Wiress tried to relax as best she could before the surgeon used a rubber scope to look down her throat for her weekly assessment. "Well, you don't have an infection, and the wound is healing nicely." The surgeon said cheerfully as he finished his exam. "Chin back. No tenderness?" Wiress shook her head as the surgeon gently inspected her incision which was a re-opening and closing of the neck wound she received during the Quell. "Now, you meet with Robin the speech therapist." Another nod.
"I can talk above a whisper. Barely." Wiress rasped. "Beetee tells me not to strain –"
"Well, you are also cautious about stretching yourself and letting yourself recover at your own pace." He paused. "Now, I see you brought something from your invention shop." Wiress beamed as she turned on a small 7 inch tablet that she found in a storage closet in Special Defense.
With a refubished speaker, and a simple voice-to-speech meetings, I can speak up at meetings. Wiress grinned.
"So, would you like to continue with speech therapy?" The surgeon asked proud of his patient.
"Maybe once a week." Wiress replied. "I don't always use –" She looked proudly at her invention.
"Well, you are assured that you always have a voice." Wiress left her appointment and went down the hall to the outpatient physical therapy clinic.
"You're getting there, Mr. Tesla. Those braces are definitely helping." The physical therapist replied cheerfully as Beetee made his way across a mat bordered by two hip-high grab bars.
"Well, I think the hinges are a bit stiff still." Beetee muttered.
"May I?" Wiress asked the physical therapist as she stood next to her to watch Beetee's progress.
"Pardon?" Beetee asked before Wiress pulled his pants down. "WIRESS TESLA! MY LEGS!" Beetee yelped noticing several other patients excersising with the assistence of their physical therapists in the room.
"They're not bad, dear." Wiress whispered in his ear. Blushing, Beetee had no choice but to stand still as Wiress examined the mechanism of his braces. Pulling her notebook out of her pocket, she made a few notes before handing her note to the therapist. "This may help –"
"Thank you." Wiress winked at Beetee before she helped him dress properly. Once he was settled in his chair, they made their way down to Special Defense.
"Good morning, Teslas." Boggs greeted them after they went through the metal detectors at the entrance. "The Mockingjay is touring the facility, and I thought we could introduce her to her weapons." The Teslas exchanged glances and grinned. Their month in Special Defense was spent focusing on designing Katniss' weapons. The weapons team in District Thirteen made a basic bow and arrow for her after they watched her first Games but it was Beetee who created the blueprints for the special features. Many of his drawings were delivered in a round about way to Distirct Thirteen before the Quell even began.
"She will come to the conference room at about 11:30 –" Boggs began checking his schedule as well as a clipboard.
"No – not there." Wiress interjected as Beetee gave her a wary look.
"Sorry?" Boggs asked looking at Wiress, intrigued by her idea.
"The hummingbird room. Outdoors –" Boggs grinned as Wiress mouthed 'told you so' to her husband.
"Wiress had mentioned that room would be a nice place to show Katniss and Gale their weapons. She also enjoys spending time in there."
"Now, they won't – practice in there?" The Teslas shook their heads.
"No, the target practice room is reserved immediately after their tour." Beetee explained. "We also need it for our own research." Smiling, Wiress opened a box of dime shaped paper thin microchips. "We'll use Wiress' tablet and these sensors to record some of the birds' flight patterns."
"Oh – well – wow!" Boggs gasped impressed with the inventing team. "We are so very lucky to have you both in this department, let me tell you. Well, I shall let you get to your inventions, straight away."
"Thank you." Wiress said as she shook Boggs' hand. Beetee followed suit before they entered the hummingbird room.
"Hon – what are you doing?" Beetee asked after an hour and a half of sitting under a tree. Wiress was laying on the ground on her back next to a flower bush. Wiress looked away from the flowers long enough to roll her eyes at her husband. She giggled softly as a hummingbird perched itself near a flower. Humming Wiress held her hands under the small bird. She waited until the bird set its feet on her palms before stroking its wings. Whistling a tune, she giggled as the bird flew away. "It's working!" Beetee gasped staring at her tablet as data appeared on a graph on the screen. A light slap on the back of the head brought him out of his reverie.
