Moves and Countermoves: Hannah

Chapter 16: The Rebellion

Christmas Eve

The Capitol

Hannah quietly opens Effie's and Alma's bedroom door and pokes her head inside.

It's completely dark inside but Hannah knows her way round and makes towards the large terrace windows. Gathering the edge of a curtain, she slowly pulls it aside until a stream of early morning sunlight shines through, carefully playing with it until it beams only Effie's face. Hannah watches the woman's face go through the processes of waking up. She peaks an eye open, and smiles at Hannah. Hannah smiles back before quickly running out the room to wait for her in the living room.

It is two days away from being two years since Haymitch had left her in the Capitol. Effie had began writing her book on her life as a Hunger Games escort as soon as she had Hannah back with her. It was an instant success and became the Capitol's bestseller of all time, and there were so many book signings and interviews that Hannah had to accompany her with. Effie was quickly and quietly pardoned not long after that for being a traitor to the Capitol. There was still the occasional interview or show Hannah accompanied Effie with though, namely hers, as Effie was now a regular panelist on a TV show called 'Ladies who Lunch', although no lunch was ever seen let alone eaten and they talked about nonsensical things. 'We have to make sure we stay fresh in their minds Hannah, we can't let them forget we exist. That way no one can hurt us, no one can hurt Haymitch'.

Not that Hannah thought they would ever forget they exist because when she wasn't being shown off by Effie, she was being shown off by Alma at some sort of important dinner or opening of some place that seemed endless on this non-stop campaign rally of Alma's for the Capitol to have their first presidential election in fifty years. 'Remember, it's not about changing who's in power. It's about democracy. It's about showing the world, but most importantly our children that the Capitol is a modern, progressivist city', that was how Alma finished almost all of her speeches.

Effie glides into the living room in her long, white dressing gown neatly tied at the waist. Hannah jumps up from the settee to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good morning", she says..

Effie's soft hand cups her cheek before kissing her gently, "good morning Hannah Longlegs", dropping her hand to rub Hannah's back through her pyjama top, her eyes all gooey-looking, like they always are when she looks at Hannah.

Hannah widens her smile and Effie produces her cellphone from where she had it tucked under her arm.

Hannah takes it quickly, remembering to say a quick thank-you before lounging back on the settee with it.

~xXx~

"Hannah, your mother is here, it's time for breakfast", Alma calls. Effie was always the last of them to get ready in the morning.

Hannah takes another second to look at the zoomed in image of Haymitch with Katniss at the train station yesterday for the Victory Ball, which was happening this evening. Haymitch looks happy. They both look happy and he has his arm around her. She closes the tab, deleting her history and and putting it on lock. She hands the phone to Alma before she sits.

She hadn't been looking to see what Tawny - their Avox - had set for breakfast as it was usually always the same, so stopped and grinned when she saw stacks of pancakes dripping with toffee syrup, ice cream and - stealing one from the top - honey toasted hazelnuts; pastries - the kind filled with chocolate - and pineapple and cheese sticks. She gives Alma a side hug before sitting in between she and Effie.

"Hannah wait-", Effie laughs as Hannah stuffs one of the pastries in her mouth.

"Ah, too late!" Alma laughs. "No matter, it will still make a good photo", and Hannah looks up to see Tawny with Effie's phone.

"OK, finish what's in your mouth", Effie says, wiping the crumbs from Hannah's mouth, "and then we'll take a nice one", standing up to fiddle with Hannah's hair to make sure 'it fans over your shoulders so everyone can see your beautiful hair'.

The three of them, they were a product, Alma had already explained that to her.

'I think, put that one first, then... that one and then ... that one... then either that one or ... that one. This one, the light catches her skin better in this. And also maybe put one of the ones of you wiping the crumbs off her face".

Hannah digs in while they discuss either side of her, piling her plate, her eyes watching Effie as she has to move round and sit on Alma's chair seat.

"I think this one then", Effie.

"Yes, the way your hand is on her face is beautiful", and Alma softly kisses Effie's shoulder.

"So Hannah, are you looking forward to seeing your father?" Alma asks, when she is happy with the selection of photos Effie will put on her social media account.

Hannah nods, slowing her chewing. She feels Effie briefly touch her shoulder.

"Good, you can tell him all about you reading Cassiopeia and the Trojan Horse. I'm more than certain he's read that book, the great reader he is. He'll be so happy you've read it, it's a classic. Your martial arts and also your meditation classes, that's something that you both do. You can tell him how your therapy is going too, if you want. How your schooling is going. You're going to have so much to talk to him about, and he's going to be so happy about everything you've learnt and achieved, but most of all he's going to be happy to see you, and the beautiful young woman you're becoming".

Hannah nods, putting down her pastry as she feels all the food she's eaten start to rise back up her throat.

"It's going to go well, I promise you".

Hannah nods. It hadn't gone well at all last time.

~xXx~

An unofficial condition of Hannah allowing to live in the Capitol and Effie not being sentenced for Treason was that they - along with Haymitch - no longer involved themselves in any aspects of the Hunger Games. Straight after Hannah's Victory Tour, Effie formally retired as District 12's escort to concentrate on being a new mother to Hannah, and Haymitch had not mentored or been invited back to the Capitol since. The exception to this was when Katniss and Peeta got married a year and a half ago in the Capitol in June, just before the 76th Hunger Games. Effie, as the former escort star-cross lovers, was in charge of organising it, which she did whilst and just in time for her official release of her auto-biography. Haymitch walked Katniss down the aisle and Hannah was there flower girl.

The only other exception is today, for the Victory Ball, because with the birth of Katniss' and Peeta's baby just this August and a District 12 tribute coincidentally winning the 77th Hunger Games it also served as a 'Baby Tour', as everyone has been calling it. 'Grand-Mentor' Haymitch as a 'father figure' to Katniss had been invited to the Capitol for Meadow Mellark's first official debut. Effie and 'Cousin' Hannah would be meeting the Mellark family 'privately' with an official Games photographer this afternoon before attending the ball in the evening. Haymitch is supposed to be joining the photoshoot and the Ball, which would make it the first time Hannah has seen her father in a year and a half.

Alma had not been happy about Effie and Hannah entering back into the world of the Hunger Games, the demolition of the Hunger Games is one of her campaign angles and where she has gained a lot of her support. But as she said during one of her rallies earlier last week, 'she could never deny her daughter the chance to see her birth father when it had almost been two years since she had last seen him. None of this is her fault and she shouldn't have to pay the price for it'.

"Do you really think today will go OK?" She asks Effie, and in her moment of weakness, slips into her lap. Effie had actually been there, heard the things she said to Haymitch and seen his reaction.

Alma is no longer in the room and Tawny is clearing away breakfast.

Effie puts her phone down on the table and hugs Hannah. "It's going to go fine my darling", kissing her ear.

Hannah turns into her, resting her head on the top of her chest to breathe in her scent. "Do you think he's forgiven me?"

