The Fallen

Summary – Peeta Mellark is the Winner of the 74th Hunger Games after Katniss Everdeen sacrifices herself to save his life. He soon finds himself in the middle of the rebellion as their beacon of hope, their Mockingjay. But as Peeta will soon discover, not all fallen tributes stay dead.

Disclaimer: These are all Suzanne Collin's toys. They're just in my playground.

A/N: Hey, sorry I'm a few days late this week it's been a busy time, but we're back again. I hope you're still enjoying the story. Please review/follow/favourite. Enjoy x

Finnick and I walked side by side through the tunnel towards the secret rebel base under Plutarch's mansion. "I take it all this is about Katniss," he said after we were no longer within sight of the hatch or stairs from Tigris shop.

"Am I that transparent?" I replied

"You are," he smirked

"But you came anyway," I stated

"I did,"

"Why?"

"Peeta, I know first-hand how bad it is to be used by the Capitol in such awful ways, so if there's any truth to this I want to help you find it." he replied

"That's not what you were saying last time we were here," I knew that he didn't want to go along with Plutarch that day. I felt it, I saw it in his eyes. But I wanted to hear his reasons for changing his mind, for deciding to go against orders.

"I'm sorry if you feel like I let you down the last time we were here, Peeta," he said, "Plutarch ordered us not to pursue it because we've got big stakes riding on this. We're all working towards the greater good. In Plutarch's eyes that means sacrificing the few for the many." he let out a sigh, "But since that day, it's been playing on my conscience. In my opinion if we want to be considered the greater good, we have to do something about this. Katniss and any others suffering that awful fate need our help sooner, not later.
There are things I've been forced to do that I'd never wish on another soul. But I'm sure my experiences are nothing compared to what that place must be like. I can't begin to imagine what it's like for them,"

"I won't lie, I did feel a little let down," I told him honestly, "But mostly because I could tell you wanted to help, I was frustrated that you went along with Plutarch,"

"I don't know what your opinion of him is exactly, but despite what you may or may not think about him just know that I have my reasons, good reasons, to trust his judgement," Finnick explained, "Believe it or not, I also trust yours, Peeta. But you were so emotional that day, Plutarch doesn't respond well to that and he just shut the whole thing down before we could make a case. So automatically I went along with his orders without question when I should have had your back. I know I should have."

"Do you have my back now," I asked

"I'm here aren't I?" he grinned

"I'm glad I called you,"

He smirked, "Actually Haymitch called me a few minutes before you did, he predicted you probably would reach out to me. He explained what you were planning to do and rightly assumed I would want to be a part of it. Since you were going to do this anyway, he said I might as well come along with you to make sure it's gets done without blowing up in our faces,"

"How was Haymitch able explain all that over the phone?" I asked, "I thought the lines were tapped,"

"They are, but Beetee invented a device to scramble our calls, we plug it in to the phone when making the call so the Capitol won't be able to make out what you say. But we don't use them very often, only in an emergency, too many scrambled calls from the same people would just look suspicious." He explained, "We might as well wear a neon sign that says 'rebel'"

We then walked a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Getting lost in own my head was a dangerous place to be, I begun to feel overwhelmed by my whole mission here. "Finnick, I don't even know where to start with this," I told him, "How can I get proof when you and two of Plutarch's friends couldn't?"

"Well that answers my next question," he sighed, "I guess you don't have a plan. It's a good thing I called for back-up then,"

"Back up? Who have you called?" I asked, I wondered who it might be. It was a worry. Could we trust them? I didn't want this getting back to Plutarch, he would shut this down.

"You'll see," he said as we arrived at the giant doors, Finnick entered the passcode into the keypad and the doors opened.

The hub didn't feel as alive as it was the last time we were here as there was only one person other than us here. Sat at the central table with his fingers interlocked waiting for us was Beetee.

"Finnick, I was surprised to receive your call, what's the cause for this impromptu meeting? And why did you want me to keep it to myself?" he asked, he looked between the two of us and then recognition flickered in his eyes as he jumped to the right conclusion.

"No." he said and begun to stand

"Beetee, please hear me out," Finnick said quickly

He paused and looked Finnick in the eye, "No." he said again, "We have our orders,"

"Beetee, you know as well as I that this is the right thing to do," Finnick pleaded with his friend, "Is there anything at all that you can do to help us find proof of this place without getting us exposed in the process?" Finnick's eyes pleaded with him, "Perhaps hack a few listening devices or cameras, anything?"

