Author's Note: Just a warning of some graphic violence and gore, some of which happens to children.

"Squad Four-Five-One, on me," Boggs ordered, raising his hand to capture the attention of the squad of restless soldiers. The group gathered in loose semi-circle around him. "We'll be moving forward through these streets." He raised the Holo into the air to project the streets near their camp. "This area has been cleared for us to shoot. That does not guarantee our safety. There will still be active pods, so stay frosty. Cressida will lead the group once the area is clear."

Katniss watched Gale's face as Boggs bellowed his instructions. The simmering anger was clearly settled across his features, and his posture, even beneath his armor, was rigid and unmoving. This was not what he wanted. He didn't want to be filming pretend combat - he wanted to be in the Capitol, killing Peacekeepers and getting to President Snow. Still, he and the squad fell into a short line behind Boggs as the tall man led them away from camp. Gale and John, chatting with him about the Holo, flanked Boggs. Behind him was the production crew - Cressida, Messalla, Castor and Pollux - going over what shots they were about to film. Something about smoke bombs and things that would pop and make the experience look more harrowing. Soldier Black and Jackson ignored them entirely, speaking quietly to each other. Finnick tried to entertain the Leeg twin, making the rather despondent girl smile a little with a demonstrative anecdote. Johanna had been right about Finnick all along. She was an ally, and a good person. Ironic, how someone Katniss perceived as a threat when she wasn't so messed up was someone she saw with startling clarity now.

Then there was Johanna. Katniss looked to her left to see Johanna walking purposefully, eyes trained up over Boggs' head and toward the apartment buildings that were ahead of them. Katniss plodded through her memories of Johanna, parsing out the ones where they were out hunting in 12. She was struck with a memory of Johanna stalking a fox. Fox meat was not tasty and required brining overnight, but Greasy Sae would buy it for a low price. The pelt however, if skinned correctly, could fetch a high price. This particular fox was gray and a little plump because it was close to winter. Katniss was busy cleaning a squirrel but she looked up just in time to watch Johanna make the kill. Johanna had used her bow, striking the fox directly in the eye.

"Johanna?" Johanna whipped her eyes over to Katniss. "Do you remember that gray fox you killed?" She squinted at Katniss, as if trying to understand why she would ask a question like that. Suddenly she seemed to remember Katniss's memory predicament and looked up toward the clouds in thought. "It was winter. Real or not real?"

Johanna smiled. "Real. That pelt got us through that winter. Celadine wanted to keep it, but we needed the money more than she needed a fur scarf. She always loved pretty things." A shadow crossed over her face and Katniss furrowed her eyebrows together. Right, Celadine was gone. The bombing of the Hob. Kissing Johanna in the hut. She wondered if Johanna held that against her, not being there to protect her sisters. Now was not the time to ask. Selfishly, Katniss didn't want to mar that memory anyway. It was one of the few pleasant ones she had left. "It was a beautiful color, though," Johanna continued, oblivious to Katniss's internal battle. "Same as your eyes."

Katniss ducked her gaze to the street. "That's a nice memory," Katniss murmured, shaking her head to clear the cloudiness inside her brain. "You and me hunting in the woods."

"I like those memories, too," Johanna agreed with a nod and a small, lopsided smile.

The colorful block before them looked like something out of a candy shop window. Paving stones of orange, pink and yellow like little frosted cookies on a long platter. Glass windows in bright greens and blues that shone like hard sugar candy. Boggs eyed the Holo, examining the street for the active and inactive pods before he nodded to Cressida. "This is the block." Cressida instructed them on where to stand, and she and Messalla dropped smoke bombs into the street. Gale was chosen to shoot the body sensor pod, and as he did they all ducked into alleyways, or hit the ground to avoid an oncoming explosion.

Katniss didn't participate; she simply tried to get out of their way. Boggs had outfitted her with a gun - loaded with blanks - but also gave her back the bow and her quiver full of arrows. Katniss felt much more comfortable with the weapon over her back. Once they completed the first shot, Cressida asked them to replicate their actions so she could get close-ups of their reactions. Katniss watched on with amusement as Gale pivoted into an alleyway, his face grim and sweaty. He caught her eye and tried to suppress a grin. Katniss giggled and rolled her eyes, bringing her eyesight up to the tops of the buildings. She saw the glint of something shiny on a rooftop down the block from where they were filming. Katniss gripped her bow and readied an arrow, aiming up high toward the figure. Then, she saw the rifle aimed down toward them. Toward Johanna. Panic swelled in her chest.

"Johanna, watch out!" Before she could let the arrow fly, a shot pierced the air and Katniss watched Johanna stumble backward, dropping her rifle and gripping her left arm. The same feeling she'd felt watching Johanna in Two came surging back to her. Katniss released the arrow and took out the assailant on the rooftop. The Peacekeeper fell off the roof and landed with a thud, and then other unseen Peacekeepers opened fire. The camera team took cover in a nearby alley. Gale grabbed John by the scruff of his collar and swung him into an open door. Cashmere, Finnick, Soldier Black and Jackson all began firing up toward the rooftops. Boggs rushed to Johanna's side, and Katniss felt an unfamiliar rush of aggression.

Boggs told them to stop here. Boggs must've known about the assassins. Boggs was a threat. Her brain fired those thoughts so quickly, Katniss didn't have time to analyze them before she ran forward to intervene, shoving Boggs off of Johanna. "Get off her!" Katniss screamed, wedging her body in between them.

"Soldier Everdeen, stand down!" he ordered in a harsh grumble, gripping her arm to push her out of the way.

"No!" Katniss shoved him backward and away from Johanna. He stumbled a few steps, tripping over Johanna's discarded rifle and stepping onto a bright orange stone, that promptly blew his legs off. Katniss gaped in open-mouthed horror as she, Johanna, and the walls around them were splattered with blood. Screams filled the air, as well as the sound of continuous gunfire, and some ominous rumbling from behind them. Johanna pushed Katniss aside to run to Boggs, dropping down to her knees next to him.

"I think we got all the snipers," Jackson shouted, her face covered with sweat and her skin pale as a sheet. She looked from Boggs to Katniss, who was frozen still. Katniss didn't know what Johanna was saying to Boggs, but he had taken out the Holo and a green light was shining on her. "We should get off the street."

"Prepare to retreat!" Soldier Black yelled, until Gale shouted something back and pointed behind them. Katniss shook from her stupor to look at where he was pointing, just in time to see the rush of black, thick, oily matter gushing from a geyser in the street. Gale and Cashmere began shooting ahead of them, opening holes in the street as they set off pods.

"No retreat," Jackson ordered back. "Move forward, sweep the streets. We have to get out of here. Comms are down." Katniss didn't know what to make of any of the chaos. Jackson seemed to be the only one paying attention to her and she grabbed Katniss by the arms and cuffed her behind her back. Katniss didn't object. "Let's move, Soldier Everdeen."

The squad hurried as fast as they could, dodging pods and trying to outrun the tidal wave of noxious fumes and black liquid bearing down on them. Finally Gale and Finnick were able to pry open a doorway and usher everyone inside. Castor and Messalla dragged the lifeless body of Boggs in with them, placing him gently on the floor. They closed the windows and began stuffing them with towels to block out the fumes that were trying to seep in through the cracks. Finnick retched into a nearby sink, clearly having inhaled too many of the fumes.

Katniss was still breathing heavily as Jackson forced her down on the couch with a strong arm. The squad began collecting themselves and Soldier Black looked around, inspecting each of them with her icy blue eyes. "Everyone okay?"

Katniss wanted to laugh. All of them had ash, oil, or blood all over their faces. They were out of breath, exhausted, and frightened. Johanna was especially shaken, now holding the Holo in one of her bloodied hands. Katniss observed quietly as Jackson stepped forward and peered at Johanna. "Did he transfer security clearance to you?"

