A/N: Thanks to everyone who reading and especially for the reviews!
My heart is racing. I can feel it pounding in my chest, thudding in my ears. The very sight of those bombers brought a wave of fear crashing over me. Rose directs the rebels to machine gun nests, and I follow her lead to one near the corner of the roof. She and another rebel are already setting up, firing at the bombers. There are only four, and one is hit repeatedly as it approaches. The plane erupts in flame and goes down somewhere to my right. I scramble into place but my hands are shaking and I can't get the arrow loaded. At least I have some of those explosive-tipped ones, since a regular arrow would probably bounce harmlessly off these aircraft. But by the time I've loaded one, bombs have dropped, targeting a few large buildings several blocks away, and the bomber are out of range.
"They'll loop back around. Keep watching." Rose calls out tersely.
On the next round, I try to take aim on the front bomber. They're moving so quickly, it's hard for me to judge the angle. After a split second adjustment, I let the arrow fly, but it doesn't find its target. Instead, it hits the wing of the third bomber, which spirals out of control and crashes into another building only blocks away. Seconds later, the front bomber is hit by gunfire from Rose and her team. At the same time it's hit from another direction, probably another rebel group on a nearby rooftop, and it falls from the sky. I can't believe it. We've taken out three of four bombers in minutes. Columns of black smoke are rising from where they went down.
Mind you, my shot was pure luck. It didn't come close to the bomber I was aiming for. I load another arrow and wait.
We watch for the lone remaining bomber to circle back around.
"Nice work," she says to me, her eyes still trained on the sky.
"Not really," I admit. "I wasn't aiming for that one. You were incredible though."
She smiles tensely. "Thanks. But, don't tell people that - about the aiming. A bomber down is a bomber down. All they need to know is you took it down."
We wait for the bomber, but it never returns. Finally, after a half hour, Rose gets a message on her communicuff and calls us back down. As we make our way back into the building, I ask her, "What were they targeting?"
"Their administration buildings. We're lucky, not many rebels in that area."
I remember that Bear is looking at Administration stuff and feel a tight fear knot my stomach. "Bear was looking at their records. You don't think ..?"
She looks at me sharply. "Spinner's friend? Is he even awake at this hour? Anyway, he's laid up, remember? He wouldn't be down there." Relief washes over me as we pound down the dim stairwell.
As soon as we're back in the main provisions center, Rose is back to business. She leads me from room to room, checking in with a few groups, efficiently taking in their progress and issuing commands before moving on. In each room, she takes a minute to introduce me, telling everyone that I've joined the provisions team and that I shot down one of the bombers today. Since that's basically all she says, it sounds like I'm some amazing rebel soldier. It's embarrassing; I worry they'll be disappointed by the reality. Still, it's clear that Rose has everyone's respect, and it's pretty impressive, seeing her in action. As we walk, she asks to see my map, and uses it to explain where the distribution centers are. She points to one not far from the apartment & infirmary, and tells me I should report there tomorrow. She explains that the distribution centers have only been open a couple of days, but they're working to transition from the dining halls to people getting food independently. The dining halls won't go away entirely, though, just get used by fewer people. Then an older guy calls out to her, catches up to us near the glass-enclosed break room, and tells Rose she's needed to fill out a report on the bombers.
"Be right back." She says, leaving me alone with my thoughts, which are still trained on those Capitol bombers. Were they trying to kill rebels, and we were just lucky? Or were they trying to destroy records of some kind? And what about the planes that crashed? Could they have hit any rebels? Could the pilots have survived?
I'm still waiting for Rose to come back when Spinner appears. He spots me from the hall and hurries in, giving me a quick hug before asking, "Maddie are you okay? Was anyone hurt?"
I shake my head, a bit slow to register his questions. "No, Spinner, I'm fine. Nothing hit here. Rose was fearless though. She reminded me of Rayf."
Then the sneaky smile spreads across my face. "Thanks again for the crossbow, it's coming in pretty handy."
His eyes widen, his hands grip my arms. "Wait, you mean ...?" I nod sheepishly, my cheeks burning. "Well, it wasn't the one I was aiming for, but like Rose said, a bomber down is a bomber down."
Spinner shakes his head at me, still beaming. "Maddie that's amazing. You're incredible." I can't help laughing at him.
Something over his shoulder catches my gaze; I look and see Rose, standing in the hall, watching us with an unreadable expression. When she sees me looking, she bites her lip. She doesn't look happy, that's for sure. She turns, hurrying away from us. Where's she going? Spinner's hands are still holding my arms. Wait, she doesn't think that I .. that me and Spinner are a thing, does she?
"Uhh, wait here, Spinner. I gotta go. I'll be right back." I sputter out before running after her down the hall.
Fortunately, she wasn't really trying to run fast, because I probably never would have caught her. She just wanted to get out of sight. When I round the first corner I almost run into her.
When she sees me, she turns away. I'm still catching my breath, but I can't let her run again. "Rose, wait. You've got the wrong idea."
She turns back to me, steely-eyed, eyebrows arched. She doesn't believe me. "The wrong idea? I know what I saw, Maddie. It's fine." It's obviously not fine, though, no matter how hard she's pretending.
"No, it's not Rose." I insist. "Spinner and I .. we're not like that. We're just friends. He was just excited about the bombers." I almost blurt out that Spinner likes her, but I stop myself. I know it's the truth, but shouldn't she hear it from him? "That crossbow, he got me that when we were in sector two. He was just excited that WE took out those bombers. It didn't mean anything, I swear."
"Why should I care? You two can be whatever you want," she says, feigning indifference.
