Soli Deo gloria
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who or the Hunger Games.
The next morning, many people gathered to say goodbye to the squads. The squad members and their families were up early and breakfast was put down without a second thought. That was when the Doctor learned that Johanna was mad over the fact that she wasn't going out. She was vocal about it, making Annie lean into Finnick's shoulder and Finnick reprimand his friend.
The hovercraft was ready. Gale bid goodbye to his family and Katniss to her family and the Doctor, finally dressed in a soldier's outfit from 13, though against his will, turned to Rose, who was finally allowed out of the hospital.
"Doesn't look as bad as I think it is, is it?" the Doctor asked, pulling on his collar.
"I think it looks all right on you," Rose said, moving his hands away from his throat.
"Hate it. It is that hard for me to wear my own clothes? Seriously, the rules around here," the Doctor said. "Was never one for rules. Blah things, really."
"What can you do about it?" Rose asked him.
"Yeah, yeah, shut it, you," the Doctor said, making Rose smile.
"All right, I will," Rose said.
The Doctor smiled at her and Boggs came over and said, "Time to go, Soldier Doctor."
"Just because I'm wearing the suit doesn't mean you can call me that, Commander," the Doctor said as Boggs walked away. "It's still Doctor."
"All right, Doctor," Boggs said, looking stern as he turned about his heel and hurried over to two sisters, who were saying goodbye to their father.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, making Rose laugh. He said, "You know, the TARDIS will probably be mad at me."
"You did leave her for a quite a while," Rose said.
"Yeah," the Doctor said, clearing his throat. Damn it, he wasn't good at saying goodbye. His mouth opened and closed like a fish for a second before he said, "Rose, I don't know what to say."
"That's all right, I guess," Rose said, quickly wrapping her arms around him. He quickly brought up the extra weight and supported them both as he hugged her back as tightly as he could, relishing in her before he had to go fight in a war—not something he particularly wanted to do at all.
They pulled apart and she said, "Make sure you get back alive. Don't know how I'll get back home without you."
The Doctor let out a teasing scoff and said, "Sure thing, Rose Tyler."
She watched as he boarded the hovercraft. He waved enthusiastically at her from the ladder, only one hand on the rungs, making Katniss look at him strangely and Finnick laugh. Rose waved back at the three of them and watched as the hovercraft moved away.
They took the hovercraft, which the Doctor explored, for he hadn't been in a flying machine in months, to District 12, which truly looked as decimated as Katniss had let on. She looked out over it with a poker look, and the Doctor wondered if that was what he looked like when he thought of Gallifrey.
They took a dusty cargo train to the mountain tunnels near the Capitol. Then, they had to walk for six hours. The Doctor wanted to run, for he did love running, but Boggs said 'no' and so did Jackson, who was a woman who looked like she could barely move off the couch, she looked so sluggish. She did keep fast pace with the Doctor, though, and he threw her random impressed looks, making her suspicious.
The Doctor had learned the names of his troop on the days in the train. There were Leeg 1 and 2 (the two sisters who said goodbye to their dad in the Hangar), Homes, Mitchell, and Jackson. There was also the Capitol camera team, who gritted their teeth and didn't complain at all, which impressed the Doctor, since they were from the Capitol, which was what they were trying to defeat.
They arrived at base, found several different squads who were ready to go to war when the pods were deactivated, and set down for a few days of shooting at buildings.
"Quite exhausting work," the Doctor said, leaning on the barrel of his gun from their firing point.
"I know, right?" said Finnick as he shot at a window.
The Doctor nodded and Bogs called everyone together to go and work on one of the pods. He knew of it because he had a thing called the Holo. The Doctor wanted to check it out with the sonic screwdriver, but he was forced to contain his curiosity, for Boggs always kept it on his person.
"All right, now that pod right there," Boggs pointed to one several yards away, "is going to be firing gnats. Get smoke ready, and the spray. Cressida, your cameras."
Everyone armed with spray and smoke, Leeg 2 volunteered to activate it. A giant rock in her hand, she got within six feet of it and threw the rock at it, her spray and smoke in her hands, ready.
The thing was, it wasn't gnats. Leeg 2 was greeted with the ending of her life by a dart that hit her directly in her brain.
Everyone's eyes widened as Boggs called for everyone to halt. The darts blew everywhere, hitting the buildings and street. Leeg 2 fell to the ground, her body motionless.
They waited for a moment before Boggs said, "All clear. Let's go," and they all ran to Leeg 2. The Doctor and Leeg 1 got to her side first, and everyone else stood around her, astonished.
