It's amazingly stable for something with no tailplanes, Holly thought, putting the jet into a quick aileron roll. It's certainly more responsive than a fighter of this size should be. And the engines have plenty of power, too, even if climbing isn't this thing's strong suit. Rather nice, all things considered.

She had long since silenced the tape deck, which she realized contained only the song Danger Zone on loop for thirty minutes. It was a good song but it got old after the third play-through. Holly had found that there really wasn't much to do at her altitude, so she had brought the plane down a little lower to survey the arena from an aerial perspective. She had been making high-altitude passes over the individual towns, trying to commit at least some of their locations and layouts to memory as to help her team out once she found them- which was her next order of business. Holly knew that she was probably travelling faster than any of them, and as such had a certain obligation to track them down and get them back together. This would require some extremely low-level flying, because human beings were very small creatures at a jet's normal operating altitude.

She lowered the fighter down along a dusty highway, taking the time to even the nose up with the center line with a few careful taps of the rudder pedals. Holly was very thankful that the controls were adjustable, as the plane's previous owner had been a fair bit taller than her. Now that the joystick and pedals were much closer, she could move the huge machine with her typical grace. With a flick of a switch she engaged the FLIR scan mode, turning the dark of the night outside the canopy into a slightly-brighter dull green. It was very clever for the humans to have integrated the display right into the glass, since it gave such a fantastic field of vision. A brighter-green speck popped up on the horizon and quickly sped into view, hurtling past on the road below.

A semi? Huh. That's the first bit of traffic I've seen so far. It had to have been other fighters… I'll circle back and check them out after I make my pass over the town just up the road.

The forward search radar informed her that a cluster of low-lying objects was approaching, which was without a doubt the southernmost town. Holly had to be sure to get a good look at the ground, so she twisted the joystick until the jet held itself upside-down in the air, turning the cockpit glass into a panoramic viewing dome.

Mr. Everdeen was at least a little grateful that he was on patrol. It meant that he didn't have to spend any more time near Dio- something he was beginning to dread. Dealing with the vampire was insufferable, and the worst part was that he was stuck as his subordinate. Despite his claims that he respected his loyal warriors, he certainly didn't go out of his way to show it. That, and the man was clearly insane. But Everdeen did not have much choice in the matter. This was where he was now, and if he wanted to have any chance to get back- to change the way things happened…

"You doin' all right, Everdeen?" asked Hawthorne. He was a stoutly built man with dark skin and big hands. He was a fighter, and had pulled his family through a number of tight spots. His dedication and work ethic were without equal, which was a little more than what could be said of Everdeen as of late.

"Yeah, yeah- I'm… I'm fine."

"You're sure you wanna go through with this?"

"We have to, don't we? If we don't, who will?"

"Yeah, you're right," sighed Hawthorne. "Well, let's get moving. Wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting."

Everdeen nodded and picked his pail up out of the gravel. The two men advanced to the lift, and Hawthorne pressed the button that plunged them downward into the black, cold heart of the earth. Down there, other men scuttled about in the dark, grappling with heavy equipment that could just as easily break them as it did the stone that surrounded them. Even in the lantern light, the men were black silhouettes of the people they were, husks worn out from endless toil to put a scrap of bread on the table for their families. Everdeen knew there was a better way. And today, he would begin to work toward it.

He and Hawthorne walked toward the end of the shaft that the men had been cutting through for the past week or so, gently instructing the men at the boring machines to stop for a moment and listen. The others gathered around, forming a half-circle around the men.

"What's up, foreman? It ain't break yet."

"No, it's not," replied Everdeen. "But they gave us a moment of privacy down here, and I'd like to use it to address something. I've worked with you for the better part of my life, digging these God-forsaken holes in the ground. And you've been there the whole time, every one of you- except those we've lost, God rest their souls. But I stand here before you today with a proposition. A proposition that one day, nobody will have to dig these holes, that one day nobody will get crushed by a cave in, or suffocate alone down here."