I decide not to call her out on it. I hardly know her. "Okay, Rose, if that's how you feel. Fact is we're just friends. Now can we go back and find out why he's here?"
She take a deep breath, examining the wall in front of her. Then, almost reluctantly, she lifts her chin and leads me back. Spinner is anxious, having seen me race down the hall for no apparent reason, and he doesn't seem like himself. He says she's needed in command, that he came here to get her.
"Why didn't they just use the communicuff?" she grouses.
Spinner claims they wanted to "keep channels open" given the attack, which I doubt but I'm not going to say anything. He explains that one of the bombers came down practically on top of a distribution site, and they need her there.
It's not until after they're gone that I realize I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now.
After checking in at the closest dining hall for another tasteless meal of Capitol rations, I eventually find my way back to Marai's room in the infirmary. She's dying for news of the outside world, so I describe the whole bomber attack, and the issues with Rose. She's excited that the bombers got taken out and congratulates me on my hit even if it was accidental. She doesn't think I should worry about Rose - says she's smart and will figure things out soon enough. Still, I'm uncomfortable with the whole situation. When Spinner shows up, I drag him out into the hall. I have to convince him to ask out Rose already, for both our sakes.
"Well? What happened?" I demand.
"What do you mean?" he asks, confused.
"With Rose, you idiot. Did you ask her out?" He needs to tell her.
"No, not yet." When he sees my exasperation, he protests. "What? The distribution site, remember? We were a little busy."
"Fine," I relent. "But you do like her, right?"
His look says it all.
"Okay then. You've got to ask her, Spinner. I mean it. Did she tell you anything about when you came to the provisions center? She thought we were a couple, Spinner."
He looks at me like I'm crazy. "She thought what? That's crazy. I mean, no offense ..." I laugh. "I know, Spinner. I tried to explain it to her, really I did. But if you want her, you've got to make a move!"
He looks at me uncertainly. "What am I supposed to do? How can I ask her out when there are Capitol bombers attacking us?"
I grab his shoulders and look him directly in the eye. "Spinner, don't you get it? That's why you have to tell her how you feel. What if something happens to one of you? Do you want to live knowing you never told her? Wondering what would have happened?"
He inhales slowly and rubs his hand over his face, looking down to the ground. "You're right," he says. "I have to tell her."
"Good. Then maybe she won't hate me," I tease.
With my prodding, he decides he's going to find her first thing in the morning to ask her out. Now he just needs to plan a date!
That night there's a live broadcast from the Capitol, but it's not Peeta on screen this time. It's his prep team. I recognize them immediately. For our viewing pleasure, Snow has them executed on live television.
"Let this be a lesson to anyone who betrays the Capitol," I think.
"What do you think they did?" Johnny asks.
"Who knows?" says Marai cynically. "Maybe they gave Peeta the information about the bombing. Or maybe they just did their jobs. The Capitol doesn't believe in justice, only vengeance. Apparently Peeta's not their pet monkey anymore." I can't help but worry about what they've done to him.
That night they tell us what happened in sector one while we were gone. Marai talks about how the rebels were using the communicuffs to coordinate between groups. When the network went down, they were stuck in a vulnerable position without a way to communicate. When Marai explains how Carlo was shot by the Capitol troops, and Bear shot in the leg trying to get him to safety, everyone goes quiet. Then, slowly, they start sharing their memories. They talk about when they first met Carlo, and about the good times they shared, and the bad. Even I speak up, remembering the night Johnny first brought me to the apartment, when I first met Carlo. I hug Johnny to my side as story after story comes, and tears flow, as we remember his brother.
Afterwards, laying on the couch waiting for sleep to come, it strikes me how they had all needed that chance to grieve. They needed to say goodbye, together.
In the morning, Spinner's gone when I get up. I fix some tea and take an extra cup to Bear, whose expression brightens when he sees me. "Hey, I hear you're a rebel hero now," he says.
Spinner must have told him. I protest, "I missed and got lucky. That's less heroic than you, and everyone else here for that matter."
He lifts his eyebrows at me. "The way I hear it, you took one shot with that crossbow of yours, and it took down a Capitol bomber. Sounds pretty good to me."
"Well the way you hear it makes me sound way more awesome than I really am. In reality I was scared out of my wits."
"So you admit you're awesome?"
I roll my eyes and mutter, "If I say yes will you shut up about it?"
"What's the fun in that?" he teases.
When I finish my tea, I get ready and head out to the place on the map Rose marked for me yesterday. When I walk in the door of the distribution site, a woman, probably in her forties, walks over to greet me. She reminds me of Rose, actually.
"Morning, sweetheart. You must be Maddie Amelin, am I right?" she asks brightly.
I smile politely, "Yes, ma'am."
She waves her hand at me dismissively. "Oh, please, call me Naiya, dear. I hear we're gonna be working together! I'm just delighted. I hear you already met my Rose."
"Ohh!" I say, connecting the dots. "Your Rose. She's -" Naiya cuts me off, "My daughter, dear. Yes."
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms... I mean, Naiya. I hope you'll be patient with me while I learn the routine around here."
Naiya takes me by the arm and guides me away for a tour of the building. "Of course, dear. Let me show you around. We're just organizing provisions that came in last night. I'll introduce you to Tad and Sasha at our morning meeting. I'm so delighted we can provide something for the people of the district, aren't you?" I am, actually, though she doesn't give me a chance to say so. She keeps her narrative up through the whole tour, though it's a pretty simple layout. Scarcely taking a breath, she tells me about each little thing. It's a little overwhelming, but mostly it's great. Naiya is really upbeat, and I think I'll like working with her.