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(M/N)'s feet backed up automatically and he blended into the trees. He covered his mouth with his glove to disperse the white of his breath in the icy air. Adrenaline coursed through him, wiping all the concerns of the day from his mind as he focused on the immediate threat before him. What was going on? Had the Head Peacekeeper turned on the fence as an additional security precaution? Or did he somehow know (M/N) escaped his net today? Was he determined to strand (M/N) outside District 12 until he could apprehend and arrest him? Drag him to the square to be locked in the stockade or whipped or hanged?
Calm down, (M/N) ordered himself. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd been caught outside the district by an electrified fence. It had happened a few times over the years but Shoto was always with him. The two of them would just pick a comfortable tree to hang out in until the power shut off, which it always did eventually. If (M/N) was ever running late, Eri even got in the habit of going to the Meadow to check if the fence was charged, to spare their mother's worry.
But today his family would never imagine he'd be in the woods. He'd taken a few steps to mislead them. So if he didn't show up, worry they would. And there was a part of (M/N) that was worried, too, because he wasn't sure that this was a coincidence, the power coming on the very day he returned to the woods. He thought no one saw him sneak under the fence, but who knows? There were always eyes for hire. Someone reported Shoto kissing him in that very spot. Still, that was in daylight and before (M/N) was careful about his behaviour. Could there be surveillance cameras? (M/N) wondered about this before. Was this the way President Nezu knew about the kiss? It was dark when (M/N) went under and his face was bundled in a scarf. But the list of suspects likely to be trespassing into the woods was probably very short.
(M/N)'s eyes peered through the trees, past the fence, into the Meadow. All he could see was the wet snow illuminated here and there by the light from the windows on the edge of the Seam. No Peacekeepers in sight, no signs he was being hunted. Whether the Head Peacekeeper knew that he left the district today or not, (M/N) realised his course of action had to be the same: to get back inside the fence unseen and pretend he never left.
Any contact with the chain link or the coils of barbed wire that guarded the top would mean instant electrocution. (M/N) didn't think he could burrow under the fence without risking detection, and the ground was frozen hard, anyway. That left only one choice. Somehow he was going to have to go over it.
(M/N) began to skirt along the tree line, searching for a tree with a branch high and long enough to fit his needs. After about a kilometre, he came upon an old maple that could work. The trunk was too wide and icy to climb up though, and there were no low branches. (M/N) climbed a neighbouring tree and leaped precariously onto the maple, almost losing his hold on the slick bark. But he managed to get a grip and slowly inched his way out on a limb that hung above the barbed wire.
As (M/N) looked down, he remembered why he and Shoto always waited in the woods rather than tried to tackle the fence. Being high enough to avoid getting fried meant being at least six metres in the air. He guessed his branch must be eight. That was a dangerously long drop, even for someone who's had years of practice in trees. But (M/N) didn't have another choice. He could look for another branch, but it was almost dark now. The falling snow would obscure any moonlight. Here, at least, he could see he had a snowbank to cushion his landing. Even if he could find another, which was doubtful, who knows what he would be jumping into.
(M/N) threw his empty game bag around his neck and slowly lowered himself until he was hanging by his hands. For a moment, he gathered his courage. Then he released his fingers.
There was the sensation of falling, then he hit the ground with a jolt that went right up his spine. A second later, his rear end slammed against the ground. He laid there in the snow, trying to assess the damage. Without standing, he could tell by the pain in his left heel and his tailbone that he was injured. The only question was how badly. (M/N) was hoping for bruises, but when he forced himself onto his feet, he suspected he'd broken something as well. He could walk, though, so he got moving, trying to hide his limp the best he could.
His mother and Eri couldn't know that he was in the woods. He needed to work up some sort of alibi, no matter how thin. Some of the shops in the square were still open, so he went to one and purchased white cloth for bandages. They were running low, anyway. In another, he bought a bag of sweets for Eri. He stuck one of them in his mouth, feeling the peppermint melt on his tongue, and he realised it was the first thing he had eaten all day. He meant to make a meal at the lake, but once he saw Itsuka and Toru's condition, it seemed wrong to take a single mouthful from them.