"A mislabeled pod," the Doctor said, feeling her wrist. He gulped and looking to the dead girl's body, whispered, "I'm so sorry." She didn't look older than twenty.
Leeg 1 looked at her sister with wide eyes and didn't say anything.
"I'm going to call in for a replacement," Boggs said.
The Doctor quickly looked back to him, saying in a dangerous voice, "You're just going to call up Coin and ask her for a replacement soldier?"
"Yes. We need another person on this squad, and she's gone," Boggs said before he told Finnick and Homes to help him take her body back to camp.
The Doctor stood up, a dangerous look on his face at the way that Boggs could so easily do that.
"Oh," Leeg 1 said, as Homes and Finnick carried her sister to the camp.
They buried Leeg 1, Boggs reigning over the burial with a speech. The Doctor hung in the background, silently wondering how they buried people in District 13. Probably brought the family and the body up to the surface for the first time in their lives for a few minutes to take care of the body.
He would have spoken on behalf of Leeg 1, only he didn't know anything about her. A right shame, too. She seemed like a nice girl.
They continued with their breaking of windows the next day. They drank tea at night by the fires by their tents. The Doctor liked that. He was always in the mood for a cuppa of tea. Thing he missed about going to England. They always had tea there, no matter what. He and Rose always had a bit in the TARDIS, going to China and olden England for the bestest cups, laughing and talking over their drinks.
They hadn't shared time over a cuppa for a while now.
Prim told Rose after the hovercraft left for her to walk around the district more to get some exercise in to speed up her recovery. Rose did. Sometimes she went out on small distances with Johanna, who was moody because she didn't get to go out to the Capitol. Sometimes when Prim had a few minutes, Rose walked with her instead.
She walked with Annie once. She was quieter than she usually was, but she answered each question brightly. Rose quite liked her, though she found her a bit weird when she on occasion covered her ears with her hands, as if some alarm went off that Rose didn't know about.
Today, she walked past a room she'd seen a lot. Thinking, she walked up to one of the guards surrounding the room and said, "Is it all right if I go on a walk with Peeta? You know, without guards?"
"Are you authorized?" the guard asked.
Rose looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. "No, but look. Katniss isn't here anymore. He's not going to be trying to kill anyone. He just needs to get out. Come on."
"Do you have any authorization?"
"I already said 'No,'" Rose said, annoyed.
"I say she can go," a cool voice said. Rose turned to see a tall woman with a wave of seamless grey hair that touched her shoulders.
"President Coin," Rose said, though she hadn't met her before. She knew exactly who she was.
"Miss Tyler," Coin said. She turned to the guard and said, "Let Miss Tyler take Mr. Mellark on a walk. Then I'll talk with him when he gets back."
The guard quickly entered the room, leaving Rose with President Coin. "Thanks," she said.
"Have a nice walk, Miss Tyler," Coin said before walking quickly away.
Rose was left wondering what Coin wanted to talk to Peeta about when the guard came out, pushing Peeta ahead of him.
"Rose," Peeta said, his voice sounding relieved. "I haven't seen you! They won't let me out, Rose, they—"
"Hey, now they're letting us go on a walk. Let's do it, come on," Rose said. Peeta nodded, jerked his hand away from the guard, and followed her, looking bemused.
The Doctor told Rose that Peeta only reacted to Katniss, and that people from District 12 angered him. People from the Capitol angered him. The only people he was fine around was Delly Cartwright, a cheery girl, and the District 13 people and her and Johanna and Annie, since they were with him for a while. Even though Annie hadn't been there, she was an innocent girl who Peeta liked.
They walked for a while before Rose turned to Peeta and said, "What does Coin want to talk to you about?"
"How should I know? They never tell me anything here, what I'm supposed to do or what's happening outside," Peeta said. "Do they tell you anything?"
"Not much. I'm a patient in the hospital, after all," Rose said. She held up her wrist, which had her bracelet on it. "Unstable, Peeta. I get whatever the Doctor tells me."
"What does he tell you?"
"Stuff. Like he's out there at the Capitol now, trying to find the TARDIS," Rose said.
"What—what's a TARDIS?"
"A time machine," Rose said, knowing that since he was especially insane acting, she couldn't sugarcoat it or tell him something else.
His eyes widened. "Wait, a time machine? What's that?"
"It's a big, blue box. It's, well, bigger on the inside. It's complicated," Rose said with a laugh. "Anyway, they'll tell us stuff when they know that we have to know about it, all right?"
"Yeah, great system," Peeta said.
Rose segued quietly into another line of conversation. "What is it that Coin wants to talk to you about, anyway?"
