Chapter Three
"So what are we going to do today kitten?" Finnick asked while they made their way downstairs for breakfast.
"I wanted to show you the Hob, the meadow, maybe show you the woods?" Katniss suggested with a smile.
Finnick grinned at her while looking through her cabinets for something to eat. He was surprised when Katniss grabbed a pan and moved to her fridge to grab some eggs. "You cook kitten?"
She shrugged and nodded. "I had to learn or Prim and I would have starved."
Finnick felt his heart clench. She never talked about those months in detail. He could not help but feel anger at her mother for taking such little care of her children. "I'm sorry kitten."
"It's fine. Haymitch says at least I have one quality that will make me a good wife." She gave him a smirk. "I told him that all the money is probably what will do it."
Finnick stiffened at the topic. "Thinking about marriage already kitten? You're so young."
"Not really. Most adults don't live past forty here in Twelve. But I don't think I'll get married." She replied simply, cracking the eggs into a bowl.
"Oh really?" Finnick frowned, at this tidbit. 'Perhaps after seeing her mother suffer, and the amount she had to grow up caused this line of thinking.'
"Yup. Especially with how everyone looks at me here in Twelve. Half the boys are scared of me. The others, well I am rich."
Finnick bristled at this statement. "You'll have to find someone not from Twelve then."
Katniss gave him a small smile. "Maybe. Why aren't you married yet Finnick?"
"Haven't met the right woman yet." He answered honestly. 'She's still a girl.'
"Then don't lecture me about it. You get married, we'll talk." She gave a firm nod in her head, the conversation clearly over.
'Oh, you'll be the first to know.' Finnick watched her cook with relative silence. He wanted to help, but he never took the time to learn how. "How is Prim doing?"
"She's getting good grades. She is so smart. I wish she could go to a school in District Four, or even District One."
"Oh, District Four huh." Finnick teased.
"Yup, she could learn to be a doctor. That's her dream, to help people." Katniss explained.
"Maybe when she's older we can ask President Snow if he'll let her attend one of these schools. You could both come live with me." He offered.
"I doubt it. Besides, District Twelve is our home." Katniss reasoned as she put the egg mixture into the pan.
"I like to think of home as where the people you love are."
"We'll with Prim, Haymitch, Gale, and his family I think that makes District Twelve my home."
"Oh, so you don't love me then." Finnick pouted, he wanted to count too.
"Well, there is only one of you. I'm not planning on moving away just to be closer to you." She explained, but the thought did cross her mind. 'Even if it would be nice.'
"That is true kitten. Only one Finnick Odair. Most girls would kill for a chance to live near me. Or with me."
"We'll I'm not most girls."
"You certainly aren't." Finnick's words were unintentionally heavy.
They both stopped talking and Finnick had to remind himself again that she was still a girl. Her mind may be old enough, but her body was not. He knew that, but every time they spoke he forgot her age. She had her moments, where she acted her age. Like when she demanded her present earlier. Then she talked about serious subjects, had valid opinions, and showed how mentally old she was. Finnick spaced out while thinking about her until a plate was set in front of him.
"This looks delicious kitten."
"No it doesn't. The eggs are runny, and the toast is burnt." Katniss, the pessimist, returned.
"Maybe I like burnt toast."
"You're weird."
Finnick gasped. He began flailing his arms dramatically. "You've found me out kitten. Oh well I guess I can't keep anything from you."
Katniss giggled. "Nope. I'm too clever."
"That you are."
They ate their food, the awkward air now displaced. Finnick watched her eat and burned the image into his mind. He wanted to remember this when he was gone. President Snow only allowed this one week. He had wanted to make sure Katniss' image remained pure. Finnick was still seen as a man whore. Until his time was up he could not be with her. She cooked for him, without asking or offering. This was the real Katniss Everdeen. Not dolled up in Capitol makeup, but sitting across from him, clean and pure. Well maybe with a little bit of egg in her hair. It made her absolutely adorable.
