Heather stared off in the distance as she laid in bed with Haymitch by herself. She felt him around before he placed his arm around her waist, spooning her.

"What are you thinking about, HoneyBee?" He asked.

"Coin," she said. "Most likely, with all the chaos and riots going around, she's going to take advantage of this situation and commence the revolution. I'm just wondering how she's going to do it, and I'm also worried about the Quarter Quell."

Heather felt Haymitch still beside her at the mention of the words 'Quarter Quell'. She took his arm and pressed it to her bosom. She may not know the pain he went through during that time but she had experienced similar things to it. The emotional scars victors went through were indescribable and deep, not likely to go away. They cut into their hearts, their mentality, their sanity, and they hurt. They hurt and there was nothing they could do but be with the pain and feel it.

But Heather couldn't imagine what was for Haymitch, since he had it much worse than her with twice the competition. All she could do is be there for and comfort him. While she knew how much this meant to him, Heather couldn't help but feel useless. She wanted to do more but at the same time, she knew she can't take further actions without eventually hurting him.

"I'm okay," he said breathlessly when she kissed his knuckles. "This might sound unlike me, but I haven't even thought of the Quarter Quell."

"That's alright," she assured him. "They're still months away."

"I know, but you're right to worry about them right now," he said. "There is no telling what twist Snow might come up with for this year and most definitely, it's going to be terrible."

Heather cuddled closer to him. "I'm scared."

"Me too," he pressed a kiss to the back of her head. "But we're going to do this and come out victoriously, we planned too much to fail."

"Mm," she hummed. "And then it's going to be just you and me?"

"Just you and me," he agreed.

The next day, Heather immediately went to visit Gale after having breakfast. Luke wanted to come with her but she managed to convince him to stay home, telling him that Gale is not in the condition for casual visits. It took a lot of persuasions to get through him as he begged that he only wanted to see if Gale was okay. Thankfully, Peeta came to her aid and managed to bribe him with some painting time.

Heather found the door open to the Everdeens' house and entered. She closed the door lightly, not sure if they were awake yet or were still sleeping since it was still early into the morning but she didn't want to risk it. She swiftly made her way to the kitchen where Gale was resting and caught sight of Katniss slumbering next to him.

Making sure to keep her steps light so as not to startle nor disturb her, Heather made her way towards them. She cautiously placed her hand on her back and began to rub it gently.

"Katniss, Katniss," she called out her name softly. "Wake up."

Katniss murmured something under her breath but her eye began to slowly open. Heather gave her a moment to gather herself together and get out of her sleepy trance... She then turned around and said. "Heather?"

"Come on," she helped Katniss stand up. "Go to your room and rest. I'll watch over him."

Katniss looked hesitant as she glanced at Gale's sleeping face. Heather pressed her lips into a line as she watched the conflicted look on the young woman's face. She wasn't sure if Katniss had feelings for him, while all the signs pointed towards that but she didn't think that was the case. Then again, Katniss was overall a hard person to read even though Heather was able to do it easily most of the time.

Unfortunately, this wasn't one of the times where she could do that.

"He'll be fine," Heather assured her. "But you will not if you don't go and get some rest."

Finally, after some additional moments of hesitation, Katniss listened and went upstairs. Heather looked back at Gale and gently moved his hair from his face. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined something like this happening to Gale. Even now, she had her small instances of denial despite the fact she treated him with her own hands yesterday.

Heather stayed for about an hour, making breakfast as she watched over Gale. He woke up once, grumbling from the pain and sore he felt, but went right to sleep shortly. When Amaryllis arose, she discussed with her his current condition and what more they can do to help him.

Though she wanted to stay longer, Heather eventually decided to go back to her house as she saw signs of a blizzard coming. Although it took her 3 minutes to return to her home, there were still several bits of snow on her hair and she felt them slowly melting in her scalp.

"I'm home!" Heather yelled as she shook off the snow off her clothes and head.

Haymitch was in the living room, reading his book but he was alone.

"Where are the boys?" she asked.

"They're still painting upstairs," he said. "Finnick called by the way. I told him you'll call him back."

"Did you say anything else?" she asked as she knew about Haymitch's inability to keep his thoughts to himself.

He rolled his eyes in response.

After she changed into more comfortable warm clothes, Heather went to her study room and dialled Finnick's number. It took him a minute to respond.

"Heather?"

She chuckled, "Yes, it's me."

