Laurel put her pen down in frustration as she leaned back in her chair. She let out a sigh as she attempted to rub the exhaustion out of her eyes. Her hands were blotched with ink, and her back was sore from being hunched over for so long. Her eyes filtered the room until they rested on the clock. According to the ornate face and delicate hands, it was nearly five in the evening. Outside the barely-open window, the cool ocean breeze filtered through the room, filling it with a comforting sea salt smell. Waves gently crashed in the distance and seagulls cried into the sunset. Laurel sighed once more as she stared out the window, onto the ocean, turned pink and orange as it reflected the sun. It was winter, meaning the sunset much earlier than the rest of the year. Soon, the area would be enveloped by the night sky and peacekeepers would flood the streets.
Focusing her attention back to the stack of papers in front of her, Laurel picked up the pen once more and resumed her work. She had been spending the entire afternoon looking through the messages that were annotated from radio signals. So many districts were in desperate need of money or supplies, but there simply was not enough to go around, even with the support Laurel was able to gain from certain Capitol citizens. This meant that she had to make hard decisions, and spending hours making those decisions was exhausting.
For the past five years, since she was fourteen, Laurel had been working to establish a rebellion in District 4. It was easier than Laurel had thought. After all, the Capitol only ever cared about her celebrity older brother, her brother never kept track of their money, and Laurel was very persuasive when she needed to be. It had taken some time, but eventually, Laurel had developed connections throughout some districts and a few Capitol citizens. At the time, Laurel knew that her plans would most likely never result in a rebellion in her lifetime, however, then the 74th Hunger Games came along. Now, the rebellion had a spark, in the form of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Melark. Suddenly, Laurel found herself overwhelmed by leaders from more than half of the districts, requesting aid and support from Athena Marine. However, Laurel's idea of a rebellion took a different turn when District 13 had reached out to Athena Marine.
District 13 didn't exist. It was common knowledge, or so Laurel thought. Until two weeks after the end of the 74th Hunger Games, with Katniss Everdeen shocking the nation with her daring statement against the Capitol. Laurel was fervently plotting on how to use Katniss to fuel the rebellion when she received a peculiar message. At first, it was concerning. The system Laurel had created (with some help from her comrades, of course) to communicate between the districts was secretive. It operated through a series of codes that only a few people, people that Laurel had selected and taught herself. It worked through a system of radio that was so ancient, the Capitol didn't even know it existed. So when Laurel had first received a mysterious message that wasn't from one of her contacts, panic was the first thought that had crossed her mind. The panic that they had been found out. In a way, they had. Luckily, they had been discovered by the right people.
Once District 13 became involved, suddenly everything became real. Suddenly, there was a plan. And it was dangerous, and sometimes Laurel didn't know if it was worth the price. But something had to be done, and dammnit, Laurel wasn't about to give up hope just yet. Not with so much at stake.
Brushing her hair back from her face, Laurel went back to looking over her messages. Things were not looking good, especially in Districts 8 and 11. Paylor was leading a strong revolt, and someone by the name of Poe was rallying the people of 11. However, this meant that the Capital was retaliating even stronger. It was only a matter of time before the Districts were forced to surrender. It didn't help, of course, that the Capital had taken to preparing their Mockingjay for marriage, causing some to lose hope in their cause. Laurel could only hope that they would last until the Quarter Quell.
The Quarter Quell.
A pit formed in Laurel's stomach every time she thought about it. She knew about Plutarch Havensbee's plans, and she knew why they were necessary. But the mere thought of potentially sending her brother back into the games, back into the place that destroyed him, was almost enough to make her want to throw up. The entire reason she even started a rebellion was because of her brother. She wanted to destroy the system that held him in shackles. If Plutarch Havensbee's plan was the only plan, then so be it. Laurel knew that Finnick would rather be dead than continue to live a life as the Capital's personal sex slave. Her only hope was that one of the other male tributes would be chosen. There were, after all, four male tributes and three female tributes. Laurel prayed that neither Finnick nor Annie would be reaped, or Mags for that matter. In reality, she wanted no one to be reaped. She wanted the games, the government, all of it, to be over. One more games, she told herself, just one more games-
"Laurie?" came a voice from downstairs.
