The moment Annie comes out of her room for a late breakfast, she knows something is wrong. The dining room is completely empty. She can hear unhappy sounds from the work areas, and she follows those sounds.

Some people are pacing. Some are gathered in small groups, talking in low, tense voices in small groups. Others are bent over their workstations, working with fear instead of joy.

Beetee's nowhere to be found, so she goes and stands silently next to Joule, who's bent over her table. Not wanting to interrupt her concentration at a critical moment, she waits until the other woman is ready to speak.

Joule just shakes her head helplessly. "They've been fighting since dawn. We got a message from Four that the enemy know we're here. Rudder's trying to buy us as much time as we can to go into lockdown, but he doesn't know how long he can hold them."

"And the lockdown system isn't ready?" Annie says. The pit of her stomach churns sickeningly. They've been working on it, but if it were ready, she'd have heard by now.

"We're just trying to cobble something together that will hold until the military situation improves, hopefully enough that we can evacuate."

"But with the materials we have, and the time we don't have, and the constraints of not being able to go outside..." Silica sounds sick.

Annie goes and sits in a corner after that. She'll rush to assemble anything they give her, but she's not going to be much use coming up with new ideas. Her throat is so thick she can't even think about asking the questions that might stimulate someone to a flash of insight. All her mind can do is whirl over the images of invading troops, Cashmere dying, Beetee dying, Joule dying, everyone dying. Blood, screaming, torture, nerve gas. Finnick screaming her name.

An eternity passes before Beetee emerges. He had locked himself into his room, concentrating with all his might. He's shaking his head.

"Nothing?!" Silica shouts.

"Not from in here. We don't have the power for the doors, much less the force fields. Even if we could get them ready in time, and I think we could, they're too power-intensive. We'd have to start up more generators in the plant, and it's over a kilometer away. We can't get there."

Everyone gathers around the schematic he's drawn. First silence, then "hmming," then the sound of cautious optimism.

"It might work," Joule mutters. "We're almost earthquake-proof, and we'd be safe against a bomb set off above ground, and you're right, with this setup we might be able to make the force fields airtight. If they shut down our power and disrupt the force field, at least we'd have sealed the doors."

"It doesn't matter, though," Beetee says gloomily. "We don't have the power to do any of that. And our front yard's a war zone."

"If we turn off everything else-" Silica suggests.

"You think I didn't crunch the numbers? An explosion-proof defense system that can be controlled from the inside but not the outside is no trivial undertaking. It's not a few fluorescent light-bulbs."

"I thought we had the hardware solved and the problem was software-" Joule protests.

"The software is good enough. I don't care if it has bugs. We just need to buy a couple of days. If we get locked in, we have the best and brightest minds in here. We'll find a way out. Hardware is our problem now. We have the heavy parts of the doors, but we don't have the power to open and close them on demand, or to know what's going on outside and when it's safe to open again. Nor do we have the power for the force field."

"Can't Rudder spare someone?" someone asks. "If protecting us is the reason he's fighting-"

"I don't think he has that much control over the situation out there!" Beetee explodes. "And who's going to make sure the generators are working? If one of us goes out there, we probably won't make it back. We won't be able to wait on them before we activate lockdown. And I wouldn't trust one of his troops with instructions. I wrote them up—where in the plant to go, how to start up the generators—but reading over them, I don't think it can be done by someone with no idea what they're doing."

On and on it goes, with no one able to come up with a solution. Silica is still trying to convince himself that they can redirect enough power from within. Joule pokes her head outside and reports back that the fighting can be heard clearly from the entrance.

On and on, Annie's brain goes in circles. She stays where she is, everyone dies. She goes outside and she's captured. She's captured and they torture her. They torture her, Finnick does something reckless and brave, and they lose the war. Mags dies for nothing. She stays where she is and gets captured, and they don't have to torture her because there's no torture worse than what she's inflicting on herself, remembering everyone dying. She takes her pill so that she dies before they can get her. She dies never knowing if Cashmere makes it.

