CHAPTER 36
THE MOCKINGJAY

BEX didn't quite know the rules of District Thirteen, but she guessed sneaking into someone else's hospital room was breaking one of them. Luckily for her, she woke up almost an hour before most of the staff came in for their morning shifts. Finnick's arms were still wrapped around her, but they had slid down to her waist during the night, and his neck now leaned back against a pillow. Bex carefully shifted out of his hold and tip-toed back to her room, not saying a word.

She didn't even think about what happened last night.

After sleeping for another few hours, Bex woke up and expected a stern talking to from whoever watched a playback of the cameras last night. But it seemed her late-night visit was the least of everyone's concern once Katniss Everdeen finally slipped out of unconsciousness. Everyone had been waiting for her – literally, everyone. Bex watched groups of nurses run down to the Mockingjay's room from behind her door. She imagined that Katniss was probably really confused right now, and apparently, everyone wanted to witness it.

Later that day, Johanna came waltzing in her room, hardly noticing that the door had been unlocked. She simply gave Bex a knowing smile, which meant she had definitely watched a playback from the cameras, but she wouldn't embarrass Bex. Johanna was all for poking fun, but something told her that Bex's visit to see Finnick was serious. She could be a good friend when she wanted to be.

Johanna revealed a set of clothes from behind her back and threw them on top of Bex's cot. Knitting her brow, Bex stood and unfurled the clothes. It was a medium gray jumpsuit, along with a cream-colored thermal shirt.

"New rags," Johanna explained. "Everyone wears these. Should be more waiting for you in whatever pod they give you, but it's just more of the same."

"Pod?" Bex asked, turning to her friend.

"Living quarters," she clarified. "You'll see once you're let out."

Bex's brow now shot up. "So I'm getting out?"

"Don't get too excited. You're healed enough to leave the hospital, but now you gotta learn the ways of Thirteen. It's a lot different from Seven." Johanna walked forward and took Bex's arm, pointing to the underside of it. "You'll be given a temporary tattoo here every day with your schedule for the day."

"So I basically have no freedom."

"No, you do, but ..." Johanna let go of her arm. "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in war."

Bex frowned. She disagreed, but she didn't have the strength in her to argue with Johanna. Once she left her room, Bex inspected the grey jumpsuit again. She used to complain for hours about the Capitol's fashion standards, but maybe she should start being careful what she wished for. This jumpsuit was hideous.

Ugliness aside, at least it fit properly, and it was big enough to move around in. Bex put on her thermal shirt first before zipping up her jumpsuit, and then looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes looked so dark and desolate. Her face doesn't have the same youthfulness it used to, and her copper skin was still slightly pale. She ran her hands through her hair and pulled it into a ponytail, trying to make the best of it.

She now looked like the rest of Thirteen. The only difference between her and them was the pretty ring still sitting on her finger, the emerald so vivid, even in the dimmest of light.

The door opened again. Bex had been playing with her mother's ring. She turned around half-expecting to see Johanna again, but found herself halting at the familiar face.

Plutarch smiled at her as he entered the room, followed by a tall man dressed head-to-toe in black. He had soft, kind eyes and umber-colored skin. Bex turned to Plutarch with a scowl. She opened her mouth to shout at him, but the former Gamemaker was already gesturing towards the man she didn't recognize.

"Miss Nassar, this is Colonel Boggs. District Thirteen's Head of Security." He cleared his throat and Boggs stretched out his hand. Bex shook it, but her glare didn't waver from Plutarch. "So – um – I know you've been waiting for a long time to get discharged and surprise, the day has come. I need you to follow me. President Coin wishes to speak with you."

Her top lip curled as an uncontrollable rage flooded through her. This stupid man – this Gamemaker – neglected to tell her so much of the plan she involved herself in. He played all these Victors, as any Gamemaker would. No matter if he fulfilled his promise, no matter if he was leading the rebellion – she was furious. She hoped the look on her face made him nervous.

Bex rushed forward, swinging her fists in Plutarch's direction. Boggs managed to grab her arms and hold them behind her back. She tried wriggling out of his hold, but Boggs was clearly ten times stronger than her and twice as tall. He wasn't Head of Security for nothing. His grip felt like wrought iron against her wrists.

Plutarch held up his hands in surrender. "I understand that you're angry about your brother –"

"Are you kidding me?! It is more than that, Plutarch." Bex huffed and settled down. She looked up at Boggs sweetly, and he slowly released her arms, backing away to stand by Plutarch. Bex smoothed out the lines in her jumpsuit before pointing directly at the Gamemaker. "You never told me your full plan. For what fucking reason, I have no idea. But you didn't and I was left in the dark. You even had Nico sacrifice himself for an unknown cause. Do you know what it's like to watch someone you've known for years drown? Do you?"

