Author's Note: Another changing of the guard for the victors as the Capitol starts to flounder.

….

Overhaul

"They've completely overstretched themselves," Lyme said. "Every uprising met with sending in a new crop of peacekeepers. By the time One and Seven gave them trouble, the recruits who had barely completed training were shipped off. Our former candidates who didn't make the cut had only just been given their uniforms and off they went, from the Institute to the districts."

Finnick grimaced, "No transition period."

"No, just volunteer rejects who we haven't coaxed away from the arena mentality let loose on civilians."

"And we all know how that's going to work out."

"Brutus blew a gasket when we were told. But what could we do?"

"I've spoken to him a couple of times now. Once we'd both got over the mutual shock, things went well. He's determined for Two not to be the enemy. He loves Two like Mags loved Four."

"He did his job too. Halley has the new model of peacekeeper gun. She thinks Beetee can replicate it and they can distribute it across Three."

"Brilliant. Then we need to get it across borders. Big job you gave him, Lyme."

"Big job for the big man. He's come a long way and deserves to be treated with respect and not sent on some childlike errand. Of course, he's ran some of them for me in Two as a test run."

"As long as he delivers, and you keep watch on him for now."

"You can trust him."

"I'm sure I can but we've started up again and can't risk a collapse in Two."

"Understood. Anyway, we have our ears to the ground and information fed to us. The pipeline in Two is drying up. Expect peacekeeper recruitment drives in the Capitol, One and Four. They'll target the Centre."

"I'm sure Gloss and Song can co-ordinate an appropriate response. Wouldn't harm getting some district loyalists out there but that can be worked out."

"Glad to hear it. Now Brutus is secured, I'll sort the rest. Marcus was furious that his boys were shipped off when they wouldn't be ready and it's about time I tested Malachite's loyalty to his old mentor."

"I'm looking forward to hearing about your next successes, Lyme. We'll keep pushing so you'll have to prepare Brutus."

"I expect nothing less. They're on the back foot, caught by surprise so why would you not? We'll need a push from somewhere they don't expect soon. That will shake them. Thread is already talking about boosting internal defence spending."

"Heavensbee said Elda was rattled. He likes the good times, now he's having to pretend everything is fine and we're back to stories of freak weather in the west disrupting supplies."

"It's going back to how it was before, history repeating itself. But we need to make sure we carry it through this time. We can't fail Finn, not now I've convinced Brutus."

Finnick laughed, "Trust me, Lyme. We're not falling short this time around."

….

There was a flu going around District Seven and somehow Liev had caught it and ended up with pneumonia. Chloe knew it wasn't looking good for her friend. Pneumonia in your eighties with poor medical care was a recipe for disaster. She hoped that Linden and the others were looking after him appropriately. Liev had written to her and told her he was comfortable and from his choice of words, Chloe guessed Liev knew his time was nearly over too.

Chloe often wondered how long she had left. Truthfully, she was fed up and no longer saw a purpose in sticking around. Finnick had everything under control, Rowan and Song were without a doubt the leaders of the Centre in all its capacities and no longer sought her opinion on matters. Noah loved having Ossian around and was on the hunt for another victor and Chloe knew that Aquaria would be okay with Annie looking out for her.

She would only return to the Capitol if Liev were alive and well enough to make the trip. She doubted that would be the case. They had a lovely time together during the most recent Games and were both at peace with their lives drawing to a close.

As soon as they arrived and the tributes were with their prep teams, Liev took Chloe's hand and guided her to a side exit where a car was waiting for them.

"We don't need to be here for any of this."

"We've done our time. They can't do anything to surprise us," she replied. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

They drove out of the city centre and in the direction where Chloe knew the Capitol's country retreats were situated. Liev confirmed that Linden had helped him plan and offered them his driver for their stay.

"Why does Linden have a driver?"

"Mags had a driver. How do you think Finnick gets around?"

"Good point. But what about Linden if he wants to get away after the inevitable?"

"Poppy will know someone."

They arrived at one of the Capitol's most private retreats and despite Chloe's protestations, the two victors were booked into one of the venue's largest, most prestigious suites.