"Well, it's good to see that you're alive. You haven't called me in days, I got worried."

Heather frowned when she realized that his words were true. She'd been so concerned with her new worries that she hadn't kept in touch with her friends. "Oh, Finn, I'm sorry, I've just been so busy, I forgot."

"It's alright, I know how your mind works," she heard him laugh. "Did you hear about District 8? Is that why you've been worried?"

"Yeah, that too but… there is something else."

"Hm? What is it?"

Heather took a deep breath and released it then began to explain to Finnick the events that occurred 24 hours ago. She talked to him about the new Head Peacekeeper, how he had whipped Gale, and about Katniss' expulsive plan. She told him her worries and concerns over what Coin is going to do and what kind of twist this Quarter Quell might come up with.

"Damn," she heard him say under his breath.

"You got that right," she let out a humourless laugh.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your friend," he said. "We rarely get whipped here so I can't imagine how hard this was for you."

"Yeah, well, you don't have a Mockingjay causing trouble for the Capitol," she said, mentioning Katniss' nickname that the rebellion created for her.

"True," he said. "Tell me, how are you? Really."

"Tired, scared," she sighed. "But it's nothing that I can't handle. I-I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Tell me, how are Mags and Annie?"

Heather continued to talk to Finnick for another few minutes before they hung up, with a promise that they will meet each other soon. While she looked forward to seeing him again, Heather wasn't happy about going back to the Capitol to be used like an object. Hopefully, Plutarch would be able to win the bid on her for the month.

For the next hour or so, Heather spent it in her study room, calling up her friends and checking upon them. Most of them were quite worried about her because of her absence but she reassured them that she was well. She explained to them what happened and conversed with them, doing some catching up. It felt good to talk to her friends after a while as her chest became lighter the more she spoke on the phone.

Heather wanted to call on Cecilia and talk to her about what happened in her district but no doubt, her phone was tapped. She couldn't possibly imagine what was going on in there but she was sure it was pure hell for its district citizens. After all, Snow had a talent for ruining peoples' lives.

Days later, Heather received a phone call from Katniss after the blizzard was over. She requested to meet with them as she wanted to tell them something important. She told her to leave Luke with her mother and Prim so both Peeta and Haymitch could come. Immediately, Heather figured out it was something important if Katniss wanted Haymitch to also be there.

After deciding on the time to meet, they hung up and Heather descended down the stairs. She made her way into the kitchen where Haymitch was preparing lunch while Peeta played with Luke on the floor.

"Who was it, mommy?" Luke asked upon seeing her.

"It was Katniss," Heather said as she crouched down to sit beside him. "Say, how do you feel about spending some time with Prim and Aunt Amaryllis."

He stopped moving his truck. "I haven't seen them in a while."

"Yeah," she pulled him to her side. "I'm sure you'll have fun there."

"Okay," he turned to her. "Will you stay with me?"

"Mmm, just for a little bit," Heather said, kissing the side of his head before getting up.

She walked over to Haymitch, pulling a bar stool to sit on the kitchen counter as she watched him work. "What did sweetheart say?" he asked.

"She wants to meet with us," she said. "It's serious since she wants you there too."

Heather heard a muffled laugh from behind and assumed that it was Peeta.

Later on, after they've had lunch, they dropped Luke at the Everdeen's and went outside the Victors' Village, after Heather went to check on Gale's condition and see how he's doing. With snow being 4 inches deep, they moved quite slowly but none of them complained. In fact, they never uttered a word until they were a good measure away from their homes.

Of course, Haymitch is the one to break the silence. "So we're all heading off into the great unknown, are we?"

Katniss glanced at Heather and Peeta in accusation. Peeta raised his hands up while Heather just shrugged with a tight smile.

"No," Katniss said, bringing relief to Heather. "Not anymore."

"Worked through the flaws in that plan, did you, sweetheart?" he asked. "Any new ideas?"

"I want to start an uprising," Katniss stated.

While Heather and Peeta stare at her in shock, Haymitch just laughs. Obviously, he wasn't even taking her seriously. Heather, after getting out of her trance of shock, elbowed him and turned to face Katniss.

"And how would you go on to start an uprising?" Heather asked. "Have you thought about how you'd reach out to people? How we'd handle the Capitol when we're clearly at a disadvantage when it comes to weapons and technology. This is serious, Katniss."