"I know he has", whispering softly into her ear, lulling her. "I know your father. He understands. What you said, had to be said. It was the only way you were going to heal. You would be much worse off now if you hadn't told him those things".

Her therapist told her the same thing.

She flicks her gaze up to see Pig Boy sitting in Alma's vacated seat and he nods encouragingly at her.

~xXx~

She could hear his voice filtering into the room from a distance. She'd watched the Capitol TV of them arriving at the train station this afternoon just so that she could see his face. The wedding was in two days in the presidential mansion, tomorrow would be the rehearsal, and then they would be leaving early in the morning of the fifth day.

As well as Haymitch and of course Katniss and Peeta, Finnick, Johanna, Enobaria and Annie had also come to the Capitol for the wedding celebration. Finnick was going to be Peeta's best man and Johanna was going to be Katniss' bridesmaid. Hannah and Effie were supposed to reunite with the District 12 team live tomorrow morning on Caesar Flickman's show but Effie had said she'd organised a surprise for Hannah before she went to bed, and the surprise sounded like it was Haymitch.

She scrambled off the settee and ran towards the elevator door, her heart bursting to see him - until she did actually see him and was stood directly in front of him, looking up at his towering presence in uncertainty.

'Hello Sweetheart', he smiled down at her. His eyes crinkling in the corner like they did when Haymitch really smiled.

But instead of giving him a hug or jumping up into his arms for him to catch her, her body used all the force it could muster and pushed him hard against his lower abdomen.

'-Hannah!' Effie.

'I hate you', Hannah said to him, pushing him again. Hitting him with her fists until her hand hit something hard.

A bottle of dark brown liquor that was sticking out his pocket.

'-Hannah!' Effie again.

'It's alright sweetheart'.

'I hate you, why are you here?!' She pushed him again, making sure not to hit the bottle this time. 'Because she told you to come? You don't care about me, you don't love me, you wanted to drown me in the lake but you didn't because of her!' She pushed him again. 'But you don't love her, not really, or else you wouldn't say mean things to her or try to choke her to death'.

'Haymitch I promise, I didn't-'

'It's alright sweetheart. She's just got to get it all out', kneeling in front of Hannah.

Hannah hit his face. 'I hate you and wish you would drink so much brown liquor that you never wake up! That you go up in flames so then I can dance around your dead body!'

'Hannah!' And she gets spun so quickly she feels dizzy. 'That is enough! You will apologise to your father this instant, I mean it!

Hannah glowers at her through her sore eyes. She hadn't realised she had been crying.

'You have gone too far Hannah. You will never speak to him again in that way. It is rude, and it is not how a daughter should speak to her father'.

Hannah spits in her face. 'I hate you and I hate him!' She roared.

In the corner of her eye she could see Pig Boy standing in the corner, looking at her horrified, shaking his head no.

She ran away from them, towards Madam Coin's office but she was already outside making her way towards Hannah.

'What happened Hannah?' She asked when Hannah wrapped her arms around her.

'I hate him and I don't want to see him ever again'.

'Hannah', she rested a hand on her head, 'you're going to have to see him tomorrow and for the next two days. You know that. Effie's explained to you what's going to happen'.

Hannah pushed her face further into the woman's abdomen.

'Don't loose sight of the bigger picture, Hannah. We have to finish Theodore's dream'.

Hannah sniffed, thinking how upset Pig Boy looked earlier.

'I will do it for the cameras but not now'.

'OK Hannah', patting Hannah's head, 'there's my brave little mockingjay. Go wait in our bedroom. You can sleep with your mother and I tonight'.

When Hannah had first woken up and found that she was in Effie's and Alma's apartment, they had put her back under to sleep she had been so hostile. The second time she had awoken, Alma had been at her bedside. She had told Hannah that she had a very important role to play in making Panem free, a role that only she could play, that she was always meant to play, but she had to be strong, and if she played her role well then she would be able to fulfil Theodore's dream.

'You don't want their deaths to be for nothing. We are the rebellion now Hannah, you, I and Effie. Let's put an end to President Snow, put an end to the Hunger Games and create a Panem where everyone is free'.

~xXx~

Hannah twiddles with her locket whilst she waits for Katniss, Peeta, their baby and hopefully Haymitch. Effie sits next to her on the long, white, leather settee that fills most of the otherwise empty space, and Hannah takes heart that it is definitely designed to fit at least five adults on it. Hannah would definitely say that Effie dresses slightly less 'Capitoly' now that she is no longer an escort and a TV show panelist instead - but nowhere near as toned down as Alma - but it's still pretty Capitoly, and so is her make-up and accessories. Alma has explained that it is necessary that Effie dresses the way she does because it makes her more relatable, and the more relatable she is, the more people will want to follow her example. Hannah, thank-fully, gets away with dressing more like Alma, half-Capitoly and half-District because 'that is what you are' - Alma.

Unless she's on her Effie's show and she has the full works done on the make-up and clothes department because 'it's necessary to show them time-to-time that you are still one of them' - Effie. Hannah's hair however is one of the things they generally leave as it is, curled down her back or up high in a curled ponytail. Hannah would be lying to say that she didn't enjoy dressing up for Effie's show, and she thinks Effie knows that too.

"Don't twiddle it so much you'll break the fixture", Effie warns, lacing her hands through hers and placing their combined hands on Effie's thigh.

With her free hand, Hannah plays with the bow tied on the large gift on her lap that she got for Katniss' and Peeta's baby. It's a large white bunny rabbit, the whole shopping trip was filmed by Effie and already put on her social media.

"Hannah", Effie warns and she lets go.

She is wondering what to now do with her spare hand when the door opens. It must be them because the photographer in the corner of the staged room they are in starts snapping photos.

Peeta's head pops round the corner first and Hannah jumps up from the settee to give him a hug - paying no mind to the gift on her lap or Effie's protests!

Hannah still has her arms around Haymitch's neck when Effie reminds her of the gift she has for the baby. Hannah pouts not wanting to let go of her father or move from where she is sat on his lap.

Effie is stood with the baby and cooing at her happily. Hannah decides to stay where she is as there's a chance-

"Hannah", she warns taking her eyes off the baby to send her a stern look.

"Better do what the lady says", Haymitch whispers in her ear. "It's not worth the repercussions, trust me".

Hannah giggles, but doesn't let go.

"How about I get it for her?" Peeta.

"No Peeta, it's Hannah's present, Hannah will get it and give to Meadow".

Hannah sighs, but unlinks from Haymitch and gets up to do as she's told.

"Here Effie sit here", Katniss says, getting up from her seat next to Haymitch.

Effie goes to sit with Meadow next to Haymitch and Hannah goes back to Haymitch's lap with the present.

"Actually Effie ... darling", the cameraman interrupts them for the first time, looking slightly embarrassed. "If you wouldn't mind handing Katniss back her baby. Katniss sit back where you are. Peeta you sit next to Katniss, and Effie, please, if you wouldn't mind sitting at the end".

"Why?" Katniss, aggressive, and Hannah frowns looking up at her to see what she has missed.

