In the District 13 kitchen, Peeta was attempting to teach Taiya the art of making shortbread. He'd patiently demonstrated the correct technique for rolling out the pastry, but she just didn't seem to get it.

"No. You have to do it like this," Peeta reiterated, showing her the motion again. "No. No, Taiya. Not like that," he mumbled to himself, trying to suppress the urge to take over.

Taiya seemed to be rolling the dough in every direction except the right one.

Peeta frowned, trying to guide her one more time. "What are you doing? Taiya the pin is on an angle, it's going to be uneven. Just… here, I'll show you," he gently took the rolling pin from her and began rolling out the dough with practised precision.

Taiya, sensing Peeta's frustration, turned to Tyler, who was sitting in the corner, and winked.

Tyler just rolled his eyes, thoroughly amused. "She's messing with you, Peeta," he informed the perplexed boy who turned to Taiya with wide eyes.

"Taiya," Peeta sighed, a mix of exasperation and amusement in his voice.

"Yes, bread boy?" she replied with an innocent smile, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Try again," Peeta insisted, handing her the rolling pin back. Taiya let out a sigh and reluctantly took it from him. "Do you cook much back home?" Peeta inquired, attempting to engage her in conversation as they continued their shortbread mission.

Taiya tensed her jaw angrily, a shadow crossing her features. "No, Finnick did," she grumbled, frustration evident in her voice. "Stupid Finnick."

Finnick had been gone for two days already, and Taiya had expected to feel sadness at some point. However, all she felt was anger. The absence of her husband left her with a void she didn't want to acknowledge, so she covered it up with rage. She hadn't even called him like they'd agreed. She didn't want to speak to him right now.

Peeta, sensing her mood, chose his words carefully. "I'm sure he'll be back soon," he offered, hoping to provide some comfort.

Taiya scoffed, her agitation not easily assuaged. "It's not about that. It's about him leaving in the first place. It's about him not telling me he was leaving until the last second," she turned her gaze to Tyler. "I mean did you guys expect me to believe he found out he'd be leaving the same day he told me? No," she turned back to the dough. "He kept it from me."

Peeta exchanges a glance with Tyler. Tyler had asked if he could try and distract Taiya, and Tyler had even bargained with Plutarch to have Peeta's guards stationed just outside the kitchen rather than in there with him. That had taken a lot of work. No one was all that keen on leaving Peeta and Taiya in a room filled with knives with minimum supervision.

"How did 12 look when you visited with Katniss?" he asked quietly. He'd been wanting to ask her this for a long time, but he was always too scared to ask.

"I didn't see much of it," Taiya admitted quietly. "We landed just outside your houses in victors village. I'm sorry Peeta."

His whole family had been lost in the bombings of 12.

"Ow!" Peeta jumped.

"What?" Taiya asked.

"You rolled my finger," he shook his hand in the air, trying to push the pain away.

"Oh," Taiya looked down at the rolling pun accusingly. "Sorry about that."

"Watch where you roll that thing Taiya," he joked. "You're a menace to society."

"And don't you forget it," she pointed the rolling pin at him as they giggled together.

Tyler had been Taiya's shadow the last few days. He'd be outside Gloss' compartment to head to breakfast with them. He'd wait in the hospital while she had her sessions with Mrs Everdeen. It was driving her insane.

In the weapons rooms, Beetee and Tyler were engrossed in a quiet but intense argument while Taiya and Johanna engaged in a playful session of tossing Betty's fancy weapons around on the other side of the room. It was the first time in nearly two weeks that Johanna had left the hospital.

"I think it's wrong," Beetee shook his head.

"Why cause her that stress? She'll lose her mind with worry," Tyler argued, his voice low but firm. He kept glancing over at Taiya and Johanna to ensure they were still preoccupied with their antics.

Beetee, however, stood his ground. "Taiya is an adult. You shouldn't keep things from her. It's just not right."

Tyler sighed. He didn't disagree with Beetee's sentiment, he just didn't think it was the right way to proceed at this stage. "You don't understand, Beetee. She's already mad enough as it is. If she finds out Finnick is in the Capitol, she might just consult a divorce lawyer."

Beetee's brown furrowed in concern. "Tyler, keeping the truth from her won't make things better. It's not fair to Taiya."