"Of course it worked –" Wiress began before Beetee leaned back and kissed her soundly. With perfect timing, a bird perched on a low tree near them whistled. "Oh hush you," Wiress giggled softly at the bird. "I saw you and your your mate –"
"Oh –" Beetee smiled upon hearing other people enter the room. He handed Wiress her tablet and kissed her on the forehead before she settled herself under a tree. "Hello, Katniss. Gale." He smiled at the two teenagers who stared in awe at the room. "We're studying hummingbird flight patterns to make aircrafts that can suspend themselves mid-air. They're hard to catch, but my wife managed to place sensors on at least one." Gale looked at one bird drinking from a flower.
"Entice them into a trap with a flower." He said thinking. "And then pull the net shut so they couldn't get out." Beetee nodded. The boy's observation confirmed the report his commanding officer gave Beetee a week ago. Gale's commanding officer gave Beetee permission to have him work in Special Weapons. "And we've been working on some surprises for both of you." He smiled as the two were awestruck by their weapons. Katniss was impressed with her specialized arrows and her voice-controlled bow. Gale was fascinated by the scope and nightvision capacities on his bow.
"Wouldn't be fair to the deer." Katniss remarked as Gale eagerly and carefully examined his bow.
"Wouldn't be using it on deer, would I?" Gale replied.
"So you think it's that easy? Using it on people?" Katniss snapped. Beetee understood what she meant. The weight of taking another human life was something one couldn't describe, and something he would not wish on anyone.
"I didn't say that." Gale said. "But if I could have stopped them –" The two victors nodded. If I could stop the Capitol.
"You would." Beetee spoke up. "If you could stop someone from hurting the ones you care about, you would do anything." Gale nodded before Katniss narrowed her eyes and shrugged. When the teens left to try their bows and arrows in the shooting range, Beetee and Wiress went to the computer hub to download the data from Wiress' sensors on her bird and then begin working on ways to break into the Panem News Network.
"Beetee, you need to find the power sources for –" Wiress said over dinner as she carried their two trays to the table.
"I know, to the main network and other satellites. They can shut off parts of the network if they suspect a hack. I'm working on it, dear." Beetee sighed before picking at his rice, sauteed squash, and chicken.
"Beetee –" Wiress began worriedly before scraping some of her chicken into his bowl.
"Wiress, stop! They gave you what you need. In there. And I have what I need on my tray."
"But how do they know you get stressed –" Wiress persisted. Sighing, Beetee accepted a small piece of chicken.
"Stubborn." Wiress whispered to Hazelle Hawthorne who was sitting next to her.
"That's how my Liam was." Hazelle replied. "I put the best cuts of meat on his plate so he stay strong for the mines, and he didn't want half. He made sure our children and I ate first."
"Gale does the same thing." Rory piped up. Beetee smiled at the thirteen year old boy. "But now we get food every day."
"Yummy!" The youngest Hawthorne giggled as she ate a large spoonful of rice and chicken.
"Posy, slow down." Hazelle instructed. "Chew that all up before you put more in. Drink some water."
"I'm saving it!" Posy said as she took a small sip.
"They always have water, here, sweet girl." Beetee added kindly.
"Remember what Gale said? We don't go hungry here." Vic added as he belched causing his little sister to giggle.
"Victor –" Hazelle warned.
"That felt gooooooood!" Vic replied before he and Rory began laughing. Beetee couldn't help but join them.
"Ah, so you're starting the burping phase. My son found that quite amusing."
"Is he at training?" Rory asked. "Is that why he's not at dinner?"
"No. He's –" Wiress paused. "We lost him in the Games. We lost both our children."
