Soul into Hades by Lacuna Coil
Everything I'll do for me
Will be in the name of your lonely tear
But stay now
I'll do
I believe in your power
Will you believe in me?
Direct Quotes from Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire are in italics. Anything you recognize is basically hers.
Chapter 21
It was all far too much. From the moment the pilot had confirmed that Winnow's hovercraft had been shot down over District 2, Cato had entirely shut down. He stopped fighting Finnick, and simply sank to the floor. No words or actions could rouse him back to life.
Finnick and Haymitch half-carried, half-dragged Cato to the cots, and lifted him onto one to allow him to rest. Cato turned to face the wall and wrapped his arms around his head in order to block out all sound and sight.
Katniss glanced over to them. She was just beginning to come back from the sedative. "What happened to him?" she asked curiously, nodding to Cato.
Finnick took two half-steps towards her, glancing from her to Cato as if he feared taking his eyes off him for even a moment. "Winnow's hovercraft was shot down." He said softly. "And we can't turn back."
Katniss struggled to sit up and Finnick moved in to help her. "And if she survived…" Katniss suggested quietly.
"She'll be in the Capitol's hands." Finnick confirmed, casting Cato another concerned look. "If you want to talk, Katniss, we'll have to bring you elsewhere. So we can let Cato rest," he said. Katniss nodded, holding out a hand to him. Finnick took it to help Katniss to her feet, feeling the inherent unsteadiness in her wobbly limbs.
"Katniss." Cato remarked suddenly, turning over to look at her. They paused in the doorway, looking back to him. "Winnow wanted me to tell you that Peeta won't be forgotten. That we will do all in our power to help him." Cato said, voice empty of all feeling.
The others looked at him in shock – even in the depth of his grief, Cato said those words. Words meant to comfort Katniss – and they did. "Likewise. If there is any chance, Cato…" Katniss responded, though she didn't know exactly what to say that might bring him comfort. Cato merely turned back to the wall, settling back into his silence and grief.
Finnick helped Katniss into the other room and to sit back with the others again. "Why did you bring them back?" Katniss asked Plutarch, in clear reference to Winnow and Cato.
Heavensbee sighed. "Because Winnow and Cato were clever, dangerous, well-loved, and above all else – good. I knew it was an idea President Snow would love, and I knew that those two were smart enough to sway to our side." He explained.
Plutarch was quiet for a while, as the others eyed him with thinly veiled disgust and disapproval. "It was cruel, I know that now. I took them from their graves, their eternal rest, and thrust them into the fight again. And now Cato has lost his wife for a second time, not to mention all the others." he said, shaking his head lightly.
"We don't know that Winnow's dead." Finnick cut in, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Just that she's probably better off that way, if she's in the hands of the Capitol," Haymitch said, holding up his flask to the light. He swirled the flask, hoping to hear the slosh of liquid inside. Sadly it was absent.
!
Cato was doing his best not to think. But he couldn't help but compare the way he felt now, to the day he had watched Winnow die. Her death had broken him, but it had also had a sense of finality. He knew her fate, he knew that she could suffer no longer.
But this time? Cato didn't even know if his wife was dead or alive. If Winnow was safe or in danger, or god forbid, in the hands of the Capitol. There was no finality, no closure. Cato didn't know anything, except a gnawing that seemed to be devouring his very heart and soul.
It was worse not to know, Cato concluded. Not knowing, Cato was held in a sort of stasis, between grief and hope. He couldn't be asked to go on without Winnow. He had essentially committed suicide the last time.
Cato's only hope was Winnow's final words. This is not the end. This isn't even the beginning of the end. What had she meant? Had she known something she couldn't say aloud?
Not so very long ago, Winnow had told him that the only way Cato could fail her was by giving up. So that was a promise he would honor. Cato wouldn't give up. Not on Winnow, not on himself, and not on this resistance.