Johanna nodded, bewildered. "Yes."

Jackson sighed. Soldier Black had explained to Katniss that Jackson was Boggs' second in command, which meant taking over his duties if he became unfit to lead or died. Transferring that responsibility to Johanna seemed like a ridiculous move. Soldier Black rolled her eyes. "There's no way you're leading us," she objected. "Jackson is second-in-command. Transfer the authority to her and let's keep moving. You can bet that they know our location now and we can't waste our time like this."

Jackson and Johanna shared a long, meaningful stare. There was something about their dynamic that Katniss couldn't quite put her finger on. She knew it wasn't romantic, because it didn't elicit the aggressiveness that jealousy seemed to bring out in her. "You don't know how to operate it," Jackson explained sternly. "I'll show you."

"Wait," John called, crossing the room hurriedly. "She's injured. Let me take care of it." Without waiting for approval, John snapped open his first aid kit. "Take off your armor," he instructed. Johanna's lips twitched in a bemused smile but she complied, quickly stripping herself of her armor and unzipping the top portion of her uniform. She pulled her arm out of her sleeve gingerly. The blood was still running down her arm into her palm, and Cressida produced a towel from the kitchen and handed it to John. He wiped up the excess blood carefully, tossing the towel away. The boy dabbed a small amount of liquid on the wound and Johanna winced, looking away from him.

"Damn, did the little Everdeen teach you that? Fuck, that stings," she griped.

"Just hold still," John instructed in a calm, but stern voice. He made a bandage from what they had, stemming the flow of blood, at least for now. Katniss knew, though, that Johanna's arm needed attention. The bullet hadn't lodged itself in her flesh, but it had scraped enough layers of skin to get to the tendons in her arm and possibly cause real damage.

The rest of the team stood anxiously and idly as Jackson taught Johanna how to properly operate the Holo. Gale sat down next to Katniss to catch his breath, using a kitchen knife to pry the black gel from his boot. "Not corrosive," Gale said aloud, to no one in particular. "It was meant to suffocate us, I guess."

Johanna closed the Holo and gazed around at the room. She sucked in a deep breath to steady her nerves. "We are moving forward to the President's mansion. Our mission, as it's been since the beginning, is to assassinate President Snow to hasten an end to this war." She let that information settle in the group. "If you want to back out, now's the time. No hard feelings." Johanna glanced around at the squad, her eyes dangling on Soldier Black.

"There's no way that was the mission," Soldier Black argued hotly. "I don't believe you." She raised her gun and aimed it toward Johanna. Katniss trembled in unspent anger but Gale placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It's true," Cressida intervened. "Plutarch wanted us to film it. He thought if the Capitol saw President Snow die, they would put down their arms."

"As the second-in-command, I order you to stand down, Soldier Black," Jackson said, turning completely to face Soldier Black, shoulder to shoulder with Johanna. Katniss blinked at the resemblance between the two of them. Dark eyes, dark hair, similarly hostile and exasperated expressions on their faces. Soldier Black begrudgingly lowered her gun to the floor. "Do you know why you're here, Soldier Black?"

"To replace Leeg -" Soldier Black looked around. "Where's the other one?"

"The oil," Finnick offered quietly. "She was hanging way back, shooting at the Peacekeepers on the roof. I think it suffocated her when it exploded."

Johanna's eyes dropped guiltily to the floor. Solider Black sighed and continued. "To replace the fallen soldier."

"And do you know what her job was?" Jackson prodded, cocking an eyebrow. She didn't wait for an answer. "To be Johanna's guard. That is why we're here. President Coin wanted propos, Johanna needed protection, hence, our squad. If we do not deliver Johanna to President Snow safely, we have failed our mission. Do you want to fail your mission?"

"No ma'am," Solider Black replied.

"Good. Soldier Mason has been deemed fit to lead by Boggs, and that's what we're doing. Any questions?" The authoritative woman darted her dark eyes around the room. No one made any objections.

"What are we gonna do about her?" Cashmere asked, nodding toward Katniss.

Johanna's eyes flared in anger. "What do you mean, what are we gonna do? She's coming."

Cashmere held up her hands in surrender. "I'm only saying, she pushed Boggs into that pod." Katniss's eyes fell to the pastel carpet. "She's a liability. If she's unstable we can't possibly move farther into this hornet's nest. We'll all get killed."

Johanna cleared her throat and straightened her posture, mimicking the posture of the older woman beside her. "If you want to go back to camp, Soldier Corun, do so now." Cashmere crossed her arms over her chest but didn't reply. "Soldier Everdeen is moving forward with us."

"All due respect," Soldier Black stated, "but this may be a mistake. Your judgment is clearly clouded by your emotion." Her eyes darted down to Katniss, who was digging the cuffs into her wrists in an attempt to channel the pain into focus. "Not that it was entirely her fault, what happened to Soldier Boggs, but still." The soldier sighed and ran her fingers through her black mop of curls. "Look, I will protect you with my life, you have my word." Johanna's hostile face softened a bit. "But it's not fair to Katniss that if one of us tries to protect you, she may inadvertently cause our death."

"Katniss is essential to this mission."

"Is she?" Soldier Black balked. "Or did you just want your girlfriend back?" Johanna's jaw twitched and Katniss saw the rise of pink flush on her neck. "This is bullshit and you know it. Everyone knows it." She looked around the group for support, but no one would meet her eyes. Johanna knew it was because they didn't disagree. "Soldier Everdeen is a crack shot, and she deserves a chance to fight for this rebellion. But she's also mentally unstable. The combination of deadly and unpredictable makes her a liability. If you cared about her well-being at all, you'd have kept her away from this."

Johanna seethed. "Don't make any presumptions about me or my feelings, Soldier. Like it or not, Boggs put me in charge and I say we are going to Snow's mansion and I say Katniss is coming. If anyone objects to her being here, you can turn around and go back to camp." Johanna's eyes moved across the room, meeting the gazes of everyone in there. No one said a word. "She'll stay cuffed, for now. Soldier Black, you can have her key. If we get into any trouble, I want her to be able to defend herself, understood?" The tenacious soldier nodded as Jackson took a step forward to place the key in her palm. "Now, the Holo showed us that there's a courtyard behind this apartment, but I'm sure that the Peacekeepers already know that. They're probably swarming closer as we speak."

"We should go back the way we came," Katniss suggested. There was a chorus of dissent but Katniss persisted. "The goo, it's not deadly to touch." She pointed to Gale's shoe. "It might have even deactivated the pods up ahead. And they probably won't expect us to go through the streets."

Johanna shot Soldier Black a smug, I-told-you-so glare. Pollux made a few gestures to his brother. "Might have coated the lenses of the cameras, too," Castor translated.

"So it's settled," Jackson stated. "Johanna takes point and the mission is to assassinate President Snow. Let's move."

Soldier Black went to uncuff Katniss but she jerked her hands out of the other woman's reach. "No. Keep me like this. Johanna said. I'm of no use if one of you dies protecting Johanna," Katniss combatted. "And when I feel myself slipping a little the pain helps me focus." Her eyes flicked to Johanna, whose immediate wash of sympathy was replaced with understanding.

"Keep her cuffed but load her gun, like I said. Don't make me repeat myself, soldiers. It's fucking annoying." Katniss gave an appreciative smile to Johanna as she led them to the door. Johanna peered down at the limp, bloodied body of Boggs.

"We have to leave him," Jackson ordered in a soft voice. "He'll only slow us down. He would understand." Johanna reached down and snatched his necklace with his ID from within his armor and put it in her pocket. She took his gun and tossed it to Cressida.