"But it's for her own good. She's dealing with so much right now. Finnick leaving, the trauma from being in the Capitol, she doesn't even want to hear about this war. Telling her about Finnick being in the Capitol will just add to the chaos," Tyler insisted.

Beetee shook his head, disagreeing. "Keeping her in the dark is not protecting her. It's underestimating her. Taiya deserves to know the truth."

"Beetee, you can't just throw this at her. It's a lot to handle," Tyler argued, his tone becoming more insistent.

"You're treating her like she's fragile. She can handle it. Taiya deserves honesty, no matter how difficult it may be. It shouldn't have been kept from her in the first place," Beetee maintained, his conviction unwavering.

"YES!" Taiya screamed loudly, jolting Beetee and Tyler out of their conversation. "EAT MY DUST MASON YOU SUCKER!"

"No, no, no, no, no. Rematch," Johanna turned to Taiya.

"Oh sod off," Taiya shook her head. "You lost."

"Taiya?" Tyler asked, not understanding where the dramatics came from.

"Guess who just won a bet?" Taiya turned around. "Moi," she pointed to herself.

"Double or nothing?" Johanna offered. "Come on. Rematch."

"There shall be no rematches today my friend," Taiya wagged her finger in the air.

"Well, you cheated."

"How did I cheat?"

"You coughed. It threw me off."

"Oh please," Taiya scoffed, turning away. "Thrown off by a cough. You disappoint me, Jo. I thought you were more skilled than that."

"What did you win?" Tyler asked, using his crutch to stand up.

"The song is going back to the original format," she smiled proudly. "Farewell subpar Jo and Taiya version and welcome back to the Taiya and Jo era!"

"The song is going to suck now," Johanna crossed her arms in a sulk.

"What was the bet?" Tyler wanted to know the details.

"Most accurate throw of our weapons. The first one to throw off the centre loses. Jo lost."

"Because you cheated."

"Did not," Taiya shot over her shoulder. "You want to know how I won Tyler?"

"How?"

"I just imagined the target was Finnick's face," she smiled at him. "Because that's what's going to happen when he gets home."

"Taiya," Beetee began to wheel himself closer.

"Oh would you look at the time," Tyler looked down at his wrist. He wasn't wearing a watch. "You've got to meet with Mrs Everdeen soon for a session. So we should probably," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"It's fine," Taiya shrugged, turning back to the weapons table. "I can get there myself. If you've got things to do you can go."

Tyler fidgeted nervously. He could tell she was getting antsy being followed around constantly. If it wasn't him, it was Buck. Someone was always by her side.

"No, that's ok. I have to get my knee checked anyway."

"Hmm," Taiya mumbled, slipping one of the knives Beetee had created for her into her pocket. He'd designed some badass blades for her. They had a cool feature where she could click a button, and they'd return to her. It was fun. It meant she didn't have to walk over to pick them up when she ran out. Lazy girl knives.

Some of them could deliver electric shocks, others wouldn't lose their momentum underwater and some others exploded. The exploding ones were definitely the coolest. All of them were activated by her fingerprint, so no features could be used against her if they were stolen.

"Ok, let's go!" she turned around with a smile. She didn't intend to use the knife. She just wanted to keep one. For fun. Fingers crossed Beetee didn't do inventory counts.

Tyler walked alongside Taiya as they made their way to her therapy session. The air grew tenser and tenser as Taiya refused to initiate conversation. Usually, Tyler couldn't get her to shut up and now he found himself wishing she'd speak. It was as though a storm was brewing between them. Taiya felt his eyes on her, and irritation gnawed at her nerves until she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Why are you following me around all the time?" she snapped, her frustration finding an outlet.

"Because I'm looking out for you, I'm always worried about you. Finnick asked me to as well," Tyler replied calmly.

"Yeah, Finnick was worried, huh?" Taiya scoffed, a bitter edge to her words. "So worried he still decided to go away."

"Taiya…" Tyler began, attempting to choose his words carefully.

"No," she cut him off, her eyes flashing with anger. "Don't 'Taiya' me. You knew he was leaving, and you kept it from me. Why? Why would you do that?"

