Max gently knocked on the door of the infirmary and fidgeted as he waited. He smiled hopefully when the door opened but it faded when he saw anger in her eyes.
"Miss Primrose, please, I can help."
"Do you want him here, Rosalie," she turned back to Rosalie. "A Snow in your room?"
"I'm not a Snow! Please, have you never had a relative you were ashamed of?"
"No," she said through gritted teeth. "My family has always fought on the right side. Your family is so evil that-"
"I agree with you," he pleaded. "As I said, I don't associate myself with my uncle."
"You're a Peacekeeper, Max," Prim pointed out. "You are following HIS rules, fighting for HIM."
"Not anymore," he said desperately. "Haven't you ever known anyone to change their beliefs? I'm sure you have. What about Peeta? He was a trained Peacekeeper. He did some awful things. For the good of Panem, as the Snows would say. But he changed! Meeting your sister changed him."
"You know nothing about my sister and him," she snarled. "How they met, how she changed him… nothing." He nodded and hung his head. Rosalie gently reached over and nudged Prim, who spun around to face her patient. She nodded and looked pointedly at him. Prim took a deep breath before turning to face him again.
"I'm sorry. I'm very scared for both of them. Peeta has had his mind poisoned for months and Katniss has been without him for that long. Even if we do get him back, I'm not exactly sure how we can reverse the Capitol's damage on him."
"I, um… I may be able to help with that." Max withdrew a small notebook from his back pocket and held it up. Prim's eyes narrowed in on it suspiciously.
"Blaze told me to bring this to you. This is… well, Blaze's father assisted the scientists who experimented on Peeta when he was younger. These are his notes and discoveries about Peeta. Or Subject 290856, as he was referred to."
"Blaze's father helped torture Peeta," Prim's wide eyes locked on the notebook.
"They recorded everything, Miss Primrose. And from what I hear, you're a pretty brilliant healer." Prim blushed as he handed the notebook over.
"I believe you can find a way to help him." She looked up from the pages, studying him intently.
"Thank you for this, Max," she finally spoke. "This will be really helpful and when Peeta returns, we can use this to try to reverse the damage."
"As I said, I'll do anything I can do to help." She gave him a slight smile, then turned and disappeared into the next room, her face buried in the pages. Max gave Rosalie a kind smile.
"Is there anything I can bring you?" She smiled and shook her head.
"They seem to be taking good care of you. I'll leave you and your baby to rest." He bowed low and retreated from the room.
Blaze glanced up from his paper and grinned when his friend slid into the bunker.
"So? How'd it go?"
"I think she hates me a little less now," Max sank into a chair.
"Was she happy about the notebook?"
"She looked so fierce and determined… I think I'm in love, Blaze." Blaze stifled his laughter and shook his head.
"Then giving you the notebook was a good move. I hope she can use it to help him."
"Do you remember that director from the Capitol? Umm… starts with a C… Cassidy?" Blaze looked baffled and shrugged. Max snapped his fingers excitedly.
"Cressida! Her name was Cressida!"
"She's the ten time award winner for her documentary! What about her?"
"I passed her and her crew on my way up here. She was talking about doing interviews with refugees around here."
"And you think plastering your face on the Holo is going to help you any? Max, Haymitch said you need to lay low, and I agree with him. If President Coin finds out who you really are… I'm just nervous about this place, still, ok?"
"I am too but wouldn't it be good for the country to hear from a Peacekeeper turned rebel? Isn't that… motivation? Something good for the rebellion?"
"I don't know," Blaze still looked dubious. "Let's ask Haymitch about it, ok?"
"You worship that man, Blaze."
"Don't you remember his Hunger Games? How he tricked everyone and the Capitol too? That was so cool to watch that axe just bounce back up and kill the Career! He's really smart."
"I sense a crush," Max winked. Blaze made a face and threw a pillow at him.
"You're not funny. We can learn a lot from him, is all I'm saying. We could learn a lot from lots of these people. And isn't that the point of all this? To give the districts more of a voice and freedom from the Capitol?"
"Yeah, but you remember our classes. They never wanted to cooperate with the Capitol, so the Capitol had to stretch out its arm and show its strength."
"Don't say that around here, Max," Blaze was looking pale. "I think our classes have all been bullshit and that's why we've been on the wrong side of history." Max let out a whistle.
"Haven't been with the rebels a week and you are already talking like them."
"Good. Because I haven't seen many other people from the Capitol here."
