Title: From the Ashes
Rating: MA
Genre: Angst/Drama/Romance
Characters: Katniss/Haymitch; Katniss/Peeta
Summary: What could possibly be more dangerous for Katniss Everdeen than The Hunger Games?
Author's Note: Katniss' P.O.V. Pay no attention to the typos behind the curtain.
"Katniss?" Effie's voice is small and uncertain as she calls out to me. For the past few hours, I've been on the roof, looking for the chink in the armor of the force field. I threw a rock at it and promptly had it bounced back to me, so I know the stupid thing is active, but there's got to be some way out of this. I refuse to stay here and let them continue this absurd game. I can't sit by while they do God-knows-what to Haymitch, while he and Peeta both give up on being saved.
Did Haymitch try to fight them? Was that a warning? Will they kill them both if I refuse to play? Haymitch warned me about making a Gamemaker look bad. The more I think about him, the angrier I get and I whirl around to glare at Effie.
"If you're not helping me, you're just slowing me down, Effie."
"It's useless, Katniss." She tells me.
"Every cage has its weak spot," I tell her with forced patience. "I just have to find it."
"They're watching you, they'll know what you're trying to do." She reminds me. "Please, dear…come inside. Let's get you cleaned up. You'll feel better after a good night's rest."
"I'm not tired." I grumble.
"Katniss Everdeen!" Effie nearly shrieks, sounding more like my mother than my own mother. "You come inside this instant!"
I blink at her in shock. It might be funny if she wasn't so completely serious, and I find myself hanging my head as I make my way inside like a scolded child. Effie takes me by the shoulders and guides me down the hall, past my bedroom. I look back at her, my brow furrowed but she gives me a slight shake of her head and keeps me moving forward.
"I've drawn you a bath in my room. Mine has a wonderfully large tub. It'll do you wonders."
I'm about to ask her what the hell she's doing when she guides me into the large bathroom. The two Avox girls are standing just around the corner of the door against the wall, one with a finger to her blood red lips.
I turn to look at Effie who is looking at me anxiously, obviously not able to tell me what's going on without Plutarch overhearing it. I know that the Avox girls must be hidden from the view of the cameras, so I hug Effie tightly. "Thank you." Anyone watching will think I'm just thanking her for the bath and pay it no mind. As I slip inside, one of the Avox girls slips from the room, closing the door behind her.
The other girl begins to undress, motioning for me to remove my clothes as well when I just stand there watching her. She carefully hands over the red tunic and matching pants and I pull them on before she affixes the red collar around my neck. The girl points to the stool in front of the mirror where Effie must sit to put on her makeup, then dips her fingers in a small tub of blood red gel before she begins to smooth it through my hair. I watch my reflection as my hair transforms from a dark brown into the trademark red hues of the Avoxes. So this is why they all seem to have the same color hair; it's not that they'are all necessarily red-heads.
The Avox twists my hair into a tight bun, securing it with her own headpiece and smooths out any imperfections and bumps. I watch her reach into Effie's makeup bag, pulling out the pale white foundation and powder. She covers my face, neck, shoulders and any other skin still exposed by the uniform until I'm as pale as death. She removes the red plastic eyebrows from her own face and sticks them onto me, then finds the deepest red lipstick she can before she covers my lips. When she's completed my transformation, she steps back to observe her work, then nods for me to take a look.
There is no possible way anyone could mistake me for anything other than an Avox. I look nothing like myself, except for my eyes, but as Avoxes are meant to avoid eye contact and speech, I should have no problems. The last thing the Avox does is slips off her shoes. I put my own feet into them and she holds up a finger, gesturing for me to wait. She pulls me over along the wall, knocks twice, then we wait. For a minute, I have no idea what's supposed to happen until the door opens and the other Avox girl steps in carrying several towels.
Oh. Clever. The one that has entered hands me what looks like some kind of thick card with a strip on the back and her photo on the front. They motion for me to leave and I do, pulling the door closed behind me and consciously trying to move in the way an Avox would.