"I-I know it is," Katniss looked down. "But we can't not do anything right now. Not when people finally have the courage to stand up. Besides, the Capitol depends on the districts for their resources, I'm sure we can figure something out."

Katniss raised her head and looked them each in the eye. "We have to do something. We can't just stay silent. We can't just let our reality stay the same."

Haymitch was about to say something but he shut his mouth when a group of men with shovels passed by them. By the time they were out of earshot, the group of victors approached the square and stepped into it

Nothing could describe how Heather felt at this moment when she laid her eyes upon the square. Sure, she knew that things were going to change, especially with Thread's coming but she didn't think it would happen this fast with the blizzard going on, least of all this much.

The square has completely transformed. A huge banner with the seal of Panem hung off the roof of the Justice Building. Peacekeepers marched on the cleanly swept cobblestone ground. Along the rooftops, more of them occupy nests of machine guns. But the construction that brought fear into her heart was the new official whipping post along with the several stockades and gallows

"Thread's a quick worker," Haymitch commented, and Heather had to agree with him. All of this, clearly shows that he hadn't come to better the justice system but to spread fear and tyranny into the District 12 community. Obviously, this seemed to work as the streets of the square were bare and empty and everyone was locked up inside of their house.

Heather glanced up to see a streak of heavy smoke floating in the sky. As soon as she figured out the location, Heather figured that the Hob was up in flames. She started to worry about the people who worked there.

"Haymitch, you don't think everyone was still in-—" Katniss stuttered, bringing Heather's thoughts into words.

"Nah, they're smarter than that. You'd be, too, if you'd been around longer," he said. He pulled Heather closer to him by the shoulders and hugged her by his side. It was only seconds later that she figured why as she was trembling with fear.

"We have to go see Hazelle," Heather chattered out. "She'd want to know about how Gale is doing."

Katniss solemnly nodded.

"I'll go too. Drop by the bakery on my way home," Peeta said.

"No," Heather shook her head. "Go see your family, they might be worried about you. Especially since you didn't make it to dinner the other day."

Peeta looked like he wanted to protest but Heather gave him a hard look that left no room for argument. Haymitch left her and Katniss alone as well to go take a walk and see what else has changed.

Heather and Katniss find Hazelle in her house, nursing a sick Posey. Quickly, Heather ran up to her and knelt to sit close to the young girl, recognizing the measle spots on her body. She was still asleep with her face all scrunched up due to the pain.

"I couldn't leave her," she said. "I knew Gale'd be in the best possible hands."

"Of course," Heather heard Katniss say from behind her. "He's much better. My mother says he'll be back in the mines in a couple of weeks."

"May not be open until then, anyway," Hazelle said. "Word is they're closed until further notice." She glanced nervously at her empty washtub.

"Have they given out a reason?" Heather asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Hazelle shook her head, confirming her guess

"You closed down, too?" Katniss asked.

"Not officially," Hazelle said. "But everyone's afraid to use me now."

"Maybe it's the weather," Heather suggested. "I can imagine how hard the blizzard has been on you?"

"No, Rory made a quick round this morning. Nothing to wash, apparently," she said.

Rory wrapped his arms around Hazelle. "We'll be alright."

Heather smiled sadly at them, "Let me take Posey with me. I'll take care of her, it's the least I can do."

"No, no, that's alright," Hazelle said. "I don't want her to infect Luke."

"I'll make sure to keep him away and I'm already immune to it. And I know that Rory and Vick are not," Heather took her hand. "Please let me take care of her, Hazelle. You clearly need help, so why don't you let me help you?"

Hazelle looked down at Posey, who let out a small cough, as she shifted to make herself more comfortable. "Alright."

Katniss offered some money to Hazelle as well and after reassuring her that Posey won't cause any trouble for her, Heather and Katniss took off from the Seam.

"You can go back home," Katniss said. "I want to check out the Hob."

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?" Heather asked as she hoisted Posey up again and adjusted her properly.

"Yeah, I just- I need some time to think to myself," Katniss said.

"Alright. If you encounter Haymitch, tell him to bring Luke," Heather said.

"Okay," Katniss said, but she was already feet away from her.

By the time Heather had Posey tucked in bed and tended to, Haymitch and Luke entered the house. She didn't go downstairs because she knew the moment he saw her, Luke would run-up to her, without giving her a chance to tell him to stay away. And she still wasn't sure if Haymitch was immune to measles. Chances were he was but she didn't want to take any risks.