"Cressida is," Max lit up. "Maybe we should go talk to her! Not for the interview," he added, seeing Blaze's face. "But because she and her crew came from the Capitol. They managed to escape, I mean, can you imagine how Caius must be raging now that the country's best director is helping the rebellion?"
"Maybe we can go find her before dinner," Blaze said slowly. "It would actually be interesting to talk to someone from home." Max nodded eagerly, moving to his bed and leaning back on his pillow.
Prim looked up from the notebook at the sound of the knock on the door. She smiled and nodded at Haymitch before she went back to reading.
"Just checking on you, Rosalie," he said quietly, reaching down to squeeze her hand. "How are you feeling?" She smiled and nodded, stifling a yawn.
"Yeah, I bet you're exhausted. Here, I brought you this," he indicated the writing board in his hand. "I wasn't sure if you did much reading and writing." She held her fingers apart just slightly.
"Ok, well I won't stay long. President Coin wants to know if those two boys are telling the truth. She still doesn't trust them and I'm having a hard time defending them since I don't know them. You spent some time with them, at least. Everything they're saying is true? They escaped on Peeta's orders?"
Rosalie nodded and took the chalk from Haymitch.
Peeta hurt. Sent B to help me.
"Blaze? Blaze is the one who seems to be obsessed with Peeta. So Peeta saved his life?" Rosalie nodded.
"Ok. Before you got to 2, was Peeta with the President?" She nodded.
"And the Minister?" She nodded again.
"What were their orders? Why send you to 2?" Her writing was wobbly but Haymitch could make out the words.
Kill refugees.
"He ordered Peeta to raid the refugee camps?" She wrote some more.
Beat soldiers.
"He wanted him to beat his own soldiers?" Haymitch and Prim exchanged a puzzled look. "Ok… how was that supposed to help him look good?"
"Because Snow was expecting Peeta to stick to the story that was fed to him," Prim gasped in realization. "I've been reading this book that Max brought to me and it talks all about the experiments they did on Peeta when he was first taken to 2 to train. They wanted to get him to a state of mind where he didn't remember who he was. They wanted him to forget everything about his past."
"Rye admitted that Peeta had beaten him when ordered too. I saw the scars myself." Prim winced.
"They made him ruthless, a real killing machine. That's what they were up to. Turning him into a mindless weapon. They talk about two different things they used, tracker-jacker venom and some kind of serum to increase his physical strength. I did see something about them ordering him to beat his brother. After that, it said Peeta's general sent him away and the experiments ceased."
"Duartyr hid him," Haymitch nodded, rubbing his chin. "He and Rye hid him in Duartyr's house and helped him regain his memories. But Rye said it changed him. He was still ruthless, still… cold."
"He wasn't like that when he came home though," Prim pointed out. "He was still loving and protective towards Katniss."
"Honestly, we don't know how he was when he first returned. We only saw him after he and Katniss had been together for a few days. It could have been her who changed him back. We can't be sure."
"I can't imagine Peeta being anything but gentle and sweet," Prim sighed. "But this notebook talks about his… successes," she wrinkled her nose at the word. "His conquests. He led raid parties and killed rebels all over Panem. He was ruthless towards the new soldiers, so cruel that he was promoted."
"They wanted to turn him into a weapon, that's what they got," Haymitch nodded miserably. "Was he that way when you saw him again, Rosalie?" She shook her head. She started to mime and Haymitch hid his frustration. He was awful at charades. And he really needed Rosalie to be able to tell the whole story.
"He was scared and confused," Prim guessed. "They tortured him. A lot." Rosalie nodded and held up her hand, indicating her ring finger.
"They made him think they were married," Prim groaned. "And having a baby! That is terrible."
"Was he cruel to you? Did you see him lose his temper?" Rosalie hesitated. Only once did he lose control, but that had been her fault after all. She never should have tried to appease him with sexual favors.
But that was what she was used to. To avoid getting hit, she would drop to her knees. Not that she believed Peeta would ever have hit her but she remembered feeling terrible afterwards and vowing that she would never speak of it.
She shook her head and wrote.
Kind to me. Always.
"So it didn't work this time," Prim said in triumph. "He didn't change."
"They did manage to erase his memories though, Prim," Haymitch said tentatively. "Boggs said he did not remember Katniss at all."
"He could have been acting out," Prim shrugged. "He didn't know Boggs."
"Rye was with them. Even if he didn't recognize Boggs, he would have recognized his own brother. I think he did forget Katniss, at least for a time." Rosalie wrote and turned the board around.
