The Victors and The Princess part 4
Oh-hi! Sorry it's been a couple of days, I've been super-duper busy and haven't had time to update. So, here's the final part of The Victors and The Princess. Please review. Please? I'm working on an epilogue… ^_^
Neve
The doors to Command bang against the wall ominously as I stalk inside. Coin and Plutarch sit at the long table, talking and scribbling on maps carefully.
"The fuck," I begin, pulling a sheet of official-looking paper from my pocket, "Is this?" I finish, slamming the paper onto the table.
"Your assignment, Soldier Snow," says Coin, not even looking up, not missing a beat.
I scowl heavily and take a deep breath. The last thing I need to do is go off the deep end.
"And what about Rue? I thought you said you would throw her into the equation," I mentally congratulate myself for not adding any abuse into those two sentences.
"We did. Her father will remain in Thirteen, and guide your squad, as usual."
I'm so mad I want to break things. Like Coin's nose.
Okay. Not a wise idea. "Why Squad 451? You know I've been training to fly." I say, and I have. I've spent the past couple weeks piloting the hovercraft and little fighter planes.
"You will do better off as part of the Mockingjay Squad. You stand better chance on the ground than in the air," says Coin.
I roll my eyes. What a crock.
"You know I can outfly everything. Remember what happened last week?" I push.
"What, the incident where you very nearly got yourself killed?" Coin raises an eyebrow.
"Also known as the incident where I took down a whole fucking squad of Capitol jets," I retort.
Plutarch's lips twitch and I know he's on my side here.
"451, Snow, or Sol Con. Take your pick," says Coin.
Sol Con. Also known as Solitary Confinement. I'd rather go back to the Capitol than be locked up.
"Haymitch told you I should stay in the air," I say lamely, as a last-ditch attempt.
"I do not seek advice from drunkards," says Coin coldly.
This makes me close to exploding point again.
"You don't take advice from drunks?" I laugh, "Really? How many times have I seen Haymitch in Command, telling us all what to do? He may be a drunk," I say, and I'm not laughing anymore, "but he is one of the bravest, most brilliant men I've ever met."
Coin says nothing.
"I will join 451," I say, "but when I come back, because mark my words, I will return, I will challenge you. Do not think I will let you take Panem. Because I know you're just as bad as the tyrant."
I give a very sardonic salute, then stride out of the room leaving Coin and Plutarch staring after me.
xXxXx
One Week Prior
I've been flying. For the past couple weeks I've been training in a tiny little fighter plane. My Commander, Boggs, is impressed.
I'm loitering around in the hangar, because I really want more flying hours, when the radio message comes through.
"Eleven's being bombed. We need backup, a couple of our boys have gone down," Boggs calls to the room at large. We're all recruits down here, and I'm easily the best flier.
"I'll go," I say, when nobody else says anything.
Boggs looks me up and down – my tiny frame, elven like – and I wonder if he'll refuse. Then I think he remembers how good my training has been going.
"Suit up, Snow," he says. I waste no time in putting my helmet on and buckling the clips to my vest. I re-attach my earpiece and head over to my plane.
"Don't tell Haymitch it's me up there," I say to Boggs. He nods.
"Poor guy. Wouldn't be happy if it was my girl going up in a plane in a war zone," says Boggs.
I shrug. "Don't have a choice, do I?" I say, grinning.
I scramble up into the plane, which I've painted a burning mockingjay on the side of, and turn the key in the ignition, quickly checking my fuel, ammo and headset. When I've cleared for take-off, it's a short ride through the tunnels before I'm lifted up to the runway. I gun the engine and shoot up into the air.
"This is Command to Fighter Plane 734 Phoenix. Come in, Pilot," Haymitch's voice through the intercom nearly makes me nosedive into the nearest tree.
"This is Nina Snow, Pilot of Fighter Plane 734 Phoenix," I say, and wait.
"Nina? Nina? What the fuck are you doing up there?" Haymitch's voice explodes into my ear.
"Haymitch. Calm down. This isn't the time for a domestic," says another voice. Boggs, I think.
I snicker to myself and set course for Eleven.