"Masks on," Johanna ordered, swallowing her emotions. Soldier Black affixed Katniss's mask to her face, a sympathetic smile on her face. Johanna opened the Holo with Jackson and Finnick flanking her sides. They moved slowly through the blackened road, boots squishing in the oil that coated the streets nearly ankle-deep.

Katniss had been right about the pods. The street ahead was littered with the golden bodies of tracker-jackers; another set of apartments were crumbled to the ground. Once the oil petered out they walked even more deliberately, with Gale and John stepping out ahead of Johanna to sweep for pods. Finnick armed Castor and Pollux with rifles off some dead Peacekeepers.

"Time to nut up, gentlemen," she announced, shoving the guns into their hands. She grinned at them as they put the weapons over their shoulders and held onto their cameras. "What, did you think you'd just get to stand there behind the camera during this glorious revolution?" Castor chuckled. "I mean you're not nearly pretty enough to be in front of the camera." Both brothers gaped in mock offense. Finnick nudged Pollux with her shoulder. "Maybe Cressida is, but she refuses to be on camera. I've tried." They walked past a long corridor and Finnick cackled, tossing her head back. "Too late. Look around! You're a star!" she mocked in an exaggerated, Caesar Flickerman-type accent.

The group stopped in their tracks and looked to where Finnick was pointing. On the walls of the street were larger than life wanted posters of the entire group, including the camera crew. Cashmere chuckled. "A little sample of the life of a victor in the Capitol. Everyone wants you, and most of them want you dead."

"Look at your cheekbones, Cress," Johanna pointed out. "Damn, that's a flattering photo of you. And you didn't like my Soldier Smolder nickname. Now I'm sure all of Panem will agree with me."

"Shush, Johanna," Cressida admonished, but there was a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. Katniss dug her handcuffs into her wrists. She saved the life of her camerawoman in Eight. President Coin's words floated back into her ears. Cressida wasn't a threat. Johanna was joking. Katniss winced as the cuff broke her skin.

"She's got a point," Finnick agreed, sauntering over to the posters. She posed in front of Cressida's and mimicked the face in the photo, sucking in her cheeks. "Nearly as good as my poster, but I've really got the rebellion face, you know?"

The group snickered at Cressida's expense. "Very funny, Four-Five-One," Jackson remarked with a smirk. "Let's keeping moving, we-"

Explosions rocked the street, opening up small black chasms in the brightly colored stones. A pod of barbed wire exploded from the street, scooping Messalla up off the ground. Cashmere and Gale unloaded their guns, but nothing would take the pod down. The netting shrank considerably, cutting the young man into pieces before their eyes. Bits of his flesh squeaked through, squishing to the ground in front of them. His screams shook the group until Soldier Black uncuffed Katniss and nodded.

"Use your explosive arrow," she instructed. "Don't let him die like this."

"An apartment!" John shouted, getting the attention of the horrified squad. They funneled into a nearby apartment building, except for Katniss who readied her arrow. Messalla was too cut up to notice the mercy but Katniss quickly unloaded the arrow from the doorway of the apartment, killing the diminutive man on impact.

Once Katniss entered, they barricaded the door shut against the onslaught of pods outside. Soldier Black recuffed Katniss and gave her a pat on the back. John whipped his attention around at the group and took a quick count. Everyone was accounted for, except for Messalla. "They must have triggered the pods remotely." Gale nodded sagely. John looked to his sister. "What's the next move?"

Johanna's eyes widened briefly. Katniss watched her, trying to scrutinize the emotions playing across her face. Uncertainty, fear, courage. Katniss's eyes dropped to Johanna's arm bandage, which was beginning to soak through. "Your arm," Katniss whispered, raising her hands to inspect it, only to find herself cuffed. She sighed in disappointment. Jackson followed Katniss's eyes and broke open the first aid kit.

"Let's start by ruling out possibilities," Finnick suggested. "The street is not a possibility."

"The rooftops will be the same," Soldier Black added. "Snipers."

"Underground," Gale offered quietly. He locked eyes with Katniss and Johanna. Underground. Like where all their fathers died. The creeping feeling of claustrophobia came over Katniss and she smacked her back into a nearby wall, dropping to her butt.

Jackson made another bandage tourniquet around Johanna's arm. "Is there a way into the sewers?" Johanna asked, wincing as Jackson pulled the gauze tightly.

"These apartments have a chute that lead directly into the sewers. These middle units are undesirable for that reason," Castor explained. Finnick raised her eyebrow and smirked. "Relatively speaking. I mean, it's not safe down there, but if it's our only option, we'll have to do it."

"I think the pods may keep the Peacekeepers at bay, at least for a small bit. They probably think we died," Cashmere offered. "Is there food in here?"

Castor nodded. "Most likely. I'll show you places to check. They might have not kept the food in their cabinets."

"They hoarded?" Soldier Black spit out, disgusted. Katniss smirked; nothing in 13 was as repulsive to them as wastefulness and hoarding. "Isn't that illegal?"

"It's considered foolish not to," Castor said. "Even before the rebellion, people were stocking up."

"Fortunately for us they did," Gale replied. The former Capitol residents scrounged around in places they knew to hide food, coming up with just about enough for everyone. Soldier Black unlocked Katniss's cuffs before taking her ration, allowing the young brunette access to her can of food. Johanna slid down a wall and plopped on her butt, despondently digging into her can of chowder.

"Let's rest," Jackson ordered. "Once everyone has eaten, we'll sleep in two shifts of two hours. First shift to sleep will be Cressida, Castor, Pollux, Soldier Hawthorne, Soldier Mason Beta, and Soldier Everdeen. Second shift will be Soldier Black, Soldier Corun, Soldier Mason Alpha, Soldier Odair, and myself. Shift starts in thirty minutes."

Jackson sat down next to Johanna, unstrapping all of her weapons from her armor. Johanna leaned into Jackson's shoulder, trying to glean her warmth through her thick layers of clothes. Katniss was with Soldier Black on a couch, going through a relatively safe game of Real or Not Real. The rest of them settled around the room; Finnick, Gale and Cashmere made small talk in a corner. Castor and Pollux went over some footage they'd captured with Cressida, whose wide blue eyes were glassy with unshed tears. She remained stoic, however, nodding and humming to what the brothers had reeled in.

Around an hour later, after she'd finished her ration and the first shift had fallen asleep, Jackson glanced at Johanna. "You can't blame yourself for what happened to Boggs," Jackson said. Katniss perked up when she heard the woman's voice. She had her cuffs back on, unable to sleep, with her eyes trained on the ceiling. Johanna blinked up at Jackson and pulled her chin in to see the older woman's face. "I know you do. I can see it."

"I can add him to the ever-growing list of people I've killed." Johanna produced the ID necklace from the pouch she'd stored it in, dangling it in front of them. "He has a son. A kid, back in Thirteen." Johanna's eyes took on a serious intensity. "If I don't make it, you have to -"

Jackson chuckled. "Johanna, if you die, I'll have been dead a while before that." Johanna furrowed her eyebrows together. "I plan on you having a long life. And I can, and may, die to make sure that happens. To make sure you see your mission through. So, if you die, it'll be way after I've died to try and prevent it."

Katniss closed her eyes, listening to the intimate conversation between the two women. The tone Jackson took with Johanna was much gentler than she was with anyone else. It seemed to Katniss that the experienced soldier had taken Johanna under her wing. Curiously, in a way that didn't make Katniss jealous. It was something Johanna needed desperately. Reassurance and confidence. Especially because Katniss was sure the traps that lay in store for them wouldn't get easier as they got closer to Snow.

Johanna tilted her head. "Do you have any kids back in Thirteen?" Jackson's eyes lost Johanna's as she looked down at the carpet. Jackson nodded. "Married?" She nodded again.

