thecapitol | Thicker Than Blood Start

For Tributes with keen eyes, they'll notice that Peacekeeper presence seems increased and yet infinitely more ineffective in the last few weeks. Peacekeepers seem harried, as do the Stylists, and most of the Escorts titter and plot without alerting the Tributes as to what, exactly, is so exciting. They simply say that this weekend they'll know.

And so it happens that on the weekend in question, the Tributes are woken by their Escorts early and brought to a restaurant for a hearty breakfast. The restaurant is nothing spectacular, although they seem to be trying to make an impression on the television cameras that float around. The sleepy, cranky meal goes by and then the Tributes are led back to their Suites for a mandatory meeting.

Sitting on couches and the floor, in chairs and on windowsills, standing off to the side - people from the Tributes' homes are waiting to greet them in each District Suite. Some are confused, some accepting, some frightened and some elated to see their beloved. Either way, it should be an eventful reunion.

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It's no particular concern of his - assuming it's Ellie in the shower, she might be quick or she might take her time, depending on her mood. Joel moves to perch on the edge of the bed, sipping at the other cup of coffee on the tray, despite the fact that it's only lukewarm by now.

It takes him a few minutes before he finally spots the backpack on the other side of the bed, leaning casually against it. It's not Ellie's. In fact, it looks like -

It looks like Tess's backpack, from back in Boston. Joel can feel his throat go dry as he stares at it, as it remains exactly the same, apparently innocuous, as though it's not potentially about to turn his world on its head.

The water turns off in the bathroom, and Joel turns to face the door. He has a feeling the owner of the backpack will be coming in for it presently. And not for the first time since showing up here - he's suddenly afraid.

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There's nothing that can prepare him for the sight of her. Coming out of the shower like some kind of dream, like everything is perfectly normal, no infection, no Capitol, no nothing. Just two people, one of whom had a hot shower.

Except this is Tess, and Tess is dead.

Suddenly he knows how Ellie felt when she first saw Riley here. He comes to himself with a start, realizing his jaw has literally dropped at the sight of her, his hands limp at his sides. When did he stand up? He doesn't even remember.

"Tess?" His voice comes out a rough croak.

It's not as if he doesn't know they can bring people back from the dead. He's seen it, experienced it. Ellie died in his arms, and now she's here, alive and well. He's died twice and come back, good as new, albeit with a few more nightmares.

So yeah, Joel knows.

And then he remembers all the strangers out in the common room of the suite, his fellow Tributes suddenly joyous or tearful or terrified. Oh. This must be the big fucking surprise everyone's been hinting at for the past week or so.

He doesn't even know what to say. Except -

"Are you alright? Did they - hurt you?"

Joel's eyes follow her, tracking her every movement, taking in her appearance - and lingering on the scar tissue along her neck. It looks sort of like Ellie's scar, as impossible as that is. Knowing something in his head and accepting it when it's actually happening are two different things.

"No, it's not a dream," he says carefully, eyes skimming back up to her face. "They've been tellin' us there was a surprise comin'. I guess you're it."

He doesn't look particularly pleased by her presence - much as he's missed her, no one gets brought to the Capitol without a lot of strings attached, and this? Is probably very temporary.

He almost - almost - reaches for her when she comes close, as though to prove to himself she's really there. But he doesn't quite complete the movement, and instead just runs a hand through his hair.

"It's not you, it's - the people runnin' this place. They're not exactly charitable with this power they got."

Meaning - they didn't bring her back out of the goodness of their hearts. They did it to mess with them both, most likely.

He doesn't know what they have planned - he fears the worst, though. He fears another arena. That they'll all be thrown into one together - maybe a short one like the maze thing, but still.

He doesn't want that for Tess. Would he rather she still be dead? That's not a question he can answer, but he knows for damn sure that he doesn't like the idea of the Capitol fucking with Tess - or using her to fuck with him.

Shit, is she even cured? Or did they decide to leave her infected, just for fun? That's what has him knocking on the bathroom door when he thinks it's been plenty of time for her to get dressed.

"Tess?"

Joel nearly takes a step back - then nearly reaches for her again - and ultimately doesn't move, except to let her get past him and back into the bedroom.

Christ, he can't figure it out - like his brain can't quite process what his eyes are seeing. He doesn't know how to act, how to feel. So he settles on feeling nothing. On shoving things down, in favor of - well, information.

"You're gonna need to know - we'll get stared at a lot. They'll probably make us go places - events, parties, who the hell knows. There's cameras everywhere. Everyone watches us. The government, the people. We're entertainment for 'em, and they expect us to stay in line. There's no infection. We're like - reality TV stars."

Thicker Than Blood Start

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