Hurriedly, Laurel hid her messages in a large envelope she kept up in the chimney. Dusting the ash from her pants, Laurel made her way downstairs.
"Yes?" Laurel said, freezing on the stairs when she saw Finnick inside the home's parlor.
It was rare Laurel ever saw her brother. The Capital kept him for three weeks of the month, leaving him only one to be in District 4. Even then, Finnick spent most of his time with Annie or at sea. Laurel only ever saw him two to three times a month if she was lucky. She understood why he chose to be so distant. He couldn't talk about his trauma with her; she would never truly understand. She couldn't tell him about her work with the rebellion; he would most likely get furious. Seeing him in their home was out of the ordinary. He wasn't expected home for another week.
"Finnick," Laurel said, giving her brother a small smile in greeting.
He responded with a classic smirk.
A smirk that won the hearts of the Capit-
"What, no warm welcome?" Finnick teased, "I am home early after all."
Laurel quickly recovered from the shock of seeing her brother. She raced down the rest of the stairs and flung her arms around him. He let out a hearty chuckle as he embraced her back. Laurel took a deep breath, smelling the sea salt and honey scent that never went away, no matter how long Finnick was gone. It was these moments that Laurel treasured the most. The moments when all that mattered was that they were together again. Laurel knew that in less than fifteen minutes the pair would be suffocated by an awkward silence, and Finnick would excuse himself to go to Annie's. But for now, Finnick was here just for her.
"I'm glad you're home," Laurel mumbled into his shoulder.
"As am I, Laurie-Lane," Finnick said. He gently placed a kiss on top of her head.
After a moment, the siblings broke apart, and Laurel grabbed one of Finnick's three bags to take up to his room. Finnick grabbed his other two and followed Laurel as they went upstairs, and like clockwork, Laurel sat on the foot of his bed while she watched her older brother unpack.
"How…" Laurel began, unsure how to ask her question. "How was it?"
Finnick smirked, despite the darkness lurking in his eyes.
"It was what I was expecting," was his simple reply.
"Why are you home early?" Laurel asked. The question had been nagging in the back of her mind since she saw him in the home.
Finnick sighed as he threw some shirts in a drawer. Laurel couldn't help but sigh when she realized he wasn't folding them.
"The Quarter Quell. The plan on announcing it sometime this week. They wanted all the Victors back in their districts for publicity," he explained, never once looking at Laurel.
"Oh," Laurel whispered.
Inside, she felt a pang of guilt stab her heart. I'm sorry, she thought, I'm sorry that you might go back to the games.
"Yeah," Finnick plainly said, unsure how to continue the conversation.
Neither of them spoke for a bit. The only sound in the room was Finnick opening and closing drawers to put away various articles of clothing.
"How's Annie?" Finnick finally asked.
Laurel had been expecting the question. In all honesty, she was surprised Finnick didn't say anything sooner. It was her job, whenever Finnick was gone, to check up on Annie. He always wanted to hear about her when he returned.
"She's still distant," Laurel began, "And has been since you last left. The nightmares haven't been that bad, considering how much she has been taken from reality recently. A couple of days ago, however, she kept on calling me Razer, the boy from District 1 in her games. I couldn't go anywhere near her. Mags had to give her tea."
Finnick's eyebrows furrowed with worry.
"How is she today?" he asked.
Laurel shrugged.
"So far, pretty normal. Well, normal for Annie," she corrected. "I went over this morning to make sure Annie had breakfast, and I dropped off lunch. Mags should be with her now if you want to go visit."
Finnick nodded, thinking about what Laurel had said. The concerned look hadn't left his face.
"I think I'm going to do that. I'll probably spend the night," he said, putting away the last article of clothing.
Laurel got up, taking his decision to go to Annie's as her cue to leave so that he could have a moment to himself before leaving.
"How have you been?"
Laurel stopped in the middle of the doorframe, taken aback by his question. She couldn't remember the last time someone had asked her anything of that nature.
"What do you mean?" she asked with a smile, covering her bit of shock.
