Chapter 24: Gifts

I wake up to angry voices. This is an important conversation so I pretend to still be asleep.

"That test was bullshit! You killed me right in front of her and then flooded the street. What did you expect her to do?" Holly shouts at someone.

"That could very easily happen in the Capitol. She is not mentally stable." Coin says plainly.

"Oh and Peeta is so much better." Holly growls.

"Don't question my judgment. You know exactly why I am not letting her go. Not only will she distract you, she will defy orders and cause problems."

"That is not what this is about. The reason you are sending me there is to make sure none of that happens. It is because I didn't accept your offer isn't it?" Holly whispers. I am not sure what she means.

Coin doesn't reply right away. There is silence for a few more seconds before I hear, "If you accept, I suppose I could wave her in with Peeta."

"You are despicable." Holly says. There is so much hate in the way she says it. I would hate to be the person she said that to.

"No Soldier Wood. I am not the one who just agreed to something despicable." Coin says as she walks away. "Boggs will fetch you in an hour."

Holly sits on my bed and says, "You don't have to pretend Johanna. I know you were listening."

I smile and open my eyes. "How did you know?"

"I have spent enough time watching you sleep. I know when you are faking. So, quite the test huh?" Holly is trying to lighten everything.

My smile fades. "I am not going to the Capitol? Or is Coin striking another bargain with us?"

"She isn't exactly striking any bargain with you. In fact she is really envious of you. She has been trying to get me to bed with her since I got here. Disgusting I know. I have refused and she tried to get Beetee to rewire me to hate you and obey only her orders. However, Beetee told me about it and so I had to pretend to not want anything to do with you for a while. She thought it was working. That was when Beetee and I just had to pretend like he couldn't rewire me to hate you. She accepted this, but still wanted me." She explains. It all makes sense to me. Why she would ignore me and why she seemed scared to talk to me. It had to be convincing.

"So in order for me to go to the Capitol, you have to go to her. She is no different than Snow." I am getting angry. The nurse is coming by to give me more medicine.

"Please don't. I will be leaving shortly." Holly says to her and the nurse nods. "Jo, I know how much going to the Capitol means to you. If you want, I will do it."

"No. I will just fly there on a stolen hovercraft." I joke.

She takes my hand for a second and I know she is going to leave me soon. When will I see her again? "So this is goodbye again?" I ask.

"We won't be leaving until tomorrow. I will stop by tonight." She promises and leaves the room.

Once Holly is gone, the nurse comes and tries to drug me more. I shout at her because I don't want anything to put me to sleep. Surely there will be nightmares to come. She drugs me anyway. So just to piss her off, I am sitting there trying to keep my eyes open. It is not as easy as it looks, but I get another visitor.

She walks in and I can smell it, the smell of fresh air. So she went hunting before coming to see me. Shows how much I matter to her I guess. However, she surprises my when she sets a little package down on my lap.

"What's that?" I ask hoarsely. I must have screamed too much at the nurse.

"Something for you to put in your drawer. Smell it." She replies.

I oblige and before I know it, I am taken back to times that are more innocent. Holly and I playing in the pine trees as kids. Her hair was braided like Katniss's and she was my best friend then. The scent, "Smells like home." I finish my thought out loud.

"That's what I hoped, you being from 7 and all." She says. She doesn't know what to say because my eyes are watering. This girl cares about me even though I have never been very nice to her. She is going to the Capitol and may die.

I grab her wrist as she is about to head out. "You have to kill him, Katniss." I do not loosen my grip.

"I will."

"Swear it."

"On my life." She is getting uncomfortable from my grip.

"No, on your family's life." I glare.

"I swear." She says. I am satisfied enough and go back to sniffing the bundle of pine needles. "Why do you think I am going, brainless?" She jokes and I laugh at her as she used the nickname I had given her.

"I just had to make sure." I reply and she leaves my life for forever.

That night I stay up for as long as I can, but Holly never shows up. Maybe she thinks it is easier not to say goodbye. She is probably right because when the star squad is on the screen in the hospital room that day, I feel better thinking she is just on television and not at war.

"Johanna?"

"Hm?" I open my eyes to see Coin looking at me.

"Do you still want to go to the Capitol?"

"Hell yes!" I jump up out of bed.

"We are sending a hovercraft with Peeta and you in less than an hour. Get ready." She says.

"Wait! What made you change your mind about sending me?" I ask and wonder if Holly ended up in bed with her.

"Haymitch did." Coin states bluntly. Either way, I am dancing around with joy.

Haymitch is on the hovercraft that is there to drop us off. He is not in as high of spirits as me. Of course he knew that Peeta was going to be sent. However, I am sure it is just like the Hunger Games again. He has to protect them both except they are no longer allies.

"Don't worry Haymitch. I am there to keep up with my bargain." I say to try and lighten his mood.

"The only reason you are here is Coin is hoping that you die." Haymitch whispers. Well that makes sense. Coin wants me out of the picture so she can be with Holly. I don't really care about the politics of it though. I am going to the Capitol.

I give Haymitch a hug good bye and walk with Peeta off of the hovercraft. The look on everyone's faces when we get there is hilarious. I am sure it is only Peeta that they are so upset about. Holly seems to find it humorous like I do at least.

"Now we really are the star squad. All they have to do is send Annie, and they could call us the super star squad." Holly jokes. Finnick laughs too because he gets the humor in it. Everyone else seems to think that Peeta is going to go off on Katniss though.

"I will keep an eye on him. You act like he is Snow or something." I say.

"It isn't about that Johanna. " Gale starts in on me.

But Katniss says, "It's alright Gale. Peeta is right back in the Capitol. I am sure it feels just like home for him." I didn't really know what to say, but I made a note to keep them apart from each other.

The days wore on. It was really boring being on the star squad. However, I was making secret plans to get away to the President. Holly and I would plot in our tent. Of course Peeta was an issue, but we didn't talk about him.

"I am glad you are here even if we are both likely to die. At least I can spend my last days with you." Holly says one night when we aren't watching Peeta.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." I say and hold something out for her. She recognizes it and smiles, takes it, and puts it back around her neck.

"The greatest gift you could ever give me." She says, and we fall asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning brings what is probably going to be another boring day. We all are just having a little fun when something goes wrong. Boggs makes one wrong step and the mine blows him up.