Sorry I missed Friday last week- my weekend was just. Out of control. I actually bought a new horse yesterday! Which is probably not smart considering I have so much else to deal with in my life and don't really have time to tame a wild horse at this current time? Anyway she came with the name Majesty but I don't like that so I've been calling her Madge for now. She might end up with a totally new name (I like to give my horses a fresh start when they get here because a lot of them come from bad situations) but "Madge" is fun. Even though it's from her old name and not a Hunger Games reference.

I'm rambling. Enjoy the fic.

Katniss

I scream.

I keep screaming until Storm screams something back. "What is your fucking problem?"

I point a shaky finger at the TV, even though all it's showing is static right now. Of course the Capitol wouldn't want anyone to see their arena destroyed for a second time- or, just as likely, all the cameras have been destroyed by the freaking explosion engineered by Prim's apparently-psycho teammate. "They- the bombs, they-"

"Oh, just stop," Storm huffs. She smacks the TV off. "You've been up too long. Shut up and go to bed."

"I can't!" I protest. "Storm. They escaped- blew it up."

Her eyes narrow. Distrustful, as usual. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," I promise, but I don't have time to beg her to believe me. "I need to talk to Haymitch."

"Haymitch?" Storm repeats. "I thought you hated Haymitch."

I don't consider him a stellar role model, but he's the one person I can count on to know exactly what's going on. I leave my bewildered roommate behind and slip out into the hallway. Even though it's early, the hallway is busy and bustling- I guess I'm not the only one who was paying attention. It's not an issue. When I am angry, I am a freight train, and right now, my anger is second only to the extreme levels of shock coursing through me.

I'm not thinking very clearly, but I remember Finnick's map with its little skull and crossbones marker. Who would have thought a doodle could be so helpful? I march to Haymitch's room, assuming he'll be there and not in Command, given his penchant for sleeping 'til noon and being generally uncooperative.

This hallway is busy too. No one notices one small girl going the opposite way of everyone else. I shoulder my way through any and all pedestrians, aided by my expression that screams "I will stab a bitch", until I find what I hope is the correct door. There's always a chance my memory has failed me, but right as I'm about to pound on the door with my fist, it slides open. Instead of Haymitch, it reveals a blushing Effie Trinket, pointedly looking down with her robe on inside out. She scuttles away before I can even say her name, and I duck in the door before it can slide shut again.

"Haymitch?!" I exclaim. I slap the light switch to reveal him, fortunately mostly clothed. He's putting socks on.

He groans and covers his eyes with one hand. "You? Jesus, girl, give a guy some warning!"

I ignore him. "Did you hear? What happened in the arena?"

Another groan. I'm beginning to get the impression that I'm not actually welcome here. "Yes, of course I heard. They have a direct line to my room, cruelly interrupting my-"

I hold up one hand, trying and failing not to gag. "Don't say it. Do not say it."

Normally, I would find the fact that Haymitch and Effie are apparently sleeping together interesting, but under the circumstances I really just don't care.

"You should go, Everdeen." How Haymitch manages to sound calm and collected, I do not know. It only serves to make me madder. "Got grown-up stuff to do."

It's like he's doing it on purpose. Anger rises up in my chest, drowning out any common sense that might be left. "Don't talk to me like that," I snap. "I'm the one who warned you. I told you something like this would happen!"

Haymitch throws his hands in the air. "Well, what am I supposed to do about it now?!"

"You're the reason they were in there; it's your job to fix it!"

"I'm trying to fix it!"

Yeah, right. He's trying to tie his shoes. I doubt he'll even put that much effort into rescuing my sister, based on his pathetic track record. He makes an effort to ignore me and march out of the room, but I continue to hound him down the hallway. Yes, I'm aware this is the kind of thing people do when they've lost control of their life, but I'm so angry and lost that it's the only thing that makes sense.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Haymitch practically spits at me, pausing in his walk for just a second. "I'm so, so sorry I didn't listen to your incoherent rambling earlier and do something about it. There. Does that make you feel better?"

"No," I snap. "I didn't ask for an apology. I asked for action."

"No, you didn't ask for anything," he corrects. "You forced your way into my room and started yelling at me. Think that's any way to get what you want?"

"Well, my next idea is my foot up your-"

"Mr. Abernathy, glad you could make it."

I straighten my back immediately, recognizing President Coin's voice. I can say whatever I want to Haymitch- for her, my strategy has to be entirely different. Plutarch Heavensbee is trailing a few feet behind her, looking appropriately bedraggled for the hour, while of course Coin looks fresh as a daisy.

"I apologize for the delay," Haymitch replies through gritted teeth. He falls into step with them and they continue walking towards Command. "Goodbye, Katniss."

I will not be ditched that easily. I tag along and keep pace with their group, even as Haymitch makes an effort to elbow me out of it. "What's going to happen now?" I demand. "You're going to rescue them, right?"

Haymitch lets out a huge breath, like a sigh, but worse.