However, that seemed futile and moments later, she heard some rapid footsteps approaching. Accompanying is a voice yelling out, "Mommy!"

Sighing, Heather got up from the bed and went to the door. She turned just as Luke appeared vision area. She held out a hand and said in a loud voice. "Stop! Don't come near!"

Unused to Heather's voice being raised, Luke stopped immediately in his place. "Why?" he pouted.

"Posey is sick and I brought her with me," she began to explain but was cut off.

"Posey is here?!" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, but you're not allowed to be with her," Heather said, disappointing him. "She is really sick. She has measles and this condition is contagious, meaning you could get sick too. And trust me, being sick is not fun at all and I don't want to make you feel terrible."

"But what about you, mommy? Wouldn't you get sick too?"

"No, because I'm immune to measles, meaning I can't get her, since I already had it once," Heather said. "But you can't come near me too because I could infect you."

Luke gave her a puzzled look and she explained to him how measles worked in regards to spreading amongst the people. By the time she was done, Haymitch had made his way to them. Thankfully, stopped from going further before he could get within 6 feet of Heather.

"Don't go near, mommy. You'll get sick," Luke said, tugging down on his sleeve.

Haymitch looked at Heather for an explanation. Sighing, she told him about how she brought a sick Posey with her and that she was going to quarantine while she gets better. As it turns out, Haymitch was immuned but he couldn't approach her because he still has to take care of Luke while she nursed Posey to health.

Over the days, things take a turn from bad to worse. Half of District 12 was starving by the time the mines opened after two weeks. When the mines reopened, wages were cut, hours extended, and the miners were sent into the dangerous parts of the work sites.

Food shortages begin, and even those with money come away from stores empty-handed. It's like Snow already predicted what Heather was going to do and removed her one chance of helping. Her heart broke as she heard of the number of kids who signed up for tesserae soars, but most of them didn't receive their grain. Additionally, the eagerly awaited food promised for Parcel Day arrived spoiled and defiled by rodents.

The good thing that came out of these times is that Posey and Gale got better and were sent home. She even managed to get Hazelle to work for them as she was hired to clean Haymitch's and Peeta's homes since they didn't live there.

Plenty of people get punished in the square offences that were overlooked for a long time everyone forgot they are illegal. Heather spent more time over at the Everdeen's as she helped Amaryllis deal with the never-ending patients that carried for treatment there.

There were so many people to treat that both their medical remedy supplies were running low. The worst thing was that Heather couldn't even do something about it since she was not summoned to the Capitol yet. She meant to call Plutarch to ask him about this delay but she'd gotten so busy with treating others that she forgot about it each time.

Weird things have also begun to happen to Heather as well. Her sense of smell had heightened and she would get this weird metallic taste in her mouth. All of a sudden, she started to have sudden nosebleeds with no warning and acne started to appear on her face. She was sure that Zedoary and her prep team would faint at the sight of her face since it was now the exact opposite of her normal pristine clear skin.

Personally, Heather didn't mind these changes and Haymitch barely made comments about them so she wasn't bothered much. Some people would get surprised when they see her but the shock would wear off in a day or two.

One morning, when Heather was over at the Everdeens' as usual. She spotted Katniss, wearing the winter suit that Cinna made for her, and saw her sneaking out of the house. Wordlessly, Heather left and followed her.

"Katniss!" Heather called after her.

Katniss stopped walking and waited for Heather to catch up to her. Though she refused to maintain eye contact with her. "Katniss, where are you going?"

"Nowhere special, just for a walk," she said.

Heather narrowed her eyes at her before smiling. "Oh, then, you won't mind if I went with you? I've been meaning to exercise lately."

Katniss hesitated for a bit and that was enough to confirm Heather's suspicions. She guessed that she was going to the forest, both her gear and the bags that she was carrying hinted at that. Surprisingly, Heather wasn't mad at Katniss for that. She figured that the girl needed a new break, and honestly, she wasn't the only one.

"I've been meaning to talk with you," Heather said. "Besides, this will be just like the old times."

Just like that, Katniss knew that Heather figured out where she was going. At first, she looked mildly panicked but when she saw the warm smile on Heather's face posture relaxed.

"Alright," she said. "Just like old times."

"Mmhmm," Heather hummed and slipped her arm into Katniss's.

And with that, they embarked on their next destination.

I wanted to make this chapter longer but I felt like if I did, there'd be more content for two chapters. I hope you enjoyed this read!