"Nothing like that," Beetee mumbled, "That wouldn't get you anywhere fast,"

"Look, Peeta and I are going to do this with or without your help anyway but I have already exhausted all my leads, you know that. I hoped that you could help us think of a safer way to do this this,"

Beetee studied us silently for a moment, "And there is absolutely no dissuading you?" he asked

"No chance," I replied immediately

"No, I don't think so. It's the right thing to do Beetee,"

Beetee sat back down and pursed his lips. He studied us for a while then Finnick's eyes widened, "You know something." he gasped, "You already know what can help us don't you? What is it, Beetee?" he asked

"I have been keeping this a secret for a very long time, even from Plutarch," he confessed, "But I guess if there ever is such a time to break my silence, it appears to be now," he started typing away on a control panel.

He pulled up a couple of personnel files on the large screen in front of us, "Lennox Drake," Finnick murmured, "I know him, I've seen him around the Capitol at parties and Game events," he said, "He's a bit of a recluse, I don't ever see him socialise much with others but he's one of Snow's top advisors I believe,"

"Who's Rex Kingsley?" I asked looking at the other profile. It wasn't a Capitol file that was for sure. Under 'Status' it read, 'Deceased'.

"Rex Kingsley and Lennox Drake are one in the same," Beetee explained, "Rex Kingsley was an operative from District Thirteen, one of Plutarch's friends. He was the second person that Plutarch asked to investigate the rumour surrounding the Fallen Tribute mansion,"

"Plutarch said that both of those operatives went missing, presumed dead," I recalled

"And Plutarch truly believes that." he replied, "We have no idea what became of the first operative, sadly, he probably is dead somewhere. That's why Rex knew he had to go in deep and become one of Snow's elite in order to learn the truth. He was 100% committed to his mission, hoping not only to learn more about this but also to gain whatever top-secret information he could lay his hands to aid the rebellion. He asked me to help him disappear and become someone new. He didn't want anyone else to know about it."

"You faked his history and documents," Finnick said looking at the profiles still up on the screen,

"Yes. That was the easy part," Beetee nodded, "Rex kidnapped a plastic surgeon to help him reconstruct his face and made me hold a gun on him the entire time he was under. After Rex recovered, he killed the Doctor to protect our cover." I winced at that, sometimes the awful things that the rebels did was too hard for me stomach. Haymitch wasn't entirely wrong about me not always being strong enough for this life.

"We then had to assimilate him into the Capitol." Beetee continued, "No one knew of him or his upbringing. I had to forge more than just documents to make it look like he was a real citizen. It wasn't easy at first, I had to turn a nobody into a somebody. I aided his enlistment into the Capitol Guard where he worked his way up the ranks quite quickly. I helped him cheat stocks and investments granting him a fortune. Once he was someone worth knowing the vapid people of the capitol did our job for us, they spread their rumours about him, all pretending to have known him in some capacity. Once there was so much gossip about him, about who he was and where he was from, there was no doubt in anyone's minds that he was a wealthy man from the Capitol, born and raised. It was easier then, for him to gain trust within Snow's inner circle,"

"And Plutarch nor anyone else knew about any of this?" Finnick asked

"Not a soul," he replied

"When was the last time you contacted him," Finnick asked

"We have a private communications channel to reach each other. I've not heard from him in a couple of years."

"We know he's alive still, but if you've not heard from him in that long, how do you know if he's still loyal to us?" I asked

"Because if he switched sides, this hub would be rubble. Thirteen would have been decimated. Plutarch and the other rebels, myself included, would have been executed." Beetee answered evenly, "We only make contact in an emergency. We have other rebel spies posing as housekeepers or lower-level guards in and around the Capitol, Rex has been spoon feeding them all information all these years without them realising that he's giving it to them on purpose. No one else here knows that's how we've been getting most of our intel. Having someone on the inside with that kind of clearance has been crucial to our cause. I couldn't risk exposing him. But if anyone could give you any information regarding Katniss, he could,"

"This is so much more than we could have hoped for, isn't it Peeta?" Finnick beamed

Finnick was right, this new lead was more than I could have hoped. But was it too good to be true? "Why now?" I asked, "You were so against exposing him, why are you telling us this now?"

"You've not exactly given me much choice, have you?" Beetee narrowed his eyes at me, "But we've got to tread carefully and ensure that we do this without risking his cover. I'm sure if we can make this work to our advantage. Rex could prove useful in either capacity no matter if he stays behind enemy lines leaking us information or if he were to come with us to Thirteen. The inside knowledge he's accrued over the years in the Capitol, as one of Snow's right hand men, would be beneficial in helping us predict his next moves. The key is to make sure he is not exposed before we make our escape."