"The pox took them both," Jackson revealed, swallowing a lump in her throat. "My daughter was a teenager." Jackson's bleary eyes blinked back tears. "She was a good soldier. Farsighted, like me. Stubborn, like her father." Jackson gave her a grim smile, which quickly fell from her face. "Unfortunately she caught the pox early on, before we even knew what was happening. It took her in a few days. I lost my husband shortly after."

"I'm sorry," Johanna murmured.

"We all have our losses," Jackson replied evenly. "You know that as much as anyone. Snow has taken a lot from you. That's why you have to lead us." Jackson threw her arm over Johanna's shoulder and brought her in closer. "You have been given a responsibility here to these people. To keep them alive for at least as long as it takes to complete the mission. And they, in agreeing to come with us, have agreed to die for it. We all want to see an end to Snow's tyranny, and you're our best shot."

"And what can I promise in return? Not even a quick death, knowing Snow." She eyed Katniss before turning her gaze to Jackson.

Jackson shrugged. "I don't know about them, but I don't want anything in return from you. I want you to live. You've earned it."

"I'm going to make him pay," Johanna responded in a low growl. "I am going to kill Snow."

"And you will, Soldier Mason, or we'll die trying." The two raven-haired women fell into a long silence. Katniss willed herself to stay awake. Sleep only brought nightmares, and there was no Prim here now to drag her from the depths of that unconscious horror. It was a losing battle until Jackson spoke again. "What are you going to do about her?"

Johanna sighed. "I don't know. I don't know why President Coin sent her here. I don't think she'd want to kill me." Silence. Katniss fought the urge to open her eyes. "It wouldn't make any sense. She needs my endorsement after Snow is gone. She said she wanted me in her corner. Plus, Katniss doesn't want to kill me anymore. She wants to protect me, she just can't recognize threats anymore."

"You're right," Jackson said carefully. "President Coin is not a woman who does things recklessly. Sending Soldier Everdeen to us may have just been for propos. Showing the rebellion how even someone who was in the Capitol's clutches calling for a cease-fire is now fighting for us. Plus, all of Panem knows how much she means to you, and you to her. It might've been meant to be inspiring. But..."

"But?"

Jackson compressed her lips, evidently rather hesitant to continue. "But the war is almost over. She couldn't have anticipated comms going down and us losing our base camp, but she had to know we wouldn't get much done before the last resistance fell. It was either a good faith gesture for you, or..."

"Or she wants me dead," Katniss finished for Jackson, her eyes snapping open to stare over at them. Katniss lowered her gaze to her handcuffs. "You're all here to protect Johanna and when that happens, I go mutt. If it got out of hand, she'd expect one of you to kill me."

Johanna's face went stone still. Jackson eyed Katniss warily. "No one is going to kill you, Soldier Everdeen."

"That's what you say, but that's not what would happen if I nearly killed Johanna." Katniss shrugged her shoulders. "If she wanted me dead, this is the best place to send me. Right into another arena. Maybe this time the death with stick."

"This is the worst place to send you," Finnick piped up from her corner. Cressida was asleep with her head on Finnick's thigh, and the fair-haired victor spoke softly. "Because here, there are four victors, three soldiers, and three Rebels from the Capitol all with your back." Finnick offered Katniss a smile. "We remember who the real enemy is, Katniss. It's not you. I'll knock you out and drag you to the Capitol if anything happens."

"I'll help her," Jackson said with a sly smile. Katniss leaned back into the couch. Her brain was muddled from all the support these people were giving her. Johanna was correct that recognizing threats was an issue. All these victors and rebels and soldiers that she had calculated as various threats, they were her friends. If not her friends, then Johanna's, and by proxy they'd protect her too. "Get some rest, Soldier Everdeen."

Easier said than done.

The chute into the sewers was too small for the insect cameras, so the two men took them off and shoved them into a closet. It was more of a mark of their presence than they wanted to leave, but there was no way to destroy them. The squad traveled down into the sewers carefully, mindful of the active pods. Nobody wanted to relive the horror of Messalla's death again.

"Fuck, that smell," Cashmere groaned, holding her free hand over her mouth. "It's like the intestines of a corpse shit itself."

"Charming," Gale ribbed with a smirk. "But surprisingly accurate." A recuffed Katniss followed behind the main group, with Soldier Black and Jackson behind her. Johanna and John swept for pods on the word of Pollux. They dodged empty cargo trains and potential shifts of the Avoxes who worked in the dank sewer, all on the word of the Avox-turned-cameraman who was apparently worth more than one thousand Holos.

Johanna stopped and held the group up. She turned around and went toward Katniss. "Uncuff her and give her the bow and quiver back," she ordered. Soldier Black nodded and unlocked the cuffs. She handed Katniss her bow and Katniss shouldered the quiver. Johanna pocketed the handcuffs and the key. "You'll need to use the explosive arrows to hit the pods. Okay?"

Katniss nodded. "Okay."

"Come up front with me." Katniss followed Johanna to the front of the line. Pollux motioned to the ceiling. "There. Blow it up." Katniss unloaded her arrow and a nest of rats exploded to the ground in a gray and red shower of flesh and fur. "The meat grinder pod is up ahead, we'll have to go right, once we -"

A guttural, awful sound erupted from the normally mute Pollux. Johanna and Katniss turned together, just in time to see Castor getting lifted into the air by a beam of light. Bullets riddled around it but it was of no use. Silently and quickly, all of Castor's flesh melted off like candlewax to the floor.

"Nothing we can do for him," Katniss said, turning around. "We have to keep moving. We have to -" A hissing noise interrupted Katniss's speech. Her nose filled with the scent of roses. Her mind filled with Johanna's name and the vein-deep desire to kill her. She found herself unconsciously forming the other girl's name. Her eyes went wide and she put her bow around her back. "Cuff me again," Katniss urged. "Johanna, cuff me."

"What? Why?" Johanna looked behind them only to then hear what Katniss heard. Her name. Johanna. Low and menacing, hissing like a viper. The group all turned in different directions, their guns aimed around them. Soldier Black saw the mutts first. Lizard-like men crawled on the sewer floor, rushing toward them. Their hiss was Johanna's name, which Johanna then heard being whispered by the girl next to her.

"Move!" Johanna ordered. The group took off running, Johanna and Pollux leading them. They made a sharp right and careened down another hallway. Johanna spun to shoot and activate the meat grinder pod, sending some, but not all, of the lizard mutts into the grinder in the ground. The unusual sight of Cashmere kissing Gale, then her screaming at him, brought her attention downward. Johanna couldn't pick up the words over the chorus of mutts chanting her name.

Soldier Black and Cashmere took off down the hallway back toward the grinder. "Poppy!" Katniss called, but the soldier either didn't hear her, or didn't turn around.

Katniss pulled Johanna forward and they continued down the sewer, the remaining mutts bearing down on them. Katniss whirled around and fired her arrows indiscriminately, blowing up mutts or just hitting them with a regular arrow, making them writhe and hiss in pain. The cacophony of their voices rattled in her brain and she tried to block it out. It was a trigger. The words, the smell of roses. It was all meant to do one thing: turn her against Johanna.

She turned and aimed an arrow at Johanna's back as the other girl rushed Cressida up a ladder. Her brain was screaming to fire it. Kill Johanna. Then it would stop. Then she could breathe, she could think. She could -

A hand clamped on her shoulder and Gale yanked her back. He roughly grabbed her bow and put it over his shoulder. "Go up the ladder, Katniss!"

"I can't. I can't. It needs to stop." Katniss held her hands over her ears as Gale pushed her toward the ladder. "Leave me down here with the mutts. I'll distract them."

"You're not dying, Katniss! I won't let you. I promised. Now go up the ladder!" He screamed in her face. Katniss was briefly confused as she saw wetness around his eyes and the bloodshot whites around his irises. Johanna looked behind her as Katniss and Gale brought up the rear of the squad. Jackson helped the pair of hunters up, and then nodded for Johanna.