Tyler sighed, realising there was no easy way out of this. "I thought it would upset you, Taiya. I didn't want you to be stressed out here. You hate it enough here as it is. I was trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" Taiya's voice rose, a mix of anger and hurt. "You think keeping something like that from me is protecting me? I'm not a child, Tyler. I can handle the truth. And you kept it from me. I know you knew, and you kept it from me. I'm just so mad at you. Just… don't talk to me right now ok? I'm too mad and I don't want to say something I'll regret."

"Ok," Tyler replied softly. He knew her anger was warranted. He had known. He had kept it from her. So he continued to walk beside her in silence, as he let the weight of her words sink in. They'd been so worried about Taiya's reactions, that they hadn't thought about her feelings. Even if they just told her the lie that Finnick was going to 12, but told her earlier, she'd probably feel less hurt. But really they shouldn't have lied to her at all.

"You going to follow me in here as well?" Taiya snapped when they arrived at the hospital.

"No," he shook his head quietly. "I'm going to get my knee checked and I'll see you after ok?"

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes before walking into her therapy room. She stormed into that office with anger radiating off of her like a tangible force. She slumped into the chair, scowling as if the world had personally wronged her.

"Hi, Taiya," Mrs Everdeen greeted, her voice calm and welcoming.

"Don't you just hate people?" Taiya asked in a huff, crossing her arms tightly. She stared down at the floor as if expecting it to offer some solace.

Mrs Everdeen smiled gently. "People can be challenging, but they're also capable of surprising us with kindness."

"I don't need people to surprise me with kindness. I just need them not to be idiots," Taiya grumbled, her frustration evident.

"Could we perhaps find a more constructive word than idiots?" Mrs Everdeen suggested.

"Morons?"

"Not quite," Mrs Everdeen muttered. "What's on your mind Taiya?"

Taiya took a deep breath, trying to collect herself. The last session she'd had she'd been seething with rage, but hadn't wanted to talk about it, so Mrs Everdeen elected to give her a stress ball to play with that session. "Can I get the ball again?" she asked.

Mrs Everdeen immediately handed it over. "You can keep that."

"Really?" Taiya's eyes lit up. "Awesome." She gave the ball a few light squeezes before she launched into her complaint. "Finnick left to go to District 12, and no one thought to tell me until the last minute. And I'm sure most people knew. Literally 12 hours before he was leaving he was like 'Oh by the way babe, toodaloo' like what the hell! And Tyler - oh, Tyler, he's been shadowing me like a babysitter and like, I know he wants to look out for me or whatever, but this is just next level! I know he knew Finnick was leaving, and he kept it from me. I hate that. I hate that they think they can make decisions for me. So what if I was tortured in the Capitol and am slightly messed up from that? It doesn't mean you can lie to me!"

Mrs Everdeen nodded, acknowledging Taiya's frustration. "It sounds like there's a lot of hurt and disappointment about them keeping this a secret from you. How do you feel about Finnick going to the Capitol?"

Taiya froze mid-squeeze on the ball. "He's not in the Capitol. He's in 12. With your daughter. Filming propos."

Mrs Everdeen froze for a moment. She thought when Taiya had said 12 earlier it was just a slip. But the girl genuinely didn't know. She was torn. It was very hard to be a therapist when you knew more about the situation than your patient. Finnick was not in 12. If she continued this lie, Taiya might reject therapy in the future because she'd be complicit in the lie.

"How about the voices?" Mrs Everdeen quickly swerved to a new conversation. "Have they come up?"

"Oh yeah, my dad's real chatty lately," Taiya grumbled, returning to her ball. She needed to find Gloss after this session was over.

"Taiya."

"I hear voices no big deal."

"It is a big deal Taiya, we need to talk it through."

"You know I think my anger is like a grounding force," Taiya looked up with a smirk. "I'm so mad that my own inner voice is constantly yelling, so it kind of drowns the others out. Plus Theo's voice is always saying 'Everyone's lying to you' and guess what? They are. So maybe my brain is like Nostradamus or something."

"Ok," Mrs Everdeen had to sigh, it looked like she'd lost her. But when she looked back up, Taiya was no longer smiling

"Sometimes I worry that I don't know what's real. When I hear these voices, it's hard to know if it's something they actually said to me once or if it's a dream put there by the Capitol. Memory or dream. I don't know."

"You can ask," Mrs Everdeen prompted.

