"I'm not really hungry," Annie muttered to the man handing out lunches in the District 13 cafeteria, but he pushed a tray into her hands anyway. She let out a sigh under her breath, but she wasn't about to protest. She feared that drawing any kind of attention to herself could put her straight into the District's psych ward. So she quietly carried the two trays, hers and Mags', toward the dining tables.
Mags hobbled alongside her, relying on the plain metal cane she'd been provided. She used a cane every now and then at home, especially when she was stressed. Annie couldn't blame her now, though a quiet worry nagged at her. She tried to ignore it, and together the two of them migrated to an empty table. Mags settled slowly into her seat, leaning her cane against the bench beside herself before she turned to her food.
Annie inspected what they'd been given—a pallid, meat-textured block, a stiff role, half-dissolved beans, and something that looked like applesauce. What little appetite she'd had disappeared. Mags let out a chuckle as she picked at the mystery meat, but she stuck a chunk in her mouth and nudged Annie to do the same.
She shook her head. She couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't focus on any one thing for more than a few minutes at a time. Every stray thought returned to Finnick, like waves ebbing and breaking upon the same shore again and again, the grief packing into her chest like wet sand. But what could she do? Haymitch had disappeared, and nobody else would even look her in the eye-
"Well, look who's here," Johanna Mason dropped her tray onto the table and plunked onto the bench beside Annie before she could object. "I figured they had you shut up in the nuthouse."
"I was- I was just in the hospital," Annie stammered, her eyes fixed on her tray.
Johanna elbowed her side, "They got the stick out of you?"
She flinched away from her, "Yeah."
"You're lucky," Johanna told her around a mouthful of food. "They couldn't get the stick out of Katniss' ass." She pointed her fork across the cafeteria, where Katniss Everdeen slouched at a table of her own, eyes vacant, food untouched. Her sister sat beside her, concern knit in her brow as she tried to coax the Mockingjay to eat something. Did Annie look so forlorn?
"They took Peeta too," she murmured.
For once, Johanna fell silent. After a moment, she turned to Mags, "What's with the cane, old lady?"
Mags let out a sigh through her nose and waved Johanna's question away with a wrinkled hand. The table grew quiet again. Johanna shoved her last chunk of meat into her mouth before glancing over at Annie's tray,
"Are you going to eat that?"
Annie blinked out of her thoughts. "N-no," she answered quietly. She watched as Johanna commandeered her tray, muttering something about the small portions. "Have you…" the words fizzled in Annie's throat. Johanna didn't hear her. She drew a breath and tried again, "Have you heard anything? About Peeta and Finnck?"
Johanna stabbed at the meat, shaking her head. "The President and her goons don't care," she grumbled around another mouthful. "Katniss is the only person they needed. The rest of us are just extra baggage."
Annie swallowed, "So they're not going to do anything? They're not even going to find out if they're alive?"
She shrugged, "Maybe you'll make them feel guilty once you start coming to the meetings."
"What meetings?"
Johanna looked at her, "The council meetings. With Coin and her goons and the Victors, where we pretend to help the Rebellion." She glanced over at Mags, who appeared similarly puzzled. "Did you two not get invited?"
"It's not on my schedule…" Annie told her.
She let out a cynical laugh, "Wow, they've got some nerve. Well there's one this afternoon, and you're coming with me."
Annie stiffened, "I can't, it's not on my schedule…"
"So?"
"I can't afford to get in trouble."
Johanna snorted, "We're Victors—the people around her are scared of us. No one cares whether or not we follow their stupid rules."
"Maybe they don't care about you," Annie muttered. "But they don't think you're insane."
Mags pursed her lips, and Johanna threw her head back in frustration, "Just come with me, I'll make sure you don't get in trouble. You in, old lady?"
Mags quickly shook her head no.
"Annie? Come on, I at least want to see the looks on their faces when you walk in the door." Johanna paused for a moment before she added. "…It's the only way you're going to get them to even think about saving Finnick."
Annie crossed her arms over herself, hesitating. It was a while before she finally answered, "Okay, fine. I'll go."
