Our Love Could Be Lethal Act I Re-Write

Act I: Suicide Squad

And here it is! 9.5k of intricacies. Another 4.5k of this chapter was shaved off and absorbed into the next chapter.

I would never have guessed that Plutarch would send his own family member to do his dirty business. I would've thought that in the Capitol, they were above that sort of thing—they can pay someone else to take care of their problems. But apparently Plutarch is more similar to the people of District 2 than I thought because standing in front of me is his nephew, Theseus Heavansbee I think his name is. The man behind the chip counter at the casino, the one who got the evil red-haired woman arrested.

A smirk crosses his face. "Miss Jones, good to see you again."

"It's only been a week, Mr. Heavansbee, can't get enough of me?"

"Apparently not," he laughs. Though I have to insist you call me Mr. Vickers, Heavansbee is my mother's maiden name."

He seems much more genuine than his uncle, which is saying something because Theseus himself is essentially an undercover spy. Or maybe I'm just stupid, I think to myself. It's probably that one. I shouldn't trust him any farther than I could throw him. "Understood, Mr. Vickers."

He lends his arm out for me to take. "Shall we."

I take his arm and he leads me out in the hall towards the elevator, but not before I give one last wave to the crew inside the hotel room. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" I say, trying to prompt him to give me more information.

"Well, you and I have a very important meeting with some of the most important people in the Capitol media."

My mind immediately goes to one person. "Caesar Flickerman?"

"I doubt it. People would ass-kiss so hard, even he would hate it. We're more so looking at executives, filmmakers, journalists, lots of behind-the-scenes people. They're the important ones anyway."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Juno Wright is a current candidate for the CEO position of Panem TV, he's a powerful person to keep an eye out for tonight." So is he the target? "But I'd actually recommend you keep an eye on him from afar. There's a rumour he has a penchant for victors." Maybe not then.

"That won't be a problem. Anyone else?"

"All the other candidates will be looking for a one-up on each other, classic social climbing, and you, my friend are a shining beacon of status, so don't be surprised if you have several people clambering to pretend to be your best friend."

"Well, that'll be difficult for them since I don't really have any friends."

Theseus lets out a genuine chuckle at my self-deprecating sarcasm. "At least you're honest. There's rumours—and I mean the classified kind—that someone here is interested in funding some sort of anti-Capitol film."

I can feel the irritation rising in my body. That's the last thing I'd ever want to do. Hell, if I didn't think they'd kill me for it, I'd probably make my own commercial to stop kids in 2 from romanticizing the Games. "So we're here to rat out whoever is speaking out against the Capitol?"

He gently tugs me closer to whisper in my ear, "Careful with your word choice, it exposes you." He returns to his normal voice, "We're here to make sure there's no treason. And if we happen to find any other illegal activities, well that's just the icing on the cake. Like there was last time we worked together."

He must mean the added bonus of us being able to put away the red-haired woman. If the illegal funder turns out to be Juno Wright the victor predator, I can't say I'd be unhappy with the result.