We Didn't Start The Fire
by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre

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Chapter Twenty Two: The Game

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Last Time in We Didn't Start The Fire:

He looks directly at the camera. "My name is Gale Hawthorne. Together with my husband and wife, we are the Mockingjays. Come, join with us! Join our song! And together we will be free!"

oOo

The day after our announcement goes out, Plutarch pulls me aside. "Pretty inspiring speech you and your spouses gave there," he says. He lowers his voice, his eyes glittering. "So. How much of it was true?"

"What do you mean?" I ask slowly, not wanting to give anything away.

"Please," he says, waving a hand at me. "I know a good story when I see one. I made my living on good stories. You have to, as a Gamemaker." He pulls me in closer, lowering his voice even further. "The problem is, I think you could use a continuity editor."

"Huh?"

"For your stories, Peeta! You've got great stories, except how they don't add up. There's no way that your husband and wife left after you." He studies his nails before looking up at me. "Not to mention, your girl doesn't strike me as the artistic sort. That's more your forte."

"Katniss is very artistic," I protest.

"Musically, yes," he admits. "But I bet she couldn't draw a mockingjay if her life depended on it, could she?" The words are pointed.

"She wouldn't have to draw one, would she?" I counter. I'm not about to confirm his suspicions. "Most of the mockingjays were done with stencils."

"And how would you know that?" he asks, his voice shrewd.

"She told me?" I try.

He shakes his head. "Say it with a little more conviction, Peeta, and maybe next time I'll believe you." He shakes his head. "Look, I'm not looking to bust your chops. I'm not Boggs. Besides," he says, an expression of satisfaction spreading over his florid face. "I think it's great that you've managed to put one over on these sticks in the mud. Thirteen doesn't have the flair for storytelling, for panache, like you and I do. I'm looking for a friend here, Peeta. And I think you and I have a lot in common. Both of our talents are often overlooked. I just want to help you."

"I appreciate that," I tell him. "But honestly, I ran away before Katniss and Gale did." Which is technically true. I did. I left my house before they did. Which is the only reason why I ended up coming with them. If my mom hadn't been such a bitch that morning, I wonder how much my life would be different.

Plutarch places a warm hand on my shoulder. "I understand, Peeta. I just want you to know, I'm here for you if you need me."

"I appreciate it," I tell him. It's the truth. I like this man far more than the vast majority of the people in Thirteen. It's nice to know that someone as high up as Plutarch is on our side.

"I'm sure you do. After all, we both know how important having allies is in a place like this."

oOo

I wish we could revel in our victory, but Thirteen's election is fast approaching. In fact, it's scheduled for less than a week after our announcement. And clearly, terrible things will happen in Thirteen if the schedule is not followed. I wonder if I could talk Wiress into messing with Thirteen's schedule program. I'd love to see what the people of Thirteen would do if they didn't have every moment of every day planned out for them.

I suspect it'd be chaos.

As I'd suspected she would, Coin proclaims that the rescue of Beetee and Wiress and our subsequent announcement are all thanks to her. She states that, without her leadership, none of these momentous events would have occurred. She forgets it wasn't her idea. She ignores the failures of the last year. She claims it was only due to her decisiveness as president that we were able to strike the first blow against the Capitol.

And much to our dismay, people are listening. Slowly and surely, the tide starts to turn for her. General Glenn, who is popular and well-liked, loses ground. There isn't much he can say to counter Coin's claim. And there isn't much we can say either.

After all, as much as I hate to admit it, she's trading on a skewed version of the truth.

By the time January Seventh rolls around, I have a sinking feeling I know how this election will go down.

Coin is going to win.

The real question is: by how much?

Katniss, Gale, and I make a showing of casting our votes, the moment captured on film by Cressida and her team. I don't know about my spouses, but my ballot has General Glenn's name checked off on it. We discussed if we wanted to cast votes at all, but decided that, by not voting, we were as good as letting the Capitol win.

And if we don't vote, General Glenn doesn't stand a chance. And even if he doesn't win, if Coin doesn't win by a landslide, she might be more manageable.

The results are announced the next day. Coin only receives 51% of the vote.