"There are some perks to being an older victor. They couldn't do enough for me when I told them we would be arriving and to keep it a secret."

"I'll have to tell Finnick that you Sevens have good taste after all."

Liev laughed, "We deserve something nice, Chloe. After all these years, and the couple of years you have had, we can try to enjoy ourselves."

They ordered food and drinks in a private booth in one of the restaurants. Until the television came alive with mandatory viewing, both victors had almost forgotten they were in the Capitol.

"Let's try to ignore it. Nobody will know if we mute it," Chloe said.

"I forget this is mandatory viewing. We're there in person. We've seen every single Parade, Chloe. I had a starring role in the first and it's the same every year."

It was difficult to forget the Hunger Games as a victor. They were, after all, the reason Chloe and Liev were friends and currently hiding in the Capitol, pretending those very Games did not exist.

But they did their best. Chloe managed to coax Liev into one of the pools in one final attempt to teach him to swim more than a few metres of tentative breaststroke. In return, Liev showed Chloe some basic woodcarving that they both pretended he hadn't tried to teach her before. They went fishing and took photographs, activities that were shared interests before they called Linden's driver to take them around the Capitol in private for old times' sake.

Liev loved architecture. It was the one thing he enjoyed and found genuinely praiseworthy about the Capitol. In their younger days, Liev would go for walks around the Capitol admiring the work and getting ideas for projects of his own to be used if they ever had control over their homes. Chloe humoured Liev and joined him on his walks years ago and now they sat together in comfortable silence as the driver took them everywhere Liev suggested.

They went in secret to Charo and Adan's Capitol restaurant and left full of good food and praise for Ten's victors and their latest success. Chloe and Liev enjoyed themselves in the peace of each other's company and for a while, forgot that they were ageing victors living out their final years in the shadow of the Games and the strife Panem could never escape.

Now Chloe was at home in Four. Noah sat quietly alongside her, keeping her company and encouraging her to eat and go outside regularly. She had lost a lot of weight and could see it was worrying the others. But she wasn't particularly concerned. She had her faculties. It was more than what Coral had in her final years.

She hated to think Liev could be suffering, and she wrote separately to him and Linden expressing her love and concern for her dear friend. It was the reality of ageing after all and as victors, they had lived longer than their peers. The end would come for them eventually and Chloe was beginning to welcome it.

….

"Heavensbee called the other night. Tensions are still increasing," Halley said, unable to hide the glee in her voice.

"Between who?"

"Elda and Thread. Thread has seen the peacekeeper numbers and knows the pipeline is drying up. He wants conscription from the poorest in the Capitol. Elda wants a drive to appeal to the middle classes' patriotism."

"I know which one is smarter," Finnick said. "Annoyingly, it's the President who's right."

"But the defence lobbying is strong. Elda can't see that this could become a real problem for him. An appeal to do right by the country won't appeal to enough people, not when costs are rising and we're on the brink of shortages again. The poorest will sign up to get their meals and a roof over their head that's paid for."

"All the more reason to keep pushing."

"Agreed. It will keep tensions rising, stretch the system further and create a divide in the Capitol."

"But we'll have to monitor what happens if we get a lot of poorly trained, underfed recruits brought to us on peacekeeper trains."

"An unwanted side-effect we'll have to address but I'm sure they can be bribed."

"That's assuming Thread gets his way of course."

"He has enough people behind him to push the issue. But we can ask Heavensbee to watch the situation and report back."

"He's back in action now?"

"Yes. Suspicion seems to have died down, for him at least. Fulvia is still keeping quiet, but he's got some distractions lined up. Apparently, we're going to start launching satellites into space!"

"We are?" Finnick laughed.

"That's what Plutarch has said to occupy the President's mind. Now he's all excited and asking for more regular meetings with our man."

"Well, if it helps us, I'll launch the satellite myself."

"I'm sure people would pay to see that."

"I'm still Finnick Odair, am I not?"

"Good to see that leadership hasn't changed you, Finn."

….

