𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐊 ... 𝗽𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗸

𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

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𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 : 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
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spoiler alert : who's ready for some reunions???

"it's called hijacking."

beetee and prim sat at katniss' hospital bed, while cypress and hattie sat on the last hospital chair, hattie sitting on the boy's lap. plutarch stood beside them, and haymitch paced alongside katniss' bed.

"we don't know how long the capitol's been doing this to peeta. it's fear conditioning." hattie scoffed. "enhanced with tracker jacker venom. you were stung your first games. remember? the venom push the subject in a dissociative state. and they torture him." beetee exclaimed, making hattie put her head into her hands, cypress wrapping his hands around her waist. "with—" hattie cut beetee off, "with shocks and beatings, and they strip down his identity, and then all of that suggesting and fear is redirected. associated with other memories or a person." "they can change his memories of katniss?" prim asked.

she shrugged, "they can change anyone's memories of someone. they most likely changed his memories of kat to make her seem life-threatening." "they turned him into a weapon, katniss. to kill you." haymitch said. "but you can reverse it?" prim questioned. "the fear is the most difficult thing to overcome. we're hardwired to remember fear best." beetee replied.

"it's new terrain. but, we've put together a team. we're gonna get hattie to visit him later. i'm optimistic." as plutarch spoke hattie's name, katniss tried to sit up with wide eyes, but prim pushed her back down. "don't worry, katniss, i'll be okay. i'm bringing haymitch with me." katniss looked past hattie and to cypress. "cypress is gonna stay here with you, babe."

"bonding !" cypress grinned.

« « « » » »

hattie tried to not make herself look too desperate as she walked through the district halls, haymitch right behind her.

"good evening. yesterday, i authorized a covert rescue mission inside the capitol. i am pleased to announce that the victors have been liberated ! let this day mark a historic change. with the mockingjay and the victors beside us, we have sent a clear message to the capitol. that we will never again endure injustice..."

"okay, are you sure you wanna do this?"  haymitch asked the girl, stopping her outside the door and turning her to him. "yes. yes. i promise." she nodded. "okay. they injected him with some of that sleepy stuff, but he should be waking up just about now. if you need me, you know what to do." "yeah," she flipped him off, and he nodded back. "atta, girl. go get your man."

hattie turned herself around, and took a deep breath. "okay, okay." she whispered to herself before opening the door. inside, bright white lights fled the room, and in the middle of the empty room, stood a bed that peeta was chained to.

she took another deep breath, a pain inside herself deepening in her stomach. "peeta." she whispered, a tear falling from her eye. she spotted a glass chair off to the side, and she dragged it over to sit beside his bed. she sat down, and wiped her tear.

the seat was cold, unlike the seat she took earlier on cypress' lap. she wished he was here. to just comfort her. but, he had other priorities right now, and hattie had to accept it. she had been his first priority for 10 years. it was okay to take a break.

peeta slowly dazed awake, and hattie gasped. "peeta." she said in a tone she remembered she had once woke him up to. his eyes were bruised, so his eyes couldn't fully open until they adjusted to the light. he looked around, seeming to skip past the girl in front of him, until he looked everywhere around her. "hi." she slightly smiled, not daring reaching for him.

after being hijacked, it can be hard to build trust again with certain people. when hattie was younger and her father would bring her to work, she would watch people's family members try and talk to the hijacked victim. most of the time, they would never remember them.

"ha... harriet?" she nodded, tearing up, "yeah, yeah, it's hattie." "ha... hattie." he mumbled, "i.. you're here." "i am here. i'm here." she smiled a watery one, nodding her head ecstatically. "...i didn't forget you. i didn't forget you." he repeated. "i know. i know you didn't." he reached out as far as he could for her hand, and she took it gently.

"they... they tried to erase my memory of you. they tried to make me not remember you anymore." he told her, looking up at her. "i know. i know they did." she nodded painfully, putting her other hand over their intertwined ones. "i still remember you." peeta insisted, and hattie laughed, tears falling from her eyes. "i know you do. i know you do." he looked at her and tried to reach his hand over to her face, but his chains stopped him. she bent her face down, near his hand. he wiped her tears for her. "thank you." she sniffled.

"you're wearing my medallion." he pointed to her neck. "i am. you like it?" she asked. "yeah. yeah, i like it." he smiled in pain. hattie glanced down at his hands, and realized there was no ring on his finger. "where's your ring?" "my.. my ring?" he looked down at his hands, "my ring... they took it," he said unsurely. "who took it?" "that... that big, dark, guy." hattie realized he was talking about the colonel, and she let out a breath of relief. "oh, don't worry. we'll get it back." she looked down and played with the boys interlocked fingers in the silence they had kept.

"i'm glad you're here.. hattie." peeta whispered. she looked up at him, and smiled. "i'm glad i'm here, too, peeta." just then, the door opened. haymitch peeked his head in. "hey, sweetie, it's time to go." "no, 'mitch, just a couple more minutes." hattie begged the man. "i'm sorry, sweetheart, i've let you in here as long as i could. i already asked for the extra 5." hattie bit her lip, and turned back to peeta. "i'm sorry. i have to go."

the girl started to stand, and peeta's eyes turned wide. "please, don't." she shook her head, "i wish i could stay. i wish i could. i'll be back. i promise." she reached over and kissed his cheek, but then he started to thrash in his bed, making her face move away quickly. "i'm sorry !" she said, eyes tearing up already. "hattie ! hattie ! don't !" peeta yelled after her as she walked out. "come on, princess." as haymitch closed the door, hattie broke down into tears. "they hijacked him bad, dad. they hijacked him bad." "i know, honey. i know." he hugged her, and she cried into his shoulder.

"i didn't even tell him my mom died." she gasped, making eye contact with haymitch, "i didn't even tell him his family died." "probably a good decision right now, baby. it's okay... sh..." the man held the small girl as she cried.

all while, the boy continued to thrash violently in his bed in the bright white room.

END OF ACT 2.

a / n :
WENT OUT WITH A BANG ! ACT 3 is coming soon, yall, don't you FRET !!!
xoxo,
mel 💋