"I'm so sorry, dear." Hazelle said gently taking Wiress' hands. The Teslas nodded their thanks before they finished their meal. They were excited to get their new compartment near Special Defense. Their previous compartment was near the hospital as it had been fitted to accommodate someone in a wheelchair. However, that unit was temporary as the District Thirteen housing department made the same changes in a unit closer to where they worked.
"So, you will be next to the Hawthornes. Gale has signed up for a position within Special Defense, so he is moving with his family tonight." Boggs explained as he brought Beetee and Wiress' notebooks to their new unit. Two desks were along one wall along with a bookshelf. A bed was against the wall across from the desks. There was a space at the foot of the bed for Beetee's wheelchair. A handrail was installed against the wall so Beetee could hold it to get out or into his chair.
"Guys! Don't drop my stuff! I mean it!"
"WE'RE CARRYING GALE'S BAG!" The three younger Hawthornes cheered as they carried a large camouflage military issue duffel bag.
"Whoa!" Beetee gasped coming out of his compartment. "Look how strong you three are!"
"Mama, he's standing up!" Posy gasped pointing to Beetee who was standing against the wall outside his unit.
"I can stand for a little bit." Beetee explained as the three kids carried Gale's bag into their unit.
"I hope you don't mind the kids. I'll make 'em be quiet for you." Gale explained before he heard two thuds followed by laughter from his two younger brothers. "VIC! RORY! I TOLD Y'ALL NO SWINGIN' ON OR JUMPING OFFA THE BUNK BEDS!"
"Well, I understand the need to run off energy." Beetee said. Wiress smiled as she finished sweeping the floor. She emptied a dustpan into a trash door built into the wall before joining Beetee in the hallway.
"They probably want to run because they aren't starving." Wiress explained. "When Stelle got the stomach flu, she could barely eat. But once she felt better enough to eat full meals –"
"She was chasing Noah around the house to make up for lost time." Beetee chuckled.
"Yeah." Gale said. "I like seeing them happy. I – I never thought I could, ya know? I always thought life would be hard."
"Yeah, well, we're making Panem a much better place for them, son." Beetee said gently.
"Mama! I can't find my dollie!" Posy whined.
"Have Gale, look, baby." Hazelle called from somewhere in their unit.
"I'd better help them unpack –" Gale began before Posy squealed loudly. Beetee and Gale exchanged glances hearing the other Hawthorne boys laughing. They both knew the boys had something to do with the dissapearance of Posy's doll.
"MAMAAA! GAAAALE! VIC PUT DOLLIE ON TOP OF HIS UNDERWEARS!" Gale blushed as the Teslas burst out laughing before he chuckled as well.
"Yes, you have to keep their pranks from being obnoxious, but sometimes you just have to laugh." Beetee chuckled. Gale nodded and wished them a good night before closing the door.
"I don't hear them." Beetee said as Wiress snuggled next to him before lights out. "The Hawthorne kids." He explained as large eyes looked at him puzzled.
"No – But I don't mind. Reminds me –"
"Of our own." Beetee whispered before sighing. "I know that's who Gale is fighting for. His siblings, his mother. Katniss." Wiress nodded.
"He understands." Wiress smiled. "We could be mentors –" Beetee shuddered at the word. "No – good ones – for –"
"The kids?" Beetee asked smiling before Wiress kissed him on the cheek.
"Yes. Gale raising them – he needs you – like – a father." Beetee nodded.
"We won't intrude, but I think we will see more of each other as neighbors." Beetee sighed. "That older boy – Rory?" Wiress nodded. "Gale told me he's thirteen. Same age as Noah."
"Noah – fourteen this year." Wiress whispered as she wiped her eyes on the sheets. "Estelle – seventeen." Beetee held her close as she sobbed. "I hope – no more reapings – ever – for any more children –"
"I know." Beetee whispered. "I know. That's what we're fighting for."
A/N: I thought Team Nerds being the Hawthornes' neighbors could be fun :)