This update was a lot quicker than mostly all of my others, but I was just too excited to wait any longer! Thank you to everyone, as always, and I hope you enjoy!
It was three days before everyone was allowed to leave the bunkers. Most of their previous compartments had been destroyed by the missiles from the Capitol.
Finnick spent those three days analyzing Ramsey's every motion, even more so than typically. He asked her more questions- deeper questions- ones that made her really think before she could answer him.
She was bitter, she didn't want to be in the bunker, she wanted to be in her room. But she was with Finnick, and even when she was in her worst mood, his flirtiness and genuine fascination with her warmed her heart.
He was grateful to have her there with him, rather than in the Capitol being tortured.
Katniss wasn't so lucky.
Her heart ached at the thought of Peeta being tortured, or worse, killed. What would she do if that were to happen?
It was only with Prim's wise words that Katniss was able to hold herself together.
Upon their trip out of the bunker, Gale and the victors were summoned to a room that looked oddly similar to Command.
It was decided that Katniss would have to film propaganda immediately to ensure both the Capitol and the other districts that not only was District Thirteen's military still intact, but that the Mockingjay was alive and well.
As Ramsey stood in the makeshift command room, she couldn't help the way her eyes wandered around the screens, calculating the use of every button and switch. The others spoke among themselves, Ramsey standing along the outskirts of the room in silent protest.
"Ramsey, dear, coffee?"
Finnick's soft voice pulled her from her thoughts, her eyes snapping to him in question.
Coffee? That was unheard of in District 13.
But it seemed as if everyone needed some at that point.
She nodded slowly, her eyes still far away.
Katniss went against her better judgement and allowed for her attention to focus on Ramsey for a moment.
There was something off about her. Even more off than her typically bizarre composure.
There was no doubt that she was smaller, Katniss had noticed that when she saw her in the bunker on the first day. Her eyes had once again accumulated the ferrel look as they had after the jabberjay attack in the arena.
She was on edge, she was even jumpy. Just at the sound of Finnick's voice she nearly leaped from her skin.
They were all handed cups of steaming coffee. Ramsey stared at her reflection in the scalding black liquid.
Her mind wandered to her brother for a moment, just a moment before it was back to what had haunted her for over a month at that point.
Her best friend could be dead, for all she knew.
Johanna had been the one person to show her kindness, to get to know her. She was the closest thing to family that she had since Zane was gone. She helped her cope through the emotional aftermath of the Games, through the hardships of being a victor, through everything. She was her very best friend, and she could be dead.
Or they could be torturing her, which coming from the Capitol, was probably much worse than death.
What would they do to her? Would they use her fear of water against her? Would they mutilate her limbs? Would they bring her to the brink of death just to bring her back and torture her some more?
The very thoughts were sickening, yet they plagued her helpless mind 24/7.
"Want a sugar cube, darling?"
Once again, Finnick's charm brought her back to reality, a seductive grin plastered on his handsome face.
She giggled briefly, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. It rarely did anymore.
But she nodded nonetheless and allowed him to plop a couple into her coffee. He repeated the gesture to Katniss, receiving the same reaction.
Katniss recalled that same line was what had introduced them in the first place.
Katniss was soon whisked off to be prepped for the filming of the propos, everyone dispersing briefly to prepare. Finnick snaked his arm around Ramsey's waist, her small frame easily easing against his side.
"I'll get you settled into your new room before I go and help film, okay?"
She nodded in response, taking a scornful sip of her coffee.
She was exhausted, and more than anything, she was heartbroken at the thoughts of Johanna bombarding her.
And so she allowed Finnick's tender touch to guide her to her newly assigned room, her head gently brushing against his chest as he did so. His heat and his empathy warmed her almost as much as the coffee did.
With a soft kiss to her lips and the promise of seeing her later, Finnick was off to join Katniss and the crew in the taping of the propos.
Katniss' entire demeanor changed upon sight of the roses from Snow.
From that point, she was hardly able to function with the nauseating scent of roses infiltrating her senses. After endless amounts of failed attempts, she simply broke down in Haymitch's arms until she had to be sedated.
Ramsey sat in her new room for the remainder of the day, laying on her bed, face towards the ceiling and eyes squinted shut. Her mind was in a frenzy, her thoughts crashing into one another in painful clusters. Things in Thirteen were becoming too much to handle.
It was a whole day before Katniss came to, once again to find Haymitch by her side. It was then that he told her of the rescue team being sent into the Capitol to rescue a select number of victors.
Gale and Finnick were among those who volunteered to be a part of the team.
Finnick didn't tell Ramsey he was going to the Capitol to liberate their fellow victors, he knew that such things would throw her into hysterics. And so the night before, when he went to see her, he had kissed her lips hard and held her close against him, and had told her that everything would be okay- he left it at that.
Katniss jumped into action as soon as she knew what was going on. She was prepped and ready to go in no time. Beetee broke through the Capitol's television network and began feeding her interview to all of Panem.
Katniss told the story of how she met Peeta, every moment with him, everything she could come up with in order to distract Snow from the rescue team.
She found herself waiting for what felt like forever in Special Defense, blowing things up with her arrows.
After too much time had passed she simply waited in the hummingbird room.
And then all at once, in the dead of night, Haymitch flung the door open breathless, a worn out smile of relief on his chapped lips.
