Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading! I hope that all of you are enjoying the story! Please, please, please read and REVIEW! I love the feedback and it really helps me write. I am doing my best to stick to my once-a-month posting of a new chapter (the next one is already in the works). Thanks again! Happy reading!
Chapter 8
Johanna's POV
The Capitol train station zooms into view through my window. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this whole secret issue thing. Did Gale really see Peeta and Finnick in the surveillance footage? I can't see how that's possible. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him. I know that I'm a day late to this investigation; I just hope that I haven't missed anything big.
The train slows to a stop inside the station and I gather my things and make my way to the doors of the train. I look down checking to make sure that my uniform looks okay. I step out into the throng of people rushing around the platform and make my way outside. Luckily, my peacekeeper uniform causes people to move out of the way without hesitation. I see a rover waiting for me by the curb. The driver greets me when I get to him, "Commander Mason?"
"That's me," I reply, "take me to the justice building." He nods quickly before speeding away from the station.
I call Hawthorne on my communicuff to tell him that I am on my way and he tells me to meet him in the main control room. I take a deep breath to attempt to calm my nerves. I haven't felt this unsure about anything since before my first games.
The main entrance of the building was empty aside from the single peacekeeper as I entered the building. This just proves that this is BIG. I take a deep breath as I step onto the elevator, trying to emotionally prepare myself for what I am about to see. The elevator dings as it stops on the main floor and I step out into the clean white hall. As I approach the control room, I can hear hurried voices, so many combined that I cannot discern one from the other. I stop before the fogged glass door taking a moment before I open it.
Lets do this. I push open the door to see at least forty peacekeepers and workers running back and forth, looking at holographic images, video footage, and talking a mile a minute. I search the room, finally finding the tall dark profile I was looking for.
"HAWTHORNE!" I yell, trying to get his attention. I make my way towards him, of course he's on the opposite side of the room. "HAWTHORNE!" I try again.
His head whips around and thats when I notice the dark circles surrounding his eyes. He looks like he hasn't slept in days.
"Jo! Finally!" He says as I walk up next to him. "Why don't you come out in the hall and I can fill you in?" I nod in agreement turning to walk back the way I came. "Thom!" Gale yells at a peacekeeper on the other side of the room, "Can you come over here and help Sterling?" Thom nods and jogs over. Gale then grabs a tablet off the table and leads me out of the room. As soon as the door closes behind us, the noise level is immediately lowered, making it much easier to hear. We walk down the hall to one of the small sitting areas.
"So first thing first, this is probably the most mind-bowing thing that you are gonna hear for a while." He runs his fingers through his tousled hair and sighs. "I led a search this morning in pursuit of the intruders. I still can't fully wrap my mind about wha-"
"Gale, just get to the point for fucks sake!"
He looks over to me, making eye-contact, "We found them." He pauses. "We found Finnick and Peeta. Finnick and Peeta. They're alive Jo."
I shake my head and turn away from him, "This can't be real. I thought you said that as some ploy to get me here." I begin pacing the room, millions of thoughts racing through my head. "They're dead Gale. There's no way. It just- No."
Gale watches me as I try to figure out what he means by 'they're alive'. I call bullshit. He has to be fucking with me. But how? I look over at him and see myself reflected in him; the confusion and worry. He's telling the truth. Fuck.
"How?" is the only word I manage to squeeze out of my rapidly closing throat.
"I don't know. I wish I did. But Jo, there's a problem. They aren't quite themselves. My team found them in a room in the old part of the building, the part that hasn't seen daylight in three years. We had to leave them there because- because, they were hooked up to - to these wires. Jo, they were everywhere. I knew that we didn't have the ability to remove them from their bodies without killing them. I - I think they're chipped or being controlled. They looked dead Jo. The only thing to convince me otherwise were the steady beeps coming from their vitals panels." Gale's face grows paler with every word.
I can't seem to process anything that he is saying. I just heard that my best friend may be alive, but he may as well be dead. How can this happen to me, fucking President Snow still manages to live on three years after his death. Oh fuck, how do we break this to Katniss? I hope Gale can figure that out, because that is not going to be pretty.
"So how do we plan on getting them out?" I manage to squeak out.
"There's no way to do it without knowing who's keeping them there. For all we know, releasing them could unleash something that could kill us all. We need to get to the source of what's keeping them there."
"How are you going to break this to Kat?"
Gale looks at me with a grimace, "I wasn't planning on telling her until they are safe and under our guard."
"Gale, you and I both know that this is Katniss Everdeen we're talking about. Knowing her, she's probably already on a train here."
"Shit, I know." he says, scrubbing his face with his hands, "I just don't know. I feel like this could really break her, especially if they're not able to be cured."