Finally, she lifts her head. Cashmere is so quiet, sitting on the floor beside her, that everyone's forgotten she's there. But they do have one warrior who isn't in the field.

Cashmere meets Annie's eyes and slowly nods. Cashmere could run a kilometer easy. But she couldn't set anything up.

Annie could probably start up what they need, depending on the instructions, but she doesn't know if she could run the kilometer fast enough.

Cashmere can't promise to keep her alive long enough to reach the plant, but neither can she promise to keep her alive down here if the compound is invaded. Cashmere will cover her if she decides to go.

She can't go.

She has to go.

Cashmere hooks her elbow in Annie's as they walk slowly, Annie dragging her feet every step of the way, over to Beetee's set of instructions. Looking over his shoulder, she studies them.

She doesn't have to say anything. Cashmere's presence is enough.

"But there's a price on your head," Beetee protests in awe.

Annie doesn't say anything. She just moves her finger over the part she'd have to do.

Slowly, helplessly, Beetee starts to explain the steps. "I'd trust you with it in a heartbeat," he admits. "We tried to automate the process as much as possible so it can be run from a console, and you'll understand what you're seeing."

When she's sure she's got the steps down and feels confident about each one, Annie looks up at Cashmere's eyes one last time. She's scared to death, but Cashmere holds her gaze so steadyingly that as long as Annie doesn't think about what she's doing or who she is or why she of all people can't do this, she can sort of hypnotize herself into treating it as a purely technical problem.

Finally, Beetee reaches up from his wheelchair to hug her. "We'll hold the doors open for you to come back as long as we can, but if they see you go, it may not be long enough. Annie—I don't want to have to explain this to Finnick."

Annie smiles hollowly at that. "Tell Rudder he has to explain how he couldn't hold them off," she suggests. She hugs Beetee back, hard. Then Joule.

Cashmere does some initial reconnaissance, climbing out the concealed entrance and looking around for the best escape route before she and Annie make a dash for it. She has two firearms to keep the enemy at bay, and her sword if it comes to hand-to-hand combat. She's still more comfortable with her sword than anything else.

Annie takes her slingshot for what she hopes is only psychological support, and she wears her fur coat. She doesn't think she'll overheat in the autumn air; in fact, the heavy fog will work to their advantage in more than one way. It's probably why the outnumbered Four troops have held out as long as they can, and why the enemy doesn't know yet exactly where the entrance is.

Annie and Cashmere duck as low as they can, trying to go unnoticed for the first part of the run, so they can help conceal the location of the compound a little longer. Then they go all out, needing speed above all else.

They're heading toward the edge of the town. The tech district was built just slightly inland, to reduce the corrosive effects of the salt water, and the new underground compounds are spread out as close to the coast as they can be built. So she doesn't have to run terribly far, though every step is an eternity of expecting to be taken down by a shot.

The plant isn't guarded, by either side. In fact, everyone seems to be in the field, fighting desperately for control of the compound entrance. Annie runs inside the plant and gets to work quickly. Cashmere stands guard at the door.

The hardest thing she ever does is keep her concentration at the sound of fighting just a few meters away. Someone must have seen her and Cashmere, and now they're facing enemy troops. Cashmere's had time to choose a defensive spot, though, partially shielded by the door and wall.

Annie jumps at the first shot that's fired, then realizes she almost entered the wrong command. She can't afford to be jumpy. She wants to rush, to get her and Cashmere out of there as fast as she can, but she can't afford that either. She keeps her shaking hands steady, pretends Joule is watching over her shoulder, and concentrates on getting it right the first time.

As soon as it's done, she doesn't even check her work, just runs straight toward Cashmere. As she does, her eyes see something that her brain can't process yet. Cashmere motions her to wait, and Annie ducks down. She's trying to stay out of the line of sight through the partially open door, but as she waits, the sight of small round holes in the wall by the door penetrates. Nothing about this building is protecting her. There's only Cashmere, trying to take down the enemy soldiers as fast as they come.