It was the only thing, the only thought that kept Cato from losing himself completely. He focused on that alone, for the time it took to arrive in District 13. If it was hours or days, Cato didn't know. He couldn't eat, he couldn't drink, all he did was sleep, and wait. Wait for some sort of purpose.
When they finally disembarked from the hovercraft in District 13, Cato was disoriented and unsteady. He hadn't been on his feet in however long it took to arrive there. And it was just as disorienting to see all the people waiting there.
Cato's eyes widened at the sight of two familiar faces in the crowd. One Dr. Theta Yule and Artemisia. The latter immediately moved to the forefront of the crowd at the sight of him. The redhead opened her arms to Cato as he stumbled towards her.
Artemisia folded the blond male into her arms immediately, her eyes darting around, scanning the crowd carefully. Dr. Yule made her way towards them just as Finnick did. "Where's Winnow?" Artemisia asked quietly.
Cato didn't answer, merely turning his face away from hers. "Her hovercraft was shot down." Finnick said cautiously, eyeing Theta carefully as he didn't recognize her.
"No…is she…?" Artemisia breathed, embracing Cato tighter. The young man in her arms stiffened.
"Unconfirmed." Finnick said. "And you are?" he asked, turning to the other woman.
The silver-haired woman held out her hand to Finnick. "Dr. Theta Yule. I worked under Heavensbee in the Capitol, taking care of the Rivals, including Cato and Winnow." she explained. "Now I work with the healers here in District 13."
Finnick nodded shortly, eyes narrowed. It was clear he did not trust her, but it seemed Artemisia and Cato did. "Cato refused food and water ever since….since we've gotten on the hovercraft. You should treat him." he informed them.
Theta nodded, placing a hand on Cato's arm. "Come on, stupid. Let's get take a look at you." she said softly. Cato let himself be led away, glancing back to Artemisia when he noticed she wasn't following.
"I'll be there shortly, Cato." The petite woman called to him. He nodded, looking completely lost within the bustling crowds moving all around them. Artemisia turned to Finnick, who immediately drew her into a tight embrace. "Thank Panem you're all right, Finnick!"
Finnick managed a half-hearted smile. "I guess I am all right, more or less. Annie and Winnow…" he began, only for the woman to shush him.
"It'll all be okay, Finnick. The Mockingjay is here now, and she'll get them all back. She'll force Coin to," Artemisia told him lowly. Finnick's smile grew a little bigger. "Now there's someone I want you to see before I take you to the healers…"
"Who?" Finnick questioned as the redhead took his arm and began to lead him away.
Artemisia grinned. "Pyrrhus Reed. Somehow he was smuggled out of the Capitol along with Katniss Everdeen's district escort, Effie something." she answered.
"Where is he?" Finnick asked, excitement beginning to thrum in his veins.
"In his quarters. Coin has restricted him and Effie to their quarters until she finds something for them to do here. She doesn't want them wandering around her district without purpose,"
"I see,"
!
White-clad Peacekeepers combed through the wreckage of the downed hovercraft. Two bodies had been founded. The body of the pilot, still in his chair in the cockpit; and a young, dark-haired woman.
"They're all accounted for. Send this one back to the Capitol-" a Peacekeeper pointed to the woman. "President Snow will want the assurance that Winnow Elestren is truly dead." He said. The charred body was bagged and taken away, leaving one Peacekeeper alone among the wreckage.
The Peacekeeper who spoke, the one left behind, kicked aside some of the light rubble. He uncovered a bloody and bruised body. He leaned down, pressing his fingers against her neck. There was a slow, but steady pulse present, and the Peacekeeper smiled, from behind his mask.
He glanced around and then covered her with a sheet carefully, and lifted the young woman into his arms. The Peacekeeper carried her to a wagon, setting her down gently. He began to draw the wagon away from the wreckage, limping as he walked through the streets of District 2. The only thing visible under the linen sheet was a scraped and bruised hand, bearing a black pearl set in gold – a wedding ring.
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