time to go to hell

alternate universe logan white "i have a number of alternatives, and each one gives me something different."

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest’s first thought at seeing the arena was ‘you’ve got to be fucking kidding me’. The next was ‘fuck this shit’, followed by a stream of internal curse words as he scanned his eyes quickly around the area. 4, 3, 2. He poised himself to dive, and as the games commenced, Forrest jumped and swam harder than he ever had before. He knew that if he could just get to the pathways, he could outrun almost everyone. Outswim, not so much.

It took him longer than he’d have hoped to grasp onto the rocks and hoist himself up, his feet taking him off down the uneven path. Forrest was focused more on reaching the Cornucopia than the splashing around him. He could see that Logan and Katniss had already beat him, his poor swimming skills having slowed him down. He panicked as Katniss aimed her bow at him and dove back into the water, holding his breath.

[theotherloganwhite]

It didn't take long for Logan to reach the Cornucopia. He grabbed a sword, quickly turning locate Katniss and more importantly - to himself at least - Forrest. He found them in the same second, Katniss releasing an arrow in Forrest's direction as Forrest jumped back into the water. His heart felt like it stopped for a second but he didn't have time to see if the water tinged with blood before he had to deal with someone else.

Another Tribute was headed for Katniss and she hadn't seen him. "Katniss, duck!" he shouted. All she did was give him a bewildered look and he shoved her out of the way, swinging his sword into the Tribute's neck. The man fell to his knees, clapping a hand to his neck but it wasn't enough. Blood trickled through his fingers almost instantly and Logan turned back to face Katniss again, the look of confusion gone from her face and her bow aimed at Logan.

"Good thing we're allies," he said, raising his hand so she could see Haymitch's gold bracelet on his wrist.

[theotherloganwhite]

10... 9...

Logan's eyes flicked from one podium to the next as the ominous voice that they all hated so much counted down. He found Katniss and Peeta almost instantly, but he couldn't find Forrest.

8... 7... 6...

Where was he? Logan had to find him before they reached zero.

5... 4...

Not him, not him, not him...

3...

Logan snapped his head in the other direction. No, no, no... Where was he?

2...

Still no... Was he on the other side of the Cornucopia?

1...

There he was!

Let the 75th Annual Hunger Games commence.

Logan dove into the water, swimming hard for the Cornucopia. It was all he could do at the moment, that and hope Forrest got on the little island of rocks without whoever was in his slice of water trying to drown him.

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest licked his lip as he listened to Logan, his weight shifting slightly from side to side as feet itched to bolt him out of the room. Being so close to the other tributes while also in such an open space didn’t make him uncomfortable, exactly, but he hated that he couldn’t see what everyone was doing and that anyone could be watching him. “Uhm,” Forrest started lamely once he was asked a non-rhetorical question. “On my back?”

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan smiled slightly, nodding at Forrest's answer. "That's correct. You're vulnerable and it's hard to fight back from that position with any amount of real force. You don't have your momentum to carry a follow through on any contact you're going to make." He paused for a moment, gauging if Forrest was keeping up or not. Even though Logan was going to be in the Arena with him, he still wanted him to know these things. Logan was going to do everything he could to protect Forrest and Katniss both, but he knew he'd have to put Katniss first if it came down to it. He wanted Forrest to at least have a fighting chance if Logan couldn't protect him for whatever reason. "So lay down on your back, we're going to see what your instincts say as far as getting me off of you."

[mellifluousroses]

Both of Forrest’s eyebrows shot up, and his smile transformed into more of a smirk. “If you don’t already know the answer, then you don’t know me at all, Logan White.” He said lowly before raising his voice back to normal talking volume. “To the mats it is, then.” He declared before beginning to lead the way over to the unoccupied space of mats.

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan let out a small laugh at Forrest's reply, following him to the mats. He watched every move he made carefully, acutely and painfully aware that this could be one of the last times he ever saw the other alive if everything didn't go exactly according to plan. As they reached the mats, Logan began to talk. "Obviously we both know your strong suit is knife throwing. Stick to that as much as possible. You're smaller than most of the other Tributes, I think, and they'll have the upper hand in a close quarters fight. That being said, we both know the Games don't give a damn about your plans to survive, don't we?" he asked without giving Forrest tone to respond. "What do you think the most dangerous position for you to be in close quarters with another tribute is?"

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest straightened up as he heard Logan’s voice, and slowly turned to face Logan. He smiled lightly at the other man and stepped off the slightly raised platform to approach him. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” He agreed once he was in front of the other. “Which hour first?”

[theotherloganwhite]

"Depends," Logan said, dropping his voice so no one else would hear. "Do you want to actually be able to look like you're teaching me something for your hour or do you want to be more than a little distracted? Because I plan on touching you as much as I can for my hour." He arched an eyebrow at him, grinning that cheeky grin of his as well.

