Don't own Hunger Games.


"Alto?"

I blink. "Peeta?!"

We stare at the other, in complete shock of what's in front of us.

"They told me you were dead!" Peeta's on his feet, his hands gripping my shoulders hard.

"They told me the Capitol took you!" I respond much the same.

...

...

"God, it's good to see you!" I embrace him, but I'm not convinced that he's real.

"Am I dreaming? Are you real? Please tell me this is real. This would be so fucked if it wasn't. Please say yes. Please."

He just eyes me, more my body than anything else. I look down to myself to see what he finds so interesting. And then I realize this is the first time I've looked at myself.

My clothes are done for. My pants aren't as bad as I thought they were. They have tears and holes in it, but they still function. My shirt and jacket are another story. Both are in tatters, barely hanging onto my person, caked in dried blood. The holes reveal the bandages underneath, which cover my entire chest, my arms, hands, all stained red. I can only imagine what my face looks like.

"You look like shit." He says.

"I feel like it." I reply, and my eyes light up. "I wouldn't feel like shit if it was a dream."

"No you wouldn't. Now come on, we need to get you out of here." He begins to push me forward.

"Wait! Wait! We can't leave Finnick!"

"Finnick's here?"

"Yeah! I left him by the stairs!" I shrug his hands off me and jog up the stairs to where I seated the unconscious man. When I take a look at him, he looks better than I do. That's saying a lot. His clothes are more whole than mine, but he has bandages as well. He doesn't look like he's had much sleep either.

"Finnick? Finnick? Can you hear me? Come on man, answer me." I gently shake his shoulder.

He stirs this time, his eyes dilated. He doesn't seem to recognize where he is. He lazily bobs his head side to side, taking in his new surroundings. Then he eyes me.

"A-Alto? But...how? They...they said you were-"

"Dead?" I finish. I give my best smirk. "It's going to take a hell of a lot more to kill me then throwing missiles."

"Enough. Finnick, can you walk?" Peeta asks.

"I...I think so. H-help me up."

We take his arms and pull him up, but catch him when he loses his balance, much like I did when I came to. He tests a few steps down the stairs, a little rocky, but he stays. He makes it down the stairs without incident.

"I think I'm good."

"Good. Then take this." I hand him a rifle and a few magazines. He stares at the weapon in his hand. "I don't know how to load this thing."

"Here it's easy." Peeta begins to show him how to do so. I ignore them as I look at the door. I can see the other rebels outside, in positions to defend the building. Three are walking to the door.

When Peeta is done helping Finnick, the three rebels walk inside.

"Alto!?" They all say.

"Pliny?" What the hell, I'm seeing everyone today.

"But-"

"You thought I was dead. Yeah, I know, but here I am, in the flesh. World's going to have to work a lot harder to kill me."

"Holy shit, it's the Phoenix."

So they're calling me that now huh?

Well, all the better for all this.

"Thought I was dead right? Wow, that's going to get annoying fast." I say.

"Well this is fine and dandy." The older man says out loud, clapping once. "They send us to find Intel, we get two victors who were suppose to be dead! How the hell did you two survive?"

"You tell me." Finnick rubs his shoulders.

"You are some tough sons of bitches! But enough of that, let's get your asses out of here. You two look like you've been through hell."

"Don't I know it. My back." I stretched a little, careful not to open my healing wounds.

"Give us a moment, we'll search the building for the intel we need." The officer says before he walks with three others going up the stairs. Peeta leads Finnick and I to the wall, where he sits us down.

"Just give me a minute. Baxwool! Get in here!" A second later, a large bulky man enters the room, kneeling before us.

"Just going to check how you're holding up."

He spends a few minutes doing something that's akin to a check up, though obviously it's only the important parts. He checks our eyes, then our bodies.

"You mind taking a bullet out of my shoulder? Been bugging me since I was shot."

"When did you get shot?" Finnick asks.

"When I was trying to save your ass." I say simply.

"Uh, sure. I'll get it out." Baxwoll says awkwardly. Maybe it was with how casual I said that, like it happened on a regular bases.

Well, it kind of does. Not the getting shot part, but saving people generally.

By the time Pliny and her officer return, my shoulder's been patched up. The officer looks disappointed.

"Did you find what you were after?"

"No. Hammer must have been misinformed. Well, I guess you two will do."

