▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act two. 

(chapter twenty-four, peeta mellark, justice hale)

training centre, 75 ADD.

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

AT TEN O'CLOCK, JUNIPER and Brent entered the elevator to go to the gymnasium for training. It was a short ride, something the two were grateful for since an awkward tension filled them up, but the Hale woman was not focused on that. 

Instead, she was focused on what Plutarch had spoken to her about only a few hours ago. Protect Katniss Everdeen and she'll be broken out of the arena. And then the rebellion begins. Simple enough. But she also thought about what she had decided. She was just going to keep the girl alive, she wasn't going to maintain any friendships with her or her man. She still despised the pair, no matter what scheme was going on. 

And that was why she didn't make an effort to go over to the couple and introduce herself. She didn't need to anyway. Everyone knew who Juniper Hale was and so, she kept to herself as she left Brent Higgins behind, heading to the sword section.

And suddenly, as she stared at the silver blades, everything about the rebellion and keeping Katniss Everdeen alive disappeared as she watched the swords glimmer under the light, practically begging Juniper to hold them. It had been so long since she had held one and her palms had been itching for it ever since and so, once the Hale woman had decided on one, swinging it around, she let out a discreet sigh. It had been so long since she had used a sword. 

"Are you just going to stand there or what?" The instructor for the sword section stepped forward and he was completely covered in protective gear. 

Juniper rolled her head around as she followed the instructor to the area where she would practice, which was essentially parkour with steps that went higher randomly. And so, swinging her sword around as the instructor picked up a bayonet, Juniper and the man began to play a game of chase on the pedestals, chasing the other with the sword and bayonet high up. 

And as the sounds of the blade hitting the metal echoed around the gymnasium, Juniper felt herself be flooded with the familiarity of it all. She could finally feel her blood flowing freely, feel the adrenaline course through her veins. And even as she managed to catch up to the instructor, kicking his feet out from underneath him, she wasn't out of breath. She yearned for more. 

"Remind me to not get between you and your sword."

Juniper smiled softly at the sound of Cashmere's voice and turned around to see the classically beautiful woman walk over to her, her blonde hair flowing as much as it could in its ponytail. There was a sheet of sweat on her forehead and her palms were red from gripping knives, but her eyes still shone. And it was enough to bring a small smile to Juniper's lips. 

She didn't know Cashmere on a personal level. There was no friendship, no relationship, no knowledge of who they truly were underneath the personas they put on for the Capitol, but still, there was a sense of comfort and understanding. 

"The same goes for you and your knives," Juniper said as she put the sword back where she got it, heading over to the Victor from One. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you know how it is, training—"

"I'm not talking about training."

Cashmere's eyes slowly travelled across the gymnasium to where Gloss was standing, conversing with Enobaria, and sighed before replying, "Well, what can we do, hey...? I'm fine, he's fine... just taking it one step at a time."

"I'm so sorry."

Cashmere tried to smile at Juniper and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as the Hale woman laid a hand on her shoulder. Juniper knew exactly what Cashmere was going through and Cashmere knew that she knew. But there was, as she said, nothing they could do. They weren't in on the plan. Plutarch probably wouldn't even pick them up. 

At that thought, Juniper looked up to the Gamemakers balcony and found Heavensbee chewing on a chicken leg, eyeing her as he did. When Cashmere walked away to join her brother, the Hale woman stared back at Plutarch and clenched her jaw. Plutarch merely looked at Cashmere's retreating figure before walking away from the balcony. Juniper bit her tongue.

After finishing up with the swords, Juniper headed over to the wrestling station that was a little way away. And as she did, she eyed everyone else. More importantly, she eyed Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The former was at the knot-tying station by herself, but Juniper noticed Finnick staring at her with an intrigued look. But it wasn't the intrigued look that the man put on for show to keep with his popularity in the Capitol, it was the expression that he did whenever he tried to work someone out. Juniper knew because he had looked at her that way the very first time they met. And then Peeta Mellark was throwing spears with Brutus and Chaff.

Juniper chuckled as she realised that everyone but Katniss Everdeen was playing allies. Even Wiress and Beetee, Nuts and Volts, had each other. Everdeen had no-one except her lover and even he wasn't enthralled by her. But Juniper, once again, forgot everything about them as she focused, listening to the instructor lay out the rules. He seemed quite skittish and kept eyeing the sword-fighting coach, who kept rubbing his muscles, cursing under his breath. 

Whilst Juniper expected some sort of challenge, when the instructor signalled for them to commence, she immediately managed to knock him down. And then again. And again. And even the fourth time, she made him tumble. 

"What the hell is the point in you training?" The coach coughed as he got up from the padded floor. "You don't even need to be here..."

