hey guys, so here's this. but i am planning to do a few bonus scenes and would like to know what you guys want. I already have two in mind, but am thinking it'd be good to have one more. By that i mean things i didn't write that you really love and want to see of a small snippet from someone else's perspective like Johanna or Peeta. So brainstorm and message me about it! Enjoy this chapter, I love Johanna.

35

Strength

I spent the rest of my night making a grass roof over Katniss and Peeta to protect them from the sun. Then I made more baskets and collected all kinds of shellfish and dropped them into the baskets. I managed to stop the tears by the time Katniss joined me, but I'm willing to bet I looked like a wreck. She was kind enough not to say anything. Especially when she saw all the food I collected. It was good, like being home.

Then we were given a gift of medicine. Our scabs have become so unbearably itchy my mind threatens to snap. Katniss was coated in blood when she woke up from unconsciously scratching herself.

Now Katniss opens the tube and scowls as she sniffs it. I can smell the weird smell all the way from here. It smells like tar and some sharp, almost mint smell I've never experienced before. She globs the medicine into her hand and rubbing it in, a moan escaping her lips that draws me back for a second. Never before have I heard her make a sound so sexual, but it's one I've heard many times. She doesn't seem to notice or care, and keeps rubbing in the medicine. I grimace as her skin turns a putrid grayish green. She tosses the tube to me, but I continue to scowl.

"It's like you're decomposing," I say, watching as even her face turned the color of dry mucus. A particularly intense itching makes my foot twitch and I grab the tube, rubbing it over my skin. The relief is instantaneous and yes, just as pleasurable as Katniss' moan suggested. I close my eyes and soak it in, and then continue. Katniss and I coat each other, and the more I put on the more I realize how disgusting I look. I'm afraid my skin is going to just fall right off and leave me a pile of bone and muscle.

"Poor Finnick. Is this the first time in your life you haven't looked pretty?" Katniss teases, putting some ointment behind her ear. She looks like an rotten, marred fish discoloring in the sewer pools. I've seen such a thing, and I almost get sick thinking I look like that too. If there was any question of me being attracted to Katniss ever, it's now been defeated.

"It must be. The sensation's completely new. How have you managed all these years?" I return with a smirk.

"Just avoid mirrors, you'll forget about it."

I laugh and shake my head, "Not if I keep looking at you."

When we finish with ourselves, Katniss stands up and stretches. "I'm going to wake Peeta," she says.

I can't imagine the shock he's going to get seeing her when he wakes up.

Wait!

"No, wait," I whisper confidentially, "Let's do it together. Put our faces right in front of his."

Katniss grins devilishly and says, "We're probably going to get punched…."

"Worth it," I smile back.

She nods and irrational excitement fills me up as we position ourselves on either side of Peeta and lean in until we're only inches from his face. Katniss calls out in a soft, loving, sing-song voice; "Peetaaa. Peeta, wake UUuup."

Peacefully, serenely, his eyelids flutter open and then his face turns to horrified shock and he cringes away from us. "AH!"

I'm consumed with laughter as Katniss and I topple over, laughing harder every time we got a look at his indignant face. It was all just so funny and perfect. Katniss is looking at me with newfound appreciation, and I can see I've won a part of her over.

Well, took you long enough Kat.

Truth is I like her too. She's tough, a touch oblivious or ignorant of things to do with love, and a little proud, but she's also compassionate, sacrificing, and funny. I can see the person she is when the cameras aren't around, and I like her. But could never love her, not the way Peeta does. Annie fills in the cracks that Katniss seems to be coated with. Annie is openly compassionate, understanding, unassuming. She's not proud, nor is she self-defeating. Annie knows who she is and knows the parts of her that can improve. And she works on them. She's open with her love and gives it freely. Katniss barely seems to understand love at all, while Annie has known all her life what it is and embraces it. And like Katniss, Annie would sacrifice herself if she needed to. Now if only she could have Everdeen's thick skin and she'd probably be the face of the revolution instead. But maybe I'm biased.

Nevertheless, Katniss is a strong girl, a good friend, and now the face of the revolution. A face I'm desperately trying to keep alive no matter how bent she is on killing it to save Peeta. Another guy I need to save to make everyone happy.

A parachute lands and contains a loaf of bread from District Four. I snatch it up and examine it, searching for any messages Haymitch, Tristan, or Plutarch may have left on the crust. I remember what Haymitch said the night before I left.

