𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦.

●・○・●・○・●

"I'm telling you, it's nothing though!" Juniper's voice raised. Her friends persistent asking over and over about Finnick Odair. "We are nothing, he means nothing to me."

"Except, you claim to hate him. So he's clearly not nothing." Johanna remarked, sipping on her milkshake. "Nothing is something."

"Yeah, but he's nothing nothing." Juniper's phrase had made no sense. "We both hate each other."

As much as she denied it- She couldn't deny the warmth she felt when he got close to her. However, she didn't want to feel that way. He hated her, she hated him. They hated each other, it was a mutual agreement the both of them had for one another.

Whenever he was mad at her, his eyes seemed to turn a darker shade of the sea-green color they were. She noticed how he clenched his jaw, to stop himself from making a remark. She noticed his flaws.

"If I didn't interrupt, you would've-" Nina started to phrase, but Juniper shook her head repeatedly.  

"No, no. Don't say it. I'll puke. I'll ruin those shoes." Juniper held her hand up, stopping the conversation- at least, attempting to stop the conversation.

Nina smiled. "Whatever you say!" She placed her hands behind her back, holding them together as the group walked back to their apartments. "You know, I heard he's actually a big softie."

"Oh, please." Juniper responded. "None of that." 

Nina sighed, looking at Johanna who shrugged. They both looked at their friend who was walking in between them, she looked very unamused. The two decided to drop it for now, not wanting to piss her off any more than they already had. 

Before Juniper ended the conversation, she had subtly mentioned- after Nina pried- that she had felt some sort of warmth during that interaction. She claimed it was just her being overwhelmed with anger. 

Nina knew that Juniper probably wasn't wrong, but she wasn't right either. Love and hate are two very strong emotions filled with desire. Hate and love can switch very quickly, especially how much time the two have to spend together. 

Then again, Juniper had never felt a romantic love before. She had no idea what it felt like- and if it felt like this.

How could someone ever feel that way for her anyway, after everything that has happened?

She wouldn't believe it for a second. So, she didn't.

Juniper hated him, that would never change.

Finnick hated her, that would never change.

Walking through the Capitol was a bit weird. They weren't allowed to go far, but they were still allowed out of their buildings and go other places besides the training center. That was the weird part, when they were tributes, it was forbidden. 

Being victors seemed like royalty sometimes, other times, not so much. The way that Capitol folk would look at them, it was like animals in a cage or running across the street to talk to them. 

Juniper stopped in her tracks, looking at a building selling fur-lined coats. 

"You guys can head there, I'll be right behind you. I want to visit an old friend." Juniper smiled. Nina and Johanna seemed hesitant, but left the girl to cross the street herself and walk into the store.

The inside wasn't as modern as the outside, however, it was golden. Juniper looked at a few fur coats, laying her hand on a few of them, seeing how they felt.

"Miss Plinth." A voice sounded throughout the store. Juniper looked further in, seeing a hooded figure she slightly recognized. "You looked magnificent at the parade, I taught Amirah well."

"You sure did, Tigris." Juniper smiled, walking towards her old friend. The closer she got, the more she realized how different Tigris looked since she last saw her.

Juniper Plinth first met Tigris after the 65th Hunger Games. She was visiting the Capitol when Amirah Belle introduced the two to one another. Tigris used to be the District Four stylist, however, she was fired by Snow.

Tigris was eager to meet the girl after hearing of her performances in her district and her surname. Tigris knew Ma Plinth- Juniper's great grandmother. She never heard of her great grandmother before meeting Tigris, then again, she knew nothing of the Plinth name except for what her grandmother knew of Sejanus.

Tigris was also one of the very few people who had known and met Lucy Gray. The others being Kakalina Plinth and Coriolanus Snow.

Juniper was hesitant to talk to Tigris since she found out about her relation to Snow, however, after seeing what Snow did to her, she trusted her easily.

"I saw your shop, I wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. I haven't seen you in a while." Juniper had a worried tone in her voice.