"I know I can… I just… I feel like the only person I want to ask is gone."

"There are so many people here who care about you, Taiya. They could help. They'd answer any question you have."

"I know they could. But I don't like having serious conversations with them. I'm not comfortable. I'm comfortable with Finnick."

"Perhaps broadening the circle of people we trust could be a good thing?"

"It's not a matter of trust. I trust a lot of people. But I'm just not comfortable discussing this kind of stuff with them." Taiya looked down at her ball and threw it up in the air. "If Finnick really loved me, would he have left me?"

"That boy loves you," Mrs Everdeen shut down immediately. "I know as a therapist I probably shouldn't speak about other people's feelings, but I'm telling you this. That boy loves you. That's a fact."

"Then why'd he lie to me?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gloss asked again.

"I told you. They're keeping something else from me. This is the best way to find out."

"I mean I'm all down for stirring up trouble, but I feel like just asking Tyler point blank about Finnick would answer your question."

"I don't trust him to tell me the truth. This is the only way I think I'll get the truth, Gloss."

"Alright then. We'll go ahead with Plan Eavesdropping."

"Thank you," she squeezed his arm.

"But if we get caught I'm throwing you under the bus. I've gotten in enough trouble lately because of you."

"Understood," she nodded in acceptance. "The meeting starts in 40 minutes so I think if we go now, we'll have to hang out a bit before it starts, but there won't be anyone in the room to catch us."

"Agreed."

Suspicion had been gnawing at Taiya since yesterday when Mrs Everdeen mentioned the Capitol. Surely she'd know where her own daughter was? So Taiya and Gloss were going to break into the meeting room and hide in the cupboard so that they could overhear Plutarch's war update meeting. If they didn't know Taiya was there, they'd have no reason to lie. She figured this was the best way to get the most up-to-date information. Straight from the source, before it had been altered and filtered down to her. Of course, she wanted her sidekick Gloss to tag along on the mission.

"We're going to have to lose your shadows," Gloss glanced back at Tyler and Buck, who were trailing behind them.

"Yeah well, we can definitely outrun Buck. And crutch man won't be able to catch us on those things."

"Should you really be calling him 'crutch man'? It's your fault he's injured," Gloss asked with a frown.

"My fault?" she turned to him incredulously and gave him a shove. "You executed the hit."

"On your orders."

"I didn't say to injure him."

"Well, that's how I interpreted it. Don't blame me."

"You're driving me crazy."

"Oh please you were already crazy," he scoffed.

"Jerk."

"3, 2, 1. Run," Gloss took off running.

Taiya immediately sprinted after him.

"TAIYA!" she could already hear Tyler and Buck's calls getting further and further away. They wouldn't be able to catch them.

The pair quickly ducked into a side corridor, waiting for Tyler and Buck to catch up.

Taiya chuckled. "You know if this wasn't a serious situation this would be kind of fun."

"Are you kidding me?" Gloss smirked. "I'm loving this. Quick," Gloss grabbed Taiya's arm and pulled her back, they could hear the approaching footsteps.

"Oh geez," Buck complained, clearly out of breath.

"How could you lose them?" Tyler groaned.

"Me? I'm older than you and you're the one with the messed up knee. How's that my fault?" Buck retorted.

"Look, losing her on her own is one thing. But she's with Gloss. That just spells trouble," Tyler stressed. "If they blow anything up, we're getting the blame."

"We should split up. Cover more ground," Buck suggested. "Or ask Beetee if he can track them on the cameras?"

"Beetee's not exactly in the mood for helping us at the moment," Tyler sighed. "Let's just split up."

They then heard footsteps before a small scuffle.

"Are you serious?" Tyler snapped. "I'm going this way, man. It was your idea to split up, don't follow me."

"I thought I was going that way?"

"Just, go the other way, Buck," Tyler cried out before they heard them leave.

"Alright, let's go. The coast is clear," Gloss took Taiya's hand and they wound their way through the corridors, avoiding the main route to the meeting rooms just in case they were spotted. When they got there, they immediately jumped into the supply cupboard. Now all they had to do was wait.

Taiya and Gloss had been crammed in the supply cupboard for half an hour waiting. Their laughter echoed softly as they were engrossed in a game of slaps, trying to outmanoeuvre each other without making too much noise. The minutes ticked by, and their anticipation grew as the meeting room door opened. Both of their hands immediately froze in the air as they listened.

