I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. )

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters.

Chapter 12

Katniss woke up to some sort of emergency alarm system, which consisted of an obnoxious buzzing sound and a voice saying 'All residents are required to report to Level 20 immediately.' The message was repeated every 5 seconds. Katniss had no intension of moving from the bed. She was too tired and sad to move. She turned onto her stomach, burying her head into her pillow.

"Katniss, come on. We have to go." Finnick said rubbing her back.

"I'm tired." she said.

"You can sleep afterwards. Come on." he said as he pulled on her arm. She knew he wouldn't quit so she decided to get up. Katniss went to her compartment to find her family, but they had already gone. Katniss and Finnick made their way through the hallway towards the elevators. As they drew near, they saw a sea of people waiting in a crowd. More people walked up behind them. The voice on the system gave them a 10-minute warning mark. Katniss could feel the crowd from behind her pushing forward. She took Finnick's hand so she wouldn't loose him. People started to panic as they continued to push forward. The people from the front pushed back, causing the middle of the crowd to sway back and forth. Shouting started from both sides. She saw Finnick looking around, quickly scanning different areas of the hallway. She then felt him pulling her away from the elevators and to the side of the hallway.

"Finnick what are you doing?" Katniss asked in a panic.

"You'll see." was all he said. They stopped beside a water fountain. "Help me up." he told her. Katniss wasn't sure what his plan was exactly, but she didn't hesitate to help him. She knitted her fingers together to use as a step to reach the top of the fountain. "Excuse me." he shouted. It wasn't enough to hear over the shouts of the people in the crowd. He then put two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly into the air. Some of the voices died out but there were still a few that were still booming. "ALL OF YOU, JUST STOP IT!" he shouted even louder than before. Katniss could see that everyone's attention was now turned to him. Now that there was quiet, he started to speak.

"Hello, if you don't already know who I am, I am Finnick Odair. If you all just give me a minute of your time, I can help. I know a lot of you are panicked about why this emergency alert is going off, and I'm sure you want answers. I'm here to give you those answers. District 13 is planning on sending in planes to bomb the Capitol today. This is just a precaution, evacuating us to a lower level. There is no need to panic."

"But if we don't get down in time, they'll lock us out!" a District 13 resident said.

"And I am going to make sure that doesn't happen. There is a stairwell to the left of me that I'm sure no one is bothering to use. Everyone to the left of this water fountain will follow me and Katniss Everdeen down to Level 20 using the stairs." he said.

"The Mockingjay is here?" someone called out. Katniss rolled her eyes at her nickname. She still hated it.

"Yes, she is right below me and she wants to help you too. All I ask is that you stay calm en route to our destination." Finnick said. Finnick reached out his hand to Katniss. She took it and helped him to return to the ground. The crowd cleared a small path to allow them to reach the end of the hallway. Finnick led the end of the line to the stairwell and led them down. Once they had reached Level 20, Katniss and Finnick held open the doors for people to travel though. She couldn't believe the amount of thanks they received from the people, especially those from District 13, for telling them what was really happening and for helping their find their way to where they needed to be. Katniss was starting to wonder how much information Coin shared with the citizens of her district.

Once the stairwell had emptied, Katniss and Finnick made their way to the auditorium, after being told to go there. Katniss was astounded by the size of the place. There were three tiers, all filled with people. She had never realized how many people now occupied District 13. There had to be at least 3,000 people. She stood along the back wall of the main level with Finnick as they waited for someone to address them. The voices in the crowd were buzzing with conversation. As soon as they saw Coin standing behind the podium on the stage, their conversations ceased.

"Hello, I am sure you are all wondering why we have called you here today. With the influx of refugees into our District in the past few months, I thought it important to go over the procedures in the event of an emergency. There has been a lot of unrest and rebellion in the other districts of Panem. While the Capitol is still unaware of our existence, I find it essential that we prepare ourselves for the worst. With that said, we will be going into lockdown for the next few days so we can familiarize ourselves with this new way of life, should be need to use it."