"Katniss", Peeta says her name quietly.

"Katniss", Haymitch stern.

Katniss sighs but sits back down.

Effie gives Katniss a kiss on her forehead after she places the baby back in her arms.

"Did you have a nice time?" Effie asks when they are back in their car and being chauffeured back to hers and Alma's penthouse.

Hannah nods grinning. "Did you?" She asks.

"I did", Effie sighs happily. Hannah could tell she really enjoyed being back with Katniss and Peeta, and when Katniss first handed her the baby she heard Katniss say, 'here's your Grandma Effie', and Effie only gave baby Meadow up when she was instructed to do so, and although they hardly interacted or spoke to each other, Hannah could see she was happy to see Haymitch again.

Hannah looks at Pig Boy belted in the seat the other side of Effie. He is grinning too. Did you see the baby?! Isn't she so pretty! She looks just like Katniss!

Yes! Except she has Peeta's eyes!

"Very happy", Effie says, her voice wavering slightly and Hannah can see her blinking away tears. She then puts her arms around Hannah and places several kisses on the top of her head.

~xXx~

Over a month has passed since the Victory Ball and Hannah sits at her study desk in Alma's large penthouse office, both eyes on the textbook she is reading but her ears listen out for the start of Effie's 11:00am weekday show, like always. Also like always when she's reading alone, she has her locket lying in her left palm instead of hidden around her neck, her thumb and fingers idly opening and closing the lock mechanism, finding it both warming and comforting.

It was Haymitch who first told her back in District 12 that a locket wasn't just another name for a necklace, but it usually had something locked inside. He had opened it for her and she saw the photographs that Effie had put inside of herself, Hannah and Haymitch. Hannah had since replaced the photograph of herself for the photograph Effie had gifted her the first Christmas she spent in the Capitol, a locket sized photo of Effie and Haymitch stood together with Hannah in front from the Christmas of her Victory Tour.

The terms of Hannah's Capitol citizenship disallowed her to attend a regular Capitol school, which suited Hannah just fine. Although she was getting more used to being in the company of Capitols - meaning she had perfected her poker face and smile - she, save a very selective few, still preferred not to be in their company. As a general rule, being in their company for more than five minutes gave her a headache, confused and/or irritated her. It was like Capitols were from another planet, instead of another part of Panem.

So she was homeschooled instead, which happened in the same room as Alma's private office in the private surgery she owned and operated for extremely exclusive clients because although she was the best plastic surgeon in all of Panem, this was 'no longer her calling anymore'.

Homeschooling always started with half an hour therapy with a Capitol she still doesn't know the name of, isn't even sure if he/she is male or female, but must be trustworthy as Alma told her she didn't have to watch what she said. Her tutors were Alma or her receptionist, Tigris, and mostly involved them giving her very old textbooks from before the first rebellion to read excerpts from, and then them quizzing her on it later before giving their own opinions on the matter.

When Hannah had first met Tigris, she didn't know what to do and she is sure she mostly looked horrified, because despite Effie warning of her altered state and even showing her a photograph beforehand, it did not prepare for seeing it in person. But Tigris was now one of the few she liked being in the company of. She knew a lot about Panem and the world, and as his cousin, knew a lot about President Snow and how the Hunger Games and Panem became what it is today.

Hannah's textbook schooling finishes at 1:00pm when Effie picks her up to take her out to lunch. Depending on her clients, Alma usually joins them before heading back to work; they almost always attract a crowd of onlookers. Then, if Hannah doesn't have a private class - which since taking up martial arts, is only one day a week now - then she and Effie spend the rest of the day together out in the city or relaxing in the penthouse. Hannah's favourite day is Thursday as that is when Effie takes her to the gymnasium which is fashioned like the Game's Training Centre, only more fancier. But Alma says she doesn't know how much longer Hannah will be able to do it because although they don't advertise she's there, word has gotten around that she is, and she is attracting very large crowds. There are others of course in the city she can go to but -

- the locket wouldn't click close.

Hannah tries again, pushing it harder, but it springs back open.

She tries again.

And again.

And again.

But it doesn't close, staying sprung open.

It's broken.

Tears fill in her eyes despite the superficialness of it. Effie said this would happen if she kept fiddling with it... Maybe if she says she fell over first ... putting it back over neck and hiding it under the collar of her shirt, but it only makes a dent in the material.

Hannah huffs over her clumsiness and glares up at the small muted television projection that Alma has stationed on her desk.

But all the regular panelists except Effie are on the screen.

"Unmute", she orders immediately.

'- at home ill, she says she'll spare us the ghastly photograph and just to trust her she's not well. Effie we hope you get better soon'.

'I can't imagine her -'

"End screen".

They've got her.

She looks at Pig Boy turned looking at her from the seat she just vacated, his hand still on the textbook she was reading, but he doesn't say anything. Just looks up at her from underneath his black, thick rimmed glasses.

Effie is never sick.

Maybe we should check, just incase, Pig Boy.

Alma always locks Hannah's phone in her draw so it doesn't distract her from her studying. Still, she pulls hard on the handle a few times to try and open it.

That not working, Hannah walks out of Alma's office heading straight to the surgery room so she can ask for her phone, but both she and Tigris are hovered over a patient.

Rather than disturb her - she did that once and that didn't go well and neither did whatever fixture she was doing to her patient - she slides out of the room quietly and calls the elevator.

By the time the doors open at Alma's and Effie's penthouse, Hannah has worked herself into a frenzy of all the things that might have happened to her.

She bursts into Effie's and Alma's room finding it empty, but she does spot the large patch of red on the white sheets. Blood. There's also a mug on the bedside table and a well-folded sheet of paper lying on the bed.

Immediately thinking it's a note from Effie's captors she quickly reads it. But it's a list of what looks like very old instructions for brewing and drinking tea written in Mrs Everdeen's handwriting.

'Heavy bleeding for a few hours is normal, after that should just be spotting. If heavy bleeding continues for more than half a day, seek medical attention'.

Hannah looks into the mug. All the liquid has been drunk but there are lots of different dried roots and leaves at the bottom.

It's then that Hannah notices the shower is running in the ensuite.

Opening the door, she finds Effie showering, seemingly unscathed.

Relief rushes over her and she runs into the shower and hugs her tight, not caring that she's getting wet.

She feels Effie jump, "Hannah", laying a hand on her head. "What are you doing here. Is -", she quickly unravels Hannah's arms from her. "Is Alma here?" Rushing out the bathroom, almost tripping over as she makes her way back into the bedroom. "Hannah", she turns back, "what are you doing here? Where's Alma?" Whispering.

"I didn't see you on TV and I got worried, and I didn't have my phone, and I didn't want to disturb Alma, and my locket broke".

"You came here yourself?"

Hannah nods, sees the relief visibly wash over Effie too.

Effie's about to walk over to her, to hug her she thinks when her phone goes. "Must be Alma", she mutters, leaving the room.

"What's that?" Hannah asks pointing into the toilet bowl when Effie returns.

