Her first 24 hour shift was over and Katniss crashed down on the couch in the common area. Just as she opened a book to read, Cressida, Johanna, and Finnick all walked through with duffle bags in hand.
"Everdeen, what're you doing? Why are you still sitting around?" Finnick sat on the back of the couch, looking at her.
She shrugged. "I don't have a place around here yet. I figured I would stay in the barracks until I found one."
"No, no. We all live half of our lives here, no reason to stay the entire time. Come on, get your bag. You're coming home with us. I can't let you stay here listening to alarms all the time." He gestured her to get up and she did, rushing to gather her things. They were soon walking out the door, with Cressida and Johanna walking ahead, snickering and laughing with each other.
"Does she hate me?" Katniss glanced at the man. He seriously was an Adonis, someone that you would see in one of those firefighting calendars that people swoon over.
"I don't know, why don't you ask her?"
"Why would I ask anyone that? You don't just ask people if they hate you."
"Fine. Hey, Jo, do you hate Katniss?"
They all stopped walking and Johanna turned around, looking Katniss up and down. Katniss did the same, taking in the girl outside of her uniform. Converse shoes, skinny jeans, forest green v-neck shirt, hair down and layered, reaching her shoulders. She stood with a hand on her hip. "You're a little hard to swallow. And I don't take to those whimpering for pity because she forgot how to do something. It's not all about you, Everdeen. But if you don't buck up next shift, consider yourself done." She turned around and continued walking with Cressida.
Katniss stared straight ahead. "So….. she hates me." Finnick simply shrugged and started walking away. She jogged to catch up. "Wait, what do you know that you are not telling me?"
He stopped and turned to her. "Nothing at all. Why does it matter? Why do you care if she likes you? Just, come to work, do your job, and…. Whoa. Hold on."
Katniss had no answer to the questions other than that she was already smitten with Johanna after only 24 hours. And Finnick figured it out.
"You have a thing." He raised his eyebrows and smiled. She nodded slightly, not really knowing why she trusted him with this information. Though, Finnick was obviously the calm and collected soul of the group so why not trust him? "After a day and you already have a thing for Jo? Welcome to the lives of every other female in the city." He now wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they started walking again. "I wish you luck with that endeavor. She is a very difficult person to pinpoint. Six years of being partners and I still don't understand her most of the time."
"So, how are you so close?"
"Well, she is very simple but so simple that she is complex. Get what I mean?" He frowned as Katniss shook her head. The man sighed and thought about his next words for a minute. "She is simple. She dedicates her life to her job, she cooks and eats, she watches sports. But, she is so simple that it all goes full circle and turns into a puzzle. Jo puts so much into the two or three things that she loves that she leaves little to no room for anything else, whereas majority of us have all of these little things going on. And to be frank with you, all of her relationships have ended because she is her job and she cannot turn off. Jo is a simple, yet complex creature but she is the greatest friend I have ever had."
They walked in silence, Katniss processing all the words in her head. After walking a few more blocks they finally made it to the apartment. Cressida and Johanna had already gone inside but Finnick stopped Katniss before they went in. "Look, we have a thing in firefighting called back burning or backfiring. It is where you intentionally fight fire with fire. For a moment, it causes things to burst into chaos but when the two fires meet, they extinguish each other. It goes from this loud roar to a peaceful silence."
"So, kind of like the whole two negatives make a positive?" Katniss looked at him skeptically.
He grinned back at her. "Pretty much." He opened the door and they walked up the stairs to the apartment. It was large, with an open foyer that led straight into the living room where Cressida and Johanna had already crashed on the couches. To the left was a hall to two bedrooms and to the right was an open concept kitchen and dining room with a door to another bedroom in the far left corner.
"Finnick, where is Annie?" Johanna asked as she closed her eyes.
"At a gallery, getting one of her shows set up and then staying with her grandmother for the night." He turned to Katniss. "Annie is my girlfriend, soon to be fiancée but don't tell her that. She just got her first art show at a gallery in downtown. It opens Friday night and we are all going, including you." His eyes lit up with joy just talking about her and it made Katniss both sick in disgust and overjoyed to see someone so in love.
Cressida stood up and walked to the kitchen, grabbing four beers from the refrigerator. She handed one off to each of them, intentionally giving Katniss one last. "So, tell us about yourself."
"Um, well, what do you want to know?" Katniss twisted the bottle cap off and took a sip, puckering her lips at the bitterness.
Cressida tapped the top of her bottle. "Family first, as always."
"Mother and younger sister, Prim."
"And where do they live?"
"Back in 12."
"Any fun facts or talents?"
"Um…. I am really good with a bow and arrow. And I can't whistle."
Johanna looked taken aback and interrupted Cressida's questions. "You can't whistle? Everyone can whistle."
"I can't whistle."
"So, if you were in some random freak situation where you had to whistle to save your life?"
"Nope. Can't whistle."