In a lull in the action, Cashmere gestures to Annie to come, then grabs her by the arm, and they run down the streets of the town. Annie follows blindly, running through a never-ending stream in her head of images of land mines, bombs, bullets. Cashmere falling, Finnick screaming.

There's no one around when Cashmere shoves her through a gap in a dilapidated wooden porch. "Hide," she gasps. "If you're taken, delay as long as you can. I'm going for help."

Annie still has her pill, fastened to her skin on her shoulder. She's practiced, and even if her hands are bound behind her, she can still reach the packet with her teeth. She was always counting on being able to take it before capture, though. If they strip her or knock her unconscious, they might find the pill.

Crouched down low, trying to be invisible, Annie unwinds her slingshot from around her wrist, and she feels around for small stones.


Cashmere runs, dodges, draws pursuit away from Annie. She's grateful she's put so much time into improving her sprinting, resentful that it's still her weak point.

Running, she sees the faces of the enemies she felled. Four of them. One she recognized from the academy. Defector. Traitor. She's killing her former students, her own people.

But no. Annie is her people now.

It's too hard, from the edge of the town, to make out what's happening in the battle through the fog and gunsmoke. She needs to run in, get troops to get Annie out, but if she ends up in the wrong army and she's killed or taken, Annie's people won't know where to find her.

Rudder's tall, he should be easy to spot. Scanning, scanning...not seeing anyone she knows. She's too far, but she doesn't dare get closer until she has some idea who's on which side.

Suddenly there's a shout. The fighting falters. She sees figures fleeing the field, and a large body of troops moving toward the compound.

Cashmere sorts out what must have happened. Rudder got word the compound went into lockdown. He's given the order to retreat. The fleeing soldiers are on her side. The body of troops advancing in good order is the enemy, and it's moving in the opposite direction from her.

Cashmere runs down the first fleeing soldiers she sees. Sword sheathed, firearms strapped to her, hands raised in the air.

"I'm on your side, I'm on your side!" she yell as she approaches. But her face is recognizable before her gasped-out words are audible, and before she can explain, she's down on the ground with a boot on her chest.

She doesn't put up a fight, because it's her only chance. If she can only get through to them before it's too late. But she's winded and dizzy from slamming into the ground. All she can do is try to get air into her lungs to breathe, before she can even think about talking.

"Keep her alive," the one who seems to be in charge snaps. "Pearleye's been running out of valuable prisoners to trade. This one's a victor."

"Defected!" she finally gets out. "Finnick."

Eyes narrow. "What's that about Finnick?"

"She cleans up pretty," someone jokes.

"Come on, we're exposed here." Two of them haul her to her feet and start dragging her into the town. She puts up no resistance, just trying to explain.

"I defected! In the arena, last year. Finnick and I got out of the arena together. You must have been watching!"

"Ha!"

"We were fighting for control of Four. You think we had time to watch television?"

"I did! We brought food to Three, on the train. There's no time to waste, we need to rescue Annie!"

"Annie? Cresta? I almost believed your story until now, but that's crazier than she is."

Oh my god, this is the worst part of no one knowing where Annie is.

"Take me to Rudder, he knows!"

Relentlessly, they continue dragging her. The town is empty, unfought-over because abandoned. Cashmere is trying to play along, but time is critical, and she's almost crying with the frustration of not being believed.

"If she gets captured, it'll be on your head, and you can explain to Finnick!"

"Well, you're going to go to Rudder anyway, as soon as we can figure out where he is. If he's still alive. Come on, sit down. Who's got rope?"

"Listen, you can tie me up, you can do whatever you want with me, but you need to go down that street, turn left-"

"It's a trap," a woman says casually. "Al, you wounded?"

"Just my elbow. Hurts like a bitch, but it'll do." The man's eyes are watering, but he's trying to keep useful to his companions.

"If it's a trap, take me with you, hold a knife to my throat, use me as a hostage, but you need to get Annie out of there!"

"Melly, if this is a trap, it's the weirdest trap I've ever heard of."