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest stood still for a moment, his eyes closed and his fingers hovering over the knives strapped to his thigh. It hadn’t been long since he had last practiced, but he usually just sunk his knives into wood. He hadn’t dealt with moving targets since he was fourteen. He could admit that he had been good back then, always always hitting his target or at least close enough to it. But if he had been good then, he was great now. As he opened his eyes, he watched the golden beams roam around the room before they began forming the silhouettes running at him, weapons raised. Without hesitation he pulled a knife from its holster and flung it at the enemy, hitting them right through the heart. He didn’t have even three seconds pause before another one was coming at him, and it met the same fate. Seven more were obliterated before the golden lights faded away, Forrest still standing in the middle of the room with a single knife left on his person. 

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan entered the training area just in time for him to see the second half of Forrest's training exercise. There was still a part of him that had the Career mentality that such a display of deadly force was beautiful, but the part of him that had been broken down by the Games found the man doing the throwing was what made it beautiful. Quickly, an idea formed in his head. A way to get more time with Forrest than he had thought he would with their own training schedules. He made his way over to the doorway. "I'll trade you an hour of close combat training for an hour of throwing skills," he said by way of greeting.

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest dropped his hand and looked to where Logan directed, catching sight of the only two Tributes he hadn’t met. He wasn’t particularly eager to meet them either, and he was glad that he had Logan on his team to gain their trust instead. As long as Logan could get it, Forrest would have plenty of time to get acquainted with them in the Games while protecting their asses. “Don’t have too much fun.” Forrest said as he looked back to Logan, a small smile on his lips. “I’ll be seeing you.”

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan gave him an amused half-smile. "Trust me, if she's half as difficult as I suspect she is, I won't have any fun at all," he said with a short laugh before turning and walking towards 12's chariot.

[mellifluousroses]

"You wanted to be here because of me." Forrest pointed out before stepping just slightly closer, his hand clasping onto Logan’s elbow. "I can’t lose you, Logan," he said lowly, just wishing that he could turn back time to before any of this became possible. He had thought he was supposed to have been promised a life of peace after coming out of the Games a Victor, but the truth was that the only peace he had was with the man in front of him. He was forced to step back as two more Tributes entered through the doorway, frustration clear on his face. 

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan's heart melted a little when Forrest touched his elbow. Even if they couldn't always say it out loud, Logan would never get over how the other made him feel. "You're not going to lose me," he said, his voice as low as he thought Forrest's hearing aids would pick up. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Forrest." Logan tracked the movements of the other Tributes, the pair from 1, as they moved to their chariot. He reached out again, momentarily touching Forrest's elbow again. "Look," he said, nodding to the entrance where the two youngest Tributes in the Quarter Quell were walking in. "Time to go make friends. I'll be seeing you."

[mellifluousroses]

"And if you die and I don’t, I’ll have to live with the guilt that I killed you." Forrest grumbled. He couldn’t remember Logan’s games, too young at the time to keep up with the broadcast, and not focused enough to remember Logan fighting in them even if he hadn’t been. Logan was a Career, and he knew perfectly well how to take care of himself. But things were so much different this time around— he’d be fighting against other people who were potentially just as capable as him, and now he’d have Forrest and the Mockingjay to look out for. That was exactly the kind of attachment Forrest himself had avoided because he didn’t want his allies’ blood on his hands. Now, he could potentially have his love’s death hanging over him. Forrest swallowed thickly at the thought, and directed his gaze away from Logan, eyes scanning the area but taking nothing in. "That’s not the type of thing you can promise. We both know the risks, and who’s supposed to come first." He said, his voice hard but cracking slightly as proof of his weakness.

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan reached out to squeeze Forrest's forearm quickly before dropping his hand again. "Even if I die in there," he started, "My blood will not be on your hands, Forrest. It will never be your fault that I volunteered. I wanted to be here." He gave him his best smile. "If all else fails, and we're the only two left alive, we can just refuse to kill each other until the Capitol kills us both and we can find each other in the afterlife," he pointed out. Logan ran a hand through his hair, glad his stylist had left it loose and not all stiff and formal like Forrest's was, sighing deeply. He knew that he should agree with Forrest. He knew that he was supposed to say that he was going to protect the girl at all costs but he wasn't totally convinced he would. He wanted a revolution more than anyone, but without Forrest in his life, Logan wasn't sure it would be worth it. "It's a promise I'm making, and it's a promise I'm keeping," he said, his eyes flicking to the entryway as someone else came in.

[mellifluousroses]

"I wasn’t handsome when I won the Games. I still had baby fat." Forrest said somewhat bitterly before hooking his fingers into his pockets, attempting to look a bit more casual. "We both know too well what might happen in there. This isn’t the kind of risk you should have taken. You had a chance to be safe, and you should have taken it.” Forrest almost reached up to tug his hand through his hair before remembering that now that he was once again a Tribute and not just a mentor, he couldn’t fuck up what the stylists had done to him without being dragged away again or berated. 