"Prove it."
"By what? Not whistling?"
"Yes. Please not whistle for us." Johanna sat with her legs crossed and at full attention on the couch, beer bottle in hand.
"Fine." Katniss tried to whistle a simple tune but only air came out, no sound. The two other girls held back their laughter.
Finnick patted Katniss on her shoulder. "Don't let them pick on you. It only encourages them." He threw a pillow at Johanna as she finally unable to hold her laughter in any longer.
Hours passed and several beers later they were all gathered around the coffee table, laughing at the card game they were playing. Katniss looked up at the clock. "Crap. I was going to call my sister."
"Crap? Did y'just say crap?" Johanna stared at her in what looked like confusion.
"Yes?"
"Who the hell still says crap? It's shit. Say shit. Go on, say shit."
Katniss looked around but only found Cressida and Finnick staring back at her and Johanna with amused looks. "Shit?"
"No. No. Seriously, say shit."
"Shit."
"NO. With emphasis, ya have ta say it like y'mean it, Ev'deen." Johanna was very much drunk and it was made obvious not only by her slurring but by the way she was swaying as she talked.
"SHIT."
"There ya go! Look, I got miss perfect pure girl to cuss!" She stared at Katniss. "Say fuck."
"No, I'm not going to entertain your need for me to cuss. I need to call my sister." Katniss stood up from the couch but immediately found herself back on the couch and pinned down. Johanna was straddling her and pressing her wrists into the cushions.
"Say it. Say fuck. Quit being such a baby 'bout it."
This was something Katniss had not been expecting but what did she have to complain about? "Fuck."
"No, ya have ta say it with emphasis. Find tha spark inside of you and scream it." The girl stared down at Katniss with intense brown eyes, waiting for her to respond. "With emphasis. Find your spark and scream it."
"Fuck." Katniss swallowed and tried again. "FUCK!"
"Perfect." Johanna smiled in contentment and got off of her to stumble away to the bathroom. "I'll be right back." They never saw her again until the remaining three of them decided to go to sleep. Katniss cautiously opened the door to the bathroom and saw Johanna leaning against the bathtub, asleep.
"Should we move her?"
Finnick shook his head. "You can try but you probably won't come out alive. If I were you, I would go steal her bed because she won't be up for a while. Good night, Katniss." He smiled and walked off towards the room connected to the kitchen.
She walked to the room in the hallway that Cressida did not go into. As soon as she opened the door the scent of pine and forest hit her nose. It was comforting and felt only natural that Johanna's room would smell like trees and forest. All around the room were training certificates and medals hanging on the wall. A desk with a closed laptop sitting on top. Three bookshelves filled and overflowing with books. Next to the bed was a lamp and Katniss turned it on before turning off the overhead light. On the stand with the lamp was a picture of a family she presumed was Johanna's by the fact that she stood in the middle, no older than eight or nine, with a hatchet in her tiny hands. Her dark brown hair fell over her shoulders, her brown eyes were brighter than ever, and her smile was huge.
Katniss looked up to find Johanna standing in the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll go sleep on the couch."
"No, it's a big bed and two fit in it better than one." Johanna walked forward as if she was still half asleep and drunk, stumbling and falling onto the bed proceeded by crawling and digging at the covers until she was under them.
Katniss sat on the bed and pulled the covers over her. Reaching over to turn off the lamp, she wished Johanna a good night.
"G'night." The mumble was barely audible but it made Katniss smile in amusement.
The day off went by quickly and when they returned for the next 24 hour shift, it was busy and relentless. They arrived at the third scene and Katniss stepped out of the bus, looking at the fire in awe. It spanned over several buildings, spreading fast. Quickly, she took to action and joined the other paramedics assisting those who had escaped from the building. A family stood near the front of one of the fire engines so she made her way to them with her medical kit.
Her foot snagged on something and caused her to trip, falling forward. As she went to stand up, yelling immediately came from next to her. "Watch where you are going! Don't cross over the hose lays, only an idiot does that. And you just yanked the connection out of my hands!" Johanna was standing next to the engine, her face lit with anger. "Did they not teach you about situational awareness in your class, brainless?" Katniss lay there for a second, trying to keep her cool but this was the fourth time Johanna had yelled at her while working on a scene and she was getting tired of it. "Well, don't just lay there! Get out of the way!" She stood in frustration and grabbed the medical bag, storming off as fast as possible.
One person died at the fire under Katniss' watch and she felt the weight of it. Her first death while on duty. As the trucks pulled into the station, Katniss jumped out of the passenger side before Gale could turn the engine off. She started walking towards the common area door when she heard Johanna start piping up.
"Chief! Get Katniss and I off the same shifts. She keeps making stupid mistakes and you know how-"
Katniss did not know what happened but when she snapped to realization she had pinned Johanna against the wall with her forearm, gripping at the girl's shirt. "Can you stop? I can handle being yelled at every now and then but you seem to find stupid reasons every time we get a call. I don't need you to criticize what I know I did wrong. I'm not the idiot you think I am." Katniss' words were said through gritted teeth and her grey eyes stared daggers.
