouring to buy a calendar or whatever magazine these got printed in. He twirled the prop sword around in his hands like it was a toy in between takes.

They ran into trouble with Felix, as his spray tan had rubbed off on his white tank top when the oil was applied, but that could be fixed in post-production.

“Or, Felix, just take the tank top off?” Fulvia suggested. Felix tugged it off over his head and tossed it at Max.

“Wait!” Fulvia called from the camera. “Do that one more time, but throw it at the camera instead.” It put them another few minutes behind schedule, but the pictures were so good that no one cared. Plus, the twos would be quick. The male victors from Two hit their poses effortlessly. Fulvia didn’t mention that the stylists had clearly not collaborated at all here.

“I wanted to do one last personality photoshoot before Charlemagne took over,” Tigris explained to Fulvia. Her voice dropped. “He’s making a lot of changes, as you know.”

“He won’t last. This is very temporary.” Fulvia soothed. Tigris nodded.

“Still. I’ve never had a head gamemaker request certain outfits for certain victors, though.” Tigris’s voice was tense. Fulvia nodded.

“I’m aware. Have you spoken to Crispus about it?” Tigris nodded. Fulvia stirred sugar into her coffee. She looked up.

“Wait…plural victors?”

“Plural victors. I hope someone takes him out soon.” Tigris’s tone was so casual. She could have been commenting on the weather. Fulvia blinked. Take him out? Surely Tigris couldn’t mean… “Excuse me. I need to go check something.” Fulvia blinked harder and stirred her coffee deliberately.

“I’m so excited to eat something that isn’t a chicken breast.” Cael declared as soon as his robe was back on. “Felix, save me a doughnut!” He ran for the craft service table. Fulvia took a deep breath. None of this was new information. She had to focus. Two years, and then President Snow would remove Charlemagne. They just had to last two years.

Percy still needed help with poses, but he was so coachable that no one minded. His stylist had him shirtless and wearing what looked like woven swim trunks. Crispus ran the camera calls for most of the shots.

“This is an easy one. Just cross your arms and stare into the camera.” Crispus stood next to the camera and mimed the pose. “Great Percy. Now smirk.” He prompted. “Wait, you can do a handstand, right?” Turns out, Percy could do a handstand, but not when the floor was covered with olive oil. He winced as he got up off the floor. Crispus looked over at Fulvia.

“We got it.” She answered. They actually had the fall in slow motion, but for the millisecond he’d been up, it had been amazing. “Percy, are you ok?” She called. Percy gave her a thumbs up and limped over to Cael and Felix. They offered a mocking round of applause, but Felix also offered a doughnut. Plutarch disappeared as they finished shooting the men.

“Looks awesome, Haymitch.” Crispus toggled through more shots. Haymitch did not look awesome. Haymitch looked drunk and like he didn’t want to be here. In fairness, no one wanted to be here, but Fulvia was faking, and so could he! Crispus directed more. “Try to relax your shoulders a little.”

“Tilt the crown a little,” Effie called from the background.

“Thank you, Effie. We got it,” Crispus added. “You’re good, Haymitch. Go enjoy your day.” Crispus stepped away from the viewing screens. “Thank you, everyone. Let’s reset and get ready to do it all over again.” Fulvia nodded. She was more excited to see what the stylists had come up with for the women. Their outfits were just better overall. With the male victors, it was always the same variation of a suit or something wrapped around their waist. Maybe someone got creative with materials and color. With the women, you never knew what the stylists had cooked up. Plutarch reappeared with the call sheet.

“We’re redoing the schedule. Mags is up first now. Something about something not fitting someone right.”

“Classic,” Crispus replied. He grabbed the call sheet from Plutarch. Fulvia glared at him. He looked up at her. “What? This happens all the time. The stylists have to guess on sizes, and a lot of the girls fluctuate.”

“I am well aware of how women’s weight fluctuates, thank you,” Fulvia replied. She rolled her eyes. Cripus was arguably her best friend, and Plutarch was less of an anathema than he used to be, but she was not having this conversation with them. Crispus took the sheet from Plutarch and nodded.

“Ok. Mags first, and then let’s get Maeve done. I don’t want her doing this in front of Charlemagne.” He commented. Plutarch nodded, and Fulvia did the same.

“Where is he anyway?” She asked. “I figured he would want to micromanage us?”

“Dunno. Wherever he is, I hope he stays there.” Plutarch admitted.

“Ditto.” Agreed Crispus. The three shared a smirk. The games complex was intolerable these days. Charlemagne had an ego bigger than any of Fulvia’s ex-boyfriends (not that she had a lot of those). He yelled at junior staffers for even the slightest misunderstandings. He’d reduced one of the interns to tears last week! The media staff only left the spin suite if they needed to, and the other staffs did the same. It was honestly so sad. Some of Fulvia’s favorite memories of being a younger staffer were of wandering the complex and meeting other junior staffers. “Auerlia, is Mags ready yet?” Crispus shouted down the hall. The clacking of high heels sounded, and Mags appeared next to Four’s escort. The stylists had put on a military style jacket in a nod to her victory tour poster. She looked great. Fulvia wished she were that unafraid of aging.

“Yes. Yes. We’re ready.”

“Admittedly, I thought I had aged out of this.” Mags muttered. Crispus smiled.

“You’re a legend. And legends don’t age out of anything.”

“Lucky me.” Crispus didn’t reply. He squatted and rested his hands on his knees. Fulvia resisted the urge to laugh at him. He took this aspect of the job so seriously, but he also needed to be teased, or his ego would get too big.

“You know how to pose for this?” Mags stood on the x and tilted one shoulder to the camera. Fulvia checked the lighting. It was perfect. A few clicks, and then Maeve was next. Fulvia exhaled as the redhead took her mark. Her hair held a bounce again, and there was color in her cheeks. Again, the stylists from Four or any other District had not communicated with each other, but Fulvia was so happy to see a healthy Maeve that she didn’t even care. “Ok. And Maeve, your turn.” Crispus called. Maeve nodded, and she lifted her hitched skirt so she could get to her mark. Fulvia needed to ask about those black platform boots. Black leather arm bangles, paired with a strapless, cinched top, complemented her fiery red hair and grounded the entire ensemble.

“She almost looks like Boudicca,” Plutarch commented.

“I think for it to be burlesque, she would need a corset,” Fulvia replied. Plutarch made a face. “What?” Fulvia asked.

“Nothing.” Maeve hit her poses like a seasoned professional. She was a seasoned professional. Snow, has it been 10 years already? She barely needed any prompting.

“Can you flip the hair a little more?” Crispus asked. Maeve nodded.

“I can try. It’s just a lot of extensions.” She replied. She flipped her hair off to one side.

“Well. Don’t do it if it’s going to be painful.” Fulvia overruled. She gestured to the nearest associate. “Turn the fan on. We can fake the rest of it in post production.” Fuvia showed the subsequent shots to Crispus. He nodded.

“Yeah. So much better.” He agreed. Victoria was similar, but her stylist had taken the opposite route. Typically, the stylist for District One employed soft pastels, clean lines, and allusions to angels, birds, or jewels. The ethereal contrasted well with the reputations their victors earned in the arena. Well, there were certainly allusions to birds in this outfit.

Victoria wore a metal miniskirt and a smaller metal top, with a pink tulle shrug draped over her shoulders for ease of posing. The main attraction, however, was the hair. Giant feathers came out of her victor’s crown, and at least 30 diamonds twinkled on her neck. Silver glitter streaked across her bare stomach.

“You look really good,” Maeve commented. She ripped a piece of a doughnut off and gave some to the escort standing by her. Victoria lit up at the complement.

“I like it! It’s fun! And look how well it moves!” She did a half-twirl as she moved to the X marked in front of the camera.

“You look awesome.” Fulvia agreed. She checked the light and signaled that they were ready to roll again. Honestly, maybe the stylists should just all go rogue more often. The victors looked great! And it was showing in the pictures. Victoria finished taking her pictures, and then Crispus pulled her and Maeve aside. Fulvia reset the cameras, and Casey was up next. They would need to redo the entire call sheet at this point. Whatever. As long as Charlemagne didn’t show up, Fulvia didn’t care. She called out a few instructions for Casey and kept an eye on Crispus. He was speaking quietly to the two victors.

“Real talk,” he began. “How are Percy and Cecelia holding up?” Maeve and Victoria glanced at each other. Victoria smirked.

“Percy’s fine.” Maeve opened. Victoria nodded.

“Cecelia is, too. She’s honestly a little bit of a bitch.” She added. Crispus rolled his eyes. Maeve nodded excitedly.

“I know!” She tapped Victoria on the shoulder with her open palm in a move that was very reminiscent of how Fulvia used to gossip with her social club friends. “I was expecting her to be like Wiress, but she’s like us!” Maeve sounded shocked.

“Guys…” Crispus sounded tired. Maeve took a deep breath.

“We know,” Victoria replied. “But, really, she’s doing well.”

“Ok.” Crispus nodded. “Please encourage her to come to me if something goes wrong. What happened to you two should never happen again.” Fulvia made a mental note to ask him about that. Crispus raised his voice, just loudly enough so the nearest associates would be able to hear him. “Also, let’s watch the figures now, shall we? You’re not as young as you used to be.” Fulvia fought to keep her face passive. What a horrific thing to say to someone! The two closest game maker associates, both young women, seemed similarly horrified. Victoria nodded.

“We just follow your example, Gamemaker Ravinstill.” She smiled sweetly. Fulvia pivoted so that she could focus back on the current session.

Ironically, Cecelia struggled the most with getting a good picture. Crispus had retaken his seat next to Fulvia at the viewer. He zoomed in on a close-up of Cecelia and bit his lip. Fulvia could tell Cecelia was watching them, and not looking at the camera. Their whispers were stressing her out. Unfortunately, Crispus was also stressing Fulvia out.

“You cannot say that,” Fulvia whispered. “Tell the escorts, but in public? Crispus…”

“I know, I know.” He muttered. “Why do you think I did it like that?” He smirked at her. She rolled her eyes. Crispus bit his lip and looked up at Cecelia. “Try and stand up a little straighter!” He called. Cecelia nodded.

“I know. I’m sorry, I’m trying.” She tossed her hair behind her shoulders again. Fulvia frowned. What was the issue here? The outfit was cute and matched her personality well; she’d done photoshoots before without many problems. She just didn’t look comfortable or like she wanted to be there. Crispus tugged his uniform jacket off and then stood by the associate, taking pictures.

“You’re doing fine.” He commented. “Watch what I do and then copy me. Widen your stance a little. Good. Weight in your left leg, and then put an arm behind your head. No, angle it more.” Cecelia followed along.

“Much better,” Fulvia called. Cecelia physically exhaled. Crispus did two more poses with her and then called it a day.

“How much post-production will these need?” He asked quietly. Fulvia shrugged.

“Standard.” She replied. Cecelia was still learning some aspects of her job. She was allowed to struggle. There was nothing more to be said.

It took another few hours to get everyone through, but Fulvia thought the individual shots looked great. Charlemagne never showed, and Fulvia didn’t really care. Seeder finished the day off, and then Crispus stood up.

“Great work, everyone. Let’s spend 10 minutes cleaning up, and then we can get ready to do it all again tomorrow.” Crispus shouted. Fulvia clapped. Plutarch high fived her. She dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

“Now we need to look at all of the proofs!” It was the worst part of every photoshoot. She would delegate to the associates, but proofs were too important. Besides, she was still trying to decipher which of her newest staffers were quality hires and who was a nepo baby. Some were both, but she had a feeling Charlemagne wouldn’t have let her have a competent staff.

“I thought that was your favorite part of the job?” Crispus teased her. Fulvia rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, no.” She began clicking through images and tagging them based on the amount of retouching they would require. “My favorite part of the job is when tributes turn into victors and victors turn into mentors.” He nodded. It was one of his favorites as well.

Day two of the photoshoot rolled out. The president’s vision for the next wave of Panem pride posters involved stylized portraits of the victors from each District, accompanied by their crowns and the weapons they had used in their respective arenas. Messages like “Your District needs a victor, will you rise up?” would be attached, along with other district-specific taglines. Fulvia had thought of the one for District Nine, and she was very proud of it.

Some of the posters involved all the District’s victors posing together, while others required solo shots (Sorry, Haymitch). They ticked off the districts one by one. Zara straightened Victoria’s victor crown in between pictures, and Palladium poked Felix with a spear as they were setting everyone up.

“Can we do a silly one?” Felix asked as they finished. Cripsus froze. He made a face and then nodded.

“Yeah. Be quick.” Fulvia cheered when the extra shot came up on her viewer. Max choked out Felix from behind. Victoria slid into a split on the floor. Palladium flipped the spear.

“Yes!” Fulvia pointed. “New poster. Great work, guys.”

And it all seemed normal? It was too much to ask for these days. Fulvia promised the Fours that she would get them a copy of their group picture. Mags commented that she would hang it on her mantle, and Fulvia resolved to get all of the older mentors their group posters. They would photoshop the Sixes. Fulvia wasn’t stressed about it. And for once, they were running ahead of schedule? Plutarch disappeared again and showed up just as they were breaking for lunch.

“Hey, we have a situation.” He grabbed Fulvia’s arm and Crispus’s shoulder.

“What’s up?” Crispus asked. He smacked Plutarch’s hand off his shoulder. Fulvia nodded.

“Charlemagne’s not coming. His youngest daughter’s in the hospital.” Plutarch whispered. Fulvia’s jaw dropped.

Chapter Text

“What?” Fulvia gasped. “Is she going to be ok?” This wasn’t gossip…this was a tragedy! Crispus crossed his arms.

“What happened?” He demanded. Plutarch shook his head and then glanced at the cameras. Crispus followed his eye line and then nodded. “Can you guys help me review some of the proofs from this morning?” Fulvia opened her mouth to reply that they had just shot the proofs, and no one alive could edit raw images that quickly. They would need to Photoshop a few of the men to ensure that everyone was as muscular as needed, and all of that took time.

“Yeah,” Plutarch replied.

“Come on then.” Crispus pulled the two of them into a janitor's closet. Fulvia side-stepped the mop on the floor. Hopefully, the chemicals wouldn’t damage her shoes.

“Ok, so. This is all a rumor, so take none of it as fact.” He led. Crispus motioned with his hands.

“We know. Out with it.” He crossed his arms.

“His personal assistant told me he was at the hospital for a family emergency. So I checked the hospital admit logs,” Plutarch continued.

“Why do you have access to those?” Fulvia asked. Had he checked her mother’s records last summer? What an ass. Just when she was starting to tolerate him...

“Long story. I dated a girl, and she left her login on my tablet.”

“That feels illegal.” She replied.

“It’s a gray area,” Plutarch offered. Crispus snickered. Fulvia glared at him.

“This isn’t funny.” She replied. “I hate him, too, but the man’s child is in the hospital.” She turned to Crispus. “Can we plant a story to keep this out of the tabloids. He needs privacy.”

“I’m not sure that’ll be helpful here.” Crispus offered. Fulvia rolled her eyes. How could it not be helpful here? Crispus paused and looked to Plutarch. “Do we…do we think?”

“What else could it be?” Plutarch asked. Fulvia paused. Surely they weren’t implying? No. They couldn’t. Even thinking it felt like treason.

“Choose your next words carefully.” She warned. Plutarch shifted his weight. Crispus crossed his arms.

“This is new. The great Plutarch Heavensbee with nothing to say?” He smirked. Plutarch exhaled. Fulvia exhaled slowly. She thought back to the August day atop the training center. Crispus had theorized that the president would frame Charlemagne’s elevation as a promotion before orchestrating a very public downfall. They might be entering stage two.

“Look. I don’t know any more than you. I know that the president promised retribution on Charlemagne, and I know that he can’t get it yet. Now the youngest Royage girl is in the hospital?”

“President Snow wouldn’t kill an innocent child!” Fulvia sputtered. These had to be unrelated incidents. But something inside her whispered that there was no such thing as coincidence. She took a breath. Yes, she knew the rumors. Every Capitol socialite did. Failure of those at the highest level wouldn’t be tolerated. People were given the chance to resign with dignity, but if they refused, someone needed to take action. And President Snow didn’t want to hurt anyone. They gave him no choice. She swallowed. There had to be another explanation!

“Fulvia, we kill 23 innocent kids every year on orders of President Snow.” Crispus offered. He sounded exhausted. Fulvia gasped.

“That’s different! They’re tributes!” The treaty of treason dictated it! It was so different. Why couldn’t Crispus see that? What was he even saying?

“They’re teenagers!” Crispus replied. He sounded frustrated.

“Actually, the 12-year-olds aren’t even teens. They’re tweens.” Plutarch weighed in. Fulvia and Crispus pivoted towards him. He nodded. “That’s not helpful right now. I see that.”

“Whatever,” Fulvia replied. “Let’s submit the proofs for approval, and then we can eat.” The others nodded. Crispus and Plutarch were weird, she knew that. But she couldn’t lose focus. They needed to work together to protect their departments from Charlemagne.

It took another few hours, but finally, Haymitch stumbled off the set after Crispus announced he was good. Fulvia thought it was a nice touch that so many of the younger victors came out to support him. Maybe someone would sober him up and get Chaff away from him. The man was clearly a bad influence. Victoria handed Haymitch a drink of something clear, and he took it like a shot. Maybe they were all bad influences on each other. It was like Crispus said, what can you expect from someone who earned a lifetime’s worth of money at the age of 16?

Time really was flying. It felt like just yesterday, Fulvia had been a junior on staff staring at Maeve and the victors with stars in her eyes, and now she got to talk to them. Life was amazing. Charlemagne couldn’t take this from her. The thought instantly made her feel guilty. His kid was in the hospital. She needed to be kinder. Fulvia cheered with the others as they finished. Crispus used his forearm strength to boost himself up so he stood on one of the chairs. Fulvia stopped cheering. It was impressive- she had no idea he was so graceful. Plutarch shook his head.

“Great work, everyone. I’ll confirm who we need for the reshoots, but most of you'll be heading home tomorrow. I’ll also let you know who's invited to the presidential palace for the victory tour party, too.” There was some good-natured cheering from the victors. Fulvia let herself exhale. She submitted more proofs to Charlemagne for his approval. Maybe his assistant would take care of it? The man should be with his family right now.

Plutarch invited her and Crispus back to his place while they waited for the final all clear. The Heavensbee manor was one of the few mansions Fulvia had never been inside. She'd seen a few of the gardens and everyone knew about the famous Heavensbee Greenhouse, but Plutarch had a reputation for being a recluse among high society. He attended parties often enough, but he just never threw them. Crispus seemed unfazed by the generations of Heavensbee portraits blinking down on them from vaulted walls and stained glass windows. Fulvia wondered if he’d been here before.

Fulvia gasped when she saw the library. Shelves towered up to the ceiling with deep leather couches and dark green plants scattered about. A soft fire crackled beneath a dark wood mantle. A grand piano sat off to the side, along with some longer tables like Fulvia remembered from University. Plutarch smiled at her as she took it all in.

“My great-grandfather’s legacy. I don’t know how they kept it all through the war.”

“It’s…” Fulvia was at a loss for words. These books couldn’t all be real. Surely some of them were fake. She touched one of the spines uncertainly. Crispus popped behind the bar and pulled out a bottle of something.

“Nightcap?”

“I’m good for now,” Plutarch replied. Fulvia ignored him. Plutarch dropped onto the couch. Fulvia heard the clinking of glass on glass, and then Crispus joined him. Fulvia tore herself away from the books.

“Have you read all of these?” She asked. He couldn’t have. There was no way. Plutarch shrugged.

“Some. Don’t have as much time for it as I’d like.” Fulvia nodded. He was so pretentious. “I used to bring a book for the ride out to Twelve when I was on their camera crew, but it became impossible once I moved over to Gaia’s staff.” Fulvia nodded.

“My camera crew assignment was One,” She replied. “Not much time for anything else on the train other than being nervous.” She smiled at the memories of spiraling out on the rides back from the Reapings in One as they scrambled to assemble a video package. Plutarch nodded. Crispus sipped his drink. He’d done his camera duty in Four? Or maybe Crispus had skipped camera crew duties. He usually got lucky like that.

“Sorry for what I said earlier.” Crispus raised suddenly. He looked over to Fulvia. “I shouldn’t have spoken about your family that way.” Fulvia made a face. President Snow was her Uncle, yes, but was he family?

“It’s alright.” She replied quickly. “We have…intense jobs, and sometimes that manifests in our words.” She picked at her nails. Plutarch sat quietly. Crispus slapped his leg.

“I say we give it an hour before we just tell all of the victors to go home tomorrow. We got our shots, and Photoshop can do the rest. Plus its not like Charlemagne can really tell us anything else right now.” Just as he spoke, their datapads buzzed. Fulvia grabbed hers.

“You cursed us.” She commented as she opened the reply from Charlemagne. Why was he working right now? He could have easily delegated this to an assistant. She furrowed her brow. “What the fuck. He wants reshoots on half the Victors?” Plutarch got up and made himself a drink. He threw back a shot of a purple liquid and then grabbed his datapad.

“He just wrote ‘no.’” Crispus scanned through his own data pad. “Fuck. He even CC’d the stylists.” Plutarch’s sudden laugh caught them both off guard. They glared at him.

“Sorry. He told the stylists their visions were ‘flawed.’ That’s a little funny.”

“It’s going to make enemies out of the stylists.” Fulvia weighed in. She stood up and headed for the bar. She was going to need something to take the edge off this. Plutarch offered her the purple bottle. Fulvia didn’t recognize the label, but she took a swig anyway. She kept reading.

“Someone from his team will bring new costumes tomorrow.” She read aloud, and then her jaw dropped. “Gamemakers Heavensbee, Cardew, and Ravinstill are excused from the shoot. Gamemaker Laurentio will be running it in my absence.’ Can he do this?”

“He has carte blanche privileges,” Plutarch replied. “Who needs a reshoot?”

“Literally all of the women.” Crispus tossed his data pad to the side and brought his forehead to his palms. “And he’s blocked Maeve in for a huge time slot. Fuck.” Plutarch crossed his arms. The silence in the room was heavy. Fulvia picked at one of her nails. She’d need to get them redone soon. Her stomach hurt. She should reduce her coffee consumption; the caffeine was giving her stomach pains. Charlemagne clearly hadn’t learned anything from what he’d put Maeve through last year, and he seemed intent on pulling the victor down with him. Her pants were cutting into her stomach. That must be why her stomach hurt. That or the caffine.

“Well. We can use the extra time to finish tour logistics, talking points…really, there’s a lot to do.” Plutarch whispered as he clenched a fist on his knee and then relaxed it slowly. “I know we don’t like it but,” Fulvia picked at her nails again. This was fucked. There was no other word for it. Could she go to President Snow? No, he couldn’t care about this because it didn’t directly threaten the Games, and then there would just be more eyes on them. She closed her eyes and leaned back.

“Laurentio has no idea how to run a photoshoot,” Fulvia stated quietly. He was an engineer. What was Charlemagne thinking? An idea was in the base of her mind. What was she suggesting? “We should offer to help him.” Who was we? Crispus lifted his head up.

“Fulvia, I knew you had some rule breaker in you.” He smiled.

Chapter Text

“Laurentio, do you know what gaff tape is?” Crispus asked. Laurentio’s mouth dropped open, and then he closed it. Plutarch smirked.

“I was going to ask if you even knew how to turn on the camera.” He and Crispus stood in front of Fulvia, blocking Laurentio’s entrance to the studio. Fulvia ran a hand through her hair. This was mean. They weren’t going to get anywhere.

“I’m just as qualified as you all are.” He replied. He glanced over at Fulvia. “Maybe even more so, given that my daddy didn’t get me my job.” He threw the last phrase at Fulvia as if it were some kind of gotcha. Fulvia pitched her head back and laughed. Crispus did the same. He stepped to the side so Fulvia could reply.

“First of all, I’m a Cardew through my mother’s side.” She paused. Why was she explaining this? “Second, we came to help you because we didn’t want you to fail. Now, I think we’ll let you.”

“The President loves it when gamemakers waste time and resources.” Crispus agreed. Laurentio went pale. Plutarch cackled. Fulvia glanced at him. The cackling was a bit much.

“I…How hard can it be?” Laurentio looked at all of them. The three gamemakers glanced at each other. Fulvia smiled. She was part of an exclusive club, people who knew what gaff tape was and how to turn on a camera.

“You’ll have to tell us.” Crispus grabbed Fulvia by the arm and began walking toward the door at the end of the hallway. Plutarch followed.

“Wait!” Laurentio shouted. “Why don’t you all stay and have breakfast at least?” Fulvia and Crispus froze. Plutarch stumbled into them, ruining what otherwise would have been a great moment.

“We’d love to,” Cripus spoke for the group.

“Charlemagne didn’t leave me with a lot of instructions,” Laurentio began explaining as they clustered around the breakfast buffet. Cripus poured himself some coffee. “All I know is that the stylists and Tigirs will handle most of it.” He pulled up a briefing on his datapad. “These are the instructions I was given.” Fulvia smiled when she saw the brief. Someone, probably Charlemagne, had used an engineering data report form to fill in instructions for the photoshoot. The formatting was all wrong. Crispus took the datapad and bit his lip.

“Gonna be one of those photoshoots.” He looked up. “How many gamemakers do you have scheduled to come in?”

“Uh.”

“Ok.” Crispus turned the datapad off. “Generally, for these types of shoots, Tigris and I keep a closed set.”

“A what?”

“Open sets and closed sets,” Fulvia explained. “Open sets are when anyone on staff can come and watch. Gaia might have brought her kids. Family-friendly content.” Fulvia’s sets were usually open ones. Actually, had she ever been on a closed set?

“Closed sets are private.” Crispus finished, “Invite only. Smaller group. Less distractions.”

“Ok. So it sounds like this should be a closed set.” Laurentio led. Crispus nodded. “How do I do that?”

“Controlled area. Peacekeepers at the door. No one gets in unless they have clearance from you.” Crispus answered. Laurentio nodded.

“Ok.” He nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Fulvia went through her preshoot checklist on the viewer. There weren’t a ton of red jackets around; the majority of people seemed to be stylists and a few prep team members from the professional staff. Hair and makeup had been set up behind a thick black curtain to organize the space a little better. Chairs sat off to the side. These shoots functioned exactly like interviews for the games. One on camera, one on deck, and the others in prep. Her stomach clenched. Being here felt wrong. She hadn’t been invited to be in the closed set initially. Despite what Crispus may think, rule-breaking was not her forte. Crispus reappeared next to her.

“Charlemagne amended the call sheet at 3 am, because that’s exactly when professional decisions should be made.” He leaned over the viewer so she could see the beginning of the brief. “New list is Maeve, Victoria, Cael, Felix, Percy, and then Cecelia. Everyone else got dismissed, but some of these prompts are wack.” He showed her the list. Fulvia nodded. It… made sense. A photo campaign using recent attractive victors who were all public darlings was a regular call. Multiple looks for each victor made sense. Functionally, it was similar to the work of the previous two days, so why did it all feel so wrong?

“We’re supposed to drench someone in fake blood?” She read. Fulvia looked at Crispus. This was just gauche.

“Yeah, a couple of them. Asshole is making us choose. I think Cael will do it, though,” Fulvia nodded. Cael would have been her choice as well. Fulvia bopped her head. Crispus pulled back and then looked around again. “Huxley! Faustus! Why is it so cold here?” He called two gamemakers Fulvia didn’t recognize. One shrugged. “Fix it, please.”

To his credit, Laurentio did exactly what Crispus told him to in terms of setup. He sat next to Fulvia’s spot at the view screen. As much as it killed Fulvia, this was his set, and he was the director. Cael, being the good sport that he was, volunteered to get doused with fake blood first. Fulvia rolled out a plastic sheet on the photostage so they wouldn’t lose too much clean-up time.

Crispus appeared with Cael in tow. He wore a bathrobe and a victor’s crown. It wasn’t his Victor crown; it looked like an older one. It didn’t matter. Fulvia forced a fake smile on her face. “Thanks for volunteering! You ready?”

“Yeah. Well. Volunteering’s my thing.” Cael shrugged off the robe and handed it over to Crispus. He wore a tight set of shorts under the robe. Crispus grabbed a watering can. Fulvia swallowed a laugh. There was nothing funny about any of this, but surely there was a better way to apply fake blood?

“Ok,” Crispus hefted up the watering can. “Dip a finger in now so you know what it feels like and so we know the temperature is ok.” Cael nodded and did as he was told. He didn’t react as Crispus poured the fake blood over his head.

“I never would have thought of that,” Laurentio whispered to Fulvia. She shrugged.

“Our jobs are so weird.” Fulvia agreed. “Ok. Cael, you look good. Crispus, we’re go on lighting.” Crispus handed Cael a sword that looked like the one he had used in his arena. The fake blood had trickled down into his mouth. Cael licked his lips.

“Why does it taste funny?” Cael asked. His eyes popped against the red blood. The image itself was striking, but Fulvia had no idea what these images would even be useful for.

“Corn syrup, beet juice, and milk,” Crispus replied. “Honestly, let’s try the same poses as yesterday.” Cael crossed his arms and stared into the camera. The images popped up on Fulvia’s viewer. She gestured towards them and Laurentio.

“So, because you’re in charge of the shoot, you’re technically supposed to tell us which images to keep and when we have ‘it.’”

“What’s ‘it’?” He sounded confused. Fulvia blinked. This man had the nerve to accuse her of being a nepotism hire? 

“The image. The one for the campaign.” Cael kept posing. Crispus called out a few more instructions.

“Well, how would I know when we have it?” He asked. Fulvia shrugged. She didn’t even know what these images would be used for.

“We just kind of know.” She replied. “Like here,” She demonstrated how they now had a variety of bloody poses with Cael, “We probably have it.”

“We got it?” Crispus called.

“Yep,” Fulvia replied. Crispus tossed the robe back around Cael’s shoulders, and he pulled it closed.

“I still don’t understand what it is.”

“No one does.” Plutarch sat next to Fulvia. Fulvia exhaled and called for the set to be cleaned. Two avoxes rolled up the plastic sheeting and set out a new one. Victoria was the next bloody volunteer.

“I heard it’s sticky.” She commented. She tugged her robe off and tossed it into a waiting chair. She wore a similar white bikini look with a little garter on her thigh. Fulvia watched through the viewer screen. Her stomach clenched, and she told herself it was just because she’d skipped breakfast. Victoria shut her eyes as the blood came down around her. Fulvia’s skin felt like ice. This was a closed set. Why was she and Plutarch here? They shouldn’t be here.

“Sword?” Crispus offered. Victoria wiped some of the fake blood from her eyes with one hand as she took the sword from Plutarch. “Basic poses. You know what you’re doing.” Victoria sighed and twirled the sword easily in her hand. Images started flashing across the screen, but Fulvia didn’t see Victoria. It just looked like 1F from the last games. Her eyes were gouged out, blood pooling out of all the fatal stabs, and still reaching for 1M. Plutarch touched her shoulder.

“Hey.” He whispered. Fulvia jumped. “Are you tagging images or what?”

“I…I….” Fulvia sputtered. What was wrong with her? Plutarch nodded.

“Got it. Take a breath.” He began tagging images as they went. “Victoria, I think we’re good.” He called.

“Great, thanks.” Crispus handed her robe back, and she tied it around herself. Felix was their last volunteer to get bloody.

“Should it be warm?” He asked as Crispus dumped the watering can on his head.

“Well. Would cold corn syrup and beet juice be more fun to wear?” Crispus stepped back.

“I’m just glad it doesn’t smell like the real stuff,” Felix replied. He tossed a sword from hand to hand. He gave the camera a smoldering look identical to the one Max had given two days ago. Sometimes it was so obvious who had mentored whom. “You should add some vanilla to it for next time, or a sugar cookie syrup.” He put an arm against the back of his neck and flexed. “Any other poses?”

“I think you’re a seasoned professional. You got it.” Fulvia replied. Laurentio nodded next to her. Fulvia’s skin progressively got colder as they moved through the brief. Her stomach churned. This wasn’t right. Cecelia was in a bunny costume that looked like something a university student would have worn at Halloween.

“Arch your back a little.” Crispus was demoing how to pose for her again. He was on his knees and pushing his chest out, and it was a little funny to see him like that, but he was also treating this all like it was normal? It wasn’t normal. Cecelia didn’t bother to put her robe back on after Cripus handed it to her. Percy, being dressed in a glorified fishnet, wasn’t normal. He shifted his weight from foot to foot while Crispus told him to take a breath. Maeve, having nothing but two seashells to cover her chest and scraps of seaweed around her waist, wasn’t normal. Her hair was teased higher than it had been yesterday, and on camera, it still held its lustre, but every other part of her seemed tired.

Fulvia blinked. She was acting like a first-year associate. She needed to focus on the images and not the people in them. She needed to look at this from a marketing perspective, even if she did hate Charlemagne. This had to all be for a reason. Still. She tried to use their victor designations to put a layer between her and the victors. But it wasn’t working.

It wasn’t V54 being photographed holding weapons from his area, with the bloody weapons of the fallen tributes from his arena scattered around him; it was Cael. And he solemnly knelt to pick the weapons from the floor and tried to wipe the blood off.

It wasn’t V53 posing with a champagne bottle while wearing tiny spandex and gold dust; it was Felix, and he slapped Crispus’s shoulder on his way out, leaving a glitter handprint that wouldn’t come out.

It wasn’t V51 dressed up like a cat, and asking if people in the Capitol put leashes on their cats because no one in the districts did. It was Victoria, and she was right.

Fulvia did her job. Image after image. Cecelia wearing nothing more than white lace and white stockings. Maeve in a maid costume. Crispus sipped something from a water bottle and took a deep breath. He looked at the briefing sheet, and Fulvia knew she saw him shudder. This wasn't new for him. The thought made Fulvia's brain smooth over.

“Is it always like this?” Laurentio asked. “You guys have all the fun.”

“No.” Plutarch and Fulvia replied simultaneously. Fulvia exhaled softly. Fun? This was the most uncomfortable Fulvia had ever been.

The poses got more suggestive. The clothes got smaller. No one was naked, but nothing was being left to the imagination either. The implications got meaner. Felix dressed in a uniform from his arena, complete with the fake blood and torn strategically to show his scars. He ripped the shirt off as soon as Fulvia called it. Cael had fake blood all over again. Victoria in a ballet skirt and pointe shoes. Crispus offered to help her balance into an arabesque, but she said she had it under control. It took her three tries to find her balance, and she ran off the second Fulvia called it, ripping the skirt off as she went.

Fulvia saved the images and tasted bile in her throat. She had no idea if they had gotten something usable; she just couldn’t watch any more. Feathers, gems, spandex, Fulvia saw it all. She saw too much.

They took a break for lunch. Fulvia managed a bite of a risotto and ran for the bathroom. She vomited her breakfast, her coffee, and the purple shot from last night. Her body felt like it was moving in slow motion. She put a hand on her forehead. Why was it so hot in here? Why was her skin so cold? Who had designed this photoshoot? This was a closed set. She and Plutarch shouldn’t be here. Why were they even taking these pictures anyway? She’d never seen any pictures like them before. No reputable marketing house would want to buy a picture of a bloody Cael to sell a product. This was a waste of time and resources. Fuck Charlemagne and fuck whoever else thought this was ok. What was President Snow thinking? How could she be expected to work in these conditions and keep Charlemagne on track? It wasn’t worth it. If this is what Charlemagne was like at the beginning, what would the next games be like?

“Thought I’d find you in here.” Plutarch was at the stall door.

“This is the woman’s restroom,” Fulvia replied. She wiped her mouth off on the back of her hand and sank to the floor. She could just wash her uniform later. It was fine. “I’m fine. It was a bad clam.” Plutarch sat down next to her. She glared at him.

“I think you’re having a very normal reaction to a very ugly part of our job.” He offered. His voice was so neutral. Fulvia swallowed. Tears pricked up in her eyes.

“If it’s this bad now, how are we going to survive two more years?” She started fully crying. Fulvia Cardew was crying at work in front of Plutarch Heavensbee. Fuck. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Who even carried handkerchiefs anymore? She took it.

“I would love to tell you that things will get better, but I think it’s only going to get worse.” He rested his head against the stall. Fulvia nodded. She agreed. New tears rolled down her face.

“What do we do?” She dabbed at her eye makeup. She’d need to redo it. Ordinarily, she could borrow some from Tigris, but she didn’t want to go back into the victor prep area. That felt like a violation. She was already on a closed set when she shouldn’t be.

“We suck it up.” Crispus was at the door. “Honestly, people. We’re fine.” He dropped to the floor next to Fulvia. “Fulvia, I’ll be so honest with you. You have nothing to cry about right now.”

“Crispus…” Plutarch started.

“Fuck you,” Fulvia spat. When did she start cursing so much? Probably when she started hanging out with Crispus and Plutarch more.

“Fulvia, I say this with deep, deep respect for you.” Crispus paused. “You cannot fall apart right now.” Fulvia nodded. He was right. She was at work. They were all at work. “It does not matter how reprehensible we find any of this; we do our job and we protect them from whatever we can.” He looked at her. A breath passed. “Ok?” His gaze was steady. Fulvia nodded. Crispus put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. “We ready to go back out there?” Fulvia took a breath. She nodded. “Good. Cecelia’s bullying the makeup artist, and it’s really funny.”

“She is?”

“Yeah, she’s actually got quite a mean streak. The girls were right.”

Fulvia couldn’t bring herself to eavesdrop on the prep area, and there was nothing in the country that could convince her to walk past the curtain giving the area a shred of privacy, so she had to settle for eavesdropping on the prep team staff as they took their break.

“Who does the little witch think she is?” One asked. “We feed her, we clothe her, and she asks us if we get paid to do this?”

“Maybe she meant it as a compliment?” The other replied. “Like, you know, they don’t have makeup where she’s from. She’s probably just never seen it before.”

“No. Because then she followed it up by asking if it was my first day on the job.”

“Urg. Ingrate.”

“Five-minute warning, people,” Crispus shouted. He noticed Fulvia eavesdropping on the prep team and winked at her. “Let’s reset, and finish strong.” And they rolled again. Fulvia swallowed. She didn’t know where to look. Sequins, jewels, more feathers, more leather.

“What are these photos even going to be used for?” Fulvia whispered to Plutarch. Everyone else clearly thought this was normal. It shouldn’t be. Plutarch shook his head.

“Nothing good.” He replied. “Nothing good.” Fulvia nodded. She needed to talk with Plutarch and Crispus. What else didn’t she know? Plutarch pointed at Percy’s most recent image. He hadn’t looked that pale a few minutes ago. “Uh…” Percy swayed on his feet in front of the camera. He blinked. Fulvia had seen that glazed over look before in tributes in the arena, typically on day three. Cecelia was in the on-deck chair. She stood up. Percy went down.

“Woah, hey, Percy.” Crispus was already on the move. He threw Percy’s arm over his shoulder, and Fulvia watched the victor’s eyes roll back. His knees caved in. Crispus strained to keep him upright. “Come on, dude. Plutarch!” Plutarch ran over and grabbed Percy’s other side. “Maeve!”

Plutarch and Crispus managed to get Percy into one of the nearby chairs. Fulvia stood up and observed from a distance. Laurentio stood next to her. Maeve joined Percy and the gamemakers. Laurentio looked at her. “What’s…”

“You know as much as I do.” Fulvia replied. Maeve rubbed Percy’s back as he blinked back into existence. Crispus turned around and looked at Fulvia. ‘Waterbottle,’ he mouthed. Fulvia nodded and brought one over.

“Percy, you with us?” Crispus took the water bottle from Fulvia and produced a packet of electrolytes, the same ones the medical teams used when victors were recovering, from one of the inner pockets of his jacket. He shook the electrolytes into the water. Percy nodded. “Sip this, and take a break. You’re so close to being done for the day.” Percy nodded again, and Maeve helped him stand up.

“Yeach. Lean on me, I gotcha.” Percy’s head rolled against Maeve’s. She tugged his arm over her shoulder. They stumbled along. Cecelia watched them go.

“Can I?” Her voice was hesitant.

“Yeah, take a minute.” Cecelia went after them. She slipped Percy’s other arm over her shoulder and got him behind the curtain. Crispus watched them disappear before pulling the briefing sheet back out. He flipped to the last section.

“This is doable.” He pointed. “Let him rest for the next round, and then we see if he can do one last costume. And if not, we call it there.”

“Will Charlemagne tolerate that?” Plutarch asked. Crispus knit his hands together and rested them atop his head.

“I don’t think there’s another option? If it were a physical pain, I could do something about that. But dehydration and exhaustion are always the real enemies here.” He sounded tired.

“Like the arena.” Fulvia whispered. Her eyes went wide. Did she just say that out loud? Crispus nodded.

“Exactly!” He seemed excited that she made the connection. Weird. He clapped. “Ok. We’re fine.”

“Not fine.” Laurentio ran over. “The peacekeepers at the main entrance radioed me. Charlemagne just entered the building. You need to go.” Crap. Fulvia looked at Crispus. Plutarch was already moving for the door. Crispus looked exhausted all over again. Which Fulvia thought was fair, she'd been sitting down for most of it, but he'd been standing and calling camera shots.

“Can we just say that we didn’t see the message from last night, and we’ve just been helping Laurentio?” Fulvia suggested. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s pretty close to the truth.” Plutarch stopped moving.

“I couldn’t have done this without you all,” Laurentio confirmed. “Fulvia had to show me how to save the pictures. “ Fulvia blinked. She thought he'd been kidding earlier. He looked to Crispus. “Just don’t pick a fight with him, and we’ll be fine.”

“I promise I won’t pick a stupid fight,” Crispus replied. He crossed his arms. Fulvia blew air out of her mouth slowly. Charlemagne’s daughter was in the hospital. His child was fighting for her life, and he was here, doing whatever they were doing. Crispus ran a hand through his hair again. “Let me warn the others.” And he disappeared behind the curtain. The group lie came together effortlessly once Charlemagne was there. It was like being in high school again, and convincing the teacher that no problem sets had been assigned.

“We didn’t see your message.” Crispus led.

“I asked them to stay and help me with the cameras,” Laurentio added.

“I could have been at brunch.” Fulvia chimed in. She did want an iced coffee. Plutarch only nodded. Charlemagne glared at them.

“You should have cleared it with me.” He pivoted towards Laurentio.

“I didn’t want to bother you.” Laurentio wilted in on himself.

“Well. Have you gotten what I asked you to?” He crossed his arms as if this were some sort of gotcha. Fulvia bit the inside of her cheek. Crispus had said he would do that! Crispus handed over a datapad with the raw images.

“We’ve followed all of your instructions. Some will need some editing, like Victoria can’t hold an arabesque anymore. But I think that was the only major issue.” Charlemagne nodded along.

“Where are the bloody pictures?” He asked. Crispus swiped back. “These look good. You followed the prompt.”

“Of course we did,” Crispus replied.

“Any behavior issues from them today?” Charlemagne scrolled to the pictures of Felix. Fulvia exhaled softly. He was asking Crispus. Were they abandoning the pretext that Laurentio was in charge?

“No, everyone’s been behaving.” Crispus crossed his arms. His posture was perfect. “This group usually does though.”

“True.” Charlemagne zoomed in on a picture of Felix in his arena costume. Fulvia swallowed. “These have been popular recently.” Crispus shrugged. He flipped to a section of Maeve’s pictures. Fulvia thought she was going to vomit again. He really had no shame. He scrolled through. “I like this.” He pointed at the picture of Cecelia in the white lace. “Well done there.”

“Thank you.”

“How much do you have left to do?”

“One more cycle of costumes,” Crispus answered.

“Let’s do it, then.” Charlemagne clapped. And everyone jumped. Fulvia’s earlier assertion that this was the worst photoset she’d ever been on was proved incorrect. Charlemagne poured liquid anxiety onto all of them. It was like having President Snow in the control room with them. He took Laurentio’s seat at the viewer and told Crispus to begin whenever he was ready. The last set of costumes were swimming costumes. Not the type that someone would have worn to actually swim, but the string type that you worse when lounging by the pool. Percy never reappeared. Fulvia was grateful for that.

In her middle school years, when her parents fought in the kitchen, Fulvia learned to separate her mind and her body. She did so again now. Her worldview narrowed into angles and shadows from the lights. She tried to pretend she was seeing the pictures in a magazine. For the most part, Charlemagne was quiet. Occasionally, he’d chime in about someone needing to stand wider, or angle their shoulders more, or puff their chest out. Maeve was last. Fulvia snapped herself back into her body. Maeve couldn’t go through this alone. Not again.

Charlemagne gave her some of the same critiques the other girls had received. Crispus didn’t contradict it. He stood off by one of the cameras holding Maeve’s robe. Charlemagne wanted more. More chest, shift her weight to her knees, tuck her hair back. She didn’t speak through any of it- just made every adjustment and blinked.

“We’re still missing something,” Charlemagne commented. “Fulvia, what do you think?” Fulvia wanted to evaporate.

“I don’t know, sir. I think the pictures look great.” She willed Charlemagne to move on, to go back to his sick child so they could all go home for the night. They could have the victors on trains back to their districts by sunrise. They’d delete the pictures and pretend this never happened. Charlemagne stood up and began to pace. Fulvia bit the inside of her lip.
The air left the room. Gamemakers from Crispus’s staff that Fulvia didn’t know seemed frozen. Plutarch leaned his shoulder against hers. It was a comforting gesture. Fulvia needed it.