He pursed his lips and kept quiet as another Tribute entered the area, his eyes trailing them until they stopped by another carriage. “The Games almost destroyed you, Logan. What’s going back in there going to do to you?” He asked, his voice rough but concern clear in his eyes.

[theotherloganwhite]

"You might not have been handsome then but you certainly are now," Logan said idly, leaning against Forrest's chariot. "The chance I took was the one to spend a few days with you, even if it's in front of all of Panem in the most dangerous game in the world. I can't bear the thought of you not coming out of that Arena and knowing I could have - should have - been there to protect you." Logan glanced around, making sure no one was close enough for this next sentence, dropping his voice as low as he could while still being sure Forrest could hear him. "I love you too much to potentially watch you die from the safety of the Mentor's lounge."

Logan tracked the new arrival as well, glad when their carriage wasn't nearby. "I don't care, Forrest. I can't just stand by. We're both going into that Arena, and we're both going to make it out alive," he said firmly, thinking of the rebel plan.

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest’s heart sped up as he caught sight of Logan, and he needed to hold onto the side of his carriage to stop himself from running over to him. Thankfully, Logan came up to him right away and allowed him some comfort in the small touch to his elbow. “Hi,” Forrest breathed the greeting out, his eyes locked onto Logan’s. He hadn’t changed much— if at all— since he had last seen him, but Forrest already knew that from the video of his Reaping. Realizing that he was probably gazing a bit too intensely at the other, Forrest dropped his gaze for a moment to look at Logan’s outfit. 

"You look snazzy," he weakly offered after his eyes dragged themselves back up to Logan’s. When he spoke again, however, his voice had hardened. "You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t have volunteered." He said lowly, his eyes darting around a moment to make sure that no one was in ear-shot. 

[theotherloganwhite]

Even when Forrest looked away, Logan couldn't help but keep his gaze on him. He searched over Forrest's features, trying to imprint them in his mind so that maybe if he died in the Arena all he'd see for the rest of eternity was Forrest's face. He knew he should stop staring, but the Tributes from 5 were the only others there so far and they seemed more interested in talking to each other than paying any attention to Forrest.

"I look snazzy? Says the most handsome guy to ever win the Games," Logan replied lightly, dragging his eyes over Forrest's entire body, wishing he could draw him against him and never let go. "I couldn't let you go through the Games again alone. You need someone in your corner. You know what might happen in there. You need someone to cover you until it happens, if it happens," he shot back, his voice dropping as well.

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest hadn’t known how to react hours later as he sat in front of a television and learned that Logan was not only reaped, but that he had volunteered. There was no doubt in his mind that it had been done for him— no one wanted to go back to the Games, but Logan volunteered to be with Forrest. He thought he might die from the guilt that felt like ice in his veins. Logan wasn’t supposed to do this. Logan was supposed to live.

What was driving him mad, though, was that he couldn’t even go yell at Logan right then for doing something so stupid. He couldn’t scream about how it wasn’t fair that now both of them had to die; how Logan should have just stayed silent and stayed safe. He couldn’t hold him, either, and let him know that if their situations had been reversed, Forrest would have done the exact same thing. He couldn’t let him know that he loved him just as much. He had to wait until the next day to see him at all, when they’d be dressed up in ridiculous outfits and have to act like they were just competitors, maybe friends. Life with the Capitol breathing down their necks left Forrest rarely getting what he wanted to do.

But as early as he could the next day, he waited by the carriages. Two other Victors who he knew were from District 5 were already there as well, speaking in hushed tones to each other and eyeing the area mistrustfully. Forrest didn’t know what they expected to happen, not in the Capitol with a crowd cheering down at them. But he didn’t let his attention focus on them for too long. Instead, he stared as unwaveringly as he could at the entrance without drawing attention to himself, as waited for Logan to show up.

[theotherloganwhite]

Even though the trip from District 2 into the Capitol was a short one, Logan was known to sleep on the train. This time, however, he spent the entire trip pacing in the end car, staring out the windows and glowering at any fellow Victor that came back to see him until they went away again.

Finally, though, Brutus came to see him and had the million dollar question that Logan didn't quite know how to answer yet. "Why did you volunteer?" the other man asked.

"I don't want to talk to anyone right now," Logan replied, his tone short.

"Is it that boy from 7?" Brutus asked. "You've always seemed to have a soft spot for him."

In a flash, Logan was across the room and on top of Brutus, holding a knife - where had that come from? - to his throat.

"Don't you dare say anything like that to anyone else, on this train, in the Capitol, in all of fucking Panem," he said, his voice low and deadly. "Or I will kill you. Who knows? Maybe you'll kill me and you'll end up in the Arena again and it won't matter why I volunteered."

