Katniss's POV
When we were brought back from District 2, Coin wanted us to see her in her office once again. I don't know what she could want, we just got back from a possible near death experience in District 2. Going down to Coin's office is now a routine for Peeta and I. I'm still trying to figure out if that is a good or bad thing...I decide that is a bad thing. After all every time we go there we almost always get bad news.
Peeta, Briar, and I go through the same routine that allows us to enter Coin's office and Command. A machine takes our DNA and a picture. We pass the security checks, we are lead down the same hallway by security guards to Coin's office. I don't know why we still have guards to walk us to her office, we come down here often enough to know where it is. Coin tells me that it's because she wants to take extra safety precaution, but I know that's bullshit. She doesn't care about Peeta, Briar or I or why else would she send all of us, including Briar to District 2. It just doesn't add up at all. She's just power hungry, just like Snow, and once we win, we cannot have her president. Who knows what she will do to Panem and what else she will do.
"Nice to see the three of you made it back safe and sound." Coin says with that sneaky voice of hers. I'm not sure if her voice is naturally like that or if she has something she isn't telling us. My bet is the second one, the only person she would truly tell everything is Paylor, her secretary. She should be telling Peeta and I everything. We are the mockingjays. Not her.
"Yes we did. After several close calls. We are back here." I say emphasizing the word 'several'. I am eyeing down Coin and her guards. I can't help but remembering the conversation we had with the guard who took Peeta, Briar, and I to safety in the woods. He said the only way the capitol would have known we were in District 2 is if someone who was in the room when we Haymitch, Paylor, Coin, Peeta, Gale, several other guards were discussing the topic. Haymitch wouldn't tell, he helped start the rebellion, Gale hates the capitol just as much as me, Peeta or I haven't told, Briar couldn't comprehend it. So that would only leave the guards, Paylor and Coin. I don't know who would do that, but all I know is that what is said during this meeting, isn't secure information.
"I know. We heard. We were all worried sick when we found out that the bombs were going off then when the house they put you in to keep you safe was up in flames. We didn't want to lose our precious mockingjays or their beautiful little daughter." Coin says. Paylor just nods not knowing if she should agree with Coin or not.
Peeta or I don't reply. It's a dead and uncomfortable silence in the room. I'm debating on weather I should bring up the subject on how the capitol knew that we were in District 2, would that be smart of me? No, but it's important that we know who is working with the capitol if we want to win this stupid war. "How did the capitol know we were there?" I ask directing the question at Coin but trying not to make it too obvious.
"Well," Coin starts. She picks up several pieces of paper but then puts them in a file folder back inside of her desk. "It could have been luck.."
"There is no way this was luck." I interupt. Peeta gives me a stare, probably to warn me that I don't bring up this 'betraying, working for the capitol' thing. But we have spies working for us who are in the capitol while the capitol thinks that they are working for them. So why couldn't it happen the other way around? Some things have changed, but the capitol is and will always be sneaky.
"Ms. Everdeen.."
"Mellark." I correct.
"There hasn't been any legal change in your name, so right now, you are still known as Katniss Everdeen." Coin snaps at me, I've never heard her tone that harsh before. "Now, I can assure you that the capitol doesn't know anything about our plans. It was probably just luck, like I said before. Now, I advise you that you and your husband get into shape to prepare for your departure to the capitol in a few short months. And I do expect you to follow your scheduled Ms. Everdeen. I have heard that you do only what you want when you want to." Coin is clearly dismissing us with the end of that. She shoos away Gale and Haymitch too. Of course I do only the things I want, if I did the things others want I wouldn't be alive right now hearing this crap from Coin.
Once we are completely outside of the command center and away from any cameras or sound recordings, I tell Haymitch and Gale about the thing Peeta and I were told by the guard who took us to safety. "Can you guys come to our compartment, now?" I ask Haymitch and Gale. Peeta looks at me in confusion wondering what I have to say. Haymitch and Gale agree to come with us to hear what we have to say.
We walk through the hallways. The first few times we walked to command center and back, it felt like an unsolvable maze, but I now know the hallways like I know the woods back home.