Not a landslide.

However, my worst fears are realized in Coin's victory speech.

Dressed in a crisp uniform with her colorless gray hair styled into a severe bun, she addresses the district. "People of Thirteen, I stand before you the unqualified leader of our district."

"Did she see the same election numbers we did?" Gale whispers.

Katniss glares at him. "Shhh!"

I agree with my wife, now is not the time to say anything contradictory. It's too dangerous.

Coin is riding high on her victory. "Your vote today has shown that we value consistency and continuity of leadership during these momentous times. I stand here before you to decree that your vote for me will not have been in vain. We have already announced our Mockingjays; I am here to state that the revolution has begun. Tomorrow, the fight to take back what is ours will commence. Working together with our fine military, we will establish a plan of action to cripple the Capitol and restore freedom to Panem. I am humbled by your faith in me, and I swear to you that I will not let you down."

oOo

The revolution doesn't quite commence the following day.

Instead, we're called in to the conference room, where several high-ranking Thirteen officials sit, along with several high-ranking transients, including us.

The three of us take our seats next to Haymitch and Effie, wondering if this is going to be a war council or something else.

We get our answer a few minutes later when Coin calls the meeting to order and motions to Beetee to take the floor.

The older Victor from Three stands up, clearing his throat nervously. "So, at the request of President Coin, Wiress and I conducted our own investigation using information stolen from the Capitol to determine if there had been any spies dispatched here to Thirteen. We're pleased to report that no enemy spies have been operating in District Thirteen."

"How did you figure that out?" General Glenn asks.

Beetee looks down at his papers. He's got an entire sheaf of them. "Mostly through facial recognition compared to the Capitol's asset database. There are spies out there. However, most of them are located in the Capitol itself."

"Cori's quarry," Wiress adds.

Everyone looks at the woman from Three like she's insane.

Everyone except Beetee who just nods his head like she said something profound. "Right." He shuffles a few sheets. "It seems that Snow doesn't trust his own cabinet, as he has placed multiple spies within each member's household. What few spies are dispatched out in the districts seem to be mostly concentrated in Victors' households and Head Peacekeepers' ranks."

"Is that all?"

Beetee shakes his head. "No. It seems that Snow doesn't see infiltrating Thirteen as a viable option. Communiques to his Intelligence Minister prove that."

"Could it be a hoax to catch us off-guard?" Coin asks.

"I don't think so. Pardon me for saying so, but Snow doesn't see Thirteen as much of a threat. You're too isolated, too small. After deploying the virus which swept through your population twelve years ago, Snow has considered your threat neutralized."

"Like rats on an abandoned ship," Wiress adds. "Eating each other to survive."

"Are you saying Snow caused the virus that killed my daughter?" Coin's eyes narrow and her voice turns icy.

Beetee nods. "It appears so, Madam President."

She smiles grimly. "I look forward to proving him wrong. I can't wait to spit in his face at his execution."

The entire room is silent for a moment. I look around at the people from Thirteen, noting varying expressions on their faces. How many of them lost someone to the disease Snow created and unleashed on them? As much as I don't like President Coin, I sympathize with her in this moment.

I also feel a small stab of guilt, because I'm glad about this. Thirteen now has a taste of what it means to lose a child to the Capitol. What it means to watch your children fight and die in their sick games. They still don't understand, not everything. But now they understand more.

"Okay then," Haymitch says, breaking the almost oppressive silence. "So there's no mole and Snow's a bastard. We're pretty much back to where we were. Ya think maybe we can now move on to more important things like, oh, shutting down your torture centers and training refugees to strike back against the Capitol?"

"The transient camps will remain," Coin says after a few moments. "Partially to guard against Snow changing his mind, but also to prevent another disease outbreak from occurring. My medical doctors have informed me that the citizens of almost every district have not had the standard regimen of vaccinations and that diseases like measles and polio are still active. This is in addition to the flu, which Plutarch here has confirmed is still raging-" the man nods his head "-means transients will remain in the camps until they are given a clean bill of health and are brought up to date on all standard vaccinations." Her eyes grow hard. "We won't make the Capitol's mistake and let a virus do the Capitol's dirty work."