Helped him.
"You helped him remember?" She nodded with a smile. "You were able to write things for him?" She drew a loaf of bread and Haymitch chuckled.
"I guess Peeta is better at charades and drawing games than I am. Did he start to remember?" She nodded again.
"That's something at least. OK, I'll go back to Coin and let her know the boys can be trusted. And Prim, you said Max brought that notebook to you?"
"He said it's Blaze's. That Blaze's father helped torture Peeta in 2. Max brought it this morning, thinking it could help me figure out a way to reverse whatever damage Peeta still has."
"Well, keep working on it. We still don't know where Peeta is right now and Tigris isn't answering her communicator right now, so we don't have any operatives in the Capitol."
"And Katniss? Have you heard from her?"
"Boggs wants to wait for the cover of night and he mentioned they will be taking a unique path into the Capitol. He didn't want to say too much, in case
communication is leaked. But she's doing fine, Prim, and she's ready to fight. Coin is sounding the alarm, sending messages to the rebel camps around Panem. If an invasion of the Capitol is going to happen, it will be any day now. Lyme's team is the closest and we still haven't heard anything from her. Commander Paylor in 8 is standing by with her team. Rebels in 5 are due to knock out a dam tonight, which could help Katniss and the others. People are ready for this war, Prim." Prim nodded, though she looked miserable.
"I just feel like I could be doing so much more, you know, out there."
"I'm leaving for 8 tomorrow, to march with Paylor. If you want and IF your mother allows it, I can take you with me, to assist with the wounded. But," he held up a hand as soon as her eyes lit up. "You will not be on the front lines, young lady. You will stay in the camp, where you're safe."
"I will! Thank you, Haymitch, thank you!"
"Ask your mother first," he said firmly.
"Ok. I'll be back soon, Rosalie, alright?" Rosalie nodded as Prim rushed out of the room. Haymitch sighed and ran his hands through his messy hair.
"Am I crazy? Inviting a 15 year old to war?" Rosalie gave him a sad smile.
She wants to go.
Haymitch stared at the board and huffed.
"Katniss will murder me when she finds out what I've done."
She will understand.
Haymitch squinted at the crooked letters.
"Maybe. Ok, I need to talk to Coin. I'll see you soon, alright?" He squeezed her hand and she held it for a moment.
B Careful.
"We will, darlin'. We're fighting for a world you can be proud to raise your daughter in. By the way, you think of a name yet?" Rosalie bit her lip as she struggled to write the letters. When she turned it around, Haymitch's Seam eyes softened and he gave her a watery smile.
"Phoenix. It's perfect, darlin'. Perfect."
When Haymitch made it to command, there were quite a few people gathered outside. Cinna, Plutarch, Cressida with her team, and Jackson.
"What is going on," he asked, glancing around.
"I have been sending messages to rebel camps. I just spoke with Colonel Boggs, who says they are crossing into the Capitol tonight. Tigris is still not answering but we will try again in a few. We are ready to march on the Capitol, onto Snow's mansion. Panem is ready to fight. Cinna has been instructed to create a Victory Mockingjay outfit, should we need it." Haymitch frowned at her words but said nothing. "Cressida and her team are going with you to film the troops marching on the Capitol. Hopefully you will be able to catch up with Colonel Boggs's squad. Jackson will join you as well. I will stay here and prepare for our Victory ceremony. Now, as I understand, you have given permission for the Everdeen girl to accompany you?"
"Only if her mother gives permission as well," he said firmly.
"I think it's a good idea, seeing how she has been training to be a doctor here. I will order her to accompany you. That way, her mother cannot protest."
"Order? No, wait a minute-"
"She wants to go, does she not?" Haymitch didn't like the way her eyes sparkled.
"She does but she's 15, Madame President. I don't-"
"Far younger have fought in wars and she won't even be around the fighting. A medic camp will be set up on the outskirts of the city. Miss Everdeen will be an asset. Now then, if there's nothing else-"
"President Coin," one of her soldiers ran out into the hall, his eyes wide. "There is an undetected signal but the call is coming from Tigris's radio." Coin nodded and followed him inside.
"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there? This is Peeta Mellark trying to reach District 13. I repeat, is anyone there?"
I'm sorry it's such a short one but I did want yall to have something this weekend. It's been a busy week, actually. I'm having to move back home and break my lease cause of no job. so it's a lot of packing right now!
How is everyone doing? Sending yall positive thoughts and love!
XOXO