By the time (M/N) reached his house, his left heel was bearing no weight at all. He decided to tell his mother he was trying to mend a leak in the roof of their old house and slid off. As for the missing food, he'd just be vague about who he handed it out to. He dragged himself in the door, all ready to collapse in front of the fire. But instead he got another shock.
Two Peacekeepers, a man and a woman, were standing in the doorway to their kitchen. The woman remained impassive, but (M/N) caught the flicker of surprise on the man's face. He was unanticipated. They knew he was in the woods and should be trapped there now.
"Hello," (M/N) said in a neutral tone. Taking extreme care and subtly adjusting his posture so the limp was near impossible to see.
(M/N)'s mother appeared behind them, but kept her distance. "Here he is, just in time for dinner, she said a little too brightly. (M/N) was very late for dinner.
(M/N) considered removing his boots as he normally would but he doubted he would be able to manage it without revealing his injuries. Instead he just pulled off his wet hood and shook the snow from his hair. "Can I help you with something?" he asked the Peacekeepers.
"The Head Peacekeeper sent us with a message for you," said the woman.
"They've been waiting for hours," (M/N)'s mother added. They had been waiting for him to fail to return. To confirm he'd got electrocuted by the fence or trapped in the woods so they could take his family in for questioning.
"Must be an important message," (M/N) said.
"May we ask where you've been, Mr (L/N)?" the woman asked.
"Easier to ask where I haven't been," (M/N) said with a sound of exasperation. He crossed into the kitchen, forcing himself to use his foot normally even though every step was excruciating. He passed between the Peacekeepers and made it to the table all right. He flung his bag down and turned to Eri, who was standing stiffly by the wall. Shota and Katsuki were there as well, sitting in a pair of matching rockers, playing a game of chess. Were they here by chance or "invited" by the Peacekeepers? Either way, (M/N) was glad to see them.
"So where haven't you been?" Shota said in a bored voice.
"Well, I haven't been talking to the Goat Man about getting Eri's goat pregnant, because someone gave me completely inaccurate information as to where he lived," (M/N) said to Eri emphatically.
"No, I didn't," Eri said. "I told you exactly."
"You said he lives beside the west entrance to the mine," (M/N) said.
"The east entrance," Eri corrected him.
"You distinctly said the west, because I said, 'Next to the slag heap?' and you said, 'Yeah,'" (M/N) said.
"The slag heap next to the east entrance," Eri said patiently.
"No. When did you say that?" (M/N) demanded.
"Last night," Shota chimed in.
"It was definitely the east," Katsuki added. He looked at Shota and they laughed. (M/N) glared at Katsuki and he simply rolled his eyes. "This is what I've been saying. You don't listen when people talk to you."
"Bet people told you he didn't live there today and you didn't listen again," Shota said.
"Shut up, Shota," (M/N) said, clearly indicating he was right.
Shota and Katsuki cracked up and Eri allowed herself a smile.
"Fine. Somebody else can arrange to get the stupid goat knocked up," (M/N) said, which made them laugh more. This is why they've made it this far, Shota and Katsuki. Nothing throws them, (M/N) thought.
He looked at the Peacekeepers. The man was smiling but the woman was unconvinced. "What's in the bag?" she asked sharply.
(M/N) knew she was hoping for game or wild plants. Something that clearly condemned him. He dumped the contents on the table. "See for yourself."
"Oh, good," (M/N)'s mother said, examining the cloth. "We're running low on bandages."
Katsuki came over to the table and opened the bag of sweets. "Oh, peppermints," he said, popping one in his mouth.
"They're mine," (M/N) swiped for the bag. Katsuki tossed it to Shota, who stuffed a fistful of sweets in his mouth before passing the bag to a giggling Eri. "None of you deserve sweets!" (M/N) said.
"What, because we're right?" Katsuki wrapped an arm around him. (M/N) gave a small yelp of pain as his tailbone objected. He tried to turn it into a sound of anger, but (M/N) could see in Katsuki's eyes he knew that he was hurt. "Ok, Eri said west. I distinctly heard west. And we're all idiots. How's that?"