"It's mandatory..." Juniper grumbled as she ran a hand through her hair. She felt a slight sweat building up and sighed. "Just... go again."

And so they did and every time, the Hale woman managed to knock the coach down. Yes, he got in a few tumbles, but she jumped back to her feet immediately and made him fall. And she was sure, by the tenth time, he was getting annoyed and embarrassed and so, Juniper wiped her forehead and stepped off the padded ring. But she wished she hadn't as she came face-to-face with Johanna Mason.

"Mason." Juniper scoffed. She narrowed her eyes at her.

"Hale," Johanna replied, clenching her jaw. "What the hell are you doing at the wrestling station? Shouldn't you be playing with your swords?"

"And shouldn't you be playing with your little axe?" Juniper grumbled. "Or are you just hell-bent on making my life miserable with your presence?"

"I'd say the latter, but your life was already miserable before I even rocked up." Johanna moved closer to Juniper, so close that the Hale woman could practically feel her warm breath fanning onto her cheek. 

"Oh, aren't you charming?" Juniper practically seethed at the mouth as she stared right back into those green, venomous eyes. Oh, how she wanted to punch her. "Seeing you always makes my day better."

"Oh, I'm sure it does, you insolent, little brat."

"If I'm insolent, then so are you."

Johanna and Juniper stared at each other with hatred for what seemed like a long time before the instructor cleared his throat behind them. And so, Juniper took a deep breath before stalking away. But that was not before she caught sight of the woman ripping away her clothes, beginning to oil her skin. Juniper's cheeks flushed and she immediately turned away, embarrassed. 

And as she did, she took that chance to look at the gymnasium. The morphling addicts from Six were at the camouflage section, painting each other's faces with bright pink swirls. The man from Five was vomiting wine all over the sword-fighting area. Finnick and Mags were at the archery. Peeta Mellark was at the centre of a circle of knife throwers. And then Katniss Everdeen was moving to the shelter station with Beetee and Wiress. 

"Juniper!"

The said woman looked over to see Cashmere waving her over. She was surrounded by Gloss, Brutus, Enobaria, Chaff, a few others, but more importantly, Mellark was standing there. And as Juniper hesitantly walked over to their group, she eyed the boy with rage and anger. 

Two Victors'. 

Two Victors'. 

How come he could survive, someone who could barely survive by himself, instead of Justice Hale? How come Justice Hale had to rot in District Ten's cemetery whilst Peeta Mellark was allowed to survive and laugh around like the world was his? Juniper thought about this and could feel the rage bubble and sizzle as she neared the group. 

"Juniper, you did a number on Higgins." Cashmere smirked slightly as she nodded her head over to the man. Juniper turned to find him slumped on the floor, leaning against a wall with the District Five male, the one who was throwing up before. "People are saying you're the one who broke his nose."

"Is that true?" Gloss asked, who was standing beside his sister. His voice was smooth and silky, much like Cashmere's.

("Cedar?" Hermes asked. Unlike his counterpart, his voice was soft and silky, flowing without any mishaps)

"Of course, it is." Juniper scoffed as she eyed Brent Higgins. His bruising was still faint, but from where she stood, she could see the shadows that cascaded underneath his eyes and around his nose. "Have you met the guy? He's a bastard."

Nearly all of the other Victors' in the circle nodded and mumbled in agreement. No-one liked Brent Higgins with some muttering the man was a waste of space and a waste of air. Juniper had to stop from chuckling when she looked over to her fellow district member, who had a dark look of thunder on his face. 

"Come on." Cashmere laid a hand on her shoulder and began to guide her away. "Ever thrown a knife before?"

(The moment she heard the foreign voice, Juniper immediately picked up the knife next to her and turned around, slinging it at whoever decided to rush through to the area)

"Once or twice..." Juniper grumbled. The entire group of Victors' were following them. 

And somehow, Juniper found herself submerged into the world of knife-throwing with the other Victors'. Each one was trying to show off as they all took turns. Cashmere and Gloss were, really, the only professionally skilled ones there, but Brutus and Enobaria still managed to get all targets. Chaff missed nearly all of them and made a big joke about it, causing Peeta Mellark to chuckle as he was pushed to be next. 

"I'm not that good," the boy warned them all. "So sorry if I throw it wrong and into one of your heads."

"Is that a threat, Mellark?" Chaff barked a laugh. Juniper crossed her arms, standing next to Cashmere. 

But Peeta just brushed it off with a sincere smile before gathering up knives. And whilst, yes he was a beginner, he still managed to hit half of the targets. And as he did and as he came back with a bright grin, Juniper clenched her jaw. 

"Go on." The boy came up to her, smiling lopsidedly as he held the knives out to her. "You haven't had a turn yet."

"Go on, Hale." Enobaria sneered. 