Plutarch's voice was the first to cut through the silence. "Good afternoon, everyone. Let's get started. We have much to discuss."

Taiya glanced at Gloss, signalling that it was time to quiet down. He could feel the stress rolling off her in waves and took hold of her hand, providing a silent comfort. They had to strain to hear Plutarch's update as the room filled with hushed whispers.

"Our efforts to gather intel on the Capitol have been successful," Plutarch began. "We've managed to intercept some of their transmissions, and it seems President Snow is growing increasingly paranoid. He's tightening security, which could work in our favour."

Haymitch, ever the pragmatic man, raised an eyebrow. "How secure are we with the intel? Can we trust it?"

"Our sources are reliable, but we're cross-referencing the information. But I trust the informant. Still, it's crucial to be cautious, Haymitch. We don't want to act on misinformation."

"Fair enough," Haymitch conceded. "Who's the informant?"

"Romulus Crane," Plutarch explained and Gloss' eyes immediately darted to Taiya, ready to slap a hand over her mouth if she gasped. Her mouth had opened, but no noise escaped. "From the information we've gathered from our District 4 friend, I believe we can trust him, he helped Miss Ambersnow and now he's helping us. He still has the District 4 girl, Kenna, as well. We at know he's loyal to Miss Ambersnow so whilst we've got her here, I think we can trust him. Continuing," Plutarch went on to outline efforts in the Districts and the progress the troops were making in the Capitol. Taiya and Gloss listened intently, exchanging glances when particularly interesting information was shared. "But then we come to the issue with the propos."

"What?" Haymitch snorted. "Not getting good enough footage of the Mockingjay?"

"The footage needs heating up. There's not enough happening. None of it is taking place in real combat. It's more like watching a film, it just doesn't rouse support."

"Talk about Finnick. Talk about Finnick," Taiya whispered under her breath.

"What do you suggest to fix it?" Haymitch asks.

"I'm thinking of adding someone to the team, and I'd like to push them closer to the frontline," Plutarch answered.

Taiya froze. Frontline.

"You want to push Katniss closer to the frontline?" Haymitch asked.

"Where the team is now there's very little danger. The grounds have already been won, if we push them closer forward, there'll be an element of tension. I think it'll come across on screen."

"I think Katniss would like that. She did spend all that time training so she could be involved, she's not too happy with her role so far," Haymitch snorted.

"I think she'll like the adjustment," Plutarch chuckled. "I'll be sending someone to the Capitol to join them shortly."

That was all the confirmation she needed. They were in the Capitol. Finnick lied.

Taiya's anger surged like a tempest within her. A fierce storm of betrayal and fear crashed violently thundering through her veins with every beat of her heart. Her eyes transformed into smouldering embers, flickering with the intensity of a wildfire. She'd never felt rage like this before.

The walls she'd built around her emotions crumbled, and the flames of betrayal licked at her core. A searing torrent of indignation and anguish surged through her, a torrential river seeking an escape. It was a symphony of anger—a crescendo of emotions that echoed in the chambers of her soul.

In the quiet hush of the supply cupboard, Taiya's grip on reality wavered, and the boundaries of her world blurred into a canvas of fury. Every breath she took seemed to stoke the flames of her ire, threatening to consume her from the inside out. She hadn't even realised she'd gone to burst into the meeting room until she felt Gloss' hands on her arm, tugging her back down with his hand covering her mouth.

"Be quiet," he whispered urgently. "We need to listen."

Taiya shook her head violently and Gloss reluctantly removed his hand from her mouth, but he didn't release the grip he had across her body. He didn't trust her not to do anything rash.

"He's there, isn't he? I didn't misinterpret that?" Taiya's voice quivered. "Finnick's in the Capitol."

"Shh," Gloss whispered softly, squeezing his hold on her to act as a hug, comforting her as best he could in the cramped quarters.

"Who are you going to send?" Haymitch asked.

Taiya was struggling to contain her rage, but she needed to focus on Plutarch's voice.

Sighing with a hint of regret, Plutarch replied. "Ideally, I'd like to send Miss Ambersnow, but I'm afraid that might not work out well."

