Tortured but Together (A Hunger Games Fanfiction) [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter Six

A/N: As always I'm putting the usual PSA that none of the Hunger Games characters belong to me but they belong to Suzanne Collins! With that said, hope you enjoy :)

(President Coin POV)
I storm into command, my boots clicking angrily on the floor as I walk, a glare plastered on my face. Anyone with eyes or ears or half a brain should be able to tell that I'm angry, furious actually. Both Mellark and Everdeen are being held hostage in the Capitol, neither my Mockingjay or my backup is here. The rescue team was told in no uncertain terms that those two were to be their first priority! How in the hell did they screw it up that badly?

Before I open the door to command, I force myself to take a deep breath. It's important to control my anger, rather than letting it control me. Twisting the knob, I turn and face the rest of command. "You'd better have an explanation for me. You failed to bring back my Mockingjay and you failed to bring back the boy. I specifically told you, in no uncertain terms, that those two tributes were to be your top priority." I finish talking, and I cross my arms over my chest, waiting for an explanation.

After a couple minutes of nobody standing up or taking responsibility, Commander Boggs clears his throat. "The Capitol had hovercrafts already waiting by the spots we were told to go to retrieve Everdeen and Mellark. There were at least 50 of them, all brand new. If we would have engaged them, they would have blown us to pieces. Somehow, we were already too late. When we went to try and pick up all the tributes we could after some of them had flown away, we got fired at. We were lucky to all get out of there alive as it was." Just like usual, his voice is steady and even, he isn't someone who is known to show his emotions during a briefing.

I however, have no such qualms. "Damnit." I mutter under my breath.

"Did the Capitol really take my sister? Did they really take Katniss?"

I turn to see a young girl, probably no more than 13 or 14 years old. It takes me a minute to remember her name, I think it's Primrose. "Yes...they did. I'm sorry for your loss, Primrose Everdeen." When I talk to her, I do my best to make my tone a mix of apologetic and strong. If I'm being honest, I don't really care about Katniss Everdeen as a person that much, but I do regret losing the symbol of my rebellion.

"Do you think they'll kill her? Katniss, I mean. My sister," she clarifies.

I'm a bit shocked by how upfront she's being. I don't know a lot of people her age who would interrupt one of my meetings, much less be so insistent for answers. The girl has got guts, I've at least got to give her that much. "No, I don't think they will kill your sister. It would turn her into a martyr, and that's the last thing the Capitol and President Snow would want.  All it would do is add fuel to the fire. Although I'm not sure about the Mellark boy, he isn't as important as your sister is in terms of this war."

She seems to be thinking for a minute, and just as I'm about to tell her that I don't have time to answer any more of her questions, she speaks again. "So then what are your plans to rescue them? When are you going to get my sister out of there?"

I sigh, unable to hide my exasperation at this point. As much as I try to act sympathetic, sometimes I simply lose my patience; it's hard to hear the hope in her voice, especially since I once had that same hope, the hope that I could save my husband and daughter from the famine that tore through district 13. "We just barely got our best men out alive, and we had been planning how to rescue the tributes ever since the names were called. Wherever the tributes are being held surely has the highest security in the Capitol, it'll take us a while to figure out how to get in, much less how to get them out. We're working as fast as we can, but regretfully, for right now they're on their own." I turn away from her so that I can continue planning strategy.

"So, what ideas do we have on how to get the tributes out?" I say, turning to my best commanders and strategists. "Boggs, what have you got?" He would usually have an answer when nobody else would, so I'm hoping that this is one of those cases. If we can save Katniss Everdeen in time, I might still have a chance at using my Mockingjay just like I had always intended.

"I'd have to think about it, President Coin. My best thought at the moment is that we have to find a way to hack through their technology, get a message through to the tributes. Our best chance is to establish a way to communicate with them so that they can tell us a bit more about the security measures and how to take them down. But in order to get a line of communication open, we would have to take out a lot of unknown security measures, so that's a big issue."

I nod. He has a good point about taking the Capitol down from the inside. "Someone call Beetee to command. I don't care if you have to drag him in here in a hospital bed, I need his expertise and I need it now!" This time I don't bother to hide my impatience. We're already losing valuable time, time that we could be using to take down the Capitol and President Snow.