Johanna shook her head. "Don't be a hero, Mason," Jackson chided, pivoting around to shoot more of the mutts. "Go!" she ordered over her shoulder, inhuman squeals piercing their ears as more mutts fell dead. "Go!"

"I can't let you die," Johanna replied. "I won't and I can't. I've already lost -" She stopped herself. "Please."

Jackson rattled off the rest of her gun's magazine, tearing off her last grenade and lobbing it over their heads toward the lizards. Their eyes met meaningfully. "Fine," Jackson relented in exasperation, "but you first."

"Hold onto my leg," Johanna said as she climbed the ladder, and she felt the faint tug of Jackson's hand on her pant leg as she did so. They scrambled up into a utility room and Johanna took out the Holo and whispered into it. "Nightlock nightlock nightlock," she whispered, and dropped it into the sewer. The group took cover as it exploded, and flesh and blood rained down on them from below. Gale and John snapped the lid of the entrance closed and locked it behind them.

Katniss began shivering hard. "I can't do this!" she yelled, wrapping her hands tightly around her torso. It was all she could do to not seize Johanna. Her nails dug into her own flesh through her shirt. "I can't. Make it stop," she pleaded, wild eyes falling on Johanna. Johanna was her only hope. She would understand that Katniss wanted to die. Nobody else understood her, but Johanna did.

Johanna came forward and braced her palms on Katniss's shoulders. "This is what he wants. He wants me to lose you. I won't. I won't give him the satisfaction. Fight it," she seethed.

"I can't do it, Johanna, please," Katniss begged. "Please. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to."

Johanna sucked in a deep breath, moving to cup Katniss's face. She searched her unfocused eyes before tipping upward and pressing their lips together in a fierce, closed-mouth kiss. Katniss's trembling began to wane, though her eyes were wide open, staring into Johanna's deep brown ones. Johanna pulled back slowly, keeping their foreheads touching. "Don't go," she whispered against Katniss's lips. "You are mine, and I am yours."

Katniss blinked rapidly. The hut. The night before the second reaping. The day out in the meadow when they'd kissed for the first time. The Training Center. All flashes of times Johanna had kissed her blinked before her eyes. And that phrase, the one she'd uttered in the hut, after finally claiming Johanna as her own. It flooded her senses with a calm that forced the venom out, at least marginally so. "You are mine and I am yours," she repeated, feeling the words around in her mouth. They felt familiar and foreign all at once.

The corner of Johanna's mouth lifted. "Anything else is unthinkable."

Katniss nodded numbly. "Anything else is unthinkable," she whispered. And she meant it.

After a brief moment to regroup, they glanced around at what was available to lead them to safety. Pollux motioned to the ceiling. Without his translator it was hard to grasp what he was saying, but Cressida seemed to understand him. "The ladder," she said, motioning upward with her gun. "It leads to another apartment." Johanna climbed up first. She swept the room, pausing as she heard a door creak open. A woman dressed in ridiculous Capitol garb, a purple wig adorned with butterflies, walked in the room, lipstick smudged from the sausage in her hand. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Johanna.

Johanna raised her gun and shot the woman straight in the head. Her lifeless body smacked against the door and fell to the ground, blood pooling in her purple hair. Gale dragged her body into the apartment and dropped her in a separate room. The soldiers spread out into the apartment, leaning against furniture and walls to catch their breath. John put his hands on his knees, panting from effort. "This is everyone?" he asked, blinking around the room. Pollux stood in a corner, his forearm braced against the wall, weeping silently. Cressida stood next to Johanna, her skin pale and her lips bloodless. Jackson went to the window and gazed out into the streets. Gale tended to a gash in Finnick's neck from one of the mutts.

This was all that was left, Johanna thought. Her squad. The team she swore to protect. Now just her brother, her friends, two former Capitol residents, and one soldier. President Coin's words about sacrificing some lives for this rebellion seemed repulsive to her now. It was one thing to imagine rebellion, but another thing to see it. Death isn't as easy when it has a face. The face of sisters, brothers, and soldiers.

"Soldier Black and Cash held off the mutts at the grinder pod," Gale informed him grimly, his voice strained and tight. Cashmere and someone she didn't even know sacrificed their lives for her. Johanna's stomach tumbled in a mixture of grief and guilt. She crossed the room and pulled Gale toward her, enveloping him in a hug. He rested his head on the top of hers, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Katniss twitched, but stayed still. Gale must have felt something for Cashmere, Katniss realized. That's why she'd seen them kiss in the sewer before Cashmere took off toward certain death. Her heart squeezed in pain for her friend. How much more of this were they going to have to take? How many more lives would be lost?

"We have to get off the streets," Jackson said. "There are people everywhere. Capitol people, Peacekeepers. It won't be long before they realize we aren't dead."

Johanna looked to Cressida. The only person left who knew the Capitol well enough to get them to safety. Even if Pollux knew the area as well as he knew the underground, he was beyond inconsolable. "Cress?"

"I'm trying," she replied, her voice uncharacteristically strained. Her skin was so pale Johanna thought she could see her veins. Her tattooed vines looked even more striking against her head as the blood seemed drained from her. Certainly this was not what she had in mind when she joined the rebellion. Losing her close friends in such horrifying manners, it was like being a tribute in another Games. People in the Capitol weren't prepared to have to deal with that. "I know of somewhere, but it's not ideal."

"Anything is better than sitting here like fish in a barrel," Jackson replied. She glanced around. "We'll have to disguise ourselves. Especially our victors here," she mentioned, motioning around the room.

"Right," Cressida breathed, shaking her head. "Let's get some cloaks and make-up on. We'll be easy targets in our uniforms, and the victors will be spotted immediately."

They dressed in long jackets and scarves, hiding their weapons and armor underneath the flowing cloaks. They tied their boots around their necks and put on ridiculous shoes. Cressida and Finnick took over applying make-up to the entire squad, even distressed Pollux. Their faces were all over wanted posters, as well as Pollux and Cressida possibly being recognized by acquaintances.

Johanna looked at John, clad in a pair of neon green spats and a deep magenta coat, and a smile broke out on her features. John looked over at her and frowned sourly. "Quit it, Jo! I look ridiculous," he groused.

"You look like Caesar Flickerman," Johanna joked, ruffling John's hair before he pouted and pulled the hood over his head. Seeing her uptight brother with blue lipstick on and powdered cheeks made Johanna giggle, and she slapped her hand over her mouth at her brother's warning look. "Make sure you get this on camera, Cress," Johanna called to the blonde. John huffed indignantly.

Jackson interceded in between the two siblings. "Let's go, soldiers," she chided in a stern voice. "We need to move."

"Where are we going?" John inquired, looking around Jackson to Cressida, who was tying a scarf around Katniss's face.

"A fur shop," Cressida informed. "The owner knows Cinna, I think. Plutarch, too. I'm hoping that's enough to get us somewhere safe."

"If she knows Cinna, she'll help us," Johanna assured the blonde. "Thank you."

Cressida's lips quirked upward briefly before falling back into a line. There was no time for levity, not really. Outside laid a twisting layout of streets, choked with people who could identify any one of them and get them all killed. The Capitol people would be just as dangerous as the pods.

The shop wasn't too far from where they had come up from the sewers. Cressida led the group, chattering in a high-pitched voice about finding the right furs to wear this winter. They navigated the sea of Capitol people and one wave of Peacekeepers until they got to the shop. It was a small, nondescript shop of specialized fur items and undergarments. The bell jangling above her head as she walked in, and Katniss had a hard time not staring at the woman behind the counter. The woman was so distorted to the point of being somewhat repulsive; her face was tattooed with stripes, and whiskers implanted in her skin. She looked almost like a mutt. Katniss shivered.