They continued to eat in silence, before the front door opened. Assuming it was Haymitch, Katniss called out. "If you want some breakfast Haymitch I'll cook you something. Finnick and I haven't finished yet."
Katniss' mother stalked into the kitchen with purpose. "So I see. Just how long were the two of you in bed together last night." The tone was clearly upset, and Finnick understood immediately how much danger he was in.
"Since she woke up from a nightmare. I'm sorry Miss Everdeen. I know it was inappropriate considering-" Finnick was attempting to pacify the mother of his future wife. Said future wife had other ideas.
"I'm sorry mother." Katniss' words dripped with sarcasm. "I was unaware I needed to tell you I decided to sleep next to Finnick."
Finnick, eyes widening, begun to panic. "No, she's right Katniss. You're still a young girl-"
"Still a young girl?" Katniss' mother shrieked. "What are your intentions with my twelve year old daughter Mr. Odair?"
"I'm an adult!" Katniss shouted over both of them.
"No you're not." Both responded at the same time. They stopped looked at one another, then Katniss' mother glared him.
"So you see her as a girl and still you-"
"Shut up!" Katniss screamed again. "I trust him mother. I didn't have a single nightmare. He makes me feel safe!"
Finnick tried to diffuse the situation. "I have nothing but pure intentions towards your daughter Miss Everdeen. I promise, I only want-"
"You'll never lay a finger on her again. Get out!"
"You get out!" Katniss started crying, she was so angry. "This is my house, not yours!"
Both stopped and turned to Katniss at this. "Katniss. I'm your mother."
"Katniss she's your mother."
"I don't care if she's my mother. What she did, there are no excuses. So if she wants to sit there and act like she's a good mother, she can go back to the Seam. But Prim stays here with me." Katniss growled, her eyes blazing and her body shaking.
Haymitch coughed, to make his presence known. "Perhaps, you should all calm down."
Finnick, desperate to salvage anything out of this mess, agreed. "Yes, I think we all got off to a bad start."
Katniss glowered. "Don't apologize to her."
The words stung her mother, and she began to sob. She had finally overcome her shock at Katniss' earlier words. "Katniss." All three whispered her name together.
She started to feel like they were all ganging up on her. She glared at her mother so hatefully. "I hate you." Katniss whispered and is sprinting out the back door with her boots and coat in hand. She slammed the back door before any of them can sort out if she was singling one out or all of them. It was Haymitch who recovered first.
"What the hell did I do sweetheart?" He asked the air, not expecting an answer.
"Butted your nose into business you have no right to." Katniss' mother growled, making clear where Katniss inherited her fire.
"She's just as much my little girl as yours Emily!" Haymitch roared. "I kept her alive. Now I know you were suffering, but damn it, you failed her. You failed her and Prim and she resents you for that. Probably more so because two complete strangers have done more for her than you have."
"How dare-"
"Shut up and listen! I won't apologize we have her trust while you don't. That's not our fault. What is your fault, now, is you keep trying to treat her like a child. She killed in those games Emily. That changes anyone. She's not your little girl anymore from that alone. You're not going to win back her trust by screaming at her for whatever she did."
"She's was in bed with this man whore!" Katniss' mother explained. She looked nearly manic.
Haymitch paused, looked to the quiet and guilty looking Finnick. "You fuck her?"
Finnick blanches and Mrs. Everdeen nearly faints. "Gods no. Haymitch she's fucking twelve years old. How sick are you? No wait, how sick do you think I am?"
"See, nothing to worry about. Trust me, I'm looking out for Katniss too Emily. I made sure he had no desires like that before letting him step foot in Twelve. He's got a good heart, let him help her heal. You know how bad she has it. We won't let her drink, or get addicted to drugs. She has no escape but Finnick Odair's voice. They probably fell asleep while he told her stories. Just like he does on the phone."
Mrs. Everdeen glared at both Haymitch and Finnick. "Fine, fine. You help her, but don't think for one second I'm going to let you hurt my daughter. I'll kill you myself."
