-Ryder Kota, 18, District 2-
Even though there wasn't a lot they could do to train anymore, Ryder was still up early. Getting up to exercise was better than staying awake in bed and letting their mind wander.
Those bastards had Ryder's family. Their mother was alone now, probably with no idea where her baby was, nor her wife, nor her step-son. And they were all trapped here, it was fucking unbearable. The only thing that was keeping Ryder from going crazy were the friends they made here – particularly, Kodi and Mari.
Though at this point, they wouldn't really call Mari just a friend – after all, they fucked like three times at the party! And ever since they'd practically been attached at the hip. Well, except for mornings like this, where Mari was not going to be moved for anything. They would have expected her to be a morning person, but they couldn't have possibly been more wrong!
Ryder got out of bed softly, and when Mari curled up with a small whine, they just smiled at her and wrapped her up in blankets with a nice warm hug until she went still once more. Damn. Every morning like this, their heart picked up in speed, and yet they still hadn't said anything to her. There just never seemed to be a good time, that was all! Ryder, a coward?! No, not them, they were done being that way after the party with Kodi, of course.
They splashed their face a little bit. Oh, who were they kidding? They were a fool when it came to the pretty girl! Every time they were with her, it was like something didn't connect all the way and they couldn't force out how they felt about her. It was frustrating as hell. But that was who they were.
They looked up at the slight knock on the bathroom door, smiling a little bit when Kodi came in. But when they saw the state of his face, they sighed. "How early do you have to wake up to put on a fresh face of make-up anyway?" Just when Ryder thought they were getting close to Kodi finally putting down his walls, this happened.
"I don't know what you mean, I woke up like this," Kodi commented as he put his toothbrush in his mouth. Ryder just sat on the toilet seat and watched him for a minute.
"I thought we were getting somewhere," they said while he was brushing his teeth. "What's going on?" They looked around and then sighed. "Is it Luke? Of course it is, why am I even asking?" they sighed a little bit. "I'm sorry it had to happen like this. For what it's worth, he definitely is different now. I think he was legitimately too stupid to realize that he was leading you on because of his parent. If you are loyal to a parent enough, you'll do ridiculous things." They sighed, thinking about Cheri encouraging them to volunteer for the Games and make a statement.
Kodi spit and gently patted his mouth with a tissue, but they could both see the foundation marks on the tissue. "It's not his fault," he said as he took the cup sitting by the sink to rinse his mouth. "I know. But that doesn't mean I want to see him."
Ryder frowned and sighed. "I know," they said. "But soon, he and the others will be on their merry way, at least."
Kodi pushed aside a few bottles off the counter and sat up on it to look over at Ryder. "That's just it," he said quietly, letting out a slow sigh. "If they're going to District Two… I'm going with them."
Ryder's mouth dropped a little bit as they looked in his face to see if he was serious, but saw no sign of jest. "What?!" they asked him. "Kodi…"
"That's where your step-brother is, right?" he asked. "And… Lester," he said quietly. "I can't just stay here with that knowledge and it would just make sense for safety in numbers."
"I don't know if you're ready for that," they said honestly. "And there's no way I could ask you to put your neck out for Shani, no matter how much I love him. He's my brother Kodi but so are you, I don't want anything bad happening to you either… It would kill me," they said quietly, looking down at the tile as they felt a few tears in their eyes just thinking about that. "I love you just as much…"
Kodi reached over to put a hand on their shoulder and squeeze it. "I love you too. But Ryder, I'm not like you. I don't have anything to lose, I don't have a family and that's fine, I can fucking die. I wanted to do so anyway but at least now it'll mean something."
"Shut up, you do have a family now!" Ryder said, grabbing him by the shirt for a second. "It's us! And I don't want anything to happen to you, doesn't that mean something?!"
Kodi frowned at them. "It does. But I just want to do something, be good for something. Have a purpose, you know?"
Ryder sighed. "I understand. Just… Think about it more, please," they said. "I want to go too, but I just don't know if I can leave her… I mean, here."
"When are you going to fess up?" Kodi asked, reaching up to poke their cheek. His smile fizzled a little bit after a second. "I wish I had told Lester how much I liked him. If I had known we would have ended up here, I would have done things so differently with him." Kodi sighed a little bit. "I thought it wasn't worth it to say anything with the chance of death on the horizon. But you never know how the tide will turn. Don't be like me."
Ryder sighed a little bit as they looked at Kodi for a second before looking away. "Did seeing Luke make you… Do something?" they asked quietly.
Kodi turned away from them and went out to the kitchen quickly while Ryder watched, balling their hand into a fist. Damnit.
