Peacekeepers: The 49th Annual Hunger Games

Hanging (+ bonus chapter)

Ev

He wrapped his arms around my waist as I held the gun out, pointing it at a makeshift target on a tree.
"That's it, " he purred in my ear. "Don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot."
"Does it hurt?" I whisper.
"The backlash can be a little rough at first, but you'll get used to it." He snaked his arms more around my waist so that my back was against his chest.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" I laughed. "Because it won't work. I'm still angry with you, and I have a gun. I could claim sexual harassment." He laughed.
"Focus." He murmured and urged me to be prepared to shoot. I took a deep breath, my finger tightening on the trigger. I focused on my target, held my breath and pulled.
The sound was louder than I expected, as I'd never seen a real gun before. Everything happened so fast, and when I looked up, our target had a small hole on the outer edge. I gasped and looked at Mason with wide eyes.
"I did it." I whispered and pulled him into a hug. His smile was wide across his face. The only time I'd ever seen that smile before was when I admitted I loved him.
We'd been together for a while, but I only realized I loved him when his sister died in the Games. His screaming, his crying, his outbursts were agonizing for me, and only made me realize how much I didn't want to see him like this. I didn't want to see him hurting. As terrible as that sounds, I knew I loved him when he was at his worst. I finally had the courage to tell him during a panic attack of his, when he couldn't breathe, when he was pulling his hair out and sobbing. I finally came out and told him I was in love with him, and he stopped breathing for a second. He looked at me in shock before this wide smile came across his face, the first one since the morning of the reaping and he pulled me in for a deep kiss.
"I did it!" I repeated excitedly after a moment. "I actually did it!"
"That's my girl," Mason smiled, wrapping a hand around the back of my neck. "Do you love me again?" I stopped to look at him.
"I never stopped, Mase. I was just angry that you did this and then started acting like you were better than everyone else."
He chuckled. "But I am better than everyone else."
"Oh shut up and kiss me." I said and stood on my tiptoes, pressing my lips firmly against his. He was smiling into the kiss. My back arched slightly so I could lean into him more. My hand touched the stubble on his jaw. Instead of scruffy like it looked before he'd gone to the Capitol, now, I had to admit, he was sexy, and I don't use that word lightly.
"I missed you." I whispered and pulled back.
"I missed you too." He took a deep breath and grabbed my hand. "Will you stay with me?"
"I'm not going anywhere," I replied.
"No, I mean stay with me. In my new house. There's food and everything there. Your family can come stay too. But after tomorrow." I hugged him again.
"Thank you." I whispered. "Thank you thank you thank you. I love you way too much, Mason." I murmured into his shirt. He laughed, picked me up bridal style and started carrying me to our new home.
I would have hated that it was given to us by President Snow, but the home was far too beautiful to object in staying. Mason and I slept in the same bed, just holding each other.
He asked me about halfway through the night if I could sing to him. I didn't oblige, but I hesitated for a moment to think.
"Are you, are you," I sang in a whisper, an old District song my mother used to sing to me. It was one of the songs banned at work, and I didn't know how I remembered it, but in that moment, it felt right. "Coming to the tree?"
We both fell asleep within the next hour.