"Hannah", pulling her away from it. "It's just my bleeding", flushing the toilet.

"Not the blood", poking her head back, "that", she says pointing to what had looked to her like a bird lung before it flushed away.

"Hannah promise me something", Effie says putting the lid of the toilet seat down and sitting on it.

"What?"

"Promise me you will not tell Alma what you've seen".

Hannah sees no reason why she would tell Alma, but now she is curious... "Why would I tell Alma what I've seen?"

"Just promise me you won't - or your therapist".

Hannah frowns, wondering why would it be a problem to tell either of them?

"Hannah", and Effie hugs her tight against her. "My darling. I know you and Alma are very close and I know you trust her and you talk a lot the two of you, but there is a very thin line for peace", pulling her out of her embrace, "and you just have to trust me when I say, do not tell anyone what you saw. If you love Haymitch -", she stops, "if you want there to be a presidency here in the Capitol and Alma to win, like I know you've been working so hard for my darling, you won't say anything OK", tears filling her eyes.

Hannah nods. "What does Haymitch have to do with it?"

"He has nothing to do with it. Forget I said it and forget what you saw", her voice verging on warning. "I need to hear you say it, Hannah".

"I promise I won't say anything about what I saw".

"I promise I won't say anything about what I saw, mother".

"I promise I won't say anything about what I saw, mother", Hannah repeats.

~xXx~

It was Effie's guttural howl that had Hannah shooting out of bed before her usual awakening time. She ran to Effie's and Alma's bedroom first but Effie wasn't there and Alma herself was rushing out the bedroom door to see what the noise was about.

"Where's your mother?" Alma, rushing past her.

"I don't know", following her. All Hannah could think was whatever it was, please let it not be Haymitch.

They found Effie dressed in her white nightgown in the living room sat on the settee bent over, her fingers in her dishevelled hair, sobbing.

"What is it?" Alma asks desperately. "Effie", she shakes her.

"Primrose Everdeen has been reaped for the 78th Hunger Games".

"She'll definitely win my love, don't worry", Alma consoles.

But they send Finnick, Annie and Enobaria as her mentors, and Effie bites her lip watching their televised arrival on the small screen in the kitchen. Cinna styles Primrose Everdeen's yellow Interview dress to catch on fire and change into a mockingjay, and Effie shakes her head leaving the living room. Then the District 3 Male Tribute, one of Primrose Everdeen's allies, puts a hand grenade inside an old gift parachute attaching the grenade ring to the canister's opening mechanism, and just as she unknowingly opens it, a mockingjay swoops in from above her screaming Katniss voice - 'Prim - NO!'

'Katniss', Primrose Everdeen said looking up in wonderment, but it was too late. That was the last word she said before the bomb exploded in her hands.

And Effie stays frozen in front of the small screen in the kitchen for a very long time, not even when Hannah calls her 'mother' does she move.

What followed in the Capitol afterwards, Hannah couldn't help but wonder if people would have reacted similar if she had died in her Games, but she actually saw people crying in the street the next day. And everywhere she looked she would see people wear Primrose Everdeen's signature two braids - Hannah included. When one of the panelists - upset herself - asked Effie how she felt about the death of Primrose Everdeen as the former escort of District 12, Effie said she had no words that could describe how upset she was.

Cinna, another of the few Capitols she likes, is found dead in his apartment. Hannah reads later that he hung himself. People on the street start wearing gold eye liner as well.

Then the District supplies start to run scarce, it even affects Alma's business, but instead of being worried like everyone else, Alma smiles at Hannah, "it's beginning'.

At lunch on Sunday, Hannah's grandmother tells Effie that Hannah should move in with them for Hannah's own safety. Hannah hears Alma and Effie argue about it. Effie wants to send Hannah to her grandparents and Alma wants her to stay with them. Hannah thinks it's the first time she's heard them argue.

Throughout all of this Pig Boy holds her hand when she needs it, telling her words of encouragement.

But then there is another guttural howl from Effie, again in the early morning before usual awakening, only this time accompanied by screaming, and she and Alma run to find Effie in the same place and position, only now it is because the Capital had bombed District 12 to the ground.

~xXx~

The international community outside Panem intervened and placed President Snow under house arrest. Alma was promoted to acting mayor of the Capitol and acting president of Panem, but there was to be a vote for both.

In the mean time, Alma had Hannah travel with her to District 12. They had a small camera crew join them to document what they saw in real time. It was like a Victory Tour but in reverse, the people in the crowds wore smiles and were happy to see them. In Districts 3, 6 and 8, various representatives showed the cameras how people had been rebelling against the Capitol privately with mockingjay symbols sprayed in inconspicuous places and sewn inside clothes. Districts 7, 9, 10 and 11 and of course 12, 'the strike districts' as Alma called them, the evidence was more palpable.

Effie hand't wanted to go and she hadn't wanted Hannah to go either, but even more she hadn't wanted Hannah to go without her. Alma reasoned that it wouldn't be compassionate to have a former Hunger Games escort do the trip with them. They argued again, Alma won on both counts.

'I want to go', she told Effie before she left.

'Hannah District 12 is no longer -'

'- I know, but I want to see'.

'Promise me you'll come back to me Hannah'.

'I promise I'll come back to you mother'.

I'll keep an eye on her Hannah, Pig Boy said, holding her hand. He had already told Hannah that he didn't want to see what had been done to District 12.

The Capitol bombed in the middle of the night, all that stayed standing in District 12 was Victor's Village, the coal mines and the train station. Hannah knew this but nothing could have prepared her for the sight when the train doors first opened in District 12. There was no District 12, only a flat earth, and Haymitch - as planned - stood waiting for them in the middle of it all, Meadow Mellark in the baby seat next to his feet.

Hannah immediately ran to him. Out the corner of her eye she did see Cressida's mobile wireless camera follow her, but she didn't care. She gripped hard, crying, as he lifted her up into his arms.

"Hiya shorty", he whispers.

Haymitch shows them around the wreckage, pointing out to the film crew what once was. The mayoral building, Peeta's parents bakery, Katniss' old house in the Seam, where Primrose Everdeen had gone to school.

Hannah doesn't need Haymitch's direction, despite it being two years since she was in District 12, she could still map everything out... Sae's house... Everything is dust. Everyone who didn't get out is dust.

"You're very quiet Hannah", Alma.

Hannah looks up from her tears to see the camera looking directly on her.

"I know it's sad Hannah", Alma crouches, "but I promise you I'm going to make everything OK".

Hannah let's go of Haymitch's hand to hug her.

Haymitch then shows them the places that were unaffected. Shows them were those who managed to escape convened at the meadow, saying that if it wasn't for the District 13 hovercraft landing there they would have stayed caged in as the electric fence running.

Victor's Village looked exactly the same, standing strong, just a lot greyer. Haymitch explained how he believed the Capitol kept Victor's Village standing so that they could later transfer workmen from other districts to continue the coal mines as it was still very much needed to keep Panem's economy going. Hannah wanted to ask about her pets, the geese and Primrose Everdeen's goat but thought better of it.

