A/N: The is chapter is rate M for a graphic aftermath of an explosion.

I take stock of my current situation and see that most of, if not all, of my outfit was shredded in the blast. I can see the bones of my rib cage, and my best guess is that my belly region took the bulk of the blast. And what's even creepier is that my skin, tissue, and muscles have already start to regenerate and repair itself. I look for an exit, and possibly a trap to set on my way out.

The Hunger Games ain't squat on this! I thought.

"Check for survivors." a male voice said.

"Do you really think anybody survived that?" a female voice asked. I look a round and there is nothing left of the people who were with me when the bomb exploded. I'm the only living being in the room, the rest were corpses missing limbs and a few missing heads that had been crushing in the falling rubble.

"We have a job to do." the man said.

I'm out of time, and out of options. I make my way to the exit that Doc told me about, and as I'm doing so, I try to burry the fear, and suppress the images of what I just saw. Nothing could have prepared me for what had just happened. The violence and depravity of the Hunger Games pales in comparison to what I just saw and survived. I start hyperventilating, and I had to take a momentary break to steady my breathing. Which was a mistake because I puke my guts out. The vomit was loud and explosive. I can hear the voices again, and they're heading in my direction, so I take off running.

I slow down as I'm approaching the exit because I had to have a steady hand to open the door. I open the door to see that I was in the marketplace in broad daylight.

Awesome! I thought.

The crowd was staring at me and giving me all manner of looks. I don't have time to deal with the crowd, so I take off running. I know the crowd has never experienced what they are right now: a minor running around half-naked and their body in the middle of the healing process. Not to mention my bones are exposes, quite literally.

I'm starting to draw a crowd, and I have to get off the street. I run for a spot that Doc said was a friend of the cause.

As I'm approaching, I can hear people speaking. None of the voices sound familiar, so I hesitate. Before I could approach the door, I felt a hand clamp over my mouth, and an arm wrapped around my waist. I'm lifted off of my feet and pulled into alley. When I'm put back on the ground, I turn around to, no surprise, see it was Doc who pulled me into the alley, he had a finger to his lips telling to remain silent. I glared at Doc, and then crouch down in front of boxes and wait for the people in the building to leave.

The people never left because the moment I crouch down in front of boxes there was another explosion. This explosion was a massive one, and so big that it cause both me and Doc to fall over.

"How many explosions are there going today?" I asked, looking up at Doc.

"The one that caused that was not on me." he said, pointing at my chest.

"That's not encouraging." I said, as we both stood.

We stood around for a minute, and then Doc walked to the entrance of the of the building.

"Who was supposed to be in the building?" I asked.

"The actor." he said.

"Was this really necessary?" I asked, pointing at the rubble of what use to be a bodega.

"No, but you know what they say about drastic times." he said.

"No. No I don't actually." I said.

"Drastic times require drastic measures." Doc said.

"Shove it." I said.

"Any survivors?" Doc asked his men.

"No." I grumbled.

There was a moment of silence, and then Doc said. "Pull the bodies from the rubble and meet us at the warehouse." Doc looked at me and said. "Follow me."

We walked away from the burned out remains bodega, disappearing into the crowd.

By the time we got to the warehouse, one of the survivors was awake and lucid. And to no surprise, least not mine, Snow was there.

"What happened to you?" Snow asked when he saw my destroyed outfit.

"I was caught in an explosion that was meant for his team. What have we learned?" I asked, as I point at Doc.

"Not much, but I'm pretty certain you could mix things up a bit." the man standing next to the survivor said.

I approached the man and started interrogating him while Snow approached and Rantipol asked. "Was it necessary to let Finnick to get caught in that blast? Was it really necessary use a bomb to take out the target?"

"No, but it was out of my control." Doc said.

"Doesn't matter Rantipol, your job is to get my targets, but Finnick is not to be harmed." Snow said.

"I wasn't even aware of the explosives in the first building. And we had to act, or else the actor would have escaped." Rantipol said.

"Rantipol." a man said, approaching Rantipol and Snow.

"What?" Snow asked.

"Umm…the target survived the blast." he stammered.

"How?" Snow asked.

"How should I know? Just be happy you can interrogate the man." Rantipol said.

"I will." Snow said, and then walked to see his next victim.

At that moment I was walking back to Rantipol.

"Did you learn anything useful?" Rantipol asked.

"Yeah, quite a bit. A quick question." I said.

"Yeah, what?" Rantipol asked.

"Can I call you—"

"No. Doc will do." Rantipol said, cutting me off.

"Fine. Well, it took a little prodding, but I learned that the newscaster likes to frequent a brothel up on nineth street." I said.

"Scarlet runs that swanky establishment. I'll get on the wire and inform her." Rantipol said.

"Inform her of what?" Snow asked, joining the conversation.

"Inform Scarlet that the newscaster likes to frequent her establishment." Rantipol said.

"Keep me posted." Snow said, and then left.

"Should be fun." I said.

"Fun? Should be fun?" one of Rantipol's guys growled.

"Yeah. It's better than being blown up." I said, glaring at the man.

The man had no response, so he walked away to find something to do.

"I'm pretty certain that last bit wasn't necessary." Rantipol said.

"Whatever. Let's get going." I said.

Rantipol, his men, and I leave the warehouse as Rantipol was calling Scarlet to inform her of this change of events.

"Oh, really." Rantipol said.

There was a moment of silence, and then Rantipol continued. "Keep him distracted, we'll be as soon as possible."

