A/N - With no farther ado, here is the fourth installment. Once again, I really care about your reviews, not because of the amount, but really the feedback is getting me going and I like to know whether you guys approve of the direction or not. I'm really self conscious about this fic for a change cause I'm not really sure if I should continue it or not, so yeah once again your input will be appreciated. Enjoy!

Ruined Savior

Katniss couldn't do anything but stare. Her limbs seemed to be frozen. Her mind was screaming at her. The boys kept rolling on the floor, straddling each other in turn, punching whatever was available to their sight at the moment.

"You piece of asshole shit", she heard Gale mutter under his breath right before he raised his fist to strike again.

The sight of this made Katniss jump at once, finally finding the strength and her common sense back. It was pretty hard to digest the last few minutes as it is.
"Idiots!" she screamed at both of them and reached out only to grab Gale by his right ear.
She pulled him off of Finnick easily as he gasped in pain.

"Two idiots", she repeated and took a closer look of Finnick's visible black eye and Gale's purple jaw.

"What do you mean? This… this Capitol made manwhore was trying to force you into sex with him", Gale called angrily, pointing a finger at Finnick, who only rolled his eyes, still lying on the floor.

"You, get up", she gestured to Finnick, "and you, shut up", she gestured back to Gale, "nobody forced anything", she added in a low tone to Gale who only seemed to get angrier. Admitting it only made her feel worse. Finnick reached out to her, trying to lay a protective arm over her, but Katniss simply ducked, standing as far away from them both.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Gale asked huskily, not daring to look at her.

"It doesn't matter", Katniss replied simply and eyed Finnick, who seemed slightly offended.

"Of course it does! What happened to you?" Gale responded with his jaw clenched.

"Calm down, this is not a conversation I should be having with you right now, in here", Katniss said calmly.
She knew how to deal with a furious Gale, and yelling back wasn't an option.
Gale took a step towards Finnick, his gaze full of hatred. Finnick only bared his teeth like an animal, but stayed put. He seemed awfully quiet to Katniss. For an angry protective man, she expected him to be more vocal.

"How did you find me?" she asked, careful of her wording. 'Us' wouldn't be appropriate at the moment.

"You're always here, everybody knows that", Gale replied, his voice dripping with venom.
Katniss was startled.

"What do you mean everybody?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Gale snorted.
"Get a grip Katniss; everybody knows you two are hanging out in here for days now. Don't you think people notice you're not doing much?" he scoffed at her. Katniss stirred uncomfortably, and she could see Finnick was not pleased by Gale's words as well.

Katniss hesitated. She didn't know whether the conversation was over and it's time to leave, but Gale seemed to stay put.

"Why did you come in here, then?" She finally heard Finnick speak, his voice low, like he's being repulsed be Gale's presence.
Gale pretended like it wasn't Finnick who actually asked the question, and turned to Katniss, answering her instead. "I've been informed of an emergency meeting at the headquarters being held in an hour, and you were summoned".

Katniss looked at Finnick, he furrowed his eyebrows. Gale caught the exchange.
"Him too", he admitted unwillingly.
Finnick's frown only went deeper.
Emergency? Something must have happened, and they all knew it by the looks she got from both Gale and Finnick.

"I suppose we better get going", Gale said after a while. He passed by Finnick and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"Stay away from her", he simply said, his expression blank and kept walking.

Katniss heard him, and hurried over to Finnick. She grasped his hand, hoping it would prevent him from doing anything stupid at this stage. It did.
His expression softened as he tightened his grasp.
They followed Gale, still hand in hand. She managed to find some kind of solace as his hand kept warming hers, sending a tingle up her arm. When they reached the headquarters, Katniss gently pried her hand away from Finnick's, sending him an apologetic look. He nodded slightly, and they went their separate ways, each finding a seat in the small room.

It seemed like the council was waiting for them in order to begin. Katniss eyed Haymitch, who only raised an eyebrow and smirked, gesturing to Finnick, who was seated beside him, by the shoulder. Katniss only rolled her eyes and sighed. Coin cleared her throat.
Boggs was seating by her side, his gaze wandering around the room, landing on her a moment later. By then she realized, every single person in the room but Coin was looking at her.

"As you all know, our rebellion is slowly echoing in a very successful line", Coin said, holding her head high.

Katniss furrowed her eyebrows. They all knew that it could have been even more successful if she would cooperate as their Mockingjay, but neither of them was eager to say it out loud. She honestly thought she was going to be accused of not doing anything in particular at this point, but to her surprise, nothing happened just yet.

"As a major part of our ongoing plan, we have decided to send a small team to the Capitol and save our captives", she continued, attempting to sound as formal as she looked.

"And the rest of the remaining victors, as a part of the agreement", Plutarch added, answering the question Katniss was about to ask. Peeta. She felt suffocated. He was coming back, coming back to her. She looked at Finnick, who seemed distant, way off the conversation. Annie, she thought. He was thinking about Annie.

