Binah
I waited as long as I could to warn the people of District 13 that their district was going to be blown up. I knew Coin would notice when the people started fleeing and then she'd realise I'd been lying to her face the whole time. I didn't want to let everyone in the district die so I made the warning that a nuclear weapon would detonate underground flash up on every screen in the district.
I can tell when Coin figures out I've been lying to her. I can hear her scream of rage echo through the bunker. I expect her to come and yell at me but, at this point, I think she's just sick of dealing with me. The only people who come are two of Coin's bodyguards. They grab me and drag me out of the bunker. I'm left on the floor as the doors are closed behind me.
"Hello?" I call. The only reply I hear is my echo. I can't walk. I make one attempt to stand up and almost black out with pain. I think my legs are broken.
My only hope of survival is that someone carries me to safety. Otherwise, I'll die when the bombs go off.
"Help!" I cry, hoping that someone is close enough to hear me. There's no reply. I don't think anyone's coming to save me.
But I can't just give up.
I crawl through the darkness. It hurts just to do that. But staying still would hurt so much more.
Manel
The hovercraft touches down just outside District 13. My peacekeepers and I have an hour to run in, find Binah and run out. Fawkes has told me the quickest route to the bunker I need to take.
If I make it all the way to the bunker's doors and I haven't found Binah, I probably never will.
The district is pretty much deserted. There are sirens wailing everywhere. I'm willing to assume that Binah managed to warn everyone what she was planning. We ignore the sirens and charge down the stairs. My heart pounds. I know every step I take will be harder on the way up.
I've never been claustrophobic but the weight of all that earth above me makes me feel uneasy. I think of all the people I sent this far underground when I bombed the district.
Then, I hear it. Just louder than the echoing sound of our footsteps. A woman crying for help.
"That's her!" I cry, out of breath from all the running. After running for a few more minutes, we find Binah at the bottom of the stairs. She's sprawled on the floor. She looks hurt. She gasps with pain as one of the peacekeepers scoops her up.
"What do you want with me?" She asks. I realise she probably still sees me as the enemy.
"Fawkes sent us," I say.
"Oh, cool," Binah says.
Then we go charging up the stairs. I start to run out of stamina. My legs ache and my lungs burn. When we're almost safely above ground, we all have to stop to take a breather. I'm panting, trying to make my lungs work properly again when I hear something over the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.
A baby crying.
"Get Binah out of here," I gasp. "I'll catch up."
Then I run towards the sound.
The crying echoes through the abandoned corridors. I check through every doorway. I just can't bear the thought of abandoning some helpless baby. Enough innocent people died in the bombings I caused. Now I need to save someone and start paying back my debt.
Finally, I find them. They're just lying there in a cot. I grab them and I run back the way I came.
The peacekeepers are gone when I reach the stairs. Good. Binah's probably in the hovercraft by now.
Now I just need to catch up.
I burst outside, just as the hovercraft is beginning to take off. There are peacekeepers waiting just inside the hatch. I run at it and realise I'll need to jump and pull myself up. I can't do that with a baby in my arms.
"Catch!" I yell, tossing the baby towards the nearest peacekeeper. He catches them and I breathe a sigh of relief. The hovercraft begins to lift off the ground, just out of my reach. I leap, fingers grasping at the edge of the hatch.
I grab it.
My arms strain as I start to pull myself up, into the hovercraft. I'm being pulled away from the ground. I can feel myself losing my grip on the shiny metal as sweat pools in the palms of my hands. But then two peacekeepers grab me by the wrists and pull me to safety.
I collapse on the floor of the hovercraft and heave a sigh of relief. It was close but I made it.
Fawkes
The peacekeepers took Binah to get treated before I could see much of her. She looked hurt but not too badly, like it would be easy for her to recover. And, now we're out of the danger zone, I'm sure she will.
While one of Manel's doctors is treating Binah's injuries, I have to occupy myself with other things. For example, the adorable baby that Manel rescued. The peacekeepers looked a little awkward cradling him while he bawled his lungs out so I came to their rescue. I took him, rocked him a few times and sung him a lullaby. Now he's fast asleep.
"You're going to have to find his parents and give him back," Manel says. "They must be terrified."
