But, You're Dead? [Clovniss]

Plans Never Work Out

AN: Hi? Sorry for abandoning this for several years? Prev chapters may have some changes so go back and read them if you haven't done so. It really has been years, but hopefully some people enjoy this.

Clove watches from her hiding place as two heavily armed mercenaries drag Hunter's still body down a destroyed street towards a looming warehouse, struggling to keep a grip on Hunter's jacket that is slick with still warm blood. The larger of the mercenaries is painfully familiar, but Clove is unable to figure out why. Where had she met them before?

"Bullet, do you think the boss will be mad?" The smaller mercenary questions, the smile on Clove's face slipping away at those words.

Years ago some homeless kid managed to break into District Two's Career facility. They were a dangerous fighter, skills honed from nearly a decade surviving on the streets, and fast. So fast that they were quickly nicknamed Bullet, with a punch that hurt likes a bullet adding to the nickname. Only a few months before Clove's Games; a horrific accident nearly claimed Bullet's life, an accident that changed them, for the worst.

"Well, we only got one target and she's dead. Do you think the boss will be very happy about that?" Bullet deadpans, shaking their head in annoyance. "He's gonna kill us. Quickly, if we're lucky."

"Oh, you won't have to wait that long." Clove whispers, pulling a grenade from the backpack she had grabbed from her hideout. She pulls the pin and throws it as hard as she can at the pair of mercenaries, clamping her hands over her ears as the device explodes.

The smaller mercenary is lifted off his feet and flung into a nearby wall from the blast, his skull shattering with a sickening crack. Blood and brain matter paint the wall and concrete red, small fragments of body scattered throughout the area. Bullet is sent flying backwards, eventually landing face down where a pool of blood quickly gathers beneath their head. Hunter is the only one to remain unmoved by the blast, still lying where the mercenaries had dropped her to the ground.

Clove steps out of her hiding place, pistol cocked and levelled at Bullet's head. She walks at a brisk pace to the unnamed mercenary's body, crouching beside him and pointlessly checking for a pulse, an unnecessary feat when half one's skull is completely caved in, the brain damaged irreparably.

A quiet groan splits the air and Bullet staggers to their feet, blood flowing freely from the deep lacerations adorning their face. They spit out a mouthful of blood as they glare at Clove, unbothered by the weapon still aimed at their head. "Why? He didn't deserve to die. He was a good kid."

"Was he?" Clove chuckles, glancing down at his mangled body. "Last time I checked, he was trying to kill the Mockingjay. The woman who gave us our freedom. She freed us from Snow, and you idiots repay the favour by trying to kill her from some rich fucks who don't care about us?"

"You were hell bent on killing Katniss Everdeen during the Games. Hell, you died trying to carve her face like a block of wood." Bullet retorts, fury churning in the depths of their eyes. "And don't act like I didn't watch you murder your buddy in cold blood, 'cause her body is lying right there."

Clove discretely draws a throwing blade from her belt even as she tightens her grip on her pistol. "She hadn't started a Rebellion then. I was trying to win. All I wanted was to make my family proud and go home."

"Now look at you, your life is on my hands. I can choose if you live or die, and I'm gonna enjoy killing you." Bullet growls, unhooking a throwing axe from their belt and flinging it at Clove at the exact moment that she lets go of her blade.

The axe head cuts into Clove's shoulder, the force of the throw knocking her off her feet and onto her back. She grunts from the pain as she rises to her knees, ripping the axe head free as she stares up at Bullet, swallowing nervously at the sight of the mercenary clearly unaffected by the knife protruding from their shoulder. "You can't kill me, B." She says, whilst rotating her arm to check for mobility. "You never could, never will."

"This time there isn't any trainers to stop me." Bullet tears the knife out of their shoulder and chucks it to the side, already slipping into a fighting stance. "Bring it."

Clove sighs, dropping her shoulders in feigned exhaustion. "Fine then." She breaks into a full sprint, moving at full speed with every ounce of her adrenaline. At the last possible moment, she angles her body and slams her shoulder into Bullet's gut with the force of a freight train. Her momentum sends her tumbling down atop Bullet, her elbow striking their throat and leaving them gasping for air.

She rolls away from Bullet, all too aware of the fact that both of her shoulders are now throbbing something fierce. Her arms tremble as she pushes herself up, only to be knocked back down again by a brutal hook by a quickly recovered Bullet. She takes another hit before slipping away into unconsciousness; she notes slight movement at the corner of her eye and the unmistakable sound of someone coughing wetly.