Katniss x Finnick One-shot.
Her screams woke him up.
And it wasn't the first time.
Being back in the hospital had its up and its downs.
It was away from the eyes and ears of Thirteen.
But it was the home to Katniss' nightmares and Finnick's too, he knew. But he never made a sound in his.
Hopelessness was his nightmare and there was no relief in waking.
It was a vicious circle and they were both trapped in it's endless circuit.
But Katniss' screams wouldn't stop and Finnick knew he could help; possibly only one of the people in this distric that could help the infamous girl on fire with her demons.
Getting up, he crept over to her bed and grabbed her wrists to stop her thrashing.
Her eyes flew open and her screams turned suddenly into rasping breaths.
"Finnick!" She cried, sitting up, her eyes welling with tears.
He watched her, realisation hitting her.
Her nightmare wasn't a reality, but their reality was a nightmare of sorts.
"Katniss, it's ok," he told her, but there was no sincerity in his tone.
It was soothing, but not reassuring.
Katniss looked at him, a tear escaping her eye.
Finnick perched himself on her bed and produced a tissue, dabbing at her eyes gently.
"Thank you." Was all she said, sniffing.
They stared at each other for a long moment, not really seeing one another, each wrapped up in their own thoughts, their own perils.
Finnick's hands were twitching, void of the rope he used to pacify himself, or distract himself; he was never pacified nowadays.
"Finnick?" Katniss suddenly asked, her voice hoarse, but full of a hopeless kind of wonder.
Finnick blinked.
"Katniss?" He replied.
"Do you ever wonder... what you'd do, if they didn't come back to us? Because right now, I know we're both hoping, in some twisted universe, that they might. Even though it's near impossible," she asked, her eyes probing his.
Finnick didn't answer for an eternal moment.
A world without Annie wasn't a world at all. A life without his love, wasn't worth living.
"Nightlock," he whispered.
Katniss nodded, as if in agreement.
"I know. I thought about it too. But... but Prim..." she trailed off, her breathing quickening, as if in panic.
Finnick grabbed her hands, calming her.
"Sometimes, you have to be selfish in order to be selfless," Finnick told her, as if he was repeating something he'd heard before.
"You sound like Coin," Katniss said, frowning slightly as she blew her nose.
Finnick shrugged.
"I don't think about things like that because I don't have anyone else, Katniss. You do. Prim, your mother... Gale." He noticed how Katniss flinched ever so slightly at his name. "So if Peeta doesn't come back, you still have something to live for."
"You sound like Peeta. He said that to me on the beach in the arena. That it didn't matter if he died, because he had no one else. But... but that's not true. He has me. What happens to me, Finnick, if Peeta dies?"
And suddenly Katniss was scrambling out of bed, pulling at her hair with one hand, clutching Peeta's pearl in her other hand, so tightly her knuckles were white.
Finnick stood with her, watching her pace agitatedly, winding herself up more and more.
"Peeta doesn't realise how important he is to me! He just... he can't not live. He has to survive, because if he doesn't, how will I? I'm holding onto him coming home because I need him, Finnick! I can't live in world where Peeta doesn't exist! And... and I owe him too much. I will never stop owing Peeta Mellark!"
Finnick frowned in confusion.
"You owe Peeta?" Finnick asked her and Katniss nodded, stopping in front of him.
She sighed, her anger deflating slightly.
"Yes. For saving my life a long time ago. I owe you too, you know," she added.
Finnick blinked.
"Why?"
"For saving Peeta all those times in the arena. I'll never be able to repay you, Finnick," she told him.
"You... you don't owe me anything Katniss. That you're here is enough, because I think I'd spiral into a state of sanity beyond saving if I didn't have you to talk to," he admitted, sitting back down on the bed again, his hands fidgeting in his lap.
Katniss sat beside him, silently.
It stayed that way for a while.
"What if you can't get the Nightlock, Finnick?" Katniss suddenly asked, her face afraid.
Finnick looked up from his hands, into his eyes.
"I'd have to." Was all he said, but Katniss shook his head.
"I've nearly died of starvation Finnick. I don't think you could do that to yourself. Nightlock is easy and pain-free. If that didn't work and I wanted to die, I'd ask Gale to do it, but I don't think he would. What if we can't get hold of the nightlock, Finnick. What if we have to live in the nightmare world where Peeta and Annie don't exist?" She asked, grabbing his hand desperately.
Finnick looked down at their interlinked hands, then back up at Katniss' frightened expression.
"Then we'll live in this nightmare together," he told her simply, a hint of a sad smile on his lips.
Katniss blinked.
"Together?" She asked.
He nodded.
"Because we're already halfway there. We can only wish for two outcomes, they're safe return or their painless deaths. Since neither are likely to happen, we have two options; nightlock, or nightmare. But the nightmare seems... bearable, when we're together," he admitted.
Katniss seemed to think about this option for a long moment.
Then she nodded slowly.
"Because we're the only people in Thirteen who know what we're both going through?" She questioned it, but Finnick nodded a little more certainly this time.
"Well us and Haymitch," he added.
Katniss didn't respond to this remark.
Finnick sighed, taking Katniss' other hand.
"Katniss, if the nightlock isn't accessible, I want us to promise each other something."