"We decided to include a few of our best men in our crew", Coin disturbed Katniss's flowing thoughts.
Dread started to fill her veins.
"Soldier Hawthorne and Mr. Odair will constitute as a third of the party under the command of Boggs. The rest of the soldiers will meet you as the hovercraft will pass by District 2 to pick them up", and with that, Coin was done.
She left the room with quick steps, leaving a time bomb in the form of an overwhelmed Katniss. She was taking them both. Haymitch was right.

"When?" she simply asked, breaking the tense silence in the room.

"The flight is due tomorrow", Plutarch answered quietly, as if his answer would shutter the earth beneath them. In a way, it did.
Katniss got up abruptly, her hands gripping the edge of the long table, seeking balance in the hard wood.

"Why am I not a part of the team? Why isn't she taking me? I'm a better fighter than half of her soldiers, I can shoot better than most of this district!" she exclaimed, feeling the air leaving her lungs. She already knew the answer, but
she felt the need to be clarified once and for all.

Boggs nodded slowly, a sad smile creeping to his face.
"You are out of shape, Katniss. You never made it to training. Panem needs a hero. Panem needs their Mockingjay", he explained with kindness. They all knew none of his words were surprising to her to say the least.

"What about Finnick, then?" she blurted out, regretting she asked immediately. Finnick's eyes flashed as he heard her pronouncing his name, and he was back in the room, regaining his focus.

"Well, he spent quite some time in the Capitol, and he knows his way around better than all of our soldiers combined", Boggs replied.

Katniss shook her head. Her gaze conformed Finnick's. They were going to talk about this later, it seemed. She snatched a quick look at Gale, who was staring at the wall behind her. A shade of a smile on his face made her realize he was actually honored to do this. He was eager to fight, ready to take down every Capitol citizen who was, in his mind, terribly guilty and responsible to the life he had back in District 12.
A life of starvation and killing.

Katniss punched the table loudly in an act of sheer frustration and left the room without another word. Coin was going to use them, kill them even just because of her. Katniss felt the tears flowing down her cheeks. She didn't even know if Peeta was still alive or just as tortured as he seemed behind that perfect smile he plastered on his face on the interview with Caesar they bothered to broadcast not too long ago. Katniss thought she knew better, but she actually didn't.

She wound up in the empty closet she found a while ago, curled into a small ball. She wanted to cry and sleep for days, weeks even. She wanted to die. Sometimes she wished it was her who died instead of Rue or Maggs or any other tribute. Sometimes she imagined a world in which Peeta was here, in District 13, completely happy and healthy, and she would be the one tortured by the Capitol. He didn't deserve it. They didn't deserve any of it. She couldn't help but think about the mass amount of people who died because of her, and the people who will continue to sacrifice their lives for her in the future.

"Why me?" she mumbled to herself, crying hysterically.
"Why me? I'm not your damn savior", she said and punched the left wall of the closet furiously, hoping to disappear or die or sleep, she didn't know anymore. She must have missed it, but the doors of the closet opened in silence, and a tall frame entered the small space. He took a sit by her, leaning on the right wall of the closet. He did not say a word. Katniss ignored his presence and kept punching into the wood.
Her knuckles started to bleed, but she couldn't care less.
She felt numb, empty.
He simply grabbed her fists with both of his hands, putting them still. She struggled and tried to break free. He just held her there, refusing to let go. She turned around, her eyes red and dead inside. His handsome facial features were calm as usual, not giving away any of his emotions. He must have mastered it in the Capitol, sleeping with these women. It only made Katniss more furious with him, she couldn't understand what he was doing to her and why. She let out a slight cry of rage and released her hands from his grasp. She started punching his chest instead, letting it all out.

"I hate you", she said quietly, her voice choked due to the tears. Finnick frowned. "No", he said. "No", he repeated and grabbed her hands again, this time more firmly. Katniss kept struggling, but he was stronger than her, always has.

She gave in a few minutes later, when she realized she was more exhausted than she thought.
Finnick just kept looking at her with concern in his sea green eyes, the same eyes that never stopped glowing, even in the darkness of the closet. Katniss trembled, the aftershock of her actions finally hitting her nerves. She could clearly feel the burn on her knuckles now.
As if he could read her pain, Finnick used his thumbs and stroked her knuckles, sending a shiver down her spine. Katniss sighed. She gave the last tear permission to fall on her cheek, and rested her head on his chest.
She fell asleep shortly after.
Finnick nuzzled her hair and leaned his forehead against her head. He let himself sleep an hour later, when he was certain she was sound asleep. He never let go of her hands, his grasp stronger than ever.

A/N - And with that, Peeta might be coming back. Gotta admit I was never fond of him, but he shall be a great plot device for me. Yay? Nay?