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There were two months where I would visit Alma, then go back to the house to spend lunch with Mason. My work was no longer mandatory, but I still helped Maisie every Friday. There weren't any whippings either. Everybody was happier in the District, because of Mason.
One woman came up to me, crying and she said "your fiancé is the greatest thing to ever happen to us!"
My fiancé!
I was going to be married to him! I truly believed that I was the luckiest girl on the planet. I had a wonderful life, food, an amazing fiancé, my family, a good job and a safe home.
Mason's lessons in the woods ranged from guns to knife throwing to a bow and arrow. Mason said I was getting better, but it was doubtful. He taught me how to start my own fire, make snares. "Why do I need to know all this stuff?" I asked him one night.
"Just in case you decide you want that better life you're always talking about." Mason said.
"I already have a better life." I replied, "thanks to you." And the lessons would always turn to kissing, and the cycle would begin again.
Maisie had grown five inches in size just over the course of a few months. Point was no longer around to hurt anyone. District Eleven was livable again.
I sipped tea on the floor of the marketplace with Coin. "Why don't you ever leave?" I asked her.
"What?" Coin asked confused.
"Leave the Market."
"Oh, I'm just not sure it would be in my best interest." She replied. "President Snow thinks I'm a traitor."
"Why, what did you do?" I whispered, intrigued. I'd learned over the last two months that whispering was the best we could do to avoid punishment for talking bad about the Capitol.
"I refused to kill someone." She sighed. "Like your Mason, I was once in a place of authority. I refused to become a killer, and they beat me until I was paralyzed from the waist down." Her eyes are glazed over like she's remembering everything. "Snow doesn't want me telling anyone what they really did to me. But instead of killing me, he showed me mercy. Why? I haven't a clue. But he keeps me in here, where he thinks no one will find me."
"You could leave, you know." I grinned, an idea coming to mind. I stood, grabbed her wheelchair bars and started pushing her to the curtain separating her from the world.
"What are you doing?"
"Showing President Snow he doesn't own you, and you're your own woman." I replied with a smile. The people trading things looked up with wide eyes when they saw her alive and well. They probably believed Alma Coin was dead after all this time.
"You remind me of someone," Alma smiled sincerely.
"Who?"
"Myself."

So, because this was such a short chapter, I decided to write a bonus chapter told from the perspective of President Snow. This was so interesting to write, and I really loved writing it, so who knows? Maybe I'll do another one in later chapters? Please start giving me feedback guys. I really love it. Don't forget to vote, comment, and share!

-(Bonus Chapter told by President Snow)-

Winter stepped to the side as I played the most important footage from the last two months in District Eleven.
"He isn't keeping her under control." I muttered under my breath. Skipping work. Singing illegal songs. Uncertified weapons training. "He's giving them hope, making their lives easier."
"What do you suggest?" Winter asked, taking notes.
"Scare them. Show them that the Capitol is not lenient when it comes to breaking laws." I sighed and sat straighter. "Show Mr. Bridges that authority does not always mean power. He doesn't have a say in any of the things he's trying to help them with." She bit her lip.
"Are you certain that will work?"
"Positive." I stared at the hologram at the young, smiling faces of two adolescents in love. I scowled. "Pitiful, really. They think there's hope for their happily ever after. This is the real world, not a fairy tale." The girl, Evangeline Greenly, was always stubborn. I'd been watching her since birth. It was in her bloodlines. Her mother was a rebel, her grandmother fought in the rebellion. Her father was always hateful towards the Capitol. It was understandable that Evangeline would be just the same. Her brothers, however, were not. They followed blindly, encouraged Evangeline to do things the way I want them to be done. Sigh. I should have asked one of them to become a peacekeeper instead of someone I knew wouldn't have any impact on her choice.
Mason Bridges was excellent in every way. Too excellent. He knew what he could do with this position, and he planned to do just that. No, no, no, that wouldn't work, would it? Nope. Not one bit. I'd have to either kill Mason Bridges or hurt him so much he'd never give them hope again, just like Alma Coin. I would have to hurt the root of the problem. I'd have to hurt that little weed, the thing he loves most.
I'd have to eliminate Evangeline Greenly.
"Sir?" Winter asked after a while of silence. Ah. My eldest daughter. By far more intelligent than her mother, my first of five wives. Winter was without a doubt my favorite of all the children, just eighteen now. The only thing I disliked about her was that she looked like her mother. I suppose you can't win all battles.
"Yes, dear?" I asked with a sigh.
"What are you thinking?" Winter asked.
"If we're going to hurt Mr. Bridges the most, we'll have to hurt the person he loves most."
"But we already hurt his sister."
"No, not her. Miss Greenly. The little girl with a big mouth." I bit the inside of my cheek. "Someone will have to go down there and-" Winter cut me off, as she so often did.
"Don't kill her. Prove to Mason that these things won't always go his way, and with great power, comes great responsibility." She smirked and pushed a few buttons on the remote for the hologram, showing new footage of Miss Greenly releasing Alma Coin from the room I restricted her to. I smiled under my breath.
She would be in so much trouble for that.

So, I think I'm going to do one more Snow Bonus Chapter, but that will be after Chapter 9. Tell me what you think of doing more Snow POVs?