A/N: Wedding planning has taken over KT's fanfiction time! Be prepared for sappy fanfics later heh heh heh :D Anway... Enjoy more Mockingjay from Team Nerds POV
"There you are." Beetee said cheerfully as he handed Katniss her specialized bow and arrows. "Hawthorne, did you charge your digital scope after practice?"
"Yessir." Gale replied.
"Good. It uses solar power in the field, but connecting it to a pwer source will assure you that you have a full 12 hours of charge." Gale nodded before Boggs waved to him as he entered the room wearing his combat fatigues.
"Ok, you two, the hovercraft just refueled! Teslas, we will touch down in Eight in two hours."
"Yes, General Boggs." Beetee said saluting. Wiress followed suit before they made their way to the computer hub of Special Defense.
Good morning, I am going through our pre-propo checklist. Wiress announced using her text to speech app on her tablet. She smiled at the other engineers and computer programers that were also District Thirteen soldiers. Beetee will work on breaking our broadcast into the Capitol and we will edit the frames from the camera feed to ensure – She caught Beetee's gaze as she looked at the large 48 inch flatscreen monitor at the front of the room.
"To ensure the images are compressed to maximize transmission." Beetee finished. "Oh, looks like they're testing the cameras." Chuckles filled the room as the flatscreen came to life showing a view from within the hovercraft.
"Test, test, test, Nerds can you hear us?" Cressida asked.
"Coming in clear." Beetee called. "I'm picking up the audio from your microphone as well as the camera's microphone."
"Hey, Cress, look out the window!" Castor called before Cressida moved her camera to a view of District Eight. Suddenly Cressida yelped as Pollux and Castor jumped into view making funny faces.
"STOP THAT! You know that's not fair that you two can sign behind my back!" Cressida yelped. "POLLUX – GIVE ME THAT BACK-" The tech crew had a glimpse of a red-faced Cressida and a laughing Castor before she reached out and retrived her camera. "Ok, I'm going to turn off this camera or else these two will drain the battery with filiming their pranks." Castor and Pollux looked into the camera lens with feigned innocence.
"We have the audio and visual feed from the cameras. Mute your microphone." Beetee instructed two hours later as Cressida and her camera crew flanked Katniss and Gale as they approached the hospital of District Eight. As Beetee turned on his second of three monitors to display lines of code, Wiress took one of his hands. "They can do this, honey." He whispered. Tears came to his face as he took in the scene of the devastated hospital. Sniffles resonated through the room as the other engineers and programmers glimpsed the wreckage left by the Capitol. Wiress looked at the three monitors on her and Beetee's desk. One showed the live feed from the camera crew in Eight. The other was the programming screen for Beetee, and the third showed the hackers' progress into the Capitol's broadcasting system. To Wiress' satisfaction, different text fields in a spreadsheet flashed red.
"Yes. They must see." Wiress whispered furiously as she watched the attack on the Capitol digital infrastructure. "The suffering will mobilize –"
"Mobilize the rebels that view our propo. I know." Beetee whispered before turning back to his computer. "Hon, where are you going?" He asked.
"Hitting the studio itself. Early. We need to." She explained before typing on her tablet. Now, we need to get past the Capitol's firewalls within the Panem News Network infrastructure – Nodding at different people as she passed their workstations, she hummed happily as their screens flashed when they breached the Capitol's security systems. We took care of some power plants and anti-virus firewalls elsewhere - we need to disable all their systems so my Beetee can feed the broadcast to the Capitol and districts.
"No, don't edit that –" She whispered as a programmer used photoediting software on a frame of the broadcast. She pointed to a person's mangled leg. "Yes, the Capitol did that – we need to see –"
"It's just so painful to look at." The programmer replied grimacing. Wiress nodded understandingly knowing the soldier had lived her life in the meticulously managed labrynith of District Thirteen and was not accustomed to seeing scenes of pain and suffering.
"The rebellion needs it. To be angry – "
"At the Capitol." The programmer said understandingly seeing hurt and pain flash in the victor's large eyes. Tentatively she reached for Wiress' hand. "We will fight. For you." Wiress smiled at her before checking the other soldiers' progress.
"Oh no –" Beetee gasped as the camera crew focused on incoming Capitol aircraft. "Run, children, run!" He gasped flashing back to his son running from the flames in the Games. "Come on, kids –"
"Run, Katniss, sweetie –" Wiress gasped from her seat next to Beetee. Taking his hand, she held it in a tight grip.
"THE HOSPITAL!" Katniss yelled understanding the Capitol's target. No one dared to breathe in the computer room as they watched Katniss and Gale shoot down the hovercrafts. The room seemed to shake with the sound of bombs hitting the hospital.
"If you burn, you burn with us!" Katniss' eyes blazed with fury as she stood in front of the burning hospital. Blinking back tears, Wiress shook her head. So many people already suffering were killed or were slowly dying in the burning collapsed hospital. She nodded resolutely at Beetee before standing up.
Disable all computer systems within the Panem News Network. Any virus, any malware. The nation must see. We must win! At Wiress' insistent command and her brisk walk by each station, the programmers typed furiously at their stations.
"We're getting clips in, hon!" Beetee called as Wiress returned to his side. He took her hand as they watched the Panem News Network struggle to regain control of their broadcast.
"If we burn, you will burn with us!" Katniss' declared over the national airwaves before the room burst into cheering. The Teslas hugged each other while crying tears of sadness and tears of hope.
"And Gale went POW!" Vic cheered pretending to shoot an arrow at an imaginary Capitol hovercraft. Beetee chuckled watching Vic and his siblings run off their after dinner energy.