Plutarch glanced at Boggs before viewing at his feet. "No, I don't."

"Of course, you don't. But I do," she argued, "and I have to live with that memory for the rest of my life. I have to now remember the faces of more lives I took in that arena. I have to worry about my brother –"

With a sigh, Plutarch took a step closer and put his hands on her shoulders. Bex didn't move away, much to her own surprise. "We will get your brother back." He licked at his lips and shrugged. "And I could never tell you the full scope of the plan, Bex. You and I both know how closely tied you are to the Capitol and Snow. I could only say so much."

She scoffed and shoved his hands off. "How do I know you'll save Keaton?"

"I promised you once that I'd end the Games," he replied, mouth hinting at a smile. "This revolution will do just that. As long as we work together. Trust me."

Those were pretty big promises for a man who had seemingly betrayed her trust once. But Bex couldn't help relenting. Something about Plutarch was so genuine, the kind you couldn't fake. She was angry with him still, but she decided he didn't exactly betray her. He had been doing what he thought was right. And she only had so many allies in Thirteen. She needed Plutarch, as much as he constantly rattled her.

Bex finally released a weakened huff and nodded. Plutarch smiled.

"Now," he said, bushy eyebrows raised, "will you let me and Colonel Boggs escort you to President Coin?"

She gestured to the open door. "Lead the way, soldiers."

Plutarch led her down a long corridor. Boggs strode behind her, and she could feel him watching her back the whole way. The hospital's exit was just an elevator, which Bex guessed brought you up to different levels of the bunker. Once inside, Boggs pulled down the steel door and Plutarch pressed one of the several buttons on the keypad. Bex stood in between them, glancing at each man for a short second, feeling the awkward tension rise. She attempted to distract herself by watching the levels open up in front of her. It was amazing, really, how many floors seemed to be in this bunker. No wonder why they survived for so many years.

"It's incredible," she whispered.

"We're military. We learned to survive down here," Boggs answered, causing Bex to turn to him. "War never stopped for us."

The elevator shook before coming to a halt. Boggs lifted the door and Plutarch took the lead again, gesturing Bex towards an open door. Bex walked inside without question, not expecting the large room before her. A long table with an illuminated surface sat in the middle, several chairs placed around it. A projector hung from the ceiling on one side of the room, while the other side had a large whiteboard. Statistics and numbers were currently being broadcasted from the projection, causing Bex's brow to furrow.

Turning her head, she realized that she must've been the last one to arrive at this meeting. Beetee sat in his wheelchair on the right. Johanna and Finnick were placed right next to them, twiddling their fingers. Katniss was at the head of the table, near a silver-haired woman with pale grey eyes.

Bex watched Boggs wave goodbye from over her shoulder, and when she faced the crowd again, Plutarch was putting a hand on the silver-haired woman's shoulder. "Madam President," he called, "may I present you to one of my favorite Victors, Bex Nassar."

Coin stood immediately and walked over to her. "The Flower Girl," she said directly. Her voice was calming, yet assertive. She glanced at Plutarch before turning back to Bex with a smile. "Those prissy Capitol people certainly gave you a pretty title. Fits well. It's an honor to meet you."

Prissy. A word so simple set Bex's anxiety off almost instantly. Iliana said it a lot – the same Iliana she just found out was hinting towards the revolution in her designs. Where was her team exactly?

Bex blinked and suddenly realized Coin was still talking.

"I realize how disorienting this must be," she said, hands locked around hers.

Bex's eyes flickered towards Katniss, who smiled sadly at her. She looked so tired. They must've escorted her here as soon as she woke up.

"I can't imagine what it's like to live through the atrocities of those Games," the President continued. "Hopefully, we won't anymore."

"Bex," Plutarch grinned, gesturing to the woman, "this is President Alma Coin, leader of District Thirteen."

Bex realized them, being so close to her, that Coin's eyes were almost cat-like. She looked near fifty, but her eyes were youthful and incredibly pale, as if the color had been sucked away. Her smile was similar to Snow's – it didn't reach her eyes.

"Take a seat," she said while walking with Plutarch towards their chairs. Bex rounded the table and sat beside Finnick. He smiled at her softly and didn't hesitate to squeeze her hand from underneath the table once she sat down. Suddenly, she was completely at ease.

Lacing her fingers together, Coin said, "Please know, Victors, how welcome you are here. I hope you will all find some comfort with us. We've known loss in Thirteen too."