"I'm doing well." Tigris said, growing silent for a moment. "I'm sorry about Snow." 

"It's not your fault." Juniper put her hand on Tigris' shoulder. "You would've never known he'd turn into this."

Tigris nodded. Juniper looked around the shop. She noticed dust settling on some of the shelves and countertops. After Tigris was fired and surgically worked on for the last time, she was practically removed from Capitol society.

Tigris opened up to Juniper about her and Snow's past, which only made Juniper more angry at Snow for his past. First, Lucy Gray. Then Tigris, then Marina, then her grandmother, and everyone else he has affected.

"He'll get what he deserves." Juniper looked to Tigris again. The two shared a knowing look. "I'll make sure of it."

"When you get that chance, give him hell. Make sure you're the one to do it." Tigris smiled. Juniper nodded.

The two caught up briefly, however, Juniper couldn't stay forever. She promised she would see Tigris again before leaving. She was determined to keep her promises with her.

Juniper left the shop and continued walking down to the apartments. Whatever she did, she was going to make sure that whether it was with The Serpent or not, Snow was going down. 

Midnight came fast. As soon as the clock struck, she waited a few minutes before leaving just in case cameras were still up.

She went up to the rooftop the way she normally did. Taking the elevator, taking in the Capitol view, then taking the stairs up.

Juniper just didn't expect so many people

Nina, Lennox, Beetee, Wiress, Johanna, Mags, Amalie, Haymitch, Seeder, Chaff, Woof, Cecilia, and Jason.

"What is she doing here?" A male yelled.

And Finnick. Juniper rolled her eyes, ready for a fight.

"She's apart of the plan." Beetee said. 

"She's a career." Finnick said. His tone more calmer than his yell before after being hushed from Mags. "She'll kill us."

"Aw, you admit I can?" Juniper smiled, blinking at him a few times. 

"Sorry, you'll try to kill us. I'll kill you before it can happen." Finnick glared at her.

"Sure you can."

"Whether you admit it or not, we need Juniper in this plan, Odair." Lennox stood up to Finnick, catching him off guard. "I suggest you back off, or leave." Lennox smiled. Finnick huffed, he was mad.

Finnick believed Juniper couldn't be trusted. The way she behaved with the Capitol.

"If we all get killed tomorrow-" Finnick started. Mags hit his harm.

"Shut it, cariño. I won't give away the plan." Juniper spat, making Finnick shut his mouth. "...You think that lowly of me?" 

Finnick didn't answer. Juniper was hurt in some way, he actually thought of her as a Capitol spy. She didn't blame him in a way. Silence sat amongst the group until a throat was cleared. Someone else had walked onto the roof.

"Plutarch." Beetee spoke. "Glad you could make it." He meant it in more ways than one. Finally getting on with the plan explanation, and also ridding of this awful silence. 

"Sorry for being late, it's hard to get here unnoticed." Plutarch laughed. He shook hands with Beetee and Haymitch, giving a wave to everyone else. 

"We'll make this quick." Haymitch said, crossing his arms, nodding his head to Plutarch, urging him to take over.

"Right." Plutarch spoke. "I'll keep it short and sweet. There's a lot of people here, and we would all rather not have anything getting out."

Juniper shot a quick glare to Finnick and sent her attention back to Plutarch.

"We have a plan of escape." A lot of peoples faces lit up, some had some confusion. "However, that's not a guarantee all of you can. It's extremely risky, it also means keeping Peeta, Katniss.., and Beetee alive at all costs." 

It sounded to Juniper that Plutarch wanted to say someone else on top of that trio.

"Why Beetee?" Juniper asked, earning her a few looks. "Not to be rude or anything, just wondering."

"I'll be able to figure out an escape plan in the arena, if you keep me alive long enough for us to figure out how." Beetee fixed the way his glasses rested on his face. 

"Katniss and Peeta need to be kept alive for separate reasons." Haymitch spoke softly. He looked around. Looking as if he didn't want to say it if there were all these people there.

