District Thirteen [Monday, Fandom Time]
Katniss had actually had a slow few weeks. And then everything had folded in over itself in the space of days.
First came the bombs, which had been preceded by a warning from Peeta during one of the Capitol's propos. If not for that, Katniss was sure that the population of Thirteen would look a lot like the population of Twelve, now.
The explosions had lasted for three days, spent cowered in cold, steel bunkers far underground. Katniss could hear them booming away far above on the land's surface, and every time one went off, she found herself that much more unable to deal with being the Mockingjay. Again.
The day the explosions stopped, Coin had decided that they needed footage of Katniss, emerged and unharmed. She'd walked the aboveground craters with Finnick and her film crew, and had done little of the talking herself.
Finnick took over. The story he wove -- threats to kill Annie and his family if he didn't comply with the Capitol's wishes, and the way that he, the most handsome and flirtatious champion to emerge from the Games in years, had been sold for his body horrified Katniss. He told secrets, listing off important figures, and finishing with Snow. That was what he'd told her when they'd first met, after all. He traded in secrets. And President Corolianus Snow had poisoned his way to the top, according to Finnick.
Katniss was unsurprised. Her surprises came later, like the day when she'd woken to find that Gale was gone, along with a crew of soldiers. Of course no one had told her they were going. They couldn't risk the Mockingjay on a rescue mission.
And when they returned with Johanna, Annie and Peeta in tow, she'd found it too good to be true. She watched Johanna sequester herself, saw Annie embrace Finnick. And when she moved over, quietly, to greet Peeta, she was met with the least expected reaction of all: his hands around her throat.
They'd called it hijacking, the doctors in Thirteen. Peeta had been brainwashed to fear Katniss, to be convinced she wanted nothing more than to harm him at every turn.
So she'd run. They'd given her the opportunity to go into the field, and she'd taken it eagerly. Katniss had thrown herself into the Battle of District Two with gusto. Until, of course, the day when it had come down to whether or not to kill civilians.
Katniss had been emphatically against it, while Gale argued in favor of his double-bombed approach -- a single explosion, then another that followed seconds later. It caught them off guard.
Katniss stood her ground. She stood her ground so strongly, in fact, that she didn't think about risk. She didn't think about making a speech before a live audience of soldiers against her.
She didn't think about any of it until she saw herself shot on television.
And while Katniss was rushed to Thirteen for medical attention, Haymitch remembered her demands at the very beginning of all of this, and wandered off to send a message, along with the video of Katniss' shooting.
The time had come to call for backup.
[LONG, LONG overdue, but stolen from Mockingjay (or paraphrased, rather), and NFB/NFI! And mostly establishy for other stuff, DUN DUN DUN.]
First came the bombs, which had been preceded by a warning from Peeta during one of the Capitol's propos. If not for that, Katniss was sure that the population of Thirteen would look a lot like the population of Twelve, now.
The explosions had lasted for three days, spent cowered in cold, steel bunkers far underground. Katniss could hear them booming away far above on the land's surface, and every time one went off, she found herself that much more unable to deal with being the Mockingjay. Again.
The day the explosions stopped, Coin had decided that they needed footage of Katniss, emerged and unharmed. She'd walked the aboveground craters with Finnick and her film crew, and had done little of the talking herself.
Finnick took over. The story he wove -- threats to kill Annie and his family if he didn't comply with the Capitol's wishes, and the way that he, the most handsome and flirtatious champion to emerge from the Games in years, had been sold for his body horrified Katniss. He told secrets, listing off important figures, and finishing with Snow. That was what he'd told her when they'd first met, after all. He traded in secrets. And President Corolianus Snow had poisoned his way to the top, according to Finnick.
Katniss was unsurprised. Her surprises came later, like the day when she'd woken to find that Gale was gone, along with a crew of soldiers. Of course no one had told her they were going. They couldn't risk the Mockingjay on a rescue mission.
And when they returned with Johanna, Annie and Peeta in tow, she'd found it too good to be true. She watched Johanna sequester herself, saw Annie embrace Finnick. And when she moved over, quietly, to greet Peeta, she was met with the least expected reaction of all: his hands around her throat.
They'd called it hijacking, the doctors in Thirteen. Peeta had been brainwashed to fear Katniss, to be convinced she wanted nothing more than to harm him at every turn.
So she'd run. They'd given her the opportunity to go into the field, and she'd taken it eagerly. Katniss had thrown herself into the Battle of District Two with gusto. Until, of course, the day when it had come down to whether or not to kill civilians.
Katniss had been emphatically against it, while Gale argued in favor of his double-bombed approach -- a single explosion, then another that followed seconds later. It caught them off guard.
Katniss stood her ground. She stood her ground so strongly, in fact, that she didn't think about risk. She didn't think about making a speech before a live audience of soldiers against her.
She didn't think about any of it until she saw herself shot on television.
And while Katniss was rushed to Thirteen for medical attention, Haymitch remembered her demands at the very beginning of all of this, and wandered off to send a message, along with the video of Katniss' shooting.
The time had come to call for backup.
[LONG, LONG overdue, but stolen from Mockingjay (or paraphrased, rather), and NFB/NFI! And mostly establishy for other stuff, DUN DUN DUN.]