Ryder slowly went out of the bathroom, gently closing the door behind them and slowly sitting down on the bed where Mari was sleeping. They gently pushed some of the choppy strands of hair out of her face, smiling at how relaxed she was when she was sleeping. Just the thought of being apart from her made their stomach turn in knots. Kodi was right about that…
The door burst open quite abruptly, startling Mari into a sitting position as Ryder snapped to face the door where Camellia was standing, still in her PJs with a little bedhead. "Freddy's here."
Mari rubbed her eyes a little bit. "What?!" she asked, getting up so quickly and looking at the time. She groaned. "Of course Fredward has to get home at the fucking crack of dawn." But she pulled a blanket over her shoulders and ran out, Ryder right behind her. Ryder stood back a little bit, their mouth falling open at the state of the little group – terrible. But that didn't matter to Mari, who hurried over and jumped into Freddy's arms with a small sob. They couldn't help but smile at the friends hugging like that. They knew how much she missed him.
Vasilisa was being ushered inside by Ember and Amiah. Camellia pushed them aside to finally hurry over to the man standing in the middle of them to give him a huge bear hug. Theodore – Trap – hugged her so tight Ryder could swear they saw her turning blue from lack of oxygen.
"Oh my God, I was so worried about you," she said, punching his chest lightly. "Don't scare me, Champ!"
"Oh, you got it Boss," he said with a laugh, pulling her back a little bit before he hugged her again.
Ridley and Luke were taking the bear of a man that was with them in to look at an injury on his arm, the older woman following with them.
"Oh, Ryder!" Mari called to them, pulling them over with a huge grin on her face. "You know Freddy!"
"We met once or twice," Ryder said, coming in to give him a one-armed hug, full of happiness. This was the happiest they had seen Mari in a while. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Me too!" Freddy said, stepping back to grin at the two of them together and putting up his hands to frame them both in a heart shape. "Soooooo…"
Mari's mouth fell open and she gave a gasp, reaching over to slap his arm a little bit. "Oh, stop that Fredward!" she said, but she was blushing and she couldn't stop giggling. Ryder felt their cheeks heating up too and looked at their feet with a small whistle.
"No idea what you're talking about," they said, awkwardly clearing their throat as their heart fluttered a little bit at him.
"Oh, okay," Freddy said, going over to hug Mari again with a huge grin. "God I'm just so happy to see you."
"Me too," Mari said, wiping more tears out of her eyes.
"Yeah, she even got up early for you," Ryder teased, but they could tell Freddy was not listening. They looked behind their shoulder to follow his gaze, to where Vasilisa sat and was getting her shoes taken off and feet washed off by the girls. They turned back to Freddy and grinned at him. "Soooooo," they said, mocking his tone of voice.
Freddy just grinned proudly even though he blushed a little bit. "What?" he said. "Me and Lis? No. And by no, I mean, hell yeah, we're totally a thing!"
"OOOO!" Mari said, gasping as she quickly pulled him over to sit with her on the couch and with the rest of the girls. "Let's go, it's tea time!" she said loudly.
Ryder was going to go with them, but they had to find Kodi in the chaos. And they did find him, sitting at the table with… Oh, hell no!
Ryder couldn't have gotten there faster. "Kodi!" they said, putting a hand on their hip when he looked up. "Come on," they said. "Freddy and Lis are spilling tea." They reached over to get his arm. "You certainly don't need to spend your time with traitors."
Kodi frowned a little bit as he looked across from him where Bonnie sat. "Oh," he said quietly. But it was obvious that he didn't really want to go over with the rest of them. "We were talking about Lester…"
Ryder immediately gave Bonnie a small glare. "I don't know what business he has with Lester considering Lester's in prison and Bonnie loves to put his supposed friends there." They put a hand on Kodi's shoulder. "Remember what I said earlier? Your real family is over there." They pointed toward the living area. "Come on."
Kodi frowned and looked over at Bonnie. "I…"
"Go ahead," Bonnie said, gesturing over to the rest of the group. His voice was soft, and level, his blue eyes were heavy. "They're right."
Kodi's frown only deepened hearing Bonnie say that and he stood up, hugging his sides a little bit. Ryder looked over at Bonnie, whose eyes locked onto Kodi's hands holding his hips right away. Kodi went over to the group slowly, looking behind his shoulder. Ryder watched how Bonnie followed him, slowly sitting across from him.
"You listen and listen well and good, traitor. Stay away from him and the rest of my family, and you and I, we won't have a problem. But when you start with them, it's my business. Stay in your lane, Bunsen, or else. Kapeesh?"
Bonnie looked at them for a long moment before he nodded his head. "Understood," he said quietly, staring at the table before he slowly lifted his head. "He's obviously blaming himself for Lester. But it's not his fault. It's mine," he added quietly as his glasses misted up.
Ryder stared at him for a second, trying to figure him out. "I'll pass on the message," they said finally, pushing in the chair to go back to their family and away from this traitor.