"And why do you think President Snow ordered District 12 to be bombed?" Cressida.

"Because we rebelled and went on strike, and he didn't like it. Because he wanted to set an example to the other districts who were or had ideas of rebelling and striking".

"And for those watching from the international community who are just learning about this situation, what were you rebelling and striking against?"

"The Hunger Games. Sending our children into an arena every year to fight until death for the Capitol's own sport and entertainment, like they were animals. We were striking and rebelling for them", he rested a hand on Hannah's head. "So that they may grow up in a Panem where everyone is free. 'Dirty District Dogs', that's what they call us in the Capitol, but we're not and neither are our children".

The last stop of the tour was District 13 which they travelled by hovercraft.

Hannah didn't think much of the place, it was cold, sterile and underground. Everyone wore the same thing, no one looked happy, and there were no children. It was almost the exact opposite to the Capitol.

They had no president or mayor but they had a general, General Boggs, who they were introduced to. General Boggs explained to the camera that District 13 and the Capitol had been in a nuclear stalemate for the last 78 years, but had never forgotten the plight of their sister districts and when they heard and saw the bombs drop on District 12, they could no longer stay silent in the shadows and alerted the international community.

When the camera's left, Alma caught Hannah's hand to stop her from leaving the room with the others. "Boggs, this is Hannah", Alma smiles down at her. "Our Mockingjay and my right hand man in the Capitol", placing a hand on Hannah's head. "We couldn't have done any of this without her".

"Nice to meet you Hannah", General Boggs shook her hand.

~xXx~

Like the other districts, they were only in District 13 for less than a day and returned to the Capitol by hovercraft with Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch and Baby Meadow.

Katniss of course hadn't wanted to go.

"You need the treatment for your burns, Katniss".

"I don't care about my burns", she croaks, but there are tears in her eyes. "I don't want their murderous hands on me. I will heal just fine here. If you take me to that place Haymitch, I will burn it to the ground for what they've done!"

"You won't", Haymitch. "You won't because of the boy, because of me, and because of your baby".

Katniss grimaces. "I wish I never had her".

"Now you know how I feel", he gently strokes her fire damaged hair that still smells like smoke, placing a soft kiss on top.

"Having her was supposed to keep everyone safe. But Prim is dead and District 12 ... is ash".

"But Meadow is alive and you love her".

Katniss blinks back her tears and they catch Hannah watching her. She frowns.

Hannah knows she should say something as this is the first time they've seen each other since Christmas but just like when she had first seen Tigris, words are lost on her tongue. She had been in the kitchen when Haymitch had told them on the live video chat from District 13, that Katniss and Finnick had 'stupidly' ran into the fires to try and get people out. How he had to go in too and drag Katniss out of a burning down building screaming to let her go. How they hadn't managed to find Finnick.

"Did you see your pets?" Katniss asks eventually.

Hannah nods. Haymitch had shown her Silver and Buffo in their cages.

Katniss nods. "Good".

Mrs Everdeen, Annie, Enobaria and Johanna stayed in District 13. Mrs Everdeen said she wouldn't go to the Capitol even if it was the last place on Earth. Annie screamed over the prospect of having to return. Johanna and Enobaria promised they would keep an eye on them, make sure they were safe.

'What about the others?' Hannah asked Alma.

'I couldn't get refugee status for them. But we have our other Mockingjay, and Peeta and their baby'.

'And Haymitch'.

'Of course Haymitch', she smiled down at her. 'The Mockingjays won't fly or sing without him, will they?

Hannah shook her head no, she also would not leave without Haymitch.

'Don't worry Hannah, everything is going to plan. Theodore's dream is coming true, and then all the death that has happened, will be worth it'.

~xXx~

"Is all the death worth it now that Panem is free?" Hannah asks Haymitch first as the hovercraft lands in the gardens of the presidential mansion.

"No Shorty it is not... At least not whilst Snow is still alive or whilst the Hunger Games still exist. Perhaps when those two things no longer exist, perhaps my answer will be different".

She asks Katniss next, as the older girl lays naked on the steel medical slab in her assigned presidential room.

Alma had brought her medical facility to Katniss and Tigris watched over her whilst Alma was busy with her new responsibilities. Hannah liked sitting in with Katniss when she had the time. Liked monitoring the snails-pace progress of her skin's recovery. Transforming what looked to Hannah like cracked, dry, red earth into a patchwork quilt of different smoothness and tones. She liked how the bright heat lamps warmed her bones too, automatically putting her in a sunny mood. It wouldn't be until after Katniss' final 'chemical skin peel' would they know how well Alma's treatments had work, but those final stages would be a while from now. Alma had suggested they release the aftermath photos of 'the girl on fire', but Haymitch had refused before anyone could say anything.

"Yes", Tigris answers, despite the question not being directed at her.

"She's only saying that Hannah because she's lost no one", Katniss croaks suddenly alive. "She's a Capitol, and a Capitol will never understand".

"I have seen plenty of loss child due to my cousin's presidency", Tigris closely inspecting some stitches on Katniss' back. "I am eager for the day that loss is no more. But I sympathise with your anger my dear, your sister was as sweet as they come".

Tigris voice is always so soft, calming and wise, so un-Capitoly like, Hannah can visibly see Katniss' anger roll off her as she contemplates her answer.

"... If she hadn't of died. If I could have watched her thrive in this new world, I would have said yes, yes all the death was worth it despite the thousands that died in the District 12 bombing. But she did die. Maybe that is my punishment".

She asks Peeta next, who rooms with Haymitch and is Haymitch's responsibility to keep an eye on.

"Death is always pointless", he says after a while of staring out the large bedroom window, his eyes red rimmed and full tears he's trying not to shed in front of her.

Something snapped in Peeta - Haymitch had informed them of this the same time he had informed them of Katniss' injuries - when Katniss left him and Baby Meadow to run into the fires. He had tried to stop her himself but couldn't because of his prosthetic leg and ended up snapping it instead. Haymitch had found Peeta lying at the bottom of the stairs and Baby Meadow lying on the top bawling her eyes out but undamaged.

Hannah even whispers the question to Baby Meadow over her cot.

"What are you whispering to her?" Effie asks. It is she who looks after Baby Meadow now as her parents cannot.

"I was asking her whether all the death is worth it now that Panem is free?"

"And what did she say?"

"Nothing. Is it?"

"It is not Hannah, and I fear that there is more death to come", angrily folding a spit rag into the hamper for the Avox to take for cleaning in the morning.

She turns, her thunder dissipating as she approaches Hannah. "Forget I said that", hugging her tight. "It's bedtime darling", moving to pull back the covers, turning off the bedside light once Hannah is settled in her arms.

They were back to sharing a bed. With Alma too, when she joined, but she mostly stayed up in the room she had taken as her office strategising. She had all sorts of people going in and out at all hours of the day - Haymitch one of them. But whenever Hannah would poke her head into the room, Alma would always smile and usher her over sitting her on her lap. 'Make sure you smile for the cameras, Hannah'.

