kill for your love - the hunger games

(051) who's plutarch heavensbee?

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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter fifty-one, who's plutarch heavensbee?)

the cells / the lab, 75 ADD.

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JUNIPER HALE CLENCHED HER jaw as she stared up at the ceiling, back leaning against the wall of the small cell. She had waved Johanna's comment off as a mock, a tease and was sure that nothing severe would happen to her. Why would it? The Capitol had let her stay four weeks in the white room of hell with a comfy bed and a medium-sized room whilst Johanna Mason and Peeta Mellark rotted away in the cages down the hall. Clampitt had given her decent meals and stated they didn't want to kill her, so why would the Capitol hurt Juniper? 

If they wanted information about the rebels, punishing and torturing her was not a smart way to do it. Sure, they could beat her into being submissive, but had they seen Juniper Hale? She was not an obedient, submissive woman. She had been punished before, hit before, beaten up before and that had never diminished the fire that she held. So, no, she didn't take Johanna Mason seriously.

But then she began to stare at her and Peeta Mellark. She studied how the former's flesh was covered in bruises and oozing scabs, a tinge of yellow to her skin with her paper robe aged. Tremors ran through her skeletal frame, fingertips shaking whilst her legs and arms spasmed slightly. And every now and then, the woman would let out a hacking cough that rattled her ribcage. She was sick, exhausted, beaten, and hungry. 

Then Juniper looked at Peeta. He was mumbling mutt to himself as tremors rippled through his entire being. She could see nearly all his bones from how skinny he was with bags carved underneath his eyes. His hair, whilst not bald like Johanna, was cut nearly to the skin. He looked insane and worn out with bruises painting his skin. Juniper was sure he was dipping into insanity. 

And as she stared at Johanna Mason and Peeta Mellark, the Hale woman realised that maybe something could happen to her. 

She was the only one within the four cells that didn't have bruises covering every inch of her skin. She hadn't got her hair cut. She was starving, but you couldn't see her bones. She still had a few layers of fat on her. And tremors weren't making their way through her joints and muscles. Despite the fear and utter hopelessness, she looked much healthier than the others did. But if Clampitt thrusted her into the small cell that stunk, Juniper feared that would change. The doctor wouldn't put her there without a reason.

Juniper felt herself blanch and nearly throw up as she tried to shake the thoughts out of her head, turning to look at Annie. The woman had stopped crying to herself and had fallen into a restless sleep, curled up in a ball as she winced and shook at random times. She shouldn't be here. She should have been with Finnick. 

Finnick.

The poor man must have been devastated. If it was just them four and Enobaria, then it would be just Katniss, Beetee, and Finnick with the rebels. Juniper had no idea how the Everdeen girl would react about the situation. Was she destroyed over the absence of Peeta? Or had she gotten over it quickly and became the face of the rebellion? Juniper had always thought that the romance wasn't true and she didn't expect it to be anything more than a tactic to survive. And then Beetee would not be fazed. He would be helping the rebels with technology and such. But Finnick.