Coin gave a virtual tour of the levels of their emergency floors, followed by where they could get their room assignments and other supplies they might leave. She dismissed the crowd by last initial to get what they needed. When Coin dismissed people with E-H as their last initial, Katniss walked to the exit. She saw Finnick start to follow her.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"What if I can't find you?" he asked. He had a point. Who knows where they'd even be located in their new space. She wouldn't be surprised if Coin tried to keep them far away from each other given their most recent conversation.

"Ok." she said. Katniss waited by the door until she saw Prim and her mother. She rushed to them, hugging them at the same time. Finnick walked up to them and asked if they were ready. Katniss broke away from her family and they started to walk. She couldn't help but notice her mother's discerning look. Her mother must still be worried that there was something going on with them.

Their room assignments hadn't changed much. Instead of being in compartment 307, they were now in compartment 2307. They had the same neighbors, with Finnick still being a few doors down from her. Finnick joined them to help them set up their room. He helped Katniss make the beds while her mother and sister organized their things into the small dresser in the corner.

When everything was put into place, Finnick asked Katniss if she could come help him.

"I think it's best if Katniss stays here." her mother said. Katniss shot her mother a look.

"I won't be long." Katniss said.

"No, Katniss." her mother said in a knowing tone. Since when did she start making her decisions?

"Excuse me." Katniss said to Finnick before leading her mother out into the hallway. "What was that about?" she asked with anger in her tone.

"It's for your own good." her mother said calmly.

"I don't understand."

"The amount of time the two of you have been spending together...I don't think it's good for either of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me." her mother said. She led her to a little alcove where there were a few chairs lined up against a wall. Katniss sat beside her mother and waited for her to speak. "You know how many accidents there were in the mines in District 12." she started.

"Mom, what does this have to do with anything?" she asked. How on earth was she going to connect coal-mining accidents to her spending time with Finnick?

"Just listen. Lots of people lost loved one in those accidents like the one that took your father. Girls lost their husbands, fiancés, and boyfriends. Guys lost their brothers and best friends. They took comfort in each other, trying to get over the death of their loved ones. Only they never imagined what would grow between them while they helped the other grieve."

"What was it?" Katniss asked. She had an idea of where her mother was going with this but she wasn't certain.

"Love, Katniss. They fell in love. It's not like they had planned it. Most of them thought they'd never love again. It just sort of snuck up on them."

"Why does this concern me?"

"The pair of you have both been through your share of loss. That boy has lost the love of his life, in a tragic way. You are coping with the fact that boy you love may never be the same again. With all the time the two of you have spent together, things may become complicated."

"No, that's not how it is with him. We're just friends."

"Yes, Katniss, but that line might blur. I'm just making sure you don't do anything you end up regretting."

"I haven't done anything with him." Katniss said.

"I know, but you never know what might happen if this continues. I know how this works. I've seen it happen to so many people. It always starts out innocent." she said.

"But that won't happen to us...not Finnick and me. I love Gale. He's the only person I want to be with."

"I know that Katniss, but your emotions aren't the only ones to consider."

"Finnick?" Katniss asked. Her mother nodded her head. She felt a combination of doubt and panic set in. "No, mom…no."

"It's already started Katniss. The things he says to you—"

"—No, he just says them to be funny." she said.

"There is always some truth behind every joke." her mother said. That statement worried Katniss. What if her mother had been right to worry about them?

"Maybe I should talk to him." Katniss said. Her mother said nothing. Katniss rose from her seat and walked back to her room. She opened the door to find Finnick sitting on the floor with Prim, telling her a story. It must have been funny because Prim was laughing hysterically. She waited for him to finish his story before asking him to talk to her. He grabbed his things and they went into his room.

"I'm sorry if I got you into trouble." he said.

"No, I'm not in trouble. At least I don't think I am." she said. She knew she'd be in a lot of trouble he felt the way her mother thought he did. She decided it would just better to just ask him. "There is something I have to ask you and I need an honest answer." she said sitting on the mattress.

"Ok." he said sitting next to her.

"Do you have feelings for me?" she asked. His only response was a laugh. "Finnick, this is not funny. I'm serious."

"Sorry, I just wasn't that expecting that. And the answer is no, I don't." he said.

"Oh, good." Katniss said breathing a sigh of relief. Her mother was wrong.