And as Juniper stared at the boy's face, she felt the anger bubble and she could feel it rising. She could feel it burn her insides alive as she eyed him and the knives. And more importantly, she eyed his smile. His stupid, goofy, lopsided grin that Juniper knew all too well on another boy. 

("Don't sweat it, Pa." Justice gave him a lousy smile. "We'll be all right. We always are.")

("They're gonna give you a wicked injection." Justice smiled as Juniper was pushed into the seat next to him harshly)

(When Justice smiled at them, Cedar smiled back as she stated, "Right, the twins... nice to meet you.")

Just before Juniper could collapse from her trembling legs, lunch was announced loudly and everyone started to move to the dining area. And as they did, she had to rub a hand down her face. 

"Maybe next time," Peeta offered with that stupid smile. 

But Juniper didn't answer and instead, she eyed him and the knives before stalking off. She could feel his stare as she began to make her way to the cafeteria, following everyone else. And as she did, all she could think about was the smile. She had seen that same smirk multiple times on her brother, the innocence, the goodness. It haunted her dreams, plaguing them and turning them into nightmares. That was Justice Hale's smile, something she would never forget. 

And now, for some reason, whether it was those above punishing her or the fate of Panem, it was Peeta Mellark's as well. 

Juniper took a deep, shaky breath as she grabbed a tray and started to head to the food-laden carts that were around the room. As she did, she watched as the Victors' took the smaller tables and began to form one big one, causing her to shake her head as she tried to get her brain right as she scooped peas onto her plate. 

No emotion. She had agreed on the train to the Capitol that she would show no emotion and currently, she was failing. She couldn't show people what she was feeling or they would use it against her. She couldn't show her emotions or it would end up with her hurt more than she already was. And Juniper Hale hated vulnerability. She hated the idea of it and she hated being it. And so, moving to add meat to her collection of peas, Juniper put the memories of Justice Hale back into a box at the back of her head along with Peeta Mellark's stupid smile. No emotion, no vulnerability. 

And so, with that taken care of, Juniper finished arranging her lunch before heading back to the makeshift table the Victors' had made. She slipped in beside Mags and Finnick, who both immediately greeted her and as they did and as Chaff from Eleven told horrendous jokes, Juniper felt her heart become lighter yet colder. She felt her eyes narrow as her brain became focused on four things. The Quell. The rebellion. No emotion. No vulnerability.

When lunch was finished, the Hale woman, with her head clear, decided the first day of training would be weapon and fighting based. The second would be survival. The third would be allies. And so, with that in mind, Juniper headed to the knife-throwing section. 

She didn't think about Peeta Mellark. She didn't think about Justice Hale. She didn't think about lopsided grins. Juniper was focused purely on the blades leaving her grasp, the thudding sound as it imbedded into the targets, and controlling her breathing. 

In. Out. 

In. Out.

In. Out. 

With every breath in, the woman held a knife. With every breath let out, she released them. With every recovery, she watched it dig into the head of the dummy. And then she would repeat the process over and over until her fingers were aching by the time she had completely destroyed the target, being riddled with holes. It was only then did she let out a sigh. 

"Am I interrupting you?"

Juniper snapped her head around and found it increasingly difficult to contain her anger when she saw the figure of Peeta Mellark behind her. And he had that smile. That stupid, lopsided, grin that Juniper knew all too well. And the eyes. How could one person be so much like another—?

No. No emotions. No feelings. Coldness. Juniper couldn't think of Justice. She couldn't notice the similarities between him and Peeta Mellark because there were none. Justice had died. Mellark had lived. Justice deserved to survive. Mellark deserved to rot in that arena like he should have. Two Victors'. The entire thing was a joke. Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen were laughable. 

"You're Juniper, right?" Peeta Mellark asked. He didn't seem timid nor scared, but had a sense of caution in his eyes as if one thing could set the woman off. "I'm Peeta... Peeta Mellark."

The boy extended out his hand and Juniper raised a brow as she stared at it. His fingers seemed to be trembling slightly as if he feared the woman would do something, but whatever true fear he was feeling underneath seemed to be hidden well by the way he didn't fix his posture, by the way he tried to look as natural as possible. It could be hidden from the other Victors', probably, but not from Juniper. She knew fear when she saw it. She knew weariness. She knew when someone didn't know what to say around her. 

And she also knew that this boy did not know Juniper Hale. He did not know the true Juniper Hale, whoever that may be, but the one that the Capitol and the Games had conjured up. The girl who just snapped. The twin-killer. She figured he was only around fourteen when it was the Seventy-Second. He would have a clear, vivid image of what happened in that swampy arena. But yet, he was still here. He was, despite all of what he might have seen and heard, still extending his hand out for Juniper to shake. And so, despite what fear the woman could sniff off of him, she had to give him some slack for most new Victors' wouldn't come up to her. 

