Lethally In Love ; by ForEverdeen88
This story begins directly after the arena explosion in Catching Fire, inside of the hovercraft that Katniss had been fished out of the arena with.
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Chapter 1 ; "You Are The Mockingjay"
. . . . . My lips are quivering in dehydration, and my body is aching from head to toe when I wake up. The last thing I remember was an explosion caused by lightning, bigger than I had ever seen before. The dome of the arena had collapsed in the dead of night because of my arrow, revealing the real sky beyond it, and entirely crashing the Capitol's network. I had been too fragile, too weak to even move, when a hovercraft claw came to pick me up. I thought about home, and I thought about the fact that I would probably never wake up again after that. I thought about Prim, and Gale. I thought about my mother, and then I thought about Peeta. He was in the arena somewhere, and I was leaving him behind. Who knew if he was even still alive? Halfway to the hovercraft, I blacked out, and don't remember a thing from then on.
The place I'm laying is nothing but a mat on the floor of the hovercraft. There's an IV in my arm, and an oxygen mask suctioned to my nose and mouth. My mind is racing, and I know I'm not getting enough oxygen even with the mask, because I'm feeling nauseous and light headed. I hear voices, and I wonder what my fate would be if I was to get up and walk through that door into the control room. I feel as if I'm lucky enough to even be alive right now, but then realize that it isn't lucky at all. I almost want to be dead. The only reason I'd ever want to stay alive after all of this, is if I had my family to protect; or had Peeta to protect. I'm at a loss for wisdom, and decide that I want to take a chance, even if it means I'll be taking my last breath within the next few minutes.
I undo my IV strap and sit up on the mat, ripping the velcro on the oxygen mask and placing all the medical instruments on the floor. I glance around the room, taking in the sights, when I spot Beetee passed out on a mat towards the other side of the room. "Beetee." I say weakly, pushing myself onto my hands and knees so that I can crawl over to his unconscious body. For a moment I'm convinced he isn't breathing, but after a moment of watching his mask, I can see his breath fog up in the plastic. I place my palm on his leg, gently shaking it to awake him; but he won't even react. "Please, I need you." I can't do this on my own... I'm too afraid. Beetee would know what the smart thing to do was, but he was out like a light. I didn't know what else to do.
Sinking back on my heels, I take in the room with a bit more concentration. Two more mats are sitting there, one with medical equipment, another just sitting there all folded up. I quickly figure that it probably meant there was one more tribute on this hovercraft. I prayed for a moment that it was Peeta, but then changed my mind when I realized who ever the tribute was, was probably dead.
. . . . . I gather up every bit of nerve I have and steady my weight back onto my feet. With trembling knees, I stand and make my way towards the main control room, but not without grabbing a medical syringe on my way there. I held it as a weapon in one hand, as I listen carefully at the voices. "Peeta's in the Capitol! How do you possibly expect me to tell that to her?" I stop in front of the door, pressing my ear to it; but my heart stops, because I hadn't realized it was an automatic door.
It slides open, and I come face to face with three people who I certainly did not expect to see. "Haymitch?" I take a step back, the syringe now clenched in my fist. "What are you doing with them?" I ask in a shocked sort of tone, referring to the two other people in the room. Finnick Odair, and Plutarch Heavensbe. Finnick must have been the tribute who's empty mat was laying on the floor. Between him and Johanna, I don't think I've ever hated anyone that much in my life. I never thought it was possible to hate so much; but then I look at Plutarch, and I'm able to correct myself on that. "Why is Peeta in the Capitol!?" I'm raising my voice now. My face is probably hideous with hurt and complete anger, because Finnick is looking at me like he's seen a ghost the moment I say this.
"I hate you!" I scream, not pouncing for Finnick, nor for Plutarch, but for Haymitch. He was a traitor. "How could you do this to me!?" I hold up the syringe with all my strength, but he catches my wrists and pins be up against the wall of the craft. "How could you let him be taken like that!?"
"You and a syringe, versus the Capitol, huh?" Haymitch pries my fist open, retrieving my weapon and tossing it out behind him. "This is why we never let you make the plans." The moment he releases my wrists, I'm pouncing on him with my fingernails, my target to claw out his worthless drunken eyes; but he catches me again, this time by the waist.
"Let me go!" I scream at the top of my lungs, my voice cracking under the emotion it bares. "You're a traitor! Peeta isn't here! You're a liar!"
"Katniss, calm down, I need you to listen to me." Plutarch says, stepping towards us as Haymitch hoists me up under his arm, kicking and screaming.
"Calm down!? Don't you stand there and tell me to calm down!" I scream right back, kicking my mentor in the back of the knee until he falls onto the other.
