An Extra Tribute

-mockingjays and venting to a mad man-

I sit beside Katniss with a blank face as she stares down at her paper, lost.

"About done there?" Heavensbee asks. I glare at him as Katniss looks up.

"Right," she says, clearing her throat. "Here's the deal. I'll be your Mockingjay." They all congratulate each other and breathe their sighs of relief before she continues. "But, I have conditions. My family gets to keep their cat." The room erupts in an argument. People from 13 say how it's so difficult and costly while Capitol rebels are insistent that it's not a big deal. After they argue for five minutes on the smallest condition on her list, I stand up, slamming my fist against the table. My patience has been running thin with the rebels recently. Yesterday, only hours after Peeta's ordeal, I was given some infuriating information; they wouldn't be going in for him or Annie or Johanna or Parker. They said Parker, Annie, and Johanna are as good as dead anyways and that they didn't want Peeta. This wasn't Boggs. It wasn't even Coin. It was the rebel Commanders. And we aren't seeing eye-to-eye right now.

"Shut it!" I yell. "They get to keep the cat! He'll get his own food and can come in and out if we move the family up to level 8. If he's not back by curfew, he'll be locked out, and should he become a security hazard, you can shoot him. But, it won't come to that. Deal?!" Everyone in the room nods and I sit down, nodding to Katniss to continue.

"I want to hunt with Gale, out in the woods," she says. No one says anything.

"We won't go far. We'll use our own bows. You can have the meat for the kitchen, " Gale adds.

"It's just... I can't breathe shut up in here... and I'll get better... if we could just... hunt," Katniss gets out after Gale, trying to sell her case.

"No. They could get hurt and we would need extra security for them. They could get injured by an animal or themselves! It's just not-" Heavensbee starts as I glare him down.

"No, let them. Two hours a day, deducted from training time. Quarter-mile radius. Communicuffs and tracker anklets. Next?" Coin asks. Katniss analyzes her list again.

"Noah and Gale." This catches me off guard and I look at her in surprise. "I need them with me to do this."

"General Bryant is already in charge of you, Ms. Everdeen. She shouldn't be a problem. But, how do you want him with you? Off camera? By your side at all times? Do you want him presented as your new lover?" Coin asks. Mine and Katniss' jaws drop. She wasn't suggestive, just investigative. It was matter-of-fact, but still surprising.

"No, I think we have a complicated enough love triangle already. Maybe, we could present Gale and Noah as a couple, finish the triangle once and for all? Then, Katniss would still have her sympathy from the viewers because of Peeta and we have a power couple for them to root for on our side," Heavensbee suggests. Mine, Katniss', and Gale's eyebrows raise as Gale and I step away from each other.

"I don't know about that, Plutarch," Gale says. "It might make people mad."

"Yeah, because Peeta said he loved her," Katniss adds to his point. "And I don't think Gale and Noah are a thing."

"But, if she doesn't love Peeta, does it matter?" Heavensbee asks. I glare at him.

"But, I do!" I shout accidently. I clear my throat awkwardly. "I'm not going to get rid of him like that."

"Fine. So, on-screen Gale will be more of a fellow rebel. Is that alright?" Coin stares at Katniss and she stares back. Coin taps her foot impatiently. "For Gale? Will that be sufficient?"

"We can always work him in as your cousin, " Fulvia, Heavensbee's assistant, suggests.

"We're not cousins," Gale and Katniss say in unison.