Finnick raised his hands in surrender, the fire burning from this woman scared him. "I promise, I have only pure intentions towards your daughter." He thought about telling her one day when she is old enough he had been ordered to marry Katniss. Seeing how he just barely survived them sleeping in the same bed together, clothed, and purely platonic, he though better of it.
"Good. Keep it that way." She turned to Haymitch. "And you need to stop trying to be her father."
"Not on her life. She's my little girl too now Emily. Whether you like it or not. At least this way sweetheart has one parent she sort of listens to."
She bristled, then calling the battle off, for now, retreated to her Apothecary. Finnick and Haymitch breathed a sigh of relief. Then they remembered that Katniss stormed out and hung their heads again. They stood together stewing for a few tense minutes. Depressing thoughts floating around their heads. Haymitch was the one to break the silence.
"Is it wrong I hope Katniss meant she hated her mother?"
"I was thinking the same thing." Finnick whispered back, his heart clenching hearing her words replay over and over in his mind.
"I'm not sure what to do with teenage girls. Do we wait for her to come back, or try and find her?" Haymitch wondered. He was still getting used to having a surrogate daughter.
Finnick figured it would be better to let her cool down first. "I'm sure she'll come back. Where would she go anyways?"
"Knowing her, she went to find Gale and went to the woods with him." Haymitch responded while rubbing his chin.
Finnick felt his whole body flash freeze, then an instant later, start boiling. 'She's with a boy, in the woods? She's with a boy in the woods. She's with a damn boy in the woods!' Finnick begins shaking. 'I know they're friends, and they used to hunt together. But, she was so mad, and what she said. No. No, no, no, no, no.'
Haymitch saw the jealousy creeping up on Finnick. His mind began turning and his lips curled into a smirk. "You know, before you came along, Gale and her were inseparable. Hunting together, spending time at school together, trading together, mourning their father's together. Hell the whole District thinks they'll wind up together."
Finnick was up and pulling on his shoes. "How do I get into those woods."
"I thought you wanted to give Sweetheart some time to cool off. Teenage girls and their tempers and all."
"By the time I find her she'll have had enough cooling off." Finnick bit out.
"Calm down will you. They'll be fine out there. Gale's got her back, nothing to worry about."
"It's Gale I'm worried about." Finnick ripped open the front door. "Now tell me how to get to the damn woods Haymitch!"
'Atta boy.' Haymitch smirked.
Katniss was starting to calm down. Being in the woods with Gale brought her some sense of peace. Here she was Katniss Everdeen, hunter, provider, adult. Not some child everyone treated like a possession. She had not been out hunting with Gale in months. Her mind always recalling the girl from District One. Still it felt good, setting snares and hunting a pack of wild turkey with Gale. She was seeing the girl she killed less and less.
"So, what was this fight about?" Gale wondered as he walked beside his hunting partner and best friend.
"Mother was trying to control me again."
"I see. I heard a rumor that Finnick Odair was visiting. Probably over at Haymitch's. Is that what is was about? Your mother keeping you from visiting Haymitch?" Gale wondered as they sat in a field, staring up at the clouds.
"No, she's mad Finnick is staying with us. I invited him." Katniss started cautiously. She knew Gale, and anything that had to do with the Capitol, he hated.
"Why the hell would you do that Catnip?"
"He's helping me. I'm a victor now, and you know about the nightmares, and seeing things. He's been through the same things. He's a lot closer to my age then Haymitch. He understands me." Katniss explained with a sigh. She was really getting sick of having to explain why she wanted Finnick around.
"He's the Capitol's lapdog!" Gale cried out. "He's here to turn you into one of them. One of those victors that love the Capitol."
Katniss placed a soothing had on his arm. Stopping Gale from standing and beginning another tirade. "Haymitch trusts him. Haymitch hates the Capitol more than even you Gale. I trust Haymitch." Katniss tried to put out the fire she had started. 'I better not tell him I trust Finnick.' She thought seeing Gale bristle.