"Girl." Effie calls to me. I turn to look at her and she's got an anxious expression on her face. "I would like you to bring me tea at 3 and 9, please. Precisely 3 and 9."
I give a slight bow, having no idea what this means, but know it's code for something. 3 and 9…3 and 9. Think Katniss…what is 3 and 9? Numbers…Time…Districts…Floors! Those are the floors Peeta and Haymitch must be on! I almost head for the general elevator, when I remember that Avoxes are supposed to use a service elevator. When I get there, I see an electronic device and understand the card's use. I swipe it through the device and the doors slide open.
After I step on and the doors slide closed behind me, I stop for a minute to try and formulate my plan. I have no weapons, and probably wouldn't survive an ambush attempt. I may be able to sneak up on a guard or two, but then what? I'm certainly not strong enough to snap their necks. Then a thought dawns on me…
Effie and I had no guards on our floor. Only the Avoxes to continue serving us…could Peeta and Haymitch be unguarded too? My heart hammers in my chest and I lift my finger to push a floor button. I hesitate, rethinking. If Effie was with me, who was with Peeta? There must be someone with him. I have only one choice. Investigate and see what I'm up again. I have the perfect disguise and this may be my only chance.
I'm about to press the button for the 9th floor—thinking it best to go in descending order, when Effie's clue comes back to mind. "Precisely 3 and 9." She must be telling me what order to go in. I find myself wondering how Effie knows—if she knows—but I don't have time to ponder it. I jam my finger into the 3 and hold my breath as the elevator descends.
When the lift comes to a stop, I can feel myself tensing, ready for action, but remind myself that I can't give up myself up yet. I force myself into submissive posture—head slightly bowed, eyes down, hands folded in front of me—as the doors open. I scan the area with my peripheral vision, carefully not to move my eyes too much or too quickly, and try to move slowly but with purpose. An Avox wouldn't have to think about their tasks, they would simply do what was needed.
As I carefully emerge from the elevator into the Avox station, another Avox girl is standing near a supply of clean towels, two of them folded in her hands. She looks as if she's been waiting for me and immediately thrusts the towels towards me. The pieces quickly begin to fall into place. The Avoxes are free to move about from floor to floor, trading off as needed. They must have been passing information to each other, trying to figure out a way to help us escape, and developed the plan of using decoys to get me from floor to floor. Upstairs, there were two Avoxes trading off to fool the cameras into believing it was the same girl. As no one pays them much attention, whoever was watching probably didn't even bother to notice if it was the same one.
It was an ingenious plan, really. It also makes sense of why she's giving me the towels. The bathroom is the only safe place—no cameras. She looks at me anxiously, a look that tells me to get moving, so I do. This floor is different than the one I've stayed on, but the layout is relatively the same. As I walk down the hallway towards the bedrooms, I can see two guards stationed in the common area. One of them appears to be sleeping on duty, the other one is staring out the window.
I listen for any sound to indicate what room I should go into and nearly pass a door where I hear the faint sound of running water. Carefully, I slip in, trying not to make any noise that might bring me unwanted attention. The bathroom door is slightly ajar, and I take a brief glance around the room, but there's nothing to tell me if it's Peeta or Haymitch in the bathroom. As I push the door open, I can see an Avox girl to my right and Peeta sitting on the closed lid of the toilet to my left. I nearly drop my guise at the sight of him, but remember that the Avox and I need to be synchronous in order to keep all prying eyes from being privy to our plan. I swiftly move into the right, waiting until the Avox takes my place, leaving the bathroom and closing the door.
"Peeta…" I sigh, trying to keep my voice down, though I'm sure the water running is helping to mask our voices. We move into each other's arms at once, holding on tightly to one another.
"Katniss." He says, squeezing me so hard it almost hurts.