"Oh, she wants to tell me something? First time I've heard that," Peeta said sarcastically as they turned a corner.
"Well, yeah," Rose said. "Any idea why she'd want to talk to you?"
"Dunno. I'm crazy and homicidal. I don't know," Peeta said in a quiet voice.
"There isn't anything you know that she doesn't, then?" Rose asked as they came around to the hall that had Peeta's room.
"Coin knows everything," Peeta said, and they looked up to see the two guards.
"President Coin has been waiting to see you," one said.
"Okay," Peeta said. "Bye, Rose," and he entered his room.
Rose watched the door close before she hurried over to her own hospital room, left hanging over what President Coin wanted with crazy, miserable Peeta.
The next day, when Rose was walking alone in the halls, she saw Peeta and his two guards walking down the hall. Peeta wore a military outfit, and held a gun.
"Peeta, what happened?" Rose asked as she hurried to keep up with them.
"I'm heading out to war," he said quietly.
"You're going out there? To one of the squads? To the Doctor's squad?" Rose asked quickly.
"One of their members died. I'm the replacement," Peeta said.
Rose's heart leapt at that; she nearly stumbled as she brought herself to a halted stop. WHICH ONE? "Which one died, Peeta? Katniss, Finnick, the Doctor?"
"One of the sisters," Peeta said quietly. "She died with one of the pods."
Regaining balance, Rose said, "Peeta!"
"What?" he said, turning to face her. "What now, Rose?"
Rose looked at him for a moment before saying, "Remember this, Peeta. Katniss is not trying to kill you. She isn't trying. She isn't bad."
Peeta stared at her with a sullen but confused look before he was hurried away. Rose watched him disappear, hoping that he remembered.
That evening was when Boggs called everyone over. The train had arrived.
Katniss caught first glimpse of him, their new soldier, and the Doctor said, "Oh, is he cured now?"
Peeta, dressed in a military outfit, carried a gun and wore a grim look on his face.
"Nobody told us he was cured," Katniss said in a dazed voice.
"Yeah, but what do they tell us these days?" Gale said. "They don't tell us who the replacement soldier is."
"You've got that right," the Doctor said as Peeta came closer, looking annoyed.
"Hey, Soldier," Boggs said. "Let me have your gun."
Peeta handed his weapon over without a word, and Boggs took it and turned, saying something about having to make a phone call.
"It won't matter," Peeta said as they stood around, looking a bit shocked. "The president assigned me herself. She decided the propos needed some heating up."
"So you're going to acting with us?" Finnick asked.
"Yep," Peeta said.
"Welcome to the squad, then, Peeta," the Doctor said, holding out his hand. "Don't worry, we don't really do . . . much."
That was when Boggs came back, angry, and had Jackson appoint a two-person, round-the-clock guard on Peeta. They headed back to their area of tents, Boggs saying how annoyed he was. He called for Katniss, and the two headed on a walk through the camp.
"So, Soldier Mellark, let's get you a tent," Jackson said.
Finnick and the Doctor, appointed to be his bodyguards for the next few hours, watched him set up his tent, the Doctor talking up a storm. "How're things back in District Thirteen? I know it's only been a couple of days, but then again, days for me can be a lifetime for someone else," the Doctor said.
"What?" Finnick asked with a big laugh.
"Oh, nothing much, nothing much at all," the Doctor said.
"Coin called me to come out. I went on a walk around with Rose first," Peeta said, securing his tent.
"Yeah, how is she?" the Doctor asked, trying to sound casual.
"Fine," Peeta said.
"What about Annie?" Finnick asked, a little concern in his voice.
"She's okay. She's quieter, though," Peeta said.
"She's like that," Finnick said.
Boggs called for them all go to the canteen. The Doctor kept an eye on Peeta, who was pale and nervous. Gale was with Katniss in line for the canteen; he seemed to notice that, for his hands trembled and he nearly spilled his drink, making the District 13 people look at him in horror. Waste was not something they tolerated at all.
They all settled down in a tense circle, nobody saying much.
The Doctor ended up more playing with his food than eating it, saying, "Oh, I can mold it! Oh, that's brilliant, that!" Everyone looked at him like he was daft and then turned to their food, having gotten used to the Doctor and his strangeness in their own ways.
After a while, Katniss got called to take a phone call and everyone took care of their plates before sitting around near their tents, Boggs telling them that since there was no sun, they were done for the day. That was fine, for the Doctor didn't like having to act for a camera. Of course, he didn't mind, but he felt at the moment like he didn't want to be under the control of District 13. Instead, he found a piece of broken weapon and spent the evening breaking it apart with his sonic screwdriver.