"We understand. Thank you, Beetee," Finnick smiled warmly at his friend

"Don't thank me yet, I've still got to get in touch and see if he'll agree to help,"

I really hoped that he would help, "Do you know if Katniss is still alive?" I asked him,

"I know for a fact the place exists." Beetee confirmed, "Rex confirmed it during one of our last communications. Unfortunately, he was unable to provide evidence and told me to keep it to myself until he had something more, otherwise people would question how I knew. That being said, it doesn't guarantee that Katniss is alive and living there. She does meet the criteria though and your encounter with Seneca Crane seems to suggest so."

"And you suggested clones or holograms to try and throw us off the scent," Finnick rolled his eyes, "You knew for a fact that there were people living this awful existence. I can't believe you said nothing! You know how bad it is for me Beetee, think how much worse it is for them!"

"I understand the predicament Finnick, but what was I to do? This needed to be handled in the right way, if we went in half cocked with only fragments of information it would make things worse. Not only would it get people killed, it would put the rebellion efforts back years." he explained "Without any more knowledge about it I had nothing substantial to go off and I wasn't willing to expose Rex's cover until he was ready. I've been protecting his secret for such a long time now it's become second nature." he sighed, "But now you and Peeta have decided to work alone against Plutarch's orders and you came to me for the safest solution. Since we're about to enact a plan that's going to expose us as rebels anyway, this is it. This is the safest way to do it. If Rex thinks its a good idea, that this is worth the risk and agrees to break his cover too, we can proceed."

"Okay, so how do we get in touch with him?" I asked

A short while later, Finnick and I left the hub to keep up with our cover story that we were exploring around the Capitol. Meanwhile Beetee promised to reach out to Rex and see if he could arrange a meeting. He asked us to return in 24 hours which should give him enough time to respond to our request.

Beetee wanted us to keep low profiles and not alert our presence in the Capitol to Snow or Plutarch if we could help it. He only wanted Plutarch to know what was going on once we had a solid plan to present him with. I could tell Beetee wasn't entirely comfortable going behind Plutarch's back like this, but it would appear that he also believed this was the right thing to do, otherwise he would have kept silent about his friend.

Finnick and I knew that whether or not we kept a low profile, Snow would know we were here. So to keep up the pretence of being here to enjoy ourselves, we visited the theatre and watched a show. The bright lights and music still weren't enough to distract me from all the worrisome thoughts in my head.

After the show had finished we went out for dinner and then headed back to the hotel bar for drinks. Women were constantly interrupting to flirt with Finnick. Some tried to make conversation with me, but this evening I was the picture of doom and gloom. I'm guessing mourning over a dead girl was a turn off for some people, so after a while they stopped paying me any attention. It was a relief really, I didn't want their attention.

As we weren't in a place where we could discuss anything about the rebellion, whenever Finnick's attention wasn't being stolen away by someone else, we got to know each other a little better. I told him about my upbringing and a bit about how I first met Katniss and our lives in Twelve. He told me more about his life in Four. He purposely left out talking about Annie, even though I could see that he wanted to.

Life in Four sounded awful but it seemed like paradise compared to Twelve.

Finnick continued knocking the drinks back. I didn't like the taste of alcohol much so I wasn't drinking quite as fast. I knew that he wasn't drinking to get drunk, he was just more used to it than I and he always seemed to know just when he needed to stop before turning into Haymitch.

As Finnick was telling me a comical story about a fishing trip he took with his grandfather that went awry, I barely noticed the person slip onto the bar stool beside me, after all people had been coming and going on that stool all evening. As this man ordered a drink, Finnick and I were interrupted yet again by another female acquaintance and/or admirer of his.

This girl paid me no notice at all and she wasn't quite as easily turned around by Finnick's subtle hints to leave as the others were. She was stubborn and quite possessive of him. Finnick had met his match with this one, so I turned forward, facing towards the bar and studied all the different drinks stocked behind the bar when the man beside me leaned in and whispered so quietly that I barely heard him, "You should go back to your Districts now, I'll take it from here,"

I blinked stupidly for just a second and turned my face towards the stranger.

He didn't look at me at all, you wouldn't have guessed he spoke to me a moment ago as he stared down at the half folded newspaper he had put on the bar, tapping on some kind of puzzle that he was filling out the end of his pen.