"Tigris, it's me," Cressida said, taking off her hood and unwrapping her scarf. "Cinna sent us. He said you could help us."

The woman snarled, not unlike Buttercup, until Johanna took off her hood and scarf as well, and revealed herself. The shopkeeper's amber, squinting eyes widened a bit in recognition. She looked at the old television, blaring a broadcast of the wanted status of the people in the shop, then back to Johanna warily. Detecting a threat, Katniss stepped forward. "Did Snow ban you from the Games?" Johanna asked softly, canting her head to the side. That's who she was, Katniss realized. A stylist. That's how someone so grotesque knew someone as ridiculously flawless as Cinna. The woman growled in displeasure, her tail flicking. "I'm going to kill him, you know."

Her lips stretched into what could be described as a smile and she gestured for Johanna to follow her. Johanna met eyes with Cressida, who shrugged, so she followed the woman. Katniss anticipated a trap and stayed close to Johanna's back. Tigris pushed a panel to the side, revealing a dark set of stairs that led into a dank space with no light.

The space turned out to be a basement storage area filled with discarded furs and the plumbing for the building. It was the perfect place to hide, and Johanna flashed the woman a smile before she closed the panel and they heard the shuffle of the clothes rack being moved back in front of it.

They each shucked off their excessive clothing, and Finnick found a faucet with a tap. Once it cleared of rust she cupped the water in her hands and drank from it, then splashed it over her face. Soon she was dousing herself with the water, matting down her blonde locks and slicking them backward with her hands. John joined in next, eagerly getting rid of the blue make-up Cressida had applied on him. Johanna unlocked Katniss's cuffs and brought the girl over to the sink to wash off the blood on her wrists. "Prim would be very disappointed," Johanna chastised, rubbing Katniss's pulses with her thumbs to get rid of the dried crimson flakes. "Letting yourself get an infection. You grew up in a house of healers. You should know better than to wound yourself like this."

"Sorry, Mom," Katniss replied sarcastically. Johanna shot her a playful glare as she fixed up Katniss's wrist wounds and put the handcuffs in her pocket. Cressida and Pollux made beds for everyone, arranging the piles so each of them had a small pod of furs to sleep on. Tigris brought down food for them and they each retreated to their beds and ate the fig cookies and vegetable chowder quickly so they could get to sleep. None of them had gotten more than a fitful nap since the pods went off and all of them were in various states of exhaustion, both mentally and physically. Jackson decided to forgo a watch that night, in favor of letting everyone get some uninterrupted sleep.

After only about a half an hour or so, most of the group was asleep. Johanna was nestled next to Jackson with her head on the older woman's shoulder. Her brother lay on the other side of the older woman, not quite touching Jackson, but close enough to make Katniss smile. Katniss watched them from the other side of the room, sluggishly realizing why Jackson and Johanna's relationship seemed so familiar. How oblivious had she been this whole time? Johanna saw a mother figure in Jackson. They favored each other enough in appearance to look related, with dark eyes and dark hair, and Jackson had some of the qualities of Johanna's father, but the softness of the mother Johanna had lost. Johanna was projecting all her insecurities about being an orphan on Jackson, who soaked it up because she had lost her only daughter. It was a perfect match. It warmed Katniss's heart to see how the older woman had taken to Johanna. Johanna had lost so much already, it was nice to see her gain something.

Katniss fell into sleep, delving into a particularly harrowing nightmare in which she, Johanna, and Prim were trapped underground in the sewers, with water rising to their chests. The lizard mutts skated through the water like crocodiles, skimming toward them faster than they could swim. The murky water rose above her neck, filling her lungs and choking her nostrils until she couldn't breathe and couldn't see past her own hand. She fought her way to the surface, gasping and screaming for either of the other girls, but they were gone. The lizard mutts hissed Katniss's name from behind her, until she felt one of their scaly hands wrap around her ankle and drag her underneath the water.

Katniss's plaintive whines and sobs awoke Johanna from across the room. Considering the past few weeks, she was unsure of whether or not her touch could placate the taller girl anymore. Only one way to find out, of course, and kissing her had gone pretty well. She extricated herself from Jackson as unobtrusively as possible and plodded across the room to Katniss's bed. Johanna settled in behind Katniss's trembling and gasping form, tracing her hand up and down the girl's arm. She leaned into her hair to speak in low tones. "Shh, Katniss, I'm here. It's okay," she cooed. "You're safe."

Katniss startled awake, and Johanna tightened her grip to help ground her. Katniss peered over her shoulder, sucking in deep lungfuls of the damp air in the basement. She could just make out Johanna's eyes in the darkness and they were painted with worry. She felt marginally more relaxed in Johanna's arms, and decided she wanted the other girl closer. Katniss shuffled around to face Johanna, gripping the lapel of Johanna's shirt in her fist. Her body was still shuddering as the images of her nightmare began to seep out of her brain. "Thank you," she whispered, nuzzling into Johanna's neck.

Johanna laid there quietly, wrapping her arms around the other girl in a tight hold, as if she were holding her back from being swallowed by the world. "This is what we do for each other, brainless." Katniss let out a short, soft chuckle at the nickname. "Someone once told me that if I needed strength, she'd be my strength." Katniss blinked up at Johanna as that memory slogged back into the forefront of her brain. "Real or not real?"

Katniss smiled. "Real." She snuggled into Johanna's arms and heaved a sigh. "This is so... familiar and comfortable," Katniss breathed with obvious relief. "Like when you kissed me." Johanna pulled back to get a better look at Katniss's face, her eyebrows furrowed. "When you kissed me, I felt more normal than I have in weeks."

"Me too." Johanna moved her hand up to brush hair from Katniss's face, gazing down into her gray eyes. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," she confessed, her voice cracking at the end of her words. She blinked back her tears and inhaled in a deep breath to try and steady herself. "I'm sorry, I know that's not fair. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, or to feel anything. I just -" Katniss threaded her fingers in Johanna's hair and pulled her in for a soft kiss. It was slow and methodical, as Katniss moved her lips in a tentative rhythm against Johanna's, trying to remember exactly what it was like to kiss her. Her heart picked up its pace and she darted the tip of her tongue out, swabbing Johanna's lower lip. Johanna's tongue replied in kind, opening up Katniss's mouth gently before sweeping inside. Johanna screwed her eyes shut as she fought hard to suppress a groan at the feeling of finally kissing Katniss again.

Katniss's breath caught in her throat. A thousand moments flashed through her mind of having Johanna like this, feeling the heat of her body and the soft probing of her tongue. Katniss felt her stomach fill with a familiar fire that spread into her lungs and down into her loins. It was everywhere at once and it made the kiss more feverish, more desperate than she could have imagined. Katniss folded the material of Johanna's shirt in her hand and pulled the girl flushed against her.

Johanna pulled away first, her chest heaving and her eyes wide. Her panting breaths bounced off Katniss's lips and Katniss seized Johanna in another fierce kiss. For something so passionate, Katniss felt more at peace than she had since before Johanna's reaping. Finally, she felt some small inkling of the intense love they shared. They separated again and Katniss relinquished the hold she had on Johanna's shirt, instead placing her hand flat on Johanna's sternum. The teenagers settled into one another comfortably, as they'd done many times before. As if no time had passed. Johanna's kiss tingled on her lips, and the only other sensation Katniss could feel was the overwhelming ache for more. She could never be satisfied with just a kiss from Johanna.

"Hot." The strange voice came from a few makeshift beds away, and both girls immediately recognized it as Finnick's put on, sultry tone. Katniss burrowed closer into Johanna and the raven-haired victor glared in the general direction of the voice.

Johanna rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Finnick. Go to sleep."

