The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

Belonging to no one at all

Chapter Thirty Five | Belonging to no one at all

"How thoroughly a human being can be buffeted and over-mastered by Fate, has been borne in upon her with appalling force." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Dorsey is waiting for them. His shop is long closed and the lights are out, but he is still awake. He sits in the vault with his pug at his feet, and when Sil and Tommy show up, he nearly stomps over the creature in his haste to stand up. The pug growls at the injustice and goes to lay under the table instead.

"There you are," Dorsey says, sounding relieved. "And here I was worried that you'd have trouble."

He chuckles at the thought, but the sound quickly dies when Sil drawls, "We did have trouble." Dorsey pauses to give her a look, and she sighs, "Finnick was waiting in the library when I showed up. Felix must have baited him – I saw them speaking earlier but Finnick wouldn't tell me what they said."

The information makes Dorsey frown. "Felix must have discovered our plan...or, at least a piece of it."

Tommy nods, "He knew the Nightingale would be in the library at exactly one o'clock. One of our messages must have been intercepted. We need to be more careful."

Sil hums. "We should inform 13 of this. Perhaps they could provide a more secure method of sending messages. We can't afford to take chances, not now."

Dorsey snorts and crosses his arms. "What a mess. So Felix sends Finnick to do his dirty work...I hope you've got a plan, Sil."

Sil opens her mouth to respond, but Tommy cuts in with an amused, "Oh, she's got a plan. It seemed like it was pretty effective on her husband."

She feels her cheeks redden just so as her mind drifts back to the wanton kiss she had dragged Finnick into. Gracious, but that had not been something she'd anticipated having to do tonight. When she had walked into the library, expecting Tommy but finding Finnick instead, she had barely managed to pull off the stumbling drunkard act. And then, when Tommy had showed up at the last second, Sil had done the only thing she could think of to distract Finnick from turning around. She had locked him in an embrace, drew him into her in a way she never had before, and kept his head turned towards her as Tommy hid in the shadows. Just in time, too, for Felix made an appearance of his own after that.

Bracing had been a good word for it.

She clears her throat and snips, "Shall we get on with it? We have only a short time frame, after all." Tommy chuckles at her adamant tone and Sil huffs. "Where are the other agents, anyhow?" Sil asks after a moment, glancing over at Dorsey.

The man gestures to the large map of Panem hanging on the wall behind him and says, "Marcus is in 2. We've got a few in 5 trying to break down the dam that powers the Capitol and a few in the other districts trying to work up the riots. Zephyr is in 7, I think...don't worry Sil, they're safer outside of the Capitol."

She sighs, but knows he's right. It would be useful to have a little more manpower though. Three lone agents against the entire Capitol isn't very promising, but she's experienced worse odds.

"We should suit up, Tommy," she says after a moment, glancing behind her at the curtained off doorway that leads into a small room that she playfully refers to as her 'closet'. It contains her disguises, ranging from more frivolous everyday outfits to blend in with the other Capitolites to the Peacekeeper armor that she starts pulling on now. Before long, both her and Tommy are outfitted in the gleaming white armor and Dorsey is tugging the embroidered map from the wall, uncovering the entrance to the tunnel system.