"Oh. Ryder?" he said, before Ryder could fully walk away from him, which made them freeze up and turn around to snap at him.
"What the fuck do you want from me?" They hated hearing him say their name, hell, they were barely able to even look at him after what he did to Mari. But when Bonnie put his hands up to protect his face, they quickly put down their hands. Did he really think they were going to swing? They would if he stepped out of line, but… That was kind of weird.
Bonnie didn't put down his arms, even when Ryder put down their hands, and spoke in a quiet whisper. "He's guarding his hips. Check them, please. For his sake, if he gets something infected, it'll be nasty."
Shit, right, Ryder had totally forgotten about checking his hips in the chaos of people coming back. And this guy noticed after a few minutes?! Ryder stared at him for a long moment. What did he want? What was his goal? They just let out the breath they were holding. "Okay," they said. "I'll handle it." And they would.
They turned around without hesitating this time and left him, sitting next to Kodi in the group and feeling uneasy. They would have to get him alone and they already knew it was going to be a fight.
"That talk decided it," Kodi said quietly. "I'm going to District Two."
Ryder could see that his mind was made up and frowned, looking over at Bonnie who was sitting alone. Kodi had made his choice, there was nothing they could do to stop him. They would go with him, but… Mari came over and tucked into their side, pulling their arm around her. It was so obvious that she was happy to see her friend. But the thought of leaving her just… Didn't sit will with Ryder. For a mission whose operations were still all but unknown. Not to mention how well-known they were back home on top of it, just showing their face could ruin everything if one person recognized their silhouette. Freddy and Lis talked and talked and talked, but Ryder's mind was buzzing with the options.
They were leaving in an hour, with or without Ryder. They could go, try to bust out Shani, try to find their mother, and risk their neck and everyone else's at the same time. Or, they could stay here, protect Mari – especially from Bonnie – and stay low until there was a job that was safer for them.
And this time…
This was a choice they were going to have to make on their own.
~.~.
-Odessa Anthony, 18, District 9-
Things had been oddly… Calm, the past few days. Seemed that the group of tributes had gone through all the stages of grief, ending in acceptance for their position. There was nothing any of them could do to change it now, after all. There was something oddly comforting about that to Odessa, who was just waiting for the next move. Plus, she was the favorite of the ducks, they simply loved her! Jem told her that they typically didn't go straight to people, but how she was obviously a duck whisper aaaaand now she's realizing that Jem probably said that to all of them and the ducks were likely very friendly.
Damn that man. It was impossible for one person to be that nice, and yet here they were. Somehow, through the course of the past few days, he'd gotten Cadmus to be pleasant, Nadia to be quiet, and Thack to stop being such a nervous wreck. That man was truly a hot mess and without his girlfriend he would probably already be dead.
Jem came out with a plate of breakfast – eggs, bacon, and of course, whole wheat toast. Riveting.
"Good morning," Jem said with a smile. "Look at all these sunshiney faces!"
Cadmus lifted his head and a piece of hay stuck to his cheek as he squinted at him. "What?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. Nadia just swiped a piece of toast off the plate and started spreading jelly on it moodily. Odessa looked at both of them and then forced a smile at Jem, willing to be polite.
"Thank you, Mr. Taylor."
"Oh, don't give me that Mr. Taylor," Jem said. "Makes me think about when I was mayor, all those years back. What an awful time," he said quietly, shaking his head a little bit and rolling his shoulder a little bit. "Just Jem is fine, please. Heck, if you said Mr. Taylor around here, nobody would know who you were talking about!"
"Other cultures are… Interesting," Thack said, trying not to make a face at the thought of not being polite! He laughed when Calliope gave him a little side-eye. "Come on, it's different!"
"Yes, but you need to chill out, dude," she said, impersonating Wolf as she punched his shoulder. "Dalton."
"Wait, your first name is Dalton!?" Odessa asked, putting a hand over her mouth. "How did I not know this!?"
"Oh look what you've done!" Dalton said to Calliope. "Stop, I don't go by that anymore, everyone nowadays just calls me Thack."
"But his real name is Dalton!" Calliope said with a snort as she started laughing, totally ignoring the cow that was absolutely giving her a side-eye. Odessa laughed with her. At this point, in the situation they were all in, laughing was the best medicine.
"Oh, come on, what's wrong with Dalton?" Jem asked seriously, which made even Cadmus laugh. "I mean it! Dalton is a nice name!"
"Do I look like a Dalton to you!?" he whined. "I'm covered in cow shit!"
"You know, how that you say that, you have a little Dalton in your voice when you're talking about this whole mess," Cadmus said with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, there's just a little snob still there, just an itty bitty Dalton," Odessa said, holding up her fingers in a little bit motion.
"Please, like you all haven't sounded like whiny rich kids too," Thack said. "You're ones to talk!" He elbowed Nadia a bit, but she still wasn't interested in being part of the group and just shook her head with a slight eye roll.