"Better," (M/N) said, and accepted his kiss. Then he looked at the Peacekeepers as if he was suddenly remembering they were there. "You have a message for me?"
"From the Head Peacekeeper," the woman said. "He wanted you to know that the fence surrounding District Twelve will now have electricity twenty-four hours a day."
"Didn't it already?" (M/N) asked a little too innocently.
"He thought you might be interested in passing this information on to your cousin," the woman said.
"Thank you. I'll tell him. I'm sure we'll all sleep a little more soundly now that security has addressed that lapse." (M/N) was pushing things, he knew it, but the comment gave him a sense of satisfaction.
The woman's jaw tightened. None of this had gone as planned, but she had no further orders. She gave (M/N) a curt nod and left, the man trailing behind her. When (M/N)'s mother locked the door behind them, he slumped against the table.
"What is it?" Katsuki said, holding him steady.
"I banged up my left foot. The heel. And my tailbone had a bad day, too." Katsuki helped (M/N) over to one of the rockers and he lowered himself onto the padded cushion.
His mother eased off his boots. "What happened?"
"I slipped and fell," (M/N) said. Four pairs of eyes looked at him with disbelief. "On some ice." But they all knew the house was probably bugged and it wasn't safe to talk openly. Not there, not now.
Having stripped off his sock, his mother's fingers probed the bones in his left heel and he winced. "There might be a break," she said. She checked the other foot. "This one seems all right." She judged his tailbone to be badly bruised.
Eri went to get his pyjamas and robe. When (M/N) was changed, his mother made a snow pack for his left heel and propped it up on a cushion. He ate three bowls of stew and half a loaf of bread while the others dined at the table. (M/N) stared at the fire, thinking of Toru and Itsuka, hoping that the heavy, wet snow had erased his tracks.
Eri came and sat on the floor next to him, leaning her head against his knee. They sucked on peppermints as (M/N) brushed her soft white hair back behind her ear. "How was school?" he asked.
"All right. We learned about coal-by-products," she said. They stared at the fire for a while. "Are you going to try on your wedding outfits?"
"Not tonight. Tomorrow probably," (M/N) said.
"Wait until I get home, ok?" she said.
"Sure." If they don't arrest me first, (M/N) thought.
(M/N)'s mother gave him a cup of chamomile tea with a dose of sleep syrup, and his eyelids began to droop immediately. She wrapped his bad foot, and Katsuki volunteered to get him to bed. (M/N) started out by leaning on the blonde's shoulder, but he was so wobbly that Katsuki just scooped him up and carried him upstairs. He tucked (M/N) in and said goodnight but (M/N) caught his hand and held him there. A side effect of sleep syrup was that it made people less inhibited, like white liquor, and (M/N) knew he had to control his tongue. But he didn't want Katsuki to go. In fact, he wanted him to climb in bed, to be there when the nightmares hit tonight. For some reason that he couldn't quite form, he knew that he wasn't allowed to ask that.
"Don't go yet. Not until I fall asleep," (M/N) said.
Katsuki sat on the side of the bed, warming (M/N)'s hand. "Almost thought you'd changed your mind today. When you were late for dinner."
(M/N)'s mind was foggy but he could guess what the blonde meant. With the fence going on and him showing up late and the Peacekeepers waiting, Katsuki thought (M/N) made a run for it, maybe with Shoto.
"No, I'd have told you," (M/N) said. He pulled Katsuki's hand up and leaned his cheek against the back of it, taking in the faint scent of cinnamon. (M/N) wanted to tell him about Itsuka and Toru and the uprisings and the fantasy of District 13, but it wasn't safe to and (M/N) could feel himself slipping away, so he just got out one more sentence. "Stay with me."
As the sleep syrup pulled him under, (M/N) heard Katsuki whisper something back, but he couldn't quite catch it.
~
(M/N)'s mother let him sleep until noon, then roused him to examine his heel. (M/N) was ordered to a week of bed rest and he didn't object because he felt so lousy. Not just his heel and tailbone. His whole body ached with exhaustion. So he let his mother doctor him, feed him breakfast in bed and tuck another quilt around him.