"I'm - I'm not going to tell anyone," Brutus said. "I don't care. I'm just saying - you're not both getting out of that Arena. The Gamemakers won't make that mistake again. I'm sure you heard what happened to Seneca Crane."

Logan nodded, getting off the man. He knew that they weren't going to both live unless the plan that had been whispered around worked, and God, did he hope it worked. There was no one that wanted the rebellion more than Logan White. "Please leave me alone now," he said quietly, tossing the knife on the nearby table, set with four place settings that he had apparently gotten it from in the first place, and he turned away, staring out the back window until he heard the door close.

He didn't find any sleep that night either, pacing endlessly in his portion of the Tribute Center. Finally, it was time to prepare for the Tribute Parade. He didn't need to be found by Lucia to know this - he had been a Mentor for the last nine Games, he had the schedule imprinted in his brain.

He had almost made it out of the Center when Lucia cornered him, trying to talk to him about what was going to be happening. Finally, though, he had had enough.

"I know, Lucia," he snapped. "The Games have been my life for ten years now. I think I know what's going on." With that, he stormed out, going to the staging area, hoping Forrest would be there.

Thankfully, he was. Logan resisted the urge to spring to him, wrap him up in his arms, kiss him. They couldn't do that here. They could only do that behind closed doors and apparently they had slipped up at some point for Brutus to have noticed.

"Hey," he said as he reached Forrest, his Forrest, his voice soft and low. He reached out, touching Forrest's elbow lightly, taking small comfort in the gesture they had made up for times like this, when they could be seen by anyone.

[theotherloganwhite]

The Reaping

Ever since the announcement that Tributes would be reaped from the current pool of Victors, Logan had only been able to think of District 7. Forrest, his Forrest. There were only two living Victors in District 7. Johanna Mason and Forrest Michaelson, his Forrest.

Logan was lucky, there were still four other male Victors in District 2 that were alive and well. Maybe not well, but they were breathing, and thy could get Reaped. There was a one in five chance that Logan was going back to the arena. Forrest, though - his Forrest - was the only one that could possibly go. There wasn't another option.

Within an hour of the announcement, Logan had made his decision. He was going back to the arena. He knew there would be no volunteers this time, none of the Victors wanted to go back into the Games. If his name was called, he was going anyway. If it wasn't called, however, he was going to volunteer. There was no way he was letting the only love he'd ever known go through the Games again without him.

Which brought him back to where he stood now, on the stage of the Justice Building in District 2, Lucia standing at the microphone in the middle of the stage with the males to her right and the females to her left.

"Ladies first," she said as the usual movie ended and she walked over to the the large glass bowl, drawing out one small piece of paper and walking back over to the microphone. "Enobaria Woods," she said softly, dropping the slip of paper to the ground, the woman in question moving stoically to stand next to Lucia.

"Now for the gentlemen," she said, moving in the opposite direction to an identical bowl. She repeated her actions, pulling another slip out of the bowl and walking back to center stage. "Brutus Reed," she said, once again dropping the slip of paper.

Brutus had hardly moved before Logan stepped forward, turning to face their escort. "I volunteer as Tribute," he said, his voice unwavering as a murmur ran through the crowd.

"You're - volunteering?" she asked, her voice uncertain, every eye on Logan.

"Yes," he said, walking to stand next to her.

She stared at him for a moment longer, finally turning back to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Tributes of District 2: Enobaria Woods and Logan White."

Logan couldn't know it, but the announcement was met with the exact same reaction that was seen in District 7 where Forrest, his Forrest, had had his fate sealed.

He gave a small nod to the crowd as he resolved himself to one fact: his love was going to make it out of the Arena if it was the last thing Logan did.

[mellifluousroses]

"Yeah, of course." He kissed his head again and tightened his arm around him just slightly. "Go to sleep, babe."

[theotherloganwhite]

Logan cuddled closer one last time and it wasn't long before he was on the verge of sleep. I don't deserve this man, was his last thought before he drifted into darkness.

[mellifluousroses]

"Then I think saying you’re the bee’s knees is a plenty good reason." Forrest declared softly before kissing the top of Logan’s head.

[theotherloganwhite]

"Can we take a nap?" he asked as he closed his eyes. "Or me at least? Please?"

[mellifluousroses]

Forrest chuckled slightly. “I didn’t know you were the reason police.”

[theotherloganwhite]

"'m not," he mumbled, nuzzling closer to Forrest, his eyelids beginning to feel heavy. It was exhausting for his emotions to change so many times in such a short period of time.

[mellifluousroses]

"Because you’re the bee’s knees." Forrest said as explanation. 

[theotherloganwhite]

"That's not actually a real reason," he pointed out.