once upon a time • finnick odair

xix. have you forgotten me?

Lucian wasn't surprised when the Peacekeeper called him out in the middle of the night.

"Lucian Nam, your presence has been requested by President Snow," said a Peacekeeper.

He hadn't expected his clues to be hidden for long. In fact, he was surprised at how long it took for someone to report to President Snow about what he revealed during his interview.

After all, there were at least two families he knew that spoke the same language in Two and knew for certain that there would be more in Four, but they were against the Capitol the most among the Careers, which meant that they wouldn't be the ones reporting to Snow. Lucian wondered who it was—the Parks? The Lims?

Or, was it his mother?

Lucian knew that there was the most chance of the last option because the Parks might've been eccentric about raising their children as victors, but they were too wallowed in their sorrow to report to Snow, and the Lims didn't care that much for anything, really.

So among the three, Lucian knew that it was probably, by 95% chance, his mother.

Unless the Parks suddenly decided to report him for god-knows-why.

And he doubted the Lims would do anything.

Lucian followed the Peacekeepers quietly, trying not to wake Devon. He didn't know what would happen, but he hoped that it wouldn't scare the younger man to death.

"Mr. Nam," said the smooth voice of President Snow.

Lucian nodded at him as the Peacekeepers led him to a seat in front of him. "President Snow."

"I thought we'd agreed to not lie to each other," said Snow silkily. "Did we not?"

"And I didn't," Lucian said. "Not to you."

"But your promise is now broken." Lucian's hand trembled at that, and Snow didn't miss it. "So I doubt I can uphold my end too. After all, it was supposed to be an exchange, no?"

"Of ... course," Lucian forced out.

Snow sighed as if this whole thing was a tragic event for him as well. "Your cooperation, in turn for Mr. Abernathy and Mr. Kim's safety. But ... the cooperation part seems to not have been upheld on your end."

Lucian's head snapped up. "President Snow, please ... Please don't—"

Snow ignored him as he started to search through his screen until he landed on the sight of a ragged blond man looking defiantly at the camera.

Lucian looked at the screen with dread.

Haymitch.

"President Snow, please. I swear I won't do it—please, just let him go—"

"How can you promise me that?" Snow looked at the once-Capitol's darling straight in the eye, like he did twenty-some years ago. "After all, now, there's no guarantee that you'll be cooperating with us."

"I swear. I swear on my life, President Snow. I—please, he's the only one that I have left. Please let him be."

"Only one?" Snow looked at him in interest. "Are you sure about that? How about ..." Snow pulled up another view, this time with Devon, who was checking his leg, limping around the small cell and pausing every now and then to wince in pain. "Mr. Kim? Wasn't he your mentee? The only one your husband managed to save before ... all of this?"

Lucian swallowed. Haymitch and Devon.

The two most important people in his life.

"So, I'll offer you a choice, Mr. Nam. I'm being very generous here, and I can either grant you Mr. Abernathy or Mr. Kim's safety. Which one will you choose?"