"I take it our guy is at Scarlet's place right now?" I asked, as Rantipol hung up the phone.

"Yes, he is, and we're going have to take you with us." Rantipol said.

"What, why?" I asked.

"We don't know how long he's going to be there. You can wait in car if you like." Rantipol said, as we exited the building.

"That would be more preferrable." I said.

The five of us get in the car, and then we drove over to the brothel on nineth street. It takes all of five minutes to get to the brothel. As the men were getting out, I looked out the car window to my left. I thought I saw something as the car was pulling to a stop. I didn't, but I still looked anyways. Although Scarlet's establishment looked reputable, I have no intention of ever entering it of my own free will.

It took ten minutes before Doc and his men came back out. Not that I'm complaining. That and the fact there's a crowd starting to gather around the car.

"Thanks for the save." I said, as then men were getting into the car.

"Can't have the Darling of the Capitol inconvenienced because he had to and distract the citizens." the man in the passenger seat said.

"Forget you." I said.

"Actually, from a certain perspective, saving Finnick from the crowd allows us to get away from the scene of the crime faster. Next time we may not be so lucky." Rantipol said, as he put the gear and drove away.

"You're the one who wanted to bring me along." I quipped.

"Shut up, Finnick." Rantipol said.

It was a good twenty-minute drive before we got to our next destination. And when we got there, Snow and a hovercraft were waiting for me.

"Going home so soon. I was just starting to get accustomed to smell for rubble and healed skin." I quipped.

"You've done enough for one trip." Rantipol said.

"Plus, I have to hunt down the next target(s)." Snow said.

"Til next time, gentlemen." I said, and the boarded the hovercraft.

I could see Doc's and Snow's lips moving, I have no idea what they're talking about. Snow is probably giving Doc an earful for allowing me to get injured the way I did. As the landing ramp closing, I was contemplating getting some rest, but I was having second thoughts after what I had witness on my trip to the Capitol this time. The gritty and grizzled after math of the bombings still weighed heavily on my conscience. Just as the hovercraft lifts off, my body begins to shutdown, and prepare for the long journey back to 4. I fear the images that will haunt my sleep.

S.D.D.

District 4-

I'm shaken awake by the copilot to see that the landing ramp is down, and we're on the outskirts of District 4. One look at my outfit, and I realize that I'm the going to have to skirt the markets to avoid having to explain my latest hijinks. I walk off the landing ramp and make my way to the trees. I look back to see the hovercraft shooting off in the direction of the Capitol. I shake my head in disgust and then turn my attention to the task at hand.

I creep my way through the alleys of the marketplace when I heard a voice. I stop momentarily to see that it's Annie. I allow myself to admired this teen girl in front me, and then keep moving. I don't want to explain why I'm wearing charred clothing, but my body is in mint condition.

Snow really spared no expense with me. I thought, as giving myself once over and then kept moving.

I make it to the entrance of the village when I see Mags waiting for me.

"Can I help you, Mags?" I asked, as I walked through the gates of the village.

"Yeah, you can tell me why the current victor looks like he walked through fire and didn't get burned?" she asked.

"Not that question you should be asking, but I will answer it when we get to my house." I said, and the look I gave Mags said that it wasn't up for debate.

We made it my house without seeing another living soul. We enter my house, and then shut the door as I asked. "You want something to drink?"

"Water will be fine." she said, following me to the kitchen

As I entered the kitchen, Mags took a seat at the island while I grab a couple of glasses and the pitcher of water from the fridge. I poured two glasses of water and slide one to Mags as she asked. "What caused you clothes to char like that?"

"I was caught in an explosion about twelve hours ago." I said.

"How bad was it?" she asked

"Horrific. The explosion tore away everything exposing the bones of my ribcage." I said.

Mags was about to take a sip but stopped short. If I had to guess she was imagining the disaster that I experienced.

"Trust me when I say that the Hunger Games pales in comparison to what I experienced and lived through. Nothing could have prepared me for any of it," I said.

Mags saw a real chill go down my spine. I continued talking but all Mags could see was the blank stare, and lifelessness in my eyes.

"You, uh…You going to be okay to sleep tonight?" she asked.

"It was pretty rough on the flight back. I wouldn't expect tonight to be any different." I said.

"What happened?" she asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"Someone lured us into a trap. Everybody in the building died; the aftermath of the whole ordeal was very gruesome. Body missing limbs, head crushed by falling debris, and some bodies had been cut in half from the explosion." I said.

Mags had spat her water out, and it splashed in my face.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she said, rushing to get a towel and dry my face off.

"You just spit out your water. How do you think I felt when I had to live incident?" I asked.

"I'm…uh…I'm going to go. Please promise that you will still be here in the morning." Mags said.

"If I have my way, I will be." I said.

Mags cracked a weak smile, and the left the kitchen. I heard the front door open, and then close. I washed our glasses and went to take a shower. I take the time to wash the grime off of my skin. The fresh skin has begun to heal, but it's still tender. I finish my shower and then dry off. I go to my room and pull-on fresh sleep wear. I begin to tremble as I make my way to the make my way to the bed. I feel myself start to hyperventilate again, and rush to the bathroom. I make it to the bathroom in time to pull the toilet seat up and puke my guts out again, which was mostly water. I flush the toilet, wash my hands, brush my teeth, and then head back to the bedroom.

I lie down on the bed and prepare myself to have a sleep plagued by nightmares.