Haymitch scratches at his chin. "I s'pose that makes sense."

"What about those people you suspected?" Katniss asks in a pointed tone of voice, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you gonna do about them?"

"Obviously they'll be released."

It's not good enough. "And then what?"

"They become productive members of society."

I can see that doesn't sit well with my wife, and I hazard a glance over to my husband and note his jaw is set.

"Are you gonna do anything to apologize to 'em?" Gale asks.

"No," Coin says, as if it's the only answer. "Why should I? I was looking out for the best interest of my people. Surely you understand that."

"I understand it," Gale says.

But I mentally add the words 'but I don't agree with it' after his sentence. My husband's smart enough not to antagonize Coin too much if he can avoid it. He learned his lesson from our earlier interactions with her.

It doesn't mean that we condone what she did or that she's not going to pay the price someday. She owes those people a debt. And one way or the other, she's going to pay.

oOo

"Come on, Rain, you can do it. Come to Daddy." I'm holding my hands out to my son, urging him to crawl towards me.

My son gives me a look I can only describe as annoyed and goes back to trying to figure out how to get Buttercup's tail. The shaggy yellow cat eyes the infant warily. With a twitch of his whiskers, the cat leaps onto our bed and curls up inside one of the little cubbies in the headboard.

Rain lets out a little cry, waving his hands in Buttercup's direction.

He sounds so offended, I can't help but laugh. The sound brings my son's blue eyes back in my direction.

We haven't had as much time as we'd like to spend together as a family, so I have to take these moments when I can.

Rain's grown so fast. It seems like every time I blink, he's gotten bigger or discovered something new. He's been working on crawling, and with his newfound mobility, we've had to adapt. We can no longer throw our clothing on the floor because Rain will find them and put them in his mouth.

I remember how mortified Katniss was when he discovered a pair of her underwear and pulled them on over his head. Gale and I found it funny, but our wife felt otherwise.

Being the youngest sibling, I feel like I have the most to learn out of the three of us. Katniss remembers when Prim was an infant, and Gale was essentially Posy's father. I don't want to screw up, thinking of my own parents. I want to do right by our children. All of our children.

Rain army crawls to me, one pudgy hand reaching for Posy's doll. Other than the cats, it's his favorite toy, followed by a stack of brightly colored rings of plastic that Thirteen has provided. Mostly he likes to chew on that. Gale says it's because his teeth are starting to come in. Katniss is quick to agree, muttering she's not looking forward to nursing when that happens. I don't blame her. Apparently our son doesn't have quite the same delicate touch that Gale and I do.

The door to our compartment opens and Katniss comes in. She flops down onto the sofa with a loud sigh.

"Bad day?" I ask, looking up from our son.

"I suppose," she says. "I just… feel like an idiot sometimes. That girl, Glados, from Three, joined our tech group today. Concepts and equipment I'm still struggling to learn, she picked up like it was nothing!"

"Well, she's from Three," I point out. "We didn't get the training she did."

"Yeah, but I've been working on this longer! I should know it!"

"You're being too hard on yourself." Giving Rain the doll, I pick him up and put him into his crib. So long as he's got something to entertain him, he won't be too upset.

"It's just… I need to do something to prove I'm more than just a breeder and a voice." Katniss sighs. "I need to prove I've got value too. This is the one thing that I'm supposed to be able to do, and then someone else just comes along and does it better."

"I'm pretty sure nobody feels that way."

"I do."

"How can I help?" I ask, joining Katniss on the couch. "I'm not good at technology, but if you need something to take your mind off of it I can probably help."

"How?"

"What do you want to do? What will make you feel more useful?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you." She pauses, shaking her head. "No, that's not right. I do know what I want to do. I want to go hunting, but these bastards won't let me. Heck, I'd even settle for just being able to take a walk outside."

I glance at the window. The snow's pretty thick on the ground. Most of the predators should be hibernating this time of year.

Suddenly, a bit of inspiration strikes me. "Give me a sec," I say, standing up to retrieve my communicuff from the bedside table.