She didn't realize that meant Johanna was going to follow her around until the meeting started. She wandered back to her workstation with her, lounged around the assembly room while Annie taped up relief packages. All the while she complained about the poor amenities of District 13—the bad food, the stiff mattresses, the short, lukewarm showers, the lack of entertainment. Annie didn't know what to do with her. She didn't know what to make of Johanna at all. The course, crude Victor had done nothing but taunt her in the Quell, and now she was acting as if the Quell never happened, as if Finnick wasn't in the Capitol dead or worse. But Annie wasn't going to risk confronting her, making her angry. Johanna claimed the people in District 13 were scared of the Victors—they were probably just scared of her. She could only hope that after the council meeting, Johanna would leave her alone.
"It's starting soon, let's go," Johanna finally announced, and Annie jumped up from the assembly line with a relieved sigh. She trotted to keep up as Johanna stalked through the halls, heading for the District's core.
"Is the President going to be there?" Annie asked her.
She scoffed, "She can't stand not to control everything in this District. Of course she's got to run all the meetings."
"Is she…?" Annie wasn't sure what to ask.
"A bitch?" Johanna finished for her. "Yes, and don't let her sappy den mother act fool you."
"That's not what I was going to say," she murmured as they neared an open conference room. Annie held her breath as she stepped into the room, expecting at least a dozen pairs eyes to meet hers. To her surprise, she found herself blinking at rows of empty chairs. The few members of the war council were clustered to one side of the table—Plutarch Heavensbee, looking deflated since the last time she'd seen him, Beetee, the only other Victor present, a tall, weathered man she didn't recognize, and a woman with her back to the door, too caught up in her conversation with Plutarch to realize they had newcomers.
"Hey," Johanna called, and the woman swiveled her chair to face her.
"It's nice of you to join us for a change, Miss Mason-" the woman stopped short at the sight of Annie.
"I brought another Victor," Johanna informed her as she glanced about the vacant room. "It looks like you could use one."
"Annie Cresta," the woman stood, breathless. She stepped forward and enveloped Annie's hands with her own, introducing herself, "Alma Coin. It's an honor to finally meet you." Her smile was warm, her head tilted to one side as she added, "But I'm afraid this is a closed meeting."
"Closed to who?" Johanna retorted before Annie had a chance to speak. "You invited all the other Victors except for her and Mags. What's the deal?"
President Coin gave Annie's hands a squeeze, her gaze bouncing between the two Victors as she spoke, "Well, it was my understanding that Miss Cresta's particular…skills were best utilized elsewhere."
"To tape up boxes?" Johanna raised her eyebrows. "Are you trying to say she's stupid?"
"Johanna-" Annie breathed, but Coin talked over her.
"Of course not. If Miss Cresta is interested in coming to the council meetings, she can apply for a schedule change, provided she gets clearance from her psychiatrist."
Annie's heart sank in dismay. The application, the doctor's approval, the resulting evaluations—they were rings of barriers designed to scare her away, to keep her out even if she tried to surpass them. Johanna was beginning to argue again, but Annie finally spoke over her, "President Coin, please." She fumbled for the right words, "I'll put in the application, but if I could just sit in for one meeting-"
The President was already shaking her head, her eyes sympathetic, "I'm sorry, Miss Cresta, but these meetings are confidential. We can't take the chance of any sensitive information leaking out of this room."
"I won't leak anything," Annie promised.
"Then prove it," Coin told her. "Complete the application and prove to me that I can trust you. However, for now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." She released Annie's hands in order to guide her back towards the door, and the moment she broke her gaze, Annie knew she wouldn't have another audience with the President.
"What about Finnick?" she blurted, desperate to plead her case. "Isn't there anything we can do to get him back? Is he alive?"
Coin's mouth hardened into a frown, "Miss Cresta, this is very inappropriate."
"Please." Annie felt her throat closing up, and she forced the words out with a shaky breath, "Katniss wouldn't be here without Finnick, you can't just leave him to die!"
But Coin was pushing her out the door. "If you return to this council room uninvited, there will be consequences," she warned. Johanna slipped out from behind her just as she shut the door in their faces.
Annie didn't know what to say, what to do. Johanna was shouting curses at the door, but it wouldn't help. There was nothing either of them could do to help Finnick now.