He was familiar though, I had already seen it once that day on a personnel file. It was the face of Lennox Drake, who I knew now was Rex Kinglsey, a rebel from District Thirteen posing as one of Snow's most elite advisors. He acted as if he had never spoken to me a moment ago.

His constant tapping was quite distracting. He paid me no mind whatsoever. How was I meant to react to his presence? I assumed that he didn't want me to talk to him, but his tapping became a little more insistent. I followed my eyes to the end of his pen and the words he'd written in the puzzle which according to the newspaper was called a crossword puzzle.

I looked at the words he had written in the little boxes. The were written in no particular order, some were written vertically, some horizontally, some linking through each other.

Place

She's

Rescue

Worry

Alive

In

Don't

Already

Plan

I rearranged the words quickly in my head in a way that would make sense. Don't worry. Rescue Plan already in place. She's alive.

I had to quickly cover a gasp and at my reaction Rex folded over the newspaper covering the puzzle. "Thank you," I whispered, he nodded solemnly and tipped back his drink. He ordered another drink from the barman and then picked up his newspaper and moved away from the bar, taking a seat on a table alone in the corner.

She's alive. Katniss is alive. I must have been feeling more than 100 different feelings at once. My heart was pounding so hard.

I turned back to Finnick, his usually carefully crafted façade was starting to slip, clearly tiring of this woman. "I do beg your pardon, miss," I tried to get her attention, but it wasn't until a few more minutes of me repeating myself that she finally noticed me.

"Finnick and I need to retire for the evening as we'll be catching the train back home to our Districts tomorrow," I told her politely, Finnick quickly flashed me a questioning look but played along anyway grateful for the escape.

The woman pouted, "Awww, Finn if I had of known you were back, I would have bought an evening of your time," she purred, I was shocked to hearing her discussing purchasing the time and presumably body of another human so publicly.

"It was only a flying visit this time I'm afraid" he replied, "But I'll be back again in just a few short months,"

"I'll hold you to it," she planted a slow deliberate kiss on him before she took her leave

"We're leaving tomorrow?" he asked once she'd disappeared, "Are you that bored of my company and sightseeing already?" he joked,

"I mainly came for the new suit. But I'm thankful that you came along to show me the best place in town to go," I said speaking in code.

"But I thought we were supposed to go to Tigris tomorrow for another fitting?" he continued using the same code

"Don't worry it's all being taken care of," then I nodded briefly toward Rex/Lennox sitting at the table with his drink and newspaper.

Finnick's eyes widened as he recognised whom I pointed out. I could tell that he wanted to ask me more but we both knew that he couldn't, "Tigris said she has our all measurements, and she can take care of it in our absence. We can discuss the detailing that we want on our suits when we're back again for the next games," it was the only explanation I could give him and hoped he understood my hidden message within.

Katniss was alive.

I was so grateful to return back home much quicker than I anticipated. I was so thankful for Finnick, Haymitch, Beetee and Rex for agreeing to help me with this.

I had to trust that it was all in hand and I really hoped that I hadn't misplaced my faith.

Gale was also surprised to see me back so soon. I couldn't blame him. I believed that I wouldn't be able to find what I was looking for in the short time I had, and I spoke as if he shouldn't expect to see me until a day or two before the reaping.

I had already told him that it was best I didn't talk to him about my business in the Capitol. But now there were so many reasons why I should. Katniss was alive and Gale deserved to know. The problem was, I still didn't know whether I could trust his reaction enough to handle it. He fully deserved to feel angry about it, but Gale likes to act before he thinks things through and that could spell trouble for us all.

Katniss was a sore subject for us both and even though I knew it wasn't fair of me to keep this from Gale, or her mom and sister for that matter, I only had a strangers word for it. This could just be a lie and I was being set up. I really hoped that wasn't the case. But I was constantly fearing was that anything could happen to her between now and then and my mind couldn't help but explore the worst case scenarios.

I cared for Gale and the Everdeen's as if they were my own family and I didn't want them having to mourn her a second time if I could help it. Losing her once was bad enough. It was probably for the best that I tell them once we knew she was safe and escaping the Capitol.

Between his hours at the mines, Gale helped me get back into my training. He even took a bunch of sick days to help me, but I compensated him for his docked wages, they were limited enough as they were.

As time progressed, my training was paying off. I felt myself getting stronger and was more sure of myself. I had learned a lot thanks to Gale. I could do more now than throw around a sack of flour or some weights. Now I knew how to channel that strength into defending myself and how to jump on the offense if I had to.