Linden was already hiding the urn containing Liev's ashes in his house. Now he was going to have to hold a second. They may as well bury them both together in the way they wanted. Days after Liev's funeral, Linden went to check on Sawyer. He knew his friend wasn't his usual self but there was no suggestion of any health complaints. But obviously, something had gone very wrong as Sawyer was dead on his living room floor.

Linden screamed for Blight and moments later, he came rushing through the open door, answering his friend's call.

"Shit!" Blight muttered as he looked at the floor where Sawyer was lying. "What did we miss?"

"He was quiet, but we've all been subdued. There was no sign of illness, he was eating normally the other night when we were all together."

Blight sighed, "I'll ask Johanna to get the doctor. Fern can get his family here; they'll need to be involved too."

The two men waited with their old friend until the women returned with Sawyer's relatives and the doctor to confirm what was already clear. In a matter of weeks, their numbers had been depleted unexpectedly and now Linden and Blight were Seven's senior victors.

"I'm going to have to grow up properly, aren't I?" Blight asked.

"You've grown up plenty, Johanna forced you to. I'm serious enough for both of us sometimes. But another older head wouldn't go amiss now there's only four of us."

"We're all going to have to put our feet down. I know Liev had technically retired but it's almost a third of our capacity gone."

"Let's think about that later," Linden replied. "There's another funeral to sort."

It had been a rough few weeks for District Seven's victors. Liev did not recover from the flu and continued to deteriorate as the pneumonia took hold. The medic who served the Village prescribed antibiotics, but they didn't work. He then suggested Liev go to hospital, but the victor refused. He was given oxygen to help him at home but by that point, it was too late to be effective.

Liev passed away with Linden and Blight at his side. Sawyer could not face the very end and waited outside until it was confirmed. They arranged the funeral quickly, wanting it all to be over and for Liev to be at rest. His final letter to Chloe was sent, the plot in the victors' cemetery was opened and the victors found Liev's best liquor which he had saved for the occasion.

They ensured Liev was cremated in District Seven's tradition and the ashes were hidden in the typical urn in Linden's house until they could be buried, and a tree was planted over their resting place. That was the District Seven way and like so much else, Liev shunned the Capitol traditions imposed on the victors. Under their rule, victors were to be buried in a separate section of the district's main burial grounds, like the tributes were. But nobody could think of a victor who had accepted that. They even got away with deviating from the rule publicly in Four, but Seven's victors were not granted the same treatment.

Liev's fellow victors had completed the morbid task of creating a substitute to be publicly buried in the coffin when Capitol cameras were present, and somebody might notice a lightweight, empty coffin and ask questions. Instead, they made carvings out of tree stumps, wrapped them in a shroud in vaguely the correct shape and placed them in the coffin whilst nobody was there to witness it.

Now they would have to go through the same routine again. Sawyer's family agreed with the plan and had decided they were happy for his ashes to be laid next to Liev's alongside where Logan and Leah were already resting. Linden and Blight were relieved that there would be no confrontation.

Next, their attention would have to turn to clearing out both houses. Both men became increasingly frugal, and there was very little that the victors and Sawyer's family could not repurpose. Dealing with material possessions would be simple, it was everything else surrounding it that was difficult. They would have to erase Liev and Sawyer's presence. But both men had left a lasting impression on the Victors' Village and those who still lived there, that, despite the Capitol's instruction, both victors would still be felt near to those they left behind.

….

"Are we on for the weekend?" Poppy asked. "My men have passed on their instructions. Have yours received them?"

"Loud and clear, Poppy," Halley replied. "You ready in Four?"

"Good to go," Finnick confirmed.

"It's a nice opportunity to cause a bit of a panic. That flu is very contagious."

"It would be a shame if we weren't protected."

"And even more of a shame that the Capitol will be down fifty per cent on the stocks they said they need."

"I'm sure they'll find a way to cope. If anybody does get sick, it might teach them a lesson."

"It won't," Poppy said.

"I know. Which is all the more reason to take their supplies."

"Linden has confirmed that they don't have any objections in Seven. They don't see it as exploiting Liev."