"No, it's not," Melly contradicts. "They pulled it on Finnick in the arena."

"So you've heard about that!" Cashmere screams.

"Well, everyone's heard about that. 'S why Annie's in hiding."

"Yes, she's in hiding! She's in hiding here because everyone thinks she's in Four!"

They drag her into an abandoned building. It's dark inside, but Melly immediately starts poking around. They improvise something to bind Cashmere with, and appoint Jules as guard.

"Gag her, she's making too much noise."

With an effort, Cashmere lowers her voice to a whisper. "Find Rudder. He knows."

"Al, can you move? I don't trust her with less than two able-bodied guards. You need to find medical attention, and look for Rudder. He needs to know we have a victor from One as prisoner. Jules and I'll stay."

He groans, but swallows bravely. "I can do it."

No mention of Annie, but if he can find Rudder in time, it won't matter. He'll know something is wrong if Cashmere is outside the compound.

It's an agonizing wait before Al comes hurtling back. "Rudder backed her story!" One-handed, he starts trying to unbind Cashmere. "He says do whatever she says!"

Quickly, they exchange information. Cashmere tells them where she left Annie. Al tells them where Rudder has set up camp and is gathering the scattered remnants of his beaten army. "He doesn't want too many of us assembling at once. This is still guerrilla warfare. But he wants the wounded tended, he wants reconnaissance, and he wants Annie Cresta."

"I still can't believe she's here." He gives Cashmere back her weapons.

Then there's no more time for talking, because they're on the run again.

They can hear pounding feet and shouting, running through the streets. Annie's not where Cashmere left her. The porch is damaged, and there are signs of a struggle.

With a quick look, Melly defers to Cashmere for the next step.

She heads for the nearest sounds of other people running. As soon as they spot the enemy, the soldiers from Four fall without a word into an efficient formation. They spread out, cover each other, and advance by leapfrogging. Cashmere has no training in these sorts of maneuvers, but she picks up what she can on the spot by watching and joins in.

"Don't fire more than you have to," she calls. "Don't hit Annie."

In the ensuing scuffle, Al falls, to all appearances dead. Still no signs of Annie.

They're running, listening for any sound, when suddenly Cashmere hears a voice screaming her name. Annie's voice.

"Annie!" Cashmere screams. "Run!"

When they come into sight, Annie's clinging to an iron fence post with all her strength, while a cursing Peacekeeper tries to pry her off.

"Take out the backup," Melly orders.

Cashmere doesn't even have any protection on, and she'd die for Annie but she'd rather rescue her, and the last thing she wants is her and Annie dying in the dust here.

Then she starts sprinting, because she's thought of a way she can help. She ducks out of sight of the impending firefight, where she can just keep an eye on the situation. The moment there's an opening, she darts in, clubs the right arm of the nearest Peacekeeper, and grabs Annie.

Only the fact that the Peacekeepers also need Annie alive saves her. Cashmere takes her as far away as she can, as fast as she can.

Now with Annie out of the way, the firefight starts in earnest. Cashmere still doesn't know where Rudder is, but Annie's free, and they've got allies now. If they're still alive.

The sounds of shooting fall silent. Cashmere stands with her gun at the ready, prepared to ambush the victor before they can take Annie again.

"Cashmere! It's me!"

Jules, wisely announcing himself before he comes into view. Melly's with him.

"Take us to Rudder."

On the way, Jules looks at Annie. "I still can't believe you're in Three."

But Annie doesn't react. She doesn't say a word until they're in the basement where Rudder's set up a temporary headquarters. Then she starts gasping and shaking. Not crying, but hyperventilating.

"You're okay, Annie, you did great." Cashmere rubs her back encouragingly and murmurs into her ear. "You did everything I taught you."

"I need a situation report right now," Rudder raps out.

"And you'll get one in a minute," Cashmere snaps back. "Annie, are you hurt? Do you need anything?"

Annie can't answer, but after a minute, she shakes her head.

