"No." He tried to sound confident, but his voice shook all the same.

The woman didn't even look up from her papers. "I'm sure you'll reconsider." Snow at least looks at him when they talk.

Perhaps there was still hope. "No, that's what I'm fighting for. I can't do that again."

The room went deathly silent for a moment as she let his words hang in the air. President Coin finally set down her papers and turned to consider him. "And all along I thought you were fighting to keep Annie Cresta alive. I must have been mistaken." It felt as though the floor had been pulled out from under him. He was drowning. No, please no. "Naturally, plans do change with new information. If Miss Cresta is not as valuable an asset as we had originally thought, perhaps we should reconsider her rescue from the Capitol."

"You can't."

"If you do not think she's worth a small sacrifice on your part, what makes you believe I should put my soldiers' lives in danger to rescue her?" The woman's as much of a snake as Snow. He never would have thought it possible.

Finnick took a long, shaking breath, trying to calm himself, but still, he glanced around the room like a caged animal, desperate for any escape. Every second he stalled was another second that Snow had Annie. "I'll do it."

She smiled, and the entire room seemed to grow even colder. "I'll have your first assignment for you very soon. My aide will handle the details." He nodded and turned to leave. "You're a good soldier, Mr. Odair. I'm glad you remember that the good of the many must come before the inconvenience of an individual."