𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒅 || 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔

𝟒𝟒 || 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝟏𝟑

NEA STOOD IN FRONT OF THE VIPER, putting a small device in her chest pocket. The Viper didn't know how she would use the device yet, but Nea told her that she could use it to communicate with the Capitol. Although she wished Nea would tell her where she was going and what she was doing. She just knew that the woman was in a rush.

When Nea thought that the device was concealed, she finally cleared her throat and took a step back.  "Listen, the rebels are here to save the victors, and you're going with them."

The Viper raised her eyebrow, "Why would I do that? Why would they even take me with them?"

"Oh damn it," Nea groaned, rubbing her temple, "I'm done lying about this. Look, everything we told you hasn't been completely true over the last couple of months. You are from District 8, you won the 72nd Hunger Games, you and your brother were in the Quarter Quell, and then the rebels left you, Peeta Mellark, and Johanna Mason in the arena to be taken here. And they left your brother to die."

So most of the things Ward had said were true. They'd been feeding her lies for the last two months, and now she didn't know what to believe. Did the rebels really do what Nea was telling her they did?

"And I'm supposed to believe that they actually abandoned me and it's not another lie from you?" She asked, pursing her lips.

Nea shrugged, "Believe what you want, but just remember that you wouldn't be here if they never left you. Anyway, we can't talk about this all day. You're going with the rebels, and you're going to find a way to poke your nose around District 13 and find as many facts about the rebel plans as you can. When you do, use the device to report back to Montell and me."

The Viper swallowed hard and nodded. The Capitol had lied to her, but the rebels had abandoned her. Allegedly. Allegedly. They'd allegedly abandoned her. Did they really? Was she fighting for the wrong side? How many things was she unaware of? But she'd figure that out later. Right now, she was working for the Capitol.

She heard the familiar interference coming from Nea's ear. At first, she didn't understand what it was, but then she learned that it was an earpiece. It was probably Montell talking through it and telling her they were running out of time.

Nea sighed and pulled The Viper close to her, lowering her voice so she could whisper something in her ear, "Xanther and Apollo Young, if you see them there, please tell me they're alright."

Apollo. Something was familiar about that name, but like everything else, the Viper brushed it off. Maybe she should've been paying more attention to the familiar feelings. Maybe then she'd know who she was, but no. She had a mission to do. A mission.

The Viper was sitting in an actual cell. She sat on the bed, if a person could even call it a bed, and waited. That was all she could do. The power was out, and the hallways were eerily quiet. She watched a mouse scurry by quickly. She'd never seen a mouse in the Capitol before. They took special care to get rid of rodents and pests, but apparently they didn't keep that same energy when it came to the detention center. Why would they? Only traitors were held down here.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, she heard footsteps heading toward her cell. They were trying their best to be quiet, but it was quite obvious that they were there. She lifted her head as a man with a gun opened the door.

"It's Brinley," The man told someone behind him, and someone else stood beside him.

"Hold on, Hawthorne," A man with a deep voice, dark skin, and a stern gaze said with a frown, "Why isn't she wearing what the others are wearing?"

"How am I supposed to know? And we don't have time to dwell on it, let's get her and then get out."

✮

The ride to 13 was quiet. The Capitol had let them through even though all the guns were pointed at them, and it was obvious why. Nobody else seemed to get it though. The blonde boy, Peeta, was asleep on one of the seats, apparently, the gases knocked him out, Johanna was sitting there with a snarl on her face and glaring at The Viper, and the redhead was staring at her hands. The dark-skinned man from earlier, she heard someone call him Boggs, was sitting in the corner and watching all of them. They hadn't checked The Viper yet, which she found stupid. Boggs was onto the right idea when he mentioned how she was dressed differently from the other victors, but she wouldn't suggest a check. That would be stupid on her part.

District 13 was no different. Apparently, Boggs had gotten even more suspicious during the craft ride and wrapped a blindfold around The Viper's eyes so she couldn't see anything. She didn't know exactly where the District was underground, she didn't know what path they led them down to get to the med bay, all she knew was that she was already in a cot when they took her blindfold off. A woman in a grey jumpsuit was staring at her and flashing a light in her eyes, and she had to fight the urge to slap her hand away.

"What's your name?" The woman asked her.

"The Red Viper," She answered without hesitation.

The woman pursed her lips and looked at the other doctor-looking man in the corner of the room, "Some sort of memory wipe and brainwash."

The man nodded, "We should tell Boggs and Coin so they know what's going on. Just in case something similar happened to one of the other victors."

"Mason and Cresta seem fine, and Mellark is starting to wake up, I believe. I saw Everdeen in here looking from him before I came in here."

Everdeen was going to see Mellark. That was going to end well. The Viper hadn't heard a lot about what they were doing to Peeta, but she knew they were brainwashing him in some way. And she knew that they were trying to make him hate her. She eavesdropped a lot in the Capitol.

The Viper let a scoff slip out, and the man's head snapped toward her, "What? What do you know? Why are you scoffing?"

She shrugged, a tiny smirk playing at her lips, "Nothing, you guys are just fools if you haven't figured out why they'd let you guys rescue the victors so easily."

As if on cue, chaos erupted outside and The Viper could hear Boggs yelling something, and then there was silence. Both of the doctors left to see what happened, and two other men walked in. One of them she didn't recognize, but she could see some of Nea's features in him. Maybe it was her son. Maybe he was one of the people Nea had told her to find.

The Viper recognized the other man right away, and her eyes narrowed. "You son of a bitch."

✮ 𝒅𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 ✮

Hey Everyone, so finals are coming up and I have like 13 different finals to study for, so I'm going to update really slowly (probably once a week or maybe even two weeks). Then I have a really packed June, but I should be able to update a few times, and then in July I'll be back to my normal schedule! :)