Katniss watches me, but she doesn't say anything.

I step out into the hallway, close the door, and ping Plutarch.

The man comes back quickly. "What's up, Peeta?"

"You think Katniss and I might be able to go for a walk outside?"

"I thought the doctors prohibited that."

"They did," I answer. "But you know Katniss. Up until we came here, she spent most of her time outside, even when pregnant. You give her a bow and I can pretty much guarantee nothing will get within ten feet of her unless she wants it to."

Plutarch chuckles. "Your wife sounds like a formidable woman."

"You don't know the half of it," I say with a smile. Katniss is definitely not someone to trifle with. It's one of the things I love about her. "You definitely don't want to get on her bad side," I tell the man.

"No, I definitely agree with that. So what are you asking me?"

"Well, since you're Coin's vice president, I was wondering if you could pull a few strings and loosen the restrictions somewhat. I'm not saying let Katniss go out alone, I'm sure they won't go for that."

"No, you've got that right."

"But, you know, maybe with me or Gale and an escort. It shouldn't be too much of a problem."

I can hear Plutarch thinking it over. I'm not sure if he realizes it, but when he's thinking about something, he hums to himself under his breath. Finally he comes back with, "Alright, this is what we'll do. I'll radio up for your escort of Soldier Ashley and Soldier Hayes to meet you and your lovely wife at the main entrance to the outside in an hour. We'll make sure that all four of you are armed appropriately, and until I can make other arrangements, you'll just stick to the immediate surroundings. Does that sound fair?"

"That sounds more than fair."

"Wonderful." I can hear the smile in his voice. "I'll do my best to persuade Alma, that for the sake of one of our Mockingjays' sanity, we might want to ease up on some of the restrictions."

"Thank you," I say with some warmth. "I really appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it, Peeta. All you need to do is ask. We're friends, right? That's what friends and allies do. They help each other."

I turn around and go back inside our quarters to tell Katniss the good news.

"How did you manage that?" she asks, a wide smile gracing her lips.

"Um, Plutarch," I tell her honestly. I can see she's torn.

"We're not gonna owe him, are we?"

"I'm pretty sure Plutarch doesn't think that way."

Katniss just nods her head and looks up at me, a flicker of a smile playing on her lips. "So, what about you?" she says, rising to her feet. She places one hand on my chest. "What do I owe you? We don't have to be any place for another hour and it won't take long to drop Rain off in the nursery."

I start kissing my way down her neck to the zipper on the front of her coverall. "I'm sure we can work something out."

oOo

Later that week, we're called to meet yet another group of transients picked up from various points. It's becoming a bit monotonous even though I understand the necessity. People need to see the Mockingjays, know we're real. It just makes all of us uncomfortable.

In some ways more than others. There's the usual crying and awed touching. But nothing prepares us for one new transient's reaction.

A small male teenager, clearly from Twelve, takes one look at my husband and gasps. With a feral cry he darts forward, smashing his fist against Gale's balls. "This is for Buster!"

While my husband collapses in pain, I wonder just what Gale did to this Buster to earn this teenager's ire.

"What'd you do that for?" Katniss asks, kneeling down next to our husband.

"Told ya," the kid says, crossing his arms. "For Buster."

"Who's Buster?" she asks.

"My friend. The kid that got Reaped in place of him."

I see the shock and guilt flash onto my wife's face, and if he weren't busy gasping in pain, I'm sure my husband's face would mirror hers. I know mine does.

"We're sorry about your friend…" I say, looking at the boy.

"Dobby." He gives me a glare worthy of Katniss. "Name's Dobby."

"We're sorry about Buster, Dobby. But Gale's not the one to blame for Buster's death."

"If he'd just been there, Buster would be alive!"

"Yeah, he probably would. But Gale's not the one who killed him." I look into the boy's eyes. "You need to remember who the real enemy is. The enemy's not Gale, nor anybody else from the districts. The enemy's the Capitol and anyone who allows the Games to happen. You might as well blame Effie for pulling Buster's name."

"I do blame her."