Johanna smirked and tilted her head, far from intimidated. "There's that spark of fire I have been waiting for."
"Just lay off me, okay?"
"And when was I ever on you? Surely I would have remembered that." He smirk grew wider as Katniss felt her body betray her by blushing.
"What is wrong with you?" She stared each other down until Johanna answered.
"You."
"That doesn't even make sense!" Katniss rolled her eyes before letting go and walking away, frustrated with today already. If she needed to fight fire with fire, she was willing to do just that.
Johanna walked into the kitchen and started looking through the pantry for something to eat. Between working on the fires and working out, she was almost always hungry. Finally, she found a snack and took a packet of crackers from a box. Turning to leave, she found Finnick leaning against the counter near the doorway.
"You could be a little nicer to her, you know that right?" He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, I could but why should I?" Johanna shrugged and shoved an entire cracker in her mouth.
"Because she was top of her class, she is very intelligent, and a damn good paramedic. She is one bound to be the best one we have ever had here."
"So why doesn't she act like it?"
"Because you are always yelling at her and making her already stressful job a lot worse." He reached forward and grabbed a cracker form the packet in Johanna's hand. She glared at him before shoving another in her mouth. "Just, calm it down. We all know you are alpha of the firehouse."
"Fine. Okay." She shrugged and started walking out of the kitchen but Finnick stopped her.
"Oh, and also apologize to her. Okay?" He pushed passed Johanna and left before she could protest.
She yelled at him anyway. "Fine, but it's not going to be a very good apology!"
There was a distant chuckle and response. "Of course not."
Johanna stared at the hall that led to the different barracks rooms and rubbed her tired eyes. Katniss was an anomaly to her. She knew the girl was holding something back, there was no way someone was that pure and kind in this day and age. It bugged her.
Taking a step forward, she made her way to the room Katniss was in. Johanna opened the door quietly and looked at the girl in her bed facing the wall. She smiled slightly at how peaceful and cute she looked curled up under the covers. Despite thinking of that, she walked over and sat carelessly sat down at the end of the bed by the girl's feet. "Hey, you asleep?"
Katniss stirred but kept her eyes closed. "I was. Why? Come to yell at me about how I'm sleeping wrong?" She curled her legs up closer to her and Johanna chuckled.
"No. I came to apologize, brainless. But, if you're going to be a smart ass about it, I'll leave." She leaned forward and went to stand but Katniss reached her arm behind her and laid her hand on Johanna's arm.
"No, just tell me whatever you were going to say."
Johanna sighed deeply. "Look, I know I am a hard ass and I have no inhibitions on what comes from my mouth and that makes it hard for everyone to deal with me, especially if you are not used to it. And I understand why you are tired of me yelling at you but when I feel that my job is compromised, I want to remove the problem right away." They sat in silence for a minute before she continued. "That picture you were looking at the other night, that was my family. They died in a house fire right before I left for college. I never ended up going. I immediately dropped out and became a firefighter instead, thinking that if I couldn't save my family's life, well, I could at least save others."
Katniss turned around to lay on her other side facing Johanna, her hand never moving from the girl's arm. Johanna didn't complain, Katniss could touch her any day at any moment for however long she wanted. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. It happened and there is nothing to do about it."
"It still has to hurt though."
"It does but pain passes. Just like what you feel right now about the man that died today." Johanna placed her free hand on Katniss' and absentmindedly started rubbing the top of it with her thumb.
"No, it was my fault. I should have known there was a potential for cardiac arrest. I was negligent."
"There is always a chance of cardiac arrest. It is an extremely stressful situation to be in. Look, if you think his death was your fault then you need to find a new career. It will happen, sometimes often and sometimes not. But, as a paramedic, it is your job to get the person to the hospital in a safe manner and some days you will not even make it from the scene before they die and you have to understand that." Johanna shook her head and looked at her feet."There are some days where Finnick and I get to that person inside and it is too late. We have to work in a very tight time frame and sometimes it is just not fast enough. You need to understand that it is not your fault." She glanced up at Katniss.
"Thanks. That means a lot."
"The first few shifts are rough but you will make it through. You're tough. Want a cracker?" Johanna offered the packet towards Katniss.
"Um, no, thank you though."
"Look, just take a cracker." She pushed the packet closer to Katniss' face and held it there until the girl finally took one. "You can hide it under your pillow or flush it down the toilet but never turn down food from me. I don't offer food to just anyone." She stood up while patting Katniss on her side. "Only special someone's." Johanna gave a smile and a wink before walking out of the room without another word, knowing that she left Katniss speechless given her dumbfounded expression.
Katniss lay in her barracks bed and stared at the ceiling, wishing that she were in a private room where no one else would walk in.