Effie would frequently ask Hannah for reports on what she'd seen and heard during her visits and wanderings around, and would always tut when Hannah mentioned Haymitch being in another meeting with Alma, complaining that he should be taking better care of Peeta, 'because I can't, not when the sight of Baby Meadow makes him cry'.

"So are you going to be with Haymitch now?" Hannah asks quite innocently. "Panem is free now".

She had seen the kiss Effie gave Haymitch when they thought they were alone and no one was looking. She had also since figured out - she's pretty sure - what she had seen in that toilet bowel.

"What a ludicrous idea Hannah", she laughs. "I know it's natural for a child to want her mother and father together but you like Alma don't you?"

Hannah nods.

"I'm very happy to hear that darling, because she makes me very happy".

But when they were in the bathroom getting ready the next day, Effie pushes her slightly away from the shower sprays. "You remember when I said that peace is a thin line Hannah", she whispers, helping her get the water out of her eyes.

Hannah nods.

"That line has never been more thin than it is now. We must all play our parts", going to pick up Baby Meadow who has managed to crawl again into the shower sprays, giggling. Hannah watches as Meadow next tries and fails to feed off one of Effie's naked breasts, inwardly despairing at the hopelessness of this baby. She had tried the same on Hannah pre-pubescent non-existent breasts the other day, and she'd seen her do the same to Haymitch before! She guesses at least Effie has breasts, but still ... it's a good job she's cute and she has people other than her parents to look after her.

Effie gently removes Baby Meadow's mouth before placing a few kisses on her forehead and putting her over her shoulder. "My part is at Alma's side. No more questions about your father and I being together".

"We're still in the Games aren't we?" Whispering back, remembering what Haymitch had said once to Katniss about never getting off the train.

Effie's spare hand cups Hannah's cheek. "Yes, and you are playing your part beautifully".

"But when Panem is free you and Hay...", she trails off as Effie is shaking her head no.

"When Alma becomes president, I - we even - will be needed by her side".

"But", Hannah shakes her head no frowning, "freedom is also about being free to love who you want without boundaries".

"And I love you Hannah", she hugs her. "And I have you. And as long as I have you, that is all I need".

Katniss' wounds do eventually heal to what are only faint traces of where the fire licked her body. But she still refuses to even out her choppy hair, or talk, or take care of Baby Meadow.

"Her wounds are healed on the outside but she cannot stand in front of a crowd or a camera", Haymitch says to Alma in her office. "She barely speaks to me".

"Our girl on fire has no fire in her Hannah", speaking into Hannah's hair. "What about Peeta?"

"The boy can't go more than five minutes without crying, or does his therapist say different?" Haymitch raising his thick black eyebrows at her.

Hannah had tried to listen to a few of Peeta's therapy lessons but the doors in this place were too thick. She knew he did the sessions with her old therapist, whom Hannah hadn't seen - or done any type of schooling in fact - in weeks. Haymitch was right though, all Peeta did was cry, and when he wasn't, his hands, body and face were fisted in anger.

Alma is silent, but holds Hannah closer to her, resting her chin on Hannah's shoulder.

So it was Hannah hand in hand with Alma, and Baby Meadow in Effie's arms out together on the campaign rallies, and if Hannah is being honest, she enjoyed the normalcy of it. There were more people in the crowds, more people listening. As Alma said, 'victory could be smelt in the air'.

'But who else could even be Mayor of the Capitol or President of Panem but you?'

Alma smiled at her. 'Well President Snow's trial has to be dealt with first. He has to officially be removed from power before the official voting can begin. I expect there will be a few Capitols who will put their name's forward for Mayorship. A few that may not want the Games stopped like we do, which is why we have to work harder more than ever Hannah. To convince Capitols and all of Panem that only we can be power, only we are right, that is the only way we can be sure Theodore's dream come true'.

'Well we have the best weapon'.

'What's that?'

'Effie. Haymitch always says that Effie's special talent is making everyone fall in love with her, so they do exactly what she wants'.

'Effie is the best weapon for the Capitol. But for the rest of Panem ... that's you, that's Katniss, Peeta, their baby and all the other Victors. You are who the rest of Panem love, respect and will follow into this new world. That's how we win them over'.

'And there is no Victor more respected in the whole of Panem than Haymitch'.

'That's also right. Aren't you my clever fledgling?'

"... Remember we now have the whole world watching the Capitol. Judging us on our judgment. Our future, our children's future", she takes Baby Meadow out of Effie's arms, before taking Hannah's hand again, "is well in truly in our hands".

The crowd cheers loudly and Hannah smiles and waves at them before looking up at Alma for further instructions.

But Alma's eyes are fixed on Baby Meadow, and a shiver suddenly runs down Hannah's spine.

The smile on Alma's face can only be described as manic.

Unsettling. And without really thinking about it, Hannah unlatches her hand from Alma's and reaches her hands up for Baby Meadow.

Alma puts Baby Meadow in Hannah's arms, and the crowd cheers louder.

"She's your responsibility", Hannah says seriously to Effie when she gives Baby Meadow back to her; she's still feeling that chill deep inside her bones. Still trying to understand what she had seen on Alma's face. Was it greed...? Whatever it was, it didn't feel good.

Effie frowns at her at first, and then maybe some sort of understanding crosses her features, and she kisses Baby Meadow's forehead, holding her close, before clutching Hannah's shoulder and holding her close.

Later that evening, Hannah spies Alma leaving Katniss' room from behind the corridor.

"What did she say to you?" She asks.

"She said if I agree to become the Mockingjay again, when she became mayor and president, she would personally make sure that everyone currently employed in the Games will be executed", her voice still croaks but her smile is the same - but toned down - manic smile Alma had exhibited earlier. "I find I might suddenly have my voice back".

Katniss agreed to have photographs taken of her scars and to release the photos that were first taken of her burns. She agreed to videos, she agreed to interviews - she agreed to anything she was told would help Alma's case to become mayor and president.

Haymitch - now solely focused on Katniss - did too.

Peeta still couldn't. Hannah also having been in the room when Katniss had tried to first approach him since the bombings with Baby Meadow in her arms.

'Peeta ... I'm so sorry', she'd walked up to his hunched over form. 'But look I'm better now and I have Meadow with and me and we -'

Peeta had pushed her away almost causing her to fall over with Baby Meadow. 'Get out. All of you, just leave me alone', he mumbled, his hands in fists.

So it was now Effie's responsibility to look after him - when the schedule allowed her.

"You'll have to excuse the absence of my husband's presence", Katniss addresses Cressida's camera in a clear and confident voice that is dripping with hate. She has Baby Meadow held tight against her body who seems content to finally have her mother back. Haymitch sits next to Katniss - like always - with an arm wrapped around Hannah in his lap. "He's still getting over the fact that your precious Capitol murdered and buried every member of his family".

Later they recorded Hannah and Katniss singing the Hanging Tree together.