I shake my head. "But she's not the one who put his name in the bowl. That was the Capitol. Turn your eyes to the Capitol, and let them feel your wrath."

All around me, people break into applause, and I step back, blushing. I hadn't planned on making an impromptu speech. That's more Katniss and Gale's purview than mine.

"Well-spoken, Peeta," a male voice says to my left.

I turn to see who spoke and then blink.

It can't be.

I surreptitiously wipe my eyes to make sure I'm not hallucinating.

I'm not.

Standing in front of me, all bronze and chiseled six foot one inch of him, is the winner of the Sixty Fifth Hunger Games, Finnick Odair.

He smiles at me and I feel my heart do a little flutter in my chest.

I do not have a crush on Finnick Odair, damn it! I do not!

I tear my eyes away from his magnificent form to see Katniss watching me with an amused expression.

"And you must be Katniss Everdeen," Finnick Odair says, turning to her. "Can I say you have an absolutely lovely voice? However, your voice is a mere pale imitation to the beauty I see standing in front of me."

"But I'm kneeling."

"So literal. How did you manage to win her?" He turns to me.

"Um… I said yes?" The words sound idiotic to my own ears, but I'm a little lost for words.

Behind me, I hear Gale let out a groan and I'm grateful for the distraction. Moving to my husband's side, I help him sit up.

"What the fuck just happened?" he asks in a voice that's half-moan, half-growl. "Where's that fucking kid, I'm going to return the favor."

I glance around, noting that Dobby is nowhere to be seen. "Looks like he's rabbited."

"He should watch out. I'm good at catching rabbits."

"I would say so, Mr. Hawthorne," Finnick says. "After all, you managed to catch these two lovelies, and I imagine they put up quite a chase!" There's that dazzling smile again. The one that enchanted the Capitol.

"Oh will you knock it off?" Gale says, glaring up at the man.

Those sea-green eyes blink in surprise. "Have I said something that offends?"

"You being here offends me."

"Gale…" Katniss says.

"What? You think I'm gonna let this pretty boy run roughshod over what's mine?"

I realize then that he's jealous, and worse, he's afraid. Afraid we might choose Finnick over him. Silly man.

"You know Finnick doesn't stand a chance with me," I say, looking down at my husband. "He may be pretty, but he's got nothing on you."

"Are you saying he was hitting on us?" Katniss asks, genuinely confused.

I love my wife.

"Oh my heart!" Finnick exclaims, placing his hands on his heart. "You wound me to the quick!"

Katniss gives him a look. "Somehow I doubt that."

He shakes his head. "You're right. My heart, sadly, belongs to another."

"Who? The entire Capitol?" Gale snaps.

I see something flash in Finnick's eyes, an expression of hurt and haunting.

"I do have that reputation," he says.

"So what are you doing here?" Katniss asks, reaching out to take Gale's hand and helping him get to his feet.

"We decided after the New Year's Day festivities that it was best to be somewhere else. Somewhere not in the Capitol. So here we are." He makes an expansive motion.

Gale gives him a hard look. "Who's we?"

I see three people step forward. Two of them I recognize. Cashmere and Gloss Gaultier. The sister and brother who won the Hunger Games back-to-back, a feat no other siblings have managed to accomplish, before or since.

But it's the third person who speaks. "I'm Cinna. I was the stylist for the male tribute from District Two for the Quell. I'm here for Justus."

"I'm assuming you mean the tribute," I say.

"I do," he says with a gentle smile. "But I also mean the concept."

"Then you've come to the right place."

oOo

AN:
Written: 11/16/15
Revised: 11/30/15
Revised 2: 12/8/15

The title of this chapter comes from the song of the same name by the band Disturbed.

Backstory time! Cinna was slated to work for District Twelve in the 74th Games but developed the flu. When the 75th Games came around, he was assigned to District Two instead. We hinted at it back in the Quell chapter where the Parade took place, with the outfits worn by Two being similar to the coal outfits in canon. You'll find out more about how they escaped later, and why Cashmere and Gloss are now suddenly rebels.

Things We Randomized:

-If Dobby Scott and his family actually made it to Thirteen.

Thank you for reading! Let us know what you think!