On the morning of the reaping, I awoke with a pit in my stomach. This day would set off a whole chain of events that would blow up Panem as we knew it.

Attendance for the reaping, as always, was mandatory for the whole district. So even though Gale and I were no longer potential Tributes, and we knew that our family and friends were safe, we still had to go.

I was sat between Haymitch and Effie on the staging area where the Mayor was making his annual speech about Snow's made-up importance of the Hunger Games. Normally the eligible children of the district would be lined up in rows in front of the stage by order of age, with the boys and girls separated on either side. The rest of the District usually crowded together behind them, fearing for their children.

This year was different, the selection of tributes were adults, criminals with ties – both merely suspected or confirmed, with the rebellion. On the male side there were eleven potential candidates and there were five on the female side. They were all shackled, looking filthy and tired, no doubt they had been treated like animals in a cage with barely any access to basic necessities. Only two among them knew they that were already pre-selected and destined for that arena.

It was both strange and a relief to see all the children of usual reaping age stood in the crowds at the back.

Once the Mayor was finished speaking, it was followed by the usual pitiful clap among the district, at which point Effie rose gracefully. She plastered on a big fake smile and took to the podium. You can take the woman out of the Capitol...

"Hello and Welcome! Happy Hunger games and may the odds be ever in your favour!" She said, but there was a noticeable difference in her tone, this year she didn't sound quite as enthusiastic as normal, most probably wouldn't notice but those who knew her better would pick up on the difference. I wondered if this was because of the people she was reaping. I shared a quick glance with Haymitch, he had picked up on it too.

"This year is a special year, the 75th Hunger Games, a quarter quell. Because of the latest futile attempts of the rebellion our victors will be plucked from the lowest form of criminals that Panem has to offer,"

"MOMMY!" a small child, no older than 4 years old ran out from the crowd and headed for one of the women in the line-up, "Mommy! I miss you, don't go, Mommy, don't go!" he threw his arms around the woman who tried so hard to hold him through her shackles, I couldn't hear her words to him between the kisses she planted on his face, but it didn't last long before a peacekeeper ripped the child away from her, dragging by the arm in a vice-like grip. "NO!" the child screamed, "I want my mommy!"

"I love you baby," the mother stuttered through tears. Another woman, older, possibly the grandmother, came forward to claim the child from the peacekeeper, silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she attempted to calm and console the child.

Effie turned her back to her audience for to wipe away a tear, her careful façade gone for a split second. Her eyes met mine briefly before turning back so quickly that no one really noticed due to the interruption below. She was sympathising with us.

"Let's select this year's tributes, shall we?" she called over the commotion regaining the crowds attention and headed over to the bowl of female victors, "As always, ladies first,"

She plucked a name from the bowl and read it aloud, "Juniper Stone," she called, a blonde-haired woman who looked like she was in her mid 30's, walked with dignity up onto the stage beside Effie. She ignored Effie completely and just faced the audience with cold look, living up to her last name.

Awkwardly Effie moved over to the male tribute bowl, "Now for the boys," she announced out of habit. There were no boys in that line up today. They were all men, the youngest looked a little older than Gale. She picked a card and read aloud, "Clay Thomas,"

I recognised Clay, I'd seem him and heard him around town and it didn't surprise me at all that he was involved in the rebellion and volunteered for this. Clay was a man who was raised in the Seam with his dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin. He looked like he was in his late 30's early 40's, he was slender but had well defined muscles.

Before Clay had even made it to the stage, the peacekeepers dragged away the remaining people from the line-up, thrusting the men into the back of one large vehicle and the women into a second large vehicle, that were parked on either side of the square. They were probably being returned to wherever they were being held as prisoners or the most likely scenarios - killed or sent to the Capitol and made into Avox's.

My heart was breaking for that little boy, who will forever be without his mother. I could still hear him wailing in the background.

As Clay approached the stage, he shared a meaningful look with Juniper. When he was up on the podium besides Juniper neither of them spoke. There was a presence about them though, an air of defiance.

We went through the motions until we were back on the train heading for the Capitol. Haymitch and I watched footage from the reaping's in the other Districts. District One only had 5 prisoners in total to choose from. District Two only had 1 male and 1 female to pick from and in actuality neither of them looked like they were from Two to begin with, I might have been wrong, but if I wasn't, I think Plutarch had to orchestrate something to make that happen.