That frees Cashmere to respond to a glaring Rudder. In a few words, she summarizes the lockdown emergency, the improvised solution, and Annie's volunteering to save the day. "I left her in hiding because I didn't know where to take her, I didn't know who I was going to run into first, them or us, and I could run faster without her. We lost time when I couldn't convince your troops that I was on your side."

"I'm not going to reprimand them for that," Rudder announces, much to their audible relief. "They reacted the best they could with the information they had. When is she going to calm down?"

"She'll do what she has to do if it's an emergency right now," Cashmere answers, "but the longer she has to put off getting this out of her system, the more she'll pay for it later."

"I'm okay," Annie says through her sobs, lifting her face from Cashmere's shoulder and hiccuping. "I'm okay."

She sounds anything but, but Rudder has no time to waste. "I have nowhere safe for you. They know you're in Three now, and they'll look for you here. We've got more control over Four, but nothing like what I would consider safe. There is no lockdown there, and a lot more bombing. And they'll look for you to be crossing the border, by land or by sea.

"A northbound train came through this morning. I can signal ahead for them to return. If Finnick isn't in Seven, Johanna will help you. I've met few go-getters who are her equal."

Annie nods her agreement. The whole west coast is off limits to her now, and that's an overwhelmingly terrifying feeling. "I'm sorry about Al," she says, her eyes full of sympathy. "And Evan. And Donn."

"I told you not to leave that bunker," Rudder says, but without wasting anger on something that's past. "This is what happens when you don't follow orders."

"She saved lives!" Cashmere rushes to her defense. "If those engineers aren't important, why are they in a top-security bunker?"

Annie has a different argument. "I'm a civilian," she reminds Rudder. "You can't give me orders. Unless you declared martial law, and I thought you were avoiding that."

"Cashmere's-"

"Privately hired bodyguard," Annie returns with a straight face. It's almost funny, after everything she's done to convince Cashmere she's not just the bodyguard.

Rudder knows when he's beat. "I know it had to be done, I just wish it hadn't been you. Tell Finnick I said you were too brave."

"And tech-savvy!" Cashmere injects.

Rudder almost smiles.


Annie and Cashmere huddle in the back of the train. The smell of fish is so powerful that Annie's overcome by homesickness almost as much as nausea.

"I did do what you taught me," Annie whispers. "I fought, I got away, and I hid. I always hid outside, so I wouldn't get trapped somewhere I couldn't run from, and so we could find each other."

"That's really good thinking, in an emergency," Cashmere praises. Especially for someone whose instinct is to hide as deeply as possible. Remaining so exposed must have gone sharply against her instincts. "You spent less time as a prisoner than I did," she jokes.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry-!"

"No, no," Cashmere hastens to assure her. "Your people. I surrendered to them and they didn't recognize me. But I didn't put up a fight, so they didn't hurt me. And they went directly to Rudder, who straightened it out."

"They didn't recognize you?"

"They did," Cashmere says slowly, "and so they thought I was with District One."

"Oh. Is One...putting troops in the field?"

"Yes," Cashmere says slowly. "I...encountered them."

Annie hugs her. "I'm sorry."

"No, I always knew this might happen. If I hadn't defected, I'd be dead."

"If you hadn't defected, I'd be dead."

"Hopefully not." Cashmere doesn't like to even think of it. "They'd find some way to keep you safe. Do you think Finnick's in Seven?"

"I hope so. I don't like Johanna," Annie mutters.

"You met her?"

"No, but you saw her with Wiress, right? That could have been me having a meltdown. But she's protective of Finnick, so I have to be grateful to her for that."

"I won't let her touch you," Cashmere promises.

Annie smiles slightly. "I can just imagine you and Johanna getting into a fistfight and Finnick having to drag you apart."

"I don't have any plans to start fights, but I will be the one to end it if she thinks she can lay a hand on you."

"You're such a honeybee."


Finnick just about has a heart attack when he turns around and sees Cashmere. No, he tells himself, you're imagining it, you're seeing her everywhere because you miss her.

