|A week later - district 13|
"My name is Katniss Everdeen, I am from district 12, I was in the Hunger Games, Hak! Hak was left behind." Katniss repeats as a mantra, while rocking back and forth catatonically as she's hiding herself in a tunnel.
"Mrs. Everdeen, you can't be in here." A woman says, shining in her direction with a flashlight.
"I had a nightmare, give me 5 more minutes." She replies.
"You need to sleep, we can help you sleep." The woman tells her, making Katniss roll her eyes at her.
"Just five more minutes. Don't touch me! Get off of me!" She says, trying to get the people who went in the tunnel to collect her to let her go as she's being dragged away.
A while later Katniss wakes up in a hospital bed. Hearing nothing from outside her room she slips out and looks around, finding Finnick's room next to hers.
"Finnick!" She says angrily, seeing the man sit on the side of his bed.
"I wanted to go back for Johanna and Hak. But I couldn't move. They have Annie too I think." Finnick says.
"They're all in… They are in the capitol." Finnick says tearing up.
"I wish she were dead. I wish they were all dead and we were too." He says.
|A few days later |
"Mrs. Everdeen. I'm Lieutenant Boggs from district 13. I know you have been discharged but president coins requests that you meet with her." Boggs tells her.
"Is there any news?" Katniss asks hopefully.
"All I know is I'm supposed to get you." He tells her and takes her to the presidents' office with Katniss seeing their underground facility for the first time.
"There she is, our girl on fire. Madam President, may I present to you, the Mockingjay." Heavensbee tells her once Katniss enters the room with the two and Beady waiting in it.
"What an honor it is, you are a courageous young woman. I know how disorienting this must be. I can't imagine what it means to live through the atrocities of these games. Just know you are welcome here. I hope you find some comfort with us. If nowhere else, then here in district 13. I apologize that you don't have more time to recover but unfortunately we don't have that luxury, please take a seat." The president tells her.
"Are you aware of what happened? When you fired your arrow at that forcefield you electrified the nation. There have been riots, uprisings and strikes in several districts. We believe that if we can keep this energy going, we can unify the districts against the capitol. But if we don't, we could be waiting another 75 years for this opportunity." She says.
"What about Hak? Is he alive?" Katniss asks.
"I don't know, there is no way for me to contact my operatives inside the capitol." Heavensbee tells her.
"The capitol has always managed to suppress communications between the districts, but I know their system very well. We can break through. All we need now is the perfect message." Beady informs Katniss.
"Katniss, here is what we need to do. We need to show the people that the Mockingjay is alive and standing up to join this fight. Because we need every district to stand up against the capitol the way you did. The idea is to shoot a series of propaganda clips. The Mockingjay spreads the word so nothing can stop the fire in this rebellion." Heavensbee tells her.
"You left him there. You left Hak. In that arena, to die. Hak was the one who was supposed to live!" Katniss yells at Heavensbee, looking at him with disgust.
"Mrs. Everdeen, this revolution is about everyone. It's about all of us. We need a voice." Coin tells her.
"Then you should have saved Hak." Katniss shoots back and leaves.
Heavensbee suggests for the president to let Katniss visit the ruins of the 12th district to remind her who the enemy is.
The next day Katniss and Gale leave with a jet to their former home.
"They sweeped everything from top to bottom so you'll be safe. Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Gale offers.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Katniss says leaving the plane.
Once she's alone in her former home she sees the ruins the former townsquare used to be. When she climbs over a pile of debris she looks down to the marketplace and sees countless corpses, bones as far as the eye can see lying there. Surrounded by the rubble of what used to be her hometown. She falls to her knees shaking uncontrollably, coming to the realization that everything and almost everyone she knew is gone. Once she collected herself a good while later she makes her way to the victors village and is surprised to find her house still standing.
She enters it wordlessly and stops once she hears voices coming from inside, she takes a piece of rebar lying around to use as a club and quietly enters her home, going to the source of the voices.
"Idiot, calm down! Do I need to tie you up again?" Johanna yells.
