Chapter 11. Conspiracy

Katniss hurried from Gale's house straight to Victor's Village. She barged into Haymitch's house without knocking, which was sure to give Effie a heart attack, but she was in a desperate search for Prim.

All gathered in the living room, Effie did squeak at the abrupt entrance but managed to catch herself. Sitting next to her, Prim turned her head up and looked over towards Katniss, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Katniss immediately bit her bottom lip but didn't hesitate. She rushed over and sat on the other side of Prim, wrapping her arms tightly around her. Prim buried her head in Katniss' chest, almost reminiscent to the way Posy had done earlier with Gale. Softly she began to sob as she clung to her sister, gripping her shirt tightly.

Katniss shut her eyes and stroked the back of Prim's head. "It'll... it'll be alright, Prim. We'll figure everything out."

Prim said nothing and just continued to cry, progressively getting louder as she couldn't keep a straight face anymore. Between the news of her mother's execution and the worry that she was now twice as likely to be Reaped, it was too much for someone her age to handle. Katniss swallowed her own tears down and just continued to hold Prim as she cried, stroking her hair softly, constantly mumbling "it's alright". She glanced up at everyone else in the room, growing embarrassed as she saw Haymitch pointedly looking away and Octavia and Flavius gripping tissues, staring at her and her sister.

"Come on, let's leave them be for now," Cinna spoke up, going to Venia, Flavius, and Octavia, and shooing them from the room. Effie pressed her lips together before getting up as Prim paid little attention to anything going on around her and just continued to add to the ever growing damp spot on Katniss's shirt.

Effie frowned at the little girl's sobs before looking to Haymitch. "Can we talk outside?"

Haymitch looked up at Effie, his face extremely solemn, and simply nodded. Effie turned on her heel and walked through the door Katniss had left open. Once outside, she turned towards him. Haymitch followed Effie out of the house and shut the door quietly behind him, his eyes never leaving her. "What?"

She just crossed her arms and shrugged. "I needed to get out of there. What on earth is going on with this? This can't be what it was like when you won..."

His eyes darkened a little and he didn't comment on what it was like when he won. "We were all hoping something would happen to President Snow and, now that it has, we have gotten someone even worse."

"So what do we need to do to stop it?" Gale's voice came from the side of the two as he walked toward the front. His reddened eyes were fixed on Haymitch as he walked. "You were Katniss's mentor, right? The one who came up with the whole idea how to get her out. So you should be able to think of something."

Effie blinked and looked back over at Gale. "Stop it? Stop what, the Games?"

Gale shook his head but kept his eyes up at Haymitch. "The government."

Haymitch shifted his eyes from Effie to Gale. "Gale, I take it? You're right, we need to do something. And we can. But not until the Games begin again."

"The Games?" he blinked. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"They have to do with everything, kid. The only thing we could do here is rebel. We're sure not to get any coverage, it would fail. The one thing the Capitol does best is alienate districts from one another. However, during the Games, major players from each district-the Victors-are together again for an elongated period of time. If Katniss is a mentor, and from what I've heard, she will be, that will cause even more fire, if you will."

Gale nodded at him, but there was still a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. "Katniss's mother is to be hung in two weeks, though. There has to be some way to stop it."

Haymitch rubbed the back of his neck, glancing guiltily back at his front door. "I'm not sure. Unless there's a Peacekeeper who would be willing to 'let' her escape... and even then, we could only hide her."

"I have an idea, but it's what to do after that I'm at a loss for."

Haymitch raised his eyebrows, vaguely interested by the boy now. "What's your idea?"

"I'm going to shoot the rope before they hang her so she drops under the platform then I'm going to light the entire damn thing on fire."

Effie gasped at the sudden revelation. Haymitch merely smirked and set a hand gently on Effie's shoulder. "Fine idea. Not bad at all. I'm sure she would be smart enough to begin running. However, where would we put her?"

"That's what I'm unsure of. And with the cameras all set towards her execution, I can only hope the fire would distract them from showing her."

"If the fire is large enough, it should distract them."

He nodded. "The fence is back up though. We can't get her out of the district that way."

"Unless we can get it down while everyone is occupied with the execution."

"Or you can hijack the train from the reporters," Effie suggested, uncharacteristically.

Haymitch paused and slowly turned to look at Effie, wonderment etched in his features. "Hijack... the train."

Effie paused briefly, thinking maybe she suggested something stupid to gain such a stare from Haymitch. She crossed her arms tighter and shot him back an unphased glance. "Well, what? If it's stupid, just say so. It's rude to stare like that."

He blinked. "No, no, it's not stupid at all. It's brilliant. If you weren't so obsessed with manners and put your mind to schemes like these, you'd be a viable asset to Team Mockingjay."

"And what on earth is Team Mockingjay?"

"Team Katniss. Team Rebellion Against the Capitol. Team... I don't know... let's eat berries and contemplate suicide. You're from the Capitol, keep up."

"Mockingjay sounds perfect," Gale replied, looking back to Haymitch. "Can I leave it up to you two then? Getting her out as I destroy the platform?"

"Absolutely." He replied to Gale without turning his eyes from Effie, still impressed she could brainstorm with them. He paused and then looked at Gale. "I take it we're keeping this from Katniss and Prim."

He nodded. "In fact, make sure they are someplace the camera will see them. Make them noticeable so when I fire my arrow, they aren't blamed. Katniss is known for her aim so she'd be the first they would point fingers to otherwise."

Haymitch nodded and looked at Effie. "You can do that, Effie. You know all the reporters. Make Prim and Katniss stand right in front of them."

Effie nodded. "I'll make sure Cinna takes care of them too for the day to really make them stand out."

"Good. This has to be very delicate. We have to make our presence known at the execution before slyly slipping off in the chaos. And... do you know if the train has any tracking type devices on it?"

