A/N: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Special thanks to Ellenka, who (I think unknowingly) corrected my spelling of Beetee lol! I was spelling it wrong since the last chapter, but I changed it all so it's correct now, so thank you Ellenka:) Thanks for all your reviews too, I appreciate the feedback.

[11.] After dinner, I meet Venia, Flavius, and Octavia in my bedroom. They are already inside, setting up their hair, nail, and make-up kits. I know what to expect, but I'm still not sure how good they are going to make me look. Two rounds of Hunger Games, a war, and an explosion have made my body that of a veteran, not a young lady. I've seen this crew work miracles before though, so I won't place bets against them just yet.

"Katniss!" My old prep team greets me with hugs and smiles. They look much better than they did last time I saw them, when I discovered their cruel treatment in Thirteen and they were tortured and starved. They appear to be well fed now, and the wide-eyed, scared look in their eyes has faded. I'm glad to see they haven't been mistreated as Effie has been in the Capitol. But it makes me wonder why Effie has been targeted now. What could Coin be gaining by treating Effie like a criminal?

After catching up for a few minutes, I let the team get started on fixing me up. They have a lot to do, and not much time. Venia informs me that tonight they will be working on three things: my hair, which Flavius will be cutting and finding a new style for since my hair is damaged from the explosion; nails, which Octavia comments look horrendous but fixable; and skin, which Venia says she has an amazing skin cream for me that will help my burned skin look more normal. I am skeptical that they can pull this all off before I'm supposed to meet Gale, Johanna and Beetee in the Weaponry room at 10, but I make no objections. I resume my normal position in the salon chair the prep team brought for me and zone out while they get to work.

Two and a half hours later, I am staring in shock at my reflection in the mirror. Good thing I didn't place that bet against my prep team, because they just worked a miracle on me.

"Oh my gosh…" I gasp. "It looks like…me! Well, me, but different."

I do look and feel more like myself with this new look. My skin doesn't look pink and white and blotchy anymore, the skin cream Venia used smoothed out the mutt-like flesh and colored the skin my normal olive tone. Flavius cut my hair in a style I never thought I would like on myself, but actually looks good. He calls it a modern bob with an angle. Most of the hair that I lost from the fire was in the back, so Flavius trimmed off the singed ends up to the nape of my neck. The hair in the front is longer, an inch or so past my collar bone. No braid for me for a while. There is no make-up on my face, which was unanimously decided the easiest part of me to make pretty, since it wasn't damaged in the blast. Octavia has painted my nails a shimmery emerald green color, and made me promise not to chip it before tomorrow night's dinner and celebration. I haven't seen my outfits for tomorrow, but I know my Mockingjay outfit will be my uniform for Snow's execution, and after that a dress Cinna designed for me before he was killed.

"I wish Cinna were here," I murmur aloud, regretful that my stylist can't be here for all of this. Not just because he believed in me, but because this was his fight too, and he would have been happy to see us come out on top. I hope he knew how much he inspired me and how much his support meant to me.

"He would have been so proud of you," Venia comments, rubbing my back in a comforting motion from her spot over my shoulder. She meets my eyes in the mirror and smiles through tears. I notice that Octavia and Flavius are also tearful. We all miss Cinna.

"You guys did an amazing job, thank you so much!" I compliment. "I'm glad to have you guys here. No one else could make me look as good as you three do."

"Wait until you see your dress for tomorrow night!" Octavia gushes, "You are going to look stunning!" Octavia and Flavius tease me for the next few minutes with details about the dress I'm not allowed to see until tomorrow.

"Well, we should get going," Venia announces. "We're going to leave the beauty station set up for tomorrow. We'll be here at 10AM tomorrow to help you into your Mockingjay uniform. We'll be back at 5 to fix you up for the dinner and ball."

I thank them again for their amazing work, and we say goodbye. After they leave, I re-dress in casual khaki pants and a fitted navy blue t-shirt. I slip on my quiet white slippers, because I'm going to be sneaking down to the Weaponry room, and if I'm caught on my way down, my excuse is that I'm grabbing a snack before bed. I lost track of time chatting with Octavia, Flavius, and Venia so it's already after 10. I quietly exit my bedroom and pad down the hall in my slippers.