He worked on it well into the night, saying 'goodnight' to everyone passing by. At around midnight, Finnick and Gale went to their beds and Katniss headed over to Peeta's sleeping bag, which was dragged out near the fires so everyone could be able to see him from their tents.
"In for a long night?" the Doctor asked, looking up from his work.
"Probably," she said.
"Hey, just remember," the Doctor said, pointing to her with the sonic screwdriver still in his hand, "be careful with him. He's still not cured yet." He could tell, even if nobody told him. He might have a bit of a doctor inside of him.
"I know," Katniss said. She stop and said hesitantly, "Are you sure, Doctor? That he's really there?"
"There's part of the old Peeta left. I've watched. I know," the Doctor said as he tightened a screw. "I know. Trust me. I'm the Doctor."
Katniss nodded reluctantly and went on.
The Doctor continued with his tinkering until he could hear Peeta and Katniss's conversation over on the other side of their squad's camp. He stopped making noises with his screwdriver as they talked louder and louder. Reminded him of him and Rose. They used to have such delightful discussions late at night. She used to laugh a lot at the different explanations he had for things.
Peeta sounded irritated as he said, "The problem is, I can't tell what's real anymore, and what's made up."
It was quiet for a moment before Finnick said, "Then you should ask, Peeta. That's what Annie does."
"Ask who? Who can I trust?" Peeta asked.
The Doctor stood up and he walked to the sleeping bag, Jackson saying, "You can trust us, for starters. We are your squad."
"You can trust everyone on this squad, Peeta," the Doctor said. He shrugged, "I do." He held out his hand and said, "Trust me. I know you can. I'm the Doctor."
"I know that you're the Doctor," Peeta said.
"Yeah," the Doctor said, putting his hand down, "I've got a habit of adding it on. Probably shouldn't do that—anyway, Peeta, like Finnick said, ask. Good night, you two," and he left to resume his seat and his screwdriver.
After a while, though, he put down the piece of weapon and looked down at the ground, wondering where things had gone and gotten more crazy than usual. Things like this didn't take that long. Time traveling let him experience things that take lifetimes to see in three months. Instead, he was stuck at the Capitol, looking to steal in to get his TARDIS and hopefully help end the rebellion.
"This turned out to be a bit more of an adventure," he said. He wondered, he often did, why the TARDIS had brought him and Rose to Panem. Maybe she just did it because she was acting up again. That was probably the only reason.
The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"This is going to be a long week," he said.
One afternoon, a few days after Peeta had gotten shipped off, Rose took her normal walk through the district. She was getting better at walking longer distances, and her headaches, which she got nearly once every couple of days, were gone. Prim told her she was improving, though since she had endured several weeks of torture, she still had a while longer to recover. Nobody really paid any attention to her, and she didn't care that nobody noticed her. She simply kept walking down the halls.
Soon she came along to a part of District 13 she hadn't seen before. The halls were brighter, but still dank. It felt like she was in a tunnel of sorts when she suddenly bumped into someone.
"Beetee!" she said.
He was in his wheelchair; she had only seen him a couple of times in District 13. "Oh, hello, Rose," he said.
"What are you doing done here? Something secret for Coin?" Rose asked lightly.
"Actually, yes, so I must be going," Beetee said as he began turning his wheels.
"Wait, are you serious? You're working on something secret down here?" Rose asked, as he hurried on ahead.
"I'd rather not talk about it, Rose," Beetee said, as she followed him down the hall to a door, which had two District 13 soldiers guarding it. She stopped walking and watched as he put in a key and ID and said, "Dangerous business."
Rose looked back at him for a moment after he disappeared before she turned back and retraced her steps from whence she came. She could not think of what kind of thing Beetee was working on. He was a genius, she knew. Didn't the wire in the arena prove that he was brilliant?
Coin was having him work on something. She just didn't know what.
She probably never would have known what if she hadn't nearly slipped on a piece of paper that littered the hall. She caught herself before she could slam into the hard floor, though, and curiously picked up the paper.
"What's this?" she said. She read it. It seemed to be some sort of report containing things to do with bombs, like detonators and such. She looked back to where Beetee had gone and silently wondered if this had been his. It probably had—what other room was down this vast hall? None, that's what.
Nobody was coming racing back for it. She gulped, and slipping it into her pocket, turned and walked again. The next time she saw Beetee, she was going to ask him about it. If there was something she had gotten from the Doctor on her travels, it was a hatred for violence. Even though she knew it was a war, she knew that bombs were extreme.