"Not the time for a domestic?" Haymitch echoes, "I just want to know what the hell possessed you to send my girl up there, in a fucking fighter plane, into an active war zone!" he explodes at Boggs.
I roll my eyes. Looks like I have to settle the dispute, whilst piloting, over a war zone.
"Shut it, you two," I say heavily, "and tell me where I am."
"About two miles out and – holy fuck!" Boggs breaks off mid-sentence to curse like a soldier. Oh. Wait.
"What is it?" I ask, and then check my radar. Oh.
"There's a whole damn squadron on your tail, Nina. Evasive tactics. NOW!" Boggs roars in my ear.
I don't need telling twice. I shoot upwards, turn upside down, and zip behind the squadron of Capitol planes.
"Take them down, sweetheart," says Haymitch, and I smile.
"With pleasure, darling."
I take down six of the seven planes, dodging and flying, machine gun rattling off. The last plane lets loose a bullet that hits one of my jet's wings.
I curse and blow my opponent sky high. I realize I've lost radio connection – I can hear them but they can't hear me. They're panicking. And, to be perfectly honest, so am I. All sorts of controls and monitors are beeping and flashing and making alarming noises. If I don't speed back to Thirteen now, I'm going down. I turn the plane around and set a new course for Thirteen. The plane begins to skim the treetops, and I think my engine's about to blow up. I just about make it to the launch pad and back to the hangar before the engine gives out. I realize as I hop out onto the wing that the engine is smoking, the jets are expelling thick, black smoke, and my plane needs some serious refurbishments. Oh well. Not my division.
I leap off of the wing and into Haymitch's arms.
He's swearing, and I swear he looks close to tears.
"Thank Christ, Nina…" he says, pulling me close and holding me tight. I grin over his shoulder at Boggs. He grins back and then sees the state of Fighter Plane 734 Phoenix.
"Jesus Christ, Snow. What the fuck have you done to my plane?" Boggs groans, though I know he's not really annoyed with me.
I laugh.
xXxXx
Present Day
"451. They've put you in 451." Haymitch says flatly.
"Yeah. And I know why, too. Coin doesn't like the fact that someone's going to challenge her." I spit out. I am beyond angry. Haymitch slams his fist into the wall.
"Nina. For Christ's sake, stop putting a target on your head!" he explodes.
"They're sending us out tomorrow," I tell him, "This could be my last night alive."
Haymitch's expression softens and he pulls me against his chest.
"Don't think like that, Nina. You'll come home," he says quietly.
I wonder which of us he's trying to convince. I don't realize I'm crying til I see the tear stains on his shirt.
"Please take care of Rue," I say, leaning into him wearily.
"Hey, hey, I'm not gonna need to, because you're gonna come home, sweetheart, and when this is all over, we can sneak away to Twelve and hide from the world," Haymitch whispers in my ear, stroking my hair. I cling to him but shake my head against his chest.
"You know I'm aiming for Presidency," I say.
"Run the country from Twelve, then," he suggests grumpily.
I snicker at the suggestion, then consider it. "That might just work…" I say thoughtfully.
Haymitch laughs, "You mad, mad girl," he says, still laughing.
"Don't laugh at me," I pout, poking him in the chest lightly.
He grins and pokes me back.
I don't sleep that night. Haymitch does, though of course he could be faking, but he seems pretty dead to the world. If he is faking, I don't cotton on and he's doing a damn good job. I lie there trailing lines and aimless patterns across his bare chest. His arms are wrapped around me.
That's what cottons me onto the fact that he's probably faking it. If he was asleep, he wouldn't be holding so tightly.
xXxXx
I take Rue to Mrs Everdeen the next morning. It's early, so I'm one of the first in the dining hall. I eat quickly and then rush off. So far, I've managed to avoid Haymitch.
Unfortunately, when I approach the hangar, I know I haven't gotten away lightly. He's leaning against the metal doors, arms crossed, tapping his foot.
"Nina."
"Haymitch."
He frowns at me. "Nina. Were you trying to sneak out?" he asks.
I shrug. "I didn't want you to worry."
"I wanted to say goodbye."