"Oh, I don't think it's bad. Not like Jeremiah. That's my name," Jem said, pointing to himself. "But nowadays I hate referred to that way. Too many memories of stand up straight, Jeremiah. Yes, like a whiny rich kid. I was one too."
"You were a whiny rich kid." Odessa didn't believe that much about this man – he was never clean nowadays, always had shit or dirt or spit on him and with such a good attitude all the time. "Okay."
"Yeah, I was, I was telling Cadmus earlier, I had a convertible."
"Oh, not a convertible," Calliope said. "The horror."
"Hey, to us District folk, that is a whiny rich kid thing!" Cadmus protested. "Though I guess not that way to Dalton."
"What's the Capitol's number, I'm calling them to come pick me up and kill me," Thack said, pulling out a holo.
"Will you stop that?!" Calliope said with a laugh as she punched Thack's shoulder. But she was glad that the skeletons in the closet weren't her own. "Just laugh at yourself, Dalton."
Odessa started laughing again at that while Jem had an expression of genuine confusion on his face as to why they were all laughing about this. But he just smiled and laughed along anyway with a good nature.
Once the last piece of food was eaten, Jem smiled and took the plates from them. "Alright," he said, but instead of taking the dishes to the house, he put them aside. The pig that was his companion went over right away to start sniffing and licking at the plates. "What's the plan?"
"What plan!?" asked Odessa, looking at the others to see if they knew anything about this. But they were all just as confused as her as Thack pulled up a map on his holo.
"The mentors and escorts are in-transit to District Thirteen right now, that's the main hub since it's underground."
"To where?" Nadia asked, finally breaking her vow of silence. "No."
"District Thirteen, yes," Calliope said. "I know, my mind is still blown about it too!"
"They had a full functioning society underground for a while after they were supposedly demolished," Thack said. "It's not inhabited now, but will serve as a safehouse for populations that in critical danger, like you tributes."
"So what, we go there and… Hide?!" Cadmus asked, biting his lip in thought about this. "I don't see how this is helpful at all."
"You are the faces of the Districts right now," Calliope told him. "You guys are important to us – alive. We need manpower, we need bodies. And you guys can help us with that."
"Oh, I ain't no damn traitor," Nadia said decidedly. "Unlike my District partner. Who I bet is not even alive anymore anyway."
Odessa bit her lip, not sure exactly what she thought, but she put her head down. "I can't put my Capitol friends and family in more danger."
"Well, if anything, you'll be sheltered," Thack said, obviously frustrated with this group still not relenting about this. Odessa felt bad, but at the same time, he and Calliope were both from the Capitol too. Why did these two even think that this wasn't going to put their friends and family back home in peril?! Did they think that all this was going to be worth it? Odessa still wasn't sure she did.
"We'll want to try and meet the other travelers by going south. We have two shots – with Anakyn and the Games staff coming from the Capitol, and with Kat and the tributes coming out of District Three. There's been a development in District Three with my brother, can you believe that?!" she looked around at them and sighed when she didn't get the gasps she wanted. "Oh, come on, Pri is such a stuffy softie, but he's going to be brave now, it's a great growth for him!"
"Gasp!" Thack said, trying to be supportive, even though he surely already got that development too. "Eh?"
"Don't," Calliope said, putting a hand up dismissively, but she couldn't help but smile at him. "Anyway, it's going to be a long day of travel and we're going to have to go back in the truck, which is why I didn't tell you – so you didn't have time to be Daltons and complain!"
"I-" Nadia said, putting up her finger and then putting it back down.
"I mean," Odessa said, already making a face about the truck once more. "That's fair."
Cadmus cleared his throat a little bit, and they all looked over. "Guys… I'm not leaving," he said quickly, balling his fists. "I don't care if it's not safe, I would rather lose my life for something I care about than another innocent be forced to die for something they don't believe in."
"What?" Odessa asked, at the same time Thack and Calliope both said much louder, "What?!"
Cadmus looked over at Jem, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I would make myself guilty rather than lose another innocent. I have to get my family and stay here with them. In the meantime, I'll make myself useful to you and campaign for your cause. That is…" He turned to Jem. "If you'll help me?"
"I'll take responsibility for Cadmus," Jem said with a proud smile and a knowing twinkle in his eye. "He'll stay here in the hay in safety until I drive back up." He gave the boy a nod.
Odessa looked at the serious expression on his face. She admired him for caring enough to stay here and put his own neck on the line. But she thought for her own folks, it would be safer if she was safe. Right? That made sense, she wasn't just trying to save her own skin…
"I can't stop you," Thack said, his eyes heavy as he just smiled and nodded. "I'll report back. Thank you," he said to Jem, who just smiled and nodded.