~xXx~

Their cause was attracting a lot of international attention and their journalists arrived in the hundreds from all over the world so they could document what was happening in real time. They landed in the Capitol but spread all over Panem like a wild fire, speaking languages Hannah had never heard of, let alone could pronounce any of their words. And they asked questions on everything. The structure of the districts, the Games, their songs, their three fingered salute, what their native animals were. Hannah could tell Alma had liked and welcomed the international attention at first, but was now starting to find 'their interferences meddlesome and obtuse'.

Especially as they all seemed particularly interested in interviewing Effie, Haymitch and Hannah together. They were interested in their story. In Haymitch's and Effie's story. That, Alma did not like.

"So now that Panem is on track to becoming a country of free movement, I take it that the hope or the goal is not just to be free of these barbaric Hunger Games or the physical and economic boundaries contrived during former President Snow's tyranny, but also the social boundaries. Boundaries of love for instance... Now all the viewers at home know and have fallen in love with your story, and what I want to know is do you think - Haymitch, Effie - that the two of you will now look towards building a future together for your yourselves and your daughter?"

Hannah looks up at Effie expectantly.

Effie blinks before smiling at the interviewer going to open her mouth, but Haymitch speaks first.

"The elimination of social boundaries as well as political, economic and physical boundaries in Panem is of course the hope. It is the hope of every mother and father not just in the Districts of Panem - or if you're Effie, one mother in the Capitol - but all over this world. Which I think is why our 'story' has garnered so much international attention because as parents we all want our children to live a life and have a future without boundaries, right?"

The interviewer nods and smiles at Haymitch and Hannah smiles proudly. Haymitch was good at this, speaking to them. It was like he spoke these international peoples' language. Whereas it seemed to Hannah that Effie found them a bit intimidating.

"That is what is most important to Effie and I, our daughter Hannah living a life without boundaries. And not just her, all of our children".

"You use the plural -"

"- Katniss, Peeta... Johanna and Annie still District 13. They are all still our responsibility to protect".

"And that's very honourable of the both of you. But I'm wondering whether yours and Effie's relationship -"

"- Our relationship", Haymitch laughs. "We've never had a relationship beyond being colleagues and the occasional release of tensions of the job because we've never been allowed a relationship. Not even just as Hannah's parents, let alone anything else. And if it weren't for our jobs and ours kids, we'd have nothing in common, let alone like each other. Hell, we'd probably hate each other. Look, I understand where you're questioning is going and I hate to burst whatever narrative you're selling to your audiences back home, but the truth is that whilst I'll always love her because she is Hannah's mother, Hannah, as we have already explained was not intentional. And as much as we both love her, she was a product of multiple oversights that almost cost all three of our lives if we hadn't kept her secret. Looking to the future, my soul passion is creating a Panem where everyone is free for my daughter and my children".

"I understand that. What I'm asking Haymitch, is when that it is all over, when you have your free Panem. Do you see Effie in your future?"

"She's Hannah's mother, our paths are bound to cross".

"Effie?"

"Well, I, like Haymitch said, I will always love Haymitch for giving me Hannah, but I'm with Alma now, as I have been happily with her since Hannah was born and that woman holds my future and all of my dreams, and although I already consider myself her wife, my hope for a free Panem is also for me to one day officially and legally be able to marry her"

"And Hannah? You perhaps know your parents story better than anyone else, how do you feel about them being together or not being together?"

Hannah, sitting between her parents twists uncomfortably as she feels all eyes on her. She knows how she should answer the question but ... "I guess it is every child's wish for their parents to be together, but I don't consider my parents to just be Haymitch and Effie. I also consider Alma as one of my parents. She was there from the very beginning whilst Effie was pregnant and she has always been there for me, and I know she makes Effie very happy, and I know she is who Effie wants to be with and who she should be with", Hannah smiles at the camera.

"You don't think that perhaps after it is no longer illegal for your parents being together that they shouldn't try for the sake of you?"

"When you say my parents? Do you mean Effie and Haymitch or Effie and Alma? Because like Effie says, she and Alma are also not allowed to be married", and she feels both Effie and Haymitch briefly rest a hand on the back of her head in approval.

"I mean your mother and father".

"No I do not for the reasons I have already explained. They are both on their best behaviours with each other at the moment for your foreign cameras, and whilst they do make a great team when they are working towards the same goal, that's kind of where the greatness between them ends. They are kind of like chalk and cheese together, always arguing. Ask anyone in Panem", Hannah laughs, looking up at the two of them to find them both smiling down at her.

"The greatness ends with you Shorty", Haymitch kissing her forehead.

Alma liked it even less when she found out that an international journalist had set up a meeting between President Snow and Katniss without her knowledge, and she ordered them all to leave the presidential mansion immediately.

Up to her usual hall monitoring later that evening, Hannah sees Alma enter Katniss' and Baby Meadow's room.

"Yes Miss-always-suspicious", Katniss asks when Hannah enters her room a minute after Alma had left.

"What did she talk to you about?"

"She asked me about the interview", still not looking up from Baby Meadow feeding.

"Why did you even do it?" Hannah asks sitting next to her on the bed.

"Because they said he had a message for me and I was curious".

"What was his message?" Shifting closer. She already knows she hadn't told Haymitch when he and Effie were in her room earlier, shouting at her for having gone and seen him, but maybe Katniss would tell her now it was just the two of them.

"If I tell you, will you tell anyone else?"

Hannah shook her head no, Pig Boy suddenly turning up the other side of Katniss to also listen. "I promise. You can shoot me dead with your bow and arrow if I ever did".

Katniss smiles, looking up at her. "I guess it doesn't matter if you did".

"- But I won't", Hannah urges, leaning into Katniss so they are almost nose-to-nose "I promise. You can trust me Katniss".

"OK", Katniss says, moving her mouth to her ear. "When the cameras stopped rolling and it was just the two of us, he told me that he didn't do it. He didn't send Prim into the Games. He had even banned her name from being in the roster. But when her name had been called he ordered that she survive".

"Then how?" Hannah whispers.

"Sabotage. He said he is never wasteful. He said he would never jeopardise his presidency with such a careless act".

"And do you believe him?"

"Yes".

"Did he say who he thought it was?"

"...Yes".

~xXx~

Katniss patiently waited for Hannah to come up with a plan on how they would infiltrate Alma's home office. Katniss' own solution was to out right threaten the woman on pain of death until she told the truth, but Katniss also knew that they needed evidence first because President Snow could very well be be lying. Hannah was certain that if there were to be any private documents on the matter, it would be in the safe in Alma's home office as it was the only time Alma would look over shoulder to see if Hannah was watching before she put anything in there.

'Snow asked me how Gamemaker Heavensbee was, apparently it was his idea to send you into the arena, not Snow's. Snow had wanted the Third Quarter Quell's Tributes be taken from the existing pool of Victors. He claims he didn't even know you existed until then. And who is it that has recently taken up office with Coin ever since she became acting president?'