"There's no doubt about that. But I do think that it would break her more if she found out later. You have to be the one to tell her. Who knows maybe she can help fix them." I attempt to sound optimistic. By the look on Hawthorne's face, I can tell that I wasn't. Shit. "Can you show me them?"
"Yeah," he sighs, "we managed to set up a hidden camera in the room before we left. For now we have to make it seem that we haven't found them. There is no way of knowing who is behind this yet."
"Were there any old-capitol peacekeepers left after the rebellion? Is there anyone that you suspect?"
"I have my ideas, but it's difficult to tell if any survived. As you know we have the few we found locked up, but who's to say that we didn't miss any."
I have been staring at the monitor for the last two hours. The room has slowly become quiet, as officers have slowly left for the night. Now it is just me and a few overnight workers in the room. I can't seem to pull my eyes away from it. I can't believe that I am seeing Finnick. I miss him so much. He was one of my only real friends left in this shitty world. Then there's Peeta. Peeta. I always thought that their love was fake. It seemed so staged. I hadn't seen a love so strong until we were in the arena together. I could see it in their eyes, there was no denying it. I have to keep telling myself that they are alive. It's been three years. I have taken that time to come to terms with what had happened. I thought that I had moved on.
"Jo." Hearing my name causes me to practically leap out of my seat. My eyes tear away from the screen to see Gale looking down at me, his eyes tired from the hours without sleep. Sleep. I realize that I haven't slept in over 24 hours.
"Huh?" I manage.
"Jo, we need to get some sleep. If we are ever going to solve this, we need our brains to be working at full power." He runs his hands through his thoroughly tousled hair.
"I- I don't think-" I can't even form a sentence in my head. I am torn because I don't want to look away from the camera, but at the same time, I know that he is right.
"Come on, Jo. Let's go." He grabs my arm and helped me stand from my chair.
We walk together out to a car that is waiting for us. My body feels numb and I no longer feel that I can cope with everything that has happened. Yes, I, Johanna Mason, have feelings and right now it feels as though I am being shredded to pieces.
The ride to the hotel is short and Gale and I check in, loading our room keys onto our communicuffs. The elevator brings me to my floor first and Gale walks me to my room. My eyes lose focus and I feel my heart breaking. Gale notices that I am not myself and takes my arm leading me into my suite. Once inside, I can't seem to keep myself in check and tears begin to form in my eyes.
"Jo, I can stay for a while if you'd like." Gale whispers to me. All I can manage as a response is a small nod.
I don't even bother to take off my uniform before lying down on my bed and Gale quietly follow suit. He wraps his arms around me, creating the only thing that reminds me that this is real and not all in my head. I curl into him, appreciating the warmth radiating off him. As we lay there, the tears flow from my eyes in a steady silent stream as I drift off to sleep. Before I fall asleep completely, I feel a Gale press a kiss to the top of my head, showing me that he does have a heart behind the ruthless facade that he wears at all times.
I wake to my communicuff vibrating on my wrist. Gale is gone from my bed, he must have left late in the night after I was asleep. I guess it's for the best. He will never know how much it meant to me for him to stay with me. I look down at the message scrolling one my communicuff: All command personnel are required to report back to HQ immediately. Commander Hawthorne.
I drag myself out of bed, still wearing my uniform from the day before. I go to my bag and grab my spare set of clothes, not wanting to show up in a wrinkly uniform. I quickly slip into the new clothes and pull on my boots. I glance in the mirror and I don't know why I do, I look like a train-wreck.
Before I know it I'm stepping into the conference room full of fellow commanders. I glance over at Gale and we make eye contact, just long enough for him to nod subtly at me. Everyone is talking in hurried whispers, so I take a seat near the back corner of the room. Sterling enters the room in a whirlwind of files and paperwork.
"OKAY! EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" Sterling says as he slams the stack of files on the table. The room immediately becomes silent so they can hear the task at hand. "These files contain everything on peacekeeper special locations dating back to the 37th games. I want you to split into teams of two and go through all of these, looking for any locations where this group of pre-revolutionists amy be hiding out." He pauses looking around the room and his eyes land on me. 'Mason, you and Hawthorne come with me. I have something that we need to discuss. This can't be good." He looks back around the room, "Get to work!"
The room becomes a bustle of movement and increased volume of voices. I stand up and push my way through the crowd until I am out the door. Sterling and Hawthorne are already waiting for me in the hall. I make eye contact with Gale and his eyes tell me to stay quiet. Normally I would tell him to fuck off, but I know that now isn't the time for that.
"Follow me." Sterling commands, already walking down the hall to his office.
I follow closely behind Gale, careful to keep myself balanced. I still feel the weight of everything that is happening weighing down on me. We step into his office and I am shocked. Before me stands someone that I haven't seen in years. I didn't even know he was still alive. Haymitch Abernathy.