"Peeta, I'm sorry…about Haymitch…I wanted to tell you. I—"
"Katniss." There's a slight smile on his face and he reaches up to brush my cheek with the backs of his fingers. "It's okay. I mean…it is what it is, right? It was never going to be me. I just kind of always figured it would have been Gale."
"I never meant for anything to happen with Haymitch. I do love you, Peeta. I do. So much."
He pulls me back into another hug, but his voice is tinged with sadness now. "Just not enough."
I want to cry. I want to comfort him and tell him how sorry I am for doing this to him, but I only have time to hug him as tight as I can. "Tell me we can still be friends, Peeta. I don't want to lose you."
"Let's just see if we survive this first." He tells me. "Then we can talk about the future."
"Please don't hate Haymitch for this."
"I don't hate either of you, Katniss. Surprised as hell, maybe, but I don't hate you."
I feel hope surge up within me but try to keep the happy grin off my face. "So what do we do? How do we get out of here? I think they're holding Haymitch on 9, but I don't know how I can get you to the service elevator without the guards seeing, or without the cameras watching us."
He nods in agreement. "You're the only one who can move around without being noticed."
We both think for a long moment. "Do you think you can get down to the training room? To the weapons?"
"Maybe…" I consider. "But that's sure to blow my cover."
"Go to Haymitch." He tells me. "He's the strategist. He can tell us what to do."
"I don't want to leave you here." I tell him, afraid that I won't get another chance like this.
Peeta cups my face in his hands and leans in to gently kiss my lips. "You'll come back for me. I know you will."
"I will." I affirm, determined. I'm about to walk out the door again, when I remember that I need my decoy to trade places with me. "Peeta, get in the shower so that it looks like you really did bathe. The Avox will need to come back for the wet towels so that we can trade places."
I turn around while Peeta undresses and steps under the shower spray, listening to him slosh water on his skin and rinse his hair before he cuts the water off, steps out and dries himself off. I hear the towel hit the floor and a blush starts to creep up my cheekbones.
"Be careful, Katniss." Peeta says quietly before opening the door and stepping out.
I wait, my heart pounding in my ears, for what feels like hours until the Avox girl returns. She's carrying more towels this time, closing the door behind her. I look at her curiously as she sets the towels down on the counter and begins to unfold one. Wrapped in the towel is a handwritten note.
12:01 is all that is written. I look at the Avox with confusion and watch her unfold the second towel, pulling out a long, slender dagger. She cradles it in her hands and holds it out to me. As I hold the blade, it feels like it comes to life and my heart skips a hopeful beat. Beetee.
"What happens at 12:01?"
The Avox points to me, then points to the ceiling, but I can't make out what she means. She picks up Peeta's wet towels and conceals my new blade within then ushers me towards the door. I turn back to look at her for a moment and she kisses her first three fingers, then holds her hand out in the symbol that has come to mean freedom to so many.
So the rebels are still watching, waiting, doing what they can to help their Mockingjay. Again I'm threatened by tears, but I hold them back as I repeat the gesture to her, then slip out of the bathroom. I make my way carefully to the Avox station, listening to Peeta chatting almost casually with the guards. Leave it to him to win them over.
When I make it to the station, yet another Avox is waiting there, blocking my escape to the elevator. She gestures to an unmarked door, then uses her fingers to mime walking up stairs. Then she holds her hands out as if telling me to stop and taps a finger against her wrist.
I've never liked charades.
She repeats the motions again, seeing that I can't interpret them, and looks so distressed, that I simply nod in understanding and move to the door. It opens quietly and I find myself in a stairwell, probably used only in emergencies.
And then it clicks. 12:01. Beetee. The stairs instead of the elevator. I don't know what the master technician has in store, but I understand the girl's mime gestures clearly as I ascend six flights of stairs: Go upstairs and wait until 12:01. I have no watch and no way to tell what time it is now, but I trust I'll know precisely when 12:01 rolls around. I grip the dagger tight in my hand as I reach the landing on the 9th floor. Then, I wait.
TBC