Finnick began fidgeting with the rope he kept on his dresser.
"I mean," he began, "how are you holding up? I realize I don't know anything about you anymore."
Well, I am slowly falling apart from the guilt that I am hiding information from you. Or maybe it's the fear that at any moment I'll be caught, and Peacekeepers will barge through this door to kill you. Oh, I know, I can't sleep because I keep hearing the gunshots that were fired when we went to destroy the shrimp farm. Or maybe it's-
"I'm fine," Laurel said, flashing him a classic Odair smile.
Before he had a chance to say anything more, Laurel darted out of the room, the smile gone the second she made it back to her bedroom. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard Finncik go downstairs and leave the home. He wouldn't be back until morning.
Laurel went to the fireplace, and grabbed the envelope she kept up her chimney. Once again, she began pouring over the messages and planning what to address at tonight's meeting.
~888~
It was dark by the time Laurel finished going through the messages, creating a plan for how to get supplies to other districts and made an agenda for the upcoming meeting. Laurel quickly began preparing her bag. Secret pockets throughout the entire bag hid her envelope of messages and her written plans. The bag itself held bread, water, and extra clothes, which on the surface, made it seem like a typical trip to the ocean. That's what Laurel told anyone who asked where she was going. I'm just going to watch the stars on the docks, which is what she would say should anyone ask.
Creeping through the city, despite the new curfew, Laurel weaved between buildings until she approached a lone dock on the south side of the town. The moon was out, meaning the tide was low. Laurel jumped off the dock and onto the moist sand that was now below. Ducking under the dock, Laurel began walking to where the dock met the land. Hidden underneath was a small door, that during the day, was hidden from the world. In the moonlight, its metal facade glimmered, showing Laurel where to go.
Entering a passcode that only a select few knew, Laurel opened the door and crawled inside. A tunnel was revealed, leading to a cement room. From the tunnel, Laurel could see the faint light of a lamp and the laughter of her companions.
Damnit, Laurel thought, I'm the last one again.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" teased dark boy with curly cinnamon hair. His brown eyes shone in the dimly lit room.
"Oh shut it, Hadrian," Laurel said, "Besides, I'm not late. You lot are just always early."
Despite her attempts at being serious and hurt by Hadrian's teasing, Laurel couldn't help but smile widely upon seeing her friends gathered around the table. Five faces smiled up at her, as Laurel gave them all a nod in greeting. Her smile faltered slightly when she saw the empty chair to her left.
Evander, her heart panged.
"Got any news for us?" a woman with long honey hair asked, prepared to get down to business.
Putting her bag down, Laurel took a seat at the head of the table. She took out her papers before she began speaking.
"Well Rowan," Laurel began, "I don't have much good news."
A large young man scoffed from his seat at the end, his silver curls falling over his face.
"Since when have we ever had good news," he jested.
The group lightly chuckled at his comment.
"All the districts except for 5 and up and 12 are requesting aid, specifically in the form of food and medical supplies," Laurel said, pulling out the messages that detailed the dilemma, "and we only have enough surplus here and in the other districts to send supplies to 3 of the ones who have requested aid. So the question on the table, who do we send aid to first?"
"What have you been thinking?" asked the young man with silver hair.
"Honestly Caspian, I don't know," Laurel responded. "I know for sure that 8 and 11 are in desperate need of supplies. Paylor has been doing her best, but they can't hold for much longer. We all know what happened last week when the rioting began in the factories; the Capitol blew them up. I can't decide on who the third district should be."