When we walk into our compartment, Peeta puts Briar in her crib in her room. I sit next to Peeta while Haymitch and Gale each sit in a chair in our living space. All three men stare at me, I don't know how I should say it. "Someone is a traitor." I say, "And it's someone who was in the conference room."
"Katniss, are you sure? Why do you think that?" Gale asks confused.
I sigh, can he not see past them? Especially Coin, her sly smile and how she can sometimes be too nice or too harsh on simple things. "When we were in District 2, we were bombed by the capitol. Peeta, Briar and I were taken to safety by a guard and we asked him how did the capitol know we were here, because at first they didn't. He told us this has had to be an inside job, meaning someone who was in the conference room at the time would have been the traitor. No one but all of us, the guards in the room, Coin, and Paylor knew about this mission. I know the four of us wouldn't say anything. So that leaves the guards, Coin, and Paylor who would have told the capitol." I explain.
"Sweetheart may actually have a point here." Haymitch says.
I look at Gale and he nods his head, "But what do we do about it?" Peeta asks who has been silent until now.
"Well, we could solve this ourselves, somehow go in the capitol and get information from our current spies." Haymitch suggests.
"How would we get into the capitol without starting a battle?" Gale chimes in.
"Or, I have a simpler one." Haymitch says matter-of-factly.
"Which is?" I ask running out of patience.
"We simply wait until the war is over then put all of the guards, Paylor and Coin on trial." Haymitch says, thinking he sounds smart. There is only one thing wrong with this is, if we lose this war, it wouldn't have mattered who was the traitor because I know for a fact that Peeta and I will have to mentally start preparing to mentor for the Games because they will be worse than ever before and I also know for a fact that as soon as Briar is old enough to have the chance of being reaped, she would be and I cannot take that chance. I cannot bring an innocent child in this cruel and unforgiving world and not being able to protect it.
"What if we don't win?" I ask.
"We'll figure it out then sweetheart." Haymitch says, I sometimes wish he wasn't so sober all of the time now. "I'm going down to get food." Gale follows him leaving just Peeta, Briar, and I.
"Peeta, what do we do?" I ask him. I probably sound weak and vulnerable. I never like to sound or be weak and vulnerable, but I can let my guard down around Peeta.
"Honestly Katniss, I don't know. I think waiting is our best choice like Haymitch said." Peeta sighs in defeat, he always knows what to say and how to make me feel better.
"All I know is if we lose this war, me and you need to start mentally preparing on mentoring innocent children for the Games that are going to get worse and crueler. And you want to know the worst thing we need to prepare ourselves for if we lose?" This wasn't a question, I'm telling him the worse part if we lose.
"Katniss, we don't need to wo-" He says but I quickly cut him off not letting him finish his sentence.
"Yes, we do need to worry. Because I guarantee you if the Games continue, Briar's name will be reaped as soon as she's old enough for the Games. The Gamemakers willl give her hell in the arena making it impossible for her to win. Even if her name is in only once, we both know Snow will do something to make sure her name is reaped." I'm practically screaming at Peeta right now. I'm broken beyond repair from what the capitol has put me through. The Games and the tourture. Only Peeta is able to keep me sane. My time spent in the capitol for the torture and the arenas have made me feel bad on treating my mother the way I did when she fell into her depression after Dad died, sometimes horrible things happen to people and they just can't deal with them. And that's life. We're all human, and humans make mistakes. And that makes me an awful person for how I treated my mom...
I'm in hysterics and Peeta is trying to calm me down. He manages to put me to sleep promising that he'll stay up with Briar all night.
Peeta's POV
Katniss nearly had another mental breakdown, I managed to calm her down and get her to bed. Briar woke up wanting to be fed. I told Katniss that I would stay up with her, I went into the kitchen to fix her a bottle with the formula I was provided when Katniss was still in the capitol.
After I warm up the bottle I walk into Briar's room where I can see her standing up in her crib holding on to the railing. She's dressed in a pink footie pajamas with white dots. I pick her up out of her crib, I sit down on the rocking chair and feed her the bottle. "Mama?" She says.
"Mama is tired." I yawn while I tell her that. She doesn't reply but continue to drink her bottle. I walk over to put her back into her crib when she simply refuses to lay down.