“Ravinstill? Heavensbee?” Fulvia mentally rolled her eyes. Of course, the boys got to have their last names used instead. Crispus shook his head. Plutarch smiled.

“I think we’ve got enough to work with.” He offered neutrally. Diplomacy was his gift. Fulvia gave him the slightest head nod of acknowledgment.

“No, no. Maybe the problem is we don’t have enough to work with.” Patronizing, cruel, unfaithful man. He started walking towards Maeve. She didn’t react. He ran his hand down her hair and shoved it forward so it covered her chest. “Maybe, we just need to see a little more.” She smirked as he pulled the top away from her body. Had she been expecting this? Had this happened before? “Leave your hair forward, you are a role model after all.” Fulvia’s tongue choked her out. She wanted to scream. This wasn’t right, this wasn’t right.

“Head Gamemaker Royage, there are rules.” Crispus made his move. Fulvia sent up a silent thank you to him.

“And I violate none of them.” Charlemagne smiled. Fulvia swallowed. Her brain coursed through the manual. Technically, he was right. She’d re-read the rule book later. It could be good information to have. “I appreciate your dedication to our craft.”

"Carte blanche," Plutarch whispered. Fulvia didn't look at him. 

“Of course, sir.” Crisps spat out the reply. He looked back at Maeve. She was staring off. Charlemagne stood by the camera and smiled.

“Look at the camera, Maeve. Hate to disappoint your fans.” Fulvia tasted bile in her throat. She swallowed. More images came up. “Hmmm. Maybe we need a little more.” Charlemagne began walking towards her again.

“Maybe we do,” Maeve spoke up. She flipped her hair back so her entire chest was visible. Maeve stood up. Fulvia looked away. This could not be happening. A beat later, the swim costume’s bottom flew through the air, and Charlemagne caught it. The cameras whirred. Fulvia just saved the images. She didn’t look.

“Well,” Charlemagne stated. “I think that will be all for today.” Maeve didn’t move. Fulvia didn’t move. No one moved. Charlemagne started for the door. Crispus watched him go and extended the robe to Maeve with his head facing towards the door.

“I’m good.” Maeve headed back into the prep area. No one spoke.

“Well.” Laurentio led. “Now, I see why you all like media so much.” Fulvia vomited on him. She didn’t even feel bad.

The victors were on trains headed for home by sunrise. Fulvia waited a few hours before ending up in Crispus’s office. She didn’t knock. There was an empty bottle of the purple liquor already out, and empty coffee cups all over. It was barely past lunch.

“What will those photos be used for?” Her voice was quiet. Crispus nodded.

“My staff edits them, and then they go up in a special subscription media channel. Posters, ads, private consumption, whatever. My university roommate used to have one of Zara.” Fulvia rolled her eyes.

“And you’re proud of this?” Crispus stared at her with bloodshot eyes and picked up the empty bottle.

“Obviously not.”

“So why do it?”

“Because whoever replaces me would be worse.”

“Didn’t seem to concern you when you wanted to be head gamemaker.” She pushed back.

“Head gamemaker signs off on all of this. All of it.” He hissed. “Even your precious Gaia.”

He tipped the bottle upside down and grimaced. “Whole place is rotted to the core.” Fulvia bit her lip. Crispus looked back up at her. “Don’t act like you’re better than us. You were on those sets, too.” Fulvia nodded. She’d been on a closed set when she wasn’t supposed to be.

“I apologize if it came off that way.” She started. Was Crispus having another episode? Two years ago, the stress of his job had prompted…something. It couldn’t be easy to do his work.

“Plutarch and I agree. This system needs to change.” Crispus ran his hand through his hair again.

“I agree too,” Fulvia replied. She sat down on the couch. “And I’m assuming President Snow knows about all of this?”

“He’s the one who set it up,” Crispus replied. That was as much as they could say. Anything else would cross the line. Fulvia swallowed.

“Ok. So when you or Plutarch become head gamemaker, I’ll be on his staff, and we can explain it to him.” That was ok to think, that was ok to say. There was nothing wrong with appealing to the President’s reason. He was a rational man. They’d just need to find a way to explain how this was costing them money. Fulvia could do that. Crispus nodded. He ran a hand through his hair again, and his shoulders trembled. “He’s a reasonable man,” Fulvia whispered. Crispus shook his head and leaned back.

“It’s a good plan.” Crispus smiled at her. He was about to cry. Fulvia didn’t know what to do. “Gonna be a long two years.” He laughed. A few tears leaked down his face. Fulvia punched his shoulder.

“We’re got like 19 months left.” She pointed out. “Like you said, it’ll fly by.”

“Promise?” He asked.

“No.” She sat for a minute. “But I promise we’ll ride it out together.” Crispus nodded.

Chapter Text

A few days passed. News of Charlemagne’s daughter being in the hospital spread around the social scene. Fulvia seethed. Her hair colorist told Fulvia that she was hoping for the girl’s quick recovery. Her personal trainer mentioned how unlucky it was for the girl to have gotten so sick. Her dermatologist wished everyone on the staff well. If, and Fulvia recognized it was a big if, if someone had made Charlemagne’s daughter sick on purpose to punish Charlemagne, it was having the opposite effect. It seemed the whole city was now pulling for him. Fulvia wanted to scream at the others in her workout class when they wished him well. She did scream into a pillow later that night.

A Cardew, Ravinstill, and Heavensbee regrouped in Plutarch’s library the night before the next all-heads meeting. It was like the setup for a terrible joke.

“Why is Charlemagne even in charge?” Fulvia threw a dart at the wall. She wasn’t very good at it, nor was Plutarch. Crispus was a natural.

“I maintain Charlemagne has blackmail on Snow, and that’s the real reason for this two-year period.” Crispus poured another glass of whiskey.

“Where’s the proof?” If they were a comedy show, that would have been Plutarch’s catch phrase. It was all the man ever talked about. Proof, ideals, truth. Every rumor he heard, he passed on with the caveat that it was unlikely to be true. The man had no idea how to gossip.

“Do we need proof?” Fulvia asked. She gave up on darts and dropped into the nearest chair. “I’d be happy just to throw baseless accusations at the man. Drink, and then move on.” Crispus made a face and sipped the whiskey.

“We need proof if we want to know for sure,” Plutarch replied. “Plus, what blackmail expires after two years?” It was a good thought. Fulvia picked at her nails.

“Maybe he’s bluffing, and Snow needs two years to figure out if it’s really a bluff?” Fulvia suggested. Crispus nodded.

“That’s actually a good idea, Fulvia.” Plutarch leaned forward. Fulvia scoffed. What did he mean, actually? She always had good ideas.

“But what about the rumor that Gaia's firing of Charlemagne is what caused the arena to go haywire?” Crispus asked. He leaned back into his chair.

“What about it?” Plutarch replied. “It’s just a rumor. And do you really think Snow would promote Charlemagne if there were even a whisper that he’d threatened the games?” That was a good point.

“Have we considered that Charlemagne poisoned his own kid?” Fulvia asked. “Seems like something he would do.”

“Damn.” Crispus led. “You really do hate the man.” He sipped his whiskey.

“I do,” Fulvia confirmed. “Think about it, what does President Snow get out of Charlemagne’s daughter nearly dying?” She hadn’t thought this theory through, but she liked where it was going. Any theory that left President Snow exonerated was a good one.

“A threat,” Plutarch replied. He picked at one of the loose threads on his uniform jacket.

“A lot of ways to threaten someone.” She replied. “Plus, as we’ve all noticed, not only is the entire city now sympathetic to Charlemagne, but his daughter is still alive.”

“For now,” Plutarch added. “She’s alive for now.” Crispus just sipped his drink.

Fulvia woke up in a cold sweat. She checked her clock. She had three hours before she was needed at the games complex for their first all-heads meeting since the photoshoot. She laid her head back down on her pillow. What was wrong with her? She didn’t even have a nightmare, but she woke up early anyway? It was just the stress of everything right now, she decided. Everything would be fine. She ran a hot shower and sipped her coffee. She was exactly where she needed to be, she had good friends and they were all working together to fulfill President Snow’s vision of a glorious Panem without Charlemagne Royage as the head gamemaker. She could do this. She just needed a positive attitude.

The Royage girl was still in the hospital, but she seemed to be on the mend. Fulvia was grateful for that. She focused on that gratitude as she dragged herself through the games complex for the department heads meeting.

Fulvia thought about staying seated when Charlemagne entered the room, but then she realized she wasn’t really the openly rebellious type. Crispus caught her eye as they stood.

“Be seated.” Charlemagne declared. Fulvia exhaled. “I’d like to congratulate Laurentio on successfully running the photoshoot. The president is pleased.” Plutarch began softly clapping. Fulvia joined in. Crispus followed. Charlemagne paused and then joined in. Laurentio smiled.

“Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without the others.” Plutarch led the clapping just a little longer past what Fulvia would consider socially acceptable. The look of bewilderment on Charlemagne's face made her want to cackle. She wondered if Plutarch did it on purpose of if it was just another Plutarch-ism.

“That may be true; however, it doesn’t fix the problem at hand.” Charlemagne stood up and began to pace around the room. Fulvia rolled her eyes internally. She set her palms flat on her knees, and tried to ignore the scratchy feeling of her uniform pants on her skin. Someone had put too much starch on them again. “The Victory Tour begins in just two weeks, and Cardew, Ravinstill, and Heavensbee decided it was more important to have some fun on set than finish their tour responsibilities. This cannot go unpunished.” Fulvia latched onto the use of the word fun. She would have described that set with many words, fun wasn't one of them. Laurentio made a face.

“Sir, with all due respect, we’re ready for the tour.” Plutarch broached. Fulvia nodded. Even if it wasn’t entirely true, they were ready.

“Really?” Charlemagne smiled.

“Really.” Fulvia agreed. It wasn’t a complete lie. She had assigned some associates to cover it. They were excited. She had written a few talking points for the district speeches and had full faith in Brento’s ability to deliver them. Someone from the president’s office would finalize the talking points early next week. She assumed Crispus and Tigirs were ready with the outfits, and surely the escort knew what was going on. They were right on track!

“So if you had to leave now for the tour, you could?” Charlemagne began. Crispus blinked. He looked at Laurentio. Laurentio refused eye contact. Fulvia bit the inside of her lip.

“We’re on track per the traditional schedule.” He closed the discussion. Plutarch nodded. Charlemagne stopped circling the table and rested his hands on Plutarch’s shoulders. He squeezed his hands. Plutarch made a face that was somewhere between amused and horrified.

“Associates cover the tours. It’s a good growth opportunity for them, and they like getting to travel.” Fulvia answered. Speaking up meant Charlemagne shifted his attention to her, but Fulvia figured it was worth it. In earlier years, each district had a team of associates to cover it, and the appropriate team covered the victory tour. That actually might’ve been one of Plutarch’s years covering 12? She couldn’t remember. At a certain point, it all began blending together.

“Well.” He released Plutarch’s shoulders and began circling again. “You’ve taken a learning opportunity from them then.”

“What?” Crispus asked. Charlemagne smiled.

“Oh. We can’t trust just anyone to retrieve the tour footage now, can we?”

“But we’re needed here to run our departments.” Fulvia led.

“Can your associates not survive without you? Fulvia, that speaks poorly of your leadership.” Fulvia shut her mouth. How dare he? Urban, Lysterna, and Cicero were perfectly capable of running the department in her absence, but not for a month-long victory tour.

“What Gamemaker Cardew is trying to say-” Crispus tried to cover her. She glanced at him. He wasn't looking at her.

“I’m not interested. You’ll leave in two weeks.” Charlemagne gave Crispus’s head a patronizing pat. Crispus blinked and then opened his mouth. Fulvia shook her head at him.

“Fine.” Plutarch seemed uninterested. Fulvia realized he’d done it before. He’d been on 12’s camera crew the year Haymitch won. “This is typically a seven-associate job through, and we need an assistant or two. Is Tibby still on staff?”

“Seven associates translates to three department heads, surely.” Charlemagne grinned. Fulvia knew they had lost, again. She picked at one of her fingernails under the table. At this point, it was time to just leave so they could strategize and lick their wounds.

And the meeting was over. Laurentio followed Charlemagne out like an obedient little puppy. Fulvia glared at him as he left. ‘Sorry,’ he mouthed. Plutarch rolled his eyes. Crispus crossed his arms. Fulvia moved towards Crispus, and Plutarch followed immediately. They had to alert President Snow to this development.

“Not here,” Plutarch spoke up. He looked around, and Fulvia knew his eyes landed on the corner where one of the safety cameras was hidden. “My place. Tonight. I’ll bring the big man.”

The big man was President Snow. Fulvia wasn’t entirely surprised by how comfortable he seemed in Plutarch’s library. She clearly had a lot to learn about the country.

“I heard you’ve all been given quite the reward for your work in rescuing your compatriot from his hubris.” Snow smiled. He leaned forward. Fulvia breathed through her mouth. There was a weird scent in the air. Roses, but also metallic?

“He’s a difficult man to keep on track.” Crispus surmised. He played with one of the rings on his hand. Fulvia wanted to tell him to stop that. President Snow nodded.

“I’m aware. And the outpouring of sympathy for him over his child? Who knew he was so beloved?” He smiled and leaned back in his seat. He motioned to Plutarch, and Plutarch leaped up. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the shelf and poured a glass.

“I don’t think he’s beloved,” Fulvia replied. Plutarch handed President Snow the whiskey. Snow turned to her. She kept talking. “People see a devoted father with a child in the hospital, and they rally. Makes them feel good for being sad for him.” Her uncle smiled at her, with something that Fulvia thought might’ve been pride.

“Astute.” He turned to the others. “This is precisely why I advised Charlemagne to send you all out on a tour of the districts.”

“What?” Plutarch asked. “This was you?”

“You didn’t think I’d let you hide behind your screens as our enemy amasses support, did you?” President Snow smiled again. He took a sip of his whiskey. Fulvia felt a chill down her spine. She nodded. Of course, she’d do anything she needed to do to help. All she'd ever wanted to do was help the country remember the dark days through the Hunger Games and help prevent another war. 

“Ok. So what do we do?” Crispus had fully dropped the confident swagger that he usually carried. 

“You do what you’ve always done. You see each district. You talk, you learn.” Snow leaned back on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. Plutarch made a face. Fulvia wondered if the wood was valuable. “You'll be doing the job of seven with three people. It should be educational. Aside from that, I found my own time in the Districts to be formative.” Fulvia blinked. When had he been in the Districts? She looked over at Plutarch and Crispus. They thought this was new information too. “Do something to get the narrative back around the three of you. Fulvia, what was it you did, the Fed Games?”

“Yes, sir.” He knew about her work? Of course he did, but knew about her special projects by name? She fought the glow off her face.

“It was quaint. Something like that,” He sipped his drink. Fulvia swallowed her joy. “Make people like you. The three of you. This was a boring Victor from a forgettable games. We can use that." He smiled as he leaned forward. "When it comes time to announce you three as the next generation of this country’s leadership, I want you to be ready.” Fulvia blinked the shock off her face. Next generation of the country’s leadership? What? What an honor!

“Sir?” Crispus seemed similarly surprised.

“Make sure you capture One and Two's contempt for the Victor. It should have been one of them to win." He added. Fulvia nodded. "You three seem to be the best that the old families have to offer. Be charming. Be smart, and in a few years, you’ll find that doors have opened.” He stood up. “That’s all.” Fulvia’s head spun.

Chapter Text

Her staff had already heard the rumor by the time she shared the new plan with them.

“We’ll be in contact the entire time.” She offered. “Please don’t stress over this, and we’ll make sure you have press releases ready to go before I leave.” She felt terrible about about the whole situation. Guilt was the wrong word for it. The situation had been designed by Charlemagne and President Snow, it was beyond her now.

“Don’t worry about us, boss. We’ll figure it out.” Urban promised.

“Just give some candy to the Adler twins for me.” Lysterna requested. “They like the chocolate balls.”

“They’re 14?” Cicero replied.

“And?”

“They’re a little old to be bribing with candy?’

“I’ve never met a 14-year-old who didn’t like candy. Have you?”

“Let’s focus, please.” Fulvia offered. “I’m also aware that Minerva, Nero, Lysterna, and Cicero were supposed to go on the trip, so we’ll find a way to get you another learning opportunity.” Minerva and Nero nodded. She took a breath. “For now, I need to relearn how to walk with a camera rig. Who wants to help me?”

Her staff insisted on accompanying her to the tribute training gym so they could have her complete a camera rig obstacle course. It was fun, and Fulvia found herself laughing at work for the first time in ages. Fulvia made everyone try the obstacle course at least once before she invited Plutarch and Crispus down to practice.

“Back in my day,” Plutarch demonstrated how to rest a camera on his shoulder. “We would hold the camera like this. It was how all of the cool people did it.” The newest associates clustered around the three department heads like school kids on a field trip. Her senior staffers stayed a little further back, but they were interested too.

“No one cool was on cameras,” Crispus clarified. “The cool people did their camera duty and all switched into Victor Affairs or Arena Elements.”

“If you were cool and talented,” Fulvia explained as she swung one of the training cameras around on her shoulders like it was a toy. “You went into media and logistics. And you always secretly wonder why media and logistics are grouped together when logistics really should be its own department by now.” The camera felt at home in her hands again. It was like Victoria getting her hands on a knife or Cael grabbing a sword. The associates were in hysterics. Fulvia smiled at Plutarch and Crispus.

Plutarch’s skill with the camera was evident. Fulvia could tell by the way he was able to move backwards while carrying a camera and keeping it in focus. He could even refocus a moving image from 20 meters away! It was impressive. Crispus struggled. This wasn’t something he did often, and it showed.

“Competition!” Someone screamed. Fulvia looked at Crispus and Plutarch.

“No,” Crispus replied.

“Yes.” Plutarch ruled.

Uniform jackets were thrown off to provide better mobility. Fulvia had half a mind to take off her uniform skirt and wear shorts for ease of movement,, but she decided that was too far. She won the camera refocus competition easily, but Plutarch moved faster than her. She was better at getting sound. Plutarch was bigger and thus able to get steadier pictures. Crispus lagged in every event they did.

“I had no idea you weren’t a nepo hire,” Fulvia whispered to Plutarch.

“Could say the same to you.” He replied. He smirked. She smirked. “What are we going to do with this guy?” He jerked a thumb at Crispus as he fell off the balance beam.

“I’m ok?” He called. He laid on the ground for a minute before pushing himself back up.

“Is the camera ok?” Lysterna asked. Crispus made a face. Fulvia nodded.

“She’s being real. One camera is three associate salaries. It’s why we reuse camera lenses from past arenas.” Fulvia explained. The competition rapidly devolved into Fulvia, Crispus, and Plutarch standing in front of the balance beam pretending they were at a post-elimination press conference, passing around someone’s waterbottle like it was a microphone. Fulvia was impressed with the quality of questions coming from her staff. Sure, there were a few roasts toward Crispus from the more senior associates, and a few of the more established gamemakers asked sillier questions about pre-game traditions and rituals, but for the most part, her staffers were displaying a deep commitment to their craft.

“Mr. Heavensbe, how did you get the footage of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games?” Someone asked. “Is the rumor true?” Plutarch smiled.

“I can neither confirm nor deny whatever you’ve heard.” He said as he nodded.

“Do you all have any tips for picking which department we want to specialize in?” Someone else asked. Fulvia shrugged. She looked at Plutarch.

“I was an executive assistant. I’m not one to give advice here.” He explained. Crispus nodded.

“Where ever you end up, you’re going to work hard. So pick the department where the problems are interesting. Helping victors become mentors is interesting for me, so that’s where I am.”

“And the media side of how we tell the story of the games is what interested me,” Fulvia added.

“Ultimately, whatever you choose, your parents are going to be proud, but they won’t understand what you do.” Crispus finished. Fulvia nodded.

“Pretty sure my mom thinks I built the arenas.” She laughed.

“Ms. Cardew,” Someone else asked. “If you have to set up a shot, how do you make it look organic while also controlling the situation?”

“Great question.” Fulvia leaned against the balance beam. “This is why I always push for you all to build trust with the victors, because those relationships are foundational.”

“How are you such a good boss?” Someone else asked. Crispus pretended to take the water bottle that was serving as their fake microphone. Fulvia’s staff booed him. Fulvia snatched it back. Crispus laughed.

“Practice.” She offered. Plutarch gave her a mock round of applause. Fulvia rolled her eyes.

“Mr. Ravinstill, how do you choose who mentors for what year?” Minerva asked. Fulvia blinked. That was an unusually informed question from the girl. Crispus smiled.

“Good question.” He answered. “Generally about a month from Reaping Day I call the most senior victor in each District and we have a short conversation about who it makes sense to bring in a particular year. With District 12, that’s a very short phone call, and usually Haymitch doesn’t answer the phone, but others can take longer. Once I have a rought draft, I give it to the Head Gamemaker and they have a conversation with the President’s Office. And then we adjust as needed from there.”

“What are some of the traditions your staff has?” Fulvia asked. She knew a few of them, but her first-year associates had no other exposure to the different departments right now, and part of her job was to get them settled into a staff where their skills could be useful. Plus, traditions were what their jobs were all about.

“Another good question. You should be a department head of two tangentially related departments.” Crispus said to her. Fulvia smiled. “My staff has traditions, and the victors have traditions that we participate in. So I think my favorite staff tradition is probably all hanging up the new victor portrait together, and I think my favorite victor tradition is when they haze the new victor the following year. They create these really elaborate pranks, and it’s interesting to watch.”

“Give us a recent one.” Fulvia egged him on.

“Percy’s first year out, Cael and Blight convinced him that they were actually from the opposite Districts- so Blight was from Two and Cael was from Seven- and they committed to it, to the point where even their mentors thought it had gone too far.” Fulvia smiled. She didn't remeber that happening, but Crispus would know better. If a victor wasn't with her, usually they were with him.

Fulvia threw a duffel bag onto her bed and sighed. She’d never had to pack for a victory tour before. What should she even be bringing?

She’d need jumpsuits to wear while working the camera, and then she’d need some sleep clothes…oh my. Associates all shared a train car when they did camera shoots for hometown visits and victory tour footage. She’d be sharing a room with Plutarch and Crispus. Worse, she’d be sharing a bathroom with Plutarch and Crispus! Crispus would make fun of her skin care regimen; she just knew it.

She dragged out her uniform jumpsuits from three or four years ago from the back of her closet. Thankfully, they still fit. She had no idea what she would have done if they didn’t. Probably go to Tigris and beg for an emergency alteration. She’d bring three jumpsuits. One to wash, one to wear, and another just in case. Some lounge sets for the train. Candy and snacks, maybe a deck of cards? She nodded to herself. This would be fine. It might even be fun.

Her communicator buzzed. The chat with Plutarch and Crispus lit up. Crispus had sent a picture of his duffel, loaded with candy, alcohol, homemade cookies from his mother, and two jumpsuits smushed on top of nicely folded sleepware. They looked never been worn, and Fulvia realized they probably hadn’t. Plutarch advised them each to bring an extra blanket as the train could get cold. Plutarch was bringing two jumpsuits, lounge wear, and three books—one for her, one for Crispus, and one for himself. She made a face. Was he pretentious on purpose, or did her just not realize how he came across?

She sent a picture of her duffle, complete with only seven of her 15-step skincare routine. Plutarch replied that he was excited for cards.

She had dinner with her mother and sister the night before she left. They ate at the Cardew Manor. Public opinion was swinging again. High society thought it was so lovely of Gamemakers Cardew, Ravinstill, and Heavensbee to take a load off of distraught Charlemagne Royage’s plate. Her hairstylist told her it was ‘brave’ of her to go to the Districts. The other women from Fulvia’s pilates class gave her a bon voyage package of cleaning wipes and wine.

Her mother, however, wasn’t taking the news well. “I thought you were too senior for this sort of thing.” She took a bite of the roast. “Let’s call Aunt Livia. She can get you out of this.” Her mother sipped the wine and motioned to the avox for a refill. It would be her third glass of the night. Fulvia sipped her glass.

“Mom, it’s an assignment.” Fulvia reminded her. “I don’t get to pick.” Her mother sighed.

“Still! You’re not getting any younger, and it’s been such a long time since you’ve been on any dates.” She waved her hands. Symphonia looked down at her plate and tried to hide her laughter. Fulvia ignored her. “Wait. Plutarch is the Heavensbee heir, isn’t he?”

“I guess?” She paused. He technically wasn’t the heir. The Heavensbee house was his; he was the Heavensbee. When had his parents died? He’d only been two years ahead of her in school; she would have heard about it? Her mother cut off another bite of roast.

“And my bridge ladies heard that the Ravinstill heir broke up with his girlfriend.” She seemed satisfied with herself for knowing that. The bridge ladies were the bane of Fulvia's exisistence. They had commentary on everyone and everything that happened in the Capitol. If someone's son enlisted as a peacekeeper, they talked about it. If someone's son went to become a Peacekeeper Officer, they talked about it. If someone's daughter-in-law opted to stay home with her kids, they talked about it. If someone's daughter-in-law went back to work after having kids, then they all clucked and shook their heads. Fulvia nodded. Crispus had told her about the break-up, but he said it was for long-distance reasons. They were going to be on the road for almost four weeks. That took its toll, but they could have made it work. “A good family. They’ve had their trouble, but haven’t we all?” Wait what? “He’s an option too!”

“Mom. I cannot date Crispus.” For so many reasons, but chiefly because she was pretty sure that Crispus and Plutarch were an item. But if she told her mother that, she might prompt another heart attack. And her mother would have replied something insane about how fake marriages used to be more common and young people these days had no idea how to be discreet.

“Well, I’m just trying to help you have options.” Her mother sighed. Symphonia wouldn’t make eye contact with either of them. She sipped her wine smugly and tried to keep from laughing. “Come back with one of them. Obviously, you don’t need to love each other; you just need to be a team.” She fluffed out her napkin, and Fulvia knew the matter was settled.

“Was that how it was with you and dad?” Fulvia asked. She regretted the question almost instantly. Her mother made a face. She waved the avox over to refill her wine glass. Fulvia didn't recognize the avox.

“No. I married him for the money, and then the money went away, and I still had the man.” Her mother paused. And then she continued. “Ask Symphonia. You need some combination of a title, love, money, or looks. You don’t need all four, just two would do.”

“Please don’t ask me.” Her married sister chimed in. Their mother rolled her eyes.

“When the sex is good, that helps too.” Her mother cut the steak and gestured with the knife for emphasis. “But monogamy…I wouldn’t recommend it.” Symphonia began aggressively sipping her wine.

“Mom, please stop talking,” Fulvia begged. Her mother nodded.

“Alright, fine. No one wants to hear about the escapades of an old lady. Symphonia, how are you and your husband?”

“We’re great,” Symphonia answered.

“You’re drinking wine, I see.”

“I am.” Symphonia smiled.

“I maintain two is a lovely number of children to have. I only want the best for you two, my beautiful, brilliant girls.” Fulvia smiled.

“We know, Mom.”

Chapter Text

The train left at six am, so Fulvia needed to be up and moving at 4 a.m. She braided her hair into something smart but also casual. A little bit of glitter on her eyes said, ‘I am excited to be here.’

Crispus helped her up into the train just as the first rays of light peered through the clouds into the city. He waved to someone in the distance near the parking area.

“New girlfriend?” Fulvia asked.

“No, my mom drove me.” Crispus grinned at her. Fulvia cackled. “It’s not funny.”

Plutarch led them back to where the associates slept. “So the victor gets their own room, the mentor gets their own room, the escort gets their own room, and the outfits get their room,” Plutarch explained. “We share this.” He brought them into a room lined with bunk beds. Plush green carpet warmed the floor, and a sitting area with a table built into the wall offered a utilitarian area for working and relaxing. There was a terminal with an editing station. Fulvia groaned. The chair didn’t have any padding, and she hadn’t thought to bring something to sit on. Maybe she could use a sweatshirt?

“Twin beds?” Fulvia commented. Three weeks of sharing a room with Crispus and Plutarch, and they were all in twin beds. Yay.

“Yeah, but there are curtains you can close for privacy. Bathroom is back there.” He pointed. “I checked for bugs. Found two and moved them to the dining car. No one’s listening in.”

“So we can speak freely?” Fulvia clarified. She almost didn’t know what to do. Plutarch nodded.

“Forgive me for double-checking,” Crispus muttered as he pulled a computer board out of his overstuffed duffel and attached it to his databad. He pressed a button, and a small ping rang out. “Huh. You’re right.”

“Better safe than sorry.” Plutarch agreed.

“How did you make that?” Fulvia asked. Crispus showed her the computer board.

“I play with the bugs in the tribute center a lot.”

“Cool.” Fulvia almost didn’t know what to say. The train whistle sounded, and she felt the train shift under her feet. “Why don’t we unpack a little bit, and then we can make a plan, or something.” Crispus flopped onto the bottom bunk.

“Kinda glad it’s just us. This would be cramped with seven people.”

“It’s fun, but you do learn too much about people.” Plutarch agreed. He got up and claimed the cubby closest to the entrance. “I remember it was like being in university again. We drank like fish and didn’t sleep.” Fulvia smiled. “Other task is we need to figure out how to make people like us.”

“That’s easy,” Crispus called from his bunk.

“It’s not,” Fulvia replied.

“Yes, it.” Crispus sat up. “I’ll write ‘hi mom’ on something and one of you pans to me. We’ll make it look random. People like people who get along with their moms.” He directed that last bit at Fulvia. She shrugged. “Then we get Brento to film a little Q&A; he compliments Fulvia. We pan to Fulvia as a producer, looking proud and involved. People like an unscripted moment that makes the boss look good. After those two teases, we’ll film a little tour of the train. Plutarch will lead it, and we’ll have given them just enough to want more.”

“That’s a plan.” Plutarch agreed. Fulvia nodded. It would need workshopping, but it would do as a first draft.

“What shots do we want of Brento in Six?” She asked. They also had their real jobs to do.

“He’s still on morphine as pain management, so we need to aim for chest up. He can do short distances without the brace.”

“He’s still in the brace?” Fulvia asked.

“Yeah.” Crispus nodded. “It’s not visible, but it is needed for longer distances. I think we let him make the calls about using it versus not using it in Six.”

“Yeah. Of course.”

The mayor of District Six met them at the train station. The camera was at home in her hands. Fulvia’a jumpsuit felt tight in all of the right places. She didn’t need to slather on makeup. It was weird. A good weird. She and Plutarch gave Crispus a little drone camera to fly so that he could still feel important, and Brento read the cards the escort gave him without issue. District Six seemed a little more alive than they usually did on her screen. Six passed without incident. Brento and Maureen joined their little adventure West towards District 12.

“This District layout makes no sense.” Fulvia pointed at the map Plutarch had hung on their cabin door. “Why are they numbered like this. Five should actually be Three, and why is Six inbetween Seven and Eight?” Where had he even gotten this? It was way more detailed than the basic one they used in school.

“Probably because they don’t want people to actually know where the districts are?” Crispus replied. He was in bed reading the book Plutarch had given him. Fulvia hadn’t touched hers yet. Fulvia shrugged. It was a meme in the Capitol. Their geography classes were a joke.

“District One produces luxary items!” Plutarch shouted from the editing terminal, in a nod to the meme.

“District Two does not produce peacekeepers.” Crispus added. Fulvia rolled her eyes. She dropped onto the bottom bunk that they had converted into a couch. Being so hands on with the cameras was destroying her nails, and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

Brento was a model victor all through District 12. Fulvia hated every moment of being in that District. A layer of coal dust seemed to settled on everything and Fulvia could feel it in her hair, on her body, and coating her previously clean jumpsuit. The distirct was impossibly tiny. Fulvia could see the mountains rise up into the distance from her spot on the stage. It was probably beautiful in the summer, but the snow and ice mixed on the ground to form a layer of sludge that seeped around her boots and made the entire place seem desolate.

Haymitch smelled of alcohol, but Crispus smiled and waved at him anyway. Haymitch nodded back, and even Fulvia got a wave! Plutarch did not. Brento read the cards he was given, shook hands, and thanked the mayor. He stumbled back into the building, and Maureen grabbed him a chair. Fulvia didn’t let the cameras linger on the families of the fallen. The girl’s family seemed decently put together, but the boy’s family were filthy and the five children on the platform being honored didn’t seem to even understand why they were there. The mother’s eyes were glazed over. Fulvia wondered if she was high. Did 12 have an issue with morphling dependency the way Six did?

Thankfully, they didn’t film the dinner or social gathering. There was such a thing as too much B roll. The camera rig was digging into her shoulders and neck. Maybe she could get Plutarch to help her adjust the straps. She massaged the space under the neck strap gently.

As they loaded back up into the vans, Crispus dug out a duffle from the trunk and disappeared back inside the Justice Building.

“What was that about?” Fulvia asked. He nodded.

“Effie asked me to pass some stuff to Haymitch.” He replied. “She worries about him, you know?” Fulvia nodded.

“I was thinking we should have him get a cat or something. It’s just not good to be alone the way he is.” She suggested. Crispus bopped his head in agreement.

“It’s what I’ve been telling him.” He was silent for a minute. “Can you, Plutarch and I make a secret handshake?”

Their secret handshake was something that Fulvia would have done in elementary school, but Crispus and Plutarch were both excited about it. It was a fist bump to the top and then to the bottom and slapping their palms together into a snap. It was fun. They did it in Eleven as they strapped on the camera rigs and positioned themselves to get footage. Brento was starting to limp. He could make it through the first half of a visit, but as the morning’s morphling wore off and the pain registered, he rapidly deflated into himself and lost the ability to celebrate. Seeder wrapped a blanket around him as he dozed off at the Reception in the Justice Building. Maureen knelt by his side. She looked exhausted. The escort was running around apologizing for any offense given by the unscheduled nap. Plutarch followed her smoothing any feathers that she inadvertently ruffled.

“Gamemaker Ravinstill, can we borrow you?” Seeder called. Crispus pulled Fulvia over with him.

“Technically right now, I’m camera operating number two, but what’s going on?” Crispus smiled, and Seeder smiled back.

“Camer operator three,” Fulvia corrected. “You are definitely the weak link here.” Crispus shrugged.

“Oh well.” He wasn’t bothered. “How’s Brento?”

“Exhausted and in pain.” Maureen muttered. Her forehead was against the arm of the chair. Seeder knelt by her. “He needs rest, and maybe a higher morphling prescription.” Crispus nodded and looked back to Fulvia. He exhaled softly and then looked over to Seeder.

“Is your Mayor going to get offended if we take him back early?” He asked. Seeder shrugged.

“I doubt it. Though I only see the man on Reaping Day and Tour Day.”

“How?” Fulvia asked. Seeder looked over at her. “Pardon, I thought everyone knew everyone in the Districts?”

“Maybe in some of the smaller ones.” Seeder replied. “But not here.” Fulvia nodded. That made sense. Eleven was huge. She’d marveled at it as the train pulled into the station. Crispus looked back at her.

“It’s so late already, I think we just call it.” He suggested. Fulvia nodded. Chaff helped carry the sleeping victor out to the van, where Crispus swapped him for a large sack. Fulvia squinted at him as they climbed back into the trucks.

"Did their escorts ask for you to pass along food too?"

“Fulvia, it’s just extra food for the families of the fallen. No one is going to miss it.” He told her. “Don’t the families deserve something for their children’s sacrifice?” She opened her mouth and closed it again.

“It’s fine.” Plutarch agreed. “Doesn’t your office do the same thing during hometown media for the final eight?”

She let it go until they were in Nine. Again, the place would be beautiful in the summer, but in the winter it just seemed depressing. Icey slush swirled around her boots and only the thought of a warm shower pulled her through. The audience didn’t want to be there, Fulvia was starting to get homesick, and Nine’s victors had always kept to themselves. Brento slogged through his speech, and them stumbled back inside. Plutarch did a slow pan to Crispus with ‘hi mom’ written on the side of his camera. It had everything it needed to create a viral moment, with a little extra help from Caesar to shove them on their way. It would work. The escort had already prepared a chair for Brento.

“Can we get you food, water, a blanket?” Crispus suggested. Brento shook his head. He closed his eyes.

“Just’s tired.” he slurred. Crispus nodded. He quietly unloaded two sacks of food to nine’s victors and wished them a pleasant winter.

“Crispus, what you’re doing is against the rules.” She hissed as they settled back down for the night. It was her night to edit footage. She didn’t want to. Her hands were cramping from the cameras. Her hair was wrecked from the wind. Wind burn was apparently a thing? They didn't have that in the Capitol. The excess butter in the food was destroying her digestive system. Plutarch passed her a heating pad. How had he known that her neck was hurting? It was the harnesses for the camera rigs. He was probably feeling it too.

“You gonna report me?” He asked. Plutarch collapsed back into bed, and pulled the curtains closed. Crispus looked at Fulvia. He knew she wouldn’t.

“No. Of course not.” She paused. Plus, who would she even report him too? Charlemagne would probably salute the rule breaking. Pig of a man. “I would never do that to you.” Fulvia looked at Crispus. He leaned in.

“Fulvia, we control the cameras right now. We know where the bugs are. No one is listening. What you do now is who you are. I know who I am, and I will behave accordingly.” His words lingered as she edited the footage from Nine. The families of the fallen did look….skinny. All of the families of the fallen had. Extra food to get through the winter was surely an a gift, and the families certainly deserved something for sharing their child with Panem. She had done the same thing with the girl from 10’s body two years ago, and the portraits last year. And Crispus was right, how would they get caught? They controlled the cameras, and the security bugs that had been in their car had been moved to the hallway area.

For the first time in…maybe ever, Fulvia didn’t have any associates looking to use her as a role model. She didn’t need to constantly project confidence and happiness the way she needed to in the games complex. Crispus and Plutarch could handle themselves, she didn't need to take care of them. Well, she and Plutarch had to rescue Crispus when the ladder to the platform he'd been shooting from fell away. They got him down after a half hour, but the process was a little more convoluted than it needed to be. Cecelia laughed so hard Fulvia was worried for her, and even Brento cracked a smile. She happily passed along a case of chocolate balls to the Adler twins and didn’t think twice about it.

Fulvia could complain about the camera rig digging into her neck without judgement because Crispus and Plutarch were feeling the same way. She could moan about the workload because they were sharing it. Crispus had brought a gel they could use to numb muscle pain and Fulvia added it to her skin care routine. Plutarch shared his heating pad. They all missed home, they were all sore, and they all hated Charlemagne.

Despite the lack of sleep and stress, Fulvia was enjoying herself. The boss she needed to impress was several thousand miles away. The heating pad was their team’s most valuable asset and they chugged coffee like it was lifeblood. Fulvia helped Crispus hand two bags of food over to Blight and Oakley. This was the freest Fulvia had ever been. It was like being a first year student in university!

“See you in six months!” She called as their vans pulled out.

Crispus stretched out on the floor of the train while Plutarch edited. Crispus could still do a middle split, which Fulvia envied. She’d been able to do it as a younger dancer but social conventions dictated that upper class Capitol girls really only danced until they were eleven or twelve. Any further than that implied something was wrong with the girl’s academics. Maybe she should try and pick it back up. It was an acceptable hobby for an adult.

Fulvia put the heating pad on Plutarch’s upper back and he mouthed thanks at her. She dropped to the floor next to Crispus. Fulvia flipped open the the book Plutarch had given her. She’d made it a few pages into the first chapter. It was called “The Beautiful and the Damned.” and it was old, older than Panem. Reading was more of a challenge than she would have wanted to admit. She could read! Her grades had been quite good in school, but the language was far older than she was used to. Plus it wasn’t something she did as much these days. She liked the descriptions of the parties though.

“I’m ready for lights off whenever you guys are.” Crispus climbed into his bunk. Fulvia closed the book and followed. She’d try again another night. One when she wasn’t so tired. Her eyes drifted closed with the slow rocking of the train.

She bolted awake as one of the trap’s from Percy’s arena closed on her. What time was it? Where was she? She grappled with the blankets and swallowed a scream. This wasn’t her room. It wasn’t even the Cardew manor. Someone was screaming? She rolled out of bed, and screamed on the way down.

“Fuck!” She was still on the train. Her knees took the brunt of the impact. Crispus glanced at her.

“You’re fine.” He whispered to Plutarch. “You’re safe.” He looked back over to her with concern. Fulvia nodded that she was ok.

“Nightmare?” She whispered to Crispus. It wasn’t like they were uncommon with the gamemakers. Crispus nodded.

“Did you have one too?” he asked. She giggled. Not a happy giggle, but something between pure exhaustion and disbelief.

“I did! Percy’s arena from a few years ago!” She answered. He smiled at her and rubbed Plutarch’s back. Fulvia felt like she was intruding.

“Come on Plucky, floor time.” The three clustered together on the floor in their sleep clothes and blankets. No one turned the lights on. She could hear the soft clack on the train and the quiet breaths coming from the three of them.

“It was the car crash that killed my parents.” Plutarch whispered. “I almost stopped them this time.” Fulvia’s heart broke for him. No one spoke for a few minutes. Crispus radiated body heat and she nestled herself against him. She hadn’t realized how cold the train was. “What was it for you, Fulvia?”

“Percy’s arena.” She answered honestly. “The traps. Usually mine are all of the department heads in the arena and the head gamemaker kills me.” Crispus lifted his head, and she rested her head against his shoulder. “Crispus, your turn.” She could just barely feel the sensation of someone breathing on her skin through her sleep shirt. It felt nice.

“I didn’t have one tonight, but mine is always the same one. It’s the last family dinner we ever had. The last time we were all together and happy.” Fulvia wanted to ask what had happened. She knew Crispus had a younger sister who worked in finance, and she knew he was close with his mom, but beyond that, she’d never heard him mention the original Ravinstill. Maybe her mother knew what had happened. "That, or I get made into an avox." He admitted. Fulvia frowned. Avoxes were all traitors who had wronged the government. Peacekeepers who comitted desertion, murderers, anyone who threatened the country's safety. Crispus had no reason to worry about that. Nightmares weren't rational though. She would never end up in an arena, and as much as she hated Charlemagne, he would never try to kill her.

“I love you guys.” Plutarch whispered. Fulvia could hear him reshuffling. “I think if I had to do this alone, I’d go insane.”

“Sometimes I think our whole country is insane.” Crispus agreed. They stayed woven like that on the floor until the sun rose and bathed the train in natural light.

They never spoke of that night, or any of the other nights where one of them suffered a nightmare. It was strange. Even years later as the line between nightmare and reality blurred, all they could really do was bear witness with each other. Even when she found out that Crispus hadn’t only buried his father, but his beloved older sister too after a separate accident, and that Plutarch had always secretly suspected Snow of having his parents killed, they never spoke of the demons that only came for them when they slept. There wasn’t any point.

Chapter Text

“Your hair is getting long,” Fulvia commented to Crispus as they loaded up the van to head into District Five. Crispus ran his hand through it. The brown curls had always had a life of their own, especially when he dyed them, but now they were becoming ungovernable.

“You should wear a headband.” Agreed Plutarch. He ran a hand through his bland mess. “We should all wear matching headbands.”

“Just show up for reapings in matching bandanas?” Fulvia asked. Crispus shook his head.

“Matching tattoos.” He clarified.

They filmed a short video at the halfway point with Brento and Maureen on the train. Crispus panned his camera view to include Fulvia wearing the sound microphone and camera rig halfway through. She smiled. It was perfect. A little glimpse behind the scenes, and it left the entire Capitol wanting more. And they wanted more. Brento’s calm demeanor meant that Panem had little to obsess over, and as a result, Capitol teens had taken to assembling edits of her, Plutarch, and Crispus and the few film snippets of them when they briefly appeared on each other’s cameras. Jumpsuits were coming back into fashion. One of the prep team members had excitedly shown Fulvia the articles about it in the van back from Five. The three-step updo she’d been doing in her hair every morning to save time was being hailed as “working chic” and people were copying it.

“Brento, I’m so sorry that you’re not getting more good press from the tour.” She apologized over coffee the next morning. “You deserve more recognition and praise. I’ll talk to my friends in the press corps and we’ll make sure you’re hard work is appreciated this summer.” Brento smiled at her and sipped his coffee. Fulvia was glad to see that his plate had a pile of pastries and doughnuts.

“It’s all good.” He said through a mouthful of eclair. “I don’t care.” Maureen gave him a look from down the table.

“Manners.” The escort muttered. He nodded and swallowed.

“It’s all good, I don’t really care.” He clarified. Fulvia nodded.

“Fair.” She offered her mug of coffee with a "cheers." He responded in kind. “The one thing we do care about is your pain level. Where’s that at?”

“Bad.”

“We’ll get you to a doctor once we’re back in the Capitol,” Cripus added.

Four was fun on the tour. It always was, according to Crispus. He had ripped the sleeves off one of his undershirts and now sported a homemade headband to hold back his hair. Fulvia accused him of being jealous of the good press her hair was getting. Brento gave his speech, little kids gave him flowers, and they partied on in the Justice Building. Brento continued his tradition of falling asleep in a chair, and Four had plenty of victors to drape a blanket over him and then continue the party on their own. Some of the more seasoned mentors with victors of their own were engaged in a conversation with Maureen. Crispus passed Mags two bags of food for the families, and she stashed them in a corner.