"What made you ask that in the first place? he asked. She told him what her mother had said to her, about the coalminers' deaths bringing people together. "You don't have to worry about me, Katniss. I don't think I'll ever be able to love again." he said lying down on his unmade bed.

"You'd be surprised." she said. Her mind had gone to the time when she thought that Gale had died in the Games and how she started to feel about Peeta after time. She never expected that either.

"When did it happen for you?" he asked.

"It didn't. I was just saying." she said. The last thing she wanted was to have to tell him about Peeta.

"No, the way you said it, it has happened before."

"Yes, it did." she admitted. "It was after the first Games, after I thought Gale was dead. The guy, whom shall remain nameless, helped me through it. He talked with me when I wanted to talk, sometimes he'd just sit with me and say nothing at all. After I came home from the Victory Tour, he kissed me and then we were together."

"What happened?" Finnick asked.

"I found Gale in the woods shortly after that and I told him that I wasn't ready to be in a relationship. I felt bad about it, I really did. I just couldn't tell him the truth. He did find out the truth eventually."

"How did he take it?"

"Not well."

"Did he make it out of District 12?" Finnick asked with curiosity.

"Yes, he is here."

"Do you still talk to him?"

"Yes." she said. She couldn't help but think that Finnick was trying to figure out who it was.

"It was that guy you were eating lunch with the other day. The one with the blonde hair, wasn't it?" he guessed.

"How could you tell?" she wondered.

"He cares about you…you can tell just by the way he looks at you." Finnick said.

"Can we not talk about this anymore?" she asked. She didn't feel like going into how she was no longer allowed to spend time with him for that reason…that he still cared for her. "I should go anyway. My mother is probably waiting for me."

"Yeah. Katniss, can I eat dinner with you and your family tonight?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Maybe I can prove to your mother that I'm not trying to do anything with you." he said with a wink. She smiled before leaving his room. When she returned to her room, she only found Prim there.

"Where is mother?" she asked.

"Had to go to the hospital." she responded.

"Why aren't you there?" Katniss asked. She knew Prim loved going to help out whenever she could.

"I wanted to stay here with you." she said. As Katniss sat beside her, she noticed a thin piece of rope in her lap.

"Where did you get that?" Katniss asked pointing towards it.

"Oh, Finnick gave it to me. He showed me a story to help me learn how to tie a knot. Do you want to see it?" she asked eagerly. Katniss nodded and then listened to Prim tell the story. As she did so, she moved the rope ends until she reached the end of the story and had an intricate knot.

"Very nice." Katniss said encouragingly.

"Isn't he dreamy?" Prim said in a daze.

"Who?"

"Finnick!" Prim said as if it were obvious.

"I thought you liked Peeta." Katniss said raising an eyebrow.

"I do like Peeta, but Finnick is nice too." she said. Katniss let out a heavy sigh. Her sister was officially a boy crazy teenager.

"I don't know about dreamy, but he is nice." Katniss said.

"Katniss, have you ever kissed him?" Prim asked. Katniss wasn't sure where her little sister was getting these questions.

"No, Prim I haven't."

"But at school, during the Games, one of the girls in my class said he kissed you." she said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." she said.

"How could you ever forget a kiss from Finnick Odair!"

"It wasn't a real kiss, Prim. He only did it to save me."

"How can a kiss save someone?" she asked skeptically as she crossed her arms.

"I was about to say something I shouldn't have said and he kissed me to stop me from saying it." she explained.

"You're so lucky." she said with a sigh.

"Ok, enough talk about Finnick. What about you? Have you found anyone that's more age appropriate?"

"There is this one guy in my classes. He's from here. He's really nice." she said with a smile.

"Does he like you?" Katniss asked.

"I don't know…maybe. He sits next to me everyday."

"Does he talk to you?"

"Yes." she said, now blushing.

"You'll have to point him out to me, next time you see him."

Katniss and Prim continued talking as the day passed by. Katniss showed her sister a few more knots to practice although she was a little disappointed that there were no stories to accompany them. When dinnertime rolled around, there was a knock on their door. Behind it was Finnick, waiting for them. They invited him in and waited for Katniss' mother to arrive. She looked very surprised to learn that Finnick would be joining them.

