Scabs painted their bodies where the blisters from the fog once did. Katniss had only entertained the idea of scratching at them for a moment before her common sense had taken over.

"Don't scratch, you'll only bring infection." Her eyes casted towards Peeta and Finnick, where both of them sat in the sand with their fingers already raking at the scabs.

They stopped instantaneously.

Katniss then registered that a body was missing: Ramsey.

Her stomach twisted in discomfort, she didn't like not knowing where the wily coyote lay. Ramsey was too unpredictable, too volatile, too lethal for her location to be unknown.

They sat in silence, Katniss' eyes shooting in every direction frantically. She finally honed in on the small body exiting the jungle, a small shell in either one of her hands.

"I brought you two water." Her words were crisp as she held out the shells to Peeta and Katniss.

Peeta accepted it graciously, bringing the shell to his lips and allowing the cool water to fill his mouth. Katniss on the other hand merely stared at Ramsey, her eyes searching for something. Why did she go out of her way at the strangest times? Katniss didn't need her help, she needed her to be as far away from her and Peeta as possible. But she took the shell and her eyes never left Ramsey's tanned face as she drank.

Ramsey couldn't be bothered with Katniss' distrust. She was far too preoccupied by Finnick and the tears that threatened to spill out.

He was grieving for Mags, the only woman who had we've been like a mother to him. She had sacrificed herself, just like that. It only proved how amazing of a person she had been. She was too good for the games, too good for any of it. She deserved more.

"Why don't you all get some rest? I'll watch for a while." Katniss spoke, her eyes hesitantly grazing over the three.

"No, Katniss, I'd rather." Finnick's voice was forced out, his eyes pleading with her silently. He needed to be able to mourn.

She slowly agreed, realizing what he needed to do. And so she laid down in the sand beside Peeta, allowing herself to fall asleep with him right there.

Ramsey was left in an uncomfortable position. Both her mind and body begged her to go to sleep, she had hardly received enough when the fog and the monkeys attacked, she was running low on ambition and strength.

But something inside of her pulled as she stared at Finnick, the tears pooling in his eyes as he stared towards the water. She needed to comfort him in some way, she had to. Right? That's what her gut was telling her, at least.

She slowly sat down near him, just close enough to draw his attention to her.

His green eyes glistened with the tears, filled with agony.

"Finnick," she began, her mind searching for the right words to say, "I, I'm sorry. I wish I could say or do more."

She had a hard time holding eye contact with him, she didn't know what to do.

And then his face was against her collarbone and his hot tears streamed down her neck and she found herself with one hand on his shoulder and the other stroking his hair as he sobbed.

She had never felt so out of place and so put together all at once.

It felt like hours had gone by with his face against her neck and his heavy breathing and the waves crashing as the only noises she could hear. The sun rose and illuminated the arena once more.

"Finnick, you should sleep."

He brought his face up to meet hers once more and he shook his head, his eyes puffy though the tears were dried.

"I'm going to fish a little bit, you sleep."

And just like that, the efficient career from District Four was back.

He stood up and dusted himself off, wandering towards the water with his trident in hand.

Ramsey allowed herself to drift to sleep.

That sleep hardly lasted at all, maybe an hour. The sun was still high in the sky and Finnick was still thigh-deep in the water, hunting small fish and oysters.

She waded towards him, taking note of the grass woven baskets filled with his catches.

"Ramsey, you're up already?" His eyes studied her intently, the light purple bags daring to rim her eyes. He knew that she needed more sleep. But he also knew that she was far too stubborn to ever agree to it at this point. She was too headstrong to appear weak, though.

But with bags under her eyes and small straight tendrils falling from her ponytail, he couldn't believe that she was still jaw dropping. Any traces of makeup that once adorned her pretty face were long washed away from the water and her nails were now trimmed short, in comparison to their prepped and polished state during the parade and interviews. She was a whole new person, but still the same flawless Ramsey Clyde. She was fierce, she was dangerous, she was a complete mystery.

Yet since they had been in the games, on two occasions, Finnick had been able to see a complete different side of the ruthless victor. She had nurtured him, comforted him, shown absolute empathy for him. It was something that no one had expected.

President Snow himself had found his eyebrows cocking at her less-than-typical actions as he watched the games from the control center.

Ramsey shrugged to Finnick, her eyes falling towards the sand for a moment before returning to his handsome face.

"Would you like help with anything?"

He couldn't help but stare at her. She was such an odd bird.

"No, Miss Ramsey, but why don't you eat?" He chuckled, he couldn't have her growing weak.

"Only if you eat with me." She smirked, with the corners of her mouth reaching upwards in a way that Finnick hadn't seen since they had entered the games. How could he possibly decline?

Finnick plopped into the sand beside his baskets of food and watched as Ramsey gracefully sat beside him. Every little movement and motion of hers was something completely fascinating to him. He found himself watching her far more closely than he had ever watched another human being before.

Katniss woke up soon after, her eyes scanning around herself for a few moments before she sat up. Finnick and Ramsey sat in the sand nearby, eating shellfish together. She couldn't help but wonder what could possibly be going on between the strange duo.

"They're better fresh." He smiled as he caught her watching them, popping an oyster into his mouth. Ramsey grinned beside him, her eyes training on Katniss.

Hunger got the best of her as Katniss cautiously reached out to grab a shell from the basket, wary of the two watching her.

"Oh, Katniss, your fingers." Ramsey's lips pursed out the sight of the younger girl's fingertips, caked with dried blood.

She had picked at herself in her sleep.

"You know, if you scratch you'll bring on infection." Finnick smirked, regurgitating the information of Katniss' from earlier. Katniss shot him a hard stare and Ramsey's giggles sounded almost immediately after, resulting in a similar stare being sent in her direction. She could only giggle more.