“What time are you all heading out?” She asked as another round of drinks came out. She was drinking tea. “Normally, we sneak the new victor down to see the ocean and get them back before the escort knows they’re gone.” She looked over at the sleeping Brento. “I’m not sure that’ll happen this year.”

“He needs the sleep.” Crispus overruled. “His body is still working on healing. Maureen’s been incredible with him, though.”

“How’s everyone here?” Fulvia added. Her eyes lingered on Maeve. The woman seemed fine? She and Percy were laughing about something and were teaching the stylists a game with a fishing knife. “We’re all feeling the stress of our new boss, and I imagine that’s felt here too.” Crispus nodded. He sipped his drink silently. Mags looked at him and made a face. Crispus made one back.

“I’ll use a fishing metaphor,” Mags commented. “We’re the ocean. We endure.”

“Hopefully, you won’t need to endure for long. Who will the mentors be this year?” He asked.

“Not Maeve,” Mags replied. “Percy and maybe me.”

“You know you can take a year off?” Crispus commented. He sipped his drink again. Fulvia squinted at his glass. No matter how much he seemed to drink, the amount of fluid in his glass never went down. “Or bring a fourth? Or a fifth?” Mags shook her head.

“Not while the situation is ongoing.” She replied. Crispus nodded. “Besides. I worry about Haymitch.” Fulvia nodded. Who didn’t worry about Haymitch Abernathy?

“I saw him, what, 10 days ago?” He looked over at Fulvia to confirm how long they’d been on the road. “He looked good. He was drinking, but he was with it. Fulvia suggested that Effie convince him to get a cat or something. Like you did with the raccoons in the village.” Mags smiled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked over at Fulvia and grinned. Fulvia smiled at the reference.

“You should try possums next.” Crispus agreed. “I hear they do wonders for flower gardens.”

Fulvia and Plutarch sat up with Crispus that night when the nightmare came. They just sat pressed together against the bottom bunk while Crispus cried quiet sobs into his pillow. Occasionally, he came up for air.

“It’s the anniversary of my dad’s death.” He whispered. His eyes were focused on something in the distance. As if his father were there in the shadows, and he would emerge any moment. Fulvia swallowed. Crispus was shaking. “And I’m on a fucking train somewhere between Four and Three.”

“Your family understands,” Fulvia whispered. Did they? “And you’ll call your mom tomorrow or when we have service again, and it’ll be ok.” He nodded. It was a crappy solution, but it was the best she could offer. Fuck Charlemagne for doing this to them, and honestly, Snow shouldn't of suggested it. Crispus should be with his family right now. Granted, gamemakers were a sort of family given the hours they worked but it she and Plutarch were a poor substitute for his real family. She moved her head to the side so he could rest his head on her shoulder.

Fulvia had seen tributes in the arena align with their younger and smaller district partner, and part of her had always wondered why they would tank their own odds just to be with a friend. She got it now. It wasn’t about the odds. It was about wrapping a person up and saying that they were yours and you were theirs. It was about facing the arena together until the canon fired. Plutarch was weird, Crispus was a party boy, but it’s not like she didn’t also have her faults. Whatever storms were coming, she’d ride them out with her boys by her side.

Two was, predictably, the worst spot on the tour. Palpable anger coursed through the crowd, and one woman shrieked at Brento that he didn’t deserve to win. Brento finished reading the cards and withdrew quickly. Another man shouted that it should’ve been Rollo who won instead. Fulvia counted to three in her head to collect footage of the angry crowd, and then pulled her camera up. Brutus followed Brento off stage with Lyme by his side. Fulvia kept her distance.

“Don’t stress over it.” Lyme was saying. The Victors from Two had clustered around Brento while Maureen rubbed his back gently. “The runner-up’s district is always the worst for the victor. I had apple cores thrown at me in eleven.”

“When I was in One, they all just stared at me with nothing but judgment. No boos, no cheers, nothing.” Cael admitted. “Was horrible.” He shuddered. “Anyway, we baked you bread.” The Twos handed over a loaf of homemade bread as if it were the most normal thing in the world before they headed back for the vans.

“You know our kids don’t need this,” Brutus replied as Crispus handed over the sacks of food.

“Yeah, but we’re not trying to get accused of favoritism,” Fulvia explained. Brutus nodded.

“So find someone who does need it. Make Cael do it. He needs a hobby.” Crispus ordered with a smile and a wave. “See ya in six months.” And Fulvia closed the van door.

Two had been angry, and One was sorrowful. Silent snow drifted down from a gray sky, matching the crowd’s somber mood.” The trap had taken out their two promising tributes in a brutal way. A man and woman stood on the platform with a picture of 1F behind them. There was no family resemblance. Fulvia wondered if they were actors or if they really were the girls’ parents. She kept her camera on the crowd, but eyed Ones victors off to the side in perfect lines. Normally, the victors did seniority order when they had these types of appearances, but here Victoria and Felix were both next to their mentors. Fulvia was honestly glad. The trap had been brutal for One’s youngest mentors. Though Felix wasn’t actually that young. He was three years younger than Fulvia? So he would have won before her first year of university? It was tough to keep track of them all sometimes. Especially the quieter ones.

Crispus nudged her and pointed at a group of teenagers stage right and in the middle of the crowd.

“I think those are the kids in training.” He whispered. “If we came back in 10 years, I bet one or two would be on the stage and the rest would be dead.” Fulvia nodded. That was a…weird thought. She didn’t like that thought.

Brento finished his speech, collected some more flowers, and then limped back inside. They already had a chair ready for him to drop into. Felix made an effort to engage him in conversation before the newest victor promptly fell asleep. Felix shrugged and followed Victoria to join the gamemakers at the reception. Maureen joined Zara, Max, and some of One’s older victors nearby. Fulvia hadn’t realized the extent to which the victors operated with an adults table and a kids table dynamic. It made sense, but still.

“How’s stuff here?” Crispus asked. He crossed his arms. He’d rolled his jumpsuit sleeves up so that his long sleeves were visible. Between that and the headband, Fulvia wondered if he would just wear the jumpsuit full-time now. They were certainly more comfortable than the regular uniform jackets.

“Snowy,” Victoria replied. “The way we like it.” She smiled as if it were a clever joke. Felix nodded. He glanced back over to the older mentors.

“We brought food for the families of your fallen,” Fulvia added.

“Thank you,” Felix whispered. He cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter.

“They were both group home kids, so we’ll make sure it gets to them.” Victoria nodded. Fulvia paused. What was it like to watch your friend train and lose, and then continue to train yourself? Hadn’t that been Victoria’s situation? She’d watched Carat and Silka die and then raised her hand to go in anyway. Was there any comfort in learning from a friend’s mistakes? But what had 1F and 1M done wrong this year? The odds had just shafted them. “Is Heavensbee around?”

“He’s here somewhere.” Fulvia replied.

“So who were the people on the platforms?” Fulvia asked. It all fascinated her. If she could make a documentary about them, she would. Unfortunately, it would put too much open in the open secret.

“Typically, people who trained but either washed out of the program or weren’t selected to go into the arena by the time they were 18,” Victoria answered. “Someone tracks who appears when, so we’re not doing repeats.”

“That’s a lot of work,” Fulvia commented. Felix nodded.

Plutarch submitted their last video package and slumped to the floor with Fulvia and Crispus. It was six hours until they would be back in the Capitol. The only way to spend it was getting drunk. They didn’t have cups, so they just passed around the bottle of vodka Crispus had brought.

“I don’t want to go back,” Fulvia muttered. “I miss my blow dryer, but I really like just seeing the victors and their districts.” She wasn’t a fan of 12 or 11 or 10 or 9, or most of them, actually. She liked Four! But she had liked seeing the victors at home.

“I know!” Crispus sat up. “No one was stressed to see us!”

“And we knew where all of the bugs were!” Plutarch agreed. “I hate needing to think about what I say before I say it.” Fulvia nodded. She was going to need to be a responsible department head after this! She was going to need to show her associates proper behavior at work, which included not talking about how much she hated their boss.

“I hate Charlemagne. I hate him so much.” Crispus took another swig of the vodka. “Like if the man disappears, I’m going to need one of you to provide an alibi.”

“You assume we won’t help you do it?” Fulvia teased. She was drunk. “Fuck it. Let’s get one of the victors to kill him. They’re good at killing people!” Crispus shook his head.

“No, that won't solve the problem.” He pouted. “We’re looking for skeletons in his closet, though. And we’re good at finding those!” Fulvia nodded. This was such a good plan, and it wasn’t just the vodka talking! They were all so smart. Plutarch giggled.

“We’re going to fix everything that’s wrong with this country.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. Crispus scrambled towards him.

“Stay on your side!” They heaved Plutarch up and clustered together on the floor like they had during the nightmares. Fulvia pressed herself into Crispus and Plutarch. They would fix everything that was wrong with the country. They were going to take out Charlemagne, and then they would be President Snow’s most trusted advisors. It was a great plan, even the vodka agreed.

The train pulled back into the station, with three hungover gamemakers and the rest of the District Six team. Fulvia handed the book Plutarch had lent her back over. He shook his head.

"Keep it. Yours too, Crispus." Fulvia expected the press and adoring crowds to follow Brento from the train station, and some of them did. But a sizeable portion of it stayed to cheer for the gamemakers as they hopped off. “Brave new world,” He muttered. Crispus nodded.

“Charlemagne’s going to be pissed.” He followed Plutarch off the train.

“Let him.” Replied Fulvia. They had the protection of President Snow, what else could they need?

Chapter Text

The President sent her white roses and a card congratulating her on the successful tour. He also suggested that perhaps a different apartment would better reflect her status as Panem’s rising star. Her old place was apparently “drab.” It was on the cheaper side, but it was safe and perfect for a career woman in her late 20s. Or was she 30 now? She’d stopped counting. The face cream was doing its job, and that’s all that mattered. She moved into a new building with a doorman and rooftop bar, and she was happy with that. Plus, Crispus now lived in her neighborhood, and there was a great park and subway access nearby. He helped her check her new place for bugs (there weren’t any) and unpack a little.

“You didn’t hear this from me,” Crispus whispered. “But Brento had eight drinks at his reception and projectile vomited all over half of the old families.” He was borderline giddy. “My boys on duty that night cleaned it all up, but he’s my new favorite.”

She, Crispus, and Plutarch worked late at least once a week and then went back to one of their places for dinner and drinks. Winter turned into Spring, and the games were around the corner.

Fulvia drowned in reports. Charlemagne constantly demanded analytic summaries on viewership numbers or audience satisfaction rates, and then he wouldn’t even read them. It got to the point where she and Urban were just submitting the same report repeatedly with a new intro page. Charlemagne never commented on it.

“At least Snow defended your budget.” She offered to Crispus. He huffed and collapsed into a chair after a particularly bad day.

“I shouldn’t have needed to call Snow, but I really shouldn’t have needed to call Snow when Charlemagne already made me write four reports on victor monetization and income streams. Do you know what that did to my soul?” She shrugged. They were all feeling the stress.

Charlemagne went through what Plutarch described as the “Treaty of Treason” era. The gamemaker corps had a daily all-hands meeting where they were forced to read the Treaty of Treason one line at a time. Charlemagne would then lead a discussion on why their jobs were important. Fulvia actually didn’t mind this era as much as Plutarch and Crispus did. She just brought her datapad and used the time to write reports when Charlemagne wasn’t looking at her.

After the treason era, it was the “Film Club” era, where Charlemagne made them watch old Hunger Games. Charlemagne had this habit of cold-calling gamemakers to identify areas where the tribute, victors, and gamemakers had made mistakes as if they were all students again. Fulvia would have expected more pushback from Crispus when Charlemagne publicly trash-talked some of the victors, but he joined in on the bashing.

“Wiress’s games were lame and she’s an odd duck, I agree.” Department Head Crispus Ravinstill offered. The other gamemakers all nodded.

“Thank you, you may be seated.” Charlemagne decided. He moved on to someone else and queued up footage of Percy drunkenly falling down a set of stairs last year. Fulvia bit the inside of her lip. Was today just going to be a slideshow of Victor Gaffes? She had analytics reports to write. The next victim was also from victor’s affairs.

“He’s an alcoholic. What about it?” The girl replied.

Fulvia’s staff held their own in the cold calls, except Minerva (a seasoned staffer who should have been doing better and cried after every meeting) and one of Fulvia’s first-year staffers, Pollyanna. Fulvia just made them sit between herself and Lysterna and took notes on what they missed for later review. She took a lot of notes. Crispus seemed to have a similar strategy for his staff. His first years sat between himself and his senior staff like they were lost baby ducklings. Sash colors aside, it was obvious who was on victor’s affairs once May hit. Crispus and his staff went through the gamemaker’s handbook line by line until the vast majority of them were chanting rules in hallways like it was some bizarre bonding ritual. Fulvia didn’t go that far, but she did have her seniors lead a weekly rule review, so if Charlemagne did something, they could get him.

Plutarch’s staff struggled the most in these meetings, mainly because Plutarch was struggling. The transition to department head was never easy, and his path from assistant to department head reeked of political favoritism. The Arena Elements staff weren’t taking it well. Plutarch had no idea how to praise the first years when they did something right or how to calm them down when they spun out in the hallway after getting an answer wrong in the large group meetings. In fairness, they were a difficult group to lead due to their weird mixture of social engineers and real engineers. Half of the staff missed Laurentio as their department head, and half were delighted to have a well-connected socialite as their boss. Fulvia just had her team start whispering answers to their struggling associates; if only to get through the meeting a little quicker.

On top of that, they were still having the problem-solving meetings daily, so Fulvia had no actual time to do her job. They all logged record overtime hours, and Fulvia missed her niece’s birthday party. She missed spin classes and haircut appointments, and she needed to see someone about her nails. Tigris finally took pity on her and remedied the situation. They just had no time, and it wasn’t even game season yet.

The debriefs between Fulvia, Crispus, and Plutarch escalated. President Snow occasionally joined them. Fulvia hadn’t realized how funny he was. He had been a gamemaker too! Which, she had known, of course, but to hear him tell stories about how much he hated one of his head gamemakers at the time felt like a commentary on their lives. He let them complain about Charlemagne and assuaged some of their fears. Spring turned to summer, and Reaping Day was a week away.

“I think you’ll like the paper tomorrow morning.” President Snow announced to them one night as he stood up to leave.

“Sir, are you finally axing Charlemagne?” Asked Crispus.

“It's a bit close to the start of the games, but we can make it work.” Agreed Plutarch. Fulvia nodded. President Snow smiled.

“No. You all have more to learn from him.” He laughed and then walked out. Maybe Charlemagne had blackmail on Snow, and Snow was hoping they would figure out what it was? It was their best theory.

Fulvia didn’t have time to grab an edition of the paper on her way to work. She had forgotten about it until Crispus ran into her office, screaming with Plutarch right behind him. Most of Crispus’s staff had followed him. The staff chattered in excited bits, and Fulvia caught every third word.

“A hot list? What are we in middle school?”

“He’s gonna be pissed.” Someone else whispered. Crispus climbed onto the table.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the esteemed game-making corps! Panem’s most reliable news has spoken.” Plutarch stepped next to her and shook his head. He covered his grin with a hand. “Presenting, ‘Top 20 Hottest Gamemakers of all Time.’” Crispus unfolded the paper.

“What?” Fulvia asked. She blinked. Their job was about helping Panem remember the horror of the dark days; looking good was irrelevant! Granted, she did put a lot of effort into her appearance. Crispus kept reading.

“Gamemakers are among our nation’s most valuable workers.”

“Yeah, we are!” Someone yelled. He continued.

“‘These bright, hardworking, young men and women serve our country every day to ensure Panem maintains peace and security! And,” He waggled his eyebrows at the group. “They look good doing it. Maybe it’s their jackets,” He did a little shimmy. “‘Maybe it’s their uniforms, or maybe it’s their camera skills.” He lowered the paper. “It says wink wink, which I think is implying that we’re all good in bed, which is just not true.”

“Read it!” Lysterna shouted.

“Faustus, take over. I’m on this, and I can’t be thought of as vapid.” Crispus handed the paper over to his staffer, who had climbed up next to him. Fulvia paused. Her staff of 30 was here, Crispus’s staff was here, and most of Plutarch’s staff was here. Charlemagne’s team and Laurentio’s limited staff were nowhere to be seen. Crispus jumped off the table and landed next to Fulvia and Plutarch. Fulvia didn’t know Faustus, but Crispus trusted him, and he had been on the closed set a few months ago. And the staff meetings had revealed he had an incredible head for statistics. He could recite death orders and facts of every game on command. Fulvia was a little jealous that Crispus had him; he would have been such an asset in media. Faustus cleared his throat.

“To celebrate the 59th Hunger Games, let’s count down the 20 hottest gamemakers of all time. In twentieth place, Gaia Templesmith!” Faustus read the short bio on Gaia that the paper had printed. The 19th Hottest Gamemaker of All Time was Charlemagne Royage. Faustus didn’t read Charlemagne’s bio; he just flipped to the next page. The next few were all Gamemakers in the 30s and 40s whom Fulvia easily recognized. They all worked for the government or were retired but active in philanthropy. “And,” Faustus read, “‘The 13th Hottest game maker of all time is Plutarch Heavensbee! This gentle giant is a titan of thought. After graduating cum laude from Panem University, Plutarch earned national acclaim when his tribute won the 50th Hunger Games. Plutarch now leads all arena elements for the gamemakers. You might have seen him this winter as he assisted with cameras for this year’s victory tour.” Faustus finished. Everyone cheered. Plutarch’s face went beet red. He bent over. Crispus cackled and rubbed his back.

“Next!” Faustus shouted. “‘In Seventh place, the incomparable Fulvia Cardew.’” Fulvia felt blood rush to her face. What. Her staff cheered, and Faustus paused to let them get it out of their system. Crispus put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. ‘“Another summa cum laude graduate of Panem University, this dynamic lady is known for her ability to wrangle her staff.’” Faustus paused and looked over at her senior associates. Urban, Lysterna, and Cicero all nodded. Lysterna gave her a thumbs up. Her others whooped. “‘And victors. You’ve definitely watched something she’s produced, and you definitely sent it in your family’s group chat. Want to see this game maker make the game? Watch the 59th Hunger Games.” He turned the paper and displayed a photo of her to the group. Fulvia had to admit, it was a good picture. It was her looking over her shoulder as they prepared for the mentor parade last year. Her wig looked amazing, and her uniform was pressed. She was smiling at something off camera. The staff cheered.

“We’re going to skip the next few because we have places to be, but it’s all names and faces, you know.” Faustus flipped through the following few pages to show off the faces of more government officials. Fulvia had no idea so many of their leaders had started as gamemakers. She should be less offended that President Snow wanted her on his staff then. He flipped to number two and then looked at his boss. “Sir, can I just say before I read this, you’re the hottest gamemaker in my heart, and I have the utmost respect for how you lead our department.”

“Get on with it, Faustus.” Crispus leaned against the console and grinned. Fulvia smacked his shoulder.

“At number two, Crispus Ravinstill!” The VA gamemakers all cheered. Fulvia joined them. “‘A graduate of Panem University, Crispus competed on the school’s gymnastics team and can regularly be found volunteering with a youth gymnastics club during his free time.’” Fulvia hadn’t known that. ‘“This reformed wild child knows the wilds of the districts and as the leader of Victor’s Affairs, we’ll all be watching the 59th Hunger Games to find out who will join his flock.’” Faustus spun the paper so they could all see Crispus’s picture. There were some wolf whistles from multiple staffers. Fulvia cackled, and Crispus went bright red. They’d use his ID picture; at least it was a good one. Fulvia’s ID picture was cringeworthy. Crispus cackled, and Fulvia slapped his shoulders. “And, at number one, President Snow!” Faustus finished.

“Oh, so you are the hottest. He rigged it.” Plutarch muttered. He sounded so bothered. Was he offended that he was only the 13th hottest game maker of all time? Fulvia was laughing so hard she could barely get air in.

“‘After graduating summa cum laude from Panem University, President Snow enjoyed a long career as a gamemaker, where he participated in the solemn remembrance of the Dark Days. He’ll be watching the 59th Hunger Games, and you should too!” Faustus flipped the paper so they could all see a much younger and a much blonder President Snow. The staff was in hysterics. Faustus and Urban began separating the pages of the paper and distributing the pictures and blurbs to their owners. Lysterna and Cicero taped it to her office door.

“Ok!” Crispus shouted. “If I sign your timesheets, go back to our offices. We need to finish stocking the tribute center.” He began to herd his staff out the door. “See you guys soon.” He waved.

“And Snow knew it was coming…” Plutarch whispered to her. He began heading for the door with a bemused expression on his face. Fulvia rolled her eyes.

Fulvia blinked. Crispus blinked. Plutarch blinked. To his credit, Laurentio blinked. Fulvia was exhausted; they had less than 24 hours before the tributes were selected. She’d had a check-in meeting with the escort for Seven, explaining that there could not be a repeat of last year’s performance, and spent the day drowning in paperwork. Charlemagne had changed the staffing rotas (again), and now everyone was confused. Fulvia couldn’t keep up.

Charlemagne had decided that the best time to pitch new uniforms was now, at the last heads meeting before the all staff dinner. It was a terrible idea. Gamemakers were possessive of their jackets. Most of them had made alterations so the uniform fit them well, and even the most rule-abiding gamemaker had added secret pockets for snacks or cigars. Fulvia had a tiny packet of gum tucked into her hidden breast pocket. She could only take it out when she was alone because she just wasn’t about to share with her staff or her boys.

The new jacket was less of a jacket and more of a tunic. He clicked through the slides, demoing each department’s new sash color. Now, gamemakers would be able to earn pins from the Head Gamemaker for meritorious service to display on their sash in addition to their rank. She had a feeling Laurentio would earn a pin. She doubted the rest of them would.

The worst offense was the socks. They were knee high with little colored ribbons that poked over the edge of their boots. The ugliness was abated by the fact that their uniform pants covered the entire boot, so at least no one would see them.

“Alright. We did a last-minute arena change last year. Why not change the uniform this year?” Crispus had turned into Charlemagne’s hype man the past few days. She understood why he was doing it, but she still resented it. “I love it.”

“Good.” He seemed unexpectedly relieved. “We’ll distribute the new uniforms tonight at the staff dinner. We’ll debut the new set for opening day.” Fulvia ran the calculation in her head. Were three days enough time to get everything tailored? It would need to be. She wasn’t good enough at sewing to make it work otherwise. “I thought about adding a hat, but I decided against it.”

“A wise choice, sir.” Plutarch agreed.

Fulvia could feel the entire staff watching her and looking for some kind of reaction to the new uniforms during dinner. They wouldn’t get one. She ate a filet mignon with the other department heads and made small talk about families, the weather, and general excitement for this year's games. That was deemed impossible when Charlemagne showed the new uniform PowerPoint to the entire staff. She pressed her knee hard into Plutarch, and Crispus put his foot on top of hers. She made eye contact with Laurentio, and he nodded. It felt nice to all be in agreement again.

“And no wigs for anyone,” Charlemagne added. A murmur of shock spiraled through the group. They needed to wear wigs. Did he expect them all to do their hair every day? They were all about to look poor on TV! “You are gamemakers. You are not stylists, escorts, or prep teams. You are charged with punishing the districts to prevent another rebellion. Do I make myself clear?”

“Sir, yes, sir.” They all shouted.

She touched the fabric of the new tunic as Charlemagne called on the department heads, and they presented updates. It was a cotton-poly blend. The new sash was satin. Hopefully, the fabrics would all look good together. And at least she wouldn’t need to wear white during the games anymore. It made eating in uniform such a hazard.

“The socks are wool,” Crispus said through clenched teeth while Plutarch presented his team’s updates. Something about the arena being 'electric' this year. “Wool knee socks in July.” Laurentio tipped his wine back. Fulvia finished her glass.

She sent the slides of the new uniform examples to her entire staff. Someone was going to screw this up and incur the wrath of Charlemagne, and it wouldn’t be her or any of hers. She’d check them all herself before sending them out for their opening day assignments.

Reapings were seamless, which Fulvia was grateful for. Low intervention again, and no wrinkles that she needed to prep for. Her staff ran the camera calls while Fulvia sipped a coffee in the spin suite, supervising. They cut live to District One.

Victoria and Felix were mentoring again, with Zara and Max serving as secondaries. Fulvia hoped they could have a good year. That trap had just been terrible for everyone last year. The boy from One was brunette this year, which Fulvia thought was a nice change of pace. Victoria tried to catch Felix’s eye about something, but he looked away. Fulvia called for the cameras to focus on the tributes and not the mentors.

Lyme and Brutus were bringing a slimmer boy and a broad-shouldered girl. Cael was coming as an alternate mentor and for media appearances. Fulvia nodded.

Wiress and Beetee had an underfed girl and an older boy who might’ve been a contender were he not so skinny.

Mags and Percy had two volunteers. They both towered over the escort Aurelia and were both muscular. Maeve smiled and clapped with the other victors. Fulvia sent silent wishes of strength to the woman.

Porter and the male mentor (whom Fulvia could never keep track of because he drank so aggressively) had an older girl. She was pretty, but looked on the more lithe side. The boy was a tiny 13-year-old, and Fulvia’s heart broke for Porter that she would have another hard year.

Six went all out. The crowd was mostly sober as the escort introduced Brento as a past victor. Fulvia wondered if their cheers were shaking the cameras. And it would not be a repeat year for District Six. The boy was 15 but looked so small he could blow over in the wind, and the girl was 16 and looked equally small. Fulvia sipped her coffee. They would all look fine once remake was done with them.

Seven’s escort had dyed his beard and hair green and wore platform ballet heels; the look was atrocious. But once they had the tributes, no one was looking at the escort. The sevens had two contenders. Blight and Oakly knew it, and so did every gamemaker in the room. The girl was tall with thinning hair, but great features. The boy stared at the skyline with something unreadable on his face. The escort was excited and told the tributes to shake hands. The boy was frozen, but the girl hugged him. Fulvia blinked. Did they know each other?

“We just had a romantic pair from the same district. This is so lame.” Lysterna commented.

“Maybe they’re friends? Cousins?” Fulvia suggested. She glanced at the information coming up on her datapad. Different last names, but similar ages. Maybe they were friends from school? It would have been great to ask about at the opening press conferences, but Charlemagne had killed that, too. “Seven’s not even that small.”

The eights were skinny and older. Fulvia breathed a sigh of relief when Cecelia didn’t seem to know either tribute, and neither did her siblings.

9M was older and stocky. “Contender,” Urban muttered. He had good features. The stylists could do something with him. 9F was pretty and willowy, and her shoulders trembled on stage.

Casey didn’t react as either tribute was announced. The girl was tall and classically beautiful. Fulvia couldn’t tell her age, but she came from either the 16 or the 17-year-old pen. The boy was well built, but on the younger side. Fulvia wished he were coming as an older tribute. He would have been a contender.

Seeder and Chaff were model victors all through the reaping. Both of their tributes were thin and all elbows. Both blinked in shock. They had to use the applause track because the sound of a woman screaming flooded the sound system. Urban handled it. Seeder gently ushered them into the Justice Building for goodbyes.

Haymitch went pale as a skinny older boy and a tiny young girl were called up. Someone had to shake the shock from the girl to get her moving, and two other girls gave her a push forward. Fulvia made a face and motioned for the cameras to focus on Effie.

“Ok!” Effie clapped. “Shake hands, you two!” The girl burst into tears, and the boy wasn’t far behind. Haymitch fell off the stage.

They cut back to the Capitol. Caesar Flickerman was on stage. His color this year was burnt orange, featuring glitter. It was so tacky. Fulvia automatically recoiled.

“Happy Hunger Games!” He shouted. “May the odds be ever in your favor!”

Chapter Text

“Alright, everybody. Welcome back to sleep deprivation.” Crispus started talking. Fulvia tuned him out. She eyed the year's mentors with interest. “Normally, you would all have a press conference at this time, but leadership has made some changes to programming, so Gamemaker Cardew and I wanted to go over those changes with you all.” He paused. “But first, let’s all please welcome Brento to this side of things.” The victors gave a polite round of applause, Fulvia joined them. “Let’s all be welcoming.” Did his eyes linger on Blight and Cael? “Alright, Cardew, floor is yours.” Fulvia stepped up.

“Welcome back, everyone!” She tried to force a cheery smile. “Thank you for welcoming my colleagues and me into your homes this winter, so we’re excited to have you here in our home.” That got a few smiles and shrugs. She missed not needing her work personality while she was at work. “As you’ve all figured out by now, no more welcome press conference. You’ll still be expected to attend elimination press conferences. We’ll still have ‘Victors on Victors’ and a few similar projects, but you’ll see me less, and Gamemaker Ravinstill more.” She sat back down and sipped her water bottle.

“Sorry, guys.” Crispus joked. No one laughed. He shrugged. “The two biggest changes that affect us are that you’ll be soloing all engagements and parties now.” A murmur of shock traveled through the group. “I will make exceptions where we can, but this is something we’ll deal with.” Crispus paused. “The other big change is just the sheer volume of requests our office is processing. This is the most…demanding year I’ve ever been on staff for. Obviously, that put you all under a lot of stress, and that puts Victor Affairs in a really,” He emphasised that last word. “visible position. So please look out for each other. I want to send everyone home with your fallen once the games are over, but we should all mentally prepare for another long haul. Any questions about all of that?” No one raised their hands.

Fulvia could have heard a pin drop. He toggled up the same spreadsheet he had from last year with Victor Designations, districts, and van numbers. “Ok. Here’s our next 48 hours. Maeve and Cael, you guys are doing Good Morning Panem. That’s a 4:00 am wakeup, sorry. Catherine and Zara, you’re on the Morning Show. Also, a 4:00 am wakeup, again sorry. Max and Porter, Panem Today, 4:00 am.” It had been surprisingly easy to get exceptions to the new solo rule for the joint appearances. All Fulvia had to do was point out that a duo was easier to interview than a lone victor, and Charlemagne had agreed. It was honestly a little suspicious.

“Escorts will receive all of this shortly, along with your talking points, but if anyone figures out the difference between these shows, please tell us,” Fulvia added. The joke landed. She got some smiles and laughs. She smiled. Crispus kept going.

“Brento and Maureen, you’re on Caesar’s show with a 5:00 am wakeup. Felix, Cecelia, and Lyme, the games museum is opening a new exhibit about arena fashion. Call time is 10:00 am. You’ll have time for breakfast with your tributes. Beetee and Wiress, something at the University. I know it has to do with magnets and computers, but those were the only words from the briefing that I understood.” Everyone laughed at that. Crispus made a face. “It’s not funny, science was my worst subject in school. Your escort has the brief, though.” Crispus kept going.

Tributes would be in training from breakfast to dinner time, and the Victors were going to be booked and busy during that time. It was going to be exhausting for them, with events during the day and mentoring the tributes at night. And then the games would start! “As always, I’ll make sure the escorts, Tigris, and medical know what’s up, too. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.”

The lack of a press conference meant that Fulvia was officially done for the day until the opening parade.

“Your schedule looks insane.” She commented as they headed for the control room. Crispus nodded.

“Yeah. We’ll make it through, we always do. I might need to draft you, if you’re open to it. I don’t like sending my juniors out until I have a sense of who is good at what.”

“Yeah. Let me know what you need, and I’ll give you people.”

Plutarch had already completed the tribute briefs by the time they were back in the control room. Associates operated a few camera stations, but since there was no arena to control, they were operating on half-staff. Plutarch threw a packet of paper at each of them. That was a 24-hour turnaround; maybe he was starting to get the hang of leadership? Crispus mumbled something about coffee first, and Laurentio brought over two mugs. Crispus nodded at him.

Charlemagne had axed the tradition of hanging tribute portraits on the wall in the control room, and he’d opted for white boards instead. The engineers did math on one to prove they were smart. It didn't even look relevant to the situation. Plus, why were they doing it here? They had their own labs for this stuff. Plutarch had claimed the other one to track emerging storylines. That was a good use of a control room whiteboard. He uncapped a marker.

“1M is the son of Max’s roommate from his days in their training program.” Plutarch began. He drew out a mini family tree. “So best of luck to Felix there.” Crispus accepted the mug from Laurentio and flipped his datapad open. Fulvia grabbed a highlighter and underlined 1M. That must’ve been why Felix looked stressed at their reaping ceremony. Mentoring your mentor’s best friend’s son was a tough assignment. Why would Max let him do that? Max should be the mentor this year, not him.

“Officially, there is no training program, though, so I think we stick with the group home and wrestling team story,” Fulvia suggested. That would put less pressure on Felix in media should he need to do an elimination conference. It was still a horrible position for someone to be placed in.

“12F is another McCoy, like LouElla in the 50th.” Plutarch continued. Cripus blew air from his mouth slowly. Laurentio blinked.

“Who?” Fulvia asked. She could remember Maysilee Donnor, what Capitol teen didn’t, but the other name didn’t sound familiar. In fairness, there had been 48 tributes that year.

“Snake girl,” Crispus replied. Fulvia nodded.

“She was funny.” What else did Fulvia remember about her? Not much. “That’s horrible for Haymitch to need to mentor her, though. And 12 is small enough that I’m sure everyone knows everyone.” Poor Felix and Haymitch! “And what’s going on with the Sevens?”

“Only connection I could find is that their dads are in the same work crew, so expect an alliance there.” Plutarch offered. Crispus made a face. Laurentio tapped a pen on the desk absentmindedly.

“Were we just not briefed on wrinkles this year?” He asked. Crispus sipped his coffee and shrugged. Fulvia nodded.

“It could all be a coincidence. Like the Ones volunteer, and 12 is small, and the Sevens, tesserae?” She guessed. She tried to remeber tesserae statistics. A lot of people in 12 took it. That could also have contributed to the repeat of 12F.

“All good storylines, though,” Plutarch concluded. “All good stories.”

Fulvia hid in her office for the next several hours to get ahead on paperwork. One of her staffers brought in a tabloid list of Panem’s 20 hottest victors; she could hear Lysterna and Urban giggling about it in the spin suite. There was a part of her that wanted to look and see who had earned her equivalent number seven spot, but her sense of professionalism dictated that this report needed to be submitted first. Besides, the press had raked Maeve over the coals last year for no good reason, and Fulvia had resolved to avoid tabloid news when she could. Part of her job was to read those headlines, but she didn’t need to read every headline. Surely someone would tell her if the information was important enough to know.

The department heads and senior gamemakers were actually able to watch the parade from their box this year and enjoy it. The crowds screamed for them as they took their seats.

“How much do you want to bet District 12 are coal miners?” She whispered to her boys through smiling, clenched teeth. She waved to the crowds.

“Same amount that District Four does something with nets and fish,” Plutarch replied. Laurentio grinned. They took their seats. They all had to stand up and clap with the crowd when Charlemagne joined them, and Fulvia imagined President Snow announcing right then and there that he was fired. The thought made her smile real. Charlemagne took his seat, then they all had to stand and clap for President Snow and Aunt Livia to appear on their balcony.

The drumming began, and Fulvia could hear the horns play the first notes of the anthem. Feathers, gladiators, gadgets, fish, solar panels (?), wheels, trees, fabric, amber grain, ranchers, birds, and coal miners.

1M whispered to 1F as their carriage went by. He was confident, so was she. They were decked out in orange feathers and sparkles. Fulvia wondered if the stylists had matched them to Caesar’s color for the year. She looked to Felix and Victoria in the mentor section. They were both next to their own mentors and seemed pleased with the look. 2F towered over 2M, and it’s not like 2M was tiny. He was just lean. They ignored each other and waved separately. The threes were forgettable. The fours were fish again.

“I just don’t like the fish costumes.” Fulvia offered. The tributes were being good sports about it and smiling and waving, but Maeve and Percy weren't impressed.

“There’s so much you can do with Four’s character.” Agreed Plutarch. “Why are we stuck on fish?”

The fives were some type of solar panel. They were covered in body suits and reflective surfaces. It was like the arena from a decade ago. The sixes were forgettable. Fulvia nodded approvingly in case a camera was on her.

“It’ll be a volunteer this year, right?” Laurentio asked. “We just had an outlier girl, then an outlier boy. The volunteers will be smart about it.” Fulvia could see it coming down to the arena. Surely the volunteer mentors would instruct their tributes to stick together until all of the other tributes were gone? It's what she would do if she were a mentor this year. The sixes were wheels. Fulvia smiled and nodded. It was ugly.

“Depends.” Crispus decided. He lifted a program to cover his mouth. “Assuming no wrinkles, I think sponsorships and arena luck could be huge this year.” Fulvia nodded. In a twist, the sevens were trees. They needed a new stylist. At this point, university students could do better. She glanced over to Plutarch and Charlemagne.

“Any arena hints?” The additional thought occurred to her that Charlemagne was technically leading both engineering and being the Head Gamemaker, which she thought was way too much for one person. Plutarch smiled at their boss. Charlemagne shrugged.

“Hints! Hints!” Crispus chanted. Charlemagne sighed. He covered his mouth with the program so he could speak freely.

“It’s a complicated one. We went over budget for a reason.” Fulvia used a work smile. The last complicated arena they’d had had been Percy’s maze trap situation. Simple arenas were better for storylines but complicated ones were amazing to watch, when they worked. This'd better work or it would make her life difficult.

“Not a big mutt year though.” Plutarch agreed. “The tributes are going to work.” What could that mean? Fulvia glanced at the 24 tributes now returning to the tribute center. 12M was holding the hand of 12F. She was too little to work. She wished the outlier districts would train too so that they didn’t need to send their little ones. Fireworks went off overhead, and Fulvia followed her team back inside.

Chapter Text

“Heavensbee, take your camera and my engineering officers and fly to the arena this afternoon. I’d like them to film a short explanation of the arena.” Plutarch stopped taking notes. They were halfway through training, and Fulvia’s world had devolved into meetings, the observation box, and the backstage area of Caesar’s show. She gave Brento a high five for a job well done in his last interview as the reigning victor and chugged another coffee. She confirmed with Plutarch that enough arena wear outfits of the appropriate sizes had been delivered to the arena. She told herself everything was fine. There were dynamics this year, and the gossip reached her through excited side comments from staffers. Max was micromanaging Felix, the arena engineers were falling asleep at their desks, and the escorts all seemed mad at each other. Fulvia could barely keep up.

“Sir, we don’t do arena explanations anymore because the mentors were able to send coded messages to the tributes. Not to mention, Fulvia’s staff would need to edit the footage.”

“Fine,” Charlemagne added. “No messages with sponsor gifts then.” Fulvia frowned.

“Oh, I like the messages with sponsor gifts.” She shifted her weight in her seat. This might be a losing battle. “The bigger concern is the time constraint.”

“Is it doable?” He asked her. Fulvia nodded. Charlemagne looked over to Crispus. His shoulders were slumped.

“You’ve been unusually quiet today.” The head gamemaker prodded. Crispus shrugged.

“I don’t have an opinion here. It doesn’t really affect me.” He didn’t look at Fulvia. She frowned.

“Good lad,” Charlemagne replied. He glanced back over at Fulvia. “This arena is about showing the districts what we’re capable of. Besides, I want my engineers to receive credit for all of their hard work.”

“Yes, sir.” Fulvia knew a losing argument when she saw one. She mentally apologized to her staff. They’d be pulling an all-nighter, the night before interviews. Lysterna, Cicero, and Nero all flew out with Plutarch’s team to see the arena and film a teaser. Plutarch wouldn’t say how it went, but they all had to sign NDAs, and Lysterna said she thought it was a good one.

4M and 1M achieved the highest training scores of 10, while 12F received the lowest score of 4. Some of the associates had wanted to go lower, but Fulvia felt that was unfair. The girl was really trying! She had done a nicely woven basket as her skill. It wasn’t her fault that she was 14 and tiny! Plus, Effie raved about what a sweet little thing she was, and how her family knew Haymitch’s family from before. That deserved at least a four!

“How would we feel about skipping the meetings where we ask the mentors to identify a primary tribute?” Fulvia asked at their final department heads meeting. “I can ask the escorts to get us that same information, and frankly, we’re short on time.” Charlemagne shook his head.

“You can delegate if you need to.” His voice was surprisingly understanding. “The act of forcing the mentors to choose is valuable, though, and I want to avoid surprises with the interviews.” She nodded. “Good luck with interviews tonight. I always enjoy watching the tributes fight for attention.” Charlemagne closed out their meeting. “Odds ever in our favor.”

“Odds ever in our favor.” They all repeated. Fulvia cornered Crispus as they were leaving.

“Thanks for the backup.” She commented. He shook his head at her.

“Not now, Cardew. Oh, hi Laurentio.” He perked up as the man appeared next to them. Fulvia took her last second to face the wall, rolling her eyes, before spinning to greet Laurentio.

“Hey.” He glanced at Fulvia. “Sorry you ended up with more work.” She shrugged. The finish line was close. She was more offended by Crispus's utter indifference to her situation. “I wanted to ask Crispus if he had any more of those photoshoots coming up.” Crispus’s eyes went wide, and his posture changed.

“Um. No. Usually, those are a once-a-year thing. They’re expensive, and it’s input versus output.”

“Aw, man. Let me know when you have another one. The last one was fun.” He slapped Crispus on the back before walking away, taking Fulvia’s desire to snark on Crispus with him. She knocked her arm into him.

“You ok?”

“Tired. Stressed. Hungry.” He replied. He watched Laurentio walk away. She nodded.

“Will it get better once the games start?”

“Some parts will. Other parts will get worse.” She nodded again. There wasn’t really anything left to say.

“I have to get to mentor meetings. Secret handshake?” She extended her left hand. He grinned.

“Always Cardew.”

So she hauled herself and Urban over to the conference room in the atrium of the tribute building and poured herself a cup of tea. Urban grabbed a croissant and managed a few bites.

“I don’t even know who to expect from One?” She whispered. Victoria was obviously mentoring 1F with occasional support from Zara, but she half suspected that Max would just show up in Felix’s place. Urban swallowed.

“Boss, I don’t even know what day it is,” he replied. “All I know is I need to have a brand new uniform ready for tomorrow, and every decent tailor in this city is already booked, so I had to call my sister!”

“That’s funny,” Fulvia replied. “It’s rough, but it’s funny.” She opened her data pad and queued their spreadsheet. 1M and 1F were both in bold due to their high training scores, resulting in higher expectations.

All of the Ones came to the meeting. Fulvia offered coffee and tea, but no one wanted any. Felix and Victoria sat, and Zara and Max stood behind them. It felt like a parent-teacher conference from high school. The Ones lacked their usual polish. Hair was still set in curls and styled, outfits were still tailored and crisp, but there was an exhaustion under everyone's eyes that no amount of concealer could hide.

“Trivot is our primary,” Felix said softly. The Ones all seemed to exhale as he said it. Fulvia nodded. She typed the information in.

“Angles?”

“They both just want to honor the Capitol and bring honor home to District One,” Victoria answered. She swallowed. “Diamond will be a little fun and flirty.”

“Trivot’s more about the spectacle.” Felix finished. Fulvia finished typing. Despite all the drama, the Ones would have a fairly normal year then. She paused. Crispus was stressed. She was stressed. Felix and Victoria were both stressed. They had a terrible year last year, and they were giving it another go. They all had bosses to keep happy. And she would be a good boss where she could.

“Well, they both have great mentors.” She looked between Felix and Victoria. That actually got a small smile out of Felix. “And I’m sure they’ll both bring honor to the Capitol.” Victoria smiled widely.

“Yeah.” She turned to face Max. “They both will.” There was an edge in her words. Zara made a face.

“Ok. Let’s go.” She beckoned Victoria. She stood up and followed Zara out with a toss of her hair. Felix looked back at Max and shrugged.

“Went better than you thought it would.” Fulvia made a mental note to tell Crispus that trouble seemed to be brewing on the first floor. Actually, he probably already knew. That must’ve been why he was stressed. She messaged him about it anyway. Maybe they should listen to the bugs tonight? The Twos were next. Spirits were high.

“My girl will be the primary.” Lyme offered. Cael shrugged. He didn’t seem upset. “She’ll make a good run of it. Great with swords.”

“Are we doing standard Two angles?” Fulvia asked. Cael nodded.

“Ado’s funny and sarcastic. You saw him with knives during training.” Fulvia nodded. Had she seen that? Whatever. She would nod anyway. She typed it into the sheet.

“Great. I’m excited for you guys. Have a good year.”

“We’re trying,” Cael replied as he stood up. He smirked and looked over at Lyme. “The Ones are ripping themselves to shreds.” He was practically giggling as her looked between Lyme and Fulvia.

“Not our style.” Agreed Lyme. “Our only real worries now are the Fours and the arena.”

The Threes were fast. 3M was the primary. The boy would be funny and smart. The girl was sweet and funny. No concerns. Fulvia typed it all in and wished Wiress and Beetee a great year. Mags and Percy were next.

“Hello again.” Fulvia greeted them. “Coffee? Tea?” Mags shook her head.

“No, thank you, we’re fine.” Her posture was perfect. Fulvia involuntarily sat up a little straighter. Percy and Urban followed suit.