Haymitch snorted, offering a cynical remark. "That'd be at your own peril."

"Taiya would've been the ideal choice to garner support within the Capitol. Her popularity could have worked wonders for the propos."

The meeting room fell silent as everyone processed Plutarch's words. It was hard for the District 13 people to get their heads around. They understood that Taiya was a beloved figure in the Capitol, but they only had seen the girl in 13. They hadn't been exposed to her in the Capitol like Plutarch and Haymitch had. They only knew her as the unruly victor with some serious PTSD.

"But President Coin has made the decision," Plutarch continued. "She believes it's in our best interest to send in Peeta." The room erupted in a murmur of disbelief. Sending Peeta, who harboured a deep-seated animosity towards Katniss, seemed counterintuitive at best and potentially disastrous at worst.

Haymitch, for once the voice of reason spoke up. "Have you thought that through?" he asked pointedly.

"It's a risk, I know. But Coin believes that showcasing Peeta's struggles will make a powerful statement. The Capitol needs to see that everything he said while he was captive was false and that he now stands with the Mockingjay."

Taiya had thought she couldn't be angrier. She could. The rage within her felt unbridled and unstoppable. Gloss sensed she was going to lose whatever ounce of control she had left in her, and tightened his grip on her, anchoring her in place.

"Let me tell him," Haymitch said. "He should hear it from a friend."

"Agreed," Plutarch consented. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add? No? Alright then, I think that's our meeting concluded. We'll meet again tomorrow."

Taiya and Gloss heard the shuffle of people leaving the room, prompting him to slowly release his hold on her.

Turning to speak to Gloss, Taiya found herself met Gloss already waiting with a finger pressed against his lips, a directive to stay silent. Taiya just nodded and Gloss slowly reached up to edge open the door to the meeting room. However, his hasty withdrawal suggested an unexpected presence.

"Plutarch's still here," he whispered, his tone laced with caution.

"Where about is he?" Taiya asked.

"Just in front of us basically," Gloss answered.

"Is the door closed?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Asked and answered.

As soon as he said yes, Taiya was out of that cupboard.

Plutarch hadn't even heard her coming. He was completely oblivious until he was forcefully struck from behind. Without a moment to brace himself, the career victor's assault had sent him hurtling. He tumbled into the chairs closest to him, very ungracefully flipping over them to land on his back.

He still hadn't been able to make sense of what happened when he froze, feeling a cold object press against his throat.

Taiya was on top of him, the blade she'd taken from Beetee the day before held against Plutarch's throat.

"Oh yeah! Get him!" Gloss excitedly cheered.

"Hi," Taiya greeted with a smile.

Plutarch didn't even have any words. His mouth opened and closed in shock.

"We were in the cupboard," she answered the question he hadn't been able to ask. "Heard some things I think you'd rather we hadn't."

Plutarch was looking in her eyes. He'd spent years watching her. Studying her. He'd been waiting for this rebellion to come about for a long time, and he had needed to analyse the victors to work out which ones were trustworthy. Taiya had been the victor with the most connections to the Capitol. She was a part of their society through her relationship with Seneca. So she'd required the most analysis to find out if she could be trusted. He knew her relationship was her job. But he didn't know how seriously she took it. He didn't know how much of it was an act.

This meant he'd watched her Games multiple times. She'd tried to put on a fake personality for some of it. But she couldn't hide her emotions when she'd been talking to Theo. And she certainly couldn't hide the rage she felt after he died.

And that's what Plutarch recognised now. That's how he knew how serious this was. This wasn't like the last time she attacked him when she'd been hallucinating. Now her eyes were filled with the same rage she had in the last couple of days of her Games. She knew what she was doing. This was calculated. She would kill him if he said one wrong thing.

He glanced to the side when he saw movement and any hope he had of a rescue vanished. It was just Gloss, not Tyler. And Gloss was grinning widely as he took in the scene.

"So I have some questions," she trailed her knife up and down his throat. "And you're going to answer them. Nod if you understand."

Plutarch aggressively nodded his head up and down, incidentally pushing the knife harder against his throat, making him wince.

"Careful," she taunted. "It'd be pretty embarrassing if you ended up injuring yourself. Now," she raised the knife to run it down his cheek. "I'm going to ask you simple questions. Is Finnick in the Capitol?"