But this was Peeta Mellark. This was the boy who shouldn't have won, who should have eaten those poisonous berries when his lover brought them out. He should not have become a Victor. Everdeen, maybe. But not Mellark. He didn't deserve it. He won by chance and no-one wins by chance in the Games. And there certainly aren't two Victors'. Peeta Mellark shouldn't have survived, but did. Justice should have survived, but didn't. 

So, Juniper narrowed her eyes at Peeta Mellark's blue ones and instead turned around, focusing back on the knives as she tried to forget about the boy's extended hand. He seemed to take the hint as he slowly dropped it, watching her with intent. 

"Why didn't you have a go earlier with the others?" Peeta asked as he noticed that all the blades the woman threw landed right into the brain of the dummy. "You're a natural."

(But what made Juniper blink slightly was when she saw that the knife she had thrown, the dagger she had killed Justice with, was lodged right into the heart of Ash, District Seven)

In. Out. 

In. Out. 

In. Out. 

With every knife thrown, with every breath inhaled and exhaled, Juniper silently begged for Peeta Mellark to walk away. He wasn't her concern. He was someone else's. Her concern was with Katniss Everdeen, who was over at the swords with Enobaria. Not much conversation was going on by the looks of it. 

"You don't speak much, do you?" Peeta smiled slightly as he moved to lean against the wall. Juniper could just see him from the corner of her eye. "Look, Juniper... I'm just trying to scope out people. I'm just being tactical, you know. Best to start now rather than later."

"Tactical." Juniper scoffed as she threw her last blade, the thudding sound of it hitting the head of the target echoing around. "If you want to be tactical, then you wouldn't have come over here."

"And why is that?"

Juniper stared into the boy's blue eyes and felt her brows raise. Why is that? Why is that? Did he not know? Did he possibly not know? He must have. Everyone knew of the Hale twins, of Justice's demise. Everyone knew that if the rules that changed in the Seventy-Fourth happened in the Seventy-Second, Justice could still be alive. But he wasn't because the rule of two Victors' didn't happen during their time. It happened during Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen's time. And everyone knew of that. Peeta must know of that. 

"If you really want allies," Juniper started to say as she forgot about the knives and started to walk slowly towards the boy. "Then maybe you should check up on your lover considering she's currently thinking of Nuts, Volts, and Mags."

This made Peeta furrow his brows as he turned around, looking to see Katniss Everdeen smiling with the old woman at the fish hooks. And Juniper didn't mean that as an insult. She too was possibly allying with Mags considering Finnick, but she was eighty-years-old and she wouldn't survive the Games. That was a topic Juniper had already thought about and accepted. And then Beetee, that would be smart, but Katniss Everdeen didn't strike Juniper as the smart-tech kind. And then Wiress was downright crazy. The three would slow Katniss Everdeen and anybody down. That thought alone made Peeta clench his jaw as he quickly left the knife-throwing station. 

"Are you terrorising the lad?" 

Juniper turned around, ignoring Peeta's retreating figure, to find Finnick staring at her, arms crossed as he replaced the boy's spot, leaning against the wall. He had a sense of mischief in his eyes, something that had the woman rolling her eyes as she slowly began to massage her red, aching fingers. 

"He shouldn't have come over here," Juniper replied. "I was perfectly fine by myself."

"Yeah, I can see that," Finnick mumbled as he eyed the destroyed target that was riddled with holes and remaining blades. "And what was that little quip about Mags, huh?"

"I didn't mean it." Juniper rolled her eyes as she tried to hide her smile. "I just said it so the kid could piss off."

"Piss off, huh?" Finnick raised a brow as he pushed himself off of the wall, walking to the woman as he slung his arm around her shoulders before setting off. "And to think you were becoming a peoples person."

"You should think about pissing off in a minute."

Finnick shook his head as he began to lead her to the spear-throwing, which was empty as Brutus and Chaff were conversing near the axes, saying, "I'll piss—"

But the man stopped his sentence as he realised everyone in the gymnasium had stopped talking and using the equipment. Finnick and Juniper raised a brow as they watched the remaining Victors' in the gym rush over to the archery range. Following, the duo managed to push to the front of the crowd of tributes to find Katniss Everdeen firing arrows repeatedly into fake birds that were getting launched by the trainer. And she didn't miss once. Every arrow landed into the targets, causing them to drop down onto the padded-floor. 

Juniper clenched her jaw. 

And when the girl from Twelve was finished, managing to take down five birds in one round, she turned around to see everyone watching her. She seemed taken aback as some stared at her with envy, others admiration. But Juniper Hale crossed her arms and stared at the girl with utter hatred at the realisation that she had to keep her alive.