"We're going to communicate with you through the bread we send," he said, "the district it comes from will be the day. The amount, the hour. So I suggest you familiarize yourself with the different kinds."

This is from my District, so day four. I have to keep these two alive for three more days including this one. The hour…one? There's only one loaf…so it has to mean they're coming at one in the morning. That begs the question, are they coming at one am the fourth day in the morning? Or the night of the fourth day at 1 am…which would technically make it a fifth day so it must be the morning of the fourth. So I have to keep these two alive for only two days. I think I can do that…maybe…

I feel Katniss and Peeta staring at me and finally say, "This will go well with shell fish."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

We're eating when Katniss stops and whispers, very stiffly, "There."

We look to see three figures stumbling to the beach. Immediately we melt into the cover of the jungle, watching them as they struggle.

Why are they all red?

"Who is that?" Peeta asks, "Or what? Muttations?"

Katniss knocks an arrow and pulls it back, ready to strike. But I don't want her too. They seem to be in rough shape. One of them is literally dragging the other. And then I see it. The dragger turns around and shoves the spinning one down.

Finally!

"Johanna!" I shout with joy, taking off for them.

"Finnick!" she replies, sounding both excited and relieved. I put the distance behind me and crash into her, pulling her up into a hug she probably isn't accustom to getting. But when I pull away she's at least smiling under her disgusting red coat.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asks, swiping a finger over my green-gray skin.

"Poison mist. The ointment we were sent makes us look like this. Where's Blight? And what is this stuff all over you?"

Blood. It smells like blood.

"We thought it was rain, you know, because of the lightning, and we were all so thirsty. But when it started coming down, it turned out to be blood. Thick, hot blood. You couldn't see, you couldn't speak without getting a mouthful. We just staggered around, trying to get out of it. That's when Blight hit the force field.

Oh no...

"I'm sorry Johanna," I say sincerely. She never shows when things hurt her, but I know that it did. Blight; skinny and blonde, always trying to cover other's misery with humor. I genuinely am going to miss him, we could have used his positivity on this escapade.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't much, but he was from home," is her only tribute to him before she adds, "And he left me alone with these two." I look down at a barely alive Beetee as Johanna nudges him with her foot. "He got a knife to the back at the Cornucopia. And her—"

"Tick tock. Tick tock." Wiress can't seem to stop circling, murmuring her little phrase. It's frightening really. Johanna just rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, we know. Tick tock. Nuts is in shock." Wiress crashes into her, recognizing the attention, but Johanna shoves her harshly. "Just stay down, will you?"

Katniss, who appeared with Peeta sometime during Johanna's story, growls, "Lay off her."

Mistake, Katniss.

Johanna's eyes narrow and I sense trouble. "Lay off her?" she hisses, reminding me of a combination of Viper and Celeste. Except Johanna has her own style. She steps forward and slaps Katniss so hard, I feel it. "Who do you think got them out of that bleeding jungle for you? You—"

Okay, time to go.

I toss Johanna over my shoulder—difficult with the amount of writhing she is doing—and carry her over to the water.

"You little bitch!" Johanna shrieks at Katniss, pounding her fists into my back.

"You gotta calm down," I urge her.

"I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR THROAT OUT, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE—"

I dunk her head into the water and pull her up. She continues to hurl insults as I repeatedly force her head underwater.

"ALL YOU ARE IS A SLU—YOU SCRAWNY GIT! YOU WAIT—AS SOON AS I GET MY HANDS ON—YOU'RE A HAIRY SKANK WHO DOESN'T KNOW—THE ONLY REASON YOU'RE ALIVE IS BECAUSE YOU GO ON CAMERAS AND LITERALLY FU—"

"It's okay, Johanna!, it's okay…" I tell her, not stopping the soaking until Katniss and Peeta are gone and she simmers. The other four move back to the camp while Johanna wipes the salt water from her eyes and shakes her head. I pat her back while she sputters a few more words of hate.

"I worked my ass off and that skinny little twit has the nerve to tell me what to do. What did she have to do this whole time? Lay around and act pregnant? Screw with her little lover boy for food?"

"I know, I know. It's okay now you got them here."

She takes a deep breath and steadies herself, then splashes my face with water. "You didn't have to drown me you asshole."

I smile and shrug, "I sort of had to. She's really not that bad, you know. And Peeta's just like he is on the television."