"What if they can't be found?" I ask.
"I don't know," Manel says. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. You can go and talk to Binah if you want."
"Okay," I say. "Thanks for going in there. You've redeemed yourself."
He smiles. I carry the baby to the medical bay. Binah's in a bed, both her legs in casts.
"Fawkes!" She cries. "You're hurt!"
It takes me a second to process everything. Binah's been knocked unconscious by an explosion, kidnapped, tortured and left to die in a nuclear explosion. I walk in here holding a baby and, somehow, the thing that jumps out at her the most is the bruise on my cheek.
"I'm fine," I say. "Manel slapped me. Then I got the chance to tell him the truth and he helped me rescue you. You're the one who's really hurt."
"My legs aren't broken that badly," Binah says. "Not like yours was. Coin only gave me a few electric shocks. She didn't do anything a faulty computer can't do. I am fine."
I sigh and set the baby down on the nearest empty bed. Binah is scared of showing weakness. I think it's because she never had anyone to comfort her when she did. I perch on the edge of her bed and wrap my arms around her.
"I'm glad you're okay," I say. "But, if you weren't, I'd help you heal just like you helped me."
I lean in and kiss her. It starts out soft and slow but then a more desperate edge grows.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Binah whispers. For the first time, I see vulnerability in her eyes.
I realise I could think one of two ways. I could blame myself for everything Coin did to her. Or I could accept the past and move on. I could let myself grow.
Maybe this could change everything between me and Binah. Maybe she might start having nightmares of her own and I might need to be the one comforting her. But I feel stronger than I did before. A little braver, a little more mature.
I was separated from her for several hours. I spent a lot of that time worrying. There were some worries I couldn't overcome. There were some I could. But what matters is we both survived.
Maybe I won't need to depend on Binah as much in the future. Maybe I'll be able to build myself up to recovering from a nightmare without her help, or let her spend the night at a friend's house. Maybe I'll be staying with her less because I rely on her to protect me and more because I just love her.
"I was worried too," I say. "It's okay. We saved each other. Well, I didn't save you. I got Manel to do it. But…"
"You're still my hero," Binah says.
I move to kiss her again but, suddenly, the baby starts crying. I pull back and pick him up, trying to comfort him.
"Why have you got a gremlin, Fawkes?" Binah asks.
"Manel rescued him from District 13," I say. "He'd just been abandoned. I'm looking after him until I can give him back to his parents. Do you want to hold him?"
Binah hesitates.
"You won't drop him," I say. "You're sitting in bed. If you let go of him, he'll just fall into your lap."
"Okay," she says, quietly.
Carefully, I hand the baby to her. He starts giggling.
"What is he doing?" Binah asks.
"He likes you," I say. "You're doing great, Binah."
She takes a deep breath and smiles.
"Hello, baby," she whispers.
"Mama," the baby says.
"Fawkes!" Binah cries. "Fawkes! Take him away. He thinks I'm his mother."
The baby seems to sense Binah's discomfort and starts crying.
"Okay," I say. "I'll take him back."
I lift the baby from her arms and rock him until he stops crying and starts cooing, happily.
"Are you scared of being a mother?" I ask. "Because, if we can't find this child's parents… I was hoping we could keep him."
"What?" Binah asks.
"It's stupid, I know," I say. "But I like the thought of looking after someone."
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" Binah cries. "I don't know anything about parenting. Maybe I'll end up like my parents. Maybe I'll turn into a horrible person."
"You won't," I say. "You're the most amazing person in Panem. It's pretty much impossible for you to end up like your parents. I love you. I'm not going to force you into anything. But I think we both have what it takes. I'll give you all the support you need. I just… always wanted to be a father one day and, since there's a child right here who might need a father, I want to be there for him."
"Okay," Binah says. "I guess we'll see how things go. We might find his parents."
She smiles and I feel so much love and hope, I can't help but smile back.
Binah's another character I briefly considered killing off. I was going over it in my head for about a day when I realised that it would achieve nothing besides making people sad. Sort of like Finnick's death in Mockingjay. I didn't want another Finnick death so the rescue plan succeeded.
Also, don't throw a baby unless it's an emergency. That was an emergency for Manel.