But the moment she starts speaking, he knows it's her.

"Where's—what are you doing here?" He can't even say Annie's name with all these people around, can't give her away again.

In his head, Annie's voice comes screaming out of a flock of birds.

Cashmere looks around at the group of soldiers laying barbed wire. "Can I tell you here?"

Finnick barely excuses himself, grabs onto Cashmere's arm like this'll all be a dream if he doesn't, and a minute later they're standing a short distance off, with heads bent close, whispering urgently.

"She's alive. She's here, and we don't know where to go from here."

"She's—where? Where is she?" He can get the story later, he just needs to know where.

Cashmere glances up at the mountains looming over them. "Up there, in a cave. She's alone, with food and fire and shelter, but we don't know Seven at all."

"Show me."

Finnick follows Cashmere at a dead run. He curses the altitude that has him breathing too hard to go faster, and ignores the voice that says it's not just the altitude. It's not Mags' voice, luckily, or it would be harder to ignore.

They have to slow down when they start to ascend, until it's all they can do to walk without losing their footing. Then Cashmere drops suddenly to her knees in front of a cave and starts crawling in. Finnick follows.

"Finnick?" Annie's voice wavers from deep in the cave. "Are we safe here?"

"Yes, yes." They feel their way toward each other in the dim light. "There's no one for at least a mile, and we're far from where the action is."

She buries her face in his chest, shaking. Finnick holds perfectly still until she starts clutching him tighter. That's his permission to cling to her, rub her back, and rock back and forth, trying to calm this frantic urge to run and find a problem to solve for her. He knows she just needs somewhere to fall apart now that she's out of danger.

"There, you made it, you're here, I'm here, you're safe. You can talk to me when you're ready."

Annie pries one hand off of Finnick long enough to gesture at Cashmere. She's been sitting quietly by the entrance, but Annie and Finnick know enough now to know that shutting down is her way of coping with distress she can't solve. It doesn't mean she's as calm as she seems.

"You want her to tell me?"

Cashmere comes immediately over to them. "Annie was so brave. You have no idea." She recounts the story of the improvised lockdown, Annie activating the generators under fire, Cashmere guarding her, and the flight to the defeated remnants of Rudder's army. Then the journey to Seven, the battle at the border, the decision to leave the train and swing way west, cross the border far from civilization, and come down on it from the north.

"I killed a rabbit," Annie says, laughing through her tears. "Not a chalk rabbit."

"She noticed a bear! We managed to avoid it and it didn't hurt us, but she was the one who noticed it."

"Annie notices things," Finnick says proudly, wiping his own tears. "I'm not surprised."

"And I didn't kill Cashmere! There were two battles, and a train, and bears, and I spent the whole time thinking she was going to die because of me-"

"She wouldn't make a sound, the whole time. Even the bear, she just nudged me and pointed at it, without even a gasp."

"I couldn't stop reliving Evan, but we activated the lockdown, and we made it here in one piece!"

Finnick shakes his head in disbelief. "I have so many questions I don't know where to start. Who else was on this train? Were you driving it?"

"No, it was coming up from Four," Cashmere answers, "but we got too close to the battle, and a train is a prime target. It looked like we were going to be engaged by the enemy, so Annie and I decided to make a break for it. We were hiding in the caboose. I figured we could follow the tracks from some distance and avoid running into anyone. I remember you saying the people in Seven are very spread out. The terrain was harder than I thought, but we didn't have to go far, fortunately. We've been on foot about three, four days."

"And this lockdown." Finnick broaches his next question. "How were you the only person qualified to rig up the equipment?"

"I wasn't. I went over the steps very carefully with them before we agreed it was similar to things I'd done before."

"So how did you end up leaving the shelter?"

"I didn't want to! I had to, or everyone would have been captured! Nothing short of certain death could have made me. I certainly didn't want to drag Cashmere out into danger, but she was the only warrior not in the fight. Either I'd have to live with blaming myself for being too afraid to go above ground, or with making a stupid decision to leave the shelter."