“What’s the plan?” Fulvia toggled down to the next row of her spreadsheet. Percy shrugged.

“Show up, look good, and then go home?” He leaned back and crossed his legs the way Crispus would have. Fulvia smiled.

“I love it. I can’t put that in my spreadsheet, though.”

“Coral is our primary.” Mags offered softly. “Fisherman’s daughter. Wants to honor the Capitol. She’s very serious.” Fulvia nodded. She added it to the sheet. Serious tributes typically struggled in the interviews. Caesar was good about helping them channel that seriousness, though.

“Nice,” Urban added.

“Puff is more jovial. He’s a very smooth talker. He’ll be fun to watch.” Percy finished. Fulvia typed it all in. She nodded and sipped her coffee.

“Ok. Thanks, guys. Have a good year.”

Porter was optimistic about their girl, but the boy was tiny again. Maureen and Brento were next. Brento did take her up on the offer of pastries. He filled a plate with glazed turnovers and placed a second plate over it as a top on the container so his food was portable. Urban made a face, and Fulvia kicked him under the table. Sometimes, District people had weird habits with food. It was just one of those things they had to accept and move on. Fulvia asked about Brento’s hip, and he said it was actually doing ok.

“Was I your primary last year?” He asked Maureen. She shrugged. He looked over at Fulvia and Urban. “Was I?”

“I don’t remember.” Fulvia lied. Urban followed her lead. Of course, Brento had been the primary, but if Maureen didn’t want him to know that, then she wouldn’t tell him. Fulvia decided a topic change was in order. “You should talk to Cecelia. She had to mentor her first year out, too.” Brento nodded.

Blight and Oakley were shockingly casual. Their girl was the primary. She was going for a humble lumberjack angle (which Fulvia didn’t understand, but whatever), and the boy was proud to represent District Seven. Urban nodded approvingly. Fulvia typed. She didn’t ask about their tributes knowing each other, and they didn’t offer anything.

Fulvia lost track of how many times she wrote the words ‘funny’ and ‘sweet’, and ‘nervous’ and ‘likes the food.’ Truly, the only remarkable thing was that Effie joined Haymitch for the meeting. Fulvia knew that it had been the right call instantly. Haymitch’s eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Fulvia reached into her bag and pulled out a set of under-eye masks. She set them on the table and offered them wordlessly. Haymitch didn’t acknowledge her. Effie nodded and slid the patches into her own dress.

“So we’re thinking that Poppy will be our primary. She’s very sweet and fun. Tom is very genuine as well. We rode the elevator with him multiple times because he loved it so much.” Fulvia smiled for the first time all day. She thought back to District 12 and its dark gray sky, slushy snow, and the layer of coal that coated everything. She was glad 12M was getting to experience this. Haymitch looked down and tapped his foot.

“I’m so glad. Is he a fan of the food, too? That’s been a trend this year.”

“Yes!” Effie adjusted her posture. “We had the mushroom risotto for dinner last night. I thought he was going to lick the bowl.”

“Please introduce that kid to an ice cream float,” Urban begged. Fulvia nodded. They had jokes in the Capitol about things like this. Similar to ‘District 2 does not produce peacekeepers, ’ the other good one was ‘A single sip of a carbonated coffee would kill a District 12 child.’ Given how much Haymitch drank, Fulvia wasn’t sure if that one was true.

“No snakes,” Haymitch whispered. He looked up at Fulvia for the first time. “Please don’t do it again. Please let her go gently.”

“I can’t control that,” Fulvia replied. Effie gave her a look, and Fulvia nodded. “If she’s afraid of snakes, let’s make sure there are none in her interview outfit.” She wanted to tell Haymitch that the arena probably wouldn’t have snake mutts based on what she’d heard, but she couldn’t. She’d agreed to review her staff member’s edit of the engineers’ arena walk-through after mentor meetings to prevent any accidental information sharing on her part. Her poker face was good, but not perfect.

“It’s not allowed,” Urban offered. “It’s in our handbook. Section 23.14 No live animals are allowed in the building.” Fulvia glanced at him. “What? I’ve been hanging around the VA crew.”

“And it’s a shame because Tigris used to bring her cats,” Effie added. “It was very nice to see them.”

“Oh.” Haymitch made a face.

“Well.” Fulvia decided. “That’s settled.” She didn’t want to kick them out, but she also had places to be. “May the odds be in their favor.” Effie stood and began to herd Haymitch towards the door.

Fulvia took a long and slow exhale as she lifted her braids from her neck to get some air. She’d need to figure out a new hairstyle for tomorrow. Long hair couldn’t be worn down with the new uniforms. She’d probably do an elegant twist or something.

“I’ll get note cards off to Caesar.” Urban stood up. “You ok? You seem different?” Fulvia’s head snapped around to him.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a ton of politics this year, and I don’t think this should be a political role.” Urban nodded.

“Hang in there. President Snow is allowing this for a reason. It must be a lesson of some kind.” He offered. She nodded.

Fulvia had an iced coffee and a muffin for dinner. She ate in the spin suite with her staff after she reviewed the arena footage. Lysterna showed them all pictures of her new baby, and Fulvia suggested they hang the pictures up on the wall. The engineers had done ok on camera. They worked with a different type of angle than she did. And that was ok! They all had different strengths. She was more interested in the engineering officers who had been sent. She’d wait to hear from Crispus and Plutarch before any further thoughts. The arena was spectacular. She couldn’t wait to see Panem react to it.

She tapped her microphone gently. “Ladies and gentlemen. This is Gamemaker Cardew with your 15-minute call to places. Again, this is your 15-minute call to places.”

“Thank you, 15.” Her staff responded. She scanned through each camera absent-mindedly. Everything looked fine. 1F was with Victoria backstage. Neither seemed stressed. 1F’s dress was pink with tulle. She’d been decked out with diamond necklaces and a diamond hairpiece. It was honestly a little much. Just because the girl’s name was Diamond didn’t mean that she needed to be her whole brand.

Felix showed up with 1M. 1M unbuttoned his top button and puffed his shirt out. Felix promptly rebuttoned it. 1F and Victoria thought that was hysterical. Fulvia scanned through more cameras. Caesar flipped through his cards while doing vocal warm-ups. The sparkly orange was growing on her. Maybe she would even like it by the end of this year. Fulvia looked at her staff. “Last bathroom breaks. Drinks on the table, please. No liquid near the console.” Her staff obeyed without comment. Fulvia closed her eyes and stretched out her neck. The 10-minute places call. The five-minute places call. 2F and Lyme were backstage in the queue. She nodded at her allies. The dress was an interesrting choice. It was a sparkly high low in a pastel blue. It didn’t work with her angle at all.
Her earpiece crackled.

“Gamemaker Cardew, you are cleared to roll when ready.” Charlemagne’s voice came through. She nodded and looked around at her staff. They were ready. They always were; she had trained them well.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Standby brass symphony. Standby Caesar. Hunger Games 59. Odds ever in our favor. Go symphony. Go Caesar.” Fulvia could run these cues in her sleep.

“It’s just so nice to be here!” 1F sparkled under the stage lights like her namesake.

“I’m so excited. I’m going to be the best of all time.” 1M added. He’d unbuttoned his top few buttons. Fulvia and Urban made knowing eye contact. Fulvia glanced at her mentor camera and saw Felix face-palm backstage. Victoria and 1F exchanged a look. Imagine going against a mentor’s instructions? This should get interesting.

“I’m so ready.” 2F offered.

“All of these tributes are annoying, and I’m excited to kill them.” 2M deadpanned. Fulvia blinked. Urban giggled.

“I love it!” Caesar shouted. The crowd roared.

“I really liked the chocolate cake,” 3F explained.

“I love the chocolate cake. Tell me. What else have you tried during training?” Caesar kept her going. Fulvia smiled. She had a feeling that many of the tributes would be talking about cake in some form tonight. 3M’s suit had light-up panels sewn into it. The stylist had done an amazing job.

“Look, I can change the color!” he showed Caesar, turning it to a sparkly orange. “We match now.” Caesar gasped.

“No! You look better than me now!” He cried. Fulvia laughed. “Alright, I’ll allow it. Here, take my microphone.” The rest of the bit was 3M pretending to interview Caesar, which culminated in Caesar almost walking 3M offstage to a smiling Beetee. Fulvia nodded. That kid just became a contender.

4F did struggle in her interview. She said that she didn’t understand the point of the interviews. If it was a joke, it didn’t land. It didn’t help that she was between two funny tributes who had a natural acting instinct. 4M was sensational. He wore another seashell suit and stole Caesar’s microphone. Caesar pretended to be offended, and 4M then they took the opportunity to do a free-style rap that had their entire office in hysterics.

5M was so small that the chair swallowed him up, and 5F tripped on her heels. Caesar caught her. She promptly took them off.

“Why do people here wear these?” She asked? The crowd roared in delight. “Caesar, I’ll get you some steel-toed boots from Five. We wear them in the power plant.”

“Do you think I could be a power plant worker?” Caesar put his hand over his heart.

“I think you show potential as a solar panel.” She replied. Fulvia watched Porter smile and laugh. The Sixes raved about the food and clothes. Fulvia nodded. All good. The sevens were standard.

“You have no trees here.” 7F observed. “You should fix that.” The eights were basic.

“The lamb stew was really good,” 8F explained. “But my favorite thing so far has been the chocolate. That and it turns out knives are just bigger sewing needles.”

“Are you going for a knife in the morning?” Caesar asked her.

“No, I’m going for chocolate. But if there’s a knife in the cornocopia, I’ll take that too.” She smiled and posed.

“Gamemakers! Put some chocolate in the arena!” Caesar shouted. They panned the camera to Charlemagne, Plutarch, Crispus, and Laurentio, along with a few others in the gamemaker booth. Laurentio nodded and gave a thumbs-up before remembering that it was technically no longer his job. The nines were good as always. Another solid year from the tens.

“I don’t have a victor prediction this year?” Urban whispered to her at one point. Fulvia nodded. She felt the same way. Prior to seeing the arena edit, she would have said this was 4M’s to lose, and maybe 1M or 4F would take it. But this wasn’t a water arena. It was a brutal one, though. She pushed the thoughts of the arena out of her head. She shouldn’t be thinking about that yet. Plus, these outlier tributes were showing up! The mentors hadn’t been spinning anything; these tributes all seemed funny, sweet, and enjoyable to watch!

The twelves appeared on her backstage camera. Haymitch knelt in front of 12F and mimed smiling and waving. There were no animals or reptiles anywhere to be seen. Effie had an arm around the boy. Little 12F was perfect during her interview. Haymitch watched it with foot-tapping anxiety and a hand over his mouth.

“I like all of the dresses and food here.” 12F admitted. “But the lights block out the stars, and I don’t like that.”

“We’ll get our top engineers on it,” Caesar promised. “You win, you come back, and we’ll have that fixed.”

“I’m counting on it.” She smiled.

12M was similarly perfect. Effie reminded Fulvia of a stage mom as she mimed a big smile backstage. 12F held Haymitch’s hand as they all watched together.

“I don’t understand why you’re not all fat.” 12M offered. “If I lived here, all I would do is eat all day.”

“Well. Some of us do eat all day.” Caesar commented.

“You don’t look like it.” 12M replied.

“You’re very kind. Tell us, in our last minute, what should we be watching for when you’re in that arena?”

“Well, I’m really excited for the tube bit. I rode the elevator here and it was awesome. Haymitch and Effie let us ride it multiple times!”

“Incredible. What a beautiful reminder of simple joys. Ladies and gentlemen, Tom McElroy of District 12!”

“Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Hi Anna! Love you!” He shouted before heading off stage. Effie hugged him, and then the Tweleves shared a nice moment of a group hug. Fulvia didn’t know Effie very well, but she was so grateful to the woman for pulling Haymitch through this year.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!” Caesar closed out the night, and Fulvia rolled the anthem. The other department heads messaged her words of congratulations. Charlemagne even said it was “good”

“I will see everyone here tomorrow at 5:30 for a uniform check!” Fulvia shouted to her staff. “Please go home and sleep. No alcohol or merriment tonight!” The staff made a show of booing her. She rolled her eyes. They began to clear out. Fulvia wondered if she should go back to her apartment for the night or if she should just sleep here. What were Crispus and Plutarch doing? She’d do the same as they. Her datapad pinged with a message from Crispus.

‘No bugs tn. Ones are fighting, Fours and Twos are hype.’

Well. Now all she had to do was finish the epilating on her now-tailored uniform, submit more analytics reports, make sure that wool socks (IN JULY) didn’t make her boots too small, polish said boots, and then transfer her gum, Band-Aids, and bobby pins to her new tunic. May the odds be ever in her favor. She bit her lip.

Chapter Text

It was the arena nightmare again. Wind whipped glass shards around her, and she crawled desperately through the broken obsidian masses towards the shelter of the cornucopia. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but all it did was let the glass shards inside her. Blood poured out of her mouth. The glass shards whipped the skin off her bones. Crispus and Plutarch screamed for her inside the cornucopia, but Charlemagne shook his head.

“There’s no room for another one.” He walked away. She bolted upright on the couch in her office. Her hand shot to her mouth to stop the blood. She blinked back into herself. It was just the pre-opening day nightmare. She was fine.

Fulvia twisted her hair back up and into a twist. Last touches. A little bit of lip color, some smoky eye, and mascara was professional enough but not too attention-seeking. The wool socks felt uncomfortably tight in her boots, and she had to yank them up to her knees in order to even zip her boots.

“Good morning, everyone!” She greeted her staff. “Let’s check that we’re all in the correct uniform, and then we’ll get started with our day.” Her staff was perfect because her staff was always perfect. Urban’s sister had done an amazing job on his tailoring. She nodded her approval.

“I feel like the combo of the belt and the sash is too much?” Lysterna commented. “I would enjoy a belt or a sash. But not both.” Fulvia nodded. Between the fabric, the lack of internal pockets, and the silhouette of the uniform, there was no way this designer had ever been a gamemaker. Her datapad buzzed with messages from the other department heads. Plutarch and the stylists were underway. The cornucopia was in the final stages of prep.

The department head meeting was quick. Fulvia almost wished she had skipped it. The President would not be joining them in person this year at the complex. He would be watching the fanfare with his family and private advisors. Charlemagne had apparently been told he needed to appoint an interim department head for engineering, so they were joined by an short woman named Athena and her stormy grey eyes. It looked like she dyed her hair gray, and had silver hair tinsel? Which certainly was something. As they stood up to leave, Fulvia realized that they had done the same twist in their hair.

“We’re twins.” She offered with a smile. Athena rolled her eyes.

“Hardly.” She headed for the door. Fulvia blinked. She could hear Crispus sip his coffee behind her.

“Don’t take it personally,” Laurentio advised. He was still sitting and typing something. “She’s like that with everyone. Citadel Chemist before being sent here. Promoted straight to senior associate. She used to make a game out of how many first years she could make cry.” He leaned back in his chair. Fulvia groaned. Crispus perked up.

“My first DH was like that, too. We each had a point value!” He’d pulled out concealer from one of his pockets and applied it under his eyes using the camera of his datapad. He didn’t look as exhausted as yesterday, but he didn’t look opening day ready.

“Were you a high or low value?” Laurentio asked. Fulvia couldn’t believe this was a conversation that was happening on Opening Day. Maybe it would be a fine conversation for night seven when everyone was bored, but not opening day.

“High, but only because I would save my tears for the pillow like a true professional.” Crispus smiled. He’d switched over to eyeliner. Laurentio nodded approvingly. Fulvia checked her watch.

“Well. I’m proud that we don’t treat our associates like that anymore.” She decided. Crispus nodded.

“No.” He elbowed Laurentio. “We just work ‘em to death.” Both men cackled. Crispus pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket. “Do you guys want some?” Fulvia shook her head and started for the door.

“Happy Openings. See you in the greenroom.” She called to Crispus.

“See ya Cardew.” He called back. Laurentio waved.

Fulvia tapped her foot impatiently on the roof. Cicero and Urban queued up their cameras. Given that people didn’t really watch send-offs, Fulvia had thought it would be a good opportunity to test drive the new automatic cameras. Supposedly, they were less work to focus. Why was Crispus offering Laurentio gum? Especially after his comments yesterday about the photoshoot. It made no sense. And why was he doing his makeup in the meeting room? Shouldn’t he have come to the meeting ready for the day? Urg. She needed another coffee.

Victoria and 1F came out first. The sun was beating down on the gamemakers and their polyester uniforms. The tribute froze at the base of the hovercraft.

“Hey.” Victoria grabbed 1F’s shoulders. “You are so loved, and from one group home girl to another, please go kick some ass.” 1F nodded. Victoria flipped her girl’s braid over her shoulder. “You can do this. Zara and I will be with you every step of the way.” 1F nodded. She smiled.

“See you soon?”

“See you so so soon.” Victoria watched her go. She smiled and waved to the cameras. 1M walked with purpose to the hovercraft.

“Hey. Listen.” Felix put his arms on 1M’s shoulders once they were at the base.

“I don’t need a goodbye hug.” 1M replied.

“I’m trying to hug you because this is the last time anyone is going to touch you without trying to kill you for two weeks.” 1M rolled his eyes. “Trivot! This is not the stories you’ve heard from Max and your dad around the dinner table. You need to be smart.”

“Maybe you needed to be smart. I just need to be me.” He shrugged. Felix pulled 1M into a hug. Fulvia hoped he was whispering some sense into the tribute. This was clearly going to go poorly. “Cheer up, Felix, you’re about to finally have a victor!” 1M pulled out of the hug and began heading up to the hovercraft.

“Trivot! I love you, and Max and I are going to do everything we can to bring you home.” 1M didn’t reply. Felix bit his lip and watched him go. He glanced over at their cameras. “Ah. Teenagers, am I right?” And headed for the elevator. Fulvia nodded affirmatively. She felt heat prickle between her skin and the wool socks. This was subpar.

“Lock in,” Lyme whispered to her girl. She put her hands up for a fist bump. “I’m so proud of you.” The girl nodded. She had a determined look on her face. “Strength and honor.”

“Strength and honor.” The girl replied. She clasped Lyme’s arm. 2M got the same talk from Cael.

“I am so proud of you,” Cael whispered to 2M. “Go show the Ones what teamwork looks like.”

“Do souvenir?” 2M asked. He smiled like it was an inside joke.

“Yeah have time.” Cael smirked and hugged 2M. “Strength and honor.”

“Strength and honor.”

3F cried. 3M froze, and Beetee told him the only thing that mattered was finding water.

“Deep breaths.” Mags held 4F. “Stay in the middle of the pack. It won’t last long this year.”

“You have Maeve and me in your corner.” Percy hugged 4M. “We love you. See you soon.” Porter’s boy cried, and the girl seemed to be dissociated entirely. Fulvia hoped she would be able to rest on the flight before the opening bell rang. Now was not the time to mentally escape. Brento and Maureen. Blight and Oakley. Cecelia and Woof. Fulvia liked the new automatic cameras. All the same, she’d still teach her team how to do it manually. She stayed up on the roof until Haymitch came out with 12F and 12M. Effie joined them again. Each tribute got a hug before ascending to the hovercraft.

“And they’re off.” Cicero whispered as Haymitch disappeared down the elevator and the hovercraft took off. Fulvia nodded.

“Thoughts on the new cameras?” She asked. The sun beat down onto her real scalp. The wool itched her calves. She hoped she wouldn’t burn.

“Much less work to use.” Cicero shrugged. “Heavier to carry, and more work to set up.” Urban nodded.

“These won’t work for anything in the field, but I can see them being useful on a hovercraft.” He offered. Fulvia shrugged too. They would continue training with both the manual and automatic systems. The margin of error was too small otherwise. The elevator, the hallways, the ID check. She forced herself to live in the present.

“How’s your new bestie?” She asked Crispus when she finally made it down to the greenroom. He stopped typing on his data pad and made a face at her. He reached into his pocket.

“I’ll give you gum too. No need to get jealous.”

“I am not jealous of Laurentio.”

“Good, because we need him.” Crispus held up a hand. “You, me, and Plutarch are one block of the room,” He counted off with his fingers. “Laurentio, Athena, and Charlemagne are others. I’d like to make our odds better.” Fulvia nodded. He wasn’t wrong. “I bet Athena and Plutarch would get along.” He theorized.

“I think he would fascinate her in a bad way.” She replied. Crispus shrugged. Plutarch wasn't everyone's cup of tea. That said, Fulvia usually got along with her colleagues. She’d even held mutual respect with Charlemagne before she found out about how he was treating Maeve! She would bring Athena around. She just needed some time to get to know the woman. Maybe she’d wear less glitter to work. That might help. “How are things here?” She glanced around the room. Zara and Max were locked in an...animated conversation in the back. Maeve and Felix whispered near the stylist's chair. Clusters of victors sipped coffee, and others had taken over the bar. Haymitch and Chaff sat near each other with a bottle from the top shelf open between them. Victoria leaned over the couch and seemed to be telling Haymitch something. He nodded. The calm before the storm rested over the room. Charlemagne had told Crispus to select a victor to lead the procession again this year, so Palladmium had been drafted. Part of Fulvia hoped they would rotate it out more to the outer districts to avoid the allusions of favoritism, but the Ones and the Twos were the best at line leading, so they were stuck. Crispus lifted his datapad so they could whisper without anyone overhearing.

“I want 1M out fast for Felix’s sake. I’ve never seen him this stressed.” He whispered. Fulvia glanced at Felix, Maeve, and Palladium in their own whispered conversation.

“He seems fine?” Fulvia followed their eye line to Percy and Cecelia. It looked like the more seasoned mentors were gossiping about the younger ones. That was normal. Besides, Fulvia didn’t wish a tribute ill just because they were torturing their mentor. There would be no one left to make a victor in that case.

“That was one of the fights on One last night. Felix said if Max had this many opinions, then Max should just be the mentor. Max said Felix needed to do it.” Fulvia raised a hand to run it through her hair before rememebering that it was all up in a twist and she couldn't. "

“Well, did you hear what 1M said on the roof during goodbyes?” She asked. He shook his head. Fulvia relayed the ‘you’re about to finally have a victor,’ Crispus’s jaw dropped. He looked over at Fulvia. She nodded. He shook his head. Their earpieces crackled.

“I have thoughts.” He dropped the datapad. “We need to talk about this later, though.” He stepped forward. “15-minute warning until we line up! Last call!” Haymitch promptly tipped the bottle back. Fulvia resisted the urge to wince. He shouldn’t chug the good stuff; he should sip it. Crispus looked back at Fulvia. “New uniforms roll out ok?”

“Yeah, I made all of mine gather this morning for a uniform inspection. Like we didn’t have enough to do already.” She checked her nails over one more time. Crispus nodded. The tone of the room shifted. Drinks were being downed. Brutus, Zara, Max, and the other extra-mentors all threw a shot back. Maeve had her hands on Felix’s shoulders, and she was laughing about something. Good.

“We did the same. My guys and I are starting a betting pool for who gets demerits first if you want in.” Fulvia rolled her eyes. Zara gave Victoria a hug. Max did the same with Felix. He whispered something in Felix’s ear. Felix nodded.

“It won’t be you.” She reflected. “You’ve put effort into not antagonizing him, and I think he’ll want to reward that.” Crispus lit up.

“Thank you for noticing!” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s tough walking this fine of a line, but someone’s got to do it. Also, we haven’t heard from Plutarch yet. Laurentio kept us briefed on all of his moves for opening day.” Fulvia shook her head. Their group chat was quiet, and the DH comm channel was quiet. She made a face.

“He’s struggling.” She shifted her weight. “It’s tough to go from an assistant to a DH.”

“We wouldn’t know.” He bragged. She shrugged. It’s true, they wouldn’t. She and Crispus had come in on the ground level and worked their way up. Two peacekeepers showed up with the relic from the Dark Days. The gamemakers exchanged greetings with them, and then Crispus stepped out of their conversation again. “Start making your way towards the door. Straight lines please.” Palladium hefted the relic up.

“What if I drop it?” He asked. Fulvia couldn’t tell if he was joking.

“Don’t,” Crispus replied. The lines began to form. Felix and Victoria adjusted their positions behind Palladium so their triangle looked more even. Up close, Fulvia agreed with Crispus’s earlier assessment. He and Victoria both had makeup caked under their eyes. The stylists hadn’t done a good job on either of them. The color matches were off.

“Lead off with the right leg?” Victoria asked Felix. He nodded. Palladium mimed taking a step with his right leg. Fulvia’s earpiece crackled as her staff told her they were getting ready to line up for the gamemaker parade. The gamemakers would not be coordinating which leg they led with. Victoria turned to the Twos. “Right leg.” She confirmed. Cael and Lyme exchanged a glance behind them. Crispus didn’t comment. He looked over at Felix.

“Is your escort still on her crusade against butter and sugar?” He asked. Fulvia blinked. Felix nodded.

“She might add bread to the list, too, depending on how this year goes,” He explained. “Because that’s why we haven’t won the past few years. Too many carbs.”

“Nothing to do with unprecedented traps or several second-place finishes.” Crispus agreed. He paused. “Would you say the situation is affecting your ability to participate in engagements and appearances?”

“Not really.” Victoria looked between Fulvia and Crispus. “We can still eat. It’s just bland food.” Felix rolled his eyes. He looked back over to Crispus.

“Yes. Very much so.” He nodded.

“The public isn’t getting my best.” Palladium agreed. Crispus nodded too. Fulvia joined in for good measure. Victoria made a face of sudden understanding.

“Oh! Yes. Yes, we’re going to pass out.”

“We can’t have that,” Crispus confirmed. “I’ll send Faustus to talk to her.” Ear pieces crackled again. They were on standby. Crispus cracked his neck. Fulvia pushed the door open into the hallway. Peacekeepers snapped to attention.

“Walk to the green line on the floor and wait for my signal she instructed Palladium. He nodded. She glanced back over her shoulder. “Crispus, door?”

“Got it.”

Fulvia joined Palladium and started her mental countdown. Peacekeepers had used velvet ropes to block off the way through the main sponsor floor, and a few stood by in case the drunken conduct got out of hand. A group of little kids caught sight of the victors and began waving madly. The victors from One and Two all waved back. Palladium just smiled.

“They waved at us!” One little boy screeched. He grabbed the shoulders of the boy he was with. “They’re so cool!” Fulvia grinned.

“We are so cool.” Agreed Cael, just softly enough that only their immediate group could hear. Lyme nodded. Felix smirked at Victoria. She made a heart with her hands and directed it toward the kids. They went ballistic. Caesar was on screen discussing the betting odds this year. It was a 1M versus 4M showdown, but it could be anyone’s game.

“I really see it coming down to the arena.” Caesar was saying to Claudius. “And I hear we’ll get to see an arena walk-through this year? I’m so excited.” Claudius nodded. The lights dimmed. Fulvia looked over the Palladium and held up five fingers. He nodded. Four fingers. Three. The anthem started early. Oh well. Fulvia made a ‘go for it’ motion. The lights flickered, and Palladium led the march out.

“Happy Hunger Games. Odds be ever in your favor.” She wished them well. Porter looked back at Maureen automatically. The women shared a half laugh before stepping back into the public eye. Maureen seemed pretty sober. Crispus handed the peacekeeper back the case for the dark days relic.

“See you in fifteen?” The peacekeeper nodded.

Fulvia and Crispus scrambled up the back stairwell to where their own staffs were assembling for the gamemaker procession. Plutarch finally texted that all tributes were in their launch rooms and with their stylists. Crispus pulled his staff into a huddle. She did the same.

“Let’s have a great year, everyone.” Her arms were around her people. Everyone was here except Lysterna. She’d be running camera calls from the control room. “I want clean edits, clean shots, and good storylines. Let’s make the new uniform look good. Bring me content!” Her own staff cheered. Crispus’s staff did the same.

Fulvia and Crispus joined Athena, Laurentio, and Charlemagne at the front of the line. He nodded greetings at them. He’d seen a stylist since their morning meeting. His beard was styled, and his hair had pomade in it. Fulvia smiled at Laurentio.

“We’re happy to have you back with us for the opening day madness.” He smiled back. Crispus caught her eye. She didn’t acknowledge him. She was busy befriending Laurentio.

“It’s insane. The air feels electric.” He commented. “Who’s running cameras right now?”

“Mid-level associates.” She replied. “This isn’t my full staff. Juniors and seniors get to walk in the parade, but…” He nodded.

“Competent enough not to need hand-holding and not senior enough to have privileges.” He finished. “Smart.”

“Thanks.” She stepped into her place between Crispus and Laurentio. Athena was the most junior department head (despite being older than all of them), so she was last. The peacekeepers showed up with the Dark Days relic. Charlemagne lifted it up. They all cheered. Earpieces crackled.

“Corps of Gamemakers, this is your five-minute warning.” Lysterna came through on the coms. “Standby.”

“Gamemakers!” Charlemagne shouted. “We serve a sacred mission. Today, we fulfill that mission. Let us be joyful in our duty.” He turned. Fulvia listened to the music swell and the lights pulse. This was one of her favorite parts of the year. Who didn’t love high-fiving kids and the crowd cheering for them? “Going, in three, two, one.” And they went.

Someone gave her flowers. She was glad her hair looked good. She caught sight of herself on the big screen. The uniforms did look good from far away and projected. She reached her station in the control room and nodded greetings to Lysterna.

“Be seated,” Charlemagne called. “Time check.”

“Five minutes to tubes, sir.” An arena engineering boy replied.

“Run the arena walk-through,” Charlemagne ordered.

“Running,” Fulvia replied. She already had the footage queued up. The three senior engineering officers stood outside the cornucopia. Two men and one woman. Fulvia let herself experience all of the thoughts she had locked away yesterday for the sake of fairness. She glanced at Crispus. He shrugged. He had his mentor camera open.

“Hi. We’re the senior officers from the game maker engineers.” The middle one led. “Let’s check out the arena for the 59th Hunger Games.” They zoomed out and showed a bleak landscape dotted with volcanic glass towers. An artificial sun beat down orange rays and reflected out through the black glass, creating a scattering effect. There was a sort of beauty in the landscape, but the whole place was devoid of color outside of black, orange, brown, and gray.

“Our central area is the cornucopia. We’ve given the tributes food, water, and weapons to make a show.” One pointed to the piles of supplies. “Sleeping bags and skin protection will be important. Any skin in contact with the volcanic glass sand in the area is liable to get shredded.” The most senior man led. The mentor room was grim. Mags had a hand over her eyes. Fulvia ran through the districts in her head. No one would have an advantage here, except maybe Two? Maybe Five? And maybe a three could make something happen.

“After the bloodbath, there are plenty of places in the inner ring to hide, fight, and look for food. The insects and lizards are edible!” The woman explained. “Along with some sand patches, the ground here is made out of broken obsidian. Don’t trip!”

“Hey, what’s up with the outer ring?” The younger man asked. That was a bad delivery. Obviously scripted. Fulvia had winced when she first heard it, and she winced now. Lysterna shrugged and confirmed a camera on the cornucopia. Fulvia checked the mentor room. Haymitch had his head down, and Seeder rubbed his back gently.

“The outer ring offers a maze-like network of corridors where tributes can hide. We’ve also left some treats there. Careful though! You can enter the maze at one point and emerge at another. If you come out at all…” The older man finished. Percy perked up at the mention of a maze.

“The tributes will be coming up in just a minute. We’d better get out of here.” All three of them laughed at the canned joke.

“Happy Hunger Games!” The woman finished. “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

Tribute podiums rose up. The countdown started. Fulvia’s stomach did flip-flops. The group blinked and looked around. A dry breeze must’ve been blowing. 1F had her hair down, and it swayed softly through the air. 1M blinked and then refocused on the cornucopia. 4M waved to 4F. She waved back. 2F pointed at 9F and drew a line across her throat.

30 seconds. 7M looked around and then nodded. 8F stared at the sky. 9M and 5F shrugged at each other. A moment of panic shot through Fulvia. Was there a separate alliance she missed? Some mutual understanding? She couldn’t even ask Lysterna. Four, three, two, one.

3F tripped as she jumped off the podium, and her face collided with the sand. She screamed in pain. Her hands and face looked like they had been run through a paper shredder. Her screams became the soundtrack of the cornucopia. 7F froze at the sight of her.

1F reached the weapons first. She found a bow and arrow and sent one straight through 11M’s torso. 2F realized she didn’t even need to make it to the weapons and just shoved 6M’s face into the sand and dragged him a meter before moving on. 2M grabbed a set of knives and hurled one at a retreating 9M. It missed. He made a face and lunged for 5M. The knife went into his eye, and he went down. 4M found a spear and impaled 7M. 10M snatched a knife off the ground and stabbed 9F in the shoulder. It didn’t look deadly? More of the outliers decided the sand wasn’t worth the risk, and they grabbed what they could within a few steps and ran. 1M kept searching for something.

“He hasn’t even killed anyone yet,” Lysterna whispered. Fulvia nodded. 8F shoved 6F as they found a backpack. 6F went down. Her hands broke her fall, and that was the problem. 8F ran, and 4F moved in on 6F. Laurentio gasped. Fulvia looked over at him.

“The only long-range weapon there is the bow." he explained. "Those aren’t throwing knives.”

“You can throw a spear.” Crispus offered. Fulvia toggled to a new camera. 1F looked around for her next target. Finally, she sent another arrow into 12F. 1M grabbed a spear and went after 10F. She grabbed a backpack off the ground and outran him easily.

“You can throw a spear once,” Laurentio replied. “Then you’re out of luck.” Charlemagne smiled from his spot. Fulvia nodded at him. He grinned at the acknowledgement. A brutal hunter’s arena and close combat weapons, this would be a year to remember.

“You haven’t even seen the backpacks yet.” Charlemagne offered. All of the gamemakers perked up. What about the backpacks?

It was a short bloodbath. Maybe the outliers decided that it wasn’t worth the risk of tripping into the razor sand, or maybe they just had another plan. They scattered like underage university students running from police when bars were raided for an ID check. Only 7F remained frozen and staring at the still squirming 3F. 1M approached her. She didn’t move. Her breaths got rapid. Fulvia wondered why she didn’t run. A wet patch spread across her groin. Oh, poor girl. Fulvia went for a chest-up wide shot so the tribute could keep some dignity.

“I…” 7F tried to choke out some words. 1M didn’t give her a chance. His spear went through her heart, and she hit the ground. Then he speared the still screaming 3F. He smiled.

“Thanks for playing,” he whispered. He wiped his spear off on 7F’s shirt. On the mentor camera, Victoria glanced at Felix, and he shrugged. Lyme made a calming gesture at the two of them.

“Eight cannons, but give the volunteers a minute to assess their situation.” Charlemagne paused.

In the arena, 2F kept going through the supplies they’d earned. Fulvia could see the sleeping bags and other items the engineers had teased. She scanned through the piles. Weapons, some type of weather gear, empty water bottles, a plastic bag of six dinner rolls, apples, and some beef jerky. Their situation was stark.

“Where’s the food?” 2M asked. He’d clipped the knives to his belt. 2F shook her head. There was one backpack left, and 4F opened it hesitantly.

“Here.” She called grimly. “It must’ve been in the backpacks.” She reached into the pack. “We have three apples, some type of crackers, and a full water bottle. Oh! And a knife. So they’re all fed and armed.” The volunteers were all silent for a moment. The control room was too. Fulvia leaned forward in fascination. What an interesting strategy from Arena Affairs. The volunteers had the cornucopia and thus protection from the elements, but the others had enough food for a few days and weapons. Charlemagne gripped the podium in excitement. He licked his lips.

“So we have nothing?” 1F concluded. “And the runners got the supplies we needed.” 4M bit his lip.

“We’ll have sponsors.” He knit his hands together and rested them on top of his head. “We’ll be fine. We just need to go hunt now. The longer we wait, the further away they get.”

“Cannons now,” Charlemagne called. The boy from arena affairs nodded. It was a dramatic flourish to the situation. Fulvia wondered if Charlemagne had ever considered arena elements as a career or if he’d always been all-in on engineering.

“I think we should bring these tarp things.” 4F kicked at one of the sheets in the mouth of the cornucopia. “They’re here for a reason.”

Chapter Text

By the time Fulvia had finished with the first elimination press conference, the volunteer mentors had their plan in place. Someone from One, Two, and Four sat in the mentor room, while the others graced the sponsor floor. It wasn’t hard to see why they won as often as they did; training aside, they just had that winner’s mentality.

“That was quick,” Plutarch commented as he walked back into control with her. “I’ve always wondered if the mentors make a plan A and plan B for the arena.”

“I think they do,” Fulvia replied. Was it one or two years ago that Brutus and Lyme had changed their primary tribute based on the arena design? She should be able to remember this. She was too young to be having memory problems. Charlemagne glared at them as they entered. Laurentio stood behind him, looking pleased.

“Heavensbee! You need to update your weapons tracking spreadsheet and do better about keeping the control room informed.” Charlemagne noted. “That’s a demerit!” Crispus looked up from his station and glanced at the two of them. He turned and looked at one of his people. “However, Cardew has earned the first pin for meritorious service. Her staff made mine look good; this is the role of media.” Fulvia tilted her head. That was not the role of media. Media’s job was to create a cohesive narrative from the games and make everyone look good, not just engineering.

“Thank you, sir, but my staff should receive the credit. It was their good work, not mine.” She deferred. Lysterna and Urban grinned from their stations.

“Then you and your seniors may all have meritorious service pins.” Fulvia stood up a little straighter. Charlemagne had a little pouch of the gold pins, and he distributed them to her staff. Lysterna and Urban made a silent fist bump towards her under the control panel. Fulvia added the pin to her sash and noted that the gold did look good against her uniform.

In the arena, the volunteers tracked down a pleading 6F hiding between two obsidian columns. They hadn’t left anyone on guard duty in the cornucopia. There wasn’t anything valuable to guard. 2F slit her throat with a knife. She didn’t have a backpack, but she was one less tribute to worry about. And that was Brento and Maureen, done for the year.

“Canon,” Charlemagne ordered. The mentors sent them more beef jerky as a reward. It bought them another few days. Water would be the bigger issue. Only the middle ring and outer ring held the pools of drinkable water.

Caesar was in full form on screen. He and some new commentator were theorizing about the arena and what a stroke of engineering brilliance it was. Fulvia agreed it was a technical marvel, but it would also be a nightmare to force confrontation between tributes as they moved toward the middle game and endgame. This whole year felt like a mismatch. Short-range weapons with a high visibility field and obstacles preventing tributes from effectively chasing each other down didn’t align well. Sponsors could send long-range weapons? Maybe they could give some out at the feast? It was a screw up of communication between arena affairs and engineering. Hopefully, things would get better now that engineering had a department head, and surely they could put some mutts into play to force confrontations.

10F crept into the maze, constantly looking over her shoulder as she went. 5F kept moving North, ducking into a field of broken obsidian towers. Her cheek brushed against one, and it sliced her face. She gasped in pain, and continued on. 3M lay on his stomach on the horizon over the cornucopia. 12M wander aimlessly in the Southeast sector of the arena. Fulvia hoped Haymitch had a chance to find a coffee or eat something before heading back up into the mentor room.

“We got a few more hours before sunset.” 4M noted. “I say we head back to the cornucopia for the night. We don’t know what mutts are out here, and the sand around the cornucopia would keep us safe from them.” The others nodded.

“No firewood either. We’ll be in the dark as soon as the sun goes down.” 2F ran her tongue over her lips. Fulvia ran the mental calculation in her head. They had at least three days before sun exposure would become a hazard. “This could get rough.”

“The weird blanket stuff they left us would be good to sleep in.” 2M agreed. So with a parcel of beef jerky, the volunteers trudged back to the cornucopia. 3M watched them arrive silently. The volunteers each ate two pieces of the jerky, agreeing to save the rest for breakfast.

“Urg. We won’t have coffee.” 4F commented. 4M poked her.

“I’ll be your coffee.” He offered. She glared at him, and he smiled.

“Is that a threat?” She asked. He shrugged. Fulvia made a face. Were the fours flirting with each other?

“You didn’t know that coming in?” 1M asked. He rested the spear across his lap and played with the tip absent-mindedly. His token rested outside of his shirt. A small gold necklace. It was cute.

“No, I did. I just like the stuff. My family drinks it together every morning.” She replied.

“You have coffee every morning?” 1F asked. “We only get it on special occasions.”

“Really?” 4F asked. “Figured with One being One, you’d be able to afford it.”

“Yeah, I’m not from that part of One.” She replied.

Fulvia waits for the order to come down from Charlemagne that she needs to switch the cameras to a new tribute because discussion of social classes amongst tributes is never shown (the rule was that if you wouldn’t bring it up at dinner with your boyfriend’s parents, don’t let it get to air), so she prepares to toggle over to 10F, eating an apple, but the order doesn’t come. Lysterna glanced at Fulvia. Fulvia shrugged.

“Sir, should I switch to someone else?” Fulvia prompted. Charlemagne nodded.

“Yes, good call.” So, Panem watched 10F enjoy her apple and the sunset, rather than 1F and 4F’s comparison of social classes across their districts. Fulvia watched it on her private viewer screen, though. It was fascinating! She finally got some answers about how volunteering in One worked.

“We should have a comparative discussion about our mentors next.” 4M suggested. He gestured to himself. “Mine is the best, and he will get us more than beef jerky. Right, Percy?” He shouted. Fulvia toggled back to the volunteers. Panem loved it when they could do live mentor reactions and when the tributes contributed to district rivalries. It was so fun! That said, this type of conversation usually didn’t happen until night three or four amongst the volunteers, so maybe their timeline would be different this year.

“Give me a split screen of the sponsor floor and the arena.” She called down the media desk.

“Aye, ma’am,” Lysterna replied. The split screen popped up.

“I ain’t saying anything.” 2M drew a finger across his lips and mimed locking. “Cael, I respect the hierarchy.” He shook a fist at the sky. Cameras found Cael and Percy standing near each other on the sponsor floor. Both had drinks in their hands. Cael laughed and mouthed ‘attaboy.’ Percy slapped his shoulder.

“I feel like they all know what they’re doing? They all won?” 4F offered. She shrugged. A wicked grin crossed her face. “You guys wish you had Mags as a mentor. She’s a pearl.”

“Mmm. I got that Felix and Uncle Max combo.” 1M disagreed. “Wouldn’t trade them for anything.” 1F knowingly nodded. The VA gamemakers burst into laughter from their corner. Fulvia smiled. It was quite a change of tone from what they had heard this morning and through training, but the arena tended to do that.

On the sponsor floor, the camera found Felix at a table with two older women (and for one terrible moment, Fulvia thought one was Drusilla Sickle- the living reminder of why it was important to research your plastic surgeon), but it was just a random woman with the same tacked face. The women both gave Felix looks of endearment with 1M’s words, and Felix nodded knowingly. He ignored the camera as he laid one of his hands on the hand of the nearer woman and his other hand on his heart.

Back in the arena, 1F paused, and then a smile crossed her face. “We’re just so easy to mentor.” She led. “Think about it. We’re smart, we’re skilled. If I were a sponsor, I would sponsor us.” The sponsor room camera caught Victoria; she was mid-conversation with some guests when they all appeared on the big screen. Victoria realized she was on the big screen and nodded enthusiastically. The potential sponsors lit up at the sight of themselves being projected, and Fulvia knew that Victoria could seal a deal thanks to her tribute’s efforts. 2F picked at her nails with a knife. Oh. Was 2F not going to say anything nice about Lyme? That was sad.

As the sun began to dip below the artificial horizon, the temperature began to drop. The volunteers laid out the sleeping blankets on the sand and watched as the faces of the fallen rolled with the anthem playing. The moon provided a little bit of light. They huddled together in the cold as they worked out a watch schedule and agreed to rise with the sun to maximize their hunting time.

“Let’s play the sound of the beetle mutts we have. Something like a teaser.” Charlemagne ordered. Plutarch nodded, and the sound of something metallic and small filled the arena. The volunteers were still awake. They whispered theories quietly amongst themselves. Caesar was losing his mind on screen.

“What is it?” He speculated.

“Maybe an insect of some kind?” Claudius weighed in. 11F shuddered and stood up in the dark. 3M did the same and rose up on his knees so that he could look around. 8M looked around and lay down on the ground. Fulvia tilted her head. That was one response to a potential mutt attack.

Day Two in the arena dawned, and Fulvia swiped her credential card to enter the building. Her new pin for meritorious service shone bright on her sash, she'd worn less glitter on her eyes today, and her hair was in an elegant twist. Fulvia had skipped the wool socks. She had them in her bag if it was an issue, but she just wasn’t going to wear wool socks in July. The morning meeting was quick. It was too early for panicked meetings about feasts and endgames. Plutarch was in full damage control mode from his demerit yesterday.

“The interesting thing at play here, and the brilliance of this arena, is that the outlier tributes can go after each other in a way they usually can’t.” He noted. “They’re fed and they’re armed. The volunteers will still take them out the second that they’re close enough, but we’ll see some active district fighting.” He offered. Crispus and Laurentio nodded along. Athena blinked. Her expression was something unreadable.