"I'd be more surprised if the Sevens did have moral objections, especially with how the Capitol got Linden's mother sick those years ago."

"Exactly. But it's Liev's memory so I wanted to be sure."

"We had discussed going big each time one of us dies so we ought to go through with it."

"The wheels are in motion," Poppy said.

"And the wheels are about to fall off that supply train!" Finnick laughed.

"As long as your men are ready to pick up that last carriage. It will detach as the train picks up speed. My men will send it your way and you'll need to be ready."

"We're ready," Finnick confirmed. "What about Three's supply?"

"Already covered and distributed."

"Then your men will do their thing?"

"They're ready," Poppy confirmed. "The train can split, and the carriages carry on. I'll be going west too."

"That's risky," Halley said.

"I have help. Besides, I need to see them after everything that's happened. We'll meet where we did before. There are things I need to tell him too. Bram knows, for one thing."

"How did the kid-?"

"It turns out he's incredibly perceptive. He's got a good read on everyone he's met and he's strikingly accurate."

"We can make use of that," Finnick said.

"I know. But not now. He's a kid."

"I was a kid when I started!"

"It's different in Four. Bram is different too."

"Just be careful, Poppy."

"You know I will, we always are."

….

Finnick lived up to his word in District Four. Chloe hung on until after Sawyer was buried and passed away a few weeks later with Song and Noah alongside her. She watched the sun rise over the clifftops from her porch and fell asleep shortly afterwards.

The others knew she wanted to go and were relieved it was not a drawn-out process. They had watched Coral suffer and did not want the same for Chloe. Despite her leadership of the districts' rebellion, Chloe had been a steadying, peaceful presence and any other passing would not have been fitting.

Their well-rehearsed funeral plans were put into action and Chloe joined Coral in the plot next to Mags, her husband, Shai and his wife. They looked out from their clifftop perch over Four's waters and the victors believed they would look out for them, and their presence would alert them to any danger.

With the escalations they had orchestrated over the past year, they knew tensions would build and eventually boil over. There was no stopping them anymore. Order would turn to chaos and Panem would be at war once more.

Chloe's death led to District Four's next move, just as Finnick had assured Halley and Poppy it would. The fishing crews went on strike and most peacekeepers refused to enforce the Capitol's rules or forcibly escort them to work. More defections followed and the loyalists who attempted to force fishing crews out to sea were exposed. The entire district knew who could not be trusted.

It made the Head Peacekeeper's position difficult. He claimed he sent a crew of his best out to engage with the crews, as was the most effective way in District Four but it did not work. The unprepared recruits had failed their water testing, and it would not be safe to deploy them when they could be in danger. He was a responsible leader and knew the strike would eventually end without force.

Short of sending in the Capitol Guard, an act endorsed by Commander Thread, the President could only send in one of his Generals to take over. The Head Peacekeeper and his Deputy conveniently escaped to District Three and some of the most troublesome peacekeepers were sent to the Capitol for punishment upon the General's arrival.

The loyalist peacekeepers were briefly emboldened. They managed to force some of the boats out to sea, but they were outnumbered. Years of peace followed by defections had shrunk Four's peacekeeping force and the General had a recruitment problem.

There would always be losses and Finnick and his fellow leaders had come to terms with that. There would always be someone to bear the brunt of the actions they encouraged, but they would not ask people to risk their lives for nothing. They wouldn't ask their people to do something they were not prepared to do either.

As predicted, a recruitment drive, primarily from the traditional volunteer districts began and Finnick willingly became one of the faces of the effort. He spent days undertaking training with Four's recruits who volunteered straight from the Centre. He modelled the uniform and gave a speech aired on national television. He even got to keep the uniform and added it to his collection of potential disguises.

Their leadership had entirely changed, and the previous years had seen a changing of the guard among the victors. Finnick was a visible rebel leader compared to Chloe's quiet ministrations. He pushed forward more ambitious and audacious plans with the confidence of someone born for the role. Finnick was confident they would win, and everything was working in his favour and as he predicted. District Four was behind him, Halley and Poppy stood alongside him, and his plans were coming together.