Make Them Burn

Alexandria Winter....... Helping?

CHAPTER 15: ALEXANDRIA WINTER....... HELPING?

Instead of making my usual rounds to see Johanna the next morning, I stay in bed with Chase. Everything seems to weigh down on me like a brick wall.

Chase is putting on his dull grey uniform in 13, but I am still cuddled up under the covers. He squats down by the bed to kiss me.

"What's up with you today?" He asks playfully.

I groan. "I'm just tired. Everything is just overwhelming me right now. Peeta's having issues, Johanna is still in the hospital, Lilyanna won't talk to me, and everyone in 13 seems to hate each other. Corie hates Capitol people. Capitol people don't get along with people from 13. Gale Hawthorne hates everyone!"

Chase plants a soft kiss on my lips. "Is Alexandria Winter giving up?" He asks.

I sigh. "Maybe." I tell him dejectedly.

"Alex Winter doesn't give up." Chase tells me matter of factly. He gets up and finds my uniform. Then he throws it onto the bed. "Come on, let's go! This war won't be won by staying in bed!"

I roll my eyes, kiss him, then get up. I get dressed, and head down to see Finnick and Annie.

When I walk into their compartment, the two are lying next to each other in bed, but thank god not naked. Finnick isn't wearing a shirt, but he never really does anyway.

Annie smiles at me. "Alex! Come in, we were just about ready to go to breakfast."

Finnick nods, and stands up, only to realize he is not wearing pants.

I grimace, and turn on my heels. "Maybe I'll see you guys down there." Finnick is blushing, so I snarkily add, "Have a nice morning."

Down in Johanna's Hospital room, I learn that Everdeen is in District 2 trying to take their military base. Gale and Beetee are with her.

Jo has been withdrawn from her pain medicine because they think she'll begone a drug addict. I spend an entire hour hearing about it with colorful explicit language.

Now I'm going to visit Special Defense to try and decide a way to help Peeta with Plutarch and Fulvia. U.S. Three, we're quite the team. First the We Remember propos, and now Peeta's rehabilitation.

"What can we do to help him?" I ask them.

Fulvia folds her hands in a businesslike way. "We need to make him feel calm. Do things that the old Peeta would do."

Plutarch nods. "Like baking. Wasn't he a baker back in 12?"

"Yes." I tell him. "But talking about 12 probably won't improve his mental state."

Plutarch shrugs. "You'd be surprised. We showed him the video of Katniss singing that song, about hanging, remember? He said he thought her father came into the bakery one day singing it. Peeta thought the birds stopped chirping to listen."

Fulvia points her pen at the space between Plutarch and I. "He didn't freak out or anything afterward either, so that's a plus."

"We were also thinking that we could have you see Peeta." Plutarch says.

Me? See Peeta?

"Why?" I croak.

Plutarch smiles. "You and Peeta are good friends. Once we calm him down a bit about Katniss supposedly being a mutt, we'll send you in as a familiar face. Are you alright with that?"

I nod slowly, and they dismiss me with a promise to call me in at the right time.

***

It turns out that the time is in just two short hours. I never expected it to be so quick, so naturally, I'm unprepared.

What do I say? Hey Peeta, you still love her, she's not a monster? I don't think I can manage that...

It's Corie who helps me figure it out. A minute before I'm scheduled to go in, she saunters in and stops me.

"You need to tell him everything." She says, grasping my wrist tightly.

"What?" I ask.

Corie's eyes are hard. "He needs to know more than what the Capitol told him. Even if he's already heard it, it's better to hear from a friend anyway. Get him to trust you." She looks my straight in the eyes with an intense gaze. "Promise me you will."

I nod. "I promise."

"Come on, Alex, let's go!" Plutarch calls cheerfully.

He and Fulvia go over the rules: No mention of Everdeen, no mention of the Games if I can manage it, no harsh words, gentle tone, and a bunch of other worthless things. A bunch of rules I will probably break if I do what Corie asked me to.

Finally it's time to go in. I open the door, and look across the room where he sits. He is sitting in a chair, with three restraints holding him to the chair. I think about how uncomfortable those must be.

"Hi Peeta." I say kindly.

His blue eyes fixate on me, analyzing if I'm a threat or not. What has he been through?

I remember Corie's orders to get him to trust me. "Peeta," I say gently. "I'm going to undo your restraints. I know you won't hurt me."

Peeta nods slowly.

I cross the room leisurely, careful not to upset or unhinge him. Then I begin to unlock the handcuffs, slowly, little-by-little. They're not hard to undo, built just so he himself cannot break free. Boy, I can practically feel Plutarch's anger at me and my carelessness.

Once all of them are out, he rubs his hands. "Thank you."

We sit in dead silence for a moment, until I say, "Do you have any questions? About what's going on, what's true, what's not?"

He takes time with his words. "Are you with the rebels or the Capitol?"

I sigh, and avoid looking at the glass. "Neither. I want the rebels to win, but they aren't completely right, in my opinion."

"Are the rebels winning?"

I furrow my brow. ARE the rebels winning? "Yes," I tell him. "They have secured all the Districts, even 2. It's just the Capitol we have to worry about now."

Peeta doesn't remove his gaze from my eyes. "Delly said that the people here are nice. She thinks everyone is nice. Are they really that nice?"

I sigh. "Some are. I've just made friends with a woman here named Corie. She's a soldier. There's a runaway from District 10 named Dalton who's pretty fun. Also, Boggs, President Coin's right hand man is okay. Coin, though, she's had something up her butt for as long as anyone here can remember." I laugh.

"Did everyone make it here okay?" Peeta asks.

I nod. "Lilyanna and Chase are almost completely healed, Annie is having the time of her life with Finnick. and Johanna is still in the hospital with a lot of injuries, but she's still Johanna."

At this, his lips curve up ever-so-slightly. "I was worried."

I smile at him. "Peeta, I think I'll let you rest for a bit."

He sighs. "Okay. Are you going to put the handcuffs back on?"

I bite my lip. "Maybe just one on each hand. I trust you."

He lets me lock one handcuff back on each wrist without putting up a fight. I'm convinced that Peeta Mellark has to be in there somewhere.

"Goodbye Peeta."

But Peeta is asleep before I leave the room.