"Not all of you are guaranteed to escape, but if you stay alive, there's a chance for all of you. But your top priority has to be those three, no matter what." 

Plutarch's words stung Juniper a bit. They would have to put their lives over their own.

"Do Katniss and Peeta know about this plan?" Nina asked. 

"No, it's too risky. The Capitol has eyes on them at all times, they're most worried about those two than any of us." Haymitch said. "We aren't able to tell them, and we won't tell them." He pointed around their circle and everyone nodded.

"We've also passed along a message to all of your mentors and some of you individually." Beetee started. "During your interviews, you must try all you can to rile up the crowd and convince them to cancel the games."

Eventually, people started leaving. District 6 left first, Amalie and Justin. Then, Woof and Cecilia, then Chaff, Seeder, and Wiress.

"So, the gamemakers nor Snow will question why there's an alliance between half the arena?" Lennox asked, looking to Plutarch.

"They won't see this coming, I assure you, Mister Hale." He smiled. Juniper didn't believe him at first, but he wouldn't be here helping them if he didn't have a sliver of hope for all of them. He seemed confident. Lennox and Juniper shared a look.

"So, what were you going to say before, Haymitch?" Juniper said, looking at him. Haymitch seemed confused- or at least pretended like it. "Why do we need to protect Katniss and Peeta?"

"Katniss is the symbol of the rebellion, she's our mockingjay. After escaping the arena, we have a place for all of you to go till the Capitol goes down." Plutarch stated, he seemed a bit unsure to say the next bit, looking to Haymitch Abernathy, who nodded.

"Katniss won't... let's say she won't cooperate as long as Peeta is safe. If anything happens to him, it's safe to say we won't have that symbol anymore."

Juniper nodded. She noticed in the corner of her eye, Lennox looking between Plutarch and herself. She gave him a questioning look, but he acted as if it never happened. She noticed he seemed off about something, but she didn't know what.

"Is there anything else we should know?" Finnick said. 

Juniper looked at him, zoning out for a second. He was wearing a tight fit white shirt. She cut her attention back to Beetee, shaking off any thoughts.

"Yes." Beetee cut in. "Before going into the arena, a tracker gets injected into your arm. If you want to escape, you must dig it out." Beetee pointed to his wrist, Juniper remembered it being put into her arm via syringe during her games.

"We won't be able to pick you up if it's still in your arm. That means one of you has to cut it out of Katniss and Peeta's arm." Plutarch mentioned. "Once the forcefield goes down, it's best if you stay together so we don't have to hunt all of you down in there. The Capitol will work quickly to get all of you back."

"You need to trust me if you want to make it out of this." Beetee said.

"Also," Haymitch pointed between Odair and Plinth. "Try not to go killing each other, you'll ruin the entire alliance."

That's true. If Finnick even touched Juniper- Nina and Lennox would be out for blood. If Juniper touched Finnick, she'd probably die trying or get killed by anyone else in the alliance.

"If I end up killing her, it'll be for good reason." Finnick said.

"If I end up killing him, it'll be because he tried killing me first." Juniper said right after, fighting back. The two sent daggered glares at one another.

"This is what he means." Johanna groaned. "You guys can't spend two seconds together without wanting to kill each-other."

"I'm surprised they lasted this long standing within' 5 feet of each other." Lennox laughed. Juniper elbowed him in the side. 

Juniper, Lennox, and Nina were distracted with one another when Juniper caught Plutarch whispering something to Mags- who nodded. 

Mags walked up to Juniper, tapping her shoulder.

"Can you help me back to the apartment?"

"Yeah!" Juniper signed back. "I'm going to take Mags back, it's pretty late."

Finnick narrowed his eyes and went to leave with them, but Lennox stopped him with his arm stuck out. Juniper gave him a questioning look.

"Going to talk to this guy about this alliance thing." Lennox said, smiling, like he was hiding something. Juniper was tired, she didn't want to deal with it. She would find out eventually, she usually always did.

"Whatever, goodnight."

●・○・●・○・●