A Part to Play // Hunger Games

14 // Victor by Chance

"It's okay if the only person you ever save is yourself" - Thicker than Water (minimae13)

***

TW: mention of murder, emotional trauma

In Aria's opinion, the worse feeling of all wasn't that of becoming a murderer, but that of becoming a Victor. She knew what that implied and did not like it at all.

As soon as the young girl was lifted into the hovercraft the Capitol doctors started tending to her, doing their weird Capitol technology stuff and somehow immediately healing most of her wounds. The scars would remain, but she didn't mind them. They'd serve a bigger purpose later on, to remind the girl of what had happened, never letting her forget about the Capitol's cruelties, using that pain and rage to fuel her determination.

The first person she saw was Layon, who ran out to the young girl and hugged her tight, like a father would. The stylist had become somewhat of a father figure to the girl, the only one she could trust at the moment. He was the closest thing to a family that the girl had at the time.

The youngest Victor quite liked Fae and she was sure that living near Josh would eventually bring them both closer, but none of them had the connection she'd built with Layon over the short period of time that they had worked together.

The expression on her face was stoic, blank. She had built a wall to protect herself from the harsh reality. To not show your weaknesses was to preserve yourself, after all, if they don't know how to hurt you, they won't be able to do it.

And that's how she spent the first half an hour of being a Victor. Fifteen minutes in the hands of the doctors and fifteen with Layon, finding comfort in his embrace.

***

If you were to ask anyone who didn't personally know the youngest Victor, they'd tell you that she was a mystery that no one could ever uncover. However, that was not entirely true, as Josh would soon find out. Throughout her life, only a handful of people were able to break through the girl's walls, and all of those who did could tell you how wonderful and worth it she was.

***

Josh was shocked at what the ex-tribute had to go through at such and young age. He had seen her Games, as he did many before, but he never saw someone as strong as the young girl that was sitting in front of him, and he wanted to get to know her.

The young Victor knew it was possible, he'd seen Royce and Layon do it, but he also knew it was damn hard. The man just hoped she could someday found it in her to trust him like she did Royce before his tragic death.

Even though the resident of District Five knew the girl had killed him, he wouldn't hold it against her, or even mention it to her at that, he too, knowing how hard it was to kill someone you care about. Probably even better that the young girl herself, having done the same thing in his own Games, wishing he had people sensible enough not to talk to him about it like it was something he wanted to do, or was even proud of doing in the first place.

No, Josh would be that person for her. He would support the girl he saw struggling in that Arena, going through all of it alone. He promised himself that as long as she would let him, he'd be there for the young girl, just as Finnick and, for the past year, Johanna, were there for him.

Being a Victor was really hard, especially if you were young and desirable, as the youngest one of the lot was, but he didn't think Snow would be very eager to sell her. At least not yet. The Capitol people didn't exactly like her a lot at the moment. The young man however, knew this was bound to change at some point, and if it ever did, he'd be there.