Jackson came up with a name for a game for Peeta: Real or Not Real. Everyone answered with "Real" or "Not real" when Peeta asked them a question about his past. Gale took the ones with things at school. Finnick and the Doctor added things from the Quarter Quell. The soldiers from 13 did the ones about 13. The Doctor passed many hours answering questions for Peeta about the mutts and alliances and all of that sort of stuff. Though he didn't like reliving stuff like that, he had an exceptional memory.
Katniss did the rest.
Things went rather well until one day they were fixing up for a propo using one of the pods. Everyone had to look like they were in agonizing pain, and the Doctor and Mitchell and Finnick had a good time making everyone laugh with their goofy faces.
"Pull it together, Four-Five-Oh," Boggs said with a chuckle as he went to check the next pod. The Doctor calmed down enough to merely grin, which disappeared when he saw the pod blow up, taking Boggs with it.
Everyone looked, aghast, and another bomb boomed somewhere. Nobody noticed where it was, though, for everyone was rushing to Boggs, Katniss reaching him first.
"Bloody hell," the Doctor said breathlessly.
"Do something! You're a doctor!" said Homes.
"You know, I'm really not," the Doctor said as Boggs tapped on the Holo, breathing raspily. "I should be, though, for times like this. How are you doing, Boggs? Breathing well?"
"He has no legs!" Homes said.
"I know, don't you think I can see that?" the Doctor said sharply, giving him a look.
"We should take him back to the camp," Jackson said.
"And what are they going to do for him there, Jackson?" asked Finnick frantically.
"Prepare to retreat!" Jackson suddenly hollered; the Doctor and Finnick's heads whipped around to see a wave of something black and liquid, if it could even be called liquid.
"What the hell is that?" Finnick yelled.
"Something that looks gel-like. Saw something like it on the Tar planet of Quoso," the Doctor said before turning back to the squad. "We might want to run away from it." He grinned, making Finnick look even more determined, and said, "I've missed the running. Oh, yeah."
The wave advancing toward them, everyone dashed after Katniss, who headed toward one of the abandoned Capitol buildings. The people who had lived inside were gone due to the close-by rebels and pods lining the streets.
Gale and Leeg 1 blasted at rocks and Peeta freaked out ahead, making Katniss look shocked as she wrestled him off to Mitchell, who caught him and held him down.
The Doctor hung toward the back, looking around him, the gun he assembled in his hands. There were going to be pods on this street, he knew, and they only knew the ones that Plutarch had put up.
They were probably operated with an electronic wave; suddenly the Doctor stopped and reached into his pocket, which he was glad he had in his outfit. He fumbled and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Pressing the button, he spun around, trying to get a signal. He brought it back to him and read it; he looked on to where the activating pod was.
It was, as it would be, right next to Mitchell and Peeta, who were wrestling on the rubble covered ground.
"Mitchell! Peeta!" the Doctor yelled, but before he could yell near enough for them to hear him, a large claw and net engulfed Mitchell. Peeta looked scared as he rolled away. The Doctor saw spikes in the net covered in blood. He gulped before turning his head to see everyone hurrying into a house. He quickly ran to it, using his sonic screwdriver to make sure that he didn't activate any more pods. He already feel the wave of gel falling on him; he skidded into the house as everyone hurried into the kitchen. Peeta writhed in people's hands before he was eventually shoved into a closet. Leeg 1 immediately locked the door after him.
Gale came in last, coughing, "Fumes!"
"Non-toxic, though," the Doctor said, panting as he examined his sonic screwdriver. "Probably not good to breathe in, though."
"Block off the windows," Jackson said as Katniss and she hung over Boggs, whom they had managed to drag in.
"Yeah, probably a good idea," the Doctor said as he pushed some off his shoulder. He tasted it, made a blah face and said, "It's non-corrosive. More like a jelly, really. Wonder if it'd taste better on toast. . . ."
"Where's Mitchell?" asked Homes.
The Doctor shook his head and said, "He's gone. Pod took him out."
"Where's Peeta?" asked Gale, looking around, as he started to rummage through the drawers of the kitchen.
The closet near him shook, and the Doctor said, "Is that a good answer?"
The kicking continued but everyone ignored it in lieu of turning their full worry and attention to Boggs, who'd grown limp on the floor.
"Is he gone?" asked Finnick.
Katniss nodded.
"We need to get out of here. Now. We just set off a streetful of pods. You can bet they've got us on surveillance tapes," Finnick said.
Castor nodded, adding a few words as the Doctor cleared his throat and held up his sonic screwdriver. Now might be the time to say that he knew where and how to find the pods.
