oOo
Watching the Games was terrible.
Effie knew these people. She'd met most of them. One was a friend. And two were hers.
There was no good ending here. If Finnick survived, Katniss and Peeta would die. If one of them survived, the other would die. There was no way for both her Victors to survive like they had last year. No matter what happened, more than one person she cared about was going to die.
She was glad to see her three favorites working together, and she did everything she could to get them sponsors.
But the others were dropping like flies. By the third day of the Games, there were only eight tributes left.
Beetee led the group in a plot to take out the others with electricity, a plot Effie definitely didn't understand. A plot that, when enacted, made all the screens go dark.
And then Haymitch was there, dragging her toward… well, she honestly didn't know. "Where are we going?" she panted out as she hurried to keep up with him.
"Somewhere safe."
"But, the Games, the others…"
"We're not the only ones heading out."
She was having trouble keeping up. These shoes were not made for running.
"Do you want me to leave you behind? You don't know anything, but you think Snow will believe that?"
Her blood ran cold. No, she didn't think anyone would believe that, even though it was true. Finnick had told her to listen to Haymitch, and she was going to. Forcing her legs to keep moving, she caught up to Haymitch and made it to the hovercraft.
Plutarch Heavensbee, of all people, was waiting for them on the craft.
"The others?" Haymitch asked as he strapped himself down. Effie followed his example.
"We're working on it. But we've got to go."
Effie waited until they took off, dodging who knew what and making her want to vomit. "Where are we going?" she hissed at Haymitch when the flight and her stomach finally calmed down.
"District Thirteen."
"But it's gone!"
The infuriating man smirked. "Welcome to the rebellion, Princess."
oOo
They hadn't rescued Annie.
According to Haymitch and Plutarch, they'd tried, but Snow had gotten there first.
And now the love of his life was trapped in the Capitol. Along with Johanna, Enobaria, and Peeta. His love, a friend, someone who understood a lot of what he was going through, and someone he didn't know well but was coming to like.
At least those four had a chance. So many others were dead - eighteen of the Victors who had entered the Quell Arena had never made it out. He didn't know about Four's other Victors or his family.
Mags. Fuck, Mags.
She'd sacrificed herself for Peeta. And as much as they'd all agreed to do it, he hadn't expected how much it would hurt.
Finnick tried to keep going.
He spent time with Katniss and they commiserated over their captured loves. He tied every knot he knew over and over and over. He tried to help with plans and plots and all the secrets he knew. But he couldn't concentrate.
He hadn't realized just how much Annie had helped until he suddenly didn't have her. His support system was gone and while others tried to fill those roles, they could only do so much.
Effie was there, which was something. But she was fragile. And he didn't want to break her. So he leaned on her, but not as much as he needed to.
And then the rescue mission went out.
And they needed a distraction.
It was time.
He told his secrets. The ones he'd gathered in almost ten years of being sold. Every secret he'd ever been told about Snow, his deputies, and anyone who mattered. The truth of what was done to the Victors, the truth of what was done to the Avoxes. It all came out in a torrent which was broadcast throughout Panem.
He didn't tell Effie's secrets. Those belonged to him alone. Besides, out of all the people he'd learned secrets from, Effie alone had never told him a secret that could harm anyone but herself. They were her truths, not poison for the Capitol.
Instead he wrapped up everything he knew and sent it as a gift to Snow.
It would change how everyone else saw him, he knew. He'd just shattered the illusion of safety - definitely for Katniss, and probably for others.
But if it got Annie back, revealing himself - no matter what reactions it brought - was worth it.
oOo
After the propo, Effie found Finnick sitting in a corner of the hallway, tying his ever-present rope into knots.
Heedless of what it would do to her clothing - her Thirteen uniform didn't exactly matter anyway - she sat down next to him. She didn't say anything. Honestly, she didn't know what to say. His revelations of just how deep corruption ran through the Capitol… she hadn't expected those.