"Why isn't he staying with him then?" Gale's tone was accusing.
"We'll I invited him, it's only fair I put him up." Katniss responded, attempting to be as nonchalant as possible.
"Catnip. You know what he does with women. What if he does that to you?" Gale held her hand and looked down at her with worry.
"He treats me like a kid. He keeps reminding me I'm not really an adult, even if the Capitol sees it that way." Katniss tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
"Then why do you sound upset about it? Katniss are you interested in that man whore?"
"He's not a man whore. He's my best friend. I trust him Gale." Katniss shouted, because she felt a burning anger at the words he called Finnick. Somewhere deep down she knew that she knew the real Finnick. The Finnick on TV, the Finnick the Capitol women call their lover, the one that flirts with every female; that was a fake Finnick, Capitol Finnick. Just like when she acted so sweet and innocent, and kind in the Capitol. That was Capitol Katniss, not the real Katniss.
"You trust him?" Gale barely got the words past his lips before he was snarling. "Why? What has he done to prove himself."
"He got me that bow. His tribute and I made it to the final two, and I lived, because of that bow. He talks me to sleep every night so I don't have nightmares. He is there for me, and understands me, whatever I need, whenever I need it." Katniss explained with hard eyes. "He doesn't look at me like a I'm a killer, or with pity."
Gale stopped, and shook his head. "So you came out here to what?"
"Well to hunt and get away from all the fighting."
"Catnip." Gale whispered.
"Katniss! Katniss, where are you? Katniss, this isn't funny anymore. I'm worried. You've been gone hours. Katniss!" Finnick's voice sounded hoarse, loud but hoarse.
Katniss was up and calling out to Finnick without even thinking. "Finnick! I'm here. Finnick?" Katniss, stayed where she was knowing it was far easier to get lost if both of them started chasing each other. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw his bronze hair over the cusp of the hill.
"Katniss! Katniss where are you?"
"I'm here Finnick."
Finnick finally located her, and his jog turned into a full on run. His legs could not get him there fast enough. Neither Gale nor Katniss had enough time to react before Finnick had his arms wrapped around her small frame. He was hugging her tightly to him and kissing the top of her head.
"Oh Katniss. Thank god I finally found you."
"What do you mean finally?"
"I've been looking for you in these woods for hours." Finnick told her, kneeling down to look over her for a single scratch. "Thank god you're alright."
"She was with me, of course Catnip was alright." Gale growled, this Capitol man was intruding on their special place.
Finnick looked to the other boy in Katniss' life. He was shocked at how good looking he was. He was almost as handsome as he was at fourteen. 'I knew I was right to come out here.' Finnick chose to play nice, because this boy had a fire that burned just as brightly as his kitten's. "Sorry, I wasn't sure she was with anyone."
"Even if she wasn't she's fine in these woods. She's been hunting here for years. She doesn't need you protecting her." Gale bit out, angry at the way Finnick was holding Katniss. She was not even trying to get away from him either.
"No, no it's fine Gale. Finnick was worried about me. I'm sure Haymitch is too. I left them really upset." Katniss tried to sooth the situation. She did not want her time with Finnick to be full of fights. 'He's never going to come back at this rate.'
Gale finally got a good look at Finnick Odair when he stood back up. Gale was stunned. He was not painted, or dressed like he was on TV. He looked almost normal, still too handsome, but normal. He wore nice clothes, nice enough for the mayor and his family, but so did Katniss now. He even looked truly worried about Katniss. Which surprised him even more. He was truly happy he was to have found her.
"Catnip, are we going to finish hunting?" Gale finally broke the small silence when he caught Katniss smiling up at the man.
"Um, I think I've caused Finnick, Haymitch, and mother enough trouble. I should get back home. We should start going out hunting again though." Katniss added seeing her friend stiffen.
"Fine. Just be careful Catnip." Gale warned, making it clear what, or rather who, she needed to be careful of.
"Don't you worry. I've got her." Finnick replied with a smile, his eyes hard.