"You know, I've got a plan," the Doctor said. Everyone looked at him; he tilted his head, saying, "Well, not a plan exactly, more like I know something that might come in handy. Later on. Yes. Well, if we decide to get out of this house, which is too bright for my taste, making one almost in the mood for the greyness of District Thirteen, almost being the key word here—"
"What?" Katniss asked.
"See this?" the Doctor asked, holding up his sonic screwdriver. The sound of Peeta ramming against the closet door quieted as he ran out of energy.
"What is it?" Jackson asked.
"It's something called a sonic screwdriver. It's helpful on pretty much anything, 'cept wood. I'll . . . need to work on that. Anyway," he said, turning it on, making Leeg 1 look alarmed, "it can detect electronic waves."
"You mean it can find pods that Plutarch didn't know about?" Finnick asked.
"Well, yeah," the Doctor said. He smiled and said, "Yeah, basically."
Finnick looked to Katniss and said, "But, we can't go out there. There's that gel—"
"Can't we wait for it to go away?" asked Leeg 1.
"Yeah, and the Peacekeepers will be after us," said Gale. He frowned as he said, "They're bound to know that we're here, and they'll be after us the first chance we get."
"We can't just stay here," Finnick said. Peeta let out a loud kick in the background. He had probably gotten his second wind. "What are we doing?"
"Boggs . . . gave me the Holo," Katniss said slowly.
Jackson looked at her and said, "Give it to me. I'm second in command."
"Boggs gave it to her," Homes said as Katniss clutched it tighter.
Jackson was about to protest when the Doctor said calmly, "So, what's the plan, Katniss?" She looked at him incredulously and he nodded to the Holo, saying, "You're the leader, now."
Katniss was quiet for a moment before she said, "I'm on a special mission for President Coin. I think Boggs was the only one who knew about it."
"To do what?" Jackson wanted to know.
"To kill President Snow," the Doctor said, staring at Katniss. He knew a lot of the ways she went with decisions, and he knew that she had it out for the president. It made complete and utter sense.
That was the plan, then. After a discussion and several warnings and arguments over power and gas masks, which the Doctor said they didn't need ("Are you my mummy?" he joked to Jackson, who looked offended and annoyed), everyone took up their guns. Katniss turned to the Doctor and said, "Look, the cameras that are around are probably coated in gel. Nobody may see us."
"Do you want me to go ahead with you and keep on the lookout for pods?" asked the Doctor quickly.
"Yes," Katniss said.
"All right," the Doctor said, "but one thing." He held up his gun and handed it to her and said in a serious voice, "I'm going to do this on my own terms, with only my screwdriver. You all can use your guns, but I don't like guns, I really don't. So, I'm not going to have one."
"How are you supposed to protect yourself from Peacekeepers?" Katniss asked, shifting the gun in her hands.
The Doctor tapped his head and said, "Brains and wit over people with guns, Katniss Everdeen. Been using this weapon for years. Has only failed me a few times. Good enough odds, aye?"
Katniss nodded and so did the Doctor, and the two of them, Katniss with her gun and the Doctor with his sonic weapon, hurried ahead through the street. They all passed by Mitchell, who was nothing more than a couple of body parts that were not covered in gel. The Doctor looked guiltily at the pod and Katniss reminded everyone that they could go back to the camp now before any of them lost their nerve. They remained loyal, though, and Katniss told the Doctor to come with her as she led. The screwdriver beeped and the Doctor pointed to their left, yelling, "Might want to avoid that one."
The wave of gel became very deep and sticky, making it harder for them to run. Fortunately, the Doctor pointed his screwdriver all about before putting it away, saying to Katniss, "The wave took down the pods. We'll be fine until the wave starts going away."
They passed several activated pods, like tracker jackers that the Doctor recognized from pictures he had seen in District 13, and darts and large rocks that looked like they were glowing underneath the gel.
They came upon one of the Capitol apartments; the Doctor used his screwdriver to unlock the door. He opened it and said, "Ah, haven't done that in a while."
"Everyone inside," Katniss said, and everyone listened, dragging in Peeta, who struggled against their grip. The Doctor looked at him with a frown as they dropped him on a sofa, teeth seething despite the fact that the boy was out cold. He was definitely not cured.
The Doctor quickly darted into the home, which was nicely furnished. "Lovely decorating, oh, I like this," the Doctor said, surprised as he spun around the room.
"It looks exactly like the other one," Finnick said.
"I still like it better," the Doctor said.
Katniss said, "We need to eat something. Is there any food here?"
"I know where some should be," Messalla said. "I used to live in this sort of place." He and Katniss and Gale searched and the Doctor flopped on the sofa besides Peeta.
