Author's Note: Two of my favourite characters from my headcanon! Thank you to everyone who is staying with this story so far, I really appreciate people reading along.

….

From the Outside

Wiress would return to the arena and Halley would be distraught. She felt as if she owed a lot to the older woman's dedication. Now she would need to repay it as she took on the role of mentor for the woman who had been her stay and constant in life.

The weather was getting warmer as Panem moved further into spring and Halley knew that Wiress' grip on reality was weakening. She was trying to look after Wiress, to provide support and motivation in continuing with her final tasks with the district's scientists and workers. But they could not forget the impending Games.

Much of Wiress' work had been completed and she was losing her purpose. She had done all she could regarding the chemical and biological weapons storage. The plans were in place and the workers were discreetly carrying out her proposals. She could not be seen making any more visits now that security around the victors had increased. Her presence around the dangerous weapons stored in Three would create suspicion that the victors needed to avoid.

Wiress continued working in the factories where muttations were produced, where her presence was expected. She focused on counteracting the worst of their effects should they be deployed in the war. It was her final ongoing task. Wiress would still work with Beetee but his final product launch had taken place and he was finishing his final round of interviews and publicity, something she wanted no part in at this time.

So, Halley would do her best. She enjoyed spending time with Wiress and was finding activities they could do together which gave them both peace and a break from reality. On other days they would talk about Halley's plans for Three. Wiress wanted to be a part of them but knew she would be needed elsewhere so instead, she loved listening to her victor describe her plans for the rebellion and how Three would develop afterwards when they were finally free.

Halley was energised by the thought of what was to come. She was spending time in their rebel underground command, ensuring provisions were ready and that their systems were up and running. Her discrete visits to the Mayor under the guise of tuition for his younger family members continued. She discussed the family's move to the underground base and practised their evacuation procedures for when the moment came. Halley relayed information about the readiness of the different rebel groups and continued to coordinate moving the stores of weapons in and around the centre of the district, under the noses of the peacekeepers.

Like many of the victors, Three's cohort was being followed whenever they left the Village. Halley was frustrated that she could barely do her shopping in peace and the peacekeepers' persistence was making it harder to carry on her usual activities undetected.

Her efforts to bribe the citizens forced by the peacekeepers to spy on her had not gone unnoticed. Instead, peacekeepers were trailing her themselves and had abandoned all sense of subtlety. The younger ones were easier to influence. She had befriended one who was regularly chosen to tail her and had managed to distract some of the others enough to get away. But those with more experience, the most dedicated, were almost impossible to shake.

Other people were being brought in to help carry messages and equipment. Halley wanted to avoid risk to her contacts wherever possible, but it had now reached a point where it was unavoidable. The bombs she had begun to fashion were being transported by associates under various disguises. The Mayor's wife was putting herself, and her husband, under immense risk on her supposed shopping trips but she had found that of the key rebels in Three, she somehow attracted the least suspicion. They would use whatever they could to their advantage at this stage, with mere weeks to go.

Halley needed everything to be ready in Three. She would be in the Capitol when it began. She needed to get herself home, but that was on her alone. It was crucial she returned amongst chaos in Three and run straight into the fight undetected. Three was to begin its fight alongside Four. Pluto and Beetee had sent on the required assurances to both Thirteen and Four that their people could be ready on time.

As messenger, Halley had done her job. The various rebel cells across Three knew what to do and when to do it. They knew where they fitted within the various cogs of Three's rebel machine. Halley now needed to ensure their core central cell was ready to take the lead. The victors had been preparing for years but it would start without them. Realistically, only Halley would be home whilst the war was fought. Beetee and hopefully Wiress would be in Thirteen. Pluto had made his own plans for a dignified exit, determined to not impede Halley and her return home.

But the four of them were determined to ensure they did not let their home down given the sacrifices their people would make. Halley and Beetee were carrying out regular tests of their radio equipment, assessing how they could bypass and manipulate peacekeeper communications as well as moving and storing weapons and preparing the bunker. Pluto's harvest had been frozen and was being sent to the underground command along with years of hoarded tinned goods. Creating and maintaining a water supply had proven more difficult. But years of careful work, tests and retests had left them with something workable, although reserve supplies were being amassed from the houses in the Victors' Village.

They were reaching the culmination of decades of work within District Three and the Capitol. Halley felt the responsibility of their success resting on her shoulders. She would see out the war in District Three. She would be a wartime, rebel leader, crucial to the efforts of the central cell and district-wide coordination.

She was already thinking about her route home. Poppy had somehow managed to find and send out copies of the updated train travel and maintenance schedules through the summer (although Halley knew they would change following the fall of the arena). It looked as if Halley would need to take some significant risks. There were likely to be peacekeeper transports into the west and they were going to present the best option to escape the Capitol.

But Halley was under no illusions as to the task ahead of her and she was prepared to risk whatever it took. She knew that once they arrived in the Capitol there would be no going back to the life she had been living. It would become impossible to disguise her role in Three's uprising and so she needed it to be a success.

….

Poppy continued to run through her list of everything she needed to do before the Games. Max was unwell with the continued stress, and she saw him turn to morphling to ease his pain. Claudia and Levi wanted to be in their stupor more than ever, but Poppy was trying to control their intake before the Capitol.