"What are you talkin' bout, Everdeen? Don't tell me you're-"

"I'm talking about exactly what it sounds like," he snapped. "Three score ago, our great-grandfathers and mothers gave the Capitol the middle finger and they almost got away with it. And I'll be damned if we can't do one better, because I've found something they never had."

"And what's that?"

Hawthorne patted him on the shoulder, and quietly whispered that he was doing well. Everdeen gave a thankful nod back before continuing.

"It may be no secret to you that I've spent a fair amount of time outside of our District's lovely fences-" that merited a chuckle from the crowd- "and I've found some very interesting things out there. I've found ruins from when our District was a lot bigger than it is now- buildings, homes, cars, books. And I read some very interesting things about the way Panem used to be. You see, before Panem was Panem, it was a place called the United States of America. And they had figured out something called nuclear fusion. Now, that's a bunch of fancy science-talk, but it's really simple- it's how the sun works, how it keeps on burning forever. It was the secret to unlimited energy, and they had it. Now, if they had it, why doesn't the Capitol? Any guesses?"

Silence.

"Because they don't want to. Because as long as they can say they need us, they can put us under their thumb, they can kick us around! But they're gonna regret doing that. You see, I found something else out there, something that the bigwigs were real stupid to not find themselves. I found… a bomb."

The crowd began to mumble with concern and excitement.

"You didn't tell me that," said Hawthorne, astonished.

"Sorry. That was something big enough I had to be really careful. I mean, I trust you. It's just something you can't talk about out loud. At all. But we're going to change that." He addressed the crowd again. "That's right, a bomb. And not just a little bomb. It's one of the bombs that turned the United States of America into Panem- it's a fusion bomb. Like opening up a little sun on earth! And I know of a few people in the Capitol that could use a little more sunshine in their lives!"

"But… how are we supposed to get it there?"

Everdeen smiled. "With the truck the Peacekeepers will so generously lend us, after all of them are dead."

Hawthorne pushed his way through the murmuring crowd to the center of the tunnel, where he crouched over one of the boxes of blasting charges. He pried open the lid and pulled something out that was most definitely not a blasting charge. He rested the rifle over his shoulder and lifted another out of the crate to hold aloft.

"Now, there aren't many Peacekeepers in District 12. Maybe twenty on off days. If we get the jump on 'em, we can put them down before anybody knows what's happening. Then we'll head for the Capitol."

"This is insane," shouted one of the men at the drills. "But if I can make them pay for taking my son away, I'll do it."

One by one, the miners agreed to join in his rebellion, taking up their weapons and denouncing the Capitol. He had felt a little overwhelmed by the response- even though it had all been his plan, he still couldn't believe that a change could be made, and that he'd be the one to do it. Everdeen leaned up against the shaft wall, exhaling with relief. Even though the mine grew louder and more riotous with each passing second, he felt as though all of the chaos and madness that the plan had caused in his mind had slipped away, leaving a void of blissful silence. And it was in that silence that he heard a distinct, steady beeping noise…

No, wait… that's not-

Mr. Everdeen returned to reality. Even lost in his thoughts, his senses had detected something amiss. A constant sound had indeed begun to echo against the sunbaked expanse of the desert, but it was not that loathsome beeping. It was, however, another sound he recognized, the rumbling roar of a distant jet engine. He looked up and saw a strobe light flicker in the distance, flying straight down the road on which he was currently walking.

Well, it's not ours.

He slipped his bow off of his shoulder and drew an arrow from his quiver, nocking it into place and pulling the string taut.

Now, if I shoot the pilot, there's a good chance that the plane will lose control and plow into the town. So I've got to make sure it goes down with hands at the wheel. A shot to the engine ought to do it. It'll be tricky, but nothing I can't handle.

Mr. Everdeen adjusted his aim for the slight breeze and began to track his arm upwards to compensate for the approaching target. When he was certain he had accounted for all possible variables, he let the arrow fly.

"Warning: Foreign material detected in intake. Warning: Critical Engine failure," announced the fighter jet's heads-up display.