When I near the door to the Weaponry room, I hear muffled shouting. I strain my ears, and I think it might be Johanna. My heart starts pounding and I sprint the rest of the way down the hall and into the Weaponry room. The sight I see before me is shocking, to say the least. Gale is lying flat on his back on the surface of one of the tables, and Johanna is leaning over him, her face contorted in anger, and she is practically ripping his shirt off him. Beetee is standing helplessly at the head of the table, and when he spots me in the doorway he looks relieved.

"What is going on?" I exclaim, preparing to throw myself between the two of them if I have to. Only, Gale isn't struggling with Johanna, he's just letting her hold him down.

"Ask him! Ask him, Katniss!" Johanna pounds her fist on Gale's chest, and he does nothing to stop her. She looks over at me, her eyes ablaze with rage.

"Gale?" I direct my confused expression towards him. "What is going on?"

Gale stubbornly keeps his mouth shut.

"Tell her what the fuck you told us, you sneaky bastard," Johanna snarls. She looks ready to pounce on him again and claw his eyes out.

"Gale!" I urge, making him look me in the face. "Please, tell me what's happening?"

Johanna must have decided he wasn't talking fast enough, so she explains, "He has been one of spies wearing wires for Coin! He is setting us all up for failure!"

"That is not what I'm doing!" Gale denies, finally speaking up. "It was one time, one time. And I couldn't do anything about it."

"Stop, stop, slow down," I cut in, "Go back, and start over, because I have no clue what you are talking about."

Johanna sighs loudly, her frustration with me very evident. Beetee seems rather indifferent, but I'm sure he'd like to hear the whole story, like I'd like to. Gale doesn't look too eager to be put on the spot right now, but he sits up and straightens out his shirt, turning to me to speak.

"I'm sorry, Catnip," He says quietly, chewing on his lip nervously. He appears to be thinking over what to say. "After the announcement of Snow's execution was made on Wednesday, when you confronted me after, outside the Town Hall?" I nod, understanding that he means the fight we got into. "Well I had no choice, she made me," he shakes his head, "she made me wear a wire so she could be sure I said what I had to say."

The color drains from my face, and I feel my blood run cold. Did he really just say what I think he said? Gale, my Gale, spied on me for Coin's benefit? And then lied to me after? Endangered my life and Beetee's and Johanna's by letting us talk about assassinating the new President of Panem? This can't be true. This can't be happening.

"Let me explain," Gale pleads. "I swear that was the only time. I refused after that. I assured her she didn't need to worry about us talking again. She heard what I said to you, why would she think you would give me the time of day after that?"

I don't know what to say. I can't say anything. I shake my head, backing away from him and looking to Johanna for guidance.

"I don't believe him," She tells me, sending daggers in Gale's direction with her eyes. "How can he prove it? Make him take off his shirt, at least then you'll know he's not bugged right now."

So that's why she was trying to rip his shirt off when I walked in the room. She's right, though. How can I take him at his word when he kept this from me? What we're doing is unspeakable, and if we are going to get away with it without getting caught, we can't slip up. This is a major slip-up. This is life and death. Doesn't Gale know this?

"You could have told me," I tell him coldly. "Take it off."

Gale's gray eyes flash with disbelief for a moment, but he lifts his shirt over his head and drops it on the table. He holds his arms out to the side and turns around to show that he's got nothing on him. Seeing his back, covered with scars from the whipping in Twelve, and his chest with two freshly healed bullet wounds from the last battle here in the Capitol, it tugs at my heartstrings. It makes me wish I could put aside all these ridiculous accusations and take him into my arms, but I can't. How can I even be thinking these things? I can't trust him. He keeps lying to me.

"See?" He says. "No wires. Should I drop my pants too, huh?" He's being sarcastic now.

I frown, "Shut up. You lied to me again, Gale. You can't stop hiding things from me. When will you learn that I don't want to be kept in the dark? Peeta's propo, your leaving to go to District 2, two prime examples of you keeping things from me and them blowing up in your face. I don't need protection. I need honesty!"