And his revelations of what was done to the Victors were worse.
No, she didn't know what to say. But she could be there for him.
Finally, he broke the silence. "Tell me something."
"Like what?" By now, the words were automatic.
"A secret."
"I don't have any of those."
"I don't believe you."
He didn't smile. But the exchange and the knots seemed to bring him at least some level of peace.
She'd told him most of her secrets by now. There was only one left.
And after his revelations…
It was time.
"I don't know who my father is. Or was, I suppose. I don't know." She took a deep breath. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was a Victor. But I'm fairly certain, whoever he was, that my mother bought him."
Finnick stared at her.
"I didn't know what Snow did to you. But I think part of that was because I didn't want to know."
He inched closer to her. "I didn't know. About your father."
Effie smiled ruefully. "I wouldn't expect you to." She'd kept that quiet for a long time. "So… secrets."
"I've been collecting them for years."
"Including mine."
He gave a half-shrug, his hands busy making another knot. "Your secrets could only harm you."
"And my mother."
"True. But most Capitolites, when I ask for a secret - they tell me something harmful about someone else. How someone else cheated their way to a position. How someone else destroyed another person's life. How someone else stole something that mattered. You always told me about yourself." He put his hand on hers. "I like our conversations."
She smiled, then looked around. "I miss the roof. It feels odd to have this conversation underground."
He nodded.
They sat together in silence, his hands still busy with the rope, hers simply fidgeting.
A loudspeaker crackled to life and a calm female voice began speaking. "Will the following people please report to the Infirmary. Haymitch Abernathy. Katniss Everdeen. Finnick Odair. Beetee Latier."
The list continued but both of them stopped paying attention.
"Do you think they…" Finnick trailed off.
Effie nodded. "I hope so."
"Annie," he breathed.
Until the Quell, until that conversation he'd had with Katniss live on air, until Effie was in and out of the mentor's area and saw how Annie was reacting to the sight of Finnick in that Arena, she hadn't known he and Annie were together. They'd hidden it well - probably because of the demands on Finnick's time. And body. And even his soul. But she'd seen his worry, heard the way he talked about Annie.
Five years ago, she might have been jealous.
But now, she just wanted him to be happy. "Come on," she said, standing up. She reached down to help Finnick to his feet. "Let's go reunite you with your… Annie."
oOo
Lying in bed with Annie the night after their wedding was the happiest Finnick had ever been.
His wife was beautiful. Amazing. Perfect. So many other words he couldn't think of right now.
His.
And he was hers.
It had been a weird ceremony. Indoors and underground, when Four's weddings always happened outside by the ocean. Music and dancing that was more from Twelve than anywhere else. Annie wearing a Capitol-made dress, him in a tailored suit.
But they'd had the saltwater, the net, Four's wedding song. And most importantly, they'd had each other.
Unfortunately, their peace and quiet wasn't going to last long. Only a few days after their wedding, training started. Annie wasn't able to participate; there was no way she'd ever pass a psychiatric evaluation and both of them knew it. But Finnick could. And after a long discussion about what was owed and what was right, they decided together that he should.
Before he left for the Capitol, he said goodbye to Annie. He'd already done this, only a few months ago, and it felt both different and the same.
His secrets didn't matter anymore, not the way they had before the Quell, so he handed her a stack of letters. "If I die…" He took a deep breath. "These are labeled with who they're for."
She looked through the pile and he knew which names she would see. The other Victors from Four, his family, Johanna, Haymitch, Beetee, Katniss and Peeta, other Victors who might still be alive. Her. And Effie. Each of them meant something. Before the Quell, he wouldn't have written those letters. Too much risk of everything getting out and someone suffering for it. But now was different.
There was even a letter for Snow, one that was almost gloating. He'd had fun with that one.
Annie put the stack in a cupboard. Then she pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Come back to me, Finnick."
He kissed her. "I'll do my best."
oOo