The other Districts had similar numbers to Twelve. But Eleven and Eight had the most to choose from by a long shot, Eleven had over 30 men and women to choose from, Eight was just shy of 30. This didn't surprise me after hearing about the riots in those Districts.

Our tributes came to join us. After making no attempt to befriend us earlier, Juniper shook my hand first, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Peeta," she said earnestly, and subtly bowed her head respectfully.

"The pleasure is all mine" I said, I wanted to say more to her, to them both. They had volunteered for this to ensure our countries freedom, because they believed in our cause and was willing to die for it. It wasn't safe to say anything here, but even if I could, how could I possibly articulate how grateful we were to them for their sacrifice? It was such a big ask.

Juniper moved over to Haymitch as Clay shook my hands, "Big fan. Loved your speeches," he said, "Who would have thought a merchant's son from District Twelve would come so far," I should take offence, but I didn't. Partly was because I was in awe of his commitment to the rebellion and partly because it was the second time that someone from the Seam admitted to underestimating me.

Later that evening, after discussing some basic information about what to expect over the coming days over a meal, our tributes had retired to their quarters and Haymitch and I were sat watching more coverage of the Games. Ceasar and Claudius were talking about the Tributes indiscretions and treasonous crimes which mainly included flag burnings, attempts to protest and speaking out against the Capitol. Mostly minor indiscretions which I would have had difficulty believing in a connection to an actual rebellion, had I not known any better. The male from Eleven stole weapons from Peacekeepers and passed them out among the District trying to organise an uprising. He very nearly got away with it.

Juniper was the leader of a smuggling ring in Twelve, she brought a lot into the hob for trade, before it was torched to the ground that is. Products, medicines, alcohol and food items that the Capitol would rarely send, in order to keep us more dependent on them and the fortune of the Hunger Games. But Juniper managed to bring in a little bit extra.

The peacekeepers at the time knew all about it but kept quiet as they too relied on her services. But after the tighter restrictions came into force in the District along with all the new, less understanding, peacekeepers, she was cut off from her connections. I learned that was one of the reasons the towns supplies started to dry up, but her attempts to keep trying got her caught.

To look at her you would assume she was born and raised in town to a merchant family, not from the seam. I was curious to find out why she chose this path.

As for Clay, pretty much everyone in Twelve knew his story. His twin sister was reaped when they were 15 but she died in the initial bloodbath at the cornucopia, not even 5 minutes into it. He'd been speaking out about his hate for the Capitol ever since throughout the District, campaigning for someone to help him stand up and do something about it. We had all seen and heard one of his rants at one point or another.

The old peacekeepers used to keep their heads down and pay no notice to such things but all that changed when Thread and his peacekeepers showed up.

I knew that Clay had been subjected to more than one whipping in the square, Gale had spoke of it during one of our Wednesday evening meals together. They worked in the mines together and from what I could tell Gale looked up to him. After seeing the effects one whipping on Gale, I dread to think what Clay's back must look like.

Thread was already gunning for Clay as they had heard of his reputation, but one day, while I was still in the Capitol after the Victory tour, Clay had rallied a group of friends into fighting back. They launched an attack on some of the peacekeepers and he attempted to kill Thread. Most of his friends were shot down during that fight, some of them were friends of Gale's too. Those still standing from that day were among those in the line-up at the reaping.

"Do we have a strategy this year," I asked him, I knew that any strategy was pointless for these games because of what we had planned to happen, but for appearances we still had to behave like mentors and act like nothing was going on.

"Pray for a miracle," Haymitch drawled and took a small sip of the amber liquid in his glass. He also needed to keep up appearances, but I knew that he was a lot more sober than usual and I appreciated that. A lot was going to happen over the course of the next week or so, and he needed to be as clear headed for it as possible.

"Do you know if it's going to be the same as last year?" I asked, "The training, the scoring, the interviews? Or will it be different because they're criminals?"

"It'll be mostly the same," Haymitch sounded positive, "They still want the people betting on this and they still need the coverage to be good viewing," I knew he was right, "Clay's got the combat skills, I've seen him in action and Juniper is resourceful. Like last year we've got good odds," he said and rose to his feet, he polished off what remained in his glass and set it down, "I'm going to get some shut eye, we've got busy days ahead,"

He left me alone with Caesar and Claudius and my own thoughts. I was freaking out about this plan, each day that brought the games closer brought more worry. It was my plan after all and if anything went wrong it would be on me. If people died or got caught because of it, I would never be able to forgive myself.

I really hoped we could pull this off.