"She isn't stable!" Finnick exclaims in an almost protective kind of way, grabbing an entirely different syringe from the table in the center; this one for tranquilizing it's victims. "You two are just stressing her out! She's going to hurt herself!" He moves forward, hoisting me off the floor. I scream even louder at his touch, and he nearly drops me, but manages to hang on. "Hold on Katniss," he pleads to me, but I keep on throwing my tantrum. I suddenly feel a cold needle going into my back, and I'm stunned at how fast I feel drowsy.
"You're a... liar..." I sob, as he slowly lowers me to floor. Everything goes black after that.
. . . . . My mind goes back to him... to Peeta... I think of him, and being with him; I dream of him holding me on his lap, as I listen to his heartbeat inside of his broad chest. It's as if my dream is a reality though, because it's almost like I can feel it through my drowsiness. His arms strong around me, and I could hear him whispering things into my ear, close enough for his lips to lightly brush against the temple of my forehead. For a moment I dreamed of it all happening in District 12, sitting on the couch of my home inside of the Victor's Village. It seems too good to be true, and I want to cry when I feel myself stirring from sleep. I don't want to leave him...
"Peeta," I murmur ever so softly through my rough lips, as the light of the world comes back into my view. I find that when my eyes focus, I'm staring down at a pair of arms wrapped around me. I'm somewhat surprised, because now I know that my dream hadn't been fake at all. "Peeta?" I whisper, reaching my hand up to touch his face, followed closely by my eyes. His face feels rougher than usual, and suddenly, I know it isn't him who was holding me.
"Morning," the person said, and I suddenly gasp, becoming fully awake at this moment. I squirm away, falling to my hands and knees on the hovercraft floor. "I thought you'd never wake up." I glare into Finnick's eyes like mine are made of daggers, and I stagger away from him to the opposite side of the seating area. I huddle with my knees to my chest on one of the corner chair near Beetee, who was still passed out in the same position. I probably wasn't asleep for long.
"What is wrong with you?" I gag, letting my loose and unbraided hair fall in my face, as if it would hide me; as if I would be invisible through it.
"Oh, well I figured you wouldn't want to be laying on the control room floor for two hours, so I brought you out here." He began. He opened his mouth to continue, but I cut him off.
"No, why were you holding me?"
"I originally put you back on your mat, and sat here so I could keep an eye on you," He grins his annoying little sex-symbol grin, which makes me want to smack him upside the head to make it go away. "but you started crying in your sleep. As soon as I picked you up, you stopped. Then you started murmuring Peeta's name over and over until you woke up." I turned red at this, but luckily, I still had my hair shield in front of my face.
"Why would you even care if I was crying or not?" I respond with an angry tone, and he stands up, which makes me nervous.
"I don't think you understand the situation, Katniss." He says gently. He goes to sit in the chair next to me, but I stretch my leg out over it. He gets the hint, and sits to the one next to it. He knew I wanted to keep my distance from him... I didn't trust him. "I'm not here to hurt you, I never have been."
"Yeah?" I laugh sarcastically. "Then why were you and Plutarch all buddy-buddy in there?"
"He's not who you think he is."
"He's the head gamemaker, Finnick. He was trying to kill us; he volunteered for the job in fact! And you're saying that he's not the person I think he is?" I laugh at this, as if its actually funny. Everything seems like a joke to me right now. Ever since I woke up to cuddly Finnick, my whole brain has been a little bit out of whack.
"No, Katniss, don't you get it?" He snaps his fingers in front of my face a couple times. "Will you wake up, and just listen to me?"
"Alright, knock yourself out." I sigh, sitting back on my chair, and hugging my knees to my chest again. By now, he knows his boundaries. For some reason, I'm trusting that he won't fill that chair in between us now that I've moved. My mistake, because he's there now. "Oh my go-" I begin moan, ready to tell him how much of an idiot he is; but he interrupts me.
"He's the one who wanted to kick off the revolution once and for all." He explains, and suddenly he has my attention. "He volunteered for the job, not because he wanted to be the gamemaker, but because he was planning on getting you out the entire time." He's losing me more and more with every word.
"Me?" I ask. "Why me?"
"Because you're the Mockingjay."
"The mockingjay? What does that even-"
"You're the symbol of the Rebellion... Plutarch wants you to lead the districts." Now he has me lost entirely.
"What?" I ask, as if I hadn't heard any of it.
"The revolution, Katniss." Finnick takes one of my hands. When I try to pull away, he holds on even tighter. Not in a romantic way, but in a way that a friend would... In a way that Peeta would if he were here. "It's beginning."