'You're the one I'm worried about.' Gale thought, his eyes accusing.
Gale decided that maybe following them would be a good idea. At a safe distance, so he could find out what was really going on with them. He did not like the look in Finnick's eyes. He recognized that look, he saw it in the mirror all the time. Finnick Odair was after his Katniss.
The pair of victors walked in relative silence for a while. Katniss was far too embarrassed to speak. She had stormed off and ruined the whole day. Not only that but Finnick found her with Gale. They were hunting partners, but she did not want Finnick thinking she did not need him too. She needed both of them, just in different ways.
Finnick on the other hand wanted to put as much distance between them and that boy. He saw how close they were, which scared him. Gale was so close to Katniss' age. He did not have to watch his actions around Katniss. He could be close to her, with everyone's consent apparently. Finnick was an outsider, a Capitol treasure, to them. Which made him unworthy.
It was Katniss who could take the silence no longer. "Finnick, I'm sorry I ruined everything."
Finnick stopped walking and knelt down to look into those gray eyes he loved. "No kitten. It's alright. I should have known your mother would act that way." He hung his head, Snow wanted this, but Snow himself had put him in this very precarious position. He wanted her for his own reasons, but his slavery to the Capitol was making things unnecessarily harder. He had enough hurdles already. If Katniss were anyone else, he would probably never win her heart.
"I don't understand why."
"Kitten." He sighed, because this dark, ugly, shameful part of his life, kept getting in the way. He never hated Snow more. 'We are outside of the District. It's probably safe.'
"Why do they treat you this way? I hate it." She stomped her foot, her anger rising once more.
Finnick reached out and ran his hand through her hair. "They see me how the Capitol wants them too."
"But it's an act. Just like me. Right?" Katniss whispered, because she wanted, no needed to be right. That this Finnick, her Finnick, was the real one.
"Do you know how I won my Games Kitten?"
Katniss tried to remember. "You killed half the tributes. You told me that, with a trident."
Finnick gave her a rueful smile. "There wasn't a trident in the arena kitten."
"So did another victor send it to you? Like you did for me?"
"No. I had so many sponsors. I was even more handsome than Gale is at fourteen."
Katniss gave a small blush. She remembered that she did think him very handsome when she watched the Games. She was still very young then. "Oh."
Finnick, not sure who she was blushing about, continued on. "My mentor's strategy was to use that, appeal, to gain sponsors. I did. When I scored a ten at fourteen, people were shocked. Caesar asked me how I did it. Do you remember my interview kitten?"
"It was a long time ago, so not really." She admitted.
"I took off my shirt during my private session. While I used every weapon I could get my hands on. So I took off my shirt during the interview. To show him a taste, to tease the sponsors, why I got a ten."
Katniss nodded. He used sex appeal to get sponsors, which worked. "It was a good strategy."
"Yes, but afterwards, we have to keep up that strategy. Not all of us are like you kitten."
"What do you mean?"
"I was the youngest victor before you, but I killed half my competition. You on the other hand only killed once. You are the youngest victor ever, and your kill count is in the bottom five for living victors. President Snow wants to use you."
Katniss bristled at this. "I know Haymitch told me I'll be taken to the Capitol to sing for them sometimes. My talent is desirable."
"Your voice is divine. He's not just going to use you for your voice though. You are probably the most valuable victor he has. You show the ability to take life, but the purity of a child. You do not waste life, and that is something Snow values. You will be used to calm rebellions, because you won. You a pure, sweet girl from the Seam. No one good wins the Games. Snow is going to show that is not true. So when people get angry when other younger kids go to die, he can show that you did it." Finnick explained.
"But why? Why does he want to use me as a symbol?"
"It's far better to be his symbol than his slave. Why do you think Haymitch has no family?"
Katniss looked to Finnick eagerly. She had asked Haymitch that very question once. He kicked her out of his house. "He won't tell me."
