Broken Toys - Johanna Mason x fem reader

Chapter 27 - Living In Peace

"I'd like to participate", I addressed all of them. 

"This isn't a playground or anything", one of them mocked me. 

"Hey! Don't you recognize her? Don't forget that she's a former victor and soldier. Maybe she's worth our time", another one objected. 

"I doubt that", another one chimed in. 

"What do I have to do to qualify?" 

"Can you manage bull's eye at this range? One hit would be sufficient", the first flashed me a sly smirk. He was obviously underestimating me. It was not like I cared. Actually I just wanted to shoot in peace, but this was better than nothing. 

One of them handed me his gun and I positioned myself in front of the target. It only took me a few seconds to shoot five times at a new target. So everyone could see what I had hit. 

When I joined the others again, the first man was still smirking arrogantly at me. "Not bad. You got your hit, although you needed five attempts." 

A frown appeared on my face. "Do you need glasses? She didn't need five attempts. She hit the exact same spot five times in a row!", someone else interjected. 

"No way!" 

From that point on I had to do all kinds of challenges and I succeeded in all of them. When I turned around to leave, the arrogant man stopped me by grabbing my arm. Out of reflex I flung him over and pinned him to the ground. They all looked shocked. Maybe I should have apologized, but he had touched me first. 

"How did you learn to shoot like this? I've never see anyone this good before." The man stood up and faced me. 

My hand automatically moved to my head as it started to hurt due to the flashbacks I tried to suppress. "I pushed through excruciating pain and used experiences from life-threatening situations", I mumbled and left. 

What was up with me today? Apparently Katniss' case bothered me more than I wanted to admit. And it reminded me of my past. 

"Dammit! (f/n)!", Johanna yelled and slapped me in the face. 

Tears blurred my sight now. Did she just hit me? Sure. Johanna appeared pretty aggressive, but I would have never expected her to harm me, at least not consciously and physically. She was still not the best with words after all. 

Just now I noticed that I was sitting on the ground and she was kneeling in front of me. "(f/n), what's up?" Why did she sound so caring? She was contradicting herself. 

"You ...", I could not get myself to say it out loud. That she had hit me. 

Her hand gently cupped my aching cheek as a tear slipped from my eye. "Let's go somewhere private first", Johanna suggested as everyone was staring at us. I could not blame them. 

Back in Johanna's apartment she handed me an ice pack and I held it to my cheek. 

"We need to talk. Right now", Johanna insisted. I simply nodded. "What was all of that about? You behave strangely since the incident at the high ropes course."

Suddenly I felt extremely irritated. "You slapped me", I reminded her, still in disbelief. 

"(f/n), you didn't breathe! I didn't mean to hurt you, but I won't let you die!" I was completely confused at her statement. "You had a panic attack. When you returned from the shooting range, you suddenly broke down and started hyperventilating. I tried talking to you, calming you down, but nothing worked. I only hit you to get you out of this state, to make you breathe properly again", she clarified. Johanna looked guilty and desperate. It must have been hard for her too.