"I suppose that's fair," I concede and he pulls me into his arms.
I feel so safe and loved when he holds me. And it's because of that, that I blurt out my fears.
"What if I die?" I ask quietly. Haymitch shakes his head and kisses my lips.
"Not possible."
But it is possible. I don't say this though, because if I say it, Haymitch will think about it and then agree with me. So, I keep my mouth shut, hug him goodbye, kiss him soundly, and then square my shoulders. Time to cut the crap.
I stride through the metal doors which automatically slide open and clang shut behind me with an ominous sort of finality. My squad is lined up, checking equipment. Katniss is fiddling with her bow, checking her arrows, playing with the end of her braid. Boggs comes over with a clipboard. Paperwork. Lovely.
"Name, rank, op, details," says Boggs.
I do a double take. "You trained me. You know my name."
"No exceptions, Soldier."
Oh for crying out loud.
"Nina Snow. Soldier Pilot. Squad 451. Pilot of Fighter Plane 734 Phoenix. Seventeen years old. Originated from the Capitol of Panem." I reel all this off and make to shuffle past him.
"Nina. Next of kin, please."
Dammit. Thought I'd gotten away with it.
"Um…" I'm kind of at a loss as to what next of kin actually means.
"It means who gets guardianship of Rue should you not return," explains Boggs.
Oh. Okay. "Um, in which case that'll be Haymitch," I say.
Boggs nods and takes a note of it, then waves me away. I hurry off, eager to just get the hell out of here and into combat. I suit up quickly, because I've been authorized to fly the hovercraft to the Capitol. The squad is large, bigger than I expected. Obvious members are Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Finnick, Boggs and myself. There are five others, and the four TV crew people.
"Nina. Nina. We're cleared for launch," it's Boggs.
"Yessir."
xXxXx
A Few Weeks Later
I do not want to talk about what happened to us in the Capitol. But, I suppose, to complete my story, I have to. We entered the Capitol, and were in the process of taking out some Pods when Boggs got his legs blown off and transferred leadership of the squad to Katniss. He died shortly after, from blood loss. He told me his name was Niklaas.
And then the Mutts… oh God…
Half human, half lizard. I don't know who else died at the claws and fangs of those creatures, but I do know this – Finnick died. His death was not quick and painless either. A couple of others died in the tunnels, I think, diminishing our already diminished numbers. But I was transfixed, unable to do anything as the Mutt seized him. Finnick, I mean.
I looked away for an instant, to throw one of my knives to save Katniss, and when I turned back, there was blood everywhere. His head, separated from his body.
I think I screamed, though it's all a bit fuzzy. They had to put me back on the drugs, you see, after that night. They tell me now that I went completely mute.
Anyway. The last of our squad fled the tunnels, Gale hauling me along, me fighting and screaming. I think Katniss was screaming too.
And then the bombing. We reached the square, and then Thirteen dropped bombs on these little Capitol children. Innocents in this war. As innocent as the District children of the same age. Their only crime was where they came from. That they had been raised to treat the Hunger Games for what the Capitol citizens saw it as – a television show.
Among the dead, I discovered later on, was Katniss's sister. Prim. The girl who looked after my daughter when I was too busy fighting the war. The girl Katniss volunteered for. The girl who became a nurse, who ran in to help the Capitol children, and who was turned into a human torch.
When we returned to Thirteen, Katniss refused to see Gale, because it was a bomb he designed and built and set off that killed her sister. I was speedily injected with at least six different types of drugs to keep me in a sedated dream-like trance. I wondered, during my ordeal, what it must have been like for Annie. Perhaps she reacted much as I did.
I didn't need to be filled with all those drugs. But Coin put out the story I was emotionally unstable. A mute. That she would be taking over until an election could be held.
That election never came. Slowly, I began to come back to life and I was allowed off the drugs. Katniss had visited me a lot, and we'd talked. About Coin. About how, really, she was no better than Snow. A dictator. And so, we plotted.
The day Katniss was supposed to shoot my dear Grandpapa, she shot Coin instead. This threw the nation into chaos. They say my Grandpapa died laughing.