Once they had their food trays, Katniss sat next to her mother leaving the two open spaces across from them for Prim and Finnick. Katniss thought it best to separate herself from him, if only to convince her mother that she wasn't that reliant on him. Prim seemed overjoyed at the chance to sit next to him. Finnick behaved himself through dinner, leaving out any sort of jokes or statements that her mother could take the wrong way. That didn't stop her mother from asking him what his intentions were with her daughter. That was really embarrassing, but he gave the perfect answer. Prim thankfully changed the subject, asking Finnick to tell them all about District 4. When they were finished eating and talking, they walked back to the 23rd floor. Katniss was shocked when Prim reached around Finnick's torso to give him a hug goodbye before entering their room. Her mother left the two of them alone in the hallway.

"You're sister seems to like me." he said.

"Well she does like pretty things."

"I'm pretty?" he said with a laugh.

"Oh come on, Finnick. Everyone in Panem thinks so. It shouldn't come as any surprise to you."

"Even you?" he asked. He was doing that thing again where he made her very uncomfortable.

"Yes, but I'm not as easily enticed by pretty things. You should know that by now." she replied as she turned towards her door.

"Wait, before you go inside. There's something I need to talk to you about. Something I've been thinking about all day." he said. Katniss was a little worried about what he was about to say.

"Ok, what is it?"

"Not out here. Someone might hear." he said turning down the hall and leading her to his room.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked, standing in the center of his room with her arms crossed.

"About what Coin said today about this just being a drill. Why would she say that?"

"She obviously doesn't want people to know about what is happening."

"I told those people in the hallway about what is really going on. What if she finds out about it?" he asked with worry.

"You'll tell her you didn't know it was confidential information. You'll tell her that you helped diffuse what would have been a riot if you hadn't said what you had said."

"What happens if she does something to me? What if she kicks me out?" he asked.

"Then I would go with you." Katniss said without hesitation.

"You would?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes. We are a team. We could walk back to District 12 and figure out what to do next."

"Walk back to District 12?" he said with a laugh.

"You think we couldn't do it? We survived two Hunger Games. I don't think navigating back to my old district would be that hard."

"What about your family?" he asked.

"I'd bring them too, Finnick! I wouldn't leave them here for Coin to use as bait."

"And what about Gale?" he asked. Katniss hadn't thought about him. There was no way she could break him out too, not in his current condition.

"I hadn't thought about that." she said. "I guess it's not that great of a plan after all."

"Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be fine." he said with a smile. There was something else Katniss wanted to talk about with him. She still wasn't sure if their room hadn't been bugged before they were transferred down there. If they had, the conversation they had would not go well with Coin. The last thing she needed was her Mockingjay talking about fleeing the district. Katniss motioned with her finger for Finnick to bend down to her level. When he was closer, she brought her mouth to his ear and asked her question.

"Finnick, what's your plan with Coin? What do you ultimately want to do?" she whispered. Overthrowing her was something that was out of the question. She had so many people looking out for her that it would never happen.

"I want to make sure she's not the one running this country once all of this is over." he whispered back.

"You think she would do that?"

"Think about it Katniss. Her district is leading this rebellion. If our side wins, she's the leader. She'll automatically take the role of President of the nation."

"So what do we do?"

"I'm not sure yet, but when I figure it out, you will be the first to know." he promised her. Katniss looked at him and realized he was a lot smarter then she had thought he was. She always assumed that one could either be really beautiful or really smart. Maybe that was true and Finnick just had the good fortune to receive them both. She said her goodbyes to him and then returned to her own compartment. Prim was already asleep on her mother's bed. Her mother gave her another one of those motherly looks that questioned what was really going on. Katniss chose to ignore it and focus on getting ready for bed. She went across the hall to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she returned to her room, she quickly hopped into bed and closed her eyes, hoping she could fall asleep quickly before her mother could ask her more questions.

Mrs. Everdeen seems to be awfully worried about Katniss and Finnick, doesn't she? hehe. Don't worry though, this is a Galeniss story ;)

BTW today is my birthday and reviews would really brighten my day (it's been a good b-day so far :)). Also feel free to check out my new story The Peacekeeper's Son (last time I'll plug this story, I swear!)