Laurel observed the faces of her comrades as they thought. To her right was Hadrian Conor, fidgeting with a single-shell necklace around his neck. Although he was twelve years Laurel's senior, Laurel admired the amount of trust he put in her. He had been one of Laurel's first supporters when she began organizing a rebellion in District 4, and a massive help when suddenly the rebellion became the entire country of Panem. Next to him was Rowan Venice, a woman in her early fifties. She was the oldest woman in the small group but by far the most daring. Her long honey hair streaked with silver was pulled back, revealing the scar that ran from her temple to the corner of her mouth. A fishing accident, was the story that she told everyone, even though she never worked at the docks. Everyone knew not to ask questions. At the end of the square table were the Peterson brothers. Both in their twenties, the two were replicas of each other except for Caspian Peterson's silver curls, and August Peterson's dark blond coils. The two of them had joined when their twelve-year-old sister was reaped, and quickly climbed ranks to be Laurel's most devoted revolutionaries. On the left side of the table was an empty seat and Cordelia Firth. Normally she kept to herself, hidden behind a thick curtain of black hair, however, she was truly brilliant. Although Laurel had created the radio system that the rebellion used, Cordelia was the one that made it perfect. The seventh chair had belonged to the first person that joined Laurel's fight against the Capitol. Evander Keel.
"I suggest we send supplies to District 7," August was the first to speak. "We're asking them to plan on setting off explosions in the forest after the games. They should at least get supplies to not only keep the community going, but also to keep their will going until then."
The others nodded.
"But what about District 10?" Rowan countered, "They have been struggling with food accessibility since the very beginning. We haven't sent supplies since the end of the Victory Tour. They need more aid."
"Yeah, but we also have to think about numbers, Rowan," Hadrian added, "District 7 is significantly larger than District 10 in terms of population and people who support our cause. I hate to say this, but those factors combined with the plan to bomb the forest make District 7 more valuable than District 10. We just have to hope that they can hold out a little longer."
Caspian looked troubled by Hadrian's remarks.
"The entire point of bringing the Capitol down is to ensure our freedom and our equality," Caspian declared, staring down the other members of the table, "No one is more important than another. District 10 has been requesting supplies for much longer than District 7. The supplies should go to 10."
"We can't afford to think like that," August said, "if we make our decisions purely based on who asked first, then our little project here would fail. District 7 demonstrates a higher need than 10, therefore the supplies should go there."
"What do you think, Laurel," Cordelia said from her seat, "based on what everyone has said so far."
Laurel leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand as she contemplated what everyone had said. It was clear that Rowan and Caspian supported the supplies going to District 10, while August and Hadrian wanted them to go to 7. Cordelia had yet to make her opinion public. Both sides had provided valid arguments, but a decision had to be made.
"The supplies should go to 7," Laurel finally stated.
Rowan and Caspian didn't say anything, however, Laurel could tell they were disappointed that Laurel did not support District 10.
"But," Laurel continued, "send half of the food resources we would send to 7 to 10. 7 still gets full medical. We need to try to keep District 10's motivation. Even though it's not as much as we would like to send, at least they won't feel like we are abandoning them."
"That's a lot of separate trips you want to make," August commented, "sounds a bit risky."
"I trust the people who are tasked with moving supplies between districts to do so without getting caught," Laurel assured, making eye contact with Hadrian, who was in charge of overseeing shipments. "I am willing to take the risk rather than having people lose hope in this rebellion."
Rowan shrugged.
"I think it's a strong compromise," Cordelia said, "hope is the strongest thing behind this rebellion. Without it, we have nothing."
"Don't go all sentimental on me, Delia," joked Rowan.
The six of them chuckled.
"Getting back to business," Laurel said, "Earlier today I found out that the Capitol will announce the surprise of the Quarter Quell this week. That means we can start finalizing who we are going to put in the games beginning next week. Reaping is in a month. We will have to move fast."
"Do you want our suggestions or is this something you will be doing yourself, then asking us to approve or disapprove of your plan?" Caspian asked, "I know this is going to be difficult for you to do, Laurel. I'm just concerned that having a Victor as your brother will get in the way of-"
"I will not allow my own selfish thoughts influence who goes into the games," Laurel cut him off, "however, I would like your suggestions. But I will make the final call, understood?"
The six of them nodded in agreement.
"Good," Laurel said, "Then next week come prepared with a complete list of who we should send into the games."
"The only ones that are confirmed now are Beetee and the Mockingjay, correct?" Rowan questioned.
Laurel nodded. As far as she was concerned, Beetee and Haymitch were the only Victors that knew about the rebellion. That meant that Beetee had to go into the games. Haymitch was a different story. When Laurel had her meeting with Plutarch Havensbee and Alma Coin a few nights back, they could not agree on whether or not it would be beneficial to send Haymitch into the arena.