"You're referring to the tributes, I assume?" Plutarch asks me.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Who else would I be referring to? But I reply with, "Yes, sir."

"I doubt there would be much of a point," he muses. "The Capitol certainly won't show mercy this time- not that their reaction last time could be called merciful. But I imagine, given their proximity and our distance to the arena, the escapees would be dead long before we could get a rescue operation together."

He's probably right. Deep down, I know that, but I still clench my fists and growl, "So you're not even going to try?"

The President turns to me, visibly irritated but still entirely collected, not one silver hair out of place despite the hour. "This is war, Miss Everdeen. We're in no place to direct resources towards a mission we know will be unsuccessful."

My heart climbs into my throat. I should have known this would happen- that they wouldn't care. "But you don't know. They could escape- they're capable of blowing up a force field; surely they're capable of evading capture!"

"This is war," Coin repeats. "It is unfortunate, yes. But war requires difficult choices, and I am choosing the direction that will benefit the greater good: today, we march on the Capitol."

I shoot Haymitch a desperate look. He winces; he agrees with me, and in a rare honorable act, he speaks up. "Madame President, it's not like she's asking for the whole fleet to be diverted. If you could just spare one or two crafts and a pilot…"

Coin holds up a flawlessly-manicured hand. "My decision is final. They have done us a great service with their display, yes. But we must move forward. If you can't understand that, I suggest you return to your room."

Feeling bold- or maybe just desperate- I snarl at her. "If that's how you treat your supporters, I'd hate to see how you deal with traitors."

Maybe I'm imagining it, as I turn on my heel to leave, but I'm pretty sure I hear her say to my back, "Perhaps you'll get to find out."

The decision is already made, really. It was made the second Coin refused to help me: I'll go on my own. I'll walk if I have to; I know how to get to the surface now and from there it's just a matter of marching southwest for a couple thousand miles. I have to get to Prim, dead or alive, and this time, no one can stop me.

Well…maybe not no one.

Peeta falls into step with me, his face taut. "Katniss," he says, his voice audibly full of relief. "I'm going with you."

For the first time, my power walk falters. "How did you even know I was leaving?"

"I heard what happened, and I know you." Typical Peeta. "I'm already packed. When do we leave?"

"As soon as we can," I grumble. "We have a long walk ahead of us."

He pauses as we reach my door. "...walk? You mean…they're not sending a team?"

I shake my head bitterly. "Of course they're not. It's up to us. That doesn't change your answer, does it?"

"Of course not." I knew it wouldn't. "I don't know why I'm surprised."

"Surprised about what?" Storm demands as soon as we get in the door. She looks even more pissed off than usual, and I can't blame her. "What the fuck is happening? I heard all the yelling, you were obviously freaking out…"

Peeta fills her in while I shove stuff into a bag. I don't have much worth packing; it doesn't take long, but unfortunately, Storm drops a bombshell that slows me down a little. "I'm going with you."

I'll give her some credit; this is the first time I've laughed since this whole ordeal began. "No, no you are not."

"Why not?!" she demands. "Don't give me that bullshit "I'm too young"; I know that's not true!"

"It's not because you're too young; it's because I have enough to worry about without fighting with you the whole time!"

Peeta clears his throat. "Listen, I know tensions are really high right now-"

Storm ignores him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you really think that's how it would go?"

"Well, we're fighting now!"

"Only because you're being ridiculous, and unreasonable, and stupid, and immature…"

I roll my eyes. "Maybe you are too young for this, Storm, now that you mention immature…"

She cracks her knuckles. "Oh, I'll show you immature."

A knock on the door silences both of us, fortunately before she can hit me. Peeta and I exchange an uneasy look. We've both learned, lately, that surprises are never a good thing.

"Come in?" I call hesitantly.

A muffled voice replies, "It's locked."

"Oh. Right." I scramble to unlock it and slide it open. There's Turquoise, a grim smile on her face and a couple items tucked under her arm. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help," she replies matter-of-factly. "I can't say I agree with President Coin's method of problem solving in this case, and being the Mockingjay only grants me so many privileges above the table. I am, however, privileged to know there's a supply hovercraft taking off for the Capitol in no less than thirty-seven minutes, and I also happen to have this map of the surrounding area."

She hands it to me and I spread it out gently. "It's that close? The arena, I mean."

"Don't think that means it's easy," she cautions. "There's a lot of mountains and not very many roads. You'll have your work cut out for you."

Her words barely reach my ears. A minute ago, we were planning on walking the whole length of the country, so we are undeniably better off now, mountains and all.

"One more thing," says Turquoise, pressing a black card into my palm. "My keycard. You'll want to visit the Armory before you leave, and it should be chaotic enough right now that no one will notice you're not actually Turquoise Morningstar. Just drop it somewhere when you're done- I'll claim I lost it, should that ever be relevant again."