"I'm sorry," Gale insists, "I know it was stupid. I should have told you, I was going to tell you. I didn't want to make you worry, because you don't have to. I would never betray you. I would never put you in danger. I've been watching out for us. Coin doesn't suspect. I promise."

"How can you promise that?" Johanna interjects. "How can you know for sure?"

"I believe him," Beetee stands up for Gale. "He wouldn't endanger all of our lives. Gale is a good man. Listen to him."

"Katniss," Gale reaches out to me, touching both sides of my face and gently making me look him in the eyes, "I swear to you, I would never let you go through with this if I didn't think we'd get away with it. I know how Coin is, that is why I'm with you on this. I've got your back, now and always. I wore that wire one time, and one time only, and you have to know I didn't want to. I didn't want to go to District Two either, but I didn't have a choice. And trust me, its better that Coin thinks I'm on her side. It's better for you and for me, for all of us. No one will suspect us."

I have to admit, Gale's reassurances are making me feel better. It makes sense, what he's saying. Coin forced Gale to go to District 2 to clean up the mess me made, but also because it would pull us further apart. She'd seen how tense our relationship got in the past few months. We weren't best friends and hunting partners, we were a bickering, agitated time bomb waiting to explode. We were on the brink of a falling out, and Coin pushed us to our limits. She forced that falling out upon us, only it didn't work. She was wrong about how deep our bond is. She was wrong to think that Gale and I wouldn't reconcile our differences. She was wrong about a lot of things, and she's not going to get the chance to make anymore wrong decisions.

"This better be the last thing you ever hide from me, Gale." I warn. "I'm not kidding. You're losing my trust, and unless that's something you want to do, I suggest you start being honest. We are better as a team than we are as enemies, you and I both know that, but we've been made enemies before, and I don't want that to happen again."

"It won't," Gale says adamantly. "I don't have anything to hide from you, I swear."

"Put your shirt back on," I mumble. "We should go over the plan one last time. We have to make sure we all know our part. And we have to make sure we know our Plan B, in case Plan A doesn't go as planned. Or something unexpected happens. I think we've covered all the possibilities for if things go wrong."

"Yeah, worse case being, we all get killed for conspiring against Coin," Johanna reminds us, as if we forgot. "So that scenario better not be the outcome."

"Have a little faith, Miss Mason." Beetee recommends.

"Easy for you to say," Johanna replies testily, "Your part is already done with. You just have to hope no one recognizes the skill it took to make that arrow could only come from one man. I have to make sure I cue these two at the right moment, or the whole thing is ruined." Johanna hadn't voiced her worry of her part in the plan, but it's nice to see I'm not the only one nervous about pulling the plan off.

"You'll be fine," I reply. "Johanna, you know exactly what to do, and you even got those earpieces, so now it'll be even less obvious to anyone who sees what you're doing. All of us have one small part of this plan, and if we just focus on our part, everything will move smoothly."

I can see it in my head now, the moment Snow and Coin die. I can see our plan flow smoothly from step one, to step two, to step three. I know why Johanna is worried, because if she slips up and cues Gale too soon or too late, he'll be caught in the act. He'd probably be killed on the spot. That's not going to happen, though. Gale is too smart, too aware of his surroundings. He probably won't even need Johanna's cue.

"When did you become so in command, Everdeen?" Johanna questions, a smile gracing her lips in an almost fond way. "I am really proud of you. I know weird, right? But you've really stepped up, and I never suspected you'd have the balls for such an evil scheme."

"I was kind of thinking of it more as a…secret mission than an evil scheme. Evil scheme sounds so bad and ill-intended. Secret mission is like more of a selfless act of kindness or something." I defend in a light tone. I'm glad Johanna's gotten over being so angry with Gale. I think she was sticking up for me, and I am grateful to have a friend like her. She's definitely got my back. I've got Gale, and Johanna, and Beetee to watch my back for tomorrow, and I'm going to watch theirs. This time, this assassination is going to be successful, and I'm not going to lose my team, like I did when we stupidly set out to kill Snow. This time, we will accomplish the goal we set out to achieve. Tomorrow night, Coin will be dead, along with Snow.