"POW! GALE SHOT 'EM DOWN!" Posy squealed running around the Teslas' compartment. "Shooting them down is good!" She explained as she sat on Wiress' lap. "We're fierce freedom fighters! And we fight to win! We fight to make Panem ours again!" Singing a song she learned in her first-grade class, she smiled at Wiress again. "We saw it at school!"
"How much did you see at school?" Wiress asked hoping the girl was spared from seeing the filth and suffering inside the District Eight hospital.
"Katniss and Gale shooting!" Vic replied pretending to shoot down more aircraft.
"Yeah, and I just got my archery badge!" Rory explained polishing it yet again before showing the Teslas. "See?"
"You showed 'em at dinner – owww!" Vic yelped as Rory cuffed him on the head. Beetee chuckled and joined the Hawethorne children and Wiress on the floor. Gale wanted some quiet time in his compartment while his mother worked an evening shift at the laundry facility. Therefore, the Teslas offered to watch the younger children.
"That's really neat, Rory." Beetee replied. "Vic, Gale told me you're doing well in school."
"Yeah, and I can do the most pushups out of all the nine year olds in my class!" Rory boasted pushing up the sleeve of his shirt and flexing his biceps.
"They have muscles!" Posy said. "I see them when they're sitting in their underwear and –"
"POSY!" Rory and Vic yelped redfaced as their sister howled with laughter.
"Silly girl, you're proud of them, aren't you?" Wiress asked kindly before Posy beamed. "You can tell me over tea. Would Dollie like some tea?" While the girls had a tea party, Beetee sat with the two boys at his desk to ensure they completed their homework assignments. As he flipped through the boys' textbooks, he realized they were basically in a military academy. Even Posy was learning military and war related content. Earlier in their visit, she read a story about a girl who joins the military and marches to the Capitol to win the revolution.
"Will Katniss really win it for us?" Rory asked as he finished making changes to his essay.
"Yes." Vic replied. "Why else would Coin pick her for Mockingjay? She picks the soldiers to win for us. Remember?" Rory shrugged. "You don't have to question everything in school anymore. It's not Capitol stuff we're learning."
"I know." Rory said. "But – I mean – I just worry about her. She's like a big sister."
"And Gale will protect her." Beetee added gently.
"But you can't put in that you don't know if she'll win. You'll get in trouble." Vic persisted.
"Vic!" Rory snapped. "I know what to put and what not to put! Now shut up and do your own work!"
"You boys' assignments look good. No need to stress out." Beetee chuckled ruffling their hair. Wiress gave Beetee a small smile as she braided Posy's hair. "Wiress, hon, I'm going over to talk to Gale, can you help the kids get ready for bed?"
"Yes. Kids?" Wiress asked tapping the boys on the shoulders. "Gale wants you all to get ready for bed." She smiled at them as they lined up at the bathroom sink to brush their teeth. Tears came to Wiress' eyes thinking about her own three children. She often wondered what the Tesla household would be like if Terrimax had lived to be an older brother to Estelle and Noah. With two boys and Beetee, Wiress would have felt outnumbered, but she would have gladly raised another engineer if given the chance. "Ok, let me see. Good – Vic – brush again."
"Aw, but I got all my food out!" Vic groaned.
"No, you were making faces in the mirror! Mrs. Tesla saw!" Rory teased before Vic kicked him.
"Ooooo! Rory told on you!" Posy giggled before Wiress picked her up to place her in a warm bubble bath. "You got bubbles!"
"I was saving them." Wiress replied smiling at the wiggling girl playing in the bubble bath. She quietly began singing a song about a starfish named Posy who was taking a bath.
Through the walls of the Hawethorne's compartment, Gale heard his siblings giggling as Wiress got them ready for bed. "They're in good hands, son." Beetee said gently. "I know you hear them. And even when you just think you heard them, you hear them." Gale chuckled.
"I – I wanna win this. For Catnip. For the kids." Beetee nodded.
"I know. I want to win this for Wiress and my children." Beetee sighed. "You saw Katniss after she got her head bump, didn't you?" Gale nodded. "How is she?"
"Ok. Haymitch knows she won't listen to a lick of advice if she goes into hunting mode. I know that too." He paused. "I want her to see that I'm fighting for her." He paused. "I also – she needs to be careful."
"I know. I know we need to learn the expectations the leadership here in Thirteen has for us." Beetee replied gently but cautiously. "Her success as The Mockingjay will help maintain Coin's trust. And today you showed that you work well with her with these propos." Gale nodded. "Well, it's lights out in a few. Let's get those kids." Beetee opened the door to his compartment and smiled at Wiress who was holding Posy in her lap. She was curled up against Wiress' chest with her thumb in her mouth and Dollie cradled in her arms.
"I can carry –" Wiress whispered wrapping her arms around the sleeping girl before planting a kiss on her forehead. Vic and Rory were nodding off on pillows on the floor.
"C'mon guys." Gale said softly. He picked Vic up and took Rory by the hand. Beetee smiled and followed Gale to the Hawthorne compartment.
"Good night, sleep well, ok, buddy?" Beetee said as he tucked Rory into bed next to Vic. "You boys are good and strong." He whispered tucking the blankets around them. Wiress hummed a lullaby to Posy as she tucked her in. "Gale?" Beetee paused watching the ninteen year old draw back the covers on his bunk bed. "C'mere, son." The two men hugged before Gale climbed into bed. "You're brave and you're a fighter. See you in Special Weapons tomorrow."
"Night, Beetee. Night Wiress." Gale muttered through heavy eyelids.
"Sleep well." Wiress whispered as she turned off the lights. As she and Beetee walked back to their compartment hand in hand, they were grateful that they could give the Hawthornes the love of a family to strengthen them through the revolution.