Never Giving Up, Never Letting Go

Finnick turned his throbbing head to the side and coughed up some blood. He lifted a shaky, deathly-pale hand to wipe his mouth and tried to sit up. He moaned as his entire body ached and he looked himself over. Blood everywhere; that's what he first noticed. His clothes and skin were shredded and every one of his ribs felt broken. Blood trickled down his head and his entire body shook from being cold and from the lack of blood.

I have to get out of here. I need to find help. Finnick thought, though fuzzily.

How he was even alive, he didn't know. But he did know that if he didn't get help, he wouldn't be alive for very much longer. He looked up and saw the ladder that he and everyone else had climbed up until those mutts pulled him down. After that, he could remember anything. He just woke up here, bleeding to death.

Slowly, he grasped a blood-stained hand onto one of the rungs, and pulled himself up. Finnick let out a gasp at the pain that it had caused, but he made himself stand anyways. He had to climb up that ladder, it was his only way out. He reached up again and began to climb. He tried his best to keep quiet, but could not hold back the moans or small shrieks of pain. Only half way there, he was about to give up. He couldn't take it, the pain was too much. He'd just have to die here. But then, a thought occurred to him.

Annie. I have to get to Annie.

The thought of her, and her finding the news of his death broke his heart. It gave him a new energy, though not numbing the pain, and gave him the strength to climb the rest of the way up the ladder.

….

Finnick was sure that someone would here his rapidly beating heart, even through the thick bandages that had been wrapped tightly around his chest and stomach. After climbing the ladder, he'd been found after some time un-conscious, and was hospitalized in District 13 after the explosion in the Capitol. They got to him in the nick of time, for his blood supply was nearly completely drained. He had broken many ribs, and his wrist. His deep cuts, gashes, and other wounds were treated and disinfected. He'd had a minor concussion as well.

Now, three weeks after being hospitalized, Finnick had managed to bug the nurses and doctors enough to let him see Annie. He was feeling well enough to stand and walk, with only minor pain.

Currently, Finnick was walking down one of District 13's halls to where he was told Annie was. He didn't know if Annie even knew that he was here or alive.

Finnick took a deep breath and knocked on Annie's door. When no one answered, he just opened it and crept in silently. He found Annie, sitting silently on a chair just staring at a plain wall. She was in one of those dazed moments, where no one could get her to respond or react to reality except Finnick himself.

He walked over to Annie, her eyes still un-phased by his movements. She could only be brought out of her spell by his voice. He reached out his hand and brushed his fingers against her cheek lightly.

"Annie." He murmured. She was frozen for only one second longer. Annie blinked and a certain light came back to her sea-green eyes when she looked up at Finnick. He smiled at her, and she broke down.

"Finnick!" She cried. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. Annie wasn't squeezing hard enough to cause any pain. Her embrace only filled him with joy and relief. Joy for them both still being alive, and relief that she was safe in his arms. Joy that they could now share together, and relief that she felt joy and relief again as well.

"Annie." He whispered into her hair. He placed his lips on her head, and just breathed in her scent. Whether it was pleasant or not, he always had found it comforting. The two had both been through a lot. He survived the hunger games, he became her mentor, she survived the hunger games, he went through sexual abuse, she lived on the brink of in-sanity, they both lived through him going back to the hunger games, and they both lived through this.

Annie and Finnick were married only a month before, but were seemingly ripped apart again when Finnick went to help fight in the Capitol. He'd almost died. If he had, Finnick knew that Annie wouldn't have been able to handle living or at least living sanely.

"Finnick, I thought you died. Katniss said you did. She said she saw you die." Annie said so distraughtly that it made Finnick's heart break. He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears off her face, and hushed her.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here now. We'll be fine now." He said, looking deep into her eyes. He couldn't believe he almost gave up when he climbed that ladder. How could he, when he promised to come back to her. He would never leave her alone, never again.

Finnick leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. A few of his own salty tears fell onto her face. He held her close to him, telling himself that he should have never let go in the first place.

….

Finnick looked down at the little boy with blue eyes being held in Annie's arms. He was so small, and so fragile. So dependent, and new. Finnick could not believe he had a son. He was a father, and his Annie was a mother.

"Now, first thing's first, you can't completely steal her away from me. She's still mine, you know." Finnick said with a smirk and a to his baby son.

Finnick thought back to the day when he almost gave up and would have left his wife to live without him. To raise their son on her own.

But instead, he was able to love and cherish Annie once more. He was able to be surprised with the news that he was going to be a father. He was able to help and watch Annie as she grew a life inside her for nine months. And now he is able to hold his new son in his arms, he gets to protect and love him, he gets to teach him, and watch him grow into a man. And he gets to grow old with his Annie.

After all that Finnick and Annie had been through, they deserved this. They finally get their happily ever after.

A/N

Okay, so I've been wanting to do a Hunger Games fic, specifically an Odesta one, for a long time. And, I just felt so angry that Finnick died! I mean, they finally get to be happy for awhile, then all that is ripped away from them when Finnick is tragically and horrifically killed! I mean, talk about un-fair! I mean, how cruel to them and the Odesta shippers! The story is already super freaking sad and devastating! You just had to kill Finnick, didn't you Collins?

Ugh, enough ranting! *takes deep breath and smiles* So, I decided that I would write this! I mean, technically they never officially said, "Finnick O'dair is dead" and it never really said that Annie had to raise their son on their own. It's all implied, but not official. So, with that in mind, I decided to make up this wonderful thing! Finnick isn't dead!

:D Hope everyone liked it, for this is my first Hunger Games fic, though DEFINITELY not my first ever fic. ;) This one is kind of sappy, and possibly cheesy, but oh well, it's better than the Collins implied tragedy ending to Finnick and Annie's story! ;) TTFN!

~Annanarra

P.S. This only a one-shot. I may do other Hunger Games fics, but not a continuation of this one. If you have any ideas for me, feel free to shoot me a PM. :D