thecapitol | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who| Joan and Dan
What| Joan told Dan to come find her so they could talk. Hence.
Where| District 11 suite
When| After the Capitol tells the Tributes what's actually going on.
Warnings/Notes| Talk about alien-thingies, possibly about violence/injury/death as well?

Joan usually doesn't watch the screens, considering their penchant for programming chock full of violence and death. Since returning to the District 11 suites after checking out the barriers, though, she's been sitting in the common room and watching the coverage of the "crisis." When the messages come to the Tributes, letting them in on what was actually going on, Joan rolls her eyes, shakes her head. Of course. The Capitol officials are liars. Who lie.

In addition to the frustration, however, there's also worry. Dan is out there, on the "wrong" side of the barriers, barriers that are pretty much meaningless, since the evacuation area is expanding. And he's a Peacekeeper, so it's his job to fight these things and possibly die in the process.

Aside from the necessary lack of trust, she doesn't want to see him hurt. She had wanted him to come see her so she could get him to tell her what the Capitol was actually up to, of course. But she was also telling the truth when she said she wanted to know he was okay.

So she waits. And watches. And worries.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I take it these things aren't native. If I had to guess, I'd say this is a case of your people kidnapping more than they could handle."

Daniel smirks a bit but makes a soft motion with his hands. He doesn't confirm or deny that, but the smirk might be a hint that he's impressed by her connecting the dots.

The smirk is enough for her to infer that she's probably right, even if he's unable to come out and say so.

"Too bad we can't just kill it in the arena. That way anyone it kills could come back. Not to mention it would be great TV."

"It's made a nice little home for itself," he explained. "I'm not sure there is any option to take it out and relocate it at this moment." Then, after a moment "There's no guarantee this won't be broadcast. In that case, it might still be good TV."

Of course.

"That's sick," she says, her voice deceptively mild. But that, of course, is the way things are here.

"Will you be fighting it too?"

Daniel nods. "I'm planning on going in with the combat groups," he tells her. "What about you?"

She gives a short, humorless laugh. "I couldn't even kill a person in the arena if I wanted to. Trying to kill that thing would be suicide. I'll be on the intelligence team, unless they really need another doctor."

She tilts her head. "Do you have to go?" she asks softly.

"No. I don't have to go," he said after a moment. "I volunteered to go."

"Why? They'll punish us if we don't help. Why would you choose to do it?"

Daniel was quiet for a moment. "Maybe I want to go out in a blaze of glory," he said after a moment, though his tone was purposely detached.

She blinks, her forehead creasing in concern.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she asks, her voice gentle.

"No. I plan on getting back out, and bringing as many of you back as I can too."

She nods, relieved, even if her expression is placid.

"You're more concerned about us than the Capitol is."

"Don't let it fool you," he replies after a moment, smiling just a bit. "I'm still their tool, Ms Watson."

"Of course you are. But the fact that you would say that suggests you're less of a tool than you might be otherwise."

She can't trust him, not completely, but she does like him.

Dan shrugs and then chuckles a bit, though the sound of it is tired. "I think I need something stronger than coffee to have this conversation."

She smiles. "Are you telling me you want to get a drink? Or that you'd rather have this conversation another time?"

"Both might be a better choice," Dan pointed out. He glanced at the monitors then, trying to tell her that it's not just the common rooms that are monitored.

"Another time, then. Complete with something stronger than coffee."

She pauses, looking around the room, identifying a couple cameras and certain there are more she can't see.

"Do you live in the Tower?"

"Sometimes I think I do," Dan answers, "But no. When I'm in the Capitol I live at my family estate. I've had another Tribute there before. He's the one I told you disappeared." He only mentioned it because he was wary to invite anyone else over, in case the same thing would happen to them.

"It's good you have somewhere else to go. Away from all this."

She remembers him telling her about the man who disappeared. His friend. They must have been close, for Dan to bring him home.

"What's your estate like?"

"A little too big for just one person, but I fitted the basement into a lab after my mother died. I spend most of my time down there."

"A lab?"

That was unexpected.

"What do you use the lab for?"

"Mostly tinkering around. In the Districts, I'd invent a couple things for my team to use. Here, though, it's mostly just a hobby."

That's fascinating. It's not the sort of thing she would have expected at all.

"Invent what? Weapons? Armor?"