"What in Frond's-" gasped Holly, as the plane jolted with a heavy mechanical clank. Holly twisted the joystick to her right and rolled right-side-up again, taking a look back past the vertical stabilizers at the white-green flames now produced by the aircraft's left engine. The jet's nose began to sag, and the altimeter began to bleep out warnings.

It's too heavy to fly without all of that thrust. D'Arvit, I'll have to put it down.

Holly flicked the landing gear release, dropped off the throttle and put the flaps up, halving her airspeed in seconds. She slammed her feet against the rudder pedals and rolled left, resulting in a lazy stall that slowed the plane even further, until it floated to the ground like a dried leaf. The dried leaf promptly shaved off its landing gear and tilted its right wing into the dirt with a grating scream, but Holly was alive.

"Any landing you can walk away from," she sighed, undoing her harness and prying the canopy open. Holly tossed herself out of the cockpit and landed lightly on the warm dirt, its surface scored by the cracks her plane's landing had driven into it.

Well, I suppose it's back to basics. I've still got my wings, so I can keep searching for the rest of the team if I need to, she thought, activating her own helmet's night vision mode. The helmet's heads-up display lowered into place and began to illuminate her surroundings. But losing an engine back there was pretty suspicious. I never had any trouble with the jet's engines before… and I wasn't pushing them hard, so it couldn't be a stress-based failure. It's possible I was shot down, in which case-

A sudden movement created a sharp pain in her right eye, and in response the elf threw herself backward- only to collide with the wrecked plane.

"D'Arvit," she swore, reaching up to find an arrow lodged in the eyepiece. "Not again."

A hand closed around her neck and lifted her into the air, but even without her night vision, Holly knew who it was.

"Didn't know you had a plane," growled Mr. Everdeen.

"I don't," strained Holly. "I stole it."

"Ain't you supposed to be a cop?"

"Aren't you supposed to be Katniss' dad?"

He slammed her against the cockpit tub, though certainly not as hard as he could have.

"I am and my actions speak to that, regardless of what you or she thinks. Neither of you has any idea- you wouldn't understand."

Holly wriggled her neck up a little further in an attempt to open her windpipe by a few millimeters. "You… sure about that?"

He loosened his grip, but maintained a steady hold on the elf.

"Yes."

"I'm not too sure about that," gasped Holly. "You seem a lot more balanced than some of the guys on your team- I'm certain you have your reasons."

"I do, and I'm not telling them to you."

Holly surprised the man by letting out a giggle.

"You Everdeens! So secretive!"

"I don't see what's so funny about wanting a little privacy," he growled.

"That's not what's funny. It's just that she's really just like you," explained Holly.

"Well, I spent a lot of time with her when she was-"

"-and that I've got a fully charged Neutrino pointed straight at your heart."

Mr. Everdeen froze.

"Yeah, it's pretty dark out here. Dark enough that somebody small and quiet could make a few little movements without you noticing. If I fire, you'll be stunned long enough that I could shove that arrow down your throat, but I'll only do that if you turn down my offer."

"Offer?"

"Yeah. You open up about why you're such a jerk, and not only will I not shoot you, I will surrender quietly. How about that?"

Mr. Everdeen released his grip on the elf's neck.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'll talk. But don't think that means I'm about to give up the fight."

"Oh, no, that's understandable," said Holly, pressing the grip of her Neutrino into his hand. He took it, weighing it with careful, short motions, then quickly pointed it away into the night sky and discharged it three times, the flickering bolts of energy fading away into the darkness.

"Nice gun," he noted.

"Let's not change the subject," frowned Holly. Mr. Everdeen sighed and placed the barrel at the back of her head.

"I'll start talking when you start walking."

"Okay, okay, I'm walking," whined Holly, placing her hands above her head. She found it a little amusing to be on the other side of an arrest. She stepped forward, making sure that her movements were not too sudden.

"I worked in the mines," explained the man. "Stuff happened. I guess you want to hear about that stuff."