"What should we do?" Another voice asks.
"I don't know. Maybe we just leave him here. I mean I got him where he is supposed to go right?" Johanna says. Katniss recognizes the voice and peers into the room, seeing Johanna and a redheaded woman standing next to a bed where Hak lies, looking exhausted and is rolling around in pain.
"Oh My god! Hak!" Katniss yells, running past the two women who look at her with stupefied expressions and kneels down at his side, clutching his hand and feeling his forehead and him burning up.
"What the heck birdie, where did you come from?" Johanna asks surprised.
"What happened? What is wrong with him?" Katniss asks, horrified of the thought of losing the man she loves just after finding him.
"I'm guessing an infection." Johanna tells her.
"Come on, help me get him outside! Quick!" Katniss begs them and the three carry Hak outside where Katniss waves to the sky frantically to signal for the jet to pick them up.
"What are you doing?" Johanna asks annoyed.
"I was brought by district 13, we came with a plane." She replies.
A minute or so later the jet lands on an empty field next to her house.
"Hak? How the hell did he get here, and how'd you get here?" Gale asks the group of newcomers in disbelieve.
"Just help us get him aboard." Katniss says and they bring him on the plane which promptly returns them to district 13, where Hak, Johanna and Annie get medical treatment with Katniss watching over Hak to whatever extend the doctors allow.
"Katniss. There is something you should know." Johanna says, seeing Katniss wait at Hak's bedside.
"What?" She asks confused.
"He thinks you're dead. I mean I tried to convince him otherwise but… No promises." Johanna informs her.
"What? Why? How'd that happen?" Katniss asks shocked.
"When we escaped capture from the capitol we stayed hidden in the arena and those stupid fucks tried to turn it on again, causing a malfunction which trapped us in the area with those birds who make you hear your worst fears, who then started to go off not for one hour but until they shut the power off again over a day later." Johanna explains.
"Oh my God, how are you alive?" Katniss asks.
"He kept me knocked out, rightfully assuming I'd go crazy, but he got the full dose instead. He told me what he said he heard. At first it was you dying and then it was you telling him that you love some Gale? I don't know. Point is, he thinks you're dead and your ghost is haunting him. I tried to convince him overwise, but I don't know…" Johanna tells her, then walks over to Annie who is getting embraced by Finnick.
"Hak." Katniss cries weakly, slumping down on the chair next to him, not moving from her spot for the next 2 hours until Hak awakes.
"Katniss?! Don't tell me the capitol got me." Hak says breathlessly, waking up and seeing her sitting at his bedside.
"No, I'm here. I'm real. You're safe now." She tells him, grasping his hand tightly.
"I heard you die. And afterwards your ghost kept tormenting me." He says, pulling his hand away in disbelieve.
"Hak, it's me. I'm real." She says in tears, caressing his face which looks at her with disbelieve.
"Hak, you held your promise. You came back to me." She whispers in his ear while she's hugging him.
"Katniss, it can't be. But, I know Johanna said you weren't dead but I thought she only wanted me to not have a breakdown. I don't believe it." Hak says relieved with tears flowing down his eyes.
"It's alright Hak. Just rest. I'm here and no one will separate us ever again." She tells him, letting him lie down again and intertwines her hand with one of his.
"How do I know it's not a trick?" He asks her, looking over to her exhausted.
"I still need to make those pictures I promised you." She says, her face flushing as she retrieves the necklace he gave for her to hold onto.
"Look in my inside jacket pocket." Hak says and then falls asleep.
She goes over to his belongings and sees his jacket, looking through the inside she sees her the sleeve with her pin, which she lost during the crumbling of the arena and hugs the fabric and accessory close to herself with tears coming out of her eyes.
"I'm hoping those are happy tears?" Johanna asks, coming back over.
"Yes. He knows I'm not dead." Katniss tells her, smiling to herself.
"Good. Well my debt is paid. I'm free to do whatever the hell I want now." Johanna says laughing as she walks back to her hospital bed.