"I don't care. I still hate her."

"Fair enough."

"Did you get any other gifts from the loving sponsors?" Johanna asks casually, but I know what she's asking. Did you get any bread?

"We got a loaf of District Four bread," I say casually enough so it's not suspicious. She gets the message. "And a spile for water."

She nods. "How generous of them. We got jack."

I give her an apologetic smile then say, "It's good to see you alive, Johanna."

She smiles tightly and says, "I appreciate the sentiment. Good to see you alive too, even if you do look like you stepped out of a science lab."

She stands and strips off her jumpsuit, discarding the blood-stained thing on the beach and stepping into the water. "Help me get this out of my hair?" she asks. I grin and force her head underwater, this time roughly scrubbing her hair with my fingers. She flails around until her head comes up. "Oh, you are going down Golden Boy."

I'm pulled under the waves by Johanna's hands and almost choke because I'm laughing. At least she's getting clean, anyway.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

I lay down to sleep, a little worried that Katniss and Johanna will kill each other. Instead they sit and I hear part of their conversation. "How'd you lose Mags?"

Well, it seems she figured out we're one short.

"In the fog. Finnick had Peeta. I had Mags for a while. Then I couldn't lift her. Finnick said he couldn't take them both. She kissed him and walked right into the poison."

So there it is. The story summed up. It stings.

"She was Finnick's mentor, you know," Johanna says accusingly.

Take it easy on her Johanna, please.

"No, I didn't."

Strange, I forgot how little Katniss actually knows about me. Or Mags.

"She was half his family," Johanna says, less accusing than before. Of course she'd know that. We've talked at the meetings before. We talked on the roof that one night where she told me about everyone she lost after her victory. And now it seems I've won a rare piece of Johanna's compassion. That, or Mags. All the same, it's special.

Eventually Wiress rejoins them and Johanna dismisses herself, plopping down next to me. I open my eyes and blink at her. She blinks back and me and then takes my hand, lays our closed fists between our faces, and burrows her head down to sleep.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Queerest games I've ever seen.

"Something's going on," I whisper, watching Johanna and Finnick fall asleep. Such strange alliances. Such strange disregard for betrayal from an alliance member in the middle of the night.

The loss of Mags is one that kills me. She sacrificed herself for me, and then again for another. I don't know why she'd do it for Peeta, or why Finnick wouldn't save her instead, but he did. And now she's gone. She was the closest thing I had to a grandmother. I think Pearl may have even cried for her.

"Are you okay, Aunt Annie?" Kai asks innocently from his spot on the floor. I look at him and nod.

"I'm fine, honey."

He drops his toy and crawls up onto my lap, nuzzling into my shoulder.

"Can you sing me a song?" he asks as I wrap my arms around him. I sigh and start rocking the chair gently. I stroke his messy brown hair and kiss the top of his sweet little head.

I decide on Mags lullaby, tears springing to my eyes.

"Out on the sea my love

There's a gray ship of shining glass

A white dove is sitting, singing

On the crystal mass

And out on the sea my love

The ship is sailing fast

Back home to the shore

Home my love at last."

Kai has fallen asleep against my chest, I could feel his breath on my skin. Slowly, so as not to wake him, I wipe away my tears and look sharply across the room at Mags, standing there with her old bony frame surrounded in a white, misty fog.

"Mags."

She blinks back at me and sings my song.

Scream scream scream, it's all a bad dream

"Where is Troy? Poor Troy is dead

His body left without his head

Hide hide hide, you can't go outside

The monster is waiting to chopper off his head

Then he'll be like Troy, dead dead dead.

No more thud, no more blood."

My body starts to shake and I take a breath to calm myself, even though I know that it won't work.

"I'm the dove," Mags says, "Marina's the dove. You're the dove. I'm not coming home, my love. I'm with my love. I'm not coming home."

I stare back at her. "Is Finnick coming home, Mags?"

She just says, "Finnick loves doves."

I try again. "Is Finnick coming home?"

She walks forward and kisses the top of my head.

"Good-bye, honey."

I shudder and then look down at the sleeping Kai and all the wind leaves my sails. Mags is gone, my nerves have settled, and the swirling darkness leaves the corners of my mind. The innocence in my arms keeps me sane. It gives me strength.

"So go to sleep and do not fear

For it glides on silver lining

The dove is coming for the shore

The ship it will be shining."