"Sir." Pliny groans.

"Then let's get the hell out of here."


"Take them down, damn it! Take them down!"

"Two on my six! Trying to shake them!"

"Jesus, that was close!"

"There's too many!"

"I need assistance! Don't think I can-"

"Cronin!"

"Eight fighters down!"

"We're being killed up here!"

"All fighters, delay that flight! We need to give them time!"

"We're trying! We can buy you ten more minutes, then I'm pulling my men out, not a minute more!"

"To all forces in the D-12 region. A Capitol flight of bombers is in route, ETA: fifteen mikes. Confirmed nuclear device on one bomber. Get the hell out of there!"


"We just received information on the fighting in district twelve." Coin says, having visited Flora and I in the hospital. She knows I want to know things, and since I agreed to be their Mockingjay, I get all the info.

"Is the Capitol winning?" I ask.

"The opposite. They're being pushed back. Free Panem's beating them."

"I doubt you'd come tell us that they're simply winning." Flora says, a hint of dread in her voice.

"You're correct. The Capitol decided that if they can't have twelve, then no one can. They're prepared for that."

"They're going to fire bomb it." I feel anger. That's my home.

"No. They're going to turn it into a pile of radioactive rubble." Coin says quietly.

"No... They can't... They're that desperate!? Enough to drop a nuclear weapon!?" Flora is starting to become hysterical.

"Nu...nuclear?" I whisper. I can hardly believe it myself.

"Yes. In fifteen minutes, district twelve will be wiped off the map, with everyone in it." That's her last word as she walks out of the hospital wing.

Only one thing's going through my mind.

What kind of animals are they?


Alto POV

"They're going to nuke twelve!?" Peeta nearly screams.

"It's insurance." I say a little more calmly. Truth be told, I feel like how Peeta's reacting to this news. "They knew I was in twelve, but they had me. They would have sent me to the Capitol had I not busted out. Now they know I'm free, and they're not going to give the rebels their symbol."

"You mean-" even Finnick seems shocked at the scope.

"They're dropping the nuke to kill one person; me. It doesn't matter to them how many others lives burn in the process."

"Well we can't let them succeed. We just got you back, and I'll be damned if you made it this far just to fry in fifteen. So from here, we start running. Can you two do that?" The officer looks at Finnick and myself.

"I've ran with an open leg, burned and cut chest, and tracker Jacker venom in my bloodstream. I think I can do this."

"We'll be fine." Finnick glances at me. "You come out of the Games knowing how to take life threatening injuries and keep functioning."

"Move it you bastards!" I shout. They reply in kind at we start running.

We don't hit too much opposition, as the Capitol forces have probably gotten the memo that a nuke's coming our way, and most are trying to get to their hovercraft to evacuate. Some do stay though, trying to keep us here as long as they can, though that doesn't delay us much since we finish them quickly. Most groups are no bigger than ten, normally many injured from the fighting before when they come after us.

The soldiers try and keep Finnick and I from participating in the firefights. Not surprising since we're technically non-combatants, but that doesn't stop me from covering their right flank. Some try sneaking around when we meet a group, though they don't get far.

"Damn it Alto, why won't you stay down?" Pliny pushes me back during another firefight.

"Because I'm a stubborn bastard." I fire at one man, killing him with two rounds through the throat. "It's my nature."

"Who'd you get that from?" She remarks sarcastically.

"My father." I give a small smile that she doesn't notice. "The hell are we anyway? I don't recognize any buildings."

"Hob. Was burned again when the war started." Peeta answers.

"Holy damn." I say as I take in the carnage. What use to be the burned out Hob I remember is now nothing more then burning ashes.

'Hope everyone got out.'

Then the thought hits me.

I turn to Peeta. "The Shelter? Did everyone get out?" I wouldn't put it past the Capitol to just murder everyone in the building.

"A good majority got out before the fighting even started. A few didn't make it."

"How many? Who?"

"Two dozen. Don't know who, but one..." He pauses.

"Damn it Peeta, answer me!" I need to know who didn't make it.

"The old man... He's dead."

I don't react at first. I just stared at him, both unwilling to process it and or accept it. But by the way Peeta's face contorts to pain, he can see the sheer anguish on my face within the next minute.

"How?"

