Gale

There's a loud buzzing noise, as if there's a large number of wasps right outside the hovercraft, and the next thing I'm aware of is the plane spiraling down. Effie drags Katniss out of her bedroom, and though I know she's probably still angry at me—and with a good reason, too; what I said was completely uncalled for—she doesn't hesitate in running towards me and hugging me. Unfortunately, this isn't the best time for physical affection.

"Haymitch, how much do you know about engines?" I ask, grabbing away his bottle of whiskey. He sputters indignantly for a second before finally shrugging at me. I roll my eyes, gravely annoyed, and snap, "Well, you're helpful." I look around at the Peacekeepers, who are all just standing around, as if expecting some other hovercraft from the Capitol to fly in and fix the engine.

"You!" I shout, glancing at a Peacekeeper whose badge reads PC13, code for being a Peacekeeper from District 3. "You must know something about engineering."

"Well, I—" he begins, but right now there isn't time for insecurity.

"Good," I snap, shoving him into the control room. "Keep the craft tilted to the right, and whatever you do, maintain contact with whoever's in the tower."

He actually salutes me, and I'm trying hard not to smile at this when he's gone. Then I turn around, and look at Effie, Haymitch, Portia and Katniss eyeing me, surprised. "What? I was a chief for a while in the mines." I know how to not lose panic, something that is surprisingly useful in situations like these.

Katniss comes up to me, Haymitch hot on her heels. "They heard us," she hisses angrily. I'm confused as to what exactly she is talking about until I see Haymitch, who's fuming so strongly I can almost feel the smoke coming out of his ears and nostrils.

"Do you think it has something to do with the engine?" I ask incredulously, because honestly I wouldn't have expected something like this.

"It had everything to do with the blasted engine!" Haymitch shouts out, finally exploding. I don't acknowledge his pun. Katniss doesn't take her eyes off of me. "Hell, Snow probably set up the engine himself just for this purpose! When you cut off both wings of a mockingjay, it's supposed to die. If you see it still hopping around, you cut off its legs. Simple as that!"

I'm slightly taken aback by his attitude. I've never in my 20 years of life seen the old drunk as angry as he is now. "Sir, with all due respect"—which is none, I don't bother to add—"if the Capitol wanted us dead, we'd be dead by now."

"They can't just kill us off," Katniss replies softly. "It would be too obvious. Instead they've planned this horrible—"

"We need oil!" shouts another Peacekeeper, poking his head out of the control room. Effie actually faints into Portia's arms, and Portia rests her on the sofa, fanning her with her hand.

"There should be an extra oil tank in the supply fridge!" I shout back, waving him towards the back of the plane. He looks at me, puzzled, as if he's not sure he heard me right. I don't blame him. I doubt they tell anyone about the extra oil tanks, since it's highly unlikely for Capitol aircraft to go down so unexpectedly. "Trust me! They keep it in there! Check the damn freezer!"

The Peacekeeper nods, looking more confident than before, and runs into the back room for the oil tank. I turn to Katniss, who's looking at me somewhat quizzically.

"How do you know all this stuff?" she demands, confused.

"I read up on military technology," I admit sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. She nods, but I can tell she's still somewhat in disbelief. I'm about to add something—an explanation, maybe, as to why I'm so interested in all this—when something stops us in our tracks. In a good way.

"It's fixed!" calls the Peacekeeper from inside the control room. There is a collective sigh of relief around the hovercraft and we all visibly relax back into our carefree positions. Then I realize that if the Capitol had, in fact, been looking to destroy our entire ship, that a large number of the Peacekeepers would've gone down with us.

A good price to pay, for the end of the mockingjay, I think guiltily, gulping down the phrase before it makes an audible exit.

I shrug my hunting jacket back on, but a woman named Portia, and some guy with bright orange hair and dark purple lipstick, stop me. "You won't be wearing that in Eleven," the guy says perkily, as if our near death experience just now never even occurred.

"Flavius has your outfit planned out," Portia explains, leading me into a small room with mirrors on each wall, and shelves decorating them. Numerous bottles are on display, some as large as my head and others as small as my thumb, all different shapes and colors. On one side of the room is a large, silver sink, with differently sized bars of soap and sponges. I realize it's not a sink at all, but a bathtub. It's so unlike anything in Twelve that for a second I'm unsure of whether or not it's for human use.

"Oh, just jump in!" gushes Flavius, snapping on a pair of medical gloves. He straps on a white paper mask that covers the bottom half of his face, and pulls on some sort of lab coat not unlike the one Dr. Aurelius wore when he went to check up on Katniss. "The right knob is for cold water, and the left knob is for hot water. It stuns me, really, that they even make right knobs anymore. Nobody I know bathes with cold water. Doesn't treat the skin well, you know. Also horrible. It's the opposite of a sauna. I hear that cold actually makes you get fatter. Oh," he adds with a chuckle, "who would want that, huh?" He goes on about the empty subject, and I'm awestruck at how Capitol citizens can blabber on about nothing at all.

I gingerly step into the tub and open the faucet, letting hot water stream onto my legs. It's certainly different than the baths we take in Twelve, and feels infinitely better than the biting cold outside. I sink in, lean my head back, close my eyes. It's really no wonder how some citizens in the Capitol have nothing, really, to complain about. Never a shortage of food, hot water on demand, instead of having to boil it an hour in advance. My hands rest on either side of me, and I must press a button accidentally because next thing I know, there's bubbles shooting from the sides of the tub.

"Aah!" I yell out, surprised. My hands rush to cover the little vents from which the water is shooting out, but they are pushed away, repelled even, by the force. I hear a laugh from across the room, and Flavius strides towards me, the corners of his eyes crinkled up in a smile I can't see.

"I see you've found the Jacuzzi button," he points out, reaching over to press a button a few feet above me. The bubbles stop instantly, and a pink tint starts to spread over the tub. Suddenly the water begins to condense.

"Flavius," I stutter, "what—what is this?"

He sighs and hands me a thick, yellow sponge. "Instantaneous bath gel." Then, under his breath, he mutters, "You'd swear these people still live in caves."

I'm about to point out that they're not caves—they're mines, actually—when I'm stopped by something. A small, shiny black sphere, in the corner of the room. There's an almost imperceptible small red light beeping in the center, and I suddenly get the feeling that we're being watched on this hovercraft.

Wordlessly, I sink into the bath gel, no longer willing to fight back. There'll be enough opportunities of that once we're in Eleven, I think. Then we'll see who's watching who.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Woo, that was a fast update! Kind of regretting it, because it probably means less reviews for Chapter 17—unless you feel like being nice and reviewing both? (insert smiley face here)

noname: 1) I totally agree! 2) Well, here's your answer! 3) Aww, thank you! 4) You know, I'm not sure. I would totally love to try (you know, if I was good at that type of stuff…) 5) Ooh okay, well that makes sense and I'll try to do it more often.

I'll update only on weekends from now on, unless it's a super special occasion, but I'll usually update twice at a time.

Back to noname: I get it, I always say love too (and now that I think about it, I'm really hoping nobody thinks I'm being a stalker either!) Like here, when I say I love you and all my reviewers ;D

And for your PS: YES, I did, I loved it! I added it to Story Alert :D

Stay tuned for some update either this weekend or next weekend!

Love you all!

-TGBW