"Briar, you need to lay down and sleep." I tell her
"No." Briar simply says and has her arms folded and has the same pouting face that Katniss has. Yep, she is definitely her mother's daughter.
"Do you want to sleep with Mommy and Daddy tonight?" I ask her.
"Yeah." She replies, her hair is in two braids, sort of like how Katniss' hair was the first day I saw her.
"Now, you have to promise Daddy that you will be quiet because Mama is sleeping." I tell her. She nods her head. I put her in between Katniss and I. She curls up taking my shape. I put my arm over her and drift off to a peaceful sleep.
Four months have passed, we still haven't been to the capitol to end this war. But Katniss and I have been training for our departure for the capitol everyday. Coin originally told us that it would be two months. But she changed her mind and wanted to wait longer, she thought the capitol would be more vulnerable. That women confuses me sometimes. She hasn't given us an exact date, but she tells us very soon because she feels the war is almost over, she said the same thing months ago so it could be tomorrow we leave or in six months. But today, is a very special day. Today is Briar's first birthday, and we are actually throwing her a birthday party for her and invited some close friends. It's hard to believe that one year ago today that we found out that Katniss was pregnant and giving birth right then. That I found out that I was a father. That we were in the arena trying to protect the other. That the official rebellion began. We broke out of the arena. We convinced Coin to let us throw a birthday party for Briar. After some fights and compramises, we were given permission to. It's a small party. One with just family and a few close friends. Coin let us use the same room the Finnick and Annie got married in.
Katniss and I dropped Briar off with my family so we can prepare the room for the party. My dad assured me that my mom was serving kitchen duty and shouldn't be back for a couple of hours. "Hard to believe she's one year old." Rye tells me as I hand Briar to him. He holds Briar close to his chest. My family hasn't seen Briar too much since we had that huge fight with my mother.
"I know. One year since my life has completely changed. It's been hard at times, but I wouldn't change this past year with Briar or Katniss for anything." I reply. "Party starts in two hours try not to be late like you are for everything else. And try to make sure Mom does show up. Briar needs two grandma's in her life."
"Are you sure?" Rye asks me in astonishment.
"Yes, Katniss and I discussed it a few days ago. But if she insults Briar or Katniss in any way she will be asked to leave. Make sure she knows that." I tell him strictly.
"As you wish Boss." He says. I give him a hug goodbye and leave.
Katniss and I leave their compartment. I grab her hand and we walk to the place where the party will be. I baked a cake for Briar. It's the forest back from 12. I didn't know what I could use as scenery. All three of us together don't have a lot of memories that I could use. So the woods seemed like the obvious choice.
We walk down the white hallways until we reach the room, well I guess it's more like a multipurpose room. We were provided with some pink decorations to brighten up this room, which is like all the others: white and boring.
"It's hard to believe she's one year old today." Katniss says while we put up some streamers.
"I know, she's starting to walk by herself now." I say back looking over at Katniss.
Katniss drops her head, she's thinking about all of the dangerous things that could possibly happen to her. "Yeah, she will." Katniss says plainly.
"Hey," I cup her chin making her look at me. "We'll protect her from everything and anything we can." I tell her wiping a stray tear falling down her check. Katniss just nods. We continue setting up the decorations for the next two hours before the first few guests show up.
My family arrives first, I'm a little disappointed that my mom didn't show up, it shouldn't matter that Katniss is her mother, that's her grandchild. Her blood related grand child. But if she was going to be here to insult Katniss or Briar, I'm glad she didn't come then.
After my family arrives, Prim, Mrs. Everdeen arrive, Haymitch came, Johanna, Finnick and Annie, and even Gale and his family shows up. I can see on Katniss' face that she is happy Gale showed up. And Gale and I promised we would get along for Katniss' sake. We play a few party games. When it was time for cake, I gave Briar the first piece, we all watched her eat it before we all ate our pieces. At first Briar didn't know what to do with it. She got the main idea that it was food. When she was through with it, most of the cake ended up in her hair and face, very few pieces ended up in her mouth.