Then, he just laid there, staring out his window at the winter sky, pondering how this would all turn out. He thought a lot about Itsuka and Toru, and the pile of white wedding outfits downstairs, and if the Head Peacekeeper would figure out how he got back in and arrest him. He could just arrest (M/N) anyway, based on his past crimes, but maybe it had to have something really irrefutable to do it, now that (M/N) was a victor. And he wondered if President Nezu was in contact with the Head Peacekeeper. Either way, he was sure they'd both agree on keeping him locked up here inside the district with that fence. Even if he could figure out some way to escape - maybe get a rope up to that maple tree branch and climb out - there'd be no escaping with his family and friends now. He told Shoto he would stay and fight, anyway.
For the next few days, (M/N) jumped every time there was a knock on the door. No Peacekeepers showed up to arrest him, though, so eventually he began to relax. He was further reassured when Katsuki casually told him the power was off in sections of the fence because crews were out securing the base of the chain link to the ground. They must believe (M/N) somehow got under the thing, even with that deadly current running through it. It was a break for the district, having the Peacekeepers busy doing something besides abusing people.
Katsuki came by every day to bring (M/N) cheese buns and began to help him work on the family book. It was an old thing, made of parchment and leather. Some herbalist on his mother's side of the family started it ages ago. The book was composed of page after page of ink drawings of plants with descriptions of their medical uses. (M/N)'s father added a section on edible plants that was (M/N)'s guidebook to keeping the family alive after his death.
For a long time, (M/N) wanted to record his own knowledge in it. Things he learned from experience or from Shoto, and then the information he picked up when he was training for the Games. He didn't because he was no artist and it was so crucial that the pictures were drawn in exact detail. That's where Katsuki came in. Some of the plants he knew already, others they had dried samples of, and others (M/N) had to describe. He made sketches on scrap paper until (M/N) was satisfied they were right, then he let Katsuki draw them in the book. After that, (M/N) carefully wrote all he knew about the plant.
It was quiet, absorbing work that helped take his mind off his troubles. He liked to watch Katsuki's hands as he worked, making a blank page bloom with strokes of ink, adding touches of colour to their previously black and yellowish book. His face took on a special look when he concentrated. His usual neutral expression was replaced by something more intense that suggested an entire world locked away inside him. (M/N) had seen flashes of it before: in the arena, or when he spoke to a crowd, or that time he shoved the Peacekeepers' guns away from (M/N) in District 11. (M/N) didn't quite know what to make of it.
One afternoon Katsuki stopped shading a blossom and looked up so suddenly that (M/N) thought he had been caught spying. But Katsuki only said, "You know, I think this is the first time we've ever done anything normal together."
"Yeah," (M/N) agreed. Their whole relationship had been tainted by the Games. Normal was never a part of it. "Nice for a change."
Each afternoon Katsuki carried (M/N) downstairs for a change of scenery and (M/N) unnerved everyone by turning on the television. Usually they only watched when it was mandatory, because the mixture of propaganda and displays of the Capitol's power - including clips from seventy-four years of Hunger Games - was so repulsive. But now (M/N) was looking for something special. The mockingjay that Itsuka and Toru were basing all their hopes on. (M/N) knew it was probably foolishness, but if it was, he wanted to rule it out. And erase the idea of a thriving District 13 from his mind for good.
His first sighting was a news story referencing the dark days. (M/N) saw the smouldering remains of the Justice Building in District 13 and just caught the black-and-white underside of a mockingjay's wing as it flew across the upper right-hand corner. That didn't prove anything, really. It was just an old shot that went with an old tale.
However, several days later, something else caught (M/N)'s attention. The main newscaster was reading a piece about a shortage of graphite affecting the manufacturing items in District 3. They cut to what was supposed to be live footage of a female reporter, encased in a protective suit, standing in front of the ruins of the Justice Building in 13. Through her mask, she reported that unfortunately a study had just today determined that the mines of District 13 were still too toxic to approach. End of story. But just before they cut back to the main newscaster, (M/N) saw the unmistakable flash of that same mockingjay's wing.
The reporter had simply been incorporated into the old footage. She wasn't in District 13 at all. Which begged the question, What was?
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