"He tried getting kids out of the school. Building collapsed on top of him when he made another run for more."

"Tell me at least it was quick."

"It was. Caught his head first. Killed him instantly." He says with barely repressed sadness.

I feel sad, angry, and relieved. He died quickly, so no pain, and the Capitol won't use him to get to me, as screwed up as that sounds. I can't morne now though. We need to get the hell out of here.

"RPG!"

"Get down!"

Someone grabs my head and forces it down. A second later, something detonates behind us, and we're thrown to the ground. Debris flies over us; dirt, metal, and concrete.

I lose my hearing from the explosion. Everything is muffled, so I don't understand anyone. Whoever has a hold of me though starts dragging me, and I have enough sense to follow. I find myself inside a building, back against the wall, next to a window Piny is using. She fires the rifle next to my head, though it's muffled blasts that I hear. Finnick's next to me, seeming a little dizzy.

"Hammer One, we need air support now. We're surrounded on all sides, can't maneuver! We have the Phoenix and another victor!"

"The Phoenix?" I can hear him just above the gunfire. "Damn it! Redirecting some air support to you. They were holding off the bombers. You have five minutes!"

"ETA of support?"

"Three. Get it done!" Hammer One shouted.

"I don't think this building can last for three minutes!" Peeta says as he glances at the ceiling. The cracks are getting bigger with each RPG that hits the house.

"Then I get their attention!" I shout as I bolt through the doorway.

"Alto!"

"Over here you assholes! The Phoenix is talking to you damn it!" I book it to another building a few meters away, ducking in cover as bullets and rockets are thrown in my direction. When the moment arises, in which the rockets stop flying, I charge for another building, this one instead filled with peacekeepers.

Upon entering, I throw a grenade to the right while I take the left. The first man I run into takes a twelve gauge to the stomach, the area exploding and sending a spray of red everywhere, and he's thrown back at his comrade. The other man falls as his friend's body hits him, and I simply slam my foot into his neck, a satisfying crack filling the room.

Another peacekeeper enters from where I came in, only to fall from my weapon.

"You bastards won't stop, will you!" I throw two grenades down the hall. "My father, my life, Katniss' life, Rue, Flora, Fash, everyone! The hell did I do to you!? The hell did Katniss do to you!?" I kick one down and fire at her face. "Now the Old Man's dead, the closest fucking thing to a father I've had! Bastards! I'll make sure you return to your families in fucking BODY BAGS!"

I was already making good on my promise.

How many had I killed already? A few dozen, I know for sure. But specify? I have no idea. I just know I've killed more than most peacekeepers killed in their entire career. And that number rises as I make my way through the building. The other peacekeepers in the surrounding buildings were trying to make it to my building, but the rebel's kept them at bay or killed the ones who were too slow.

"Alto!" I hear Peeta. I don't bother responding as I'm too busy killing. He ends up taking cover behind the wall as someone rakes the area with gunfire.

"Snap out of it Alto! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"People said I was going to die in the Games! I went through two and survived!" I smirked as I also took cover. "Besides, these asshats are making this too easy! You hear that!? I've only held a gun twice and I'm still killing you!" We both fired down the hall when we hear them scrambling to get closer, gunning down four.

"Alto." He knows something's wrong with me, and I know he knows what that is. That concussion of mine might of healed, but my slightly altered personality stayed with me.

So I guess I'm officially insane. A little. Maybe. Fifty percent.

The gunfire is drowned out by a roar of some sort. I've heard them before, but don't know where it comes from. Next thing I know, fire lights up half of the buildings in front of ours, and the ground shakes violently. A few seconds later, these weird looking aircraft start appearing. They have rotors, and are a bit blocky, with small wings on the side that hold weapons. They start firing at peacekeepers in the open while stationary. I've read a lot of books from back then, but I've never seen anything like this.

"The hell are those things?"

"I'll tell you later! Now come on! Hovercraft is touching down!" Peeta grabs my arm and drags me out of the building to the awaiting hovercraft. It's already full from from the other squads they must have picked up, but there's still room for us, since their numbers were cut in half before they ever reached me. We take the area walkway, and all the other soldiers seem to recognize me. They don't speak, but their eyes say it all; they thought I was dead.

I'm going to have to clear that up when I get to wherever we're going. Make sure the entire country knows I'm alive.