We opened presents, we told everyone we didn't want any, but of course they all did. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen got her a red dress, like the one Katniss wore on her first day of school. Haymitch got her a teddy bear, Finnick and Annie gave her some clothes, the Hawthorne family got her some hunting gear when she gets older, Johanna got her a shirt saying 'my mommy is brainless', that gave the room some laughter and Katniss punched my arm for laughing, my family got her a painting kit and Katniss and I gave her some toys, but when we got back to our 'home' we gave her a necklace. She'll wear it when she is older and Katniss and I have part of it. It says 'I love you', I have the 'I', Briar has the 'love' and Katniss has the 'you'.
When we were opening presents, I couldn't imagine how much effort and time were spent trying to find a present for Briar when we didn't ask for it. As tough as living in 13 has been, it's made all of us from District 12 become closer. And us and the victors we all are even closer as a family. The victors are our family, we know how we all have nightmares and how awful and terrifying they can be.
After the party, Katniss and I stay to clean up. Well, I do most of the cleaning because Katniss is busy showing Briar some of her new toys. For the rest of the afternoon, all three of us relax in our compartment, we were given today off from Coin for the party, which was surprising. The three of us were laying on our bed, Briar was giving us a speech, I'm not sure on what. But it's nice to listen to her voice and full of life it is.
There's a knock on the door, "I'll get it." Katniss says and jumps out of bed. Briar keeps talking anyway. I give her an occasional 'really?' or a nod of the head. That always seems to satisfy her. I hear some voices in the living room, I think about going to see who it is when Katniss comes in. "Can you come out here?Leave Briar in there." Katniss says. I can see her trying to fight back some tears, I get up off of the bed and walk into the living room and find Coin and some guards.
"President Coin, it's nice to see you." I tell her and fake a smile.
"It's nice to see you too Mr. Mellark." She tells me back still with that same voice that always gets me. "We have some important news to tell you and your wife." I look over at Katniss, and I can see she's fighting back tears, I have a feeling she already knows what they are about to say. I take her hand into mine and give it a light squeeze. "We think that this war is close to ending. We want to send the two of you to the capitol to end this thing. We need our mockingjays there when the war ends. We'll send a wake up call tomorrow morning. Once again, you may not tell anyone about this."
"Who will watch Briar?" Katniss asks.
"We already got Finnick and Annie to watch her." Coin says, I wish it was my family or Katniss' family watching her, but at least we know them personally. With that said Coin and the guards left our room. Briar came walking out of our bedroom, she must have figured out how to open the door. She walks over to me, I pick her up and sit her on my lap, she looks over at Katniss and then looks at me in the eyes, "Why is Mommy crying?" She asks, her face is filled with seriousness and concern.
How can I tell her that we both might not make it back? How can I tell her the real reason why Katniss is crying without scaring her to death? "Well, Mommy and I have been assigned a mission and we leave tomorrow. But you will be staying with Uncle Finnick and Aunt Annie." I tell her.
Briar nods and then goes over to Katniss, "Don't worry Mama. I love you." She says and gives her a kiss on her check. I can't help but to smile. Briar has such a caring heart. That night Katniss, Briar and I all sleep in the same bed. Katniss didn't want to sleep without Briar close to her and I couldn't agree more. When we were woken up for our wake up call, Katniss couldn't control her tears. We walked Briar over to Finnick and Annie's compartment, Annie seemed thrilled to watch over a toddler, I could tell Briar was going to like her. We then went to the hanger where we were going to depart from 13 to the capitol. There were several other soldiers there as well being prepared to fight in the capitol.
We were given over a check list of items we need. We went over maps of the capitol and what is the best way to attack, that raised some suspicions on what exactly we were doing in the capitol. Katniss and I both thought we would end the war...not fight in it. When we were assigned a squad, I wanted to refuse. Coin never told us we would actually be in the battle zone. She only told us that we would end the war, which meant killing Snow. We were also told we would meet up with another squad. Surprising, Gale was in our squad with us. The flight over there didn't take long at all, maybe 45 minutes. I held her hand the whole time and she laid her head on my shoulder, I cold feel her shaking trying to calm herself. Whenever she can't calm herself down on a situation, she gets pissed at herself and she always uses the same excuse: I survived the Hunger Games, I shouldn't be like this. When the voice told us to start preparing, the whole thing started to sink in; we are going in the battle zone. And we might actually die this time