“Exactly,” Charlemagne commented. “Thank you, Heavensbee.” They reviewed a few of the media pieces Fulvia planned to put out in case of a lull. Minerva and Pollyanna were assembling a short-form video of the top 20 funniest tribute one-liners of the past decade. She had Cicero and Urban interviewing the Master of Ceremonies for the tribute parade and one of the stylists about their jobs. She was actually kind of jealous of Cicero and Urban on this one. The stylist had taken them to the underground hallway, where hundreds of gowns, costumes, and suits were stored throughout the year, sorted by size and category for various victor appearances. The logistics of it all fascinated her. Fulvia wondered if the costumes for the closed set photoshoots were down there, too, or if they were in a separate place. She hoped they were in a separate place.

Panem watched the volunteers enjoy their slice of jerky for breakfast, and the group started out on a hunt. 4F and 1F stuck close to each other. The Twos led the way, and 1M and 4M keep a careful watch on each other.

On the other side of the arena, 8F hid beneath an outcropping of rocks; 12M was on the move and wandered by her. He was oblivious to her. She paused. Emotions flashed across her face. She could kill him easily. She had the knife from the backpack, and he wasn’t paying attention. He had a backpack, meaning he’d have food. Her grip tightened on her knife, and she took a half step forward. And then something else flashed across her face, and she pushed herself back under the rock cropping.

“Wait for day three. Arena madness’ll set in, and they’ll be so desperate for food, they won’t know what to do with themselves.” Crispus offered. “Happens every year.” He went back to typing something. Charlemagne nodded. 8M had left a trail through the sand parts of the inner ring and the volunteers were tracking him. Conversations in the control room spanned everything from what would be served for dinner that night to whether the volunteers would find 8M before or after the maze spat 10F out near their path. She wandered aimlessly through the high stone walls, and if she made two more rights, she would end up back in the inner ring and on track to collide with them.

Fulvia noted with quiet satisfaction that her non-uniform socks escaped detection as they were wrapped up day two. She bragged about it to Plutarch and Crispus that night as they ate a quick dinner hidden away in Crispus's office before evening shift started. They had the cafeteria, but sometimes it was nice to just order food and eat away from prying eyes and ears. Their uniform jackets hung on the coat rack so they wouldn't risk spilling food on them, meaning that they were all just wearing the black undershirts. They had the arena muted on someone's datapad behind them.

"You do you. I'm not risking a demerit." Crispus replied. He took a bite of his sandwich. "If he makes us wear wool underwear, I'll rebel then. Not until."

"I've never had a demerit before." Plutarch hissed. "I don't understand how to get rid of it." His sandwich was pretty much untouched. Fulvia shrugged. She opened her mouth to reply that none of this really mattered as they already had rank and Snow's favor, but Crispus got there first.

"I think it's with you forever." Crispus sipped from his water bottle. "Like when you get promoted to head gamemaker, they'll all hear about it." He paused. "I wouldn't know, though. I've never had one." Fulvia slapped his thigh. That was not helpful. Plutarch was distraught!

"How have you never gotten one?" Plutarch asked incredulously. Then he smiled. "Didn't the head gamemakers back in the 20s give them out too?" Crispus shook his head.

"No, they did in the 49th, though." He replied. Fulvia sighed. This was a pointless conversation. Their datapads buzzed with an alert. Fulvia grabbed hers first.

'Volunteers got 8M." She read. "Urban's handling the elimination press conference. Nice." She closed out the notification. "Should be a quick one. Outlier going down to the volunteer pack on day two is nothing new." Crispus nodded. She leaned back against the couch. It was day two, and her brain was exhausted. It was just one storyline after another. And because there were so many media appearences for the victors this year, they were barely in the residental area and thus she couldn't collect intelligence from the bugs. "Anybody else just feel like it's a lot this year?"

"It's a lot every year. We're just aware of it this year." Crispus replied. "My staff is feeling it too, though." Fulvia nodded. Her staff was the same. They were such troopers, never really complaining, only asking what was next. He gestured to Plutarch. "And you didn't come up through the normal track, so one demerit, all things considered, is pretty light." Plutarch nodded.

"I know. I'm trying." He rubbed his forehead. "It's just hard." Fulvia nodded. Her first year as a department head had been rough, too. Crispus and Charlemagne had helped her through it. And Gaia had been a very supportive head gamemaker. She never would have given a new department head a demerit in front of the entire control room. Gaia never would have put them in wool socks. Gaia would never have changed the timesheet format!

"It is hard. Just look after your people and your people will look after you, yeah?" DH Ravinstill gave the same advice he had once given to newly appointed DH Cardew. Plutarch nodded.

Day Two became Day Three, and arena madness settled in over the tributes. The sun baked down on them, making water their most precious resource and sending light scatterings all through the arena. It was bright enough that 8F teared up when she tried to leave her hiding spot. 3M still watched the volunteers from a distance, and the control room speculated about whether he was formulating a Beetee-style electrical trap. 10M found a lizard in the inner ring, and he bit into it. He gagged as he swallowed the first half of the lizard whole.

"That just does not look good," Urban whispered next to her. Fulvia nodded. She watched one of the boys from arena affairs pass a datapad back and forth with an engineering girl. It looked like they had made a prediction card? She missed being a lower-ranked gamemaker so she could play games like that. Laurentio brought her a coffee and she nodded her thanks to the man.

The volunteers thought it would be funny to pretend to be from each other's districts as they hunted for the day (with the added caveat that everyone had to keep their original weapons), and that had audiences in hysterics all afternoon. They'd wrapped the tarps from the cornocopia around themselves as protection from the sun, filled their water bottles, and kept going.

"One of them is going to take that too far, and someone will snap." Plutarch theorized. But no one did. 2F pretended to be 4F searching for coffee and water to swim in. 1F demanded that she be allowed to portray 1M and promptly tied her hair up.

"Hi. I'm Trivot, and I check myself out in the reflection of the obsidian towers as we pass them." She waved at the nearest tower.

"If you looked as good as me, you would too." 1M replied, though he was pretending to be from Two.

"Thicker accent." 2M replied. "You need to act like your words are bouncing off quarry walls." He paused. "Now, where is the ocean. I seek a fish."

Their mentors rewarded their efforts with bread from One, Two, and Four. It was a nice moment in the arena. The tributes dropped the charade and dug into the bread from their home districts. 4M ripped his roll open and breathed in the smell. 2F just held her roll for a moment. 1F ate half of hers and pocketed the rest for later. Fulvia didn't need to look at the mentor room camera to know that everyone, even those who weren't from a volunteer district, was happy for the volunteers.

"Good job, guys." 4M whispered. "We're doing it."

"We are." 1F agreed.

Chapter Text

On the other side of the arena, 12M ambled by 5F's hiding spot as he looked for a place to hide for the night. He was humming, and she heard it. This time, he didn't get so lucky. She crawled out of her hiding spot silently, gripping her knife. Her chest heaved. He got further away. She bit her lip as she looked at the knife in her hand and the boy less than 20 paces away from her, oblivious to the threat she posed.

"Come on, girl, just do it." One of the associates called. Charlemagne bit his lip.

"Let's do a rockslide or something to get this boy's attention on her." He decided. "Heavensbee. Make it so."

"Aye, sir." Plutarch nodded, and one of the smaller rock piles near 12M went down. He screamed, and 5F did the same thing. Fulvia winced as he tried to run and tripped. It wasn't the razor sand, but the stones were still sharp, and he rolled over onto his back and sobbed. 5F closed the gap. Something mechanical passed over her face as she brought the knife up and down into his chest. Again, and again, and again. Canon. 5F dropped back from the body and stared at her bloody hands. Instantly, she began to wail. Fulvia hoped Chaff or someone else would help Haymtich get to the press conference.

"Someone is having a very bad day." 2M noted as their group made their way back to the cornocopia. 5F’s screams bounced off the glass towers and echoed throughout the arena. "Could not be us."

5F stumbled away from his body and curled into a ball on the ground as she rocked back and forth. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She whimpered. Her hands were bloody, and she tried to wipe them off on her own clothes. Fulvia stood up to get to the conference. It would be another quick one. Her mentor camera showed Porter biting her lip as she watched her tribute spin out.

Fulvia resolved to get Haymitch through the conference as quickly as possible, and she met that goal. Audiences were far more interested in 5F's reaction to the death than 12M's death itself. According to the staff group chat, 5F was still rocking back and forth as they finished up the conference and as the anthem began to play. Chaff was backstage waiting for him when it was over. They both stank of alcohol. Effie came running down the hall, too. She said something about the terrible sacrifice the games required for the good of Panem, and the victors glanced at each other.

"I'm needed back up in control." Fulvia excused herself. "Goodnight."

The arena settled down for as the sunset. Nightshift took over. Fulvia headed for her office, where a mountain of paperwork awaited her. The hours clicked on. She was so tired. Maybe if she just put her head down on the desk…

Fulvia’s comm was buzzing. She jerked her head up and looked around. She knew better than to verify her staff’s timesheets at midnight. It was 02:45 now. Yikes. She checked on the arena as she scrambled to her comm. Everyone was asleep. Even 5F had passed out back under her rock shelf.

“Crispus to Fulvia.” Her comm crackled. “Crispus to Fulvia.”

“Go for Fulvia.” She stretched out the tightness in her neck.

“I’m downstairs in medical, and no one from my team is free. Can you bring me a datapad?” She could hear talking in the back. It sounded like someone was crying.

“Why do you need a datapad in medical?” She grabbed one of the charging pads from its dock in the spin suite and draped a blanket over the shoulder of a sleeping associate. She wasn’t the only one who had fallen asleep at work tonight.

“Fulvia, not now, please.”

“Crispy, I’m obviously bringing it. I’ll see you in five.”

The complex wasn’t as deserted as she would have expected for the hour. Custodial avoxes mopped the floors. Fresh flowers were set out for the next day, and the windows were polished. The atrium smelled of cleaning products. Her watch read that it was around 2:45 am. She’d deliver this and then go back to bed. This time, using the cot in her office. Based on the pain in her neck, she was too old to be sleeping on her desk.

The elevator put her out on the medical floor near the morgue and Victor Recovery. It was similarly deserted. She pushed through the double doors of the patient care area. She pulled up her comm to ask what room Crispus was in, but female voices yelled from room number five. That was easy. Fulvia didn’t knock before she swung the door open. She regretted that instantly. Cecelia was in bed, and a nurse bent over her, stitching up a cut on her shoulder. She was in a short dress with a medical blanket covering the bodice.

Victoria stood over her, screaming obscenities, as Crispus tried to get her to calm down. His hair looked worse than usual, and his uniform looked even more crumpled than hers. Cecelia was yelling back, and the nurse was acting like this was all normal.

“What were you thinking?” Victoria yelled. “You’re going to get someone killed. You think this is all a fucking joke, don’t you? That you can make your funny little side comments and no one will call you on it.” Crispus continued to make a calming motion with his hands. Relief washed over his face when she entered.

“I followed the rules! I didn’t fight back! But I’m not going to let some rando drunk woman on the street cop a feel!” Cecelia spat back. She pointed a finger in Victoria’s face. “She didn’t pay, I don’t need to do anything.” Fulvia paused. What the hell was going on here?

“Hi.” She led.

“Look!” Crispus pointed at her. “Gamemaker Cardew’s here. We’ll fix the security camera footage, and then we can all go to bed.”

“You need me to alter security camera footage?” That was her follow-up question? Victoria and Cecelia were almost at physical blows; Cecelia was selling herself, and that was what she chose to follow up on.

“Yes, please.” Crispus nodded. “I have the timestamp and location, I just don’t have the datapad.”

“I can’t do that from a datapad. We need to go to the control room.” Fulvia explained. Cecelia looked over at Victoria.

“And somehow this is going to be my fault too?”

“Yes!” Victoria shouted. “We’re here because you broke the rules! If you could just be good, we wouldn’t be here!”

“I didn’t break the rules, dingbat!”

“Shut up,” Crispus shrieked. His voice went three octaves higher. The victors turned to him. Fulvia blinked. He took a deep breath. “Please, both of you, just shut up.” He rubbed his forehead and looked over at the nurse. “How much more time do you need?”

“Done.” She answered. She looked over at Cecelia. “Come back down tomorrow so I can give you a shot for STDs.” Cecelia nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.” She whispered. Fulvia’s brain whirled. STDs??? The nurse walked out of the room muttering something about district germs. Fulvia blinked. They were victors? This was insane. That nurse needed to be fired. Crispus turned to Cecelia and Victoria.

“Promise me next time we have an incident, one of the nice nurses will be on duty?” He asked. Cecelia made a face. Victoria kicked the toe of her high heel at the scuff mark on the floor.

“Honestly, when I saw her name on the schedule, I thought about just going upstairs and waking Zara. Stitches are easy.”

“Yeah, the couches there are better.” Crispus agreed. He turned towards Fulvia. “Ok, Fulvia, we need to delete some footage from a security camera.” Fulvia hated how helplessly she shrugged.

“I can try from the datapad, but generally, if we wanted to make security camera footage go away, we need to either delete the file entirely or corrupt it.” She looked between Crispus and Cecelia. “Depending on how much we want to hide something.” Crispus nodded. He turned to Cecelia.

“Did the woman you hit look rich?” He asked. His tone was so matter-of-fact. Cecelia shrugged. Fulvia dropped into a nearby chair. Her brain was overloaded. This was too much.

“I don’t think so?” Cecelia bit her lip. She slumped back into the chair. “I’m sorry.” Her eyes started to well up with tears. “There was just…stuff all over my dress, and I didn’t want anyone to see, and then she snuck up on me and I panicked.” Cecelia started crying. “I swear I didn’t mean to break the rules. Then Victoria showed up, and we came here. Please don’t hurt my family.” Victoria dropped into a chair, too. Fulvia grabbed a box of tissues from the end table and passed it over to the crying girl. She nodded and blew her nose. Fulvia bit her lip. Something was really wrong here.

“We’re not there. The driver screwed up by not taking you back to the indoor entrance. Let’s all take deep breath.” Crispus paused. He bit his lip. “Victoria, did you see what happened?”

“I had never seen her before. The lady was also drunk out of her mind. She might not have even known who we were.”

“How do we know she was drunk?” Crispus asked.

“Naked lady running around at 2 am trying to hug people?” Victoria asked. “She had a broken wine bottle. Came at Cecelia from behind,” She looked over at Cecelia. “Honestly, any one of us would have done the same thing.”

“Wait, was that how you got hurt?” Crispus asked. She nodded. Crispus leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Fulvia wanted to tell him that he was ruining his uniform, but it already looked trashed. Glitter from Victoria’s dress covered one side, and blood from Cecelia’s arm covered the other. He seemed taken aback. Fulvia was taken aback. “Guys, tell me that first next time. We’re fine.” He announced. “We are so fine.” Both victors visibly exhaled. “Procedurally, why did the van not take you back to the indoor entrance?” Cecelia shrugged. Crispus nodded. “I’ll check the schedule.” Fulvia blinked.

“Hi.” She led. “Not fine. What’s going on here?” She looked over at Cecelia, who thankfully, seemed a bit calmer. “Are you ok? Are you selling yourself? Do you need money?” Cecelia looked over at Crispus suspiciously.

“Is this a joke?” She asked. Crispus shook his head and pushed himself up from the floor.

“Fulvia, can we go on a walk?” He offered her his hand.

“No?” Fulvia smacked his hand away. “You wake me up asking for a favor? And now Panem’s sweetheart is getting stitches, begging you not to hurt her family?” She looked over at Cecelia. “Honey, is he forcing you to do something?”

“I don’t know how to answer that question.” She answered. She looked over at Victoria. “This is definitely a test, right?”

“Usually, the jackets don’t wear the jacket during a test?” She moved closer to Cecelia and sat on the bed next to her. They’d swapped positions. Fulvia felt an invisible line drawn between the Districts and the Capitol.

“Jacket?” Fulvia asked. The exhaustion was officially gone from her body. Her best friend at work, actually her best friend period, was doing something terrible, something horrible, something irreparable. She swallowed.

“Slang for a gamemaker,” Crispus replied. He glanced between the victors and her, and then something up in the corner.

“It’s really more of a tunic now.” Fulvia offered automatically. Her brain spun. What was Crispus doing? This was so wrong. All of this was so wrong. Victoria shrugged. Cecelia looked over at her.

“Fulvia, please, can we take a walk?” Crispus asked.

“Not until I know what’s going on.” She stood up and moved to the foot of Cecelia’s bed, blocking Crispus from the victors. It occurred to her that both of them were probably better able to defend themselves against him than she was, but it was the principle of it. He nodded.

“Fulvia, please.” He whispered. “We cannot do this here.” Fulvia turned to look at Cecelia and Victoria.

“Is he hurting you? I can get him fired. Easy. Charlemagne’s terrible, but he hates him.” It wasn’t a perfect solution, Snow would be unhappy, but there was something fundamentally wrong about the situation.

“I…” Victoria looked back and forth between them. “Do you really not know?” She whispered.

“Fulvia, please.” He stepped towards her. “Do you remember what I told you on the train?” He’d told her a lot on the train. How much of it had been lies?

“Do you remember what I told you on the train?” She threw his own words back at him. “You’re…selling people. This is wrong. I’m going to Snow.” She started for the door. “Did you poison the Royage girl, too? Fuck. Did you get Maeve pregnant?” She was crying. Fuck. Crispus was hurting people. Her best friend was hurting people. “You need to be stopped.”

“President Snow knows. He’s doing it on President Snow’s orders.” Cecelia spoke up. Victoria stood frozen for a second, and then she nodded. Fulvia blinked. No. Snow couldn’t know. Fulvia shook her head. Her mind couldn’t wrap around the concept because the games were a sacrifice. This was about sacrificing for the future! So that no one would ever forget how terrible war is! Being a victor was a sacred thing…even the ones like Haymitch and Chaff had done an immeasurable deed for their country. Doing this to anyone was wrong; doing this to a victor was an act of blasphemy.

“That’s not possible.” She whispered. She looked over at Victoria and Cecelia. “Crispus is lying. President Snow wouldn’t sign off on this. He’s lying to you.” Because if Snow knows then… She looked up at Crispus. “Tell me it’s not true.”

“I can’t.” He whispered. “Fulvia, I thought you knew.” He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. “That conversation after the photoshoot, I thought you knew.” He was crying too.

“Now you’re lying.” Fulvia backed him up into a wall. Victoria moved towards them, and Crispus shook his head at her. “You know I didn’t know.” She’d trusted him. She’d trusted him. She’d trusted him. “All those times I helped you with paperwork or sent someone out for an appearance…you dragged me into this!” She shoved him against the wall. “You lied to me for years….how long has this been going on?” Crispus didn’t answer her. Fulvia felt bile building up in her throat. Hot tears streaked down her face. Her mascara was going to run. She looked over at Cecelia and Victoria. “Are you guys ok?” They looked at each other.

“Gamemaker Cardew, please,” Victoria spoke up. “Take a breath.”

“Fulvia,” Crispus whispered.

“I…” Fulvia stopped pressing Crispus against the wall. Snow couldn’t know. He just couldn’t. Because if he signed off on this, what else did he sign off on? She shook her head. This was Crispus, not Snow. No. No. War. Terrible. War. The reaping’s film began to play in her head. This is how we remember our past. This is how we safeguard our future. “I don’t believe you. I’m going to Snow.” She ran for the door. She cleared the medical area.

“Fulvia! Don’t!” Crispus ran after her. She sprinted for the elevator. Crispus tackled her. She went down. Linoleum tiles bit into her. She swung at him. “He’ll…remove you!” He hissed. He was literally sitting on top of her. He was heavy.

“I’ll explain to him why this is wrong!” She bit his hand. He yelped. “He trusts us.”

“Why do you think that is?” She ignored him and tried to crawl out from under him. She couldn’t be a part of this. She wouldn’t be a part of this.

“So it’s all for nothing?” She landed the base of her palm against his nose. He recoiled as blood began to leak down his face.

“Not exactly.” Crispus was trying to stop the blood with one hand and hold her down with the other. It was an opening. She swung her elbow and flipped him like a crepe. Crispus crashed into the ground, and hands dragged her back.

“We need him,” Victoria panted. Fulvia tried to break away, but Victoria had her in a vice grip. Cecelia knelt by Crispus.

“I think she broke your nose.” Cecelia hauled Crispus up and off the ground. His nose was bloody, and it was definitely broken. He touched his face gingerly. Cecelia took the medical blanket off her shoulders and offered it to Crispus. Fulvia saw the stains she had been trying to hide. This was real. This wasn’t some bad nightmare. He shook his head, but she extended it again. Finally, he took it.

“Ah.” He grimaced in pain. “Fulvia, we gotta go for a walk. Victoria, Cecelia, you guys good to head upstairs? Keep this on the down low, please.”

“Yeah, sure.” Victoria released Fulvia and began heading for the elevator. She turned and looked back at Fulvia. “Don’t hurt him. He’s the only reason most of us are still going.” Fulvia shifted her weight. Cecelia tried a different approach.

“If anything happens to him, you’ll have uncooperative victors.” She pointed out softly. “And then how quickly would Head Gamemaker Royage be able to replace you?”

“Guys. Upstairs. I’m fine.” Crispus replied. He waited until the elevator doors closed before he turned to her. “Supply closet.” She followed him into the closet next to Tigirs’s office.

“Are there bugs in here?” She whispered.

“We’re beyond that.” He replied. He pulled the device from the train out of his tunic and sent a ping through the closet anyway. No bugs. He winced as he used the medical blanket to staunch the flow of blood pouring out of his nose.

“So how long have you been a peddler of flesh?” She crossed her arms. He didn’t wince at the venom in her words.

“Since I became the department head for VA years ago.” He replied. “This started, actually, I don’t know when. From what the victors have told me, it’s always been something they dealt with.”

“That’s horrible.”

“I very much agree. I asked Snow about ending it once. Find another way to merchandise them or find another way to reward loyalty. He laughed and said I didn’t understand the point of it.” Fulvia felt ill. Snow was…sanctioning this. This was their nation’s pageant of remembering the horror of war and the dark days, and yes, sometimes things got a little out of control, but there’s a difference between that and state-sanctioned assault.

“Why don’t you quit?”

“I thought about it!” He ran a hand through his hair. “But Faustus, Justinia, and I all agreed that if one of us made it to seniority, we’d all stick around and try to end it.” Fulvia nodded. “Then I changed some things about how the system worked, and Snow loved it. So that’s what I’ve done. I wear sunglasses indoors like an idiot, screw up on camera duty, and act like a nepo hire playboy because no one takes a nepo seriously.” She blinked. It made sense. Crispus was so different one-on-one than he was in meetings. “When no one takes you seriously around here, it’s very easy to do what you want.”

“I don’t believe this. Who else knows?”

“It’s an open secret on senior staff, especially anyone from the old families.”

“It is fucking not.”

“It is!!” he hissed. “You and Plutarch get to skate through the social game here because you're freakishly good with cameras. My first year on staff, the other guys in the department asked if I wanted to join a betting pool for who would buy the victor first after the tour.”

“That’s vile.”

“I agree!”

“I don’t believe you.” Fulvia shook her head. Even as she said it, she knew she was lying to herself. She staggered back. All of those times when she’d commented on a victor being exhausted in the morning or teased someone about having a long night…how could they even stand the sight of her?

“You can believe whatever you want! But what the hell did you think that photoshoot seven months ago was about? You think people would be content to look and not touch? How do you think Maeve got pregnant?” Fulvia paused. Fuck. Her heart began to beat rapidly.

“What else don’t I know?” She asked. He stared at her.

“The Ones get the worst of it, but the Fours frequently give them competition there,” Crispus whispered. He had a haunted look in his eye. “We think the Twos made a secret deal a decade ago to avoid it as long as they give a good show in the arena, but we’re not sure.” He took a breath and dabbed at his nose again. “Usually, the city loses interest once they’ve been out for a while. Not this year, though! That was a fun conversation to have with Catherine and Zara.” Fulvia nodded. She hadn’t known. She hadn’t known. Conversations recontextualized themselves. Victoria and Zara asking 1F from a few years back if she wanted to live. Catherine and Woof promising they would wait up for Cecelia. Percy and Maeve tying knots with a rope they passed back and forth. Zara never letting Victoria out of her sight in the complex. He paused. “It’s not always sex. Sometimes it is just a party and a legitimate appearance. Or sometimes a rich asshole wants some pretty arm candy for the night. Or sometimes they just want someone who can’t say no. ”

“They’re not allowed say no?” Her mind felt detached from itself. Logically, that tracked with selling people, but hearing him say it was different.

“If they refuse, Snow kills someone they love. Lucky Haymitch lost his entire family in freak accidents before he got back from his games, so he’s been spared most of it.” Fulvia swallowed. No wonder he drank so much. If Fulvia had lost her family and then had to watch horrible things happen to her friends, she’d drink too. Crispus kept talking. “You know Apollonia Vickers, the socialite?” Fulvia nodded. She hated where this was going. “She has a thing for leather and once whipped someone until he passed out, and didn’t stop. He couldn’t walk for days. What else…Oh!” Crispus gasped. “You know the Braxtons?” Fulvia nodded. They were two houses over from the Cardew manor on the Corso Street. “They like to get the new victor in their bed for threesomes, especially if they’re a One. And who else…”

“Stop,” Fulvia whispered. “Please, stop.”

“You don’t want to know why Victoria doesn’t dance anymore? Or how Felix used to fight back so my boss used to drug him? Or how Percy has a nice girl back in Four and he’d love to court her, but he wants it to be over first?”

“Crispus, I-”

“I’m not holding your hand here anymore. You want to hate me for this, then go ahead and hate me. But I’m doing more than you.” Crispus paused in the doorway. “Last favor I’m ever doing for you is I’ll have Faustus scrub the security camera in the hallway.” Fulvia was left alone. Truly alone in the building for the first time ever.

Chapter Text

She called in sick that day and told Urban it was a crazy stomach bug. He said he heard that one of the engineers had norovirus. It was going around, crazy thing about summer stomach bugs. Urban promised to take care of everything. Usually, when she was sick in bed, she would rewatch old tapes of Hunger Games past, given that she knew all the victors, and there was something comforting about knowing what would happen. That wasn’t working now. She couldn’t watch a younger Felix without thinking of Crispus’s words. She couldn’t watch Cecelia’s games or Maeve’s or anyone’s. Even watching the current arena terrified her. Which of the tributes would be subjected to this? Maybe Crispus was lying? He had to be. He had to be. Because if he wasn’t lying, then all of the rumors about President Snow were true, and Snow really was a murderer. Wait, that was a logical fallacy. She stopped herself from spiraling. She needed more information. But who could she get it from? Not Crispus, not Plutarch, and her staff was out of the question. Someone not on staff, but someone who would also know the truth. She bit her lip. Gaia.

Panem’s 20th Hottest Gamemaker had Panem’s 7th Hottest Gamemaker over for coffee. Gaia didn’t ask why Fulvia was asking to meet in the middle of the games at the last minute. She just poured coffee and told Fulvia to sit down.

“Let me guess,” She began. “Charlemagne realized that his engineering arena is going to cause a day seven slump?" Fulvia blinked. She'd noticed it oo? "Or Crispus let the mask slip in front of the wrong person? Or Plutarch is getting another promotion? Or has Laurentio done something now?”

“None of those.” Fulvia sipped her coffee. “Though I guess Crispus did let the mask slip in front of me.” Gaia tilted her head.

“I wondered if you knew. You were always too chipper.”

“I am not chipper,” Fulvia replied. Gaia sighed.

“No. You’re not as chipper as you used to be, and I see a lot of myself in you, which worries me.” Fulvia looked around the Templesmith estate. It was gorgeous. Gaia loved her husband; they had beautiful children, and both had held successful careers. They had wealth, prestige, and a big house. What else could someone want? Gaia sipped her coffee. “It’s a horrible thing, I acknowledge that, but it’s necessary.” She whispered.

“How?” Fulvia asked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Just to confirm, we’re both talking about Crispus running a prostitution ring with national heroes?” Gaia set her mug down.

“National heroes because they slaughtered children.” She spat. “How many victors are back in town for the games? 30? That’s enough cold-blooded killers to slaughter the entire gamemaker staff in our sleep and wreak havoc on the city.”

“I...” Fulvia had never really thought about that. But the victors only killed because they were put in arenas. And some of them weren’t even killers; they’d just hidden the entire time. Plus, Brento and Cecelia were kind of flukes? She never would have said that out loud, but it was true. And Cecelia was being sold!

“Fulvia, if we don’t break the victors, they will break us,” Gaia warned. “By definition, they won our game.” Fulvia felt her heart beat a little quicker. “So yes, it is a terrible thing to do to a person. But they’re not really people, they’re district." Fulvia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure District was District, but victor was a victor? They were icons! "We made them. And we take care of them! They get a nice house. And we pay them for their trouble!” Fulvia swallowed. Her stomach rioted. She sipped her coffee. Gaia kept talking. “I understand it’s a shock to the system. Sometimes we see things in that building, and they make us uncomfortable.” Gaia paused. Her eyes went somewhere else for a minute. “But you were selected to be a department head because of your ability to detach from that.” Fulvia nodded. She’d been told she’d been selected to be a department head because Gaia trusted her camera work and thought she was smart. Could she detach from this? Who would she be if she did? Who would she be if she didn’t? “Besides, you won’t be there much longer. I heard you’ve caught Snow’s eye?”

“Plutarch, Crispus, and I all did,” Fulvia replied softly. Her nail pressed into her thumb pad. Even if she wasn’t in the building anymore, it was still happening. The sun still shone behind clouds. “He wants me on his media team, and one of the boys will be the new head gamemaker after Royage.” Gaia nodded.

“It’ll be Plutarch.” She concluded. Fulvia wondered how she knew that so easily. “Means Royage could be in charge for a while. Plutarch is struggling as a department head?” Fulvia nodded. How could Gaia know that? “Yeah. A direct promotion was not the right choice for him.” Fulvia nodded reluctantly.

“His officers are covering for him. And Crispus and I are too, but…” Gaia nodded.

“Promotions at this level are impossible to understand. President Snow is gifted at knowing where we best excel.” Gaia explained. “He kept me and a friend as department heads, and then moved my friend Egeria over to his staff.”

“Oh.”

“She loved it. Better hours, no uniform. And you’ll still see your gamemaker friends at the parties. Just a word of caution?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Fulvia sat up a little straighter.

“The sycophants usually don’t last long in our President’s office. He does value dissension, especially when expressed privately to him and worded well.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Fulvia’s brain spun.

“My pleasure. So tell me, how is Head Gamemaker Royage?” Gaia asked. Fulvia filled her in on everything from the woolen socks to the nonstop meetings. Gaia just laughed. Fulvia didn’t think most of it was funny.

The stomach bug was just too significant. Being in her childhood home would help. Not that it ever had before, but the alternative was being in the same neighborhood as Crispus. She’d stay the night at the Cardew house, and then. She didn’t know what. She should quit, right? But even if she walked away, it was still happening.

The Cardew manor was quiet, like it always was. Mother was probably out somewhere. Fulvia opened her datapad and drafted a letter of resignation. She deleted it. She rewrote it. She deleted it again. Instinctively, she reached for her group chat with Plutarch and Crispus, and then paused. Did she really have no one else in her life besides her coworkers? She drafted the letter of resignation. She could make other friends. She was likable, from a good family, and rich. She could get coffee with the women in her spin class, and she could work on a reality TV show. The Real Housewives of the South Side was always hiring producers. It was considered a joke of a job, but she could say she was doing it as a gag if anyone asked. But even if she walked away, this was still happening. Fulvia showered and used some of her high school skin care products. She slipped into her sleepwear from the academy days and tied her dressing robe around herself. It would be a chocolate cake night, no doubt about it. The avox brought her a piece of cake in the manor’s kitchen, and Fulvia called her back for a second piece.

It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. She wasn’t an idiot, but this felt beyond comprehension. Her headwrap felt too tight around her head. Her stomach churned. She should not have eaten that second slice of cake. The whole point of the games was to remember the dark days, and that was why the victor was so celebrated. They were a reminder of Panem’s preservation! They couldn’t hurt the remainder of Panem’s preservation. She sighed and inspected her manicure. It was passable. Could she call Crispus? And say what? Did Plutarch know? He must. His reaction at the photoshoot months ago, of course, he knew. Laurentio probably did too. Her head hit the table in frustration.

“Oh fuck.” A familiar voice commented behind her. She spun around. Felix. In her family’s home. Wearing her mother’s black lace dressing gown. Fuck indeed.

“Felix. Hi.” She led. She blinked. “How are you?” Stupid Question. Fulvia cursed herself internally.

“Good.” He headed towards the sink and filled a glass of water. He knew where they kept the glasses. “How about yourself?” He leaned against the kitchen counter and sipped it.

“Fine,” Fulvia replied. There was no social protocol for what to do when you found out your best friend was running a house of prostitution using the nation’s heroes, and then when one of said heroes turned up in your childhood home wearing your mother’s dressing gown. “Long day at work?”

“Fairly standard. I’m optimistic Trivot can hang in there and make it to the endgame. You?”

“Called in sick.” She replied.

“You seem fine now.” Felix looked her up and down. Fulvia was suddenly acutely aware of her dressing gown, academy pajamas, and head wrap. Distrust radiated off him in waves. Fulvia swallowed.

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“True.” He pulled out a chair and sat at the table with her. “Ravinstill said you might be here tonight.” Fulvia picked at her nails. “He also said that you might start asking weird questions, but this wasn’t a test, and if I wanted to tell you to fuck off, I should.” He leaned back. “And I’m so curious about why Ravinstill, of all people, would turn on you.”

“We didn’t turn on each other,” Fulvia replied automatically. “We had a misunderstanding. It’s fine.” Felix took another sip of his water. He didn’t say anything, just made a ‘go on’ motion with his hand. “Surely you have something better to do.” She regretted her word choice instantly. Felix tilted his head at her and gave her a mean grin.

“Your mom popped a lorazepam and downed a half bottle of white, the same way she does every time. We’ve got all night.” Every time? How often was this happening? Fulvia wanted to vomit. The avox reappeared and set a mug of something hot down in front of Felix. He pivoted toward her. “Thank you.” He whispered. The avox made a rubbing motion on her arm. “No, I don’t need any pain cream. Thank you, though.” The avox nodded and nodded to Fulvia before disappearing again.

“She’s hurt you?” Fulvia hated how weak her voice sounded.

“A love bite here or there.” He sipped the mug.

“I’m so sorry.” The words felt hollow. “I had no idea this was going on. Any of this.” Felix smirked as he set the mug down. He didn’t believe her.

“You watched Maeve be stripped naked by your boss, and you didn’t think that was strange?” He looked at her. “Come on, Cardew, don’t lie.” Fulvia nodded and shifted her weight. There was no version of this where she wasn’t either naive or cruel.

“People see what they want to see,” Fulvia whispered. She picked at her nails. People see what they want to see. It was the first rule of media. People see what they want to see. How could she forget that? What had she wanted to see? And what had she missed? “And no one sane would want to see this. Of course, I needed Crispus to spell it out for me.” Felix tilted his head in confusion.

“Wait, was that what your fight was about?” He clarified. Fulvia nodded. His shoulders slumped to a more relaxed posture. “Oh.” He sipped the hot drink.

“Yeah. I thought Victoria would have told you?”

“No. I barely saw her today.”

“Did you see Crispus today?” Felix nodded, but offered no further elaboration. Fulvia picked at her nails again. “Did his nose look ok? I’m worried I broke it.”

“You hit him?” Felix sat up. Fulvia blinked. Crispus must’ve fixed the broken nose quickly.

“Yes! I thought he was…selling Cecelia.” Felix ran a hand through his hair. He smiled, but he made an effort to hide it, which only made Fulvia feel worse. “Cecelia and Victoria hauled me off of him, though.”

“Well. Technically, President Snow decides what we're worth.” Felix corrected her, as if the distinction mattered. So this was all from Snow. The information churned in Fulvia’s stomach like it had when Charlemagne touched Maeve in front of her “You seriously..." He mimed a punch into his palm. Fulvia nodded. That wasn't what she wanted to focus on here. "Oh, he is not living that down...but please don't hit him." Fulvia nodded. She had no intention of hitting Crispus Ravinstill again. In fact, she needed to talk to him desperately. "Like, he's a lot bigger than you. Could he not block you?" Fulvia shook her head.

"No. He tackled me. So I did a," She mimed a flat palm to the nose, and Felix nodded. "And then he was trying to stop the blood, so I flipped him, and Victoria and Cecelia dragged me off him. Why do you all keep defending him?" She didn't understand. Felix shrugged.

"Because he does the same for us?" Again. He said it as if it were obvious. Fulvia blinked. Felix stared at her like she was dense. "He fines clients if they hurt us. He makes sure we have lube. Plus, he doesn't... savor it the way the last guy did."

“I’m sorry, the last guy enjoyed this?” She tried to remember who the last department head of VA had been. Fulvia just knew she didn’t like him, and that his pale blue eyes could see through people during all staff meetings. Had he been lifted over to Snow’s staff? He'd been long gone by the time she was senior.

“He loved it. He used to wait in remake so he could tell us we deserved it.”

“That’s horrific.” Fulvia couldn’t conceptualize someone deserving this. No one deserved this.

“Yeah.” He agreed. He was silent for a beat. “Do you have any food? I’m starving.”

“Sure.” Fulvia thought about pressing the buzzer to summon the avox, but she thought better of it. She went for the cabinets and began riffling through them. “Grilled cheese?”

“Yes, please.” He leaned back in the chair. 

“Is your escort still being a bitch about food?” She froze. That was way too casual a question. She couldn’t call an escort a bitch (even if she had heard terrible things about One’s escort) in front of a victor. That said, he was wearing her mother's dressing gown, so the social protocol was out the window. Felix smirked. 

“No, she evened out after Faustus told her off.” He sipped the hot drink again. Fulvia put the kettle on. She needed tea.

The sandwich was a good peace offering. Felix still seemed suspicious of her, but Fulvia figured that was fair. He let a few more stories about the secret side of being a victor out. Every incident was more egregious than the last. And maybe the most horrible thing about the situation was that Felix thought some of it was funny? There was nothing funny about Victoria getting roofied and then Crispus swapping the drink with the guy who had done it because the guy wasn't on Snow's approved list. There was nothing funny about Tigris, Woof, and Crispus sitting Cecelia down to explain some safety precautions she should take, only to hear that she’s already been a lady of the night in District Eight for the sake of avoiding the group home. There was nothing funny about a teenage Zara, Catherine, and Porter being driven to a nightclub and told they were waitresses for the night.

“That’s not the funny part,” Felix clarified. “The funny part was that everyone hated District One back then, and none of them had any idea how to mix drinks, so Catherine and Porter just blamed Zara when anything went wrong. Tigris was pissed when she heard about it.”

“Tigris knows too?” Fulvia sipped her tea. She wasn't normally a tea person, but the situation called for it.

“Yeah, Cardew, I think you were in the minority on this one.” He took a bite of the sandwich. At least he believed her? He kept talking. Fulvia was going to spit in Orion Pax’s drink next time she saw him. She was going to wring Apollonia Vickers’s neck. Her tea was abandoned.

“Who watches your tribute in the arena when you’re…” She didn't want to cause offense with her word choice.

“At an appointment?” Appointment. Was that what they called it? She nodded. “Depends. Usually, Max or Zara just tag in for us. The good part is hosts feel guilty about taking us away if our tributes are still alive, so we can get some amazing sponsor deals out of it.” It was sickeningly practical. Fulvia nodded. “I am kind of jealous of Haymitch, though.” He paused. “Don’t tell any of the others I said that. It’s just that he can grow a beard if he wants to, and I think that’s the first thing I’m going to do when it’s over.” Fulvia nodded. The notion of being jealous of Haymitch Abernathy over anything should have been the most insane thing she’d ever heard. Instead, the most insane thing she’d ever heard was that Crispus was selling the victors, on the orders of President Snow, and that the victors preferred Crispus to the guy who used to do it.

“How will you know when it’s over?”

“They lose interest eventually. Someone younger and shinier will come along. Max said he was done by the time he was my age, so once one or two more boys win, I’ll be done.” What a horrible sentence on so many levels.

“Crispus said it’s worse than usual this year?” She asked. Felix shrugged.

“Yeah.” He paused. She nodded. He kept talking. “It's the sponsor floor all day or media appearances, and then it's a gala and appointment. Usually both." Media. That was her jurisdiction. She was making the problem worse. Why had Crispus not told her? Maybe she could edit the media appearances schedule so the victors could get a break.

“Pallamidium! Palladino! Palla-Palla…” Her mother’s voice blasted down the hallway. Fulvia’s jaw dropped. “Where are you, my naughty minx?” Felix groaned. He shook his shoulder out like he was warming up for something.

“Pal and I don't even look alike." He muttered. And then he looked up at Fulvia like he'd said something wrong. She nodded. That was the first normal statement she'd heard all day. Palladium Barker and Felix Croyner didn't look alike. That was a fact.

"No. Two very separate people." She agreed. He smiled.

"Thanks for the sandwich.” He pushed the dirtied plate towards her and stood up. Her mother staggered drunkenly into the doorway. Felix blocked her from coming into the kitchen. “Here, dearie, but I’m Felix.” His voice had changed. There was a melodic purr now that there hadn't been five minutes ago. Fulvia looked away. Had there always been a clock there?

“Oh. You tigers all look alike.” Her mother dismissed. If there were a chasm to the center of the Earth available, Fulvia would have pitched herself down it. Actually, she would pitch her mother down it. “Oh, Fulvia, what are you doing home?” Her mother didn’t even have the decency to sound ashamed. Fulvia stared at the clock on the wall. She couldn't look over there, wouldn't look over there.

“Sick day.”

“Oh well, I’m not sharing,” Her mother replied. Fulvia gagged. Felix smirked at Fulvia and scooped up her mother. She yelped and then whispered something in his ear.

“Goodnight, Gamemaker Cardew!” He called back to Fulvia with a wink. “And good evening, Madame Cardew!” She heard him tease. The stairs creaked, but she wasn't listening anymore. The photoshoot seven months ago, she'd told him to take his shirt off and throw it at the camera. She'd caused this. This was her fault. She needed to resign. But they'd just replace her with someone else. It would still happen.

Chapter Text

The Cardew Manor was quiet when Fulvia’s alarm went off at four. Thankfully, she’d thought to bring a clean uniform with her for the day. The meritorious service pin, which had given her so much joy 36 hours ago, felt like a knife to the heart now. Something panged in her. Would Charlemagne? No. She brought the pin up under the light and inspected it's edges. It wasn't a bug. No. She was just being paranoid. She layered the sash and fixed her epaulets automatically. No wool socks today. Would she be a gamemaker when the sun set? One of her classmates from university was a showrunner for The Real Housewives of the South Side. She messaged him to ask if they could grab coffee soon. She made a double pot of coffee because they apparently had a guest over, and called a car to take her to work.

The letter of resignation sat in her bag. She’d been vague. She wanted to travel more, take more walks, and enjoy her life. She thought about writing that she wanted to spend more time with her family, but that was too cliche. Also, it wasn't really true. All it needed now was her signature. Something stopped her from signing it. She told herself she should use one of the good fountain pens from work. She figured the letter would be heavy in her purse. It wasn’t. Was that a sign?

The games complex was getting ready for another day. The nightshift was coming off duty and the morning crew arrived at their work stations with full cups of coffee. Fulvia could feel eyes on her as she keyed in and headed for the control room. It seemed the entire corps of gamemakers was aware that Gamemakers Crispus Ravinstill and Fulvia Cardew had suffered a severe falling out. Two young women stopped her on her way to the department heads' meeting and said they hadn’t known what she saw in the man. Fulvia heard at least one engineering staffer speculate on who would get Plutarch Heavensbee in the divorce. Fulvia blinked and moved on.

She arrived to the control room early and checked in with her staffers coming off duty. It was Cicero and Minerva. Pollyanna and Lysterna would be the morning team. According to them, nothing of significance had happened yesterday. The arena was quiet. 5F had recovered from her spiral overnight thanks to some bread from Porter. The volunteers kept their hunt up.

“We heard you and Ravinstill broke up? Should we fight VA?” Minerva asked. Simultaneously, every gamemaker in the room pretended to be occupied with their station while secretly trying to listen. Fulvia nearly spat out her coffee. The control room was the worst place to gossip.

“We were never dating!” Fulvia replied. "There was no fight!" There very much had been a physical fight. She'd broken Crispus's nose. But Crispus had said he’d delete the footage and she trusted him. “Where did you even hear that?”

“Nurse gossip. Plus, you’re never sick so...” Cicero replied. Fulvia blinked. Crispus would have deleted the footage but they'd screamed at each other in the hall. A nurse would have heard that. Oh this was bad. This was so bad.

“We did not have a fight! And we didn’t break up because we were never dating.” She made a calming motion with her hands. “Everything is fine.” Cicero sighed.

“I figured.” He glanced over at Minerva. “I’m glad we don’t have to fight VA. I’m not sure we would have won.” Minerva made a face and nodded. For the upteenth time in the past 36 hours, Fulvia reflected on the insanity of a statement.

“They’re all jacked.” She agreed. “Obviously, you’re our DH so if you tell us to fight someone we will, but’”

“Why would I have you fight someone?” Fulvia interrupted. Minerva shrugged.

“I’m just saying.”