"Stay safe out there," Odessa said to Cadmus, gently patting his shoulder. "You were a good District partner."
"You too," Cadmus said with a small smile, getting a big hug from Calliope while Thack was watching with brows creased. But she clapped her hands, getting them all back on task.
"Alright, everyone pee before we go," Calliope said, pointing to Thack. "Especially you."
"Always pee first," Thack said, but he sounded sad and stressed. The group dispersed – though at this point Odessa unfortunately knew what all of their pee sounded and smelled like at that point. By the time they were done, the truck was pulled up and ready. Odessa just sighed as they piled in the bed, under the tarp, and Jem threw stacks and stacks of hay on top of them.
It was going to be a long afternoon.
Being on the road, covered in hay and manure, suddenly made the farm look like a five-star resort. The road was bumpy, someone was gassy and Odessa could feel marks from the truck bed being pushed into her skin. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep for at least part of the trip, but it was just so miserable in the dark, unable to even see where they were going for the past two hours, at least. She just wrote a story in her head as much as possible, losing track of where she was and going back to start over again.
Then she heard the first explosion.
It jolted the truck a little bit and Odessa's eyes flew open. She pushed the tarp a little to look outside but Thack grabbed her wrist and pulled it back. "Sh," he instructed them.
"How the fuck am I supposed to be qui-" Nadia started before she was getting silenced by Calliope's hand over her mouth. Another explosion rocked the truck and sent Odessa flying. She slammed back down on the bed with a hard thump and squeezed her eyes shut with the pain as the wind was knocked out of her. There was a few moments of silence again before a long, foreboding siren started – they tested the wildfire siren every once in a while but she'd never heard it for real until today.
Another explosion jolted the car up and sent them all up and down hard into the car.
"I love you," Calliope said, her voice full of panic and tears as a the loudest explosion struck her ears, sending the car rolling to the side before it went back on the ground and stopped. Thack was the one to push the tarp off of them. Odessa blinked a few times to get used to the light as Jem came around to the back of the car. In the distance, fire was already spreading around, to a chorus of distant screams.
"You guys have to move!" he said.
"There's a bunker, it's this way," Thack said, pulling up his holo and putting in coordinates. "Let's go!" he said, directing them. Nadia held her bleeding head as they went, while Odessa was clutching her stomach, which was for sure going to bruise after the impacts she'd received in the car, though she could barely feel it right now as her adrenaline was pumping high as she heard the crackle of fire. "Come on!"
"I'm going back!" Jem said.
"Are you crazy!?" Calliope said.
"I have to go now!" Jem said, ushering them along. "Cadmus is there!" he started moving toward the car, putting up a hand to wave a little to them as he was already getting into the driver side.
"Shit!" Thack said, but he couldn't waste time trying to get Jem to come with them so he just ushered them along as there was a low rumble in the distance, more toward the town center.
Odessa's blood ran cold when she thought about her mom, friends, family. She was shoved forward by Nadia, and shook her head, focusing on running. They would be fine, she had to believe it. They kept running until the circular handle for the door appeared and Thack wrenched it open for them. Calliope jumped inside, followed by Nadia, then Odessa, and Thack got in and pulled it closed just before they heard another blast.
Odessa stared at them all, mouth gaping open, ears ringing, heart racing, still not fully realizing that she was safe. It took a few seconds before her pulse started to slow down, but her blood never warmed back up.
They were fine, she was fine.
She was one of the lucky ones.
And now, the confident reporter was quickly realizing…
She had no fucking idea why.
~.~.
-Anna Magdalena Mitchell, Capitol, Commander's Assassin-
There wasn't a person in the old District 13 complex that didn't have bags under their eyes. Lux was archiving information and making drives to put on holos and send to experts and specialists in other Districts. Piccolo was worrying about their loved ones and creating posters and media. Stellan was making plans, negotiating, and often stayed up far too late into the night. The mentors and escorts were
Maggie often wandered late at night. It would be different when the base was more populated – hopefully soon, but she wasn't sure she was ready to see them all again after what she did. The gunshots were still ringing in her ears, the smell of blood – her own, and others, still in her nose. She hated the pity that she received all the time, but of course they would pity her – she was the youngest of them all and lost her future brother-in-law. Her brother was as good as dead at this point, she was sure. They said that time would make everything better, but she still felt just like she did the day it all happened. She still dreamt about it and she still spent her waking outs wondering why this all had to happen to her and her family.
She saw Stellan in the control room. He was barely awake but he had his finger on the marker that was tracking the hovercraft of mentors and escorts that chose to follow the rebels. The craft had been rerouted due to the bombs that were falling in District Nine until future notice and was docked on the outskirts of District Eight. As far as Maggie knew, they were being fed and clothed there. But she didn't know a whole lot about what was going on.