Beetee shows off the final product of the bow and arrow he modified for Gale. The bow can be disassembled quickly and folds up into a 4-inch long, concealable metal stick, which Gale will hide in the pocket of his soldier uniform tomorrow. When it comes time for him to use it, all he has to do is pull it out, and snap the bow back into place, which Beetee demonstrates and proves it takes only 2-seconds to go from concealed to ready-to-use. The arrow, which also shrinks down to about 3 or 4-inches in length, looks completely normal to the naked eye. Beetee explains that in the arrow head is a microscopic chip which locks on to the target it's being aimed at, and when released, will not fail to meet that target. In other words, all Gale has to do is get a good lock on Coin's head before releasing the arrow, and she'll be dead when he lets the arrow fly. The second, and much harder, task of Gale's is to do this without being spotted by other soldiers or civilians.

"I should be able to finish the device I'm working on, which will cause interference for the soldier's radio channels, in the next hour or two. Definitely by morning, it will be all set. I will wait for Katniss to address Snow, and when she is done, I will start the interference. It should last long enough for Johanna so send a clear message to Gale. This should also cause enough of a distraction to the rest of the soldiers that they won't notice Gale pull out his bow and arrow." Beetee speaks clear and strongly about this. He is confident in our success. I am confident with him on our side.

"Thank you so much, Beetee." I grip his hand firmly in a friendly shake. "We couldn't pull this off without you. You don't know how much it means to me that you would help. Thanks."

"Katniss," Beetee beams, "you don't know how much it means to me that you'd ask for my assistance. I will always be on your side, Mockingjay. You have more people on your side than you think."

He is right. That is why Coin feels so threatened by me, because she knows there are a lot of people on my side. I've never understood why, really. They are on my side, but they don't know what I'm planning to do. Would they be on my side if they knew my intentions were have both Snow and Coin executed tomorrow? Would they have enough faith to believe that we're better off without Coin as our President? Will they be strong enough to overcome this blow to the country so soon after winning a war? I hope so. I hope they give us the chance to show them a brighter future, without a dictator-like President whose only intentions are to gain control, a future where their words mean something.

Johanna gives Gale and me an earpiece, informing us that it is already programmed to the right channel, the one that Beetee is going to leave free of interference. All we have to do is turn the earpiece on, and insert it in our ear before going in to the City Circle for the execution. Johanna reminds us to not be stupid and keep it somewhere safe and sound, out of reach from anyone who may come looking through our belongings.

"That's it then," Johanna nods her head in approval, "Okay. All right, I guess we're ready for this."

"We are ready," I agree firmly.

Gale is the one to remind us, "It's getting pretty late. We should start heading back. You girls go first, and I'll wait a few minutes. There aren't any soldiers in this area, so if you do run into one, that's a bad sign."

"Uh, thanks for making me nervous," I tease. "Let's go. See you tomorrow, after it's all over with." I send Beetee and Gale a friendly smile, and then follow Johanna out of the Weaponry room.

"So I see the glam squad came to make you pretty," Johanna comments on my makeover as we walk back to our rooms.

"Yeah," I tug self-consciously at my new haircut. "It's different, huh?"

"It is, but you look really good," Johanna compliments. "You've been walking around with burnt hair for the past week, so I'd say anything would've been an improvement from that." She jokes, amused at herself. I laugh good-naturedly. "No one's going to recognize you without your signature braid, though."

I shrug, "I was outgrowing that anyways. You don't think the braid made me look like a little girl?"

"Oh you definitely looked like a little girl," Johanna teases. "But not anymore. I don't think anyone would say you look like a little girl now."

"Thanks."

Johanna's bedroom isn't in the same wing as mine, so we say goodnight and go our separate ways. I am relieved to reach my room without encountering anyone else. I'm also glad that tomorrow isn't going to have as early a wake-up call as this morning did. I don't have to be to breakfast until 9AM, so I get to sleep a little longer. The execution is to take place right at 12, but all soldiers must report an hour beforehand to receive orders on their positions during the execution. I already know mine, obviously, but am not excused from the briefing for the day. I guess I shouldn't expect special treatment. Plus, it's better for me to go because I'll learn Gale's position, and that will come in handy when execution time approaches.