I doubt it will be. From what it sounds like, the march to the Capitol is beginning immediately, and I'm sure Turquoise will be right at the front of the pack.

"Thank you," I say. I think my voice comes out somewhat hollow, but I'm sure she knows how much I mean it.

"Oh, actually, one more thing," Turquoise corrects herself. She digs around in her pocket and produces something I thought I'd never see again: the little robot lizard she used as a token when we were in the arena. We all thought he was dead or hibernating, but turns out he was actually a hidden camera.

"This is Reprogrammed James," she announces, giving the lizard to Peeta. "His code word is 'Mockingjay', three times. Say that when you find the kids- or, uh, whenever you're ready to leave the wilderness. It'll ping me your location and I'll drop everything to come pick you up."

"Won't you have important Mockingjay responsibilities to attend to?" I ask warily.

"Of course I will!" she replies. "But I'll skip them. I'm skipping them right now. Although…" She glances at the door. "I should probably get to them before long. Being a rebel leader and all."

"Yes, you're extremely important," says Storm. I'm certain she's being sarcastic, but she actually sounds authentic, a trick I did not know she had in her book.

"Thank you, Turquoise," says Peeta. He has never been anything but authentic. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

She shrugs. "The same thing, probably. It'd just take longer. As it is, you don't have much time and ought to get going. Armory. Hangar. Justice."

That makes it sound so simple. I hope it will be, but deep down, I know the truth.

Turquoise hugs each of us in turn- even Storm, although Storm grimaces through the whole thing- and assures us we're doing the right thing. "Win the war for us," I tell her, and she promises that she will.

Turquoise darts away to her Mockingjay duties. Three of us, once again. I turn to Storm, eyes narrowed. "I bet you think this means we have to take you with us."

"After that inspiring speech, could you really do anything else?"

Well, the fact that we're no longer trekking across the entire country does make a difference. Less time to gouge each other's eyes out. I raise my eyes to the heavens and reluctantly agree, if only to save the time we would have spent arguing about whether she could go.

First stop: the Armory. Turquoise was right; everything is still chaos, and we're able to swipe the card and get in without anyone looking twice at us. The Armory itself is almost empty- I guess in the madness of the escape and the war's real beginning, not many people are thinking about weapons training. Their loss.

I head straight for the bows, of course. District Thirteen has many more modern weapons available, but it makes more sense to stick with what I know. Taking the exact opposite approach, Storm ends up with a large automatic rifle and a grenade I tell her she can only use in emergencies. Peeta goes right in the middle, with a pistol in his belt and a good-sized sword in the other.

Now for the hard part. You are definitely not supposed to bring weapons outside of the Armory, and I'm certain if we're caught we'll either be lectured or brought into custody, or maybe both. We'll have to be sneaky, but none of this stuff is easy to hide, except for maybe my bow. Last generation's warfare for the win.

At least no one's around, I think to myself, but I guess that jinxes us, because the door opens as soon as I finish the thought. Peeta, Storm, and I immediately turn around, acting like we're going to practice on one of the shooting lanes, but then I realize it's not strangers or figures of authority: it's Thunder, Nolan, and H.

"We're not here to stop you," H says immediately. "We just wanted to say goodbye."

"And maybe help you get to the hangar undetected," Nolan adds jokingly. "You're a little, uh…conspicuous."

"You just wish you had one of these." Storm grins, gesturing to her gun. Just when I think she's starting to be normal, her love of violence has to shine through.

"I'll get one when I'm on the battlefield in…" Nolan checks his watch. "I dunno, a while I guess. Still, we should probably get you guys as much of a head start as we can."

It's a lot easier sneaking out with six people than it would have been with three. Those who are not in possession of stolen goods make something of a protective shell around us, and we fit in just fine with all the other people who are hustling and bustling around the district.

The hangar is oddly quiet, but we easily find the ship we'll be hitching a ride on. This is where we'll all be going our separate ways. "You sure you don't want to come with?" I try, looking mainly at Thunder. I know how worried he's been for Jewel's safety, but they all shake their heads.

"I have to be in battle," says a grim-faced Nolan. "Turquoise and I…well, we have a plan."

"Me too," H admits, although she seems a bit more reluctant. "Tell Hiron that I love him. And that I'm proud of him."

"Tell Jewel the same," Thunder instructs.

"You know…" Peeta cautions. "There's a chance we won't find them. That it'll be too late."

That's something I have not acknowledged myself, but I know it to be true.

"You'll find them," H assures us. Given her track record, I'm inclined to believe her, although we really have no reason to be so optimistic. "I know you will."

Hugs are exchanged- or terse handshakes, in H and Storm's case- and we slip in the cargo door of the hovercraft. We are just barely in time- it roars to life just a few minutes later, and there's no going back now. I curl my body up as small as it goes and brace myself against a wall. Here goes nothing.

I really didn't mean to make Katniss and Haymitch dislike each other but it kind of just happened and I had no control over it. Up next: Prim and Co find ANOTHER cave.