They heard Finnick chuckle. "I'm trying, but two hot chicks won't stop making out like ten feet away from me."

"Shut up, Finnick."

"I'd say, 'make me' but I'm afraid you'll come over here and kiss me, too. I'm a married woman now, Mason. You had your chance."

Katniss gripped Johanna's shirt. Johanna groaned, "Shut up, Finnick."

After more of Finnick's good-natured chuckling, the basement fell into silence once again. Katniss's bleary eyes fluttered closed, breathing in the scent of Johanna's skin. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had felt the sense of calm inside her that only Johanna could inspire. The venom was there, ever-present, but Johanna's skin, and voice, and her breathtaking kisses made it all feel much less overpowering. If only for just those moments, she felt like herself.

Katniss heard Johanna's breathing begin to get shallow and she softly murmured, "I've missed you, too, Jo."

The next few days were quiet for the squad. But like the eerie calm before a torrential storm, all of the former victors and soldiers were ill at ease. Tigris kept them fed and informed on the Capitol offensive, and they took the time to recuperate from the array of injuries they'd suffered. Johanna's left arm was slowly losing its usefulness, and Jackson reckoned she had some muscle tearing. It wouldn't be long before she wouldn't be able to use it at all if they didn't get to a real hospital. Finnick's neck wound was healing all right, but she too needed some antiseptic and probably a stitch or two.

They congregated in the top of the shop on day three, just in time to see the latest Capitol broadcast. The faces of the last few they had lost - Castor, Soldier Black, and Cashmere - flashed on the screen. Johanna met Gale's eyes guiltily. She knew how close he'd gotten to the victor, and it was a death that weighed heavily on Johanna's shoulders. Another way she'd let Gale down. "They used her full name," Katniss said quietly. Johanna moved her eyes to the brunette and Katniss sighed. "Poppy. Soldier Black. I think she would've liked that." Katniss's gaze fell away and Johanna returned her own to the television set.

The broadcast continued, citing extreme food shortages and the danger of Capitol residents staying in their homes. Citizens were now expected to house fleeing Capitol refugees. Private residences and businesses alike were being forced to quarter anyone seeking refuge. Finnick patted Tigris on the shoulder.

"That's you." The tiger-woman purred. Finnick looked to the rest of the group. "That means we have to leave. So, who's the man with the plan?"

All eyes settled on Johanna. Katniss stood silently at her side, peering down at the victor. Johanna gulped and firmed her expression. "I make for the mansion. The rest of you get to safety. Find some rebels and meet up with them. If people are being forced out of their homes, that means the fighting is here, now. There's surely a rebel base close by. Or at least someone to recognize you."

Gale scoffed. "That's absurd. If you're going to the mansion, I'm coming with you. You're not deserting the squad without protection."

"No." Johanna protested. "You need to escort the camera crew. They're not soldiers." She eyed Pollux and Cressida. "No offense. You've both been amazing and gone well and above what Plutarch could have dreamed of. I couldn't have asked for better people to be in my crew, but I'm done putting your lives at risk."

Cressida raised her eyebrow. "We chose this. For the rebellion. For you." Cressida placed her hand on Johanna's arm. "We'll be your guide," she said, motioning between herself and Pollux. "You don't know where the mansion is from here. We do. It's only five blocks. We'll lead you there."

"And after? Is there a place you can go?"

Cressida shrugged. "Pollux and I know plenty of people here. If not, we'll find some rebels. Don't worry about us, Johanna," she said with a friendly smile. "We're not helpless Capitol people," she smirked. "Not anymore."

"Deal." Johanna looked over at Jackson. "You get everyone to safety."

Conflicting emotions played across Jackson's face. "You're not going alone, Soldier Mason. It's a suicide mission."

Johanna shrugged. "It might be," she replied casually. "That's why I'm here. It's why any of us are here." Johanna motioned around the room. "Everyone here has reasons to want Snow dead. I intend to do just that. For all of us." Johanna narrowed her eyes at Jackson. "Unless you believe that Snow is actually going make it to a trial." Jackson's deflected gaze gave Johanna all the information she needed to know. "Right. So we split up. We're safest that way, especially now that everyone in the Capitol is looking for us. We can't be seen in a group."

"So that means you go off to kill the President and the rest of us eat cream puffs in the Capitol?" Finnick asked, raising her eyebrow. "We're allies."

"You have a wife now, Odair," Johanna reminded sharply. "Think about how one of us is going to explain to Annie that you got murdered by Peacekeepers, and that she'll forever be without the person she loves most in this world. The only person who understands her." Finnick quieted down, a shadow crossing her face. Johanna turned to Gale. "And you have a family waiting on you to get back home. You've sacrificed your life enough times for me. Let me repay it. I don't like having any debts."

Gale's jaw twitched like he was going to object, but Johanna was firm. "I'll go with you," Katniss offered into the awkward silence.

Johanna took a step away from her and shook her head. "Absolutely not. I am not risking your life. Your mother and Prim would never forgive me." Her deep brown orbs fell to the ground. "I would never forgive myself."

"I'm the best protector that you have," Katniss contested in a stern voice. "And I am not leaving without you," she stated resolutely. "I am going with you."

Johanna and Katniss exchanged a long, silent stare. Katniss observed the battle waging in Johanna's eyes as she weighed Katniss's words carefully. That didn't seem like the Johanna she remembered from 12; the fiery, impulsive girl she'd known as a young teenager. Though Johanna was tempestuous, she always was rather logical. Katniss knew by appealing to both Johanna's emotional side and her logical side, she'd win. She did. Finally, Johanna gave her a nod of assent. "Fine. Cressida and Pollux will lead us through the streets until we get as close as possible to the President's mansion. Jackson will bring you all to the closest rebel base, and Katniss and I will infiltrate the mansion by blending in with the people assigned to relocate there."

Finnick sucked in a deep breath but gave Johanna a firm nod. "Fine. But we can't walk out there like this," she said, pulling at the fabric of her clothes. Even with their stolen garments, they were certainly recognizable. Especially Johanna, Gale, and Finnick. Anyone in the Capitol would be able to pick Finnick out of a crowd, due to her overwhelming popularity and striking beauty, and Johanna and Gale were the faces of the rebellion.

Tigris startled into action. Utilizing things from her own shop and their uniforms, she whipped them all into entirely different figures in less than an hour. With Cressida's makeup in hand, she was able to manipulate all of their features to make them look as unrecognizable, and Capitol-like, as possible. Finnick grinned at the woman once she finished, and gave her a hug as they began arranging for their departure. "Never underestimate the power of a great stylist," Finnick remarked with a wink.

Katniss could swear she saw the woman blush beneath her layers of makeup and tattooing, turning her gaze to the ground demurely. They assembled near the doorway, where snow was now accumulating on the busy streets and on the heads of the people bustling toward the city's center. People walked briskly, eagerly making their way to the President's mansion. Cressida and Pollux stood in front of the door as everyone filed in behind them. John went to stand behind Jackson, but Johanna pulled him backward into the store. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "John, listen."

John smirked. "That's what you said to me before the reaping," he reminded. "And I knew then what you were gonna say, and I know now." Johanna pursed her lips in amusement. "I will stay safe. I'll help protect everyone. I'll find you as soon as this is over."

Johanna's eyes became glossy as she stared into the deep brown eyes of her brother. Had it been only two years since she'd been in this situation with him, reminding him that he was the leader of their family if she was reaped? Now, there was no family to speak of, and Johanna needed him to survive to make sure there was something of them that came through this rebellion. Like Primrose, John was Johanna's hope for a better Panem. Johanna pulled her brother into a fierce hug. "You've gotta get back to that pretty blonde sister you like," she said with a wink, ruffling his hair again beneath his hood.

