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.

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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?"

"Yes and yes. There's also communications and crowd control."

"Impressive. Were they to protect your men or to hurt the district citizens? Or both?"

"I wanted them to protect my men, but sometimes the application can blur the lines."

"Must have been hard, protecting your men from half-starved people trying to protect their children by throwing rocks."

The minute it's out she knows she shouldn't have said it. She can't quite bring herself to regret saying it, though.

Daniel pressed his lips together. "It's been a long, long time since any of the Districts have thrown rocks at Peacekeepers," he said, though he knew that there had been things happening after the 74th Hunger Games, he didn't tell her about any of that.

"Because I'm sure it ended so well for them when they did."

She almost feels bad for giving him a hard time, but only almost. She knows this place is horrendously unjust, and that talking like she does can get her into trouble. But she learned early on, as a woman and a minority, that silence enables the oppression. Old habits die hard, and she's not actively trying to kill this one.

"Have you heard what happened to District 13?"

"...There was a District 13?"

"Not any more," Dan said grimly. "It was destroyed."

She blinks, taken aback.

"They destroyed an entire district? How?"