Wildfire | Johanna Mason

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓈𝒾𝓍

The sun was still warm enough to heat up her skin even though the evening had fallen. It was rare they were allowed to just be outside for anything else than training but considering the situation, Coin had made an exception lately.

Daphne was sitting next to Annie, chewing on her nails. She'd been ridden with anxiety for some days, but it was nothing compared to Annie. She'd been crying since the contact had been lost, only after the fourth day, she'd calmed down, retreating back into herself. The woman was rocking back and forth, pulling a piece of rope apart and muttering under her breath.

Though they didn't really talk, Daphne found comfort in her presence. She was probably the only one who understood, even if they dealt with it in different ways.

There was no point in talking, because what was there left to say? Words had soon run out, each falling into their own worries, unable to console someone else.

They'd be called inside soon anyway. For the last few minutes, Daphne closed her eyes and sucked in the clean air. Like that, it was easy to imagine Johanna was right beside her. She could almost hear her. If she tried, she could imagine she was back in seven. Not in the woods, but perhaps in front of her home, or before an open window.

She longed to be back home, for a sense of normality. But as much as she wanted that, she only did if it was with Johanna.

"Alright guys," a guard said from behind them. "Time to get back inside. Gale, Beetee, Daphne, Coin asked about you."

Coin had gone a bit crazy since they'd last spoken with the Victors. At one point, she'd interrogated them all, thinking they'd gone on a 'secret mission'. Hopefully, she'd gotten out of that phase.

The three followed the soldier as the others went to their rooms. "Do you know what this is about?" Daphne asked Beetee, who was being pushed by Gale.

"No," he said. "We've been working on nothing new. There still isn't contact and I couldn't hack into their cameras yet. Not the right ones, at least."

"Maybe there's news," Gale said.

That seemed unlikely. Still, Daphne nodded. Soon, they'd know.

They were lead to the 'organization room' where Coin was already waiting. "Good, you're here."

"What's this about?" Gale asked, immediately stepping towards the table. "Is there news?"

"No," she said simply as Daphne pushed Beetee's wheelchair closer. "This is about our own invasion. We can not wait for them. We're on our own now."

What was she saying? They would move without the Victors? Not even going to look for them? "You're leaving them," Daphne concluded. "Our first move should be to look for them. We can't just abandon them."

Coin placed her hands on the small table. "We don't know where they are, they're probably dead. We aren't going to waste our resources or the element of surprise."

"I agree with Daphne," Beetee said. "People have started to look up to Katniss, your Mockingjay. It will be hard to motivate them without her."

"I disagree," the president said simply. "We are just one step away from getting to Snow. We can do this with or without her."

Daphne clenched her jaw. They could not leave them. She could not leave Johanna behind. "We can't leave Katniss," Gale said then. "Or the others."

Coin sighed. "We won't. We make our move. Once the Capitol is secured, we'll send a search party."

"That's not enough," Daphne spat. "They could be in danger, they could be captured. We can not leave them like that."

"Then they'll be in Snow's mansion or close and we will find them if we secure that."

Daphne was seething. She couldn't do this without Johanna. Didn't even want to. Johanna deserved to be there when they brought Snow to his knees.

But even so, Beetee said. "Perhaps that could be true, we'd have the element of surprise. And once we have Snow, we'll have free reign."

"We'd need a big diversion, though," Gale said. "Snow will be extra guarded."

"You can't be serious," Daphne whipped around to the both of them. "If we attack and they have them, Snow will kill them or use them as hostages."

"A risk we'd have to take,"

"No," Daphne said. "No. I can't. I won't.  I will not put them in danger. I won't help."

"Daphne," Beetee began, but she was already shaking her head. They couldn't. Really couldn't. Not after all they'd been through. Not like this.

"No, I won't." And with that, she took a step back before turning around, leaving for the door. Coin didn't try to stop her. Daphne wouldn't, even if she had tried.

***

It wasn't until she'd taken to her room for two days, that Daphne began to come around. All she really wanted was to be with Johanna. She'd follow her to the end of the world, if Johanna wanted to go there. She'd burn the world down and make a home out of the ashes if she had to.

Long ago, she'd lost the hope of a happy ending, but a future together, she had yet to give up. She would do whatever it took to make that happen. And perhaps, infiltrating Snow's mansion was the only way to do so.

It seemed like the only hope, at least. She couldn't just do nothing, would rather help on a plan she wasn't a fan of. It would be better than staying in her room by herself, anyway.

She hated that it even began to sound logical. If the most powerful man was dethroned, they'd have the power. And power meant making sure the lost Victor's were safe. By now, it seemed smarter than running into the Capitol without know where they were.

Daphne was not excited about going back to help them, though. It would mean admitting she was wrong, and after the way she left... But there wasn't much left of her pride. Though she barely shuffled to the room, she entered eventually.

Coin wasn't there, but Gale and Beetee were, along with a couple of people from thirteen. All Eyes were on her, the room seemed to have stopped breathing. The only movement coming from the big screens.

"Hi," she said eventually, trying to not look quite as small as she felt. "I want to help."

Beetee was the one who broke into a smile first, waving her over. "Thought you'd never turn around," he said as she walked closer. Security footage was open on the screen, Snow's mansion in view. "We might have a plan. Well, a part of it. Gale is working on it. He wants to use what was used in two to cause a distraction."

"Wait, in two?" Daphne had missed a lot. She knew of some promos, but never cared to ask for the details it was too much like how the Capitol played their games. Of how they had intended to use her.

"Yeah," Game said from behind them. "We blew up a mountain. A few explosions should be fun. Let's see how they like to be terrorized."

"Bombs?" it sounded dangerous. Reckless, perhaps. "Is that a good idea? There may be kids there, or-"

"They never cared about our children," Gale had a hard edge to his voice, and Daphne couldn't blame him. "So why should we?"

Beetee sighed from beside her. "Collateral damage seems to be unavoidable. We're looking into statistics, but a diversion would mean the least people hurt and dead. It may be our best shot."

And perhaps that was true. Perhaps, the Capitol even deserved a fraction of the hellfire they caused them. Perhaps it was only fair. If it was the only way to get to Johanna, she wouldn't hesitate. "Alright," she nodded." How can I help? "

*** 

(a/n): not me updating when i said i would. anyway!!! hope you enjoyed and have a nice day or night <3