“We wouldn’t have physically fought.” Cicero clarified. “We’d have manipulated the media stream so they fell of the hot gamemaker list. Hit ‘em where it hurts.” Fulvia nodded. She needed to talk to Crispus about that, and she needed to brief her officers. Whoever took over after her would need to know to schedule media appearances so the victors could have a break. Assuming she did actually quit. Yes. She was going to quit. She couldn’t be a part of this. But why wasn’t she saying anything? Why wasn’t she screaming that Charlemagne, in addition to making them all wear wool socks, was torturing Maeve? Why wasn't she screaming that her mother was hurting Felix? If this really was an open secret on senior staff, why were they all allowing this? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.

The morning meeting inched closer. She needed to go in and get food and more coffee. Why was she hesitating? She could hear laughter coming from the meeting room. Crispus was there. Something twinged in her gut. She trusted Crispus. He was her friend. “Well. I’ll see you both later. Have a good rest.” She commented. Her staffers nodded their thanks at her.

Her boot crossed the threshold of the meeting room, and she froze. Yes, Crispus was there. Charlemagne was there. Athena was there. Plutarch and Laurentio must’ve been on their way. And President Snow sat at the head of the table. He lit up when she entered.

“Dear niece!” He exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re well enough to work today. I was worried for you!” He stood and kissed her cheek. He reeked of rose perfume. She tried to catch Crispus’s eye. He looked away.

“Mr. President. What a pleasure.” Fulvia nodded deferentially. She should have put more effort into her hair this morning. Or, Charlemagne should let them all wear wigs again. Either would do. President Snow took her hand and patted it.

“Head Gamemaker Royage, might I borrow Gamemaker Cardew for a quick chat?” He smiled as he asked. Charlemagne nodded. Athena glanced over at Fulvia and back to Charlemagne. Crispus’s face was pleasant, but unreadable. He blinked an acknowledgement at her. She blinked one back. “My wife’s birthday is approaching, and I wanted to throw her a surprise party.” President Snow explained. He stood up, and put his hands on her shoulders. They were like ice cubes through her uniform. “We’ll use your office. I’ll have her back in time for her shift.” Charlemagne waved them off as he guided her out of the room. Fulvia wanted nothing more than to throw a panicked look over her shoulder and beg someone to intervene, but that wasn’t really an option here.

Charlemagne had decorated the head gamemaker’s office sparsely. His engineering degrees were framed on the wall. Fulvia found that a bit strange. Who would hang their degrees in their own office? It seemed gauche. Fulvia knew what degrees she held; she’d been there when she’d earned them. She felt the same way about the portrait of Charlemagne and his wife wearing vintage associate gamemaker uniforms. The president sat in the head gamemaker’s seat.

“Nice, isn’t it? We didn’t have all of this when I was a gamemaker.” He leaned back, and Fulvia could feel his eyes perceive her every detail. He noted that her uniform was crisp and that her appearance was curated. Fulvia made an effort to leave both of her boots flat on the ground and not cross her legs.

“It’s very nice, sir. We’re not really planning a surprise party for Aunt Livia, right?” They couldn’t be.

“Someone is. We have better things to do, though.” He knit his fingers together. “Tell me, you weren’t really sick yesterday, were you?”

“It was just my stomach, sir.” She answered. “One of the engineers has norovirus, and I wanted to protect the corps from any contagions.” Not a total lie. According to the rumor mill, an engineer did have norovirus and she spent most of last night dry heaving and grappling with the collar on her pajama shirt, which suddenly became too tight for her to breathe in. In the midst of all of this, she was wondering if she could do anything to help Felix. This led to the stark realization that he saw the whole situation as regrettable, but fine. Meaning he’d handled worse, and if she did want to be a good person in the situation, giving him space and privacy might be the only thing she could do.

“Now, Fulvia, I think you know that’s not entirely true.” He smiled gently at her. “Tell me. I only wish to help a promising young gamemaker.” She nodded. Be honest, but not too honest. She sat down. Ride the train or be crushed by it.

“My mother requested a victor last night while I was home and sick.” She replied. “You can imagine how awkward I found the situation.” She smiled as if it were all funny. Snow pitched his head back and laughed. Fulvia smiled pleasantly. Her uncle needed a dentist. His gums were puffy.

“Ah! Who was it? Someone saucy for your mother, I hope.”

“Felix. From a few years ago.”

“Good.” Snow seemed pleased. He leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. “Tell me, what do you think of the arrangement?”

“Pardon?”

“The selling of access to our victors.” He asked. His unblinking eyes were fixed on her. Fulvia swallowed. Ride the train or be crushed by it. Ride the train or be crushed by it. Maybe the reason Felix and the others were suffering was that she chose to ride the train. Maybe she should try to stop the train. Maybe the train wasn’t worth being on. Wasn’t she going to quit? Fulvia swallowed again.

“I find it abhorrent, sir.” She whispered. He nodded. And then, a little louder, “I’m not sure how I can have respect for anyone who participates in such a system.” Snow made a face at her. A slow smile scrawled across his face. She braced herself. All of the rumors about the poisoning and removals came back to her. She should have ridden the train.

“We are in agreement there.” He nodded approvingly. Fulvia blinked. She must’ve misheard him. “The need for flesh is a weakness I didn’t expect to find in you, and I’m pleased to see that I was right.” Fulvia felt the top layer of her brain ice over. Was Crispus lying to her? He paused again. “It is a terrible thing, and a needed one. What might the advantages of selling access be?” It was as if she were in one of those all-staff meetings again, being asked to answer questions in front of everyone. Being asked to set a good example for the others. This time, the audience consisted only of Snow.

“It’s a rewards system.” She began. “You control the access, and those who please you receive access.” Was access the euphemism they used for it? Felix said ‘appointment’ last night. Words like trafficking, forcing, and drugging were harsher and more likely to snap someone back to reality. There were other words, too. Words that proper young ladies of good standing didn’t use because they were highly charged, and using them could escalate something. Mother had explained it to her and Symphonia when they were younger.

“Good. What else?” What would he want to hear?

“It grinds the victors down.” That much had been clear from last night. He nodded. What else had Felix hinted at? “Enforces a district hierarchy, promotes infighting.” She fought to keep her voice above a whisper. Snow smiled.

“There are killers in this building right now.” He said softly. “You walk amongst them every day, so you might be accustomed to the danger they present, but I assure you, I am not. All of this is for a purpose. A more peaceful, more unified Panem.” She nodded. Maybe the games were for a more peaceful and a more unified Panem, but this wasn’t. It wasn’t, it wasn’t. This was something vile.

“I understand, sir.”

“Have you ever wondered why I picked you, Ravinstill, and Heavensbee to be the three gamemakers from your era to be elevated?”

“Sir?” Of course, she wondered, but the series of realizations she’d undergone over the past day had kicked that far down the priority list.

“I see much of myself in you. I lost my parents at a young age. You lost your parents at a young age.”

“Sir, my parents are still alive.” Fulvia didn’t feel great about correcting the President, but she needed to clarify that. Plutarch was the orphan, Crispus’s father was dead, and both her parents were still alive. Fulvia wanted to shuffle her feet, but she was too scared to move. Snow blinked.

“Yes, but when was the last time you spoke to your father? And your mother isn’t really maternal, is she?”

“I suppose not, sir.”

“We tell many pretty lies, Fulvia. But I respect you enough to tell you the truth. Are you capable of hearing it?”

“Yes, sir,” Fulvia whispered.

“Some would say something was damaged in you; I prefer to think of it as gaining immunity. You may have lost the ability to love, but you still possess the capacity to become one of our nation’s brightest minds. I would hate to see you spoil your potential.”

“Yes, sir.” Lost the ability to love? What the fuck? She could love! She loved parties, and…. She’d dated around a few times. Nothing had stuck. That was fine. So had everyone else!

“Now off to work you go. I’m sure Head Gamemaker Royage will need some assistance with his arena. I’m glad we had this conversation.” And he stood up and walked out. Fulvia blinked. Crispus. She needed to talk to Crispus.

Given that it was only day five, the morning meeting was over by the time Fulvia and President Snow finished their conversation. The other DHes were gone, and the control room was quiet. One of the arena affairs girls was putting up a starvation timeline on their whiteboard, along with when each tribute had last eaten. Dehydration was the biggest concern at the moment. Apparently, 10F was on her way out. She hadn’t rationed her water. The volunteers were getting ready to head out for another day of hunting. The girl on duty from VA called Fulvia over to their station.

“Ravinstill said he’ll be back in his office in about an hour if you want to talk.” She offered quietly, and then a little louder. “Never get back with an ex. You’re an eleven and he’s like a nine on a good day.” The arena affairs girl at the whiteboard stopped writing. She pretended not to be listening. Fulvia’s staffers didn’t turn around, but one frantically tapped the other on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry?” Fulvia stammered. She leaned back and winked.

“You heard me.” The girl tapped her watch. ‘One hour’ She mouthed. Fulvia nodded. She headed for her office. She did actually have a job to do, and she was behind on timesheets again. Minerva and Pollyana were still working on the puff pieces for the inevitable slump that would come up in the next few days. The minutes ticked by, and she headed for his office. Gamemakers and staff noted her as she went. She knocked on the open door. He stood up.

“Hey. Are you ok? You’re not sick, no stomachache?” She shook her head. “Shut the door.” She stepped inside.

“I’m sorry I hit you.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, but then realized it was all put up in a twist, so there was no hair to tuck.

“I’m not. You found out I was doing something terrible, and you tried to stop me. That’s someone I’m proud to call a friend and colleague.” She nodded.

“Well. Apparently, the whole building thinks we’re fighting. And we’re exes?” Fulvia resisted the urge to glare at him. She didn’t need rumors about relationship drama following her.

“It was news to me as well.” He confirmed. “Only people I told were Faustus so he could edit the camera footage and Felix…for obvious reasons.” Oh. She had follow up questions about that. “The nurses like to start rumors. It’ll blow over in a day.” She nodded. “How was your conversation with Snow?” His tone got more serious.

“He asked what I thought about the whole…” She waved her hands at the miasma of his office. He nodded. “I told him I found the whole affair disgusting, and he agreed. I think he thought I was talking about something else.” She whispered. Crispus was silent for a minute before he threw his head back and laughed. Fulvia wasn’t sure what was funny.

“Yeah, he said something similar when I told him the same thing. Said all desire was weakness, especially desire for sex, and weaknesses should be exploited. I shut up after that.” Fulvia exhaled.

“So did I!” she laughed, despite the entire situation. Crispus grinned. He dropped back onto the couch. “Most of the nurses in medical report to Snow. She probably called him when she heard us fight.” Fulvia nodded. It made sense.

"I had coffee with Gaia too. She might've called him." She picked at her nails. She was terrible at the politics of their job. She was going to get better. She had to. Crispus nodded.

“She might've but, I don't think she did. My sense is that something else is going on, he and I were the first ones there this morning and, he was asking me about you and if you were actually sick. I said I wasn't sure because you're never sick and then he asked who you had been around recently and I said it was your staff, me, and maybe the press rota. He calmed down then.”

"Interesting." Something was definately going on. She could feel it in her gut, but she didn't know what it could be.

Fulvia shrugged and dropped back next to him. She’d woken up this morning with every intention of quitting. But then the visit from Snow….“Who’s doing the buying?” She asked.

“Same people who abuse power in other ways. The rich, the powerful,-”

“My mom.” She breathed out. Crispus made a face.

“Yeah. I thought about calling to warn you, but I wasn’t sure you’d believe me.”

“I wouldn’t of.”

“Felix told me you make a really good grilled cheese sandwich?”

“He told you?”

“I always check in with them after.”

“That’s good of you.”

“It’s the bare minimum. Also, for the record, you did not break my nose.” She shrugged. He leaned forward. “So what do you want to do now that you know the system is fucked?”

“President Snow is a reasonable man.” She whispered. Crispus made a face. Fulvia nodded. She pressed her lips together. He nodded back. Their President had just told her that she was immune to love. What was she saying? But what if he was right? And not every victor was being subjected to this. Meaning that Crispus was wrong and the entire system wasn’t irreparable. Bad people had always existed, and Fulvia’s mother was one of them. “Ok, but Charlemagne can’t last forever. When you or Plutarch are head gamemaker, this’ll get better.” She didn’t believe that for a second. President Snow was the power, and if he wanted this to happen, it would happen. She’d have better odds of becoming President herself. There was no country without him. No Hunger Games, no peace. No President Snow, no peace. No Panem, no peace. Will you answer the call of duty? Join the Gamemaker Corps today. They serve Panem and look good doing it. Your district needs a victor, will you rise up? Panem is waiting for you. Panem is watching. Fulvia picked at her nails. Crispus nodded.

“Sounds like you’re in a harm reduction mode.”

“If that’s what you want to call it.” She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees. The collar of her tunic pressed into her throat. These new uniforms really were so ugly. “What mode are you in?” She picked at her nails again. He sighed.

“Harm reduction.” He looked down at his hands and then over to her. "The playboy nepo hire persona is mine though, so get your own cover."

“Fine.” She picked at her nails again. Was it too late to change her work persona? How much of her even existed outside of this place? Clearly not a lot. “How do I help you protect them? I don’t want to be my mother.” She couldn’t look at him as she said it.

“You’re not your mom, Fulvia. Or your Aunt.” He sighed. She looked back over at him. Aunt Livia was a monster too? “Most of the time, all we can do is get them off camera and get them back to their mentor or friends. Usually that’s enough. Just don’t press your panic button because whatever happens in those cells in the basement takes weeks to recover from.” Fulvia thought back to last year’s post-trap elimination press conference and how she’d nearly pressed her panic button over Victoria’s spiral. She’d never even think of pressing it again. Fulvia bit her lip. He knew what her mother was, apparently he knew what her aunt was. What must have run through his mind when he first met her? Oh. Probably the same thing that had gone through his mind when Laurentio had asked about attending another closed set photoshoot. Oh. Was that why he had sat next to her at her first senior staff meeting years ago? "Hey." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I can see your mind whirrling. We are friends because you are smart, kind, and a good dancer. And anyone who talks to you for 30 seconds can see that." She nodded. She picked at her nails again, and winced as she drew blood. She'd need a new manicure as soon as possible. Her nailbeds were wrecked.

"Can you help me refine the media appearence schedule so the victors who need a break get a break?" Crispus nodded.

"We can certainly try."

Chapter Text

Day five was moving day in the arena. 9M stabbed 11F in the gut. He missed any major arteries, so she bled out slowly as he grabbed her backpack and ran. Fulvia frowned. He was leaving her to suffer a slow death when he could have easily slit her throat after she went down. The volunteers never would have done that. Fulvia sipped her coffee at her station in the control room. 11F sputtered and leaned against an obsidian tower; blood started to pour from her mouth. Fulvia looked over her shoulder at Lysterna.

“How close are we on the highlight reels of the best tribute one-liners?”

“We have them, we’re just adding the fluffy commentary now,” Lysterna replied. “I can have it out by lunch?”

“Make it so,” Fulvia replied. She checked that off her mental list. She and Crispus had revised the media appearance schedule, with Fulvia suggesting they use more manufactured content, such as listicles, and older material to feed the machine. There would be less pressure on Victors to work both late nights and early mornings now. Was it good enough? No. But she was contributing less to the problem, and Fulvia would take that as a win. Then Crispus had to run off because they’d called a doctor in to check on Brento’s muscle recovery, and he needed those updates. Back in the arena, the volunteers were hunting again.

“We need to find the girl from 10, the boy from nine, and the girl from five.” 2M led. The volunteers were holding their own in the arena, thanks to support from the sponsors, but sun exposure was taking it’s toll. Lips were chapped, skin was peeling, and hair looked frazzled. “Oh! And the boy from 10. Maybe the girl from eleven too.” Fulvia nodded as she watched. This was a smart group of volunteers, and tonight they would realize that 11F was no longer someone they had to worry about. The tribute had maybe a few hours to live. Why didn’t 9M just end it for her? She was suffering.

“We’re not letting them win this.” Agreed 2F. “Last year was a travesty.” She hopped off a pile of rocks and landed with a flourish. The control room cackled at the mention of last year being a travesty. Fulvia kept her face neutral because she may have agreed privately, but Brento was a nice young man who was now dealing with a considerable amount of pain. Lysterna turned in the puff piece. Fulvia approved it and sent it into circulation. 11F was still bleeding out on screen. Plutarch dropped into a chair next to her.

“Canon for 11F in five.” He offered. Fulvia nodded. She knew she’d need to head for the conference, but she was just so tired. It had been an exhausting 48 hours. And President Snow’s words rang in her head. Did he think Plutarch wasn’t capable of love too? Plutarch was older than her, and no one said anything to him about his lack of a wife. Granted, Plutarch didn’t have a wife for a few reasons, but with all of his money, he could easily have found someone to wed and co-exist with. “You didn’t miss anything at the meeting this morning. Charlemagne is happy with the pace of the games. Said maybe we do mutt attacks to force interactions if there’s a lag, but 11F dying will put it off for another day.” Fulvia nodded. “You ok?” He asked. It was a loaded question to ask in the control room. Fulvia nodded.

“Yeah. Long few days. And apparently everyone thought I had a significant other.”

“The rumor mill produced fake news?” Plutarch made a gasp of shock. “It’ll blow over in a day. Especially once 11F goes and people have 9M’s controversy to talk about.”

“For real.” Fulvia agreed. Plutarch shifted his datapad so she could see the girl’s vitals. She was about to slip into unconsciousness, and from there it would be another minute before blood loss took her. “Why didn’t 9M double back and try to end it quicker?” She asked. This had just resulted in needless suffering. Fulvia looked down at her nails. Hangnails had ripped her to shreds, but a little bit of balm would heal them right up.

“Who knows?” Plutarch asked. “The pattern with the Nines is they either die in the bloodbath or make it to the endgame, so I’d expect him to stick around.” Fulvia nodded. “Oh. Here we go.” One screen, 11F closed her eyes. Her body took one final shaky breath, and her heart rate slowed, slowed, stopped. Plutarch hit the canon button. The volunteers debated whether the death was from tribute or arena causes. Fulvia stood up.

The conference was quick. The press wanted to know if Seeder was angry with 9M or Nine’s mentors for not granting the tribute a quick death. Seeder smiled and shrugged. Her jet black hair cascaded around her shoulders. At least someone in this building could still wear their hair down. Instantly, Fulvia regretted the flippant thought. She wouldn’t comment on anyone’s appearance anymore. Well, she would comment on her staff, because they were her staff and ergo her problem, but Felix’s words about wanting to grow a beard rang in her head. She couldn’t comment on what was beyond someone’s control.

“It’s difficult to say. The arena is a complicated place.” Seeder offered. “I wish my colleagues from Nine the best.” Fulvia decided to end it there.

“Sorry about your tribute.” Fulvia offered as soon as they were off stage. Seeder nodded her thanks. Chaff and Haymitch came thumping down the hallway carrying a bottle of whiskey. Fulvia waved hellos at each of them.

“Seeder! Come drink.” Chaff offered. “Will it help?” He took a swig and passed the bottle to Haymitch.

“Slightly,” Haymitch answered after taking a swig of his own. “You’ll be less aware of the problem.” He grinned. Fulvia bit her tongue.

“No, thank you,” Seeder replied. “You’re both welcome to come knit with Catherine and me, though.”

“I bet I’d be real good at it.” Chaff held up the stump of his hand. Haymitch giggled. Chaff made a playful punch at his stomach, where Fulvia knew there was a wide scar. She swallowed her recoil. Seeder rolled her eyes.

“Come. Keep us company at least.” She nodded to Fulvia and began herding Chaff and Haymitch back up the hallway. Fulvia nodded back. She was needed at her station anyway.

“Catherine will drink our whiskey,” Haymitch complained.

“The eights don’t do whiskey.” Chaff reminded him. And then they vanished behind another set of doors. Fulvia took a long and slow breath. She was ok. Everything was ok. She headed back to her station.

Lysterna brought her a coffee, and Fulvia nodded her thanks. Charlemagne stood in the center of the room on his dias. Athena chatted quietly with him about something. Fulvia watched his shiny shoes stand in Gaia’s old spot. She’d hated what he’d done to the gamemaker corps and considered his existence on that dias an affront to Gaia’s goodness. And yet Gaia had allowed the selling of victors to happen too. No, not just allowed it. Break the victors before they break us. Gaia had sponsored it? Fulvia didn’t have the vocabulary for this. She knew that.

Gamemakers began to trickle into the control room. The afternoon shift was transitioning to the evening shift, and thus the party would really be getting started. Fulvia used the time to dab cream on her cuticles. By some miracle, one of her staffers had petroleum jelly in their tunic and they’d been happy to share. Laurentio dropped into a chair across from her. He sipped a coffee of his own and raised the mug in a mock salute. Crispus tagged into the VA corner. The girl he was relieving, the same one who had called her an eleven (had she really been on both the morning and afternoon shift?), stood up and stretched.

“How’s V59?” She asked just quietly enough so only the back of the control room could hear. Crispus made a face. “Wait, we’re in 59 now, I meant V58. What’s the update from the doctor?” She asked. Fulvia spun in her chair so she could hear the update. Crispus waved at her before looking back at his staffer.

“Nothing good. The main issue is that the reconstructed bones in the hip aren’t growing at the same rate as the rest of the bones.” Fulvia had no medical background, but even she knew that was a terrible thing.

“And he’s had a growth spurt because now he has nutritious food. Joy. Are we thinking more surgery?” The woman replied. Crispus shrugged.

“There’s no point until he’s done growing. I think PT is a better option.” Crispus drummed his fingers on the control panel, and the woman shook her head.

“He’s not going to do PT.” She concluded. “He’s never getting off the morphling, is he?”

“Probably not.”

“What a waste of a victor.” She shook her head. Fulvia kept her face neutral. Brento was trying his best! They needed to be supportive. “Oh well. I’m off.”

“Have a good night, Justinia,” Crispus called as he took her seat. He looked down at Fulvia. “Any chance you have food on you? I’m starving.” Fulvia shook her head. She wished she did have food, though. Giving Crispus food in public would be the perfect way to quash any rumors that they’d had a falling out. Still, her being seen conversing amicably with him was likely to be just as good.

“Sorry, I don’t.” She replied. He shook his head at her.

“You’re killing me, Cardew.” He pulled a packet of fruit snacks out from his tunic, and she glared at him.

“Sorry, Ravinstill.” He smirked back at her and offered her a peach gummy. She popped it in her mouth.

On screen, the volunteers ate a meal of beef jerky and washed it down with water. The desert arena offered ample daylight for hunting. Fulvia again reflected on what a great group of volunteers this was. They were such a credit to their home districts and mentors. Outside of the games complex, Fulvia knew a stunning sunset decorated the sky, but the arena had a few more hours of daylight. 4M had taken on the role of hype man for their group. It was an important job.

“Guys, we’re going to get a kill tonight, and then we’re going to get the best dinner ever.” He led.

“A succulent meal? A succulent seafood meal?” 4F called back. She bounded along the rocks with less energy than she had earlier in the games, but she still looked plenty strong. The giggles between them confirmed it must be some inside joke from Four. 4M tripped at one point, and the knotted his bootlaces up.

“Fuck it.” 2M concluded. “Let’s get a succulent seafood meal.”

“Language,” 1F whispered. “It’s a family show.” She counted arrows absentmindedly and checked that she still had a knife belted to her hip. “What are our thoughts about splitting up to cover more ground tonight?” 1M nodded, and a sly grin crossed his face.

“Boys versus girls?” He proposed. “Meet back at the cornucopia at sunset?” Fulvia looked up from her station and caught Lysterna’s eye. These might’ve been the most media-savvy volunteers they’d ever had. A little friendly competition guaranteed their hunting efforts would have watchers, and watchers were only a step away from sponsors.

“Sure, but we each need to be carrying one of those tarps. Those will be important at some point.” 4F agreed. One of the engineers slapped his control panel.

“Hot damn. Are we getting predictable?” He asked. Athena rolled her eyes.

“No. This is just a very smart group.” She looked over at Charlemagne. He nodded.

“Unusually intelligent for tributes.” He agreed. “The tarps won’t come into play until later.” The volunteer pack split up and began hunting. Fulvia took the time to look over at Plutarch.

“The tarps are protection from the sun, and?”

“Rumor is there will be a sandstorm, much later though. That’s to thin the field at the final eight.” Fulvia nodded. She thought back to her dream where the razor sand whipped around her as she crawled for the cornucopia. That sounded intense. And they still hadn’t debuted the mutts yet.

The volunteers kept the pace as they each headed in separate directions. All eyes lingered on the model arena near Charlemagne as the male volunteers approached the entrance to the maze. 10F had been hiding in there, but she’d been rather under the radar so far. The volunteers debated if entering the maze was worth the risk. 1M and 4M were not in favor of it, and 2M thought it would be good.

A proximity alert beeped, and an arena affairs gamemaker announced that the female volunteers were five minutes away from 8F. “Do we want a rock slide to give away her location?” Charlemagne leaned against the control panel for a minute. He studied the map.

“No. One death is enough for today. If it happens organically, then fine. But no interventions.” Fulvia nodded. She didn’t entirely agree with that assessment. 12 tributes still alive on Day Five was unprecedented.

No interventions were needed. 4F caught sight of 8F’s hair from her hiding spot in the rocks. Her hair stood out too much against the landscape, and there wasn’t anything 8F could have done to camouflage it. 4F nudged 1F, and the female volunteers broke up into a triangle formation to converge on 8F. Her hiding spot was a dead end, there was nowhere to go. 8F pressed herself into the rocks, and her vital indicator showed a skyhigh heart rate.

The female volunteers didn’t let 8F suffer long. 2F dropped in on her, 1F moved in from the left, and 4F moved in from the right. 8F tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. She froze. Her vital signs were insane. Adrenaline spiked, heart pounded, and she physically shook. 2F approached her from the back.

“Hey, look over here!” 1F yelled. 8F’s head jerked over to her, she never saw 2F move in from behind and slit her throat. The girl dropped, and a cannon fired. “Good work, ladies.” The volunteers quickly checked 8F for supplies and then cleared out so gamemakers could retrieve her body.

“Dang.” 1M commented. “Did the girls get someone, and we didn’t?” There was the barest hint of stress in his voice. 4M nodded.

“They’ll share the succulent seafood meal.” He replied with a high degree of confidence. Fulvia hadn’t checked the sponsor price lists recently, but she was fairly certain that seafood was both impractical and expensive for this arena. The beef jerky they’d been receiving had the perfect balance of fat, carbs, and protein to keep them going. Again, great teamwork by the mentors and tributes.

“Let’s just poke around a little more. I don’t want to go back empty-handed.” 1M suggested. The other two nodded. The male volunteers wandered around the perimeter of the middle ring for the next 45 minutes. Fulvia sent Lysterna to handle the elimination press conference under the guise of Fulvia having some paperwork to finish up. She knew she needed to see Cecelia eventually, but frankly, the more time she could put between her punching Crispus in front of Cecelia and Victoria, and seeing the two victors again, the better.

The male volunteers turned back for their camp at the cornucopia, and soon the proximity alert beeped again. They were within eyesight of 3M and his hideaway. The control room didn’t breathe.

“No interventions. Let it ride.” Charlemagne called. It happened suddenly. 1M caught sight of 3M hiding; he shouted to his alliance mates, and the male volunteers took off running through uneven footing and sharp rocks. 2M in the lead, 1M right behind him, and 4M lagging a little.

Fulvia watched it happen again, just like last year. A misplaced foot, and someone was out of the game. The dehydration, the sudden drop in calories, the stress of being in an arena had taken their toll. Surely, in any other arena, it wouldn’t have happened. Such a dishonorable end for a volunteer who had done everything right. 4M leaped down onto a rock shelf, landed badly, and the something popped. The control room heard it loud and clear; everyone gasped. 4M was silent for a second, and then he screamed in pain. He dropped back down to the ground and clutched at his knee. The ankle bent at an unnatural angle. A memory twinged in Fulvia’s mind. Her childhood ballet classes, one of the older girls had landed funny on her foot like that once. The popping noise had been identical. She’d been out for months. 4M didn’t have months.

“Heavensbee, analysis!” Charlemagne shouted. Plutarch scrolled to 4M’s vitals. Those wouldn’t be of any use; they’d need an X-ray to determine if the bone was broken. 3M ran, and didn't stop. 2M yelled something to 1M, and the tributes doubled back. Fulvia didn’t want to look at the mentor cameras. Poor Percy, his tribute was going out for reasons beyond their control again. Plutarch sighed and made a shrug of exhaustion.

“Maybe a broken ankle? The trackers can only give me so much.” He knit his hands together and rested them atop his head. Charlemagne frowned.

“Let’s see if he can put weight on it,” Crispus called. “That popping sound was likely a ligament. He's clutching his knee too, which could be meniscus, ACL, nothing good.” Fulvia nodded. If anyone would know, it would be Crispus. He’d stayed with gymnastics through university, as they all knew from the hottest gamemaker article three weeks ago.

“Thank you, Ravinstill.” Charlemagne decided. He looked over at Plutarch and shook his head. Plutarch wilted. Fulvia waited until Charlemagne turned his attention back to the screen before reaching over and giving Plutarch a supportive shoulder pat.

“Fuck!” 2M screamed and threw his knife into the ground. 1M dropped down beside 4M.

“Can you point the toe?” 4M grimaced in concentration for a minute and then shook his head. A sob built up in his face. Fulvia looked back over at Crispus.

“Canon,” Crispus muttered. He began typing something.

“We have to kill him now!” 2M screamed. He punched his fist into his open palm in frustration. 1M waved him off.

“No.” He buried his face in his hands for a minute. When he lifted his head, there were tears brewing in his eyes. “No, we have to get him back to the girls safely, because if just us two come back, Coral will think we killed him. And the alliances fails.” He looked over at 4M. 4M scoffed.

“You think I give an oyster shot about that right now?” 4M grabbed 1M’s shirt. 2M pulled 1M back. 1M nodded his thanks at 2M.

“Let’s get you back to the cornucopia. Let’s sleep on it.” 1M ran a hand through his hair again and exhaled. “We can get an ace bandage or a wrap, some sleep, and I bet you’ll be fine.” He nodded like he didn’t really believe it. Fulvia didn’t believe it. No one went from being unable to put weight on an ankle to being fine overnight. Sponsorwise, what could be done? An air cast? That didn’t solve the problem, though.

Would the volunteers let someone who couldn’t contribute to the alliance live? 4M cried as 1M and 2M each threw an arm over their shoulders, and their trio made a slow march back to the cornucopia. 4M tried to put weight on his foot occasionally, but he yelped in pain each time.

1F must’ve been another ballet girl like Victoria because she seemed to take charge once the male volunteers returned to the camp. She laid a tarp out on the razor sand, and 1M and 2M set him down gently.

“Boot off.” She ordered. The foot flopped at an angle. Behind her, 2M and 2F exchanged glances. “Can you point it at all?” 4M shook his head. “Can you make a little circle?” 4M shook his head. 1F bit her lip. “Let’s elevate and see if we can get any ice.” She stood and shook her head at the group. The ankle turned purple and swelled up. Fulvia couldn’t bring herself to check the mentor cameras, but she got updates from the gamemakers who watched the emergency huddle of the pack mentors.

“They think it’s a torn ligament, or a bad sprain.” Lysterna passed along. “Either way, it’s not recoverable. The Ones and Twos said it’s terrible, but they’re not pooling money for dinner until he’s gone.” Dr. Gaul had been dragged from the morgue and onto Caesar’s show to give a similar conclusion. Who signed off on that? Why would a mortician know anything about sports injuries? Granted, most people would just see the title of doctor and not ask any more questions.

Mercy killings happened by alliancemates, not frequently, but usually the tribute was already pretty far gone or was in considerable pain. Well, 4M did look like he was in pain. 4F knelt by 4M’s head, and the two had a short conversation. She held his hand. Mags and Percy were in an impossible situation. 4M was a dead tribute walking, spending any sponsor money on him when 4F was alive and well would be a waste.

“Percy’s yelling. Cael is yelling back. Mags and Zara are trying to break it up.” Lysterna relayed. Back in the arena, 2F tilted her face to the sky. Her eyes were closed. She took a breath and then turned back to the group.

“No ice is coming. We all know what that means.” She announced to the group. 1F and 1M nodded forlornly. 4F bit her thumbnail, and 1F rubbed her shoulder. The volunteers had no other choice. In an arena where they had to work for every sponsor dollar, and account for every calorie, they had few options and no good ones. There could be no giving it a few days to see if he would improve. 4M had been a contender to win it all, and now thanks to one misplaced foot it was over.

“Oop. Mags is sending something.” Lysterna announced. 4F broke open the canister and pulled out a small loaf of District Four’s bread, and a pack of gummy candy. Tears welled up in her eyes. She offered the candy to 4M and he shook his head.

“No. Keep it. I’m dying on my fucking feet.” 4M staggered out through grit teeth. “One of you better win. I’m not dying to an alliance of losers.” 2M nodded. He dragged 4M up and helped him lean against the cornucopia, and then 2M’s knife was in 4M’s heart before anyone could blink. His vitals page bottomed out within seconds. 1M covered his mouth and began to hyperventilate. 1F quickly pulled him into a hug and burried his head in her arms. 2F studied 4F. The girl took a long and slow breath.

“Cannon.” Charlemagne prompted. Plutarch played the noise. Fulvia would need to handle this elimination press conference herself. It would be a high-profile one. Should she draft some talking points for Percy? Yes, she should. Even if they weren't needed, she didn't want to show up empty handed. The sun began to dip below the horizon of the arena. Lysterna began to put 4M's face in the slideshow for that night. Fulvia stood and headed for the third elimination press conference of the day.

Chapter Text

“What a shame to go out with a broken ankle? Do we have confirmation about the ankle yet? Was it broken?” Caesar and Claudius were in full host mode on the screen. Fulvia stood with Percy and Palladium backstage of the press conference area as they supposedly gave the press pool a few minutes to assemble. The reality was that Fulvia wanted to give Percy a moment to calm down. His right hand was bleeding. Palladium hovered three steps behind Percy. Fulvia froze when she first saw him, and her brain remembered Mother calling for him in the kitchen. He glanced from Fulvia to Percy’s bleeding hand as if he expected her to magically be able to heal it.

“I’m sure the gamemakers will tell us when they’ve verified.” Claudius agreed. “Joining us now, though, is Lyme from the sponsor floor.” A split screen appeared, and Lyme wore a headset that the gamemakers used for impromptu interviews. The sponsor floor hummed with activity in the back. Lyme, can you tell us how this could affect the games going forward?” Lyme smiled, and Fulvia noted how Percy rolled his eyes the second she was on screen.

“It’ll definitely affect the pack and the games as a whole. As any victor from the volunteer alliance will tell you, it starts to get intense as the allies start dying. I expect them to adapt and lock in.”

“Thanks Lyme, we’ll let you get back to the games.” Claudius bid farewell. And the screen cut away to show live updates on each tribute location while a recruitment ad for the peacekeepers played.

Fulvia promised Percy she would intervene if things went beyond 30 minutes and that she would pull the press pass of anyone who was too much of an asshole. Percy nodded as his damaged hand fidgeted.

“I punched a wall on the way down here,” Percy explained. Fulvia nodded. Automatically, her hands went to tuck her hair behind her ears before she remembered that her hair was up in a regulation twist again. She needed a new motion. Maybe something with her rings. DH Cardew couldn’t send a mentor out to face the press while they were visibly bleeding. That would just be poor form on her part. Pus then the press would ask questions about the hand…

“I. Hm.” She paused. “We can postpone to give you time to get to medical, but-”

“No. I want this over with, and then Cecelia and I are going to watch the Housewives show.” He snapped. His good hand rested on his hip; the damaged one dangled. “Can we start?” Fulvia sorted through her options and then pulled out her black dress uniform gloves from her pocket.

“Yeah. Just wear a glove, we don’t want to deal with questions about the hand.” She fished the right glove out of her pocket and handed it over. It didn’t fit Percy well, but it did cover the bloody knuckles. That was good enough for her.

“Are you sure?” Percy asked as he put it on. “It’s going to ruin the glove.”
“Better the glove than your reputation,” Fulvia answered honestly. Palladium made a face that Fulvia couldn’t even begin to decipher.

“Are you sure you don’t want me out there with you?” He asked Percy. Fulvia nodded. That could be good. Percy struggled less in media than he used to, but the give and take didn’t come as naturally to him. And just as quickly as the thought occurred to her, she realized she couldn’t because Palladium was a One and Percy was a Four, so they couldn’t do a joint press without special permission.

“I’m fine, but fuck Cael and all of the Twos.” Palladium made a face at him. Fulvia bit her lip. “What? I won’t say that out there.” Palladium shrugged.

“District rivalry is a way to earn some sponsor money.” He offered. “Let me fix your shirt collar, by the way.” He stepped behind Percy and turned down the lapels of the shirt and jacket fully. Fulvia nodded her thanks at him. “But your girl is still in, so maybe not the time to nuke the alliance.” Percy nodded.

“Yeah.”

“We ready?” Fulvia asked.

Percy was a consummate professional onstage. He really had evolved so much since his first mentor press conference, three years ago? It was hard to keep track. Cecelia was waiting off stage by the time they were done. Palladium had a coffee. It was late in the day for coffee. Cecelia waved.

“Hi, Gamemaker Cardew.” She had a big smile. Palladium blinked and gave her a look. Cecelia gave him one back. Fulvia wondered how far the rumor mill had traveled.

“Hello Cecelia, how are you?”

“Great.” She turned to Percy. “Housewives time?” She playfully punched his shoulder. He nodded.

“Let’s go watch grown women yell about feathers and sequins,” he confirmed. He tugged the glove back off and offered it back to Fulvia. She took it and smiled. She’d need to launder it before she wore it again. That was fine. “Pal, you’re welcome to join us.”

“I truly do not want to,” Palladium replied. Fulvia didn’t blame him. That was a pity invite if she’d ever heard one. “Besides, I’m supposed to be in remake right now, so…” He shrugged, like it was no big deal, and Cecelia nodded grimly. Something in Fulvia’s stomach twisted. The coffee. Remake at this hour. She wanted to scream that this wasn’t right, but she didn’t. Why didn’t she? She wished them all a good night and headed back to her station.

Day six in the arena was another calm one. Tigris told her the blood wouldn’t come out of the gloves, and she’d be better off just grabbing a new set. Fulvia sent Minerva to the surplus uniform supply closet and instructed her to return with a few extra pairs. Media might as well stockpile.

The DH meeting was quick. Shockingly, they all seemed well rested. Well, as well rested as senior gamemakers could be at this point in the year. Plutarch showed them all the memes the Sub-A, Sub-B, and Sub-C teams were sending. Fulvia had to do a double-take when she saw how many gamemakers were listed in the arena affairs group chat. Perhaps they included the peacekeepers stationed beneath the arena as a courtesy? The memes were funny, though. Most of the conversation centered around a looming mutt attack and whether the mutts or the glass sandstorm should be used as the endgame trigger. Athena didn’t want to use either, as both the sandstorm and the mutts were somewhat uncontrollable once initiated.

“That speaks to an issue with mutt design,” Charlemagne replied. The next 15 minutes were spent discussing mutt engineering and pheromones. Laurentio was able to follow it, but Fulvia felt herself floundering in the technical jargon.

“We can also table until tomorrow,” Fulvia spoke up. “I think we’ll lose 10F from dehydration today unless a sponsor steps in; the others aren’t far behind. The volunteers are closing in on 3M. That puts us at the final eight.” She didn’t need to finish the rest of that statement. Final eight. Feast. Endgame. They were so close. Charlemagne nodded.

“Yes! Final eight. Thank you, DH Cardew. I assume you handle all of that?”

“Yes, sir.” She’d selected gamemakers to travel. They all had go bags ready. They were excited, and so was she.

They adjourned. Fulvia stashed a sparkling water and box of fruit snacks under her station as 10F’s health notice beeped. Cicero saw the fruit snacks as she tucked them away. Darn. She hoped he wouldn’t steal them.

“10F is officially four hours out from dehydration.” The associate at the panel announced. Fulvia nodded. Would Casey send water with sponsor money? She did the math in her head. Day six, water, 10F had hidden the entire time. The water would be expensive, and Casey wouldn’t be able to afford it. 10F was in such bad shape, it might only delay the inevitable. A year of difficult calls for the mentors. She turned her attention back to the arena.

The volunteers, who had received a morning meal of water and enriched beef jerky, hunted and 2M pointed out where they had last seen 3M.

“We need to be careful.” 4F weighed in. “Beetee won by electrifying the area around the cornucopia. What if this guy does the same?”

“We die.” 1M hadn’t recovered from last night’s spiral. His eyes were ringed red, and there was a certain sob in his voice. 1F slapped his shoulder.

“And it’ll be glorious.” She paused and gestured out beyond the horizon. “Just think. All of the tourists will come to see where another dastardly volunteer pack fell prey to some intrepid outlier.” Her words were not a comfort to 1M. His lower lip trembled. 2F grinned.

“I hope I go down as the swashbuckling beauty.” She put a hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon like she was a high society lady. “Save me, Ado.” 2M shook his head.

“If I save you, maybe they’ll send us a laxative.” He tilted his head back up to the sky. “Stop sending us beef jerky. We’re so constipated.” He howled. The control room burst out laughing. Charlemagne groaned at the control panel.

“Give me a new tribute if they get crude.” He ordered. Fulvia nodded as she swallowed her giggles. The Hunger Games was a family show. That was a reasonable command.

Fulvia toggled to the mentor control room. She needed to see the reactions. The mentors were in similar straits, though few were at their stations. Maeve and Felix sat on the floor in the back of the room with a sheet of paper between them and a dozen tic-tac-toe boards drawn out. Victoria was at her station, and Cael was in Felix’s seat next to her. Casey and Porter were both absent from the room, but Beetee and Lyme were whispering about something over coffee.

“He’s not wrong,” Cael called to the room. “I think it was a month before I had a normal shit after the arena.” Maeve rolled her eyes. Felix mouthed something at her. Victoria collapsed into a slow fit of giggles with her face in her hands as she slid from her seat.

“Why would you announce that?” Victoria asked from the floor. “We’ve been working on social cues!”

“Hey Cael, have you ever heard of this concept called too much information?” Maeve called. “I really think you’d enjoy it.” She frowned and made a look of disgust at Felix. He made a calming motion. Cael opened his mouth to reply when movement in the volunteer pack sobered everyone.

“Stop joking around.” 4F whirrled on 2M. “We’re losing. Slowly, but it’s happening.” But it wasn’t? Of the nine tributes left in the arena, the volunteers had the numerical advantage and were only moderately dehydrated. It was theirs to lose?

“Hey.” 1F stepped between them. “Let’s fan out and look for our guy. We’re going to get him.”

It took another hour, but the volunteers closed in on 3M. He tried to evade them as the circle closed, but whatever luck had been with him yesterday was gone now. He lunged at 2F with his knife, and 1M easily stuck a knife in his back. 3M lay bleeding out on the ground, and a canon fired.
Fulvia stood and went through the motions of another press conference. She cracked out her sparkling water once she was back. Hometown media assignments. She needed to start on them. 10F would be dead in a matter of hours, and that would put them at the final eight. She began drafting out media staffers and remaining tributes.

The volunteers began debating the merits of splitting up to cover more ground. 5F and 9M were holding their own. Fulvia wondered if District Five's topography was similar to this arena. 5F clearly had a unique strategy going. She mostly slept during the day and then left her shelter at night. She’d caught one of the lizards two nights ago and eaten it raw. 9M had also had success with the lizards. 10F rested against an obsidian pillar in the direct sunlight. Her lips looked like sandpaper, and her hair seemed brittle as straw. Her chest moved less and less every breath.

“Kind of a lame way to go into the final eight. Dehydration is so boring.” Lysterna muttered. Fulvia nodded.

“It always comes down to water.” Fulvia agreed. “But take a look at these draft assignments. I want anyone who was supposed to go on the tour to get Four, but other than that, let me know your thoughts.”

“Looks good, boss.”

Fulvia proactively authorized the teams for One, Two, and Ten to begin the trek out. There was no version of the final eight where those districts didn’t have at least one tribute present. 10F breathed her last two hours later, and the madness began. Teams headed out for Nine and Four.

“Eilte eight!” Someone in the control room shouted.

“Sure is great.” They all replied.

10F’s canon sobered the volunteer alliance as they took a break in the shade of a tower. Across the arena, 5F, 10M, and 9M kept on with their day. Fulvia eyed 10M. Did he know he was the only 10 left now? 4F had wrapped the tarp around herself like a headdress to keep the sun off. 1F eyed her. 2M did the same. And then Fulvia realized why. They had two tarps, and a third back at the cornucopia. There were five of them. That did not divide easily. Limiting agents fueled alliance disolutions. The volunteers adjusted their footing. Grips on weapons tightened and the Twos looked at each other, and then to the Ones. 4F was the odd one out. She’d go first.

“Before we go any further,” 2F led slowly. “What if we wait until it truly is just us left?” The others shifted. 1M ran a hand through his hair.

“We can?” He seemed relieved.

“Honestly, I’m game.” 2M agreed. “I want one of us to win.”

“You said One.” 1F smiled. Her lips were so cracked. She winced in pain and brought her fingers up to her mouth. “But yeah. What’s the rule? Never underestimate Nine and Ten?”