"Go, go, go!" The officer has no need to shout this as the hovercraft immediately takes to the air. The six rotor aircraft follow us closely, while some of the sleeker, faster ones high in the air cover us.

"One minute." The radio in the hovercraft says. The soldiers begin putting on some sort of glasses. They're large and the tint is pitch black. Peeta hands Finnick and I a pair.

"I don't know if-"

"No." I interrupt him. "I need to see this." This is my home that's going up in flames. I have to see it, as much as I don't want to.

We both throw on the glasses, and for me, my vision is darkened immediately. It's as if it were a moonless night and you squinted; you can barely see anything.

"Ten seconds."

I'm holding my breath, as is Peeta. Even Pliny, who's next to me in a seat, is putting all her undivided attention out the back of the hovercraft. The seconds feel like milliseconds.

"Impact."

A bright flash is the first thing everyone registers. Even with the glasses, it lights up the entire district and then some. It hurts my eyes just looking at it like this, so I can't imagine what it looks like as normal. You must go blind instantly. The light lasts for a good minute before it dims, and then you see the real carnage.

A massive shockwave travels across the ground. Anything in the epicenter of the blast it probably gone, erased from existence. The shockwave seems to knock anything down near the epicenter, and gradually starts getting weaker the farther it gets. It's fast though, and the wave hits us. I have to cover my ears at the ear shattering roar it gives, the hovercraft itself lurching rather violently. We can even feel the heat from here, at the safe distance. And of course, the one thing that confirms our fears.

A mushroom cloud forming above the land.

District Twelve.

The district which supplied coal to the Capitol.

The district where the revolution began.

The district that twelve thousand people lived in.

The district that was Peeta's home. Katniss's home. My home.

District Twelve.

The district that doesn't exist anymore.


Hours Later

"District Twelve has been destroyed sir."

"I know that damn it. I know. How many casualties?"

"Nearly eight thousand on our side. Twice as many for the Capitol."

"And did we get that intel?"

"No sir."

"So was all that for nothing?"

"Not completely sir. We have confirmation; the Phoenix is alive."

...

"Well I'll be damned."

"Pardon sir?"

"Get him the best medical care we have. We don't know what the Capitol did to him when they held him. Best be prepared for the worst."

"Yes sir."


"I'm sorry." Finnick doesn't say what he's sorry for, but it's rather obvious what it is.

Peeta was sitting next to me, his eyes red, staring at his feet. Pliny was on my left, mimicking Peeta. All the soldiers in here seemed down in the dumps. Watching a district you were fighting for go up in nuclear fire tends to do that to people. People seem to to be glancing at me though. I've just sat here silently, hands together, index fingers against both sides of my nose. To everyone, I look fine, like I'm in deep concentration. Like seeing my home destroyed was a natural thing for me. On the inside though...I don't know. I'm rather conflicted. I feel sad, I'll even say heartbroken. Sure, district twelve wasn't the best place to live, but it was still my home. The place I meet Katniss, Gale, Peeta, Pliny, the Old Man, Fash, and everyone else. It's where I hunted for others. Where the Old Man and the others taught me all the skills I possess now. Where I fell in love.

As hard as it was living in district twelve, I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

I take a glance at everyone in the hovercraft. They all look at me due to my movement. It's as if they're waiting for something. For me to do something. Anything. All I do is look at every single one of them; quickly scanning their faces before I return to my previous position.

There's also one other reason I haven't really reacted to the bombing.

I'm too exhausted to react.

When I was pulled out of the Games, I was near death. My abdomen had been torn into by that wooden fragment from the detonating tree. My arm was torn into as well, my shoulder was open, and my concussion had yet to heal. If the doctors hadn't of been there, I wouldn't be here now. Now add those barely healed injuries with a few new ones from the hovercraft crash, and the torture those bastard Capitol doctors put me through for a week, and you have a young man who's physically and mentally drained. I felt like passing out, but that's not a good thing to do at the moment. Not with moral this low.

"We're here." The pilot says.

"Where is here?" I ask.

"District eleven. We made it our base of operations." Peeta replies. "They'll have a wheelchair waiting for-"

"Oh, no no no." I wiggle my finger. "I'll walk to the medical wing. Don't need no damn chair."

"Come on Alto! Look at you! You can barely stand as it is!"