Katniss' eyes were wide, uncomprehending.
Finnick took a deep breath.
"If we have no nightlock and if Peeta and Annie... if they do not come back to us, then we lean on each other for support, just as we are doing now."
Katniss nodded.
She could promise that.
"I promise."
Finnick let out a breath.
"Now, we should get back to our nightmares," he said, beginning to move.
But Katniss held onto his hands.
He looked up at her, quizzical.
Her grey eyes seemed to be torn, but pleading.
"Peeta... my nightmares... Peeta used to, used to stay with me. Through the night. And... and they wouldn't be so bad. It's not the same... but it might be a comfort, Finnick, if you would stay with me tonight. Can I lean on you?" She asked, her eyes searching his, wanting him to stay.
Finnick knew it must've taken an awful lot for Katniss to ask this of him; she knew she was stubborn and proud and didn't like to ask for help. He'd learnt that about her through watching her in her games and becoming somewhat of a friend in the Quarter Quell.
He could grant her some peace tonight.
"Sure," he answered and Katniss' answering smile was grateful.
He climbed on the bed beside her, tucking her in the sheets whilst he lay on top of them.
He gently placed his arm around her shoulder and she warily leant into him, both in unfamiliar territory.
But eventually they settled comfortably.
Then Finnick heard Katniss' humourless laugh.
"What?" He asked, absent-mindedly stroking her hair.
"Nothing. I just... it's a bit of a bizarre situation," she observed and Finnick nodded.
"Hmm," he agreed.
Indeed it was odd, but Finnick found nothing odd from Katniss drawing strength from him and he, from her.
After a while, Finnick had drifted slightly.
Katniss looked up and watched his face, slightly slack, with a small crease between his brows, as though he was upset in his sleep.
Which she deduced was more than likely the case.
She liked how young and peaceful he looked in slumber, though and reached up to touch the smooth skin of his cheek.
His lip trembled but he didn't wake, instead his arm seemed to tighten around Katniss.
She arranged herself so she was more comfortable on his chest, her hand still at his face.
Then she felt Finnick's free hand reach up and hold her hand to his face.
"You ok?" He asked, his sea-green eyes worried as they searched Katniss'.
Katniss nodded, searching his eyes.
Finnick stared right back and she could see his brain working, his expression becoming torn, as if he was debating something internally.
And then she realised what he was torn between doing and impulsively decided for him.
She leant up and brushed her lips against his, lingering there, feeling his warm breath cascade around her face.
He froze for a second, assessing her, his eyes wide with both shock and deliberation.
"Sorry," she mumbled, making to pull away, but Finnick stopped her with his free hand, grasping her chin ever so gently.
"Don't be," he breathed.
Katniss' gaze flickered back to his lips as his eyes glanced at hers.
"Oh to escape reality..." Finnick whispered, his tone suddenly full of longing, his eyes asking Katniss' permission.
Katniss didn't want to think right now; she could think later, when she was alone with her thoughts.
And besides her head was too full right now; it needed not to think.
"Then escape," Katniss whispered and Finnick's eyes fluttered closed and he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to hers.
Katniss' hand that was at Finnick's face cupped his cheek as his hand that was at her shoulders travelled down to her waist and pulled her closer, his other hand snaking around her neck, holding her too him.
This action made Katniss' stomach tighten and she abruptly deepened the kiss as Finnick did the same, opening her mouth with his, his lips urgent and wanting on hers.
She then allowed both her hands to wind themselves into his tousled bronze hair, knotting themselves there, pulling him closer still.
Finnick then rolled them both gently over so he was positioned on top of Katniss, pressing the planes of his body against hers.
His hand travelled down her waist, skimming her thigh, before hooking it up around his own waist.
Katniss gasped into his mouth, but Finnick just held her to him, his mouth fervent and passionate on hers.
Then suddenly, Katniss realised that Finnick's hospital gown had been discarded at some point and that his glorious Adonis body was there for her to marvel at.
She did for a moment, his lips breaking from hers and travelling down her throat.
A moan rose to her lips and she hissed through her teeth at the way his hot breath and sensual lips made her stomach tighten.
Her leg tighened around his waist and pulled him closer to her still, arching her back so he could feel her body against his.
Through her hospital gown.
Suddenly, Katniss burst out laughing.
Finnick's head snapped up to level with hers, his eyes full of worry and confusion.
"What?" He panted, trying to get his breath back.
This made Katniss laugh harder. Oh she hadn't laughed like this in ages!
Then Finnick realised.
This scenario was quite funny.
She in her hospital gown, yearning for her tortured love and craving support, and he, stripped down to his pants, longing to be reunited with his deranged true love, needing to be comforted.
They were a ridiculous pair.
Finnick started laughing too and soon they found they couldn't stop.
Eventually, though, they did, but all Finnick did was roll so he was lain next to Katniss on her hospital bed.
She was still trying to calm her breath as she grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulders.
"Oh Finnick," she breathed and he smiled.
He looked over at her and she was smiling, her eyes grateful.
They'd escaped reality for a while, satisfying their want for human contact and finding support through unknown territory.
"That was..." Katniss sniggered, hiding her face in Finnicks chest.
He grinned, remembering something.
"Better than a sugar cube."