Forbearance • A Cato Hadley Story

2.03

"It must be a fragile system if it can be brought down by just a few berries." Livia spoke to Snow, trying to be as intimidating to him as he was to her. But it wasn't working. He saw right through her and she knew it. The way he stared not in her eyes but almost through them. Like she wasn't even there. Like she was just a hallucination. "Yes, it is indeed. But not in the way you imagine it." he corrected her, resting his forearms on the wooden office desk.

The blonde leaned back in her chair as he leant forward, as she didn't want to be any closer to him than she needed to be. She longed to leave the room; to be as far away from him as possible. "How should I imagine?" the small girl asked, doing her best to hide the nervousness in her voice. Although it clearly wasn't working as he just snickered at her and watched the rest of her body tense,

"You should imagine thousands upon thousands of your people dead. This town of yours reduced to ashes. Imagine it gone. A radioactive buried under dirt as if it had never existed like District 13. But they were games. Would you like to be in a real war?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. War. It didn't hit her until that moment. When she had done what she did in the arena for her and Cato it wasn't her defying her oh so fragile government.

She just wanted to go home. And so did he. And she wasn't going home without him. That was all. She never meant for even the thought of another war to be brought up. "No." she replied. Her focus moved to the floor, as she was so uncomfortable now that she couldn't bring herself to look at him for even a moment. She just wanted her father. She wanted her sister. And not the one who would barely speak to her. The one who came to her for comfort and support.

She wanted Cato and to be in his embrace, safe from the outside world. But they were now all in danger. Because of her actions. "Why don't you just kill me now?" she asked the man, feeling her eyes start to water. Livia could hear a single heavy breath leave his mouth, the smell of blood and what seemed to be poison filling the air around her. "I don't want to kill you. I want us to be friends. But if not friends then allies." he told her, trying, though not well, to be friendly

She didn't believe it for a second. She knew his ways. She didn't trust him. She would never trust him. Not even if her life depended on it. And it did. "When you and Cato go on tour, you need to smile, you need to be grateful. But above all you need to be madly prepared to end it all in love, you think you can manage that?" he asked, now not even trying to hide the rudeness in his tone as he spoke. The space the pair found themselves trapped in was quiet now.

The teen thought about his words, repeating them over and over. He wanted her to be a pawn in his little game. He was trying to control her. That was just who he was. He felt the need to have control of anyone and anything around him. But she wasn't even going to attempt to try to pretend. I didn't own her. And he would know that soon enough. "I don't need to convince you. I know what I feel and that's all that matters." she shot at him, standing from her seat and pushing it aggressively away from her.

He didn't speak. He was silent as he tried to pick up on any signs of a bluff from the girl. But he didn't. "You should leave." Livia demanded just before heading to storm out of the room. She was right in front of the door, hand on the knob as she was prepared to leave. But, of course, Snow needed the last word. "Miss Perez," he called. The teen halted, turning to face the president cautiously.

With his unusually wicked smile he turned the screen back on and turned it to face her. On it was a video that played out a familiar scenario. It was the year prior, just ten minutes after the girl had been reaped. Her sixteen year old self could be seen hugging her sister briefly before pushing the small girl off gently to hug her father. President Snow slyly rose from his seat with a smirk and walked towards the door where Livia stood, now frozen in place as she watched the video.

She was frightened. More than ever before. They were watching her. They were watching her non stop wherever she went. She wasn't safe. Chloe wasn't safe. Cato wasn't safe. Her father wasn't safe. There was no escape. The blonde could feel tears start to fill her eyes just as the scene switched. Her and Cato could be seen on the front steps of his home. She faced him with a smile and pecked his lips just before running off, following her sister. That video had been from moments before.

They saw everything. There was no winning. Not against the Capitol. The tears in her eyes finally started falling as the screen turned off. Her hands cupped her mouth and she fell to her knees as she choked out a sob she tried to suppress. Snow waited a moment for her to quiet down before kneeling to her level, only making her scoot away from him slightly, and leaned close to her ear.

She hated it. She wanted to put as much between the man and herself as she could. But he wasn't budging. "You convince me, for the sake of your loved ones." he whispered, exiting the room just after. She was helpless. Minutes after she could sense that his presence was no longer near her, she still found herself frozen on the ground of the office.

Arms wrapped around her, the person not speaking a single word. She recognized the pair of arms. They were a pair of arms she hadn't felt in what felt like forever. Livia slowly unfroze herself and turned her body to hug her sister. Whether or not she still wouldn't speak to her, she liked the comfort. She needed it. She needed someone. Even if that someone had barely spoken to her in months. She was breaking. And she was breaking fast.