Gamesmaker Heavensbee ... 'So you think that it was Alma that organised I go into the Hunger Games?'

'I know you like her Hannah but -'

'-But you think it was her, that's what you think, right? Not only did she send your sister into the arena, she sent me'.

'You know her better than I do. How far do you think Coin would go to become President of Panem'.

Hannah thought of the manic look in Alma's eyes as she looked down at Baby Meadow. '... President Snow once said to Effie how disappointed he was that I was a tribute, that a Capitol child would find its way into the arena...', and Hannah recalls how he had seemed genuine.

'Hannah...', tenderly, and Hannah had never known Katniss to be tender, not even how she had interacted with her sister or now with Baby Meadow would Hannah call it tender.

Hannah looks up through the tears in her eyes.

'We'll try your way first, that way we'll know for sure'.

Convincing Effie that she needed to go back to the apartment was harder than Hannah imagined, she didn't believe that Hannah wanted to return to the apartment so she could get her toy stuffed leopard for Baby Meadow. Still, she agreed to the trip and when it came to explaining to Alma why they were returning to the apartment, Effie explained that there were a few items of her clothing that she was is dire longing for. Alma didn't even blink at Effie's explanation and kissed her and Hannah goodbye also asking Effie to pick up a few things for her too.

"I can do it", Hannah says swerving in front of Effie so the security system can scan her iris before putting in the code to stop the alarm; she had always enjoyed doing that. She then rushes ahead to her bedroom to retrieve her stuffed leopard, carefully looking into Effie's and Alma's room on the way out to make sure Effie is occupied - which she was busy touting the clothes in her walk in closet - before quickly dumping the toy on the settee and running towards Alma's office.

She hesitates outside the office door. She had already turned on Haymitch's frequency jammer she'd swiped earlier on, figuring that the one he carried on his person was the most reliable, but she knew that once she opened this door, Alma's watch and cellphone would alert her. She just had to hope that the frequency jammer Alma is using in her meeting with the other Victors about adequate sentencing for those involved in the Hunger Games, combined with the one she has in her own pocket blocks that alert.

Hannah has long learnt the code for Alma's office door and it opens easily.

She pauses for a few moments to listen out for the sound of Effie's ringtone but is only met with silence.

She quickly closes the door and heads to the safe hidden behind a portrait painting of Effie.

The code Hannah had also long since learnt - despite Alma's caution - she bypasses easily, but what she hadn't realised was that there was another iris scan.

Hannah deflates.

Had that always been there?

Maybe hers would also work here like it did from the security system out in the foyer ... and she goes to kneel back up on the chair and-

"- Hannah no", Effie's voice stops her and she freezes instantly. 'Yours won't work. It will only set off the alarm", and Hannah feels Effie gently nudge her away.

Hannah watches quite dumbly as Effie produces some acetate and holds it in front of her eye.

A copy of an eye.

Alma's eye. How did -

The safe door pops open and Effie quickly gets out the contents - closing the safe - spreading it out on Alma's desk and analysing them.

"But...", Hannah tries helplessly still in shock over what had happened - what was happening. Effie. Her mother. How...? Why...? "But I didn't tell you anything".

"It's alright Hannah", Effie says, not taking her eyes off what she was reading in front of her. 'Just sit down quietly with your stuffed toy so I can work and maybe get us both out here alive'.

It was not alright, Katniss was going to kill her.

"So what did you find?" Katniss asks her later that evening in Katniss' room.

'Hannah if you love Haymitch, you will speak nothing of this'.

'But what did they say?!'

'Nothing that concerns you. Nothing you have to worry about'.

'But-'

'-it is not part of your role Hannah, now I'll warn you only once, don't ask me anymore questions on this matter and don't speak of this to anyone or I will leave you with your grandparents until this is all over'.

"I didn't find anything", she says, feeling the tears in her eyes.

After they had left the penthouse, Effie had instructed the chauffeur to drive them to Hannah's grandparents, and Effie had deposited what she had taken from Alma's safe into her own hidden safe - Hannah for all the times she had been in there hadn't realised existed - in the study she still had in her wing of the mansion.

All in all, Hannah had failed Katniss. "I'm sorry", she sniffs.

"It's alright. Don't get upset. It's probably for the best", Katniss answers automatically, sounding anything but alright, sounding every bit disappointed. She didn't involve Hannah in anymore of her thoughts over Alma after that.

~xXx~

It was inauguration day in the Capitol for President Paylor. Everyone speculated that Alma, now Mayor Coin of the Capitol, had missed out on her presidency because her views on how those who were involved in the Hunger Games should be punished were too severe, and that proposing a singular Hunger Games solely for Capital children - 'Hannah excluded, naturally, as she is already a Victor' - was a misfired desperate plea for District voters and as barbaric as her predecessor. It turned out that the - two percent more - majority of Panem truly wanted peace and there was high speculation that Mayor Coin would not survive the next mayoral election.

'Don't worry Hannah. We made some mistakes, but we lost by only a small margin and there is plenty of time to change our game plan. By next election we will know our country's audience better and District 13 would have had it's status back as an official district of Panem. We will be sure to win, and then Theodore's dream can well and truly come true. And if the Capitol don't re-vote me in as a mayor here, theres always District 13 that would benefit from a mayor and not a general'.

It was a momentous occasion and it well and truly felt like the whole of Panem had turned up to celebrate. Snow would officially step down before being whisked away to seek asylum in a country that no one would be privy to - but Hannah had overheard talk about a small island in the middle of the Caribe. Thus would end the rebellion peacefully and peacefully welcome an new era of a Panem where everyone was free. And as the stepdaughter of the Capitol Mayor, Hannah had front centre seat to this historic occasion, sat in between Effie and Alma - when she wasn't on the podium addressing the crowds.

Inexplicably so, silence fell when Snow took to the podium, and Hannah leaned forward in anticipation of what he was going to say. Again, people had speculated what he might say, but of course nobody knew.

"Hannah don't look too eager", Alma whispers, resting a hand on her shoulder and bringing her back to sit properly on her chair.

Hannah smiles apologetically up at her before -

Effie's cries shriek all the way down Hannah's eardrums into her very soul in a way that makes Hannah think thrice as to who has been shot whilst the woman's arms grab at her, pulling her away from Alma's fallen body slumping against her.

Effie then pulls Hannah to the stage floor and huddles over her so that all that Hannah can see and hear is others' screaming and Effie ordering her to stay still.

Hannah is pretty sure she will hear the manic cackle of Snow laughing over the speaker phone before it suddenly stopped until her dying day.

Hannah is also pretty sure that to her dying day she will swear on her life that she heard Katniss whisper into her ear - most likely just after her second arrow pierced through Snow's throat - that 'now the rebellion is over. Now Panem can truly be free'.

AN:/ One more chapter left! I never ever expected it to be so long and I'm so excited to finally be closing it, I have enjoyed writing this and the journey of this story so much, I think I feel this with everyone I write but I do think this is my favourite fic - I'm just sad it has taken me so long to finish. Until next update!