Stellan jolted awake a little bit, turning around and making a small noise of surprise. Maggie ducked behind the wall but she sighed when she heard him say her name. "Maggie."
"Hi," she said, standing in the doorway before entering the room. "Sorry, I don't mean to intrude."
"That's okay," he said, using his foot to tap on a chair a few times. "I don't think any of us like to be alone."
"How did the falconer negotiations go?" she asked.
"Pointer had some… Interesting requests," Stellan said, shaking his sigh. "Thankfully, I will be prostituted out to him."
"What?!" Maggie asked, grabbing her cheeks in disbelief.
Stellan chuckled a little bit before sighing. "What he truly wanted was supplies and forces. I had to reroute some of our supplies from District Three to District Seven, and I have to get a craft out of willing fighters, which we're going to take from somewhere, somehow." He grabbed his hair and pulled on it for a little bit.
"Nine is right there, but we can't risk losing our hold on it because their industry is so important. Same with District Eleven, we can't afford to lose them. Three is the main hub, Five is power, I just don't know where to get troops from. We don't have a lot of modes of transportation. I'm trying to touch base in Three and Six to see if we can't find a train or something, I just…" He groaned a little bit. "I get that Seven is important to him, but it's surrounded by Career Districts, One and Four. Lots of other Districts grow trees. I don't know how we're going to get a safeguard on it. The people are strong but…" He sighed a little bit before he continued.
"They're not going to last forever. If we can just get a footing in Six we could secure the north east, I just…" He sighed a little bit. "People just aren't there. We just have to ramp up recruitment. I just… Hopefully we get some more strategists in here soon because I don't know what to do."
Maggie was quiet for a second and just shook her head. All of this was blowing her mind. She didn't even know what to tell him. People's lives were at stake here. "He hasn't made this any easier."
"Certainly not," he said with a sigh. "I'm in contact with specialists from different Districts and hopefully they'll help me figure it out. There's plenty of blood on my shoulders already," he said with a heavy sigh, looking at the map toward the southern tip of District Nine, which he was sure was up in smoke. "Thack, Calliope, and the tributes took shelter in a bunker down there that used to be a hub for the Ace of Spades."
"Those weird time-traveling, trans-universal rebels? You don't believe they're real, do you?" Maggie asked with a giggle.
"I believe in the doo-doos in my pants," Stellan said teasingly. "Seriously, almost shat my pants," he said.
"Yeah, okay, you old coot," Maggie said, teasingly flicking his temple with a giggle. "And the crew flying out of Seven?"
"Their path was directly through the north side of Nine," Stellan said with a sigh. "So they're delayed another day. Just in case."
Of course they were. Maggie was so looking forward to having some of her friends home, of course it had to delay them. She just sat up taller and kept her face a clean mask with a smile. "Well, at least they're safe." She just had to keep telling herself that. It could have been much worse, at least they were all okay.
"Exactly," Stellan said, but he gently rubbed Maggie's cheek softly. "I know," he said. "Kat is touring District Three to collect strategists and specialists, and I want her home every day. But I trust that she's alright." He looked back at the map and the trackers and sighed.
"I miss my friends, especially Jo. She and I had to fake date, of course, but we because real best friends in the process." Maggie smiled a little bit. She missed the whole group – Camellia and Malloy too, and Tessa and Trap, she even missed Coda. Which was saying something. Numitor's death just hit all of them.
"I know," Stellan said, giving her a sad smile before it fizzled off of his face. "I know that you don't have a special someone, but we would all protect you just as much," he told her. "I could always tell about you how much you wanted to be loved. And by I, I mean Kat," he added with a small laugh. "It was obvious that you were happy to have a girlfriend, even if it was just pretend."
"We don't gotta talk about that in the middle of a war," Maggie said. "Besides, I think I've done enough dating, don't you? A child and an ex-fiance later."
"Well those don't count," Stellan told her. "Those weren't you. You're so much different now."
"Yeah, I wear a cloak of tragedy," Maggie said quietly. "It follows me everywhere I go."
"Which of us doesn't wear one nowadays?" Stellan asked quietly, his eyes sad as he looked at her and gently rubbed her cheek for a few seconds. "It's much easier to handle if you have someone you know you can trust. And you do, you have all of us. I just worry about you, you like to hold it all in. I lost my brother-figure for rebellious activity years ago. Then, I lost Phil," he said. "It ruined me. Every day was suddenly riddled with grief, and to be honest, there are still some days when I still struggle to eat and sleep," he said quietly. "Just know… That's why we're here. I know how much anger and sadness you must have, it comes out every once in a while. Just… Don't go through everything alone."