Plutarch smacked a hand against the table. Bex flinched the tiniest bit. "History in the making. Right here at this table."

"What kind of loss, may I ask?" Everyone looked at Katniss as soon as the question fell from her mouth. For someone so tired, she was attentive now and willing to listen. "I realize we don't have the time to go over the entire history of Thirteen, but I'm sure every Victor in this room can attest that we were taught for years that Thirteen was just a pile of ash. Completely destroyed."

"That was in our agreement. The secrecy," Coin beamed. "We were Panem's military-industrial complex until the first rebellion. Thirteen was always a major supporter of the rebellion, and the Capitol suffered from it greatly. We had the military they needed to win, but they had more money, more sources. They had a nuclear weapon stockpile. When we realized the tide was turning on us during the first war, we seized their primary nuclear source, but they still had a secondary stockpile out west. The Capitol was going to win with that. So Thirteen negotiated a peace treaty with them, under the threat of mutually assured destruction. They allowed us to secede as an independent state. Then, we would withdraw all support for the rebels in the other Districts and pretend to have been destroyed above ground. The Capitol agreed. We evacuated to a wide range underground bunker and the Capitol obliterated the above-ground infrastructure. Everyone believed we were destroyed. Without our support, the rebellion collapsed. And we made you all believe we were gone, a pile of ash. But we continued to fortify our position underground. Waiting for this day."

Bex arched a brow. "So what you're saying is that if you hadn't abandoned the rebels all those years ago, we wouldn't be in this situation now?"

Coin slowly turned to face her. "Thirteen did what it needed to persevere. I'm sure you Victors can relate to that sentiment." She spoke gravely, and then leaned back in her chair, looking to everyone else at the table. "That's as short as I can make it. I wish we had more time so I could get into the nitty, gritty details of our history and bore you all to sleep, but unfortunately, we don't have that luxury."

Bex sat back in her seat, feeling defeated.

"Katniss," Coin breathed, glancing towards the teenager at the head of the table, "are you aware of what's happened?"

Katniss stared blankly at her.

"When you fired your arrow at the forcefield, you electrified the nation," she began. "There have been riots and uprisings and strikes in seven Districts. We believe that if we keep this energy going, we could unify the Districts against the Capitol. But if we don't ... if we let it dissipate, we could be waiting another seventy-five years for this opportunity. Everyone in Thirteen is ready for this."

Coin was speaking directly to Katniss, but all the other Victors felt it: the wave of anxiety, the thrill of anticipation. Plutarch was right. History was in the making at this table.

"What about Peeta?" Katniss asked. Her grey eyes formed into slits, pinned on Plutarch. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know," replied Plutarch, "and I wish that I did. But there's no way for me to contact my operatives inside the Capitol. We'll get him back," he turned to scan the Victors, gaze burning into Bex's, "as well as any others."

Bex would hold him to that statement.

Beetee added, "The Capitol has always suppressed communication between the Districts. But ... I know their system very well. I managed to break through. All we need now is the perfect message."

"Katniss," Plutarch called, "here's what we need to do. We need to show them the Mockingjay is alive and well. And willing to stand up and join this fight. 'Cause we need every District to stand up to this Capitol the way you did."

Katniss was looking at her hands. Bex could see the panic written over her face, causing the frown lines near her mouth to deepen. This was a lot of pressure to put on a teenager. Hadn't she just turned seventeen after Peeta proposed? They were treating her like she knew what she was doing, but Bex had known in that moment – when she watched Katniss fire her arrow at the forcefield – that she didn't have a clue about the implications. She was just trying to save Peeta. She was merely a teenager.

Plutarch continued, "So we're gonna shoot a series of propaganda clips. Propos, I like to call them. Spreads the word. And then we're gonna stoke the fire of this rebellion – the fire that the Mockingjay started."

Katniss' glare could cut through steel. Her jaw clenched as she stared at the Gamemaker. "You left him there. You left Peeta in that arena to die."

"Katniss, there's so many –"

She smacked a hand against the table, causing the legs to shake. "Peeta was the one who was supposed to live!"

"Miss Everdeen," Coin placed a hand over Katniss', "this revolution is about everyone. It's about all of us. And we need a voice."

"Then you should've saved Peeta."

With one last scowl in Plutarch's direction, Katniss stomped out of the room and allowed the doors to shut behind her.

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A/N: here we go y'all! coin is now here, which means we're really getting into MOCKINGJAY now! hope you guys enjoyed this chapter ❤️ more finnick/bex angst is coming soon! just because they kissed doesn't mean they're all good 👀