"You promise to not let your brother get in the way of your decision?" Caspian once again questioned.
Laurel stared him dead in the eyes, sea green meeting amber, with an icy expression on her face.
"I will say it again," Laurel spoke slowly, "I will not allow myself to be swayed by my brother."
"No need to get stern," Caspian replied, "I just need to make you understand why some of us would be concerned."
Despite Caspian's valid concerns, Laurel couldn't help but feel a little frustrated but his words. Her frustration must have been evident because Cordelia assured Caspian that Laurel understood before Laurel could have the chance to say something she would regret.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Laurel looked down on her paper to see what else needed to be discussed.
"We need to organize another District meeting. If we want to burn down the canning factory when the games begin, we need to start planning now. I suggest that we meet next week. Rowan, can you scout out a secure location for us to use?" Laurel asked.
Rowan nodded.
"Good," Laurel said, "We'll meet here again in three days at the same time and Rowan will tell us the location. Then, it's up to us to slowly start spreading the word. August, I want you to be in charge of sending out fake locations, in case someone who we don't want to hears about our meeting. And Caspian, I want you to make a detailed list of what we will need to burn the cannery, understood?"
"Will do," August said.
Caspian nodded.
"Thanks," she said, "From what I understand, that's all I have. Anyone have anything else that they need to add?"
A chorus of "no's" filtered the room.
"Good," Laurel stated, "then this meeting is adjourned."
The six of them got out of their seats and began working on other projects. Rowan left to begin scouting out a meeting location, and Hadrian followed to start organizing supplies to be shipped out. From the shelves in the bunker, Caspian grabbed the files that kept track of their inventory to begin compiling what they would need for their future acts. August took a seat next to his brother and began developing coded messages for the fake locations. Cordelia went to the corner where their precious radio sat and began preparing it for Laurel to begin sending messages out.
"Ok Laurel, she's up and running," Cordelia said, beaming at the piece of machinery, "go ahead when you're ready."
"Thanks, Cordelia," Laurel said as she took a seat at the radio desk. "Hey, Delia, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure Laurel, what's up?" Cordelia responded.
"Would you be able to take the night shift today?" Laurel asked, "I will make it up to you, promise. But Finnick came home early, and I don't want him to get suspicious if I'm not home."
Cordelia gave a small smile and nodded in understanding.
"Of course," she said.
"Thank you," Laurel replied gratefully.
"Besides," Cordelia continued, "you take the most night shifts out of all of us. It's about time you take a break."
Laurel chuckled.
"Well, you know what they say," she said, "Hard work-"
"Never ends," Cordelia said, completing her phrase. "Now hurry up and send out your messages, so you can go home."
Laurel smiled up at Cordelia, then began working on the radio.
The radio worked on a frequency that, apparently, was used before the First Rebellion. The Capitol, and Laurel, had thought it was destroyed with District 13. However, partly because of the books she convinced Finnick to snag for her from the Capitol, Laurel had managed to access it. Using the mechanic books that Finnick had stolen, Laurel built the radio around the original device that had caught the signal. She was shocked to find that it was still operational and was able to access all of the Districts, including the Capitol. Much later, she would learn that it was because District 13 still existed and they used the frequency to keep track of the districts. Cordelia was able to make the frequency extra secure by adding passcodes and codenames that would have to be said in order for one to access the frequency and send messages.
"Journey, Nine, Seven, Eight, Carpenter, One, Delta, requesting a connection with the Woods."
The machine whirred as it processed Laurel's request. It was silent for a moment as it began requesting a connection with District 8.
"Passcode and name," requested the District 8 operator on the other end. Laurel tried to remember his name. Thurman, she thought triumphantly.
"Journey, Nine, Seven, Eight, Carpenter, One, Delta," Laurel said once again, "and this is Athena Marine speaking."
~888~
Hello! I hope you enjoy this story! I recently reread the series, and was inspired to make this story! Please pardon any major errors because English is not my first language. Please make sure to follow and review the story and let me know what you think!
~Juliet