Suddenly the TV flickered on; Cressida quickly said that it was routine. Everyone watched as reporters pulled together stories of them being dead. It was quite amusing, actually, seeing as only two of them were dead while the rest of them were flopping about the apartment of a Capitol citizen.
"Do they actually believe that or are they deceiving themselves as well?" the Doctor commented as he pocketed his screwdriver.
"Finally, a bit of luck," Homes said as the TV replayed clip after clip of camera footage of them on the streets before the gel overcame the camera screens.
"Everyone thinks we're dead," Leeg 1 said. "My father, first my sister and now me. . ."
Snow spoke, making Katniss shudder. The Doctor shook his head and said, "Oh, he's in for a surprise."
The TV stopped showing that after a while and starting showing regular Capitol commercials of sorts.
"So now that we're dead, what's our next move?" asked Gale.
"Isn't it obvious?" everyone turned to see Peeta, who had awakened.
"Peeta! Nice to see you up!" the Doctor said cheerfully.
"What are we supposed to do next?" Katniss asked.
"Our next move is to kill me," Peeta replied calmly, looking from face to astonished face.
"Beetee, Beetee," Rose said, hurrying across the cafeteria, She spotted the man in his wheelchair at one of the tables with Annie and Johanna. It was strange, really, to see him out of his lab, but Rose quickly took this opportunity. In her pocket was the piece of paper she'd found. This was probably one of the last times she was going to see him out of his lab, for he was there nearly 24/7.
He turned to her; her hand held up the paper, a corner of it crumpled from her fingers. "I found this on the floor," she said. She looked confused as she said, "Is this yours?"
Beetee took a look at it and put on a nervous grin as he took it and looking it over, said, "Thank you, Rose. I was looking for this. Here, sit down."
Rose did not have her lunch yet, but she didn't care as she said, "It says it's something for bombs. You're building bombs, aren't you, Beetee?"
"Who told you that, Rose?" Beetee asked quietly.
"The paper!" Rose said angrily. "You're planning on making bombs to use on the Capitol? I mean, guns are fine, I guess, not with the Doctor, but bombs? They could kill civilians. If the Doctor knew about this, I swear—"
"Miss Tyler," Rose heard; she turned to two guards coming toward her.
"What? What did I do now?" Rose asked.
"Probably best not to talk about military secrets in the cafeteria, Tyler," Johanna said sarcastically, as she ate a bit of squash.
"Miss Tyler," another guard said.
Beetee said, "Rose, you can't say that around here. Be nice to her, guards—"
"Why? Can't talk about anything I want to anymore?" Rose said, irritated. She didn't care that people were watching as one of the guards grabbed her arm, saying, "We need to take you back to the hospital."
"Why? I'm fine!" Rose said, and that was all she could say before she felt a sharp pain and passed out.
The Doctor took one of the passed-around-cream-filled cookies. "Well, not a jammy dodger, but it'll do." They had just finished eating their supper after arguing with Peeta, who wanted to die. Not something that the Doctor wasn't familiar with. Sometimes he wished he could just die. 'Course, never tried to do so intentionally just yet.
The TV switched on and they watched President Snow and pictures of them. It was with the Hunger Games. The Doctor couldn't help but laugh when they put up a blank picture representing him.
"That's what I look like, anyway," the Doctor said. He waved over his face and said, "Changing all the time."
Jackson and Homes threw him a look when a picture of Katniss showed up on the TV; Beetee must have been working TV magic, for Coin was doing voiceover on how she still is the symbol of the rebellion. The Doctor leaned, back, finding all of this amusing.
Beetee gave the controls back to the Capitol, and Snow, using in a controlled voice, said, "Tomorrow morning, when we pull Katniss Everdeen's body from the ashes, we will see exactly who the Mockingjay is. A dead girl who could save no one, not even herself."
The anthem appeared and Finnick said, "But you won't find her."
They decided that the Capitol would get annoyed and start looking for them when they didn't find the bodies. Jackson taught Katniss the basics of the Holo, which the Doctor wanted to know, so he watched as well. Jackson kept looking at him, for he appeared to be nodding at everything she said. He looked at her once and said, "It's fascinating stuff."
Next came about the way they were getting out. There was no going out on the streets, even though the Doctor flipped around his screwdriver for show. Underground was the only option.
"Oh, and I just stayed underground for weeks. Bugger," the Doctor said.
"Do you have a better idea?" Gale asked.
"No," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "Never said I did. Just offering a bit of opinion, is all."
