It was only for a moment.
The silence was suddenly filled with shouts of protests. Bell let out a loud cry. Leah pushed her face into my ribs, hiding her face in my shirt. Saylee and Jake exchanged a look, gripping the other tightly. As for Lars, Lucius, and Tiberius--well, I'd never seen such violent expressions.
Bell was trembling, sobbing. Her tears and Leah's soaked my shirt. I didn't know what to do. They'd already lost a sibling each. I didn't know what to do.
Ren was the only one that wasn't reacting. He sat in his chair, calm and collected, completely unfazed. If his chest didn't rise and fall, and if he didn't blink every few seconds, I would have thought him a statue.
Maybe Snow was still talking, or maybe someone else was. Hell, maybe the anthem was playing. Not a sound could be heard over the angry voices of the Marcellus family.
I didn't know what it was they were saying. Maybe I should've tried harder to listen. All I could see was the look that was exchanged by Saylee and Jake. All I could hear were the cries of Leah and Bell. It was like I'd lost all of my senses besides those. Nothing felt real. I wondered when I'd wake up.
Eventually, things calmed down. The anger fled the room, followed by panic and fear, the all-encompassing kind. The doorbell rang. Ren stood to answer it. Caprenia waved him off and went to get the door herself. Bell and Leah calmed down. Leah stood, wiping off her tears with the backs of her hands, and went over to Jake. Bell slid closer to me. Lucius took the seat beside her. Lars and Tiberius sat on the floor in front of her. They said nothing. Nothing could be said.
Caprenia returned with three guests. Brutus, Lyme, and Enobaria. They didn't look angry. They didn't look afraid. They were terrifyingly calm. Just like Ren was. Just like Clove had been. Just like Cato had been.
"It cannot be avoided any longer, Marcellus." Lyme said. I wondered if the ache went through her that went through me. I'd heard her shout that same name across the Training Center so many times... "We can't keep ignoring this."
"Not here." Ren replied. "Not now. We mustn't discuss it now." His eyes wandered around the room, specifically hitting Bell, and Leah, and Caprenia, and Titus, and me. I wanted to know what he was hiding from us.
"We've got a half hour until Odair and Cresta show up." Brutus announced after glancing at his watch. "Then we'll be on call with Abernathy and those other two from Three."
"You can't be serious." Lucius said. "Do you have any idea how risky this is?"
"What the hell is going on?" Titus demanded.
"Nothing." This was a chorus from Saylee, Jake, the Victors, and the three Marcellus brothers.
Ren glanced around the room. "Titus," he said slowly, "I'm going to ask you only once, and I expect you to do exactly as I say. I want you to take your wife, and your daughter, and Dahlia, and I want you to go home. I want you to not mention this to anyone, ever. And, if she can be convinced, I want you to take Atala as well." His eyes were not hard on mine with the last statement. He wasn't angry with me, he was protecting me. From what, I didn't know.
Bell and Leah both stuck their chins up into the air. "But Grandfather," Bell said, "Leah and I already know."
The Victors and her brothers seemed to freeze. Jake's mouth fell open a little. Saylee's eyes were wide.
"How?" Tiberius demanded, and I'd never seen him look so fierce and angry, or so much like his younger brother.
"You were never very quiet." She glared stubbornly at Lucius, who looked down. He looked upset. "Maybe if you three hadn't yelled so much all the time, Leah and I wouldn't have known." Leah nodded in firm agreement. "We're staying. We want to help, too."
"You're thirteen." Lars snapped. "Leave this to the adults."
"Saylee isn't an adult."
"She's close enough."
Bell folded her arms over her chest. "I'm not leaving. And I dare you to try and make me."
I'd never seen a staredown between siblings quite like that one. The brothers were no match for stubborn Bell.
Since Bell and Leah were staying, it was obvious that I would be, too. Nobody asked.
Titus did as his father asked, and he left with his wife. I don't know if he ever said anything, though I would assume not, because there was never any trouble caused by it. Not to mention, his sons, his daughter, and the teenagers that were practically his kids were involved. Titus might have been loyal to a fault when it came to the Capitol, and he might have been the Mayor, but his family came first.
Nothing was said. Bell and Leah went to the bathroom to clean themselves up. Brutus glanced at his watch every five seconds. Saylee and Jake kept exchanging unreadable looks. Lucius kept his head down, and wouldn't meet the eyes of any of his siblings.
This silence lasted until the doorbell rang. Ren stood to answer it. He returned, followed by Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta.
Introductions were made, hands were shook. Finnick approached the television and wired a black box to it, and while he did, I caught the basic idea of what was happening: a revolution.
When he turned on the television, three faces appeared on a screen divided down the middle. Finnick adjusted camera he'd set on top of the television, and then stepped back. "Can you see us?"