"Snow had them killed. He made a fool of the Capitol. He used the force field of the arena to win. Made the Gamemakers, worse, the Capitol look like idiots."
Katniss gasped, her eyes widening with fear. "Could he, I mean, would he?"
"Not if he was smart kitten. You are beloved in the Capitol. Maybe even the Districts. He plays a dangerous game because you inspire hope, and that can also incite rebellion. He should know to endanger anyone close to you could ignite a revolution." Finnick explained giving her a sympathetic look. "He'll want to win you to his side without angering you."
"Well if he kills people who make him mad I don't want to be on his side." Katniss vowed venomously.
Finnick cupped her cheek. "Listen well kitten. You will have to act like you are on his side."
"Like you act like you want all those women?" Katniss was beginning to see the full picture.
"Exactly. If I don't keep the 'playboy heartthrob' act people I care about will die. I've got my mother, Mags, my little brother Riggs, and now you. So I do what I can too keep them alive."
The realization hit her hard and she swayed on her feet. Finnick was quick to catch her in his arms, and hold her tightly. "We're still in the Games. We haven't won."
Finnick rubbed soothing circles on her back. "No one really wins the games kitten. Some of us just forget to stop breathing." He kissed the top of her head. "But you've got Haymitch and I. We'll keep you safe. I promise."
Katniss held onto him, because without him she feared she would fall apart. "So you let them treat you like that? Why am I different?"
"You're special kitten. You get the real me. Its our little secret." Finnick whispered into her hair.
"I don't like them treating you like that."
"Well, I guess you'll just have to help me change their minds."
"I trust you Finnick. I'll make them see how good you are."
Finnick gave a dry humorless laugh. "We'll see. You're mother is convinced I'm going to ruin you."
"We'll she's wrong." Katniss hugged him tightly and did not want to let go. "We should just hide here in the woods forever."
Finnick looked to her and tilted her head to look at him. "As much as I would love to run away with you. We have people we need to protect. We'll change things, one day kitten. For now, let's just enjoy what little we can get."
Katniss pouted, but relented. "Fine."
Finnick smirked and picked the little bundle of fire up off the ground. He twirled her around until she started laughing. He held her to his chest and looked around, now lost.
"How do we get back?"
"Put me down and I'll show you."
"Nope. You've run off already kitten. I'm keeping you close for now. I'll let you go once we get back to the District." Finnick promised. "You really scared me."
"You know I can hunt."
"You could come out here for years. It only takes one time for you to not come back kitten. One mistake. So I'm going to keep you safe. Please?" He was pleading with her to give him this. To let him feel her in his arms and know, for the moment, she was completely safe.
"Fine."
"That's my girl."
She did not argue. She guided him back towards the District. Neither noticed the stealthy shadow they had listening to their every word. Gale watched the pair with a new found fire. The Capitol, was even more horrific than he had thought. Considering they ritualistically sacrifice twenty-three children a year, that was saying something. Katniss was too young to grasp just what the Capitol was doing to Finnick Odair. Gale, was not as innocent or blind to the unspoken truth.
He would kill them all if they tried to do something like that to Katniss. It seemed, Finnick and Haymitch planned on that never happening as well. He begrudgingly admitted he misjudged the victor from District Four. His act, for that was what it was, was far to easily believable. He still did not like the man's hands on Katniss. He hoped, that love he saw in his eyes was one for a sister. Something nagged at him that he knew the truth.
Gale turned himself away to check the snares he and Katniss had set. 'I'll let you go for now Odair. But I'm not letting her get away so easily.'
AN: Special thanks to Kibou32 and NadiixD for their ideas this chapter. While I planned on jumping ahead, they inspired me to stay with 12 year old Katniss one more chapter. I have the next several written out. Thank you to everyone who is reading this fanfic. Thank you to everyone who is following and favoriting this story only a few chapters in. Thank you to every one of you who took the time to review.
I have a poll up on my bio page. I haven't decided, but it is weighing on me. I'll get off my soap box. Thanks again to each any every one of you. Until next time.