They tidied up the house, making it look like they had never been there. Threw away the trash and flipped over pillows and the like. Grinning, the Doctor was about to start a pillow fight with Leeg 1 when Jackson said, "Don't even think about it, Doctor."
"Fine, I'll stop being about to do it," the Doctor said, putting away the pillow. "But," he added, holding up his index finger, "I won't stop thinking about it."
The next problem was Peeta I'm-Not-Moving Mellark. The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and nodding toward their exit, said, "Come on, Peeta. Time to go. Let's hop to it."
"Snow's people are going to find you," Finnick pointed out. Peeta looked angry.
"Then leave me a pill. I'll only take it if I have to," he said.
"That's not an option. Come along," Jackson said.
"Or you'll what? Shoot me?" Peeta asked. He said to the Doctor, "You won't."
"Yeah, I wouldn't," the Doctor said with a grin.
"We'll knock you out and drag you with us," Homes said. "Which will both slow us down and endanger us."
"Stop being noble! I don't care if I die!" Peeta said. He looked pleadingly to Katniss and said, "Katniss, please. Don't you see, I want to be out of this?"
The Doctor watched him before he said quietly, "We care, though. Peeta, why would you want to die? You got hijacked? So? You've survived two Hunger Games!" He leaned over to Peeta and said in a calm, understanding voice, "Look, I know things can look very, very bleak for a while. They don't always get better, but that doesn't mean that they never will." He said sternly, "Killing yourself is not going to help you."
"What if I'm captured by Snow?" Peeta asked.
"Well, with this crew," the Doctor said, pointing out everyone with their guns, "I highly doubt you'll get captured."
Jackson began giving out orders, looking to Katniss for a nod. They were going to go through several tubes to go into the sewage underground. The Doctor wrinkled his nose as they all stood near the chute, the camera men stripping off their heavy and bulky suits, saying, "Do you mean we have to go to where all the waste goes? That's a bit gross if you ask me."
"Live with it, Doctor," Jackson said sternly.
"I have to, don't I? Oh, well," the Doctor said as they started filing down. They made their way down, and stood up straight once they were down ladders. The Doctor, sniffing, nodded; it didn't actually smell that bad. Apparently, according to Messalla, this was the cleanest part of the sewer.
Pollux grabbed Castor's hand and looked about miserably.
"My brother worked down here after he became an Avox," Castor explained to everyone. "Took five years before we were able to buy his way up to ground level. Didn't see the sun once."
The Doctor couldn't imagine sitting in an underground space for five years without seeing the sun once. He shook his head and Peeta said, "Well, then you just became our most valuable asset." While everyone smiled or laughed at Peeta's joke, the Doctor didn't.
Through the dozens of tunnels and changes and turns, Pollux helped Katniss and Jackson ahead of the group as they made their way through the sewage. The Doctor hung back with Finnick and Peeta, who reluctantly walked along with them. The Doctor used his screwdriver on occasion, but got nothing. All he knew was there were some flickering lights lighting the way.
They finally stopped at a station, which was a little room. Entering, the Doctor looked around excitedly and said, "Oh, buttons! Buttons and panels and levers and lights and oi, I like this! I can work with this!"
"We're not going to be working with anything, Doctor," said Jackson sharply, as everyone fell to the floor. She turned to Katniss and said, "And what are we going to do now, Soldier Everdeen?"
"Let's rest. Have a few guards that switch out," Katniss said wearily. Nobody objected and Katniss went to sleep as the Doctor and Pollux took the first watch.
Everyone snoozed and dozed and snored and the Doctor yawned and checking the panels, said quietly, "Three-oh-five. We walked a while, didn't we?"
Pollux nodded.
The Doctor looked at him for a moment before he said quietly, "Place bring up bad memories for you?" Pollux nodded and the Doctor said quietly, "I'm sorry—about what happened to you. Nothing like that should happen to anyone."
Pollux smiled in a sort of appreciative way. The Doctor added, "Sure you don't want to go to sleep? I can take this watch."
Pollux shook his head and the Doctor said, as though he had just realized it, which he just did, "You can't, can you? Really a lot of memories. All right, Pollux. You and I can just hang out for a while, then. 'Kay?"
Pollux nodded and the Doctor said, "All right." The two of them stayed up until someone else woke up and took the Doctor's place. The Doctor slept for a bit, though in his hearts he wasn't sleeping very much at all, for the nightmares kept him up.
He woke up, though, when he heard something being chanted. "Katniss. Katniss. Katniss. Katniss."
He found the words coming from Peeta's mouth, though they didn't sound like him. He frowned and said, "That's a bit weird, isn't it? Not natural, that."
Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it, and please, leave a comment!