“I thought it was Six Seven?” 1M replied. He licked his lips, but it provided no relief from the burning sun.

“Never underestimate anyone until you’re home again.” 4F corrected. She rested her hands on her knees. “Yeah. Let’s stick together. We still don’t know what’s up with the chattering noises at night.”

Plutarch leaned back in his chair, and it made a squeaky sound. Fulvia glanced at him. He didn’t seem bothered.

“I wonder what’s different about this group of volunteers.” He gesticulated with his pen. “They’re avoiding every common pack fallacy.” He paused and looked over at Fulvia. “Was it how their mentors trained them? Or was it them watching the past few games?” Fulvia shrugged. “Something to think about, I guess.” Texts began rolling in from her away teams.

‘2M’s track coach just called him a ‘small kid with a big attitude’ can we hire him?’ Someone asked.

‘If I lived in Nine, I would volunteer for the games just to get out of this place.’

‘Do I like Five? No. Is 5F a compelling tribute? No. Is the food here good? No. Is the scenery visually pleasing? Also No.’ Urban wrote.

‘Stop complaining and bring me content.’ Fulvia replied.

‘Ones brought their own makeup artist. District lady is better at color matching than me.’

‘You wish you were us.’ The team in Four was on a beach. They sent a selfie.

‘District lady is giving us relationship advice. District lady is an icon.’ The team in One offered. Fulvia rolled her eyes.

Chapter Text

The edits came together seamlessly. 1F was fun and flirty, 1M was stoic and handsome. Fulvia hated approving those clip packages for air. What would happen to either of those tributes if they became a victor? The only way she could justify it was that Felix and Victoria had created the angles themselves. They had to know what they were doing. Mags was right to market 4F as serious and results-oriented. Fulvia felt better about approving that package for air.

Day eight was a calm one in the arena, but the volunteers were growing antsy. No one put down their weapon, and the Twos and the Ones only ever turned their backs on their district partners. 4F took it all in stride. Fulvia was shocked; she didn’t desert the pack overnight or slaughter them all in their sleep. 10M wandered the maze and found some lizards. 5F napped in her hiding place. 9M lay in a shaded spot. The friends and family interviews aired, and Fulvia accepted congratulations on a job well done. She directed all credits to her staff. They’d done all the heavy lifting this year. Even still, media and a smattering of engineers were the only gamemakers to receive accolades from Charlemagne so far. The pin looked beautiful on her sash, but Fulvia didn’t like having to manually straighten it whenever she stood, sat, or did anything.

The DH meeting on day nine was tense. Fulvia could tell something was up the moment she entered the room. Athena followed her in. Laurentio looked like he hadn’t slept at all the night before, which alarmed her, given that he’d been the DH on call. She poured a cup of coffee and took her seat. Plutarch had a datapad open, and Crispus sat next to him. The concealer under his eyes hadn't been applied well. He was covering dark circles.

“Be seated.” Charlemagne led. He knit his fingers together. “I’ll be blunt. We had a situation in the arena last night.”

“Sir?” Fulvia asked. Plutarch leaned forward.

“Sir, all systems are functioning normally.” He opened his datapad and began scrolling through subsystem reports.

“No. Not that kind of situation.” Charlemagne sighed and removed his glasses. “We had a 23.19.” Fulvia’s brain spun through the situation codes. Twenty-three meant a tribute was involved. Crispus got their first.

“Attempted cheating?” Crispus asked. Laurentio nodded. “Who?”

Charlemagne queued up footage of the volunteer camp. 1M sat up on guard duty. Fulvia looked over at Crispus. He glanced back at her. Why were they talking about attempted cheating and then looking at a One? The Ones didn’t cheat. 1M pulled his arms and his face inside his shirt for a few minutes, and then poked his head back out. Athena made a tutting sound and leaned back.

“I’m missing something,” Fulvia admitted. “That just looks like tribute weirdness.”

“The associate on duty last night thought it was suspicious. So she reviewed it with an infrared filter.” Laurentio replied. “And, well. You’ll see.” The heat imaging cut through the fabric. 1M toyed with his token for a minute. He seemed to unscrew one end and then tip it back into his mouth before screwing the lid back on and re-emerging from his shirt. Crispus sighed.

“Ok. That’s pretty damning.” Fulvia concluded. Plutarch looked over at Charlemagne and sipped his coffee. The others all nodded.

“I reviewed his tribute token inspection report before speaking with you all. Nothing out of the ordinary was found, but obviously the allusion to the 50th has me worried.” Charlemagne began. He hesitated, and it felt like the air rushed from the room. Athena bit her lip. Something must’ve happened in the 50th, and Fulvia didn’t have the clearance to know about it. Or did they think she knew about it and she’d look like a fool by admitting that she didn’t? Fulvia crossed her ankles.

“We actively monitored the bugs on the first floor during the pregame.“ Crispus offered. “There was nothing to suggest that his mentors knew about this.” Fulvia’s thumb twisted her ring in a slow and steady motion. Good. She was sure the mentors wouldn’t know anything about this.

“Nor is there any indication that this is anything more than a tribute taking a stimulant or an appetite suppressant.” Athena agreed. She bit her cheek as she looked over at the rest of them, as if searching for agreement. Fulvia nodded.

“It does appear to be pure cheating, not seditious in nature,” Charlemagne started. Everyone nodded, and Charlemagne seemed to visibly relax. “Protocol calls for a targeted elimination, and then we’ll autopsy to confirm. I’d like to take a look at the token too. And Ravinstill…”

“I will have my people review the audio from the first, third, fourth, and ninth floors out of an abundance of caution.” Crispus agreed. “With your ok, I’ll message them now to begin that review.”

“Make it so.” Charlemagne rubbed his forehead. Crispus began typing into his datapad. “We need to confine the Ones until we know this is just cheating,” He added. Crispus nodded.

“Confined in quarters.” He agreed. Charlemagne gave him a look. Crispus gave him one back. “I know you like the cells. And the cells have their purpose, but an overreaction is just as dangerous as doing nothing.”

“Fine. Just 1M’s mentor in a cell then.”

“Mr. Head Gamemaker.” Crispus’s voice was steady. “What is more likely? District One committing sedition via diet pills in a token? Or 1M, who has been clearly unraveling since 4M’s death, is having the endgame breakdown a little early?” Second option. Fulvia mentally urged Charlemagne to see reason. Don’t put Max in a cell. Don’t put someone in the cells that Crispus said are to be avoided. Oh. But on paper, Felix was 1M’s mentor. And Fulvia had to be better than her mother. Otherwise, why was she still in the building? Fulvia tapped her pen on the desk.

“What’s the recovery time on the cells?” She asked, as if she knew all about these cells. “If we can’t put someone on camera for the post-elimination press conference, it makes us look,” She reached for a word. A word she knew would land with Charlemagne because he’d been such an egotistical menace since he was appointed. Changing the uniforms, making her staff highlight the work of engineering, praising her when they’d done so. This was a man who valued appearances and reputation. Fulvia understood that. Fulvia Cardew lived that. “Sloppy.” Crispus didn’t react to her words, but Charlemagne did. He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“I see your point. Confined to quarters until we have the autopsy results.” The pounding in Fulvia's ears lessened. She exhaled.

“The other problem here is that the pack is all together. We can set the mutts on them, but there’s no guarantee we get 1M before any of the others.” Laurentio pointed out. Potentially wiping out the entire pack and leaving them with a finale of outliers who had hidden the entire time. Oh boy. Fulvia sipped her coffee.

“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Athena replied. “Show the clip we all just saw on the mentor screens. They’ll know to warn their tributes.”

“But we banned messages in the sponsor gifts,” Plutarch sat up straighter. “We can’t undo that?”

“We don’t need to undo it. The mentors will know how to warn their tributes.” Athena looked over at Crispus. He nodded. “Air it in the mentor room. Pull 1M’s mentor, let the others warn their tributes, and then..." Her voiced trailed off. Charlemagne nodded. Athena smiled at him. “Watch. The volunteers will turn on each other. The mentors will all blame the Ones.” She crossed her arms and leaned back.

“Every time.” Charlemagne laughed. “They’re so busy blaming each other that they…. never mind. Anyway, district brains are just smaller. It can’t be helped.” Fulvia frowned. What a weird thing to say. And she’d seen Porter, Beetee, and Wiress argue electrical engineering like they were selecting a brunch spot. Only the older generation of Capitolites, raised in the post-war reconstruction, believed any of that nonsense.

“Pull just V48 or V51 as well?” Plutarch asked suddenly. Crispus shot Plutarch a death glare. Fulvia did the same. Why would he drag Victoria into this? Protocol was clear: only punish the offenders, and 1M’s actions were his own.

“Oh, good point.” Charlemagne leaned back in his chair. Laurentio tapped his pen on the desk, and Fulvia hated the look that crossed his face.

“I think she needs to be in a cell.” He spoke up. Fulvia looked to Crispus, and his neutral face, and then to Laurentio. “We owe it to the AA three in the 50th. Plus, I mean. Come on, boys.” He elbowed Plutarch with an expectant look on his face. Plutarch frowned. Oh, there was so much Fulvia wanted to unpack with that. So much.

“I have…V51 on the media circuit today,” Fulvia spoke up. Actually, Victoria had the morning off, but no one needed to know that. “Plus, her tribute hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Protocol is just the offending mentor, unless there is evidence of a larger conspiracy.” Crispus agreed. “Again, we are all in agreement, this is isolated cheating until we have evidence to the contrary.” Athena placed her hand on the table near Crispus in a placating motion, and Laurentio spoke up again.

“What if this is why the volunteer alliance hasn’t crumbled yet? It’s suspicious, no?” He crossed his arms. “What if they’re all in on it?” Plutarch made a bemused face. Charlemagne tilted his head like he hadn’t considered that and then just as quickly dismissed it. It was a stupid idea.

“The similarities to the 50th have us all concerned.” Athena looked over at Fulvia and Plutarch. Fulvia swallowed. Were they the only two at the table who weren’t on staff for the 50th? She’d barely qualified to be an apprentice age-wise for the 51st. “However uncomfortable it is, we have a duty to protect the gamemakers.” She scowled at Laurentio. “Although perhaps not what you were implying.”

“I agree wholeheartedly.” Crispus voiced. “Confine her to quarters then.” There was a venom that Fulvia had never heard before. Not even when she’d punched him. “In fact, all of the Ones should be up on their floor now. Why don’t we just hold them there? That eliminates any risk to the corps.” Plutarch nodded. Fulvia did the same. That was a great plan.

“Oh, but I like watching them all realize whose fault it is,” Charlemagne replied. He tapped the table with his pen. “They need to know why this is happening.” Athena nodded.

“There is something delicious about it.” She agreed. Fulvia blinked. Laurentio caught Fulvia’s eye and sent her a bewildered glance before nodding. Fulvia’s stomach churned. Charlemagne cleared his throat.

“We’ll avoid the dragging, though. Scandal reflects poorly on us.” He concluded as he slapped the table. Crispus smiled, and Fulvia jumped. “Athena, prep the mutts. We’ll roll the tape in the mentor room in half an hour. And from there, we’ll adjust as needed.” Athena snapped her fingers.

“We can’t use the beetle mutts if you want a body to autopsy.” Charlemagne slumped back into his seat.

“Oh, true. Do we have those spiders from the 51st? Or how about those weasels?”

“Oh, we always have weasels.” Laurentio chimed in. “They’re so easy to handle, easy to store, easy to load. Every arena should have weasel mutts.” Fulvia cooked up a mean retort about Laurentio liking weasel mutts because he was, in fact, a weasel. She swallowed it. Crispus was right; this was no time for making enemies.

“Perfect.” Charlemagne stood up and stretched. “They target the face and neck. That’ll leave the stomach. I’ll brief the President.”

Charlemagne forbade any gamemaker from alerting those outside the control room to the situation. So all there was to do was sit and wait for VA to produce a clean report based on the bugs, which Fulvia knew they would, because Max, Palladium, and Felix were not cheaters, even if their tribute was. Charlemagne also insisted that each district in the volunteer alliance have a mentor present in the viewing room before the footage was played for fairness reasons.

The tension in the control room was palpable. People sipped coffee, and little clusters of colleagues debated what would happen. Crispus and Justinia, the one who’d called Fulvia an eleven, sat in their corner station with unreadable faces. They weren’t really talking, but Fulvia overheard one comment from Justinia about being grateful that 3M wasn’t still in.

Laurentio and the arena affairs team chatted excitedly. Fulvia made a jerking motion with her head at Plutarch. He was their department head, not Laurentio; Plutarch should be with them. Just like Fulvia was with her staff in their row. He shrugged. Fulvia ran her tongue over the backside of her teeth. Did he have no sense of how to lead a department? Charlemagne and the engineers held their own confab, where they excitedly speculated about the day's outcome, and if the mutts would go for 1M’s face or throat first.

The volunteers were on screen, debating whether they should wait for breakfast before starting their hunt. 1M used his sword to draw a map of the arena in the razor sand with the areas they’d searched so far. 4F didn’t want to risk the maze. 2F said they might not have a choice. 2M pointed out that the outliers could be moving, and then they’d need to search everywhere. 1F suggested they break into groups again, separating district partners, of course. They opted to head out as a group. 4F had a tarp wrapped around her head to keep the sun off, 2M folded the second and stuck it on his belt, and 1F did the same.

“It was kind of a brilliant move.” Cicero whispered, “Any other arena, and he could have a blanket to pull over his head, and we’d of all just thought he was doing teen boy things.”

“Cicero” Fulvia turned to him. That was not an appropriate comment. Her second officer nodded.

“Apologies, ma’am. I only meant that if it is truly just diet pills, well. It’s a smart way to cheat.”

Fulvia’s heart pounded in her throat, and she couldn’t conceptualize why. 1M cheated; he would be removed, and a review of the bugs would confirm that the mentors knew nothing about this. After the games were over, they could discuss inspecting the tokens more closely. Crispus stood and had a short conversation with Charlemagne before returning to Justinia. Fulvia pretended to read a puff piece draft as she listened.

“Bug report is clean. He won’t let me be there when they pull 48, and having a One present when they do the autopsy is going to be a nonstarter. Faustus will be there, though.”

“Did we trade for it?” Justinia sounded exhausted.

“No. I pitched it as wanting someone from VA in the room to update us as soon as possible.”

“Oh. Happy days.” The exhaustion was gone from her voice. “We could be having a very different conversation right now.”

“Yeah. Shoutout to Fulvia.” Fulvia spun when she heard her name. Justinia smiled at her.

“Everyone, we’re starting!” Charlemagne quieted the control room. His arms spread wide to quiet them all. Fulvia was reminded of the academy days when they had assemblies. There was something pathetic about the connection. Charlemagne pulled up a split screen so they could watch the arena and the mentors at the same time.

The mentor room knew something was looming. The breakfast parachute for the volunteers hadn’t been approved. Lyme and Brutus whispered in the back of the room. Casey and Porter chatted quietly by the breakfast buffet. Felix, Maeve, and Victoria sat near the Ones section. Mags stood over them, and she had an arm over Maeve’s shoulder. The large viewer lit up, and the mentors seemed to have a collective inhale.

The realization happened in a ripple. Porter took a bite of a pastry and gave Casey a knowing look. Casey pursed her lips. Felix’s shoulders slumped as the first clip played. Maeve tilted her head in an unamused look and then stood. Mags waved her back down and headed for the Four’s station. The infrared clip played, and Felix buried his face in his hands. Victoria put her head down by him, and the two had a frantic whisper session. Lyme began typing a new set of orders into her control panel. She didn’t look over at the Ones.

“That’s why breakfast wasn’t approved.” Brutus looked over at Felix with a glare. Felix’s shoulders flew up defensively.

“Obviously, I didn’t know my kid was going to cheat!”

“No. Of course not.” Maeve replied. “If you had known, you would have reported it.” She announced that last bit very loudly back at Brutus. “It’ll be fine.” She nodded at Mags; Mags nodded back.

“Can you transfer me the rest of our war chest?” Victoria whispered quietly. “They might let Diamond live.”

“Oh. You mean the sponsor money, the majority of which I got us?” Felix crossed his arms. “What if I don’t?” Victoria glanced at the door; surely she knew their time was limited. Fulvia wondered why the peacekeepers were dragging this out. Felix turned back to his workstation.

“Felix. I’m sorry, it’ll be the group home girl, but-”

“Why are you acting like Max and I didn’t also grow up in the group home?” He tapped out a few keystrokes. And then pivoted towards her as he reached into his pockets. “Also, you smell like booze.”

“Thank you.” Victoria began sending her own warning. Felix tossed a handful of peppermints, chocolate, and a pack of gum onto their shared table. The control room thought that was funny. Felix reached for a cord bracelet on his wrist, but then left it on.

The doors to the mentor room swung open, and three peacekeepers stepped in. Their visors were down, which Fulvia thought was overkill. Ever so subtly, Maeve shifted her boot so that her heel pressed down onto Felix’s shoe. Fulvia would have missed it, had she not spent most of Charlemagne’s “team meetings” doing the same thing with Crispus and Plutarch.

“V48.” The leader spoke. Felix stood up.

“Coming.” He touched Victoria’s shoulder as he went. She tried to grab his hand, but he was already gone.

“Felix. We’ll see you soon.” Mags called. She leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed, not unlike how Charlemagne would sit in his own chair. The realization gave Fulvia a sense of positive feelings she couldn’t quite name. Felix disappeared behind the doors with the peacekeepers. Crispus and Justinia were silent behind her, though Fulvia wasn’t quite sure if she expected any commentary from them.

Charlemagne made a face. “I told them to take V51 too.” He glanced over at Plutarch. “Approve all the parachutes. I’ll message the peacekeepers again.” An arena affairs girl loudly whispered that she wanted to see some drama in the arena and the mentor room.

"We are in need of fireworks." The gamemaker next to her agreed.

The appearance of four sponsor parachutes was all the volunteers needed as their signal. They froze for a moment. 2M moved first. “Been a fucking pleasure.” He called as he grabbed a parachute, not even knowing if it was the one from his mentors, and ran. 2F blinked in shock as her district partner and best chance of getting a tarp vanished.

“Alright then.” She whirled on 1F. 1M blocked her with his sword, and 4F delivered two quick stabs to the back. And Fulvia blinked, because that was a costly mistake. 2F went down. 4F began to back up slowly as the realization of what she’d done hit her.

In the mentor room, peacekeepers entered again. “V51.” The head officer called. Victoria folded in on herself.

“I didn’t even do anything.” She glanced over at Lyme. “Can you cover my kid?” Lyme glared at her.

“Your tribute is a cheater and got mine killed.” She crossed her arms. Maeve frowned at Lyme, and then heaved Victoria up wirth her free arm. Victoria patted each of her jacket pockets. 

“V51, second warning.” The peacekeeper announced again. 

“Coming.” Victoria headed for the door. She turned back to Lyme. “My tribute doesn’t know anything, and neither do I.” She announced it loudly, and Fulvia could tell it was for the cameras.

“Vic. I got her.” Maeve took Victoria’s old seat. Victoria nodded. She straightened her shoulders and wiped her hands on her pants.

“You’ll be fine,” Mags added. “We’ll see you soon.” Victoria nodded, and she followed the peacekeepers out the door.

In the arena, the standoff continued. Two Ones, and one Four. Two tarps and three parachutes on the ground. 4F saw the writing on the wall. Maybe she thought that her friendship with 1F would overlay the district partner, but 1F stood by 1M. 4F turned and ran. The Ones pursued. They did it as quickly as possible. 1F managed to grab the tarp headdress 4F had been wearing, and her neck jerked back.

Why would she knot something to her head? Especially something that dangled? The female tributes and their stylists had this conversation every year about arena hairstyles. 1M plunged his sword into 4F’s back, through the tarp, and the cannon sounded before she hit the ground. 1M grabbed the tarp from her head.

“Let’s divide the parachutes, and then…” She paused. “I’m glad Ado ran. Made it easier. ”

"Yeah.” 1M agreed. The last volunteers slowly made their way back to the canisters on the ground. “Do we stick together until Ado's dead?”

“No.” She kicked at the rocks. “I think…I think they’ll let one of us win, if that makes sense?”

“Yeah.” He bit his lip and then smirked. “Hey, you know, for a group home girl, you’re not so bad.”

“Could say the same thing about you, townie boy.” She knocked her shoulder into him. They cracked open the remaining three canisters. “Yeah.” She stood up as she realized what each canister contained. There were two loaves from Two, and one from Four. 2M must’ve grabbed the One’s bread. “Time to go our separate ways.” She nodded at him and then began walking away. 1M looked confused until an expression of absolute horror crossed his face. He covered his mouth with both hands and trembled.

“Consequences?” Charlemagne cackled. He licked his lips. “Give me a timeline on the mutts?”

“ETA in 45 minutes.” Athena confirmed. “We had to transport them from offsite.”

1M’s hand tightened around his sword. A shudder ran over his body, and then the entire control room was screaming. Technically, there were no rules in the Hunger Games. That was the whole point; there were no rules in war, and the games were a reminder of that. But there were standards. You don’t kill your district partner; it simply wasn’t done. There was a reason 10M's actions had been so horrific two years ago. And that had been an outer district, the inner districts usually had higher standards. Fulvia was on her feet in shock, Lysterna and Cicero did the same.

1M ended it like a coward for 1F. He stabbed through the back with his sword and ran. Maybe he thought he could take out the rest of the tributes before the gamemakers took him out? It was pointless. He left both tarps on the ground, which Fulvia found insightful. 1F rolled over onto her back. She managed a few sputtering coughs and blinked as she stared at the blood pooling out of her chest. Her lips formed a word, but Fulvia couldn't make it out. A cannon fired.

"Get me tribute positions and travel projections," Charlemagne ordered. He stared down at the map and nodded. It was impossible for 1M to kill everyone. He wouldn't be the victor, but a left turn would put him near 9M, a right turn would put him near 5F, and running straight could put him near 10M if he kept going long enough.

Chapter Text

“Get me a rock slide to isolate him,” Charlemagne called.

“Rockfall in three, two, one.” Someone from the arena affairs row shouted. “Falling.” It didn’t stop 1M. He veered left. Fulvia’s brain whirled. They’d dropped to the final five. They needed to have a conversation about an endgame or a feast or something, but they couldn’t because 1M would collide with 9M sooner rather than later.

“Again. Isolate him.” Charlemagne barked. Another rock slide went down.

“This is way too fast. Audiences are going to be pissed.” Urban muttered. Fulvia nodded.

“He cannot get everyone,” Athena announced from the arena map. “He will not be the victor.” She leaned on the table and bit her lip. The twist was starting to fall from her hair.

“No, he’s just going to decide the victor,” Crispus muttered from behind her. Plutarch tapped the table in agreement. Fulvia frowned. That was not helpful. She glanced down the row of her staffers.

“Get back to the spin suite, start working on how we frame this. Obviously, we can’t admit that someone cheated. Draft the press conference talking points and start thinking about edits. We need ducks in a row.” She tapped the table gently. “Earn your sashes. Go.” Her seniors flew off their row and sped-walked back to their office suite. Gamemakers never ran. It would look unprofessional and ruin their hair. She resisted the urge to glare at Plutarch. That was how to lead a department through the unexpected—not sitting with someone else’s staff and waiting for something to happen.

One of the AA staffers stood up. “We need to get 9M to move. We can buy ourselves some time, he’s heard the canons, he knows something is up.” Laurentio nodded at her. She nodded back. And Fulvia wondered who was really running that department.

“Rockslide near 9M. Get him moving.” Charlemagne agreed. The orders went out. 9M played along. His motions were smooth, despite being in active starvation.

“He’s going to end up near 5F.” Someone murmured. Fulvia chewed the inside of her lip, and began blocking out victor edits in her head. 5F had a kill, she’d been funny in her interview, and they had plenty of b-roll of her being smart in the arena. And, Porter hadn’t marketed her as sexy, so she’d be safe from whatever Crispus needed from her. That could work. 2M would be a decent victor too. They could swing it as this 2M learning from the mistakes of his predecessors. But they’d had so many Twos win this decade, wouldn’t it be nice for Porter or Casey to get a mini-victor? She glanced at 10M and 9M on her private cameras. They were cute in a tribute kind of way, but they were certainly no Palladium, Maeve, Felix, or Victoria. Maybe that would keep them safe.

“Get her moving, too. We can just play this off as arena traps, or one last bang before the feast.” Charlemagne decided. The arena affairs teams sent a rock slide near 5F’s hiding spot. She knew she had to get moving and looped back towards the cornucopia.

Fulvia glanced down at her mentor room camera. Casey and Porter watched the mentor from nine with almost blase interest. Maeve had shifted her chair, so she sat at 1M’s terminal now. Fulvia frowned. Surely Maeve had been around long enough to know no sponsor gifts were getting through to 1M? He’d be dead in an hour. Cael came running in.

“Are they starting the finale? It’s too soon?” He tried to tie his necktie, but his hands shook. Brutus jerked his head.

“Shut your mouth and sit down.” Cael dropped into the seat. Brutus pivoted towards him and began fixing the tie. Cael nodded. “We’re not sure. Felix’s boy cheated, and all the Ones got pulled.” He explained quietly. Cael glanced back over to where Maeve sat at One’s console. She waved. Almost hesitently, Cael waved back.

“Max’s boy.” Maeve called. “Felix wasn’t really a mentor this year.” Brutus rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. He got your girl killed, though.” Brutus realized he couldn’t complete the necktie knot on someone else, so he stood behind Cael and fixed it. Cael tilted his head back and grinned at his mentor. Brutus slapped Cael’s shoulder affectionately as he sat back down. Maeve shrugged. Brutus gestured at her seat near One’s mentor terminal. “This is not the time to protect him.”

“Chill out.” She sipped her tea. “If it were your kid, you would want someone to be with him at the end.” Mags must’ve agreed, because she pulled a chair next to Maeve and joined her.

“Yeah but no Two would ever do something like this.” He glared at the mentor from Nine for a moment. The man shrugged.

“That’s what they all say,” Porter muttered. She tilted her head for a minute. “We all say?” Mags shot her a look. “Oh, why are you trying to be subtle? We know it. They know it. Watch. No tokens next year.”

“Tokens.” Casey disagreed, “But instead of training, each kid whittles something from a block of wood. Scores are assigned based on difficulty and execution.” Porter covered her face for a beat. Maeve pitched her head back and laughed. Mags shook her head. Maeve raised her hand.

“They present the carving during the interview with Caesar.” Fulvia was surprised at how casual they were being. Weren’t they worried for the Ones? Weren’t they stressed for their tributes?

“Someone call Gamemaker Cardew.” Porter declared. “We have the replacement for the Fed Games.” Fulvia felt heat rush into her cheeks. The idea that she would occur to them…

“I don’t have her number,” Cael blinked. Fulvia did the same. He must have realized they were joking? “They won’t really take away tokens, right?” Cael asked Brutus quietly. Brutus shrugged.

Fulvia turned her attention back to the arena. The gamemaker corps cheered for 9M as he put more space between himself and 1M.

“Come on, boy. Move it.” Charlemagne urged. He glanced up at Fulvia. “Let me know when you have talking points drafted.” Fulvia nodded.

“Aye, sir.” Her people were already on it. They needed to let the dust settle a little. Until 1M was dead, there were no talking points to write. “I’d like to wait until 1M is out, and then we can do the usual pack break-up presser. Nothing will look odd.” Honestly there was a part of her that wanted to suggest just skipping the press conference as they had last year due to the trap. Her stomach rolled.

“Respectfully disagree,” Crispus called. “1M killed his district partner. That merits its own discussion. We feed 48 and 51 to the press here.” Fulvia turned her chair to ask why he would even suggest that.

“I bet 51 tries to knife 48.” Justinia offered. “Or 46 and 48 try to knife 51.” There was a slight cackle in her voice. Fulvia blinked. Where would Victoria get a knife? And she was a sword specialist? And weren’t they supposed to try to protect the victors? This was not protection.

“We can’t do anything until 1M is out.” Plutarch weighed in. Fulvia glared at him. She literally just said that. Athena slapped the control panel.

“Weasel mutts are being loaded.” She shouted happily. The entire control room exhaled.

“Get them up, get 1M out, and then we initiate a lull.” Charlemagne declared. “Come on, you beautiful weasel mutts.” He looked over at Fulvia. “Make it look like he wandered into a weasel mutt area.”

“Aye, sir,” Fulvia replied. How could she even do that? Her game camera captured the weasels entering the arena and beginning to scamper. Fulvia went for a close-up on them, as if Caesar were doing a nature profile. And this was why Charlemagne's sending his engineers to tour the arena on opening day was such a problem. Were they just going to pretend that these weasels had been here the entire time? Who would believe that? Fulvia would make them believe it, but still. The weasels popped against the jagged black rocks of the arena. The mentor room camera registered movement. Porter stood and backed up against the wall.

“I’m not watching this again.” She pointed at the weasels. “It took Becca hours to die. Hours.” She headed for the restroom area in the mentor room. “If One gets us killed again, I’m going to….” She shook her head. “Fuck this.” And she disappeared.

Fulvia could remember that. The weasel mutts had attacked 5F during the 46th, and she hadn’t been able to escape them. They’d chewed through her Achilles so she couldn’t run, and then ate her face slowly. Fulvia had been at a party with her school friends. Someone had stolen their mother’s good peach brandy, and the plan had been to do shots every time a tribute died. The girl from Five took so long to die that Fulvia and her friends had just done the shots preemptively. It turns out, Fulvia wasn’t really a brandy person. But the Ones didn’t have anything to do with that?

Fulvia focused up on their current arena. The weasel mutts scattered through the area. 1M would be in range within a few minutes. Plutarch turned to her and began offering his takes on how Media should play this, but Fulvia wasn’t listening. 1M came running through the area, panting hard, and with his head on a swivel.

She looked away as the first weasel leapt out. There were at least 30 of the critters. The control room cheered. A weasel sank its teeth into 1M’s calf, and he shrieked. 1M decapitated that one, but there were two more ready to attack. He was on the ground almost immediately. The weasels closed in. 1M screamed, pleaded, and begged. The confident volunteer was gone, he was just another dying tribute. Like with 5F a decade ago, the weasels took their time. The gamemaker part of Fulvia’s brain thought that was good. Audiences liked the ongoing tension, and the question of whether 1M could escape dominated Caesar’s talking points. It gave the gamemaker corps time to get their act together; media certainly used the lull to create a plan. But then hours ticked on. Fulvia set the camera to automatic and fixed her eyes on the far corner of the room. 1M sobbed for his mother. A weasel ran from the carnage holding a bloody ear. His nose and fingers were the next to go. One of the arena affairs girls ran for the wastebasket in the corner and vomited. Charlemagne frowned.

“None of you would have survived the 40s.” He offered. And then he faced the control room. “Cheating will not be tolerated in my gamemaker corps. Weakness will not be tolerated in my gamemaker corps.” He glared at the engineers in their row. Most were pale-faced, and Fulvia was so glad she'd sent her staff back to their office. “Gamemakers, who can tell me the purpose of the Hunger Games?” Fulvia swallowed instead of rolling her eyes. Was now really the time for one of his bizarre staff meetings? All the same, Fulvia and every other senior raised their hands so Charlemagne could call on them. A weasel gnawed into 1M’s eye. Like 1M last year, blindly staggering and trying to get to his district partner. Fulvia recoiled; something slammed into her chest. 1F, eyes gouged out and looking so much like Victoria and crawling for her district partner because she didn’t want to die alone. Gaia addressed the room. Fulvia wasn’t even sure who Charlemagne called on.

“Mr. Head Gamemaker sir, the purpose of the Hunger Games is to remind the country of the horrors of war.”

“Close. Be seated. Other thoughts?” Charlemagne scanned the room. "Ardent." Laurentio stood up. Fulvia blinked. Were they in high school again? She swallowed. 1M’s legs jerked.

“Mr. Head Gamemaker sir, the purpose of the Hunger Games is to remind the districts of what happens when they oppose our domination.” Laurentio began. “1M broke the rules of the Hunger Games. He is being punished.”

“Thank you. Be seated.” Charlemagne paced the control room floor. “This corps has no place for weakness. This corps has no place for cheating. 1M cheated, and he’ll suffer the consequences.” Fulvia swallowed. Ok. So 1M cheated. But did cheating really merit hours of suffering? Silence settled over the control room. Fulvia could barely hear 1M’s groans over the pounding in her ears. An arena affairs girl announced she was going to go eat lunch. Did anyone want anything? Fulvia shook her head. The mutts could eat, but she couldn’t.

In the mentor room, Brutus stood up and announced he was going to go check on Porter. Casey shook her head and said she would do it. She gestured to Cael; he looked a little pale. Brutus nodded.

Fulvia read the messages from her staff and tried to block out the sound of 1M’s gurgled pleading. She looked up when there was a commotion in the center of the room. Maeve wanted to send 1M bleach or something he could use to self-eliminate. Charlemagne declined the request, looking bewildered. “Why would we let that in?” He asked. A chorus of shrugs and complacent mutterings sounded off across the control room.

“It was worth a shot.” Maeve offered to the mentor room. Everyone stared at her.

“No, it wasn’t. They ate his fingers.” Cael replied. His voice caught. Brutus tucked his victor’s head onto his shoulder and whispered something to him. Cael closed his eyes.

In the media group chat, Lysterna noted they had enough footage to make anyone a nice victor edit. Which was good, because all tributes remaining were armed and functional. The only real challenge would be explaining the pack breakup. Fulvia nodded to herself as she scrolled through cameras. Such a great group of volunteers, they’d shown so much teamwork in their alliance, and then the mentors had signaled the breakup, and 1M killed 1F. How could they even rationalize that without explaining the cheating and the mentor messages? People came back from lunch. They’d missed the tirade. 1M was still alive and begging. Then all of a sudden, the screams stopped. No canon fired. Fulvia looked up. Plutarch shook his head.

“I think a weasel got his tongue.” He mused. Fulvia gagged. She stood from her chair and leaned over the workbench so only Crispus could hear her.

“We can’t make them do a press conference after this.” She whispered. Last year, the double elimination of the Ones and subsequent press conference had led to Victoria having a breakdown. “They’re going to be a mess.” It was Percy and the glove again. Her fingers picked at the skin around her thumb.

“Not my call,” Crispus whispered. “But I agree.”

“You just said-”

“Welcome to harm reduction.” He leaned back, ending the conversation. Fulvia glared at him. He glared back. She hated him sometimes, prancing around the building like he was so much smarter than her. Which, maybe he was. Fulvia dabbed at the blood on her thumb. Her stomach hurt. No. She couldn’t make Felix and Victoria go out there and field off questions from the press because they had no official narrative yet. And cheating was something that didn’t happen in the games, and obviously Felix and Victoria could be trusted not to bring that up, but Fulvia could say that they couldn’t be trusted, and then- and then what?

1M was still alive and bleeding out on the ground. The medical specialist from arena affairs noted that he had an hour left at the current rate of blood loss and weasel consumption. Fulvia wondered whether the producers of the Real Housewives of the South Side had to consider weasel consumption rates.

The media groupchat kept churning. Lystrerna suggested an overconfidence narrative for 1M. Urban thought they could do a jilted lover angle with 4F. Cicero came back with the ever-reliable “teenagers act unpredictably in the arena,” and 1M overplayed his hand. Fulvia liked that the best. Like all good media, it had an element of truth and was believable. People see what they want to see. And no one wanted to see a cheater. The proximity alert beeped again. 5F was on the move, and 2M wasn’t far from her.

“Absolutely not. Rockslide. Stop her.” Charlemagne ordered. “There’s been enough death today.” Fulvia nodded as the rocks fell, and 5F got the message. She tucked herself back into a crevice.

Crispus excused himself at one point. Fulvia followed him out into the hall. He glared at her. “I can’t give myself another nose job, so don’t try anything.” He headed for the stairwell.

“Where are you going?” She followed him into the landing area.

“1F's body just got returned to the morgue. Victoria's not allowed to leave the first floor until this is settled, and the Ones hate it when the bodies are unattended so I'm sending a junior to chill in there." He shrugged like it was common sense. "And then, I have to go try and salvage the schedule, because some people don't like hosting victors when their tributes have just died in the arena. And they're very vocal about that." He nodded for emphasis.

“Can I do anything to help?” She asked. He smiled.

“You do you.” Fulvia didn’t even know what that meant. He took off up the stairs, taking two at a time. She headed back to the control room. The weasel mutts still worked on 1M. Fulvia hoped he was unconscious. She couldn’t even begin to think about what the mood was like on the first floor. They’d been there for hours.

Charlemagne pulled her into his office with Plutarch and Laurentio to discuss the press conference outlook while Athena watched the arena.

“My first thought is just to have Mags and Lyme feed the press today, and then Victoria and Felix maybe tomorrow morning once the dust has settled a little bit.” Fulvia offered. Charlemagne nodded. She glanced over his shoulder, beyond the picture of Charlemagne and his wife in the vintage gamemaker uniforms, to the picture of his daughters on the desk. His youngest was in university now, and the middle was the same age as Fulvia. The same age as Maeve, and the same age as Felix. That thing twisted in Fulvia’s stomach again.

“If we do Mags and Lyme now, while 1M is still alive, the press will just skim through them, and we’ll be that much closer to our victor.” Plutarch agreed.

“Good. Make it so.” Charlemagne rubbed his forehead for a moment and then leaned back in his chair. “Why are these weasel mutts taking so long?”

“We’re on par. If you wanted a fast elimination, we should have done the squirrels.” Laurentio dropped down to the couch and gave Charlemagne a look. “The squirrels work fast and leave no trace.” Plutarch grabbed a chair and settled in. Fulvia mimicked him.

“It’s not really fair, is it?” Plutarch tilted his head. “We all know what happened in the 50th. Ampert Latier was gone in a blink.” Fulvia nodded. It had been so sad, a victor’s child in the arena. And at such a young age! It was a good thing he’d gone quickly. Thankfully, Beetee had a sweet daughter now. Was that what they’d been referring to this morning? But that couldn’t be it. “1M didn’t commit sedition, and he’s been suffering for hours.”

“Well. The odds just weren’t in his favor.” Charlemagne replied. Fulvia tilted her head ever so slightly. What did Plutarch mean? 1M didn’t commit sedition, implying that Ampert did. What? And that thing that had been bothering Fulvia since Charlemagne’s tirade in the control room crystallized.

“Sir. If we don’t publish that 1M cheated,” She chose her next words carefully. “How will Panem know what he died for?” Laurentio nodded.

“I had a similar concern.” He folded his hands over one of his crossed knees. Charlemagne smiled.

“Our pretty little birds will fly back to the nests that we made for them, and word will eak out slowly. Secret by secret, it’ll spread.” Charlemagne leaned back in his chair. “They have to. If they want their people to tolerate them as the coffins pile up and the parcels fade away.” Fulvia blinked. Plutarch smiled.

“You sure you’re an engineer and not a propagandist? You’re a natural.” That got a laugh out of all of them, but Fulvia wasn’t sure why.

“More than 25 years in the gamemaker corps. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t still be here.” Charlemagne shrugged. Fulvia smiled good naturedly. “I’m telling you, we need to bring back the cages though. Those were very useful.” Fulvia laughed and tried to make eye contact with Plutarch. He didn't find her eyes, but she could sense that Laurentio was trying to make eye contact with her. Yikes.

“If you’ll excuse me. I have a presser to organize to as well as a few analytics reports to finish.” She stood and nodded her goodbyes.

The press conference for 2F and 4F was quick. Another rapid pack dissolution and 1M still bleeding out in the arena meant that people had other area of interest. Caesar had the medical specialist from arena affairs as a guest on his show to discuss what was taking so long. Betting pools began to form around how much longer 1M would last. Fulvia told Lyme and Mags to be vague. It didn’t stop Lyme from throwing blame towards the Ones, but she was subtle about it at least. Mags offered a few standard lines and moved on. She stood with Fulvia for a moment after the conference as they watched the latest coverage. Mags glanced around, and then at Fulvia.

“Are the Ones…”

“Crispus is handling it,” Fulvia replied. Mags nodded. Fulvia swallowed and then decided that so many lines had been crossed today, what was one more? “Please tell Maeve, I’m sure the Ones will appreciate someone being present for their boy at the end.”

“If the end ever comes,” Mags replied. Fulvia nodded. She glanced around the hall. They were alone. And the bugs wouldn’t be monitored live.

“I hope it ends soon. For him at least.” Fulvia whispered, barely above a breath. She didn’t want to hear Mags’s reply, just spun on her heels and ran back to the control room.

Chapter Text

Crispus messaged Fulvia, suggesting that they do 1F’s post-elimination press conference now, and then 1M’s whenever he croaked. Maybe he wanted to separate Felix and Victoria? Earlier, he wanted them to hold a press conference together. Whatever, clearly, dynamics were at play that she just didn’t understand. Charlemagne, Laurentio, and Plutarch still huddled in the Head Gamemaker’s office. Fulvia thought that was weird. Athena agreed with her.

“Plutarch’s transition to department head isn’t going well,” Athena whispered. She glanced around the control room to make sure no one was listening to them. “He screwed up timesheet approval, again. They should have given him another year as an assistant, or started him as Laurentio’s officer.” Fulvia shrugged. She’d thought the same. A new head gamemaker and a brand new DH in the same year were a challenge. Athena watched 1M twitch for a minute. She looked back over to Fulvia. “Did you notice you and I are the only female DHs?” Fulvia shifted.

“Well, last year it was just me, so.” And Gaia had been Head Gamemaker before Charlemagne, and then Agrappina Grippers before Gaia. What was Athena saying? Athena nodded.

“Former Head Gamemaker Templesmith speaks highly of you." Fulvia nodded. She used to speak highly of Gaia, well, she still would need to speak highly of her but she didn't need to think highly of her former boss. "I realized in the morning meeting that you and I are more aligned than first impressions may suggest.”

“Oh.” Fulvia exhaled. That wasn’t even a backhanded compliment.

“We’ll need to meet to review token inspection protocols after this is all over,” Athena led. Fulvia nodded. “I’d like you to be there.”

“I will.”

“Thank you.” Athena clasped Fulvia’s shoulder. “Always good to have allies.” Fulvia smiled and nodded. One backhanded compliment didn't make an ally. Did Athena really think she could be won over with some kind words? As if. This morning had shown they needed better numbers though.

Fulvia pitched the idea of doing 1F’s press conference now to Charlemagne, and he waved her off. His exact quote was to “do whatever you think is best.” Fulvia paused in the doorway. She’d file that away for later, her own little carte blanche.

The press conference had the potential to be the roughest one of the year, maybe the roughest in Fulvia’s recent memory. Crispus stood next to Fulvia quietly. The arena livestream camera behind them showed 1M bleeding out, and occasionally the cameras bounced around to 2M, 5F, and 10M. Victoria’s eyes were bloodshot, and she’d swapped out her outfit from this morning. It was Fulvia’s first time seeing her in person since the business in medical. Victoria glanced from Crispus to Fulvia and then nodded approvingly before whirling back on Zara.

“I told you the boy was no good.” Victoria hissed. “Because Townie kids from loving families always do so well!” Her tone made it clear that Townie kids from loving families did not do well in the games. “But everyone said we had to prioritize Trivot because Max knows him. We know Diamond, too!” She glared daggers at Zara and then turned to Fulvia. “What do I even say? We’re not admitting that someone cheated, right?”

“Thread of truth,” Fulvia replied. She, Urban, and Lysterna had created the angle when Crispus messaged her. They had a few backups for 1M when it was time. “We don’t understand why the boy killed her. You’re upset and confused. People will apply their own logic to it.”

“And Trivot’s only got another 45 minutes, so hopefully, interest in this conference specifically should be low,” Crispus added. He produced eyedrops from one of his jacket pockets and gave them to Victoria. Fulvia frowned. When would he have found time to resew his uniform pockets? He’d spent the past two weeks complaining about how overwhelmed his staff was with everything. “Don’t reinvent the wheel here.” Victoria nodded. She tilted her head back and let Zara help her with the eye drops. She set her jaw for a beat and then glared at Zara.

“We should have prioritized Diamond.” Victoria crossed her arms. Zara grabbed her shoulders. “And this is going to cost us another year of victor parcels.” Zara glared at Victoria, and for a moment, Fulvia felt she was intruding on a conversation.

“Victoria Paisley, you look at me. United front. We are all on the same team.”

“Did someone tell Trivot it was a united front?” Victoria asked innocently. She knocked Zara’s hands off her shoulders. “Just for the sake of clarity.”

“Victoria. You are allowed to be angry...” Zara kept trying. Fulvia checked her watch.

“I’m not angry. I just think it’s interesting that-”

“Victoria.” Fulvia had never seen Zara look so exhausted. Her eyes were puffy, and her voice almost seemed hoarse. “We can yell and fight about this all we want once we’re home. But not here. We do not show weakness here.” Victoria chewed her cheek and then nodded.

“Maybe take a breath before we start,” Fulvia advised. “I can stall if…”

“No.” Victoria bounced on the balls of her feet slightly. “Let’s get it over with, and then I don’t want to see the guys for the next week.” Crispus shrugged.

