Chapter 32

Finnick POV

Clement sets her bag on the floor, eyes wide at the true opulence of the Capitol. "Step up from that bar, huh?"

She nods softly, mouth opening a bit as she looks up to the ceiling at the large glass sculptures of tridents hanging above her.

"Don't worry they're secure, they won't come crashing down. This is my apartment kept here in the Capitol. This is also the home you'll be staying at. I'll show you around."

Clement picks her bag up and carefully clutches it to her chest, swerving sharply around the mirrored tables and glass sculptures fixed ontop. This place is even too lavish even for me sometimes, "don't worry about breaking anything, Clement. None of this stuff matters, it's all for show. My clients like to be hosted in the finest a Victor has to offer."

I lead her down the steps onto the lower level, "this corridor is where most of the deliveries and packages come in, clients never venture down to this level." I unlock the door at the end of the corridor, "this is your apartment. It's not very big, but hopefully, it'll work. To the right is the bedroom and bathroom, to the left is the kitchen area, obviously, this is your living and dining space."

Clement ventures towards the bedroom and I grab the voice pad off the couch and make sure Beetee's device is working. Footsteps echo back into the room and look at Clement's raised brows, "is everything okay for you?"

Clement nods. I hand her the voice pad and flip it on, "this is yours. It's a voice pad, it'll allow you to speak instead of scribbled notes back and forth. It's encrypted and it's not bugged. If for some reason the device is corrupted pull this little red button, it'll destroy everything. We can always buy a new one. Here, try it out."

She takes the small pad into her grasp and begins to type furiously onto the screen, "thank you. This is nice."

"No problem, here's the key to your apartment. You're the only one with the key. Here's my household tab card, get whatever you need, just buy some stuff to make it look legitimate. I've got tabs open just about everywhere in this area and Avoxes are sent everywhere to run errands."

"Alright, so what is my job here?"

"Well, your primary job is to aid in getting information to the network of spies we have throughout the Capitol. Avoxes are spoken in front of like they're not even there, like the night we met. Haymitch didn't even realize you were well within earshot to vital information about the resistance against the Capitol. How much do you want to bet every other Capitolite and politician is just as unaware of your presence?"

Clement smirks, "of course not. To be honest, I've always worked in the more run-down areas of the Capitol, but I've worked some larger events where I was with more important Capitolites and politicians. Never been noticed by them."

"Exactly my point, since you're "working" for me, you'll get into every event I do. I am always required to have my staff on-site, typically it's just my prep-team, but an Avox isn't out of the norm or surprising."

She sits at the edge of the couch, "I see. I'll do all I can to help, then."

"This is dangerous, Clement. You are risking your life for this...so I'm asking one last ti-"

The nearly human voice of the voice pad cuts me off, "no. I want to do this. This is all I have left. If I die, so be it. But I will make Snow pay for what he did to my brother."

"Okay...Unpack and settle in, I'll be down in an hour. We'll eat dinner and discuss everything, then."

Clement opens the door and stares at the boxes of food in my hands, she swipes up her voice pad. "Great, I'm starving. What did you get?"

"Fish, noodles, and dessert."

Clement stares at me as I unpack the boxes onto the table, as I slide her a plate of food her voice pad begins speaking. "Thank you for treating me as an equal. I've been living as little more than a slave for three years in the Capitol."

"I know a thing or two about that...I know that the Avoxes are traditionally fed whatever scraps or leftovers your employers give you, but you're a person and you're a partner, not a worker. It might look like that to everyone else, but you and I know the dynamic."

"Thank you." Clement leans forward and sniffs at her plate before letting out a low guttural sound. Tears roll down her cheeks and she tears into the fish in seconds, she wipes her grease-stained fingers against her cheeks to keep the tears out of her mouth.

Slowly, I set a hand on Clement's shoulder, "eat. We can just eat and relax try and slow down, you'll get sick if you're eating that quickly."

Shining eyes look up to me and Clement takes a slow bite of the fish, more tears spilling along her face. I keep my eyes trained on the woman stuffing food into her mouth, fingers greasy and face blotchy and red. She wipes the back of her hand against her eyes to keep the tears from rolling onto her lips, she reminds me of Cassius first meal after I won my games. All the food in front of him, he ate till he was sick.

She slows her pace after a few minutes, now savoring each bite of her meal, she wipes her hands against her shirt and grabs the screen pad. "I'm sorry, that wasn't very proper."

"Don't apologize, I know what it's like to have a meal, a real meal put in front of you...it's funny you remind me of my little brother, Cassius. When I came home from the games, they hosted a dinner in my honor and my brother, he just ate until he was sick. He had never seen so much food before...you never answered me from earlier, what District are you from?"

"Weren't you from 4, isn't that a Career District?"

"For some, yes. We weren't rich, I come from poor fishermen. We hunted in the waters for fish."

Clement nods, "I'm from 8."

"You're a very long way from home, then. Clement, will you tell me what happened to you?"

Clement slows her hands and sets the screen pad aside. We sit in silence for a few moments, finally, she picks it back up and types slowly, her eyes becoming glassy once again. "District 8 is poor, our parents hardly saw each other, they worked in the factories nearly all day. My brother and I when we turned 12 were immediately told to earn our keep. So we were hauling supplies back and forth between the factories. Took our tesserae every year like everyone else in order to survive..." Clement balls her fists and takes a few huffing breaths before typing again into the screen pad, her fingers swift now. "There was an accident. My mother died, my father was seriously injured and died a few hours later. We had nothing, our job hauling was enough for us to get milk and some bread for one of us. They don't pay kids like us much. So, my brother, he was sure we could make it towards the wilderness. We had no way to survive out there, but we tried anyway. Peacekeepers caught us before we could reach the fences. My brother protected me. They were going to kill us both, but he said that he was forcing me to leave. They shot him and shipped me off to the Capitol to have my tongue cut out."

Clement sets her voice pad aside and buries her head in her hands, strangled sobs replacing the silence. I set my hand back on her shoulder and remember the feelings I had when I lost my parents, the pain at knowing how Snow would just take whatever he wanted and it has to stop. "That's why we're doing what we are, Clement. We can stop what happened to you from happening to someone else. We can do this. "

The small woman beside me nods and wipes away her stray tears, reaching for the voice pad, she types. "Yes, we will."

Hey guys, I'm stuck at home like majority of the USA. So I'm going to try and update as much as I can while I'm at home. Also, guys stay safe, wash your hands, stay those 6 ft away, social distance. If you're bored and want to PM, I'm here and I'm positive most of our community on FF is too! Now is when we can support each other, especially if it's taking a toll on your mental and emotional health.

Stay safe guy, so much love and support!

Coesa