New pictures of Teagan, Link, and Anderson are up at s1150 -dot- photobucket -dot- com/albums/o602/amatalefay, as well as some new covers for my one-shots.

Fun Fact of the Chapter: How the Mentors Won Their Games, Part VII. Scott, Link's mentor, won the 176th Games. During training, he formed an alliance with six other tributes which ran into the Careers on day ten. An hours-long battle ensued, leaving only three of its participants alive but heavily-wounded. While Scott hid out, camouflaged, the other tributes killed each other off one by one. After a final battle with her district partner, one of Scott's former allies bled out right in front of him.

…..

Lincoln Jefferson Aetius, Vice President of Panem, Capitol Citizen

"And none of the other interrogation techniques have been working?"

"From what I've heard, no." I want to roll my eyes at this, a sentence I've been forced to repeat far too many times for my liking. How many ways are there to get Avoxes to give up information? But both the president and the Head Gamemaker are on the other end of the communicuff, so there's no time for rants, even short ones. When you're woken up at three in the morning and told to report straight to the intelligence department headquarters, you know that this is serious business.

"Show them—the tape—then," says Amata. Her verbal tic always throws me off-guard, no matter how many times I've heard the woman talk. "I've had—Claret—edit out the—commentary—and the music. Along with the other—threats, it should—be—enough—to—convince them."

"Let us hope so," Shadow replies. "Aetius, make sure the boys wrap this up by five. We have a congress session and then some wedding banquet with the mayor of One."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll report back in an hour."

I lower the volume on my earpiece and hand one of the tech people the small silver disc containing the most recent Games footage, glancing down at the info sheet as I do so. Galen and Ana Stratus (née Darrow); 43 and 47 years old, respectively; District Five. Reported missing by neighbor 2 months ago; planted in the Capitol as Avoxes approx. 1 week after that. Two daughters—Karilyn Tamar Stratus, 17 years old, currently residing in District Five with Alder Denison; and Teagan Lee Stratus, 15 years old, currently residing in Capitol as tribute in the 191st Annual Hunger Games [see individual profile]. They hadn't updated it yet to accommodate for her death.

The techie nods at me, signaling that the video is ready. I clear my throat, and a young man clad in all black looks up expectantly. "You can go in now," I say, handing him the sheet of paper. He pushes open the door to the interrogation room and takes a seat across from the two Avoxes. I move closer to the one-way glass of the window, listening intently for breakthroughs I could report back to Shadow.

"Good morning, Mr. Stratus, Mrs. Stratus." There is a short, tension-filled pause before he adds, "We have news for you that you might be keen on hearing regarding your daughter."

The shot is a beautiful one, some of the best camerawork the Games have seen in years. After days of running, the girl from Five falls from the cliff in a graceful arc, eyes closed and arms spread out as if she were flying, the light around her an orange sunrise. The image begins to fade into black, but just as you think you should be hearing the cannon, the snarl of a wolf snaps you back into the scene. Teagan Stratus has survived the fall, and her gruesome death scene has only just begun.

It isn't long until the screaming begins, the screaming and sobbing and pleading that comes even though she knows no one is coming to help her. The prisoners sit absolutely still, eyes locked on the screen. The woman clearly looks remorseful and a bit frightened, but her husband's face is a lot harder to read.

"You knew it was going to happen," the interrogator says. "Ever since you joined up with that... rebellion." He stares into Galen Stratus's eyes and there is a silent battle of wills until the man in black says, "You could have stopped it. If you had refused to go with the rebels, given up their information to us, even, we would have shown mercy. Your daughters would have been safe from this." He gestures to the screen, where the girl is being tossed back and forth between the mouths of the wolves, each mutt tearing off a bit for her flesh. The man's tone is smug and just a little bit cruel. Enjoying his job just a bit too much, I suppose...

As the two parties continue to glare at each other, I catch snippets of Amata and Shadow's conversation. "You only have two of them left. You need to make sure you get to them before the other tributes do." And then, later: "Can you get me that Nine boy's paper before the wolves tear it up? We need to get their codes if we're going to try infiltration by September."

I glance back at the Avoxes. The interrogator has started up another line of questioning. "You have another daughter, yes? Karilyn—Kari, is it? It'll be her last year in the Reaping come next Games..." A grin slowly spreads across his face. "Are you feeling more agreeable now?"

A pause. A cannon booms, and the girl from District Five is no longer breathing. Her body is mangled beyond repair—they won't be able to send her back in a coffin, I'm afraid.

Less than a second later, a bang comes from inside the interrogation room. I stumble back, at least partially in shock. The man just shot our agent with a pistol from out of nowhere.

More shots sound, bullets hitting the one-way glass and shattering it to pieces. My bodyguards move to protect me, but even the few seconds it takes to traverse the room is too late. The sharp pain of a bullet digs into my gut. I double over in pain and stumble back, clutching the wound that blood is starting to leak from.

"Aetius, what are you doing?" Shadow says through the comm, unnervingly serene as usual. "I hear gunshots. What is going on?"

I shoot a quick glance in the direction of my assailants. They haven't tried to escape; they've barely even move. Both husband and wife have fallen onto the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Suicide, I think, though my thoughts are getting hazier and more incomprehensible by the minute. So you don't let us know your secrets. Kill yourself for... the greater... good...

"We lost our lead," I murmur into the cuff before collapsing onto the floor as the darkness envelops me.