.Stone And Lumber (Johanna Mason X F.OC).

-Choices-

When under water.

Surrounded by the dark depths.

What makes someone hold their breath just for one more second?

Despite the agonizing pain, what makes humans hold out, suffer, push themselves?

It is knowing that the surface it not far.

But now...

Where's that surface?

Athena looked down at her feet in mounting horror she hadn't felt in a while.

Killing made her sick, it disgusted her, until her brother died.

Kill became a way to satisfy her anger after it, being the good little 2's victor, spilling blood, making sure no one else could hurt her then.

So to fall back to the first feeling was... Something.

"Go on Hadley, you are in control." Came the voice over the loud speaker built into the walls of the room she was in. "The choice is yours and only yours."

As white as the rest.

There was two people other then her in this room.

A child in Capitol clothes, holding what looked like a toy sword but still made of sharp metal, no older then ten but not scared, his rosy cheeks filled with pride and his eyes sparkling with joy of being here.

And then there was her.

Enobaria, another victor from 2, chained down too a chair, unable to move and gagged, hair cut off, looking beaten bloody, the child even finding amusement in whacking her with the sword, leaving a cut on her, her eyes tired and pained.

What choice was she given once again?

Oh yeah.

Either kill a woman she knew and has known for a long time from her district while she is chained down and can't protect herself, suffering her fate or kill a Capitol child tho one that didn't know better about the world and thought of this as nothing but a really gory TV show.

It should have been obvious, kill the child she didn't have any relations too.

But those blue eyes and that blond hair...

The Capitol should die, they all should die, but a child didn't know better.

"Can we hurry?" The child complained, not understanding the blood he split was real blood and not just some movie effect. "I wanna go home too my sister."

Athena swallowed the lump in her throat.

Such obvious choice being so hard.

"I'm sorry." Her voice broke, looping her arms around Enobaria in a hug, holding her head in her arms.

She closed her eyes... And snapped her head aside.

"Hell yeah!!"

Athena ignored the child while she carefully let go of the dead victor.

"Remember, this was all in your control." The voice reminded her again.

Why? Why even did she have to do this? Why was resisting to being manhandled that lead too this?

She looked at the haunting, still open, eyes of the dead victor, blame, blame seeping out of them like the deadly venom of a snake.

Because she fought back.... Because she did something... Because doing something lead too this.

She didn't feel the child made cut in her arm as the little shit laughed at this all.

She watched the body until she was turned away, letting herself be led away by two peacekeepers, too tired to put up a fit as the haunting eyes followed her all the way back too her room.

Only when the door closed did hers shed their first tears.

She crouched down, grabbing her face and crying into her hands.

The cold made the tears sting more but she didn't care, feeling the judgment of a dead woman weight on her shoulders.

No matter how strong or tall a mountain is, time always breaks it down, faster if that mountain is already fragile on the inside.

-----------------------------------------------

"See? Listening leads too good things."

That annoying voice said but she didn't look up despite being woken up with the water and the bucket it had been in being thrown down at her.

Yeah it lead her too a single day of leniency. 

Forced up too her knees and hands bent into her back before forced in inch thick cuffs to hold them there, the arms hooking around each of hers pulled her up.

"Now... Where were we?" He asked himself. "Oh yeah, where are the rebels hiding?"

Athena said nothing, she didn't know, but she didn't spit it in his face, so many things could go badly, she didn't want to end up choosing between Peeta and Annie's lives if she pushed it too far.

The silence didn't please the man, grabbing the back of her head and yanking it down while driving his knee up into her face.

She coughed tho only in surprised at the hit before her head was yanked up.

"You answer me when I ask questions!"

She licked her lips, feeling the blood run, taking her tongue into her mouth before spitting the bloody spit on his shoe with a grin.

"Oh yeah you find this funny? I'll show you funny."

He stepped back, grabbing something from a pocket and fiddling with it before the swing came.

It hit right in the middle, right under her rib cage, making her gag, hit just where she was taught to hit to make someone give up their stomach and its contents, but it hurt more then a simple hit would.

She clamped her mouth shut, despite not having eaten for days, the stomach acid lurched up, she wanted to spit it out but, stubborn as she was, she didn't give him the satisfaction despite the body wide disgust of swallowing it. 

"Yeah, you recognize these huh?" He showed off pretty little brass knuckles. "I'll have a happy little time with these and you since after all, all that is happening is because of your choices."

"Fuck you." She breathed out before she felt the impact too the side of her head.

"Make sure there is a doctor on standby." He said, her head spinning. "We wouldn't want to kill her for her own mistakes."

This will be a long day.

And Athena could tell and she did wish she had just died in that arena.

But at least, because of Caesar, she knew Johanna was alive, so she'll keep her mouth shut.