In the previous conference, Lyme hid her disdain for the Ones behind some thinly veiled jabs. Victoria did no such thing, saying it was Trivot’s fault that One wouldn’t have a victor this year. Zara groaned. Crispus went through his jacket pockets and wordlessly offered her eyedrops. She shook her head, and Victoria called 1M a coward for stabbing 1F in the back. It was true, but maybe Fulvia would have refrained from saying it.

“Are you glad to see Trivot die since he killed your tribute?” One of the reporters asked.

“On one hand, yes,” Victoria answered. Zara made a face. Fulvia bit the inside of her cheek. “On the other hand, there’s honor in losing to the eventual victor. No honor in stabbing your district partner in the back.” Zara turned to Crispus.

“Let’s give her a year off for real next year. She can’t handle this.”

“She’s not saying anything that we haven’t all thought.” Crispus disagreed. “Trivot killed his District partner.” Fulvia nodded softly. 10M had done the same thing two years ago, and Fulvia had been so horrified by the act that she and Urban authorized overtime to fund a facial reconstruction in case the girl's family opened the coffin. Killing district partners was just in poor taste. And these were the Ones, they had standards. Zara exhaled through grit teeth and put her hands on her head. Victoria answered another question.

“I have no idea why Trivot killed Diamond. It was a terrible strategy call on his part.”

“Do you think it was bad mentorship?” One of the reporters asked. Zara muttered a string of curses that Fulvia had never heard before. Crispus tucked his datapad under his arm and rubbed his forehead. Fulvia swallowed. Did the press want a fight amongst One’s victors? It just seemed like they were fishing for a soundbite they could use to say there was drama. And based on the way Victoria’s posture changed, it looked like that realization dawned on her, too.

“Eh.” Victoria shrugged. “The bulk of mentoring work is during training, and then you’re working on sponsorships during the games. We did great there, we always do.” She gestured for emphasis. “But the reality is once the games are at the final eight or the final five, it’s beyond the mentor.” Zara nodded affirmatively.

Fulvia called the conference. Victoria stepped backstage and rested her head on Zara’s shoulder. Zara gently rubbed her shoulder.

“Good job, lovey.”

“Thanks you, mentor.” She looked over at Crispus. “Am I allowed to go to the gym with Maeve?” Crispus shook his head.

“No. Unfortunately, you’re all on restriction until we have the autopsy results.” Victoria made a face. “I know. Let’s head back up to the first floor. I’ll share what updates I have.”

Fulvia headed back for the control room. Whatever little conference Charlemagne had been holding was over, and Fulvia took her seat next to Plutarch. He had the timesheet system open on his datapad and glumly edited an authorization row.

"Do you want help?" Fulvia whispered. He shook his head. Laurentio came over and joined them. He sat next to Fulvia, again and pulled some candies from his pocket. He offered Fulvia one first and then Plutarch. 1M was finally on the fritz. His vital signs dropped lower and lower. Fulvia glanced at the mentor room camera. Maeve watched from her adopted seat with unblinking eyes. Mags sat next to her. It ended with a whimper. 1M’s heart gave out after almost nine hours of suffering. Fulvia looked away from the husk of flesh that used to be 1M as the cannon fired.

“Finally.” One of the engineers commented. “That took forever.”

“Watch the weasels ate his stomach contents, and this whole thing was for nothing.” Someone replied. If that had happened, Fulvia was going to scream. She glanced at the screen as the hovercraft cameras showed him being picked up. The body was beyond recognition, maybe no longer identifiable as human. Charlemagne looked over at her.

“Cardew, what’s the plan for press conferences?” Oh, now he was using her last name?

“Put V48 in front of the press now, and then hopefully we have autopsy results by the time we’re done, and then…” He nodded.

“Good. Then, if we need to further question the Ones, no one will miss them. Make it so.” Fulvia blinked as she stood up. No that wasn’t what she wanted at all. She wanted to get this over with for the Ones. It wasn’t about the autopsy; the autopsy would show fiber pills. That wasn’t a doubt in Fulvia’s mind. She refused to consider any other possibilities. 1M cheated, but it was, as Lysterna said, a clever way to cheat. They shouldn’t put the Ones in cells! Her brain spiraled. Feast? Endgame? The edit? She leaned against the chair and took a second to stretch her calf. She’d been clenching her body since the meeting this morning. She still felt like every muscle was tight. At least it was over for 1M, and this nasty business could be put behind them. Everything would be fine.

It was another rough press conference. Crispus leaned against the wall, and Fulvia joined him after glancing at the screens for arena updates. It had been a day of canons, and only 2M knew who most of them belonged to. The cut on 5F’s face was starting to show signs of infection. 9M huddled in a ball on the ground. 10M moved from the middle ring to the inner ring. He seemed to be looking for something. Fulvia wondered if 2M realized he was the last volunteer left. It was his to lose, but she would have said the same thing about 2M last year. The Fours were present backstage, for reasons Fulvia did not understand. Zara and Felix stood a few steps away from the group. Felix’s eyes were unfocused, and Zara whispered to him. Fulvia looked away. It was her first time seeing him since the Cardew kitchen, and it would have been awkward no matter what. This was so far beyond what any social protocol could dictate, though. Maeve watched it with a set jaw.

“They didn’t….give him anything, right?” She whispered to Crispus. He shook his head.

“No. It’s just one more terrible situation, and obviously emotions run high.” He glanced at Fulvia. “Give ‘em a minute or two. He’ll be fine.” Fulvia nodded. Mags crossed her arms. Fulvia could feel the senior mentor’s eyes on her, just like last year at the train station. “How’s Porter?”

“She was still in the bathroom last I saw. I think she’ll come out now that the weasels are gone.” Maeve replied. Mags nodded. Crispus nodded and then glanced over at the Ones. Felix was looking a little more with it. “How’s Pal?” Crispus shrugged.

“I think we’re all having a challenging year.” He answered neutrally. “New head gamemaker, new department, new department heads, intense schedule. Which reminds me, Caesar wants to interview a mix of victors on the Late Show tomorrow to get impressions on the tributes heading into the endgame.” Fulvia had almost forgotten about that. “I’m thinking you, Cecelia, Blight, and Brento.” He looked over at Fulvia. “Can that work with your spreadsheet?” Fulvia nodded.

“It could also be funny to have one of the Twos do it?” Fulvia suggested. “Like of course, they’ll say their boy is looking the best.” She paused and remembered where they were. “I’ll double-check and then get an answer for you tomorrow.” She picked at her nails. How long did Zara and Felix need to get mentally ready for this? Crispus nodded at her. She had a feeling they were both stalling.

"We'll let the escorts know who needs to be where. Maybe just start thinking about your impressions." He glanced back over to Felix and Zara. They joined the group the stage door.

“Do we have talking points?” Felix asked in a painfully hoarse voice. Fulvia nodded. Maeve immediately began pouring tea at the drink station and pressed the cup in Felix’s hands.

“Yeah, whenever you’re ready,” Fulvia answered. Felix sipped the tea. His eyes seemed to focus on something over Percy’s shoulder as Fulvia briefed him. Again, thread of truth. Technically, he didn’t need to have an answer for 1M’s actions. Felix could just say exactly what Victoria had said; it was a bad strategy call.

“Vic didn’t give them a soundbite, so don’t you give them one,” Zara added. She patted his shoulder affectionately. Felix nodded and rubbed his face for a second, a smile appeared.

"Well. Can't let her win there. She'll get insufferable." His voice sounded more normal. He sipped the tea again.

“This one could go long. Bring water out there with you.” Advised Crispus as he crossed his arms.

“I won’t let it go beyond 40 minutes,” Fulvia interjected. Crispus looked over at her. “What? Press gets meaner when hungry. 40 minutes puts us at dinner time. Besides, there’s not really much to say here.” She could calculate the talk tracks in her mind. It was a brutal mutt death, but brutal mutt deaths didn't usually draw ire in the press conferences. Poeple were going to have questions about the district partner killing though. Felix shrugged.

“I suspect they’ll find something to harp on.” He looked over at Fulvia and Crispus. “They’re going to want me to say he was a bad tribute. His parents are probably going to watch this, and I’m not doing that to them.”

“You don’t need to.” Fulvia agreed. Crispus nodded.

“What’s that phrase you guys have, day one crazy verses day three crazy?” The victors all nodded. Fulvia nodded too. She’d heard that before. “He made a gamble in the endgame, day 13 crazy, and that didn’t pay off. Let people make their own theories.” Fulvia swallowed. Crispus wasn’t wrong. But tributes went endgame crazy every year, and none of them killed their district partners.

“Let’s get this over with.” Felix decided. He rubbed his collarbone uncertainly. Fulvia said a silent thank you to the invisible forces of chaos that governed the Hunger Games, that Felix knew how to handle himself in front of the press. If this had happened to a younger mentor, it would be a disaster. Zara held the tea for him. His public persona switched on the moment he crossed into the camera’s view. “Y’all better be nice to me, I’m having a terrible day.” He opened as he dropped into the chair. The press cackled. There was the soft whittling of a cameras in the corner. A few flashbulbs went off.

“Did you think your tribute would kill their district partner?” Someone shouted.

“Obviously not, Patricia, I thought we had it this year,” Felix replied. His tone was the perfect mix of genuine disbelief and indignation over the situation. Fulvia kept them moving.

“Why did Trivot kill Diamond?” Someone in the front row stood up.

“Short answer is I’m not sure.” Felix crossed his legs. “Longer answer is that I’m sure we all saw the pregame analysis that predicted the endgame coming down to Diamond, Trivot, and Ado from Two, so that may have been on his mind.” Fulvia actually had not seen that analysis. Was he just making that up?

“So it was strategy?”

“Maybe? Diamond is-was a wonderful tribute who would have been a threat to take home the crown going into the final days of the games. Trivot knew that.”

“Do you think this will start a trend of district partners eliminating each other?”

“I would be surprised if it does.” Felix sipped water. “But stranger things have happened.”

“Are you and Victoria on speaking terms?”

“She wished me good luck before I came down to talk with all of you, so I think so.” He paused. “I can ask her later, and we’ll get an answer to you.” Fulvia bit the inside of her cheek to suppress a smile, as did half the press pool. Felix infused a little levity to some of the questions, but maintained a more serious decorum for the questions about the mutts. “Trivot’s a fighter.” He explained. “So I’m not surprised that it took so many mutts, so much time to kill him.” That answer went over very well in the press pool. Fulvia automatically lifted a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, but it was still pulled back in the stupid uniform twist. Anyway, it was a nice way to reframe the hours of suffering.

“Do you think it’s fair for Lyme to blame One for the dissolution of the volunteer alliance this year?”

“Did she?”

“Kind of.” The reporter answered. Felix gave them a look of teasing chastisement for a beat. Fulvia swallowed. That exchange was destined to become a meme format. She knew it. Felix used the beat to formulate a real answer.

“My rule on assigning blame in the breakdown of the alliance is whoever survives the breakdown shares responsibility for the breakdown. So do with that information what you will.” Fulvia let them go for three more rounds before she gave the last question to a reporter in the front row, something about the evolution of alliance strategy and district partners.“Oh, that’s a good question.” He sipped his water again. “Let’s give it some time. We’ll see in a few years.”

“Thank you, everyone!” Fulvia called. “That is all we have time for.”

Felix deflated into Zara’s arms the second he was off stage and away from the cameras. That was normal, mentors almost always hugged their victors the second they were off the stage. But Zara didn’t mentor Felix, Max did. And something turned in Fulvia’s gut that Max should be here to protect his victor from the actions of his tribute. She knew it had to be complicated, but still. Zara whispered something to Felix, and he nodded. He looked over at Crispus.

"Can we go back upstairs?"

"Yeah. I'll walk you guys back up. You did great."

Chapter Text

The autopsy results showed 1M had ingested fiber pills shortly before his death. Dr. Gaul briefed them all via video chat from an isolated medical suite. Fulvia couldn’t look away from the hunk of flesh on the table behind him. The face was gone, its clothes had been cut away, but Fulvia wasn’t sure there was any modesty left to protect. It barely even looked human. She blinked. Fulvia brought her eyes back to the front of the screen. Dr. Gaul’s mouth was moving, but no sound came out. She could only hear a high-pitched ringing. Weird.

Crispus slumped back into his chair as Dr. Gaul made the announcement. He covered his face with his hands for a breath, and then began to message his staff with the good news. Fulvia felt the same relief. She’d never been in doubt, but it was a relief nonetheless. The call ended. Crispus stepped out. Plutarch put a mug of tea down by her. He had one for himself too. She nodded her thanks.

Charlemagne had Faustus bring 1M’s token up to the control room. He and the other engineers spent at least an hour trying to unscrew the top of the tube and experiment with it. Fulvia watched them cluster around one of the tables absentmindedly.

“Look at the craftsmanship.” Charlemagne used a pen to point at the detailed markings along the tube. “Not quite fine enough to be Capitol but too nice to be from anywhere else.” He looked up from the table. “Heavensbee! Give your officer a pin of meritorious service for figuring this out.” He threw a pin at Plutarch, who barely caught it. Fulvia wondered if Charlemagne just kept a pocketful of the pins.

“Seriously brilliant,” Laurentio commented. “Do you think it was custom-made? Or leftover from the rebellion? I bet it’s a family heirloom and the family were rebels.”

“It’s good he was a tribute then. It takes some of the stain away from the family.” One of the engineering officers agreed.

“He did cheat, though, so how much stain did it really remove?” Laurentio stage whispered and shrugged. Fulvia couldn’t argue with that logic.

“We’ll need to find a way to screen for this more closely next time,” Athena interrupted. “Maybe we X-ray all of the tokens.” She sat at the control panel watching her fellow engineers with disinterest. Fulvia felt the same way. She was ready to move on. Crispus came back in and sat next to Fulvia and Plutarch. He had a bottle of water and a container of fruit snacks. Plutarch reached for one, but Crispus smacked his hand away.

“Would an X-ray have caught this, though?” Crispus asked. He kicked up a leg, so it rested on the nearby chair. If he was this calm, things must be ok again.

“Only one way to find out.” Charlemagne threw the necklace at Laurentio. “Go x-ray this.” He turned to face the rest of the control room. “Everyone else, keep the tributes separated. I want all seniors present at the morning meeting. Feast, endgame, and a victor. Understand?” Fulvia’s head buzzed.

“Aye, sir.” The control room replied. Charlemagne headed for his office, and people slumped into their chairs, postures slipping for the first time all day. Fulvia had to resist the urge to let her head hit the table. Crispus turned to her and Plutarch.

“Caesar wants some victor guests on his morning show in two days to talk about the odds going into the endgame. And we’re cleared to mix districts. Can we compare spreadsheets?” How was he so casual? Fulvia nodded as she scrolled through her own color-coded nightmare-inducing spreadsheet. “The Twos, Fives, Nines, and Tens are out for obvious reasons, as are the Ones.” His tone made it clear this was not open for discussion. Fulvia agreed, but it would make it challenging to fill a panel. The Ones were their go-to for things like this, along with the Fours when and- oh.

“I liked your idea of Maeve, Cecelia, Blight, and Brento.” She toggled through another column.

“Good balance.” Plutarch agreed. Fulvia bit her lip. Cecelia had a magazine cover photoshoot tomorrow afternoon, but Fulvia could tell the escort, Cordelia, to make sure she got time to breathe/ eat between the appearances. “How sober is Brento?” She asked Crispus quietly.

“If we told him to be ready for it, he’d do it.” Crispus shrugged. “He doesn’t mind playing for the cameras, he’s just awkward at it.” Fulvia nodded. “Much less awkward than Percy anyway.”

“Oh. Percy’s so much better than he used to be.” Fulvia replied.

“Yeah. He’s a good kid.” Crispus powered off his datapad. “He’ll get the drinking under control eventually. Assuming Mags ever wants to retire.” He said it like it was an inside joke she was supposed to understand. She nodded. “I’ll send Justinia from my staff, so we have some supervision. Who do you want to send?” Fulvia paused. Two weeks ago, she wouldn’t have thought twice about sending Urban or Cicero or anyone on this. But now, should she send Lysterna? No, she’d never seen Urban or Cicero be anything other than professional. They were her first and second officers; she had to trust them.

“Urban, my first officer.” She edited her own spreadsheet and pinged Urban so he’d get the news. Crispus popped a gelatin peach into his mouth. He glanced around

“Another day in Panem’s finest gamemaker corps.” He sighed. She nodded. Crispus glanced over at Plutarch. He leaned forward. “What did you do to your timesheet?”

“Oh. I authorized the wrong billing numbers for overtime. I’m fixing it now.” Plutarch dismissed. He typed into his datapad. Crispus frowned. Fulvia did the same. The billing numbers were automatic; how was that possible to screw up?

Fulvia slept in her office for the night, but it was like the trap last year. She didn’t really sleep. She just lay on the couch with her eyes closed while 1M’s bloody corpse became Victoria, and then Felix, and then Palladium. She tried to blink it away, but last year's 1F reached for her. 1F from Cecelia's year called out for her mother, like 1M this year. Fulvia sat up. It was just a high-intensity period at work. She'd be fine in a week. Fulvia steamed the creases out of her uniform. A little bit of mascara and some concealer, and no one would ever know it’d been a restless night.

There was an unusual amount of consensus at the morning meeting. Each DH presented their assessment and recommendations for moving forward. Feasts worked when there were six to eight isolated tributes scattered around the arena, and there was a need to force a confrontation to knock a few out. The final four was endgame time, but they needed a better endgame strategy than last year. Nothing against Brento, of course, but he’d come out of nowhere.

“If we can keep audiences satiated for a few more days, we can do rock slides and force everyone back to the cornucopia.” Plutarch offered. He looked over at Fulvia and the starvation timeline on the board. “We’re going to want to feed all of them, though. 9M and 10M are too out of it to give a good show.”

“I’ve been getting messages from my friends about how much they like watching 5F chase the lizards,” Lysterna spoke up. Fulvia gestured that she should stand when addressing her fellow seniors and officers. She groaned and put her hand on her stomach as she stood. Fulvia froze. Lysterna wasn’t pregnant again, right? She’d like, just had a baby. “Can we flood the zone with lizards and make it easy for them?” Fulvia nodded. That was a good idea; her staff was full of good ideas.

“I like that.” Laurentio agreed. “Then it doesn’t look like we’re working against 2M.” There were nods of assent across the room. Fulvia joined them.

“I can really see this going anyone’s way.” Crispus offered. “2M is armed, but so are the rest of them. And all the training in the world isn’t going to be useful when you’re that outnumbered.”

“Especially by a stocky kid from 10.” Laurentio agreed. “Let’s bring them back to the cornucopia and let them all battle it out in a few days.” Fulvia nodded. She’d need some manufactured content to keep audiences happy. She could do that, but could she do it without a Fed Games style of entertainment? What were the other options?

“So we’re going to waste the razor sand storm?” One of the engineers asked. “Come on, the physics of that took years to design.” He gestured to the seniors in frustration.

“We didn’t even deploy the beetles!” An arena affairs boy added. “You know how hard those mutts were to transfer to the arena? Sub-team Charlie nearly lost a person.” There were murmurs of ascent from the engineers.

“That’s not a good reason to do an arena event!” Plutarch replied. He stood and looked over the section of AA gamemakers. “I am sorry that no one is going to see the beetle mutts, and I am sorry that no one is going to get to see the sandstorm. But these are uncontrollable elements that have no place in the arena once we’re at the final four!” He waved an arm like this was a conversation he kept having with them. He looked back at Charlemagne and Athena. “Those would be great culling events if we needed to thin the field. But we don’t. We trigger the sandstorm, we lose all four, and then what?” Crispus rapped his knuckles on the table in agreement; Fulvia and several AA seniors did the same. “We need a victor. That’s the whole point.”

“Sir! Are we going to waste all of that math?” Someone from the engineering section shouted. Athena smirked. Charlemagne sighed. He stood and faced the engineers first. A hush fell over the crowd.

“Gamemaker Corps, no math is ever wasted.” He began. “Let’s get that straight.” Everyone nodded, and Fulvia did too. This was his second time getting on the soapbox in as many days. Say what you want about Gaia, she rarely gave grandiose speeches. “I want to commend the engineers and arena affairs on all of our hard work. Engineering is the foundation of a successful Hunger Games.” Crispus pressed the heel of his boot into Fulvia’s toe. What were their departments, chopped liver? “I agree with Heavensbee’s take that our work will need to go unseen for another rotation. But! There will always be another arena.” Crispus removed his boot from Fulvia’s foot slowly.

“In fact, the beetles will go nicely in 66,” Athena added.

“And the razor sand can be incorporated into one of the 70s.” Charlemagne knocked his knuckles on the underside of the table. “I understand this is not what we wanted, but it is what we have. Understood?”

“Aye, sir.” The engineers replied.

The control room reset for the endgame. Fulvia dispatched her juniors to collect “man on the street” interviews about Capitolite’s victor predictions. Plutarch ate a croissant next to Fulvia. 2M kept hunting his competitors. He looked the healthiest out of all the remaining tributes. Everyone left was dehydrated, sunburnt, and exhausted. 5F cried in her shelter. 10M did the same. Media kept wide shots of the tributes and the landscape so they could have their tears privately. Endgame privilege meant the last tributes could ugly cry without a camera. Each of 2M’s fists gripped a knife as arena affairs did a controlled release of lizards mutts in his area. He tipped his head back.

“Should I just wait?” He called up to the sky.

“Camera off him now,” Fulvia called her team. What was 2M doing? Something about the look on his face reminded Fulvia of her first year associates when she’d accidentally given them an impossible task. Tributes could not address the gamemakers while in the arena. Were they ignoring all the rules?

“I can count. I know where we are.” He looked around again. “I don’t understand what you want from me?”

“Is he talking to us?” Plutarch whispered to Fulvia. “That’s bold.” Fulvia nodded. Or he was talking to Cael?

“Something’s wrong with these volunteers.” Fulvia agreed. Addressing gamemakers, killing district partners, what were they being taught in training? The country expected better from the volunteers; the games couldn’t run without them.

“I’m just going to chill here.” 2M sat in the shade of one of the obsidian towers near the cornucopia. “If I should go hunt, tell me.” He shielded his eyes with his hands, and his shoulders trembled for a beat. “I’ll honor the Capitol if you let me out.” He almost sounded hesitant. Cael sent him a small bottle of water. Plutarch’s hand hovered over the approve button.

“How is he going to interpret that?” Fulvia asked. Plutarch shrugged.

A sunrise and a sunset later, Casey had managed a few last-minute sponsor deals. 10M was walking into the finale hydrated and fed. Porter had done the same. The Nines hadn’t been so lucky, but maybe it was a strategy from Nine’s mentor. Fulvia’s stomach sank when she saw Crispus recognize the name of the sponsor for 5F’s water. Justinia made a face and went back to her datapad. Cripsu shrugged back at her. Some information could never be unknown. 24 Hours until endgame initiation.

Media assembled short clips about each tribute’s road to the finale. Aside from filler to remind the audience who was who, these would be the basis for the victor’s edit. They had been unprepared last year; such a mistake wouldn’t happen again. With 6 hours to go, they ran each package with some aspirational music in the background.

Fulvia lay her sash flat over her shoulder and used the tip of her glove to polish the pin. Her boots shone, and the clasps in her hair glittered. Showtime.

“Everyone looks great. Let’s have a good endgame, and then we’ll make a good edit, yeah?” She exchanged fist bumps with her staff.

“You got it, boss!” Urban replied.

Her brain went on autopilot as she went through the endgame tasks. Mentor control room (Brutus was having an intense conversation with Cael...Cael wasn't listening), live Victor reaction camera (the Ones were back...they looked better than she expected), Caesar panel (Caesar and Claudius might’ve taken a stimulant…Caesar Flickerman was on speed).

The control room hummed with purpose. Fulvia sipped her coffee and took it all in. Crispus had his staff in a huddle near their bench. She used to joke with him that he didn’t really have a job until the victor was named. She wished she could still make that joke. Arena affairs ran final checks and queued up the rockfall sequence. Charlemagne stood in the center of the control room on the dias with his arms crossed.

“Final predictions?” He asked her.

“Anyone could take it.” She replied. “I think 2M. Training will kick in.”

“No.” Charlemagne shook his head. “5F’s got a family she wants to go home to. So do 9M and 10M. They’re fighting for their lives, 2M doesn’t have a life.” Fulvia shrugged. Maybe. Maybe not. She retook her seat. “Let’s begin. Ravinstill is VA ready?”

“Initiating endgame procedures,” Crispus announced to the control room. “Mentor viewing room is locked down. All systems go from VA, sir.” Fulvia didn’t bother to look at her private cameras. She’d been hearing the gossip all day. Cael thought Two was bringing home another victor. He’d given a short interview that morning where he bragged about being the first victor from the 50s to net a victor. Ordinarily, Victoria stood near him during those informal press moments and stopped him from putting his foot in his mouth. Fulvia hoped they were all ok. There was nothing she could do about it if they weren’t.

“Cardew, is media ready?”

“Sir. All systems are go from media.” Fulvia angled the camera wide so the audience could see the last arena sunset over the obsidian towers. Well, last one for this year anyway.

“Excellent. Athena Jasper?”

“Sir, the engineers are ready.”

“Heavensbe?”

“Sir, rockfalls will herd tributes back towards the cornucopia by your command.”

“Excellent. Let us begin.”

Chapter Text

Fulvia’s fingers tapped out a beat on the control panel as rockfalls cascaded down in the arena. The sunset, the light wind, the scatterings of rainbow reflections. It was a picture. The tributes began moving quickly. 2M stood up and gripped his knives. He gazed at the sky and took some heavy breaths.

“I swear I’ll honor the Capitol.” He whispered. “Just let me out.” That didn’t make it to the public camera, obviously. They couldn’t show a tribute addressing gamemakers. Instead, Panem watched 10M leap over a nest of jagged rocks and move closer to the arena.

“Can someone get me all of their names? I don’t want a repeat of last year.” Charlemagne called. Fulvia paused. She had the names ready. That was part of media’s job, but how would Charlemagne know what happened in the control room last year if he wasn’t there?

“Aye, sir.” She forwarded it over. He nodded his thanks.

“Alright. And final confirmation, is the medical hovercraft ready to evacuate the victor?”

“It’s ready. Med teams are on standby.” Crispus replied. The proximity alert beeped. 9M and 5F reached the cornucopia at the same time. 2M drew his knives on them. His hands shook. 5F pulled out a knife of her own, as did 9M. 2M nodded.

“I’ll make it quick.” He offered. His right hand spun the knife in a confident motion.

“Funny.” 5F spat. “I was going to say the same thing to you.” She turned to 9M. “Help me get this radium?”

“Sure?” He replied. 9M wobbled on his feet. He blinked. Fulvia mentally willed him to hang in there another half hour.

“The fuck is radium?” 2M asked.

“Trash.” She replied. “How many kids did you kill to get here?”

“More than you.” He replied. “And I’ll make their lives count.”

“Fuck you, bootlicker.” 9M tossed. He looked over at 5F and nodded. She nodded back. Fulvia recalled Opening Day, hadn’t 9M and 5F nodded at each other then, too? Was an alliance reforming beyond their eyes?

“Why are they cursing so much?” Lysterna whispered. “This is a family show.” Fulvia shrugged. 5F had also killed 12M, so Fulvia wasn’t sure what she was on about. The proximity alert sounded again.

“Flag all of that for editing. We cannot have tributes cursing.” Fulvia instructed. 10M arrived. Oh, good, that’d work perfectly. They could make it look like 10M showed up at once and pretend the cursing never happened.

2M realized what was coming. He turned and ran through the fields of broken obsidian. The others gave chase.

“There are more of them, be smarter!” Someone from AA shouted. Fulvia nodded. That was his only real option here. 2M sprinted up and beyond a column, not far from where 4M had the fatal stumble. He caught his breath as the slower three advanced. One long and slow breath later, his head turned as he heard the trio close in.

“What do we do once he’s dead?” 10M asked.

“We’ll figure that out later,” 5F ordered. “But he’s not going to win this.” 2M leapt out and threw a knife into 9M’s throat. The older boy dropped. 2M didn’t stop to see it; he circled back to the cornucopia, eyes looking between the ground and his destination. The canon fired. 2M didn’t look back, just kept moving.

“I think 2M has this. He’s not making any mistakes.” Crispus offered. Fulvia nodded. Maybe Cael would be the first from the 50s to net a victor. She turned one of her rings. That might not go over well in the victor greenroom.

5F and 10M froze over 9M’s body. She grabbed the knife in her other fist.

“Look. One of us can go home; it should be you or me.” 5F led. She handed the knife to 10M. He nodded. “We have lives. He doesn’t.”

“Ouch,” Urban whispered. Fulvia nodded. Teenagers could be so mean!

2M squatted in the razor sand and lifted it with his knife. Was he making a plan? 5F and 10M came back into the clearing. 2M made it behind the cornucopia and took a few shaken breaths.

“Let’s take him together,” 5F whispered. She made a circle motion with his hand. Go around. “Count to five, and go.” 10M nodded. His knuckles were white around the knife. The razor sand muffled the sounds of their approach. Their plan was impossible. 10M and 5F had no way to communicate when to start their counts. But Fulvia gasped when she realized that was 5F’s idea. 10M stepped around the corner and charged 2M. 2M grabbed the knifed wrist of the younger and smaller 10M while he plunged a knife into 10M’s chest. He began to fall to his knees, razor sand ripping up his clothes and skin as they made contact. The yell from 10M signaled 5F to throw herself at 2M. Her knife sank into his back. 2M screamed and threw himself forward.

“Bad call. Everyone knows the knife coming out is the most dangerous part.” Fulvia found herself agreeing with the Arena Affairs gamemaker.

2M had the knife from 10M’s chest. The smaller boy hit the ground, and Charlemagne signaled for a cannon as the vitals dropped. 2M was on the ground now too. He howled in pain as the razor sand tore up his knees. 5F lunged forward to grab her knife off the ground. Maybe it was adrenaline, but her hand closing around the knife meant that her fingers were shredded. Her screams joined the chorus. 2M snapped back into himself and rose up. He gingerly grabbed a knife and threw himself at the screaming 5F. She tossed herself to the side, putting another hand in the sand for stability. Her screams turned into a wail. The sand tore up the fabric along her thighs, exposing skin. 2M broke his fall with his hands. Blood soaked from the back of his shirt, a lot of blood. His lips and face were pale. He rose up and lunged at her one more time, but he stumbled and went face down into the sand. The sand ripped his face, something surged across him, and he tried to push himself up, but it meant applying more force to the sand, and that only caused more blood loss. He gurgled. His face hit the sand.

“Two is boofing it, again,” Lysterna whispered.

“Sir, he’s got seconds,” Plutarch called.

5F had her knife and a wild look in her eyes. She stared at 2M. “Die.” She muttered. “Die. Die.”
He wasn’t moving.

“Give her a minute,” Charlemagne called. “I don’t care when he goes, no canon until she ends him.” 2M’s lips moved, and then his heart rate began to flatline.

“Aye, sir.”

5F threw herself at 2M and screamed as the knife sank into his back. Again and again and again, just like she’d done with 12M. She didn’t stop. Blood seeped onto her hands and squirted up onto her face. The exposed skin of her legs bled. Her entire body shook.

“And cannon now.” Charlemagne decided. The cannon fired. 5F fell back from the body and screamed again as her hands touched the razor sand. Fulvia thought she could actually see bone at one of the palm. Charlemagne cleared his throat and pressed the intercom. “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the victor of the 59th Hunger Games, Iona Seemoyer.” Iona didn't seem to hear him. The control room erupted into cheers. Fulvia hugged Lysterna.

“I already know what edit we’re thinking!” Urban shouted. “We’re ready this time.” He and Lystrerna began shouting with joy.

Cameras pulled out for a wide shot. Iona's body heaved. She tried to wipe the blood off her hands using her shirt but it wasn't working. They cut to Caesar and Claudius Templesmith for their play-by-play. 5F stared at her ruined hands and screamed. Her knees, thighs, and the seat of her pants were all torn and bloody. A hovercraft descended to get Iona. Fulvia didn’t look away. The girl was shaking on the ground. A medical team disembarked and quickly administered a sedative.

“Fulvia!” Crispus called. “You coming?” Fulvia snapped back into herself. Right, media. She needed to take Casey, Cael, and Nine’s mentor to media. They had a press conference to do. And then Fulvia would need to give a short interview for Caesar about the control room reactions. She'd need to touch up her makeup, but when could she get that done.

“Yeah." Fulvia's feet began moving. "She looks a mess.”

“Eh. Nothing some plastic surgery can’t fix.” Crispus dismissed. The control room door closed behind them and the complex was a new world. Confetti and streamers floated down. An engineer squirted a can of whipped cream at his friend. “I’m glad she’s a little roughed up.” Crispus admitted as they put some distance between themselves and the control room. “It makes it easier to kick any body modifications down the road.” He made a knowing face into thin air. “Anyway. I watched the mentor camera instead of the finale. Cael’s in bad shape but you knew that was coming.”

“I suspected it.”

“Yeah. Have fun making an edit out of this one.” Crispus whistled. Fulvia frowned.

“We’ll manage,” She replied. “We always do.” They signaled the guards outside the mentor room to open the door. Cael had his head on the desk and Casey sat by him.

“Brutus is going to be mad.” He sobbed. Fulvia blinked. “I let him down.”

“You didn’t,” Casey replied. “You did your best, and so did your boy.”

“Hi. Can we go now?” Porter materialized next to Crispus and Fulvia. The woman tucked her hair behind her ears. “Is her medical report in? Is she ok?”

“I should have it soon.” Crispus nodded. “Definitely no halo brace.”

“Thank Snow.” Porter breathed. She began walking toward the door. Crispus shrugged and followed her. Fulvia turned back to the remaining mentors. Brutus appeared; he was breathing heavily. He nodded greetings to Fulvia and made for Cael. Casey and Brutus spent most of the walk down consoling him. Fulvia tried not to listen.

“She called Ado trash! And now we need to pretend to like her!” Cael hissed. His tears gave way to raw frustration. Brutus kept an arm around Cael.

“You don’t need to pretend! You can avoid her.” Brutus offered. “I’ve been avoiding Palladium for years.”

“It’s true.” Casey agreed. “You’re Two. She’s Five. There is no line order where you stand next to each other.”

“Do you want a minute before we get started?” Fulvia asked. Sip some water? Calm down a breath? Cael blinked.

“No. I’m ready. Iona won without honor, and I hope everyone remembers that.” He shrugged. “Ado died valiantly.”

“Exactly.” Fulvia agreed.

“Second place is just as dead as 24th.” Nine’s mentor added. “But I’m glad you feel like he had honor.” Cael frowned openly. Casey quietly stepped inbetween them. Fulvia frowned internally.

“Let’s get into placement order and get on with it.” Fulvia decided.

The night passed in a blink. Cael called Iona’s victory “unearned and dishonorable.” Brutus shrugged. Fulvia and Plutarch watched doctors carry a prone V59 on a stretcher into the medical suite. The girl’s arena clothes had been cut away, leaving only a medical blanket over her. Patches of blood seeped through. They watched Porter sit vigil over Iona from the observation room, gamemakers in one corner, victors in another. Mags joined Porter at the bedside, as did Maureen. Crispus seemed to be reviewing a report of some kind.

“I can’t believe we got kids out in back-to-back years.” Porter buried her face in her hands for a minute. She looked over at Maureen. “And I can’t believe you sobered up for this, and Mach didn’t.” Her voice hovered somewhere between exhaustion and disbelief, It was true, Fulvia reflected. In her entire time on staff, she’d never seen Five’s other mentor be sober.

“Of course I sobered up for this,” Maureen replied, like it was obvious. She rocked her chair back. “Do you think our kids are going to be friends?” There was almost a giggle in her voice.

“Who knows?” Porter shook her head. She looked over at Mags. The woman pored tea and passed it out. “Why are you here, though?”

“Was worried about you,” Mags replied. Fulvia kept an eye on the sleeping Iona. Bandages covered her. Crispus said the main concern was blood loss, dehydration, and exhaustion. All of that was fixable. But Fulvia couldn’t stop thinking about the secret responsibilities that Iona would inherit with her victor's crown. She’d fought so hard to live. But she’d seen the way Crispus reacted to whoever paid huge money to get Iona water; the look stayed with her.
She tried not to eavesdrop on the victor's conversation on the other side of the room, but it was an animated group, and to be blunt, none of them could whisper.

“Do we all just stand here and watch?” Brento whispered. “This is a little weird, no?” Catherine shrugged. Fulvia wondered if she’d pulled some sort of short straw and been tasked with babysitting the younger victors. Well, Maeve was here too. She counted as adult supervision. Cecelia nodded.

“That’s what I said. Don’t we have better things to do?” She crossed her arms and sent something that looked like a glare towards Percy. Fulvia resisted the urge to fully turn her head and spectate. “She neither knows nor cares that we’re here.”

“Alternate options.” Maeve counted off. “You can drink with Haymitch and Chaff; the fourth floor will be happy to host a Housewives viewing party.” That did sound kind of fun, Fulvia reflected. “I’m sure the brains would be happy to do something.” She paused and looked at the others. Everyone shook their heads. “But One and Two are canceled because they didn’t invite us to their little sparring party.”

“I don’t think it’s a party,” Cecelia said darkly. Fulvia agreed with that. Brutus had grabbed Cael at the stage door and said they were going to the first floor to get the lead out. Fulvia had honestly been a little worried about district-on-district violence, but Crispus said One and Two usually fought after their tributes were all out. “Also, is gherkin an insult?”

“Ugly cucumber,” Catherine explained. “One slang for an ugly idiot.” She paused. “Zara and I use it a lot.”

Fulvia did a short interview for Caesar about the endgame reactions in the control room. They laughed at each other’s bad jokes. She met with her staff to delegate edit assignments. Dinner in the canteen with her staff. Sleeping in her office. Breakfast with Crispus and Plutarch in the canteen. She prepped notes for the Victor image meeting. Iona’s narrative was easy. She’d shown a significant ability to manipulate 9M and 10M, she’d killed 12M, and her interview brought the house down. This year would score well in the ratings and by all audience metrics.

The problem was the pack break up. Panem watched the volunteers work together admirably until they suddenly flipped on each other, and now there was no one left to speak for them. Their main character was Iona, and she'd had nothing to do with the breakup. Fulvia put Urban and Lysterna on it. They’d figure something out, and even if they couldn’t, maybe audiences could be distracted with something else. Fulvia put it out of her mind and went back to the victor image meeting.

“You get any sleep?” Crispus asked Porter as Tigris and Charlemagne trickled in. Five’s escort was muttering something about schedules. Urg. Plutarch and Laurentio were here too.

“A little,” Porter replied. “Mach is not helping with any of it.”

“I’m aware.” Crispus sighed. “I’ll send Justinia out with your escort. Have them do the sponsor thank-you notes. We’ll delegate all the boring stuff.” That got a smile out of Porter. “We get it done every year.”

“Mr. Ravsinstill, are we ready?” Charlemagne asked. Crispus nodded. “Some of us are quite pressed for time.” Fulvia caught a smirk on Tigris’s face. What did Charlemagne have to do now that the games were over? This was the fun part of the year.

“We are, Mr. Head Gamemaker, we are.” Crispus agreed. “I’d like to start off by congratulating District Five for winning the 59th Hunger Games.” There was some polite applause. “Good news: this is a very different situation from last year. Med team says they can have Iona ready for the crown in three days. We’re looking at standard hair, teeth, nails, and some injections to fix up the face. Between the sun burns and the razor sand, we've also elected to pursue skin treatments. I’ve been in communication with the Mayor and Head Peacekeeper in Five. We’re working on moving the Seemoyers into the new house. And that’s all from VA.”

“I’d like to see breast implants as well.” Charlemagne raised. Fulvia frowned. “Maybe some padding around the waist, too.” Porter leaned forward.

“I think that would be ill-advised.” Tigris weighed in. “Her frame is too slight.”

“What if we just did it, and then if it looks bad, we can undo it?” Laurentio suggested. Fulvia blinked. Why was the Department of Historical Preservation present for this meeting? And that’s not how implants worked! These were serious surgeries on a girl who was already dehydrated and exhausted. And it wasn’t lost on Fulvia that Charlemagne and Laurentio were pushing for this.

“She’s 17. That’s old enough.” Charlemagne agreed.

“That would add to the recovery time,” Fulvia spoke up. “Potentially too much. And when we decide to reverse it, because again, her frame is slight, that would mean an additional week.”

“That’s fine.” Laurentio disagreed.

“It’s really not,” Plutarch interjected. “What does it look like if we delay the crowning after we’ve announced it?”

“Not to mention, we don’t get to start vacation until the trains pull out and final reports are submitted.” Fulvia tried a new tactic. “Do you want to delay that? I assure you, my staff and I don’t.”

“Personally, I wouldn’t want it floating around the complex that I were the reason we couldn’t start vacation,” Crispus chimed in. The expression on his face was innocent, and he leaned toward Laurentio as if her were looking out for a friend. Laurentio frowned.

“I just want her to look hot, bro.”

“We share a similar goal.” Crispus tapped his pen on the table. Fulvia and Porter frowned. “Anyway. This is a moot conversation. Iona’s menstrual cycle hasn’t started yet, likely due to malnutrition in her youth. If we do this now, we will need multiple surgeries to correct as she grows and fills out. Let’s table it until then.”

“I can also add padding to the interview dress. There’s no need to rush this.” Tigris added. “Her bone structure is already so unique, I worry about overwhelming the audience with too much.”

“That’s true,” Fulvia added. “Remember during the 55th, we changed Victoria’s hair, and then that was a news item for a week? People can only handle so much. But, anyway, I digress. We do have more pressing matters.”

“The Victor’s edit!” Plutarch helped her pivot. Fulvia nodded.

“Yes! She’s charming and smart. Her edit writes itself.” The real problem was the volunteer breakup, but this wasn't the right venue to discuss that.

“You could do a black widow fem fatale type for her easily.” Laurentio mused. Fulvia wondered if she could possibly unadd Laurentio from this meeting.

“Not really?” Fulvia replied. She looked over at Porter. “She did a cute-girl-next-door for the interview?” Porter nodded.

“That was her natural personality, from what I could tell.” Yeah. Cute-girl-next-door didn’t translate to a black widow. Not to mention Iona hadn't really been a cute-girl-next-door in the arena but they could make something work.

“Which reminds me, whatever those steel-toe boots are, we want those for the finale interview, either now or for the tour. We’ll make Caesar do a bit. It’ll be hysterical.” Fulvia moved them on.

“That’s going to be so good.” Crispus agreed. He turned towards Porter. “Where can we get some of those?”

“I also have to get back to the edit, so if there’s nothing else?” Fulvia ended the meeting. Did she have the authority to do so? That wasn’t her problem. Tigris, Plutarch, Porter, and Crispus all stood up. She must have more authority than she thought. Charlemagne blinked. Did he really not realize his authority here?

“Good work, everyone.” He stood up as well. Fulvia joined Crispus, Porter, and Tigris for the trek back to the spin suite and their offices.

“I’ll send the mock-ups over for your review later,” Tigris told Porter as soon as the elevator doors closed. “I think chromium and silvers will be the colors of the year.” Porter nodded. Fulvia sighed. Those would look great on Iona, but they’d wash Fulvia out completely. That’d been the nice thing about Cecelia’s lilac, it looked great on everyone. Tigris turned to Crispus. "I'll communicate with medical directly about the skin healing. I'm not pairing new skin and textured fabric." He nodded. "And I told you to harp on the period more. We nearly lost that one." She swatted at him like a cat would play with yarn.

"Oh. Was I supposed to start talking about growth hormones and periods?" Crispus tossed back.

"Yes!" Tigris hissed. "Men don't like hearing about about it. They would have agreed to anything to make you stop." Fulvia blinked. She looked over at Porter. Porter shrugged.

"No you're right." Crispus ran his hand through his hair. "I'll know for next time. Fuck, I hope I didn't blow it." He leaned against the wall.

"Well." Fulvia paused. "Hopefully there's no next time." Crispus shook his head. Porter bit her lip. Tigris sighed. Fulvia glanced between all of them. Surely, Charlemagne wouldn't be Head Gamemaker for much longer? President Snow would replace him and then Plutarch or someone else would be in charge and this would get better. Porter pressed the stop button. The elevator froze. Crispus looked over at Porter, and something unreadable flashed across his face.

"You didn't hear this from me." Porter started. They all nodded. "Zara said she heard two years for Royage. And then President Snow wants Cardew on his staff, VA as a separate entity that reports directly to him, and then Heavensbee as Head Gamemaker. But then Heavensbee struggled this year and..."

"Interesting." Crispus commented. He looked over at Fulvia. She bit her cheek. That...tracked. "Was it that obvious that Plutarch was struggling?"

"Maybe not to the kids, but..." Her voice trailed off. "Everyone heard about the demerit." Crispus shrugged.

"Interesting." He said again. "Thank you for telling us."

"Thank you for what you did back there." Porter shifted. "I'm sure Zara would have told you herself but..." But the cheating scandal put the Ones under a microscope for the forseeable future. She crossed her arms. "Again, you didn't hear it from me." Crispus nodded. Tigris pressed the elevator button.

"Someone'll notice if we're still too long." She explained. Everyone nodded, like that was a perfectly reasonable statement.