After changing into pajamas and brushing my teeth, I climb into the large, plush bed. I remember the first time I slept in such luxury, on the train that brought Peeta and I to the Capitol for our first Hunger Game. It was so strange, and I felt guilty for indulging when Prim and my mother would never get to experience something so deliciously comforting. I didn't think I'd live to experience such comfort a second time, but this time I don't feel so guilty since my mom is here, and Gale, and Prim, even though she's in the hospital. I have hope now, not to live in this extravagance, but just hope to live, and to be worry-free and happy.

A light knock on my door reaches my ears, and this time I'm sure it's Gale before he opens the door and steps inside. "Hey Catnip," He says, his face unsure.

"Come in," I insist, "Shut the door."

He obeys, and approaches the bed. "I didn't want to go to bed without making sure you're okay. I know I messed up by keeping from you what Coin made me do. I knew you'd be mad when I told you. But that's not why I didn't say anything. There was never a good time. I had to stay away from you so she wouldn't suspect we were up to something. I know you don't want my protection, but Katniss, it's really hard not to protect you. I can't help it. I just do it."

"I know," I reply shortly. He doesn't need to explain anymore, I already knew he was doing what he thought would be best for me. "I'm not mad. I probably would have done the same thing if I were in your place."

Gale smiles in a relieved way. He joins me on the bed. "Good. Because I thought Johanna was going to kill me. And then I thought for sure you'd be as mad, or madder, than she was."

I giggle, "No, that's just Johanna. She's kinda like the big sister that you're scared of because she can beat you up, but you love her because she always has your back when you need her. I wouldn't want to be on her bad side either, though. She can be pretty scary. Imagine if she'd had her axe? You may have not been so lucky earlier."

Gale rolls his eyes at my joke. "Okay, if she'd been armed, I wouldn't have let her throw me down on the table."

"I wish I was there for that," I say, disappointed at my late arrival. It would've been funny to see Johanna slam Gale around, only because he's so tall and strong. Johanna is small but mighty.

"I'm just glad you showed up when you did." Gale yawns and I notice for the first time just how tired he looks.

"Did you get any sleep at all last night?" I question.

"A little," He replies. "Like, maybe four hours."

"Gale," I chastise, "You need to get a better night's sleep. Tomorrow is a big, big, big day." I copy Effie's proper Capitol accent. Gale smirks. I smile back, and say coyly, "Stay with me. I want you to. I liked sleeping with you last night." I feel my cheeks heat up, and I wish I could stop myself from blushing.

"You sure?" He asks, equally bashful. He appears to have a slight blush on his cheeks, too. But when I nod my head in confirmation, Gale kicks off his shoes and climbs into bed with me. After he settles at my side, he runs his fingers through my hair. "You're beautiful."

It was nothing more than a whisper, but those words make my heart melt. "I didn't think you noticed my hair."

"Not just your hair, you," Gale insists. "I've always thought you were beautiful, didn't you know?"

I shake my head. "No."

"Well you are," Gale repeats. "I want you to know, I didn't mean what I said. I do think I was a monster, and I will feel guilty over what happened maybe forever. But I was wrong, because I can't stop loving you. I haven't. I do and I always will."

I can't stop the huge smile from spreading across my face. I must look goofy with this huge grin, but I don't care. Gale loves me. "I know," I say. "And I love you."

I can see Gale release the breath he'd been holding in before he succumbs to the same uncontrollable smile as me. When he leans down to kiss me, I swear my heart stops beating. I return his kisses hungrily, loving the feel of his fingers on my skin. When people talk about fireworks and sparks, I always thought they were kidding, but this is real. None of Peeta's kisses were ever as fiery or passionate as this, and I know I made the right decision. Gale is mine, and I am his, and that is how it was meant to be.

A/N: If you have a moment to review, I'd love to hear what you think. Next chapter is the execution!:)

And if you want to help me out, I can't decide on what to title my new story, so I posted a poll on my profile. If you want to vote on it, just click on my profile and vote on your favorite title name. Thanks so much!:)