An Extra Tribute

-rethinking the mockingjay-

Somehow, by dinner the next day, Katniss and I have been prepped, decorated, provided with fancy new weapons, and stuck in front of a camera in an elaborate film studio with too much green screen and not enough authenticity. They put a fake bloody bandage over Katniss' scar and made it look like I have a huge bloody mess over my left eye. And my leg. And my side where Cato stabbed me. I don't know. They made me perfect and then messed me up. They did it with Katniss too, but for some reason they just really went at it with me. How fun.

Currently, Katniss and I are on our second hour of just standing on set. Finnick came up to us after wandering the set aimlessly the four hours we've been here. He looks out of it, but smirks at us.

"They'll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you," he says to us. I smile and let out a laugh.

"Except I look like I've just gone through a bailer," I laugh. He shrugs and rolls his eyes slightly before he's yelled at to get off the set. They finally give her the line they have prepped for her. I stand to the back and right of her. I don't talk, but that's fine. I'm not the Mockingjay. I'm the Ghost. Ghosts don't talk, but Mockingjays sing. And after my little therapy session I had with myself and Finnick, I'm okay with just being her sidekick.

"Action!" Someone yells. I look around, playing the character I've been told to. And I've had a lot of practice. I look at the 'bodies' surrounding me before turning my attention to Katniss when she starts yelling to the camera.

"People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice!" She yells with everything she has. I grimace and everything goes quiet. For a while, this silence continues. Finally, the intercom comes to life and Dad's voice feeds through it. He laughs loudly.

"And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies." Katniss glares up at the windowed box that we cannot see in and leaves the room. I glare up at the box as well before following her out.

The next day, Dad has convinced Coin that Katniss isn't good in front of cameras. I accompanied him in this opinion by adding on that she's not a project they can just build. She's already built herself.

I sit in Command next to Katniss and Finnick, who comes in at the last moment wheeling Beetee along. Another man comes with them as well. I recognize that this group (other than Coin, her advisors, and Heavensbee and Fulvia) are all people who Katniss knows or has met. There's a group of people from 12 (including Gale and Effie), Finnick, Beetee, and I, her prep team.

Dad welcomes everyone and thanks them for coming to our meeting and Katniss avoids any kind of eye contact with him. She doesn't even look at him. However, I can't really blame her. Then, he plays the scene we just shot. I admire my own acting skills, but her obviously scripted attempt at an encouraging line makes me look away. It's uncomfortable to watch.

"All right. Would anyone like to argue that this is of use to us in winning the war?" Dad asks. There's silence. "That saves time. So, let's all be quiet for a minute. I want everyone to think of one incident where Katniss Everdeen genuinely moved you. Not where you were jealous of her hairstyle, or her dress went up in flames or she made a halfway decent shot with an arrow. Not where Peeta was making you like her. I want to hear one moment where she made you feel something real." The silence stretches on after he finishes speaking and I look around the table to see if anyone's going to say anything. This reminds me of the Academy where no one wanted to answer the question first.

"When she volunteered to take Prim's place at the reaping. Because I'm sure she thought she was going to die," Effie says from the District 12 section of command.

"Good. Excellent example, " Dad replies. He writes it down, saying what he writes as he writes it. "You know, Effie, I like you better without all the makeup and wigs." She smiles at him and he smiles back slightly.