"And I'm walking."

"What are you trying to prove?"

"What I'm trying to prove is that I'm strong. Not just for me, but for others as well. I am the Phoenix; one symbol of the Revolution. I just went through hell and back. I went through the Games and straight into a war. I watched my home disappear in an instant. And do you know what I feel? I feel that I can't let the bastards who did this stay in power. I'm doing this to show all of you, that no matter what horrors the Capitol throws at me, I won't stay down. I won't stop until we win this war, even if it takes the entirety of my life to do so. They can go ahead and drop as many nukes as they want, but as long as one man, women, or child survives this war, it was worth it. That all the hardships and sacrifice that we went through are not in vain. I'm fighting for my freedom, for your freedom, and for this nation's' freedom."

The soldiers are all looking at me in stunned silence. Pliny, Peeta, and Finnick also among them. I feel the lurch of the hovercraft as it lands, and the ramp opens, showering us in light.

"I've fought my whole life. Nothing's going to change that now."

I take a step off the ramp.

The first thing I register is that we're in a hanger. It's one empty of aircraft, but full of Free Panem soldiers. Just like the ones in the hovercraft, they all stare at me. They're all shocked to see me. Just like the others, they thought I had died in the hovercraft crash. On the right side of the hovercraft are multiple medical personnel, ready to take our injured to the medical wing. One small group of two come towards me, wheelchair in toe.

"I won't be needing that. I'll walk. Just need the directions." I tell them.

"Same here." Finnick appears right behind me, startling me. I look back at him, not exactly expecting him do the same.

"I need to keep what little dignity I have left. You carrying me out was degrading enough." He replies casually.

"Right." I'm skeptical, but I give a smirk.

The medical personnel don't like it, judging by their faces, but otherwise back off, though one young man motions for us to follow him to the medical wing. The others attend to the injured on the hovercraft.

Finnick and I walk behind the man, back straight, giving off the aura that we could take on anything the world could throw at us and give it back just as good. Truth was though was that I was ready to fall and sleep. I'm so exhausted. My whole body wants to shake. It's screaming at me for not taking that wheelchair. But like I said before, I need to show them that the Capitol can't put me down. As for Finnick, I'm sure he's tired too, though to the same degree is unknown.

I don't look around, but I can hear the soldiers. I can't make out much, but "Phoenix" and "alive" are a few words I pick up. It started out as hushed whispers when I first exited the hovercraft, but they've gotten louder.

And then the unexpected, but very welcomed reaction.

I hear a high pitched whistle which lasts a few seconds. Then one name.

"Phoenix!"

It seemed that the crowd was waiting for someone to do just that, because not a second later, the entire hangar is full of cheers and whistles. I actually stopped and looked around in shock. I can see the smiles on people's faces, see them pump a fist into the air, see them clap. And one thing that I needed to see.

Hope.

Hope that things could get better.

I can't stop the massive smile that makes it onto my face. So I give them a sloppy two finger salute, one eye closed, and again to my amazement and satisfaction, they return it with an official one.

"Phoenix! Phoenix! Phoenix!" Is all I hear, even after we've left the hanger and a large door blocks us, we can hear the muffled cheers.

"Wow..." Is all I can say.

Finnick gives a shuddered breath. "I really needed to see that."

"I just plain needed that." I reply, a small smile on my lips.

"Alto!"

Before I have a chance to place the voice with a name, I'm immediately pulled into a tight embrace by an individual of the female persuasion. Unfortunately for me, the embrace does nothing but remind me of all the injures my body's been through. I give a yelp of pain.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Mom!?"

She looks okay, nothing bandaged or anything, so that makes me a little more calm. She has tears streaming down her face though.

"You're okay." She embraces me again, much more gently than before, and I return it.

"Alive, but not okay."

"What?" She pulls away to look at me.

"I'm slowly dying for rest right now." I look at everyone in the room. "You guys mind if I go to sleep?"

My legs give out, but my mom catches me. The medical man moves to help her, the they both take right and left, helping me to the medical wing.

"Thanks guys."

"Just go to sleep Alto. You'd feel better when you wake up." My mom says.

'No. I'll never feel better. Not after what I went through.'

I'm so tired at the moment though, that I allow myself to believe her. So I fall into a blissful slumber. One I've needed since the beginning of the Games.