"That's what I've heard." Katniss grimaced as she washed her hands in the water.

Anger flared inside of her.

"Hey, Haymitch, if you're not too drunk, we could use a little something for our skin."

And almost instantly a small tub with a parachute floated down and into her hands. She grumbled, "About time," before ripping open the canister and revealing the tar-like substance inside.

She made a face at the odor but had no hesitation in lathering it on her hands and legs, a groan of pleasure escaping her mouth as the itching and pain subsided. She tossed the tub to Finnick as the substance stained her skin an ugly green color.

"It's like you're decomposing." Finnick chuckled as he eyed the tub, Ramsey giggling in agreement as she carefully picked it from his hand, ducking her fingertips inside.

"Here, come here." Ramsey spoke quietly as she gathered a small dollop of the substance on her fingers and ushered for Finnick to come closer. He grinned as his heart rate picked up, leaning closer to the small girl.

Her hands delicately rubbed the ointment onto his skin, her warmth and tenderness bringing such contentment to Finnick that he could've happily stayed in the moment forever.

Once again Katniss found herself ogling the small victor as she treated Finnick so kindly. She wanted to not like her.

As she finished working on his skin Ramsey handed the tub back to Katniss. It was then that Katniss realized, Ramsey had gone almost entirely unscathed by the toxic fog. She hadn't even sustained enough damage to need the ointment.

Finnick and Katniss woke Peeta up, scaring him and finding themselves in endless laughter. The four began peacefully eating on the beach when the bread came dropping from the sky. It was clearly from District Four and both Finnick and Ramsey knew exactly what it was: a message from Plutarch in regards to the rebellion. They grinned to one another as Finnick turned it over in examination.

Screams from across the arena stole them from their peacefulness as a wave tore through a section of jungle so large that it's aftermath washed up at their feet.

A cannon sounded and a hovercraft came to grab the victim of the wave.

Three new bodies fled from the jungle and onto the beach nearby them, "There," Katniss noticed them first, her hands shooting to receive a bow and arrow without a second thought.

They watched on as the crimson coated figures separated a few feet from one another, one wandering in deranged circles as the other two dragged each other further from the jungle.

The foursome backed into the jungle.

"Who is that? Or what? Muttations?" Peeta spoke, though only Katniss seemed to really listen.

Ramsey's eyes were fixed on one of them, squinted in concentration.

The one being dragged collapsed onto the beach, the dragger stomping the sand in frustration before shoving the circling one to the ground.

"Johanna!" Ramsey's excited voice called out, her face lighting up and her small body racing across the beach towards her.

It had only taken that aggressive act of anger to confirm her assumptions of her best friend.

"Ramsey!" Johanna's voice called back and even Finnick's face appeared to brighten at this. Katniss and Peeta, on the other hand, were not as pleased.

Johanna Mason was definitely not someone that Katniss had wanted around.

Ramsey and Johanna's bodies crashed into one another, the girls embracing each other so tightly Finnick feared they might break.

They whispered into each other's ears before Johanna kissed Ramsey's cheek as they pulled away, their happiness apparent in their gleaming smiles.

Johanna began telling Ramsey and Finnick her story as Katniss and Peeta slowly approached. They took note of the fact that Wiress and Beetee were the ones with her.

Confusion set in.

"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."

Ramsey's face crumpled slightly at Johanna's words. Finnick frowning, "I'm sorry, Johanna."

"Yeah, well, he wasn't much, but he was from home," she says. "And he left me alone with these two." She nudged Beetee, who was barely even conscious, with her shoe. "He got a knife in the back at the Cornucopia. And her—"

She gestured towards Wiress, still spinning in hopeless circles as the words "Tick tock" spewed from her mouth without rest.

"Yeah, we know. Tick, tock. Nuts is in shock," Johanna rolled her eyes, inevitably drawing Wiress in her direction. By this time, Johanna had lost her patience, shoving Wiress to the ground. "Just stay down, will you?"

Ramsey sighed at her violence though her eyes never left her best friend.

"Lay off her!" Katniss snapped, Johanna's eyes shooting to her in hatred and disbelief.

"Lay off her?" Her voices came in a hiss and Ramsey sighed, beginning to shove Johanna back.

"Johanna, don't." She whispered to her, pleading with her to not lose her patience.

But she was much bigger than Ramsey and she easily overpowered the smaller girl, marching towards Katniss and slapping her across the face.

"Who do you think got them out of that bleeding jungle for you? You—" Ramsey shoved her back once more as she continued on, catching her off balance and pushing her back into the water. The two toppled over one another yet Ramsey didn't let up.

Even Finnick and Katniss were shocked at Ramsey's sudden strength and protection of Katniss.

Johanna's temper slowly cooled down as Ramsey held her in the water. They writhed in struggle before Johanna finally gave up. The smaller girl began cleaning the blood off of her as Johanna rambled on about her hatred for the face of the rebellion. Ramsey simply giggled and nodded as she cleaned her off.

Katniss refrained from shooting an arrow at the two of them, knowing Finnick would surely be pissed.

Peeta and Finnick carried Beetee towards their camp on the beach, Katniss leading Wiress behind them. The three tended to their needs and cleaned them up before settling down to eat. It was a good amount of time before Ramsey and Johanna returned, Johanna completely cleaned off under Ramsey's careful hands.

It was still a shock to Katniss that Ramsey had gone against who appeared to be her best friend, all in attempt to stop her from attacking her. Why would she do that for her?

Johanna wordlessly began eating as Finnick began telling of their experiences over the last twenty four hours. His voice grew grave as he told of the fog, yet he never mentioned Mags. Ramsey pursed her lips and sighed, sharing a knowing glance with Johanna.

For the moment, things had been alright- calm, almost. Yet things can never stay at peace for too long.