"They're back. We're wanted in the hospital wing."
It seemed as if time stood still for a moment as everything processed in Katniss' mind. Her first instinct was to run there, to sprint and find Peeta. And then she went against that thought.
Ramsey's back was to her when she opened the door of her compartment, her hair lay flat and straight against her back- it seemed to have grown a great amount since the games, or maybe it was just that it had always been up during their encounters.
Katniss sighed, both signaling her presence and rethinking why she was doing what she was.
"Ramsey, you should come with me."
Ramsey hardly flinched when she heard Katniss' voice.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Katniss didn't have time for her attitude, she was already regretting her choice.
"Nope, we're not playing that cute little game of yours. Gale and Finnick were a part of the rescue team that infiltrated the Capitol prison, and they just got back."
Ramsey's body spun around at an inhumanly fast rate, her eyes going wide in question and her mouth falling open for a moment, searching for words of some sort.
Katniss nodded, even going as far as to spare a grin in her direction.
Ramsey was off her bed and by Katniss' side in an instant, her body vibrating and her eyes eager.
They rushed towards the hospital in silence, Haymitch following closely behind them the whole way.
The entire hospital wing was in an uproar, doctors fleeing from one end to another, shouting orders, working whenever they could find space.
They saw Gale first, something being removed from his shoulder blade with tweezers.
Finnick spotted Ramsey the moment she entered the wing and he hurried towards her, his hands instinctively flying to her waist and pulling her close. She returned the embrace, grateful for the fact that he made it back from the rescue safely, though her eyes still scanned the entire scene- begging to see her best friend.
"Finnick," her voice came out desperate, his eyes snapping down to her face, "Johanna, where? Did, did she-"
"She's alive, Ramsey."
Relief flooded through her body, her limbs feeling weak as she let Finnick hold her up- though her eyes still didn't rest, they wouldn't until she found Johanna.
And then they saw her.
The gurney rolled by hurriedly, the doctors already poking and prodding and shouting demands of sorts.
But it wasn't Johanna, it couldn't be.
The young woman lay unconscious, head shaved, her flesh painted in bruises and oozing scabs, her skin almost transparent and dangling loosely from her bones.
Ramsey's breath caught in her throat, a strangled sound escaping past her lips as her whole body fell limp, Finnick catching her from hitting the floor.
"Johanna, no-" she hadn't even felt the tears pool in her eyes or begin to pour down her cheeks in steady streams.
She pushed and wriggled from Finnick's grasp, chasing after the doctors and Johanna.
He tried for only a second to stop her before he realized any efforts to keep her away would be futile.
Katniss had disappeared quickly, Haymitch showing her towards where Peeta was, her stomach caught in her throat.
It all went downhill very quickly when he came charging towards her to strangle her.
Ramsey stood outside the door of Johanna's room for hours. The doctors wouldn't let her in, they told her they had too many essential procedures to do.
And so she stood in front of the door, her face resting against the cool metal, well into the next day. Johanna had to live, she had to be okay. She had made it that far, she couldn't give up.
Ramsey knew she couldn't make it through the revolution without Johanna.
It wasn't until evening the next day that the doctors opened the door.
She nearly collapsed from exhaustion, she hadn't slept once- she was too worried.
The moment it was permitted, she was flinging herself into Johanna's room.
Her body was covered in bandages, almost equal in amount to the bruises of various stages. But she was alive. And that was all that mattered.
"Oh, Johanna." And the tears started once more as Ramsey crept towards her bed. She sat in the chair provided, scooting it as close as she could get.
Johanna had always been the tougher of the two, though at that moment, she was not. Ramsey took Johanna's hand into her own, Johanna's skin cold and dry.
She rested her forehead against the bed and allowed the tears to fall, only to be soaked up by the hospital sheets.
She fell asleep like that, cradling Johanna's hand and sobbing beside her.
Johanna woke up two days later. The doctors had made multiple appearances in between, changing bandages and checking vitals. Ramsey refused to move on these occasions though, and after some time, they didn't ask her to anymore.
Despite that Finnick was dying to see Ramsey, he knew she needed her time with Johanna. He paid too much attention to her to pretend that Johanna being gone wasn't what had almost pulled Ramsey into an absolute meltdown.
Johanna woke up with a sharp intake of air, her eyes snapping open and her body heaving forward.
Ramsey gasped, and for a moment the two just stared at each other in shock.
"Johanna!"
"Ramsey!"
Ramsey squealed, her hands shooting forward to grasp Johanna's face, her smile lighting up the whole room and her tears forming and escaping all in an instant.
And then they simply stared at each other again. Despite her marred appearance, Johanna smiled right back.
With a shaven head and covered in bruises and gashes and bandages, Johanna smiled not only at her best friend, but at the fact that they were together again.
They had survived two Hunger Games, the Capitol's cruelty, and the rise of the rebellion. Together.
"Don't just stare at me like an idiot, come here!" Johanna laughed, her voice raspy, though just as harsh as ever.
Ramsey giggled for only a second before casting her arms over Johanna's bony shoulders and embracing her.
They held onto one another for dear life, Ramsey's sobs being the only sound in the room- albeit the beeping of Johanna's heart monitor.
It was in that moment, with their bodies clung tight and their tears soaking one another's shirts, that they were both positive they would make it out of the rebellion alive- and together.
