Disclaimer: I don't own Hunger Games.

(Repost with some editing.)

The last thing Finnick needed was his resolve to crumble in the arena. But it did, and it was his worst torture.

Voices in His Head

As soon as Katniss heard the tortured cries (of who Finnick assumed was her sister) she sprinted towards the screams. Finnick ran after her immediately without even realizing that he had included himself in the next horror of the hour.

"Katniss! Stop!" he shouted, shoving the tall plants aside which jumped up blocking his way. He was out of breath when he finally reached her. The cries seemed to have stopped and Katniss stood hunched over a dead bird, clutching her bow as tears continued to fall down her eyes.

"Katniss?" Finnick said hesitantly, his hand reached out to her in a comforting manner.

"It's okay. I'm okay," she replied, "I thought I heard my sister but–"

Suddenly, the silence was replaced with screaming again, but this time the voice didn't belong to Katniss's sister. It belonged to someone else, someone he knew – someone he had willingly given his heart and soul to. Without contemplating the situation, Finnick started to run toward the painful sound hurriedly. His heartbeat was accelerated not only because of his run but also because the fear that enveloped his body.

He could hear Katniss shouting his name, as she asked him to wait. But he paid little attention to her. His mind and body was set on finding the girl he was in love with, and he was ready to protect her with every cell of his body. Only, he couldn't find her.

"Annie! Annie!" he screamed. He had reached spot where her cries were the loudest. Her screams turned into tortured pleas and he called her name repeatedly, begging her to tell her where she was, tears ran down his eyes, he felt weak and helpless.

Suddenly, the cries stopped. A bird fell onto the ground, a few feet away from him. He noticed Katniss's arrow, and bent to pick it up – his mind running at a million miles per hour.

He recognized the bird at his feet, he had seen it before – never in real life, but he had seen it and knew what it was capable of. Jabberjay, the genetic mutt that had been created by the Capitol to help them crush the rebels, but their plan had backfired. He realized that he wasn't surprised at the Capitol's decision to save some of the mutts.

"Oh, Annie," he whispered.

"It's all right, Finnick. It's just the jabberjay. They're playing a trick on us," Katniss said, sounding too exhausted and desperate to be comforting. "It's not real. It's not your . . . Annie."

Finnick's ears perk up at her last sentence. It's not your . . . Annie.

A jabberjay has the ability to replicate the human voice to perfection. He remembered a running comment which he had heard a long while ago.

The fear returned a hundred times more, because Finnick knew that he can't do anything this time. When he first heard Annie's screams, he was sure that he could protect her. But now when he knew that it wasn't really her . . . Annie was no where close to him, she was too far away to be reached.

"No, it's not Annie. But the voice was hers. Jabberjays mimic what they hear. Where did they get those screams, Katniss?" Finnick asked Annie in a hollow voice.

He saw her loose the little color left in her face as soon as she understood his words. "Oh, Finnick, you don't think they–"

"Yes. I do. That's exactly what I think," he confirmed her belief.

Finnick saw her crumbling (literally) as she fell down onto her knees, he would have done the same too if the extreme anger toward the Capitol didn't burn inside him. "It's okay. We can't do anything about it now . . . we should get back before . . ."

Before he was able to complete his sentence, another scream filled the air. This time it was unfamiliar to him again, but the effect it had on Katniss – it was obviously someone she cared for and loved. He knew that she was about to run again, and held her by her arm and shook his head. "No. It's not him." She didn't respond, looking wild and unfocussed.

"We're getting out of here!" Finnick exclaimed, and started to pull Katniss along with him. He wanted to head back to the beach and get away from the torture that he knew would hold him fixated once it began.

"It's not him, Katniss! It's a mutt!" He shouted at Katniss as she tried to make a run for it again. He knew how hard it was for her, because he knew that he would do that same once the cries that affected him started to play, and that was the only reason he wanted to get away from that part of the arena as soon as possible. Because he knew that he wouldn't be the one trying to get away once Annie's cries reached him, again.

As if she understood his point, Katniss stopped struggling and they both continued to walk downhill toward the others, leaving the cries behind. He was desperate to get away from them, so desperate that he didn't notice the invisible barrier that had been instilled. He walked right into it, and felt a burn in his nose as it started to bleed. But the pain from his nose is nothing compared to the pain at the horror that he knew he would feel in the coming moments.

Finnick knew what was going to happen. Katniss and he would be trapped in that sector of the arena and tortured continuously. And he knew that it was something that definitely would affect him more than any other torture enclosed within the arena. He turned and focused his eyes on the latest view – hundreds of jabberjays perched on the branches of the trees. Without wasting another second, cries filled the air.

Annie, his poor, poor Annie! What they must have done to her for her scream in that manner? He couldn't bear it – he couldn't bear her pain – but there was nothing he could do except fall down onto his knees and cover his ears, in an attempt to muffle his lover's cries.

Finnick continued to cry desperately trying to cover his ears; but nothing he did kept Annie's screams out. She was crying . . . screaming . . . begging . . . she was in pain . . . and there was nothing, nothing he could do to stop it.

He tried to imagine her happy. He tried to imagine her laughter. He tried to imagine the blush which always covered her face every time he spoke to her. He tried to imagine her sweet voice.

But he failed . . . he miserably failed as her cries took over his mind. He had never felt as impotent and weak as he did in that moment.

He wished that he could die, his fingers dug in his skin drawing out blood and he was about to act on his impulse when a sudden silence replaced the torturous cries. He felt someone rubbing his shoulder, comforting him.

Reason seemed to return to Finnick and he felt ashamed at the thought of suicide. He knew he couldn't do that. No, he had to be strong enough. He had to be strong enough for both of them. He made a promise that he would return to her, and he was doing nothing compulsive that would result in him breaking his promise.

He was going to protect her.

He was going to return to her.

Finnick remembered his promise, and held onto Annie.

AN: I think this is the part when I truly fell for Finnick. I liked him, but this moment he turned into my favourite character. What did you think of this? Let me know. =)