"No, I understand why Cashmere. Why you?"

Annie pauses. "What, Cashmere and someone from Three?" She stammers. "That never even occurred to me. Where she goes, I go."

"Oh my god." Finnick crushes her in his arms. "Too brave and too loyal to be true."

"I didn't think of going with one of the other engineers either," Cashmere tells Finnick. "I'm sorry, maybe it would have been the smart way."

"No, shut up," Annie orders. "We're family. We stick together."

Finnick lets the three of them rest a night before he brings up the question of "What next?"

With food and sleep, Annie's somewhat calmer and more refreshed, but she still insists on sitting squashed between Finnick and Cashmere for this discussion. Finnick's just glad she feels safe enough with them to want them close. It's easier for him, with his shoulder pressed right up against hers.

Cashmere begins summarizing. "Rudder said that now that word was out that Annie was in Three, it's not safe for her any more. Neither is Four. He said Seven wasn't exactly safe either, but..."

"At least it's my problem now, not his," Finnick says wryly.

"I figured anywhere you were spending your time wasn't safe," Annie says with a shaky laugh. "You'll always be in the thick of it."

"Not only that, but wherever I am, that's where they'll look for you."

"East?" Annie asks, unhappy but resigned. She shivers a little. "They're keeping Katniss's sister safe, right?"

"There's that. There's another possibility I haven't brought up, but it might be time. One of my early assignments was to get foreign aid out of a country Plutarch was in contact with. I had to go, charm them, persuade them that they wanted to help us and we're a good investment, and then let other people take over maintaining the diplomatic ties. It's been paying off. They're one of the reasons we've been holding on this long against these odds.

"It's not as decadent as the Capitol, and not as poor as the districts. There's plenty of food, and most people who want jobs have them. Bad things happen to people, but the system isn't out to get you. The whole country is kind of like the Victors' Village, without the Peacekeepers."

Annie sits and thinks in silence for a long time. "You've been there?" she finally says.

"I have. I immediately marked it off in my head as a place that might be good for you."

"But you haven't been back?"

"No, and I really couldn't afford to. We wouldn't see each other until after the end of the war."

Or never. No one says the words, but they hover.

"How would I make a living? It sounds very different, and I...I can't promise what kind of shape I'd be in when I got there."

"Making a new life would be hard, I won't pretend otherwise. But I'm Mags' heir, you know?"

Annie chuckles reflexively.

"I plan things well in advance. I made sure to lay some groundwork when I was there. I couldn't find anyone willing to take in a stranger who might or might not show up someday, but I got promises to help you find a family to take you in. Apparently there are people who like to take in visitors from other countries and help them adjust, so you should be able to find a place. I can give you names and information for the people who can help you."

Annie turns to Cashmere. "Why is it that there's a country I've never even heard of, and Finnick has contacts there?"

"Why are you surprised?" Cashmere asks in return.

"I guess I'm not." Annie sounds amused, then grows serious again. "So there are a million people who need a safe place with enough to eat, and I get one because I'm married to one of the leaders of the revolution?"

Finnick shrugs. "You can look at it that way, but the only reason you'd be leaving your home and family is because there's a price on your head by people who want to torture you. Because you're married to one of the leaders of the revolution here. I wouldn't feel too guilty about coming out ahead in this deal, if I were you.

"The other thing, Annie. I asked around, and everyone promised me medical care is much easier to get there."

"You mean I could get my medication again?" Annie is thoughtful. "That might really help."

"Not just that. They have doctors who are trained to help people who have a hard time leaving the house. I asked. You might be able to get back on your feet there. Thirteen hardly has anything."

"Let me think about it." Annie's voice shakes a little, but there are no real good choices.

Long and hard, the three of them hash over the options. It's not safe near the border, with all the fighting. There are places up in the mountains where people have withdrawn to be out of the fighting, now that Peacekeeper control has lightened up. Electric fences are being torn down and remote shelters built. People are even trying to live in caves rather than be found. But there are no organized shelters like what Annie's used to in Three and Four, and no guarantees that she won't be found. Or freeze or starve to death.