She was their carer, turned drug runner, turned rebel leader and was running out of time. Claudia and Levi's supply had been secured. She was trying to prevent Max from becoming addicted and stored all the supply she had reserved on his behalf for his worst moments only. She was in charge of their plans, communicating with most of their contacts, tying together District Six's central cell and holding together the Victors' Village.

The four of them had run the same conversation over and over again. Claudia and Levi would volunteer if they were not reaped. Poppy wanted them to be entirely sure before they gave up their lives as she could not handle either of them expressing regret on arrival at the Capitol. But the pair were sure. They would enter the arena to spare Poppy and Max.

It hurt Max to see his victors give up on life but even he had acknowledged that the pair were now existing and not living. The stress and upset continued to make him ill and his supply of medication from Pluto in Three was now infrequent if it arrived at all. They would spare him the indignity of another arena and he would do all he could to save Poppy.

On days when he felt well, he did all he could to help her. He kept lookout whilst she was moving across the district, ran distractions if the peacekeepers did enter the Village in her absence and carried messages on behalf of Claudia and Levi when they were focused enough to put their minds to their assigned tasks.

Max knew Poppy had so much to do. She took great care of the three of them and he wanted to be useful to her. She was busy running weapons and messages between groups, helping to secure supplies and passing messages to their friends further afield.

She had found a copy of the updated train timetable, conveniently left in place for her by the train conductor she had been employing as a messenger for years. She had discreetly made copies and sent them to their friends in the other districts. Her hiding place, intended for her return to the district from the Capitol had been set up and three of her associates had agreed to stay with her in the bunker, running messages and handling wartime communications.

Plans had been made with Cecelia through sporadic, cautious messages to ensure that if neither Cecelia nor her husband could secure the safety of their children, they would be transferred over the border into Six to Poppy's care. It was a responsibility she would take seriously but one she hoped would never arise. Poppy was aware of Cecelia's likely fate but was confident that Merino would hide the family securely and do everything his wife would ask of him.

Poppy would avoid Cecelia's fate. The arena did not await her thanks to Claudia's sacrifice. She was preparing to support her friends through what would be some of the worst days of their lives. She could hardly bear to think about what would happen in Seven. Poor Johanna could never avoid it and Poppy had always tried to support her. For all she desperately wanted Linden to avoid the arena, that would likely mean condemning Blight, one of her closest friends and the nearest to a brother both she and Linden had.

But they had agreed. Linden and Poppy had decided once and for all at the end of the Seventy-Fourth Games. They knew Twelve's girl was something and that change would come if they all played their cards right. The cause would come first, beyond their relationship and everything they felt for each other. They would do all they could for Johanna too. The young woman had suffered too much and deserved to see something better. Her life would come before both of theirs and they knew Blight was in agreement.

Poppy knew that Claudia and Levi would not last long in an arena and she would be freed up to support Johanna and the wider alliance's efforts. Levi had told her that he trusted her to do what was right, even if that meant abandoning him and Claudia. All Claudia has asked was to meet Peeta. She had heard he was a painter and she thought she would like him and knew he was important to their mission even if he did not know it himself. Poppy had decided to put in a word with Mags and leave that to her. Claudia would want to spend time alongside Mags anyway, and neither would be likely to spend their training days playing about with weaponry.

They would have to secure the alliance in the arena and back them up with unity in the Mentors' Centre. But they would need to avoid attracting unwanted attention. They would have to be discrete. Luckily, nobody would think twice when they see her helping her friends in Seven, especially considering whose lives were at stake. She could have her usual drink with Lyme without raising suspicion and being seen at Halley's side or assisting Eight's mentor would not look odd. But spending a long time overseeing the Twelves or Fours would raise questions. There was only so far an affection for Mags would get you when Four would bring a strong contingent of mentors.

Then the arena would fall, and Poppy would need to return to Six and her home was a long way from the Capitol. That would be riskier than any scheming with the other victors. They couldn't all make a run for it before the inevitable, it would be all too suspicious and would leave their friends unsupported should anything go wrong. There would need to be a victor after all if everything fell to pieces.

Poppy would wait until the end. Six was not going to fall imminently so she did not have the urgency Halley would feel. She would be in the Mentors' Centre when the arena collapsed, and it all began. They would need to escape and would need to be armed. But there was an entire Training Centre and battalion of peacekeepers they could steal from.

If she got out alive, she knew when the trains would be leaving. Max had already told Poppy he wouldn't be joining her, choosing to accompany Pluto in his way out, seeing no future where he could escape unscathed. There were several routes she could take, each dangerous and none guaranteed her safe return. But her allies would be nearby. She could go through Seven with hopefully either Linden or Blight. She could hide away on a peacekeeper transport and had made plans for her employed train conductor to be an escort for a particular train, such was her influence in Six.

Poppy was trusted at home and amongst the other victors. She had built a reputation for strength and competence, and she would need to be at her best. She had had to make peace with a lot of what she may be about to do, but she was prepared. This was the culmination of decades of work from so many dedicated people and she was not about to let it go to waste. Some of her people would die, many of her friends certainly would, and she had to be prepared to kill once more. Anyone who got in her way would need to be set aside.

She was pragmatic, and above all, she was a victor. Victors did what they had to with the hand they had been dealt. She had taken hold of every opportunity she could and tried to drive her own path forward as best she could, and this is where it had led her. There was no time to second guess, she could only continue moving forwards.