Two dictators down, zero to go. My path was clear, but I had to sweep aside my presidential campaign, or at least put it as second priority. They're trying Katniss for the assassination of President Coin.
xXxXx
Present Day
All of those events lead me here. To a witness box in the high court, with the results of the presidential election hours away.
I tell them everything. I tell them about Coin's communist ideas, about her ideas for more Hunger Games. About the bomb that killed thousands of Capitol children, hundreds of medics and nurses, including the Mockingjay's sister.
Court adjourns for a little while, because of the election results.
xXxXx
I'm scared. This is becoming a regular emotion for me, admittedly, but I'm still scared nonetheless. I'm on a balcony, the same balcony I usually stand on during the Tribute Parade. To my right, is Plutarch. On his other side is Commander Paylor. She also ran for President, though she told me a couple days ago she knows I'll most likely get elected. Plutarch makes the announcement, and I hear my name. The crowds explode into great, loud cheers, clapping and stomping.
I'm in a daze. It's me. They've voted me in. A seventeen year old girl, President of Panem. Haymitch, standing behind me, gives me a gentle poke. Crap. I have to make a speech.
I step forward and start by thanking everyone, acknowledging Paylor, and waiting for the applause to die out. Then I continue.
"Panem has come close to falling again, in the aftermath of this war. We as a nation must unite to stay strong. It is for this reason that the railway lines between the Districts will be open to the public populace."
A murmur of bemusement runs through the crowd.
"I mean, the average person can now travel from District to District to trade, or live if they desire. Communication between Districts will be encouraged."
At my simplifying of this new order, another cheer erupts. I feel pleased with myself.
"Resources will be shared equally. I hope to combat starvation and poverty - and win - without resorting to communism," I state.
"Another change is that my government will be run from District Twelve. My family, and the people I care about the most, all reside there. I do not want to be separated from them."
It is the first time ever a government has not been run from the Capitol.
"What about Katniss Everdeen?" someone shouts.
"Think about the great service she has done us. She has fought for our freedom. Ladies and gentlemen, people of Panem, do we imprison our Mockingjay? Or do we release her?"
"Release her! Release her! Free the Mockingjay!" the crowd roars as one.
"Then it shall be done. People of Panem, I, President Nina Snow, hereby decree that Katniss Everdeen be released to District Twelve, free of charges pertaining to the assassination of Alma Coin. She shall be required to stay in Twelve under observation until she turns eighteen years old. I have spoken. Let my will serve as law."
xXxXx
They released her mere hours later. We sped away from the Capitol towards Twelve, just the three of us for now. The rest of our friends, the ones who chose to follow us, would arrive later on.
"I told you we could run away to Twelve," says Haymitch, wrapping his arms around my waist. I'm standing with my back to him, staring out the window.
"And I told you it won't be the easy life you want," I say.
He laughs, presses a kiss to the top of my head.
"Nina, love, if I wanted an easy life, I'd have stayed in the Capitol."
I join him in the laughter, which feels good because I haven't laughed for weeks. Months, even.
Then I remember Finnick and feel a stabbing pain in my stomach, like someone's slammed a knife into me and twisted. Finnick is dead, and there's nothing I can do. Haymitch notes my change in mood and pulls me closer.
"It's not your fault, Nina."
But it is. It's my fault for not throwing a knife, for being too scared to help. I tell him this and he sighs heavily. We're all scarred from this war, but I, like Katniss, am not allowed to show it.
"Nina. Everything hurts for a while. Everything will seem hopeless, and a lost cause. But you must be strong, and get through this."
"Why? Because I'm President now?"
"Partly. And partly because you're more beautiful when you smile."
I kiss him then, because in this world that changes constantly, in our world, so rapidly inconsistent, Haymitch is the only stable, constant thing in my life. I need him.
"It gets better from here on out, sweetheart," he tells me quietly, as together, we watch the Capitol, and our old lives, vanish into the distance behind us.
xXxXx
Alright. End of part four. Next chapter is the epilogue, set twenty years later. Please review! Does anyone want to know Nina's 'private name' - remember, Nina's her public name...
Thanks everyone!
Neve.