"It probably does," Effie groaned. "So whoever takes Mrs. Everdeen and the train has to get the two of them off the train before it stops."

"It's not too much of a problem. Just seeing what kind of time frame we have."

"And also... who's going to get the train and leave with her?"

He paused, glanced at Effie, and shook his head. Then he glanced at Gale and shook it harder. "I guess I can take her. I'm rarely in the spotlight now that Katniss and Peeta are the star-crossed lovers of District 12."

"You can't!" Effie spat, dropping her arms. She pressed her lips together, thinking hard. "If we need another plan like this, you're the mastermind. Besides, with your drunken habits, you'll derail the train."

He scowled at her. "Thanks, Effie."

"It has to be someone else. Someone who will willingly leave and cares enough about her to protect her and stay with her."

"Well..." He trailed off and blinked, looking at Effie. "Peeta's dad?"

"Mr. Mellark?" she blinked, about to question his choice before remembering back with the camera. She paused, caught up in thought again. "You ask, Haymitch."

Haymitch groaned, looking longingly back at his house. "Why do I have to do it? Get Peeta to do ittttt..."

She narrowed her eyes a little. "Okay, then you ask Peeta to go ask his father to abandon his family and home in a possible suicide mission where, regardless of what does actually happen, he'll never see him again and cause great stress to his mother who, judging from her demenor, can be a rather violent and controlling woman."

He paused. "... fine. But I'm only doing this because I could never say no to a beautiful woman."

Her arms crossed again faster then Haymitch could blink as she shot him a glare. "Go. I have some phonecalls to make."

He patted the top of her wig and winked at her before heading over to the Mellark/Everdeen house.


The morning of the execution, Effie and the stylists had practically broken into the Everdeen/Mellark household. Effie marched up the stairs to Katniss's room and went to knock at the door. Images of the dead President Snow flashed in her mind again for a brief moment, but she pushed them back and knocked loudly. "Katniss! Katniss, it's time to get up! Cinna and the others are here to get you and Prim ready!"

This time, instead of making Effie wait, she opened the door almost immediately. She was still in her clothes from the day before and her eyes were rimmed with darkness. She forced herself to look at Effie. "Fine, let's get this over with."

Effie was taken aback slightly by the fact Katniss was awake so easily, but said nothing. She just turned and summoned Cinna and his team up the stairs. In not even a minute's time, the crew of beauticians were all in her room and beginning to set up their tools. Venia was the first to speak. "Oh, Katniss, we're going to m-make you so beautiful for today!" she said, trying to force a cheery tone on her voice but failing miserably. Cinna had warned the three of them to try their best to not bring up the execution.

Katniss forced a small smile at her team, but it was hollow. "Thanks, guys." Octavia started to tear up and turned away quickly, making it seem like she was busying herself with her makeup kit.

The rest of the process seemed almost eerily quiet as the three shaved, plucked, primped, and braided until she was all done. The overall appearance was to be based off mourning, yet the crew were instructed to introduce shades of white and gold to contrast the darks and match Katniss's trademark pin. By the time they were done, it was impossible to ignore her, especially with the introduction of small white flowers throughout her braid. Cinna had designed her a knee length white dress with black and golden sashes around her waist and tied into an oversized bow behind her back.

Katniss quietly fastened her pin to the front of her dress and stood up once they were finished. She smiled at them with a hint of sorrow behind her eyes. "Thank you. You three did beautifully."

Octavia let out a wail and quickly left the room while Flavius bowed his head and then quietly followed her. Venia, the last left, just gave Katniss a quick hug before turning to run after the other sobbing stylists to find a corner or somewhere for the three of them to cry. Katniss lowered her eyes after her team left. She slowly stood up and left the room, trying to control the sorrow that threatened to choke her, even while she looked so put together.

Upon seeing his crew leave so suddenly, Cinna shook his head slightly before looking to Katniss in the hallway. He gave her a soft smile as he put a hand on her shoulder. "You look stunning."

She paused for a moment before looking up at him. "Thank you, Cinna. Everything you planned about this outfit is perfect, but I don't feel stunning."

He nodded, understanding what she meant. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief with a replica of her mockingjay printed at one of its corners and handed it to her. "Don't be afraid to react. You're human too."

She took it quietly and shook her head slightly. "Not in front of the cameras. In front of the cameras, I'm just another thing for the Capitol to laugh at."

"Trust me, Katniss. They won't be laughing."

"How can you be so sure?"

He just gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before turning towards the stairs again. At the top of the stairs stood Prim, her hair pulled back into a bun on the top of her head and matching flowers in their hair. However, her flowers were black in contrast with the blonde bun while Katniss's was chosen as white to stand out from her darker hair. Her outfit was identical to Katniss's, though the dress itself was black with white in the sashes to contrast her sister. Her makeup was done in the same style as Katniss's, though you can tell the stylists had slight problems around her eyes due to the fact the eyeliner looked watered down, probably from her crying.

"Portia sent her team to help me out since I knew my crew would have their hands tied. She looks just as beautiful as you do, Katniss."

Katniss looked up at her sister and smiled slightly, holding a hand out to her from the bottom of the stairs. "No, Cinna. She looks more beautiful than me."

Prim walked down slowly before grasping tightly to her older sister's hands. She looked up to Katniss, her eyes starting to water again and tears threatening to fall, but she pushed them back as best she could. "Y-you look great, Katniss..."

She pressed a kiss to Prim's forehead, careful not to smear any makeup. She closed her eyes briefly to stop tears that threatened to fall once more. "You look better, little duck."

"You two better hurry," Cinna warned as he opened the door for them. "Everybody is waiting for you outside."

Katniss sniffled once and tightened her grip on Prim's hand, nodding. She turned around and walked out the door.