Maggie's eyes filled with tears hearing him talk about that, and seeing the pain on his face that must have matched her own every time she thought about what she'd recently lost. She nodded a little bit, keeping her head up and preventing them from shedding. "I know," she said. "I'm just not ready for that yet," she said quietly, her voice breaking a little bit. "But I appreciate it." She squeezed his arm a little bit, forcing a smile at him as she walked out of the room, and he let her.
She often wandered the corridors – most of them overgrown, moldy, or full of cobwebs – usually more than one of those. When she was sure she wouldn't be found, the tears started pouring out of her eyes. She just couldn't stop crying and she hated it. She was trying to be strong like them all, but she was delicate inside, and she was hurting, but they were all stressed and tired and busy. She was just waiting for her friends to come home so she could feel like she could lean on someone.
She wasn't sure how long she walked, but she was getting deeper into the complex than she had been. The numbers outside of each room were covered in dust. Some of the screens worked, some were cracked. She looked around for a second, before the grief overtook her and the tears poured out of her eyes. She slowly sat down against a wall as her vision started to get bleary and her hands started to shake as she finally eased the pain in her throat and let the tears flow. Losing a brother and her twin who was her best friend… She choked a little bit on her tears. She put her face in her knees as she cried out. She wasn't sure how long she was there before a voice made her swallow, trying to slow her tears.
"What's a matta, chi-ca?"
She sniffed a little bit, shaking her head, before her brain fully put together the unfamiliarity of the voice. She quickly looked up, her mouth falling open when she saw a person she didn't recognize there, quickly scrambling away, her eyes still pouring tears. "Wh-o the fuck are you!?" she asked, trying to pretend she was going to fight even though she was in no state to.
"I could ask you that, but I see that you're in trouble," he said, coming a little closer. Maggie acted like Kat taught her, giving swift kick between the legs and going to run away when she heard a groan.
"THAT WAS MY COOCH!" he said loudly, and Maggie was going to go tell Wolf when she heard him add quickly. "Ow, hold on! I want to help!" he said, even as he was curled up on the floor for a second.
Maggie slowly turned around, brushing a few more tears off her cheeks as her hands were shaking with adrenaline. When he saw her turn around, he got up on his feet, still cradling his coochie with one hand as he went over to her slowly.
"It's been a while since I've seen another person in the flesh. I sometimes get the news or a sitcom, though. It ain't so bad down here," he said quietly. "Better if you have a friend though. So… My name is Indy."
Maggie gaped for a second. "Indy… Alejo!?"
Indy's eyebrows shot up. "Ah, am I famous?! Oy vey! Oo-la-la!"
"I-I thought you were dead," she said, shaking her head in disbelief for a second.
"Oh, yeah, they like to pretend they killed me. I mean, they fucked up my leg real good, I'm still not amazing on it. But you know what they say about what doesn't kill you." He let out a chuckle. "Now… Who is it exactly that I'm talking to?"
"Oh. I-I'm Maggie. Mitchell, I, uh, I am the former President's niece."
Indy nodded a little bit at her. "Aha. I do remember you, unfortunately I just remember that's how I learned my friends are all into gingers." He laughed and leaned against the wall. "So… Obviously there's some hot goss here that I'm dying to hear about. Want to come in for a spot of tea?"
Maggie blinked in surprise at him but slowly nodded. "Um, okay."
Indy smiled and gestured her inside. "Come on, now, mi amiga nueva!"
Maggie followed him in when the apartment doors opened, her mouth falling open when she saw the complex – mostly, the walls, which were covered in drawings from ceiling to floor. And they were good. "Oh."
"I've had lots of time here," Indy said. "Think a few years. You know, I've done all the crazy people things in that time. I did help some wayfairers like yourself. I've been getting the damn generators to work so I could live. I've been exploring the complex to find extra food, and markers. Talk to myself, draw faces on my fingers," he said, holding up his pointer fingers with a face drawn on it with an eye patch. "Yep, Mista, you're goin' crazy down he'a!" he said in a dramatic nasally voice before holding up the pointer on the other hand with longer hair. "Aw, be nice Foxy!" he said in a high-pitched valley-girl voice. "And stop repressing your feelings for me!" He gave a chuckle before turning back to her. "You know."
Maggie just nodded slowly, a little worried this man was going to kill her and then draw her face on his finger and talk to it. "Sure."
"Oh come on, I'm not that crazy!" he said with a laugh as the kettle started whistling and he pulled it off the heat. "Or maybe I am. I'm still not sure you're real and not a hallucination, chica. It's very possible that this is all happening in my mind. That would be fun, if I start hallucinating. But I'm not going to off myself just yet, not when there's a chance that I might go home someday."
Maggie frowned a little bit, noticing a particularly striking drawing on the wall of his bedroom and going in to look at it. Indy walked in behind her with the cups of tea. "Please, I'm definitely rusty, let's have tea first," he said jokingly. "Just make sure not to get attached, okay, I'm aro or whateva."