"It's good." A man I recognized as Beetee assured him. "Good job, Finnick."
"Thanks," he said, but it sounded sarcastic. He moved back over to stand by Annie.
"What are we here for this time?" Brutus asked. "Besides our new recruits?" He waved his hand around the room in a vague gesture towards all of us.
"Marcellus," Haymitch Abernathy greeted him like they were old friends, which they might have been. "It's been a while."
Ren nodded slowly.
"Have you changed your mind? They want to know before the Reaping."
"My grandson was taken from me by them." Ren replied, "What do you think?"
"That's one." Haymitch said. He pointed to something on his screen. "I see your other grandsons are getting ready. What about those two?"
"You'll have to clarify, Haymitch," Lyme said, "seeing as we can't tell who it is you're gesturing towards."
"Blondie and her boyfriend over there."
Jake flushed, but it didn't look like he was embarrassed; he seemed angry that he'd given off the impression that he could ever love anyone but Clove.
"We aren't dating," Saylee snapped. "His girlfriend was just killed. Lay off."
"That's Saylee Cyprian." Enobaria told Haymitch. "She's feisty, and she'll kick your ass. I suggest you don't test her. The boy is Jacob Trebius, and he's just as good a fighter as Cato was. You just pointed out Cato and Clove's best friends."
Saylee and Jake looked like Clove and Cato had in the Games--fierce, angry, and definitely Careers. Haymitch didn't seem phased.
"My bad," he said, and I realized that he was shockingly sober. He was easy enough to read, and I noticed that despite his lack of blatant empathy, he truly did feel remorse for what he'd said. "Are these the two I've heard about, then?"
"We would be the two." Saylee said. "And we're in. Let your superiors know." I'd never seen Saylee as outsiders did, but in that moment, it felt like all that time of us being friends meant nothing; I still didn't know her, not really.
"Good," Beetee said. "Jacob, I've heard that you're good with technology?"
"It's Jake," he answered coolly, "and I'm proficient. I'm good with math and with the math behind most technology, so I should be able to help out."
"And you're both trained with weapons?" He clarified. The woman behind him was doing something; she was making a noise that sounded like a bee's buzz. Beetee didn't bother shushing her.
"Well enough," Saylee answered. "We've been training since we were young, and our male relatives are all Peacekeepers, so we know a thing or two about guns and warfare. We'll be quite useful." She hadn't said it in a cocky way, which was oddly impressive, though I'd heard Saylee twist arrogant statements into factual ones many times before.
"I'm sure you will be," Beetee said, and he said it without any irony in his voice. His eyes moved, and he squinted at the screen. "And those two young girls?"
Leah straightened her spine, and so did Bell. "Dahlia Urban, and Bluebell Marcellus." Leah said. "Clove and Cato's younger sisters. We can help."
"How old are you, sweetheart?" Haymitch asked. "Things like this are no places for children."
"Thirteen." Bell said. "But we know a lot about medicine, and we're handy with tools and with weapons. We're incredibly well-rounded. We'll be of more use than harm, and we can be kept far away from any type of fighting."
"There's no such thing as away from fighting in a war." Lyme murmured. "The entire country will be a battlefield."
"We'll be of use." Leah promised.
"We'll have to talk to people higher up than us," Beetee said, "but I think we can arrange something. There are others younger than you that are helping."
They both seemed quite satisfied by this, and settled back comfortably against the couch.
"Is that all we have? Can we get down to business?" This came from Haymitch.
"No, afraid not." Brutus gestured towards me. "You forgot one."
They hadn't seen me before, but once I was pointed out, their eyes fixed easily on me. "Ah, so it seems we did." Beetee said. "My apologies. And you are?"
"Atala Mikells." I said. "Another friend of Cato and Clove's."
Tiberius let out a snort of laughter. Everyone shot him looks of varying levels of confusion. I hit him in the side, hard enough to make him cough.
"I don't see what's so funny." Brutus said, and by the look on his face I knew that he was trying to call out Tiberius while also embarrassing me. Brutus loved to harass me, probably because he and my biological father had been friends when they were younger, or maybe because he'd loved embarrassing the hell out of Cato, and the best way to do that was to tease us both. I wondered if he knew what the ring on my hand meant. I was half sure that he did.
Tiberius shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Just Atala's word choice." He winked at me, and he was still smirking when he turned away. "Sorry. Continue."
I began before any questions could be asked. "Yes, I'm trained well. I was Cato's only competition, and he was the best in the District. I'm seventeen. I know plenty of things about first aid and medicine, and yes, I can handle a gun. I'm guessing that answers all of your questions?"
"I believe so," Beetee said. "Unless Haymitch has anything to add?"
"Not right now." Haymitch replied.
"Good," said Ren. "I was wondering what was so important that you had to interrupt my time with my family."