When they pulled away, Johanna fixed the collar of his burgundy overcoat and John firmed his eyes on his sister. "Kill him, Johanna. Promise me you'll kill him."

"I promise," Johanna replied without hesitation.

John smiled. "Good. Let's go." His face wiped of the young man Johanna remembered from the day of the reaping into the hardened face of a soldier. Johanna's chest swelled with pride as he weaved through the group to stand directly behind Jackson. She watched as the older woman hazarded a glance behind her and gave him a smile.

Katniss positioned herself next to Johanna, her face drastically changed underneath the makeup. Still beautiful, though, Johanna mused with a faint smile. Still the most beautiful girl Johanna had ever seen, from since they were children to now. The dusting of freckles on her cheeks, the crooked way she smiled, the angles of her face that Johanna wanted to trace with her fingertips; all of these things added up to the one person on the entire planet Johanna knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that completed her.

They each bid farewell to the shopkeeper and to each other, striding out into the freshly fallen snow and following their camera crew turned tour guides. Jackson made a movement with her hand and Finnick, Gale, and John broke off from the group to follow the older woman through an alleyway. Johanna watched them go with a pang in her heart. Her brother, her best friend, one of her closest allies, and a woman she'd come to care about a great deal, all going off on their own. Johanna wasn't sure she'd see any of them again. Not because their fates were up in the air - all four of them were excellent soldiers - but because her own survival at this point was rather dodgy. She trusted the two crewmembers that were left to be her guide, and her friend-turned-lover-turned-killer-turned-something else, to protect her and watch her back. The odds were not in her favor. Then again, they never were.

Gunfire ripped through the crowd, sending many of the Capitol residents on the ground. A mess of turquoise and orange and now blood red crimson splattered along the street. Katniss yanked Johanna over toward the shop windows. "It's rebels," Katniss shouted, pointing to the rooftops. Along the edges were clearly rebel soldiers, firing into the crowd. They were aiming for Peacekeepers, but failing miserably and hitting many of the refugees. Confused children wailed on their parents' lifeless bodies, imploring them to wake up. Other children were sprawled out dead in the street, their tiny, brightly colored coats splotched with blood and riddled with bullet holes. Their underdeveloped bones crunching under the indiscriminate feet of Peacekeepers and fleeing refugees.

A little girl lay dead at their feet, bits of her brain exposed through the cracks in her skull that some trigger-happy rebel had caused. Johanna noticed the glint of a mockingjay symbol on the headband tucked into her bloodstained blonde curls. She swallowed down the bile in her throat and allowed Katniss to move her along the edge of the shops toward the mansion. Another round of fire erupted and a pod in the block ahead of them was activated. Johanna watched in horror as dozens of people were parboiled where they stood, falling to the ground in a puddle of skin and exposed flesh. Their bones stuck out of their red muscles, looking like animals being boiled to make stock.

Purplish light flooded the street and Johanna and Katniss flattened their backs against a shop window, watching on as the light illuminated and lifted the people into the air. It was not unlike the hovercraft ladder that took them from the arena, electrifying them still. Except this time, the light was eviscerating them. Blood poured from their orifices, shooting out in all directions and splattering the survivors with blood. Johanna nearly vomited as she watched a little boy's eyes pop out from his sockets, dangling by the stringy tendons that had kept them inside his head. They banged against his throat limply as blood oozed from his now empty eye sockets and dribbled out of his mouth. This was an evil unprecedented, even for the Capitol. No one, not even Capitol residents, should've been subjected to such horrors. Johanna was running on pure anger.

The nightmarish scene made Johanna queasy, but she and Katniss pressed on determinedly. Cressida and Pollux were nowhere to be found now, and Johanna prayed that they made it to a safe building, and didn't meet the horrible fate of those whose corpses Johanna was now stepping over to get to President Snow.

They fell in line behind two old men, finally emerging into the Circle just as another pod opened up behind them, devouring Capitol citizens into a black seam in the center of the road. The black chasm that erupted from the street stunk of rotting corpses in summer heat, and the ground beneath their feet began to sway, even from a distance. The screams of those plummeting to their deaths were silenced almost immediately as the blackness consumed them. Whatever hell lay below the Capitol, it seemed exponentially worse than the hell that was the Capitol proper.

The pair of 12 natives doubled their pace to get further toward the towering mansion ahead of them. There were plenty of refugees inside the Circle already, bemoaning their losses and shivering in the cold. They'd never gone a day without heat, Johanna surmised, and now they were subjected to a harsher winter than they'd ever seen. But this was nothing compared to 12, and Katniss and Johanna marched forward with purpose.

"There are too many guards here," Katniss whispered. "How can we get in? With the rebels breathing down their neck, I'm sure they're not going to just open the doors wide for refugees. Even if Snow's still alive, I'm sure he's on a hovercraft out of here by now. We'll never get to him."

Johanna shook her head. "If Snow was going to leave, he'd have done so way before we set fire to his backyard. He's here, somewhere, watching us all turn to ashes. I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him."

They walked further into the Circle until they were close enough to the mansion to see the horrifying scene in front of the doors. A ring of children, from toddlers to teenagers, stood shivering and crying in a fenced-in area in front of the mansion. These were Capitol children. "He's using them as a shield," Katniss gaped in quiet horror. Her more practical side took over. "We'll never get in now."

Johanna saw the shadow of the hovercraft on the snow before she saw the craft itself. She dragged her eyes upward to the clouds, where a shining silver hovercraft with a gleaming Capitol symbol stopped above the crowd of children. About fifty or sixty silver parachutes drifted into the hands of the children. They grasped them greedily; Capitol kids knew that parachutes meant gifts, medicine, and possibly warmth. In the realm of the Hunger Games, it meant life versus death to receive one. The parachutes were a blessing.

Katniss and Johanna shared a wary look. Parachutes did mean life, but only if you were already in peril. It wasn't long after their tiny hands opened the strings that the parachutes exploded, rocking the Circle and nearly knocking Johanna off her feet. Blood and undersized limbs went flying in every direction. The wail of humans rang in the air like the emergency sirens in 13. Peacekeepers tore down the fence between the refugees and the children, allowing a flock of white-coated medics to flow in. Johanna's mouth went dry.

Johanna knew those uniforms. Those were rebel medics. Quickly, she scaled a nearby flagpole as best she could with her somewhat lame arm to get a better view of the destruction. Immediately she wished she hadn't. The scene that unfolded before her would be one that would haunt her dreams from that moment until the day of her death. Amidst the sea of white coats, Johanna noticed the stark burgundy figure. All the blood drained from her face as she watched him argue with one of the figures in white, waving his arms in the air rather frantically. Johanna recognized the other figure immediately. The telltale blonde braid. The young girl whipped off her coat to cover a dying child, exposing her untucked shirttail. John grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her from the scene, much to the loud objection of Primrose.

Johanna slid down the flagpole, bonelessly crumpling to the ground. She surged forward into a sprint to where she'd seen the two young teenagers, with Katniss confusedly, but closely, on her heel.

Until the second explosion. It was so bright, it was like staring into the sun.

Johanna heard her name being screamed.

Flames were everywhere. Balls of fire surged in the air and crashed down on the refugees, rebels, and Peacekeepers surrounding the Circle. Johanna felt the cold sensation of snow in her mouth as she was pressed into the ground, and felt the weight of a body crushing hers. The flames licked at her sides and her back, but she couldn't move. All she could feel was heat, even with the snow beneath her. She couldn't see anything as she tried to move her head around in the confusing moments that followed. The last thing her brown eyes took in before the pain robbed her consciousness from her, was a burgundy coat completely engulfed in flames.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Work is real busy at the moment, unfortunately. Thank you all for continuing to stick with me and this story. Everyone gets candy.

Thanks to Johannas-Motivational-Insults for her beta and for being a sounding board.