Maggie blushed and shook her head quickly. "Dude, I'm a lesbian," she said, slowly sitting down on the desk that was in the room as she was looking at the wall. It was a wall-sized drawing of a bust, a strong profile with a tall mohawk and sunglasses halfway down the nose. "I was just… Wow," she said. "This is amazing." She took a mug from him and sipped the tea – the most basic tea she'd ever had. "Who is this?" she asked quietly.
Indy looked at the wall for a second, slowly sitting down in front of it, on a spot where the color of the mat was a little worn already and looking up at it. "Oh," he said, looking at it for a few long seconds of quiet as Maggie sipped her tea. When he spoke again, his voice broke. "It's Monty."
Maggie frowned a little bit, her eyes immediately watering as she sat down next to him on the floor, gently rubbing his shoulder. "I see."
Indy quickly wiped his eyes. "Fuck, it's been forever since I cried," he said quietly as he sniffed a little bit. "When I got here, I had no idea how long it would be so I drew his face from memory just so I would never forget it," he said with a small sob. "Long nights," he said quietly. "Back then."
Maggie frowned a little bit as she looked at the drawing. "Oh," she said softly. "Well, I can practically picture him from this."
"Realism was always a specialty," he said quietly. "Before I left the last time, he told me he loved me," he said, shaking his head a little bit. "Shitty circumstance, you know," he said quietly. "I didn't really know what to say. Except for no matter what, I'll choose you. When I got here I wanted to keep true to that. But if everyone thinks I'm dead…" he shook his head in disbelief. "I can't expect that he didn't find someone that could actually love him. And that's for the better." He wiped his eye a little bit. "But I kept my promise anyway," he said, his voice quiet and a little squeaky due to tears.
Maggie frowned at him, gently squeezing his shoulder. She wasn't so sure he was aro or whateva when he was acting like this about a man he'd been separated from for years. "Well…" she said slowly. "I'm actually not here alone," she confessed to him as she sipped tea to keep from crying for him – and for herself. "We're using this complex as a rebel base, we're locked in the middle of a coup. The rebels are rising up to take back their homes."
Indy stared at her a few moments before he shook his head a little bit in disbelief. "You're shittin' me, chica."
Maggie chuckled a little bit through her pain and tears. The hopeful look in his eyes made her remember why this was so important to her in the first place. There was something bigger here, even if it didn't always feel like it. "No, I'm not – and no, you're not hallucinating." She took a marker and drew a face on it, holding it up as she talked in a high voice. "Rebellion is happening now."
Indy laughed at her and held up his fingers, wiggling his ring finger and speaking in a medium voice. "No waaaaaay, that's fuckin' nutso, hot ginger girl with big titties! You can't just say that Janine, tsk tsk!" He wiggled his pointer finger. "Ewwww don' talk about big titties Missus ya little-"
"Wait, did you say Janine?" Maggie interrupted him. "You… Don't happen to be from District Eight, do you?"
"Depends on what you mean by from," he said, but when he saw recognition in Maggie's eyes, he nodded quickly. "Yes. That's where my family is. Why?"
"Do you have any reason to believe that your friend may be running a rebel safehouse in District Eight in a tattoo parlor?"
Indy clapped his hands. "I have every reason to believe that!" he said quickly. "Considering we worked in tattoo shop together! Wait. You're not serious. I'm so proud of her, the fuck?!" he was quickly getting excited – and Maggie too.
"Okay, come with me," Maggie said as she quickly put her mug down. "I have people all 'round here that can get in contact with her. We're going to ping District Eight right away!"
Indy couldn't have gotten up faster, nodded quickly. "I don't care if I'm hallucinating now, you are my fucking guardian angel. Let's go let's go let's go chi-ca!" he grabbed her and pulled on her hand. Maggie laughed a little and pulled him along, through the winding hallways. Maggie burst through the door when they got back.
"STELLAN!" she said loudly, pulling Indy with her. "No time to explain. Ping Janine Hunt right now, please!" Stellan stared at them in shock, watching as Maggie took the communication attachment to make a ping right away. "Tell them we have Indy Alejo here in 13 and make a summons for Janine and her team to get here with the mentors and escorts," Maggie said breathlessly, grinning as she pat her arm. "Tell them Monty better get over here."
Indy opened his mouth to protest but Stellan was already relaying the message. They could all hear the yelling buzzing through Stellan's earpiece, and Indy smiled apologetically. When she looked over at him, she grinned and nodded excitedly and he nodded back with a small grin.
"Oh, yes, Senor, and tell them to bring me my testosterone and my pastel hair dyes!"
~.~.
A/N: The love/hate relationship continues.
Next Chap: Bonnie doesn't know what Paws Off means, Rory and Chiwi get a lot of unexpected party guests, and Maggie becomes a lot less lonely.