Getting to a safer place, though, is going to be hard and almost as risky. It's not winter yet, but it's autumn, and she'll first have to cross through the fighting in the east to District Thirteen. She can stay there, or they can help her overseas.

"I can't go with you," Finnick says, "for the same reason we can't stay together long. If you're on your own, you have a chance of disguising yourself. It's still going to be dangerous. I'll be blunt and say I can't promise you'll make it to safety alive, but I do think it's your best chance at survival. They're closing in on you here."

"It's like knowing we're sitting ducks underground and our forces are losing the battle, and if I don't go out there into the heat of the fighting, it won't be just me that dies." Not even Finnick's and Cashmere's arms around Annie can keep her from shaking. Finnick starts to cry, silently, because he knows which way she's leaning.

Annie puts her head on Cashmere's shoulder. "Would you forgive me for leaving?"

"Oh, Annie. If I can't keep you safe here, I can't keep you here."

"That's another thing," Finnick says hesitantly. "Someone's going to have to go with Annie at least as far as Thirteen. There's no reason you couldn't get on the hovercraft or ship with her, sugar."

Cashmere's eyes widen, and she looks sick. "Oh my god," she says numbly.

Annie sits up straight. She puts her hands to her mouth and starts shaking her head hard. "No. No!"

Finnick's heart is crumbling. "I don't want to break up the family, but it's slipping beyond my control. That's what war does, it breaks up families."

Annie's sobbing, biting her hands to keep from speaking.

Finnick knows what she won't let herself say. "It's killing me to say this, my angel, but I think you should go. I know you have what it takes to come back and fight, and you'd be a real asset. But I also think you've been through enough. Not that moving won't be hard, but you can make a fresh start."

"You want me to go?"

"No!" Finnick chokes. "I just want you to be safe. Not just physically, but I want you to have a better life than you've had so far. I know it's hard for you to imagine how different it could be, but I've been there, I've seen it, and I think it would be good for you. This is like me walking away from Mags because it's the right thing to do, okay? Or Annie sitting here trying not to beg you to come with her, even though she wants you with her more than anything in the world."

Annie nods, and between her sobs a strangled cry of "Please!" breaks through.

Cashmere puts her arms around her and touches her head against Annie's. "Of course I'll come, Annie, if you want me to, and Finnick thinks it's a good idea."

"But I can't tear you away from everything you know!"

"We're family, remember? We stick together."

"But so is Finnick! And he's the one-" Annie's voice chokes on that.

Finnick shakes his head despondently. "It didn't matter who had what feelings when it was all three of us. But you're better for each other. If nothing else, you have more time to give each other. You'll be safe together."

Annie's crying slowly subsides. Finnick hasn't been able to stop since he started, but he has a lot of experience keeping his voice steady through his emotions.

"We take care of each other," Annie reluctantly agrees. "You're right. But I don't want to leave you alone either, Finnick. What about Johanna Mason? I know she's got your back in a fight, but I need more than that to go on."

"She's a good friend," Finnick assures Annie. "I talk to her."

"You don't have to act around her?" Annie presses. Trust her to cut to the chase.

"Not when it's just the two of us. If you've seen us in public, we have to put on a show for her district, like Mags and I used to."

Annie hesitates. "I want to talk to her. Can I?"

Finnick thinks about it. "The longer you stay here and the more people know you're here, the harder it will be to get you out. But I'll see if I can find her on short notice. If nothing else, to get her help smuggling you over the border. She still knows this district better than I do."

"How are you so calm?" Annie cries.

"I'm acting," Finnick answers. "If I don't act, I'll never be able to let you go. I'll fall apart later, don't worry."

"Don't worry?!"

"Don't worry. I'll be okay. Take care of each other. Make a good life for yourselves, both of you. Promise?"

They cling to each other for a long time, then Finnick gets up to go in search of Johanna.