"Yes," Plutarch croaked, terrified that she might hurt him just because she didn't like the answer.

"Don't panic," she smirked at him. "If you answer me I have no reason to hurt you. I'm not that psycho," she widened her eyes. "And Gloss here isn't going to help you so don't bother. Second question. Did he know all along he was going to the Capitol?"

"Yes."

"Hmm," Taiya huffed in anger. "At any point was he going to District 12 to film propos?"

"No."

"So he lied when he told me that?"

"Yes. He…"

"Ah ah. I don't need elaboration," Taiya silenced him, returning the knife to his throat. She'd expected better from Finnick. He'd manipulated her. Used her fear against her to keep her from coming. It didn't matter if it was snowing in 12. He wasn't there. "Is he in danger?" her voice cracked slightly.

"Yes."

"How far from the front line is he?"

"Well back."

"Then where's the danger from?" He hesitated in answering this and she had her answer. "Pods," she realised. Seneca had designed some of them. It was what Gamemakers did on days they had some spare time.

"What's a pod?" Gloss asked from behind them, having taken a seat on a chair so he could watch the show.

"You want to tell him, former Gamemaker Heavensbee?" Taiya asked.

"A pod is a Capitol trap," Plutarch stuttered. "Designed to eliminate anyone who enters the specified area. It can trigger anything from mutts to explosions to deadly mechanisms. It's meant to suppress rebellions. Stop them from getting into the Capitol."

"The Gamemakers design them in their spare time," Taiya turned to look at her friend. "Remind you of something?"

"An arena," Gloss sighed.

Taiya turned her glare back to Plutarch. "Exactly like an arena."

Plutarch got panicked when he saw her let out a shaky breath. "They have a device."

This brought Taiya's attention back. "What device?"

"It's called a holo. It has the most up-to-date information I could get. It has all the pods marked out. So they know where to avoid."

"Is it foolproof?"

"No," Plutarch admitted.

"Then it could be useless."

"It's something," Plutarch pleaded.

"You are really getting on my nerves Plutarch," she got closer to his face. "You're going to send Peeta there?"

"It's not my call."

"Do you even have any authority here?" Taiya snapped.

"President Coin is the leader. She makes the decisions."

"Well," Taiya took a deep breath. "Peeta's not going alone."

"I can't send you," Plutarch tried to shake his head, before freezing when he felt the knife press further against his throat. "It was Finnick's condition for going. You were to stay safely here."

"Finnick doesn't get to make decisions for me. And if he keeps it up at the rate he is, he'll be getting thrown out of our house when we get back home. I'm going. And you won't pre-warn your little star squad or whatever ridiculous name it was you've given them. I'm going with Peeta and you're going to authorise it. I don't care how you do it. Just get it done. You wanted me to go. And here I am. Volunteering," she smiled. "Bet you love that word. Don't you? Helped start your rebellion."

"It'll be too dangerous sending you."

"I'm going. Do I make myself clear?" she pressed the knife until a drop of blood appeared.

"Crystal, crystal," Plutarch relented, letting out a gasp as he felt the knife pull back slightly.

"Don't worry Heavensbee. I won't derail your military campaign. I just need a reunion with my husband."

Plutarch's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying. Husband. They'd gotten married.

"When does Peeta leave?" Taiya asked.

"Tonight," he told her.

"Brilliant. You and I are going to stick together with Gloss for the next few hours," she got off him to stand up. "Get up!" she snapped and he quickly tried to jump to his feet, stumbling and falling over in his flurry. "Try it again," she pointed her knife in his direction. "Better," she approved once he was on his feet. "Alright then. We three are going to stick together. You're going to accompany me to get whatever kit I need, we're going to load up on my weapons, and then you're going to put me on the hovercraft out of here with Peeta. And when I'm gone," she stepped closer to him, tapping his chest with her blade. "Gloss will keep an eye on you. Make sure you don't say anything rash. How does that sound, Gloss?"

Gloss was looking slightly more hesitant now. He didn't want her going to the Capitol. But she was utterly terrifying at this moment, and even he didn't dare to say no.

"Sounds like a plan."

It may have been a mistake enabling her on Plan Eavesdropping. It was never going to end well.

"Lovely. Let's get to it."