Finnick woke up in the same golden room as he'd been in for the past week. Nobody had come to get him yet, so he'd just stayed here. Somehow this strange Capitol room felt his, like he was safe here. He was sprawled across the bed, not bothering to actually get up yet. He figured he would get up when he got hungry. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in!" he hollered expecting it to be either Mags or Haymitch. His eyes widened when he saw the face of President Snow come through the door. Finnick shot up, trying to seem as put together as one can when they'd just woken up.
"President Snow, I wasn't expecting it to be you." He blurted out and immediately cursed himself for saying it. Snow simply looked at him; he didn't look upset or offended, although he never did really.
"Hello Finnick. You look well." He said, his eyes consuming Finnick. Finnick noticed this and shuttered. He was used to this from the Capitol citizens but he never expected it from Snow. He swallowed hard, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't let himself falter, not in front of him.
"As do you Sir." He said and flashed one of his smiles that made the Capitol go crazy. He knew it wasn't working when Snows expression didn't change. Finnick rocked slowly on the balls of his feet, at a loss for what to do.
"I hear you've spoken to Haymitch Abernathy." Finnick isn't sure whether to take this as a question or a statement. He simply stands there with his mouth open, having absolutely no idea what to say. He begins to wonder whether it was bad thing to have spoken to Haymitch or whether it really is just a simple observation.
"Yes, I did Mags introduced me to him." Finnick says trying to make it seem completely harmless, as he thought it was.
"Hmm, and what did he say?" Snow says calmly. It seems to Finnick that Snow knows exactly what happens every second in the lives of the victors. He certainly wasn't making it seem like Finnick and Haymitchs talk was innocent, so why did he need to ask? Was he just trying to intimidate Finnick? All he knew for sure is that he had to be very careful what he says to Snow, or anything he says in the Capitol.
"He just wanted to congratulate me." Finnick says nonchalantly, trying to pass it off as nothing. Snow narrows his eyes and smiles. A smile that sends chills down Finnicks spine.
"You don't have to lie to me Finnick. You don't think I know exactly what Abernathy said already. You think I would let my victors have privacy. Just think what would happen. They are all strong, they can all survive. Do you think they would sit back and do nothing and let the games continue if there wasn't someone there to stop them?" he says, his eyes never leaving Finnicks. There's no way Finnick could form a coherent sentence anymore, he's so frightened of this man he can only nod.
"If I let you all roam free, the first thing you would do would be conspire against me and my country. So to solve that problem I let you all know that you will never truly be alone again. I will know what you're doing every minute of every day. You are mine." His words make Finnicks blood run cold. His heart is beating a mile a minute and he can no longer even move to nod his head. Snows smile returns and he pats Finnick on the shoulder, in an almost friendly way.
"Be cautious Finnick." He stares at Finnick a moment longer before turning around and leaving. Finnick stands there not knowing what to do after that.
He must have been standing there for a long time because Haymitch walks in the door, which had been left open after Snow left. He must have seen the expression on Finnicks face as he placed his hands on Finnicks shoulders nad led him to the bed and pushed Finnick into a sitting position.
"Snow?" was all he said. Finnick looked at him, he opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a sad little sob. The older man looked at him with such immense sadness, like he knew there was nothing he could say to make this situation any better.
"Did he give the 'You're mine' speech?" he asked, apparently trying to make a joke out of it. Finnick nodded and looked down, he was no longer scared, he felt more anxious than anything.
"What exactly am I going to have to do?" he said in a small voice, still not meeting the other mans eyes. He heard a sad sigh from Haymitch, he was obviously getting tired of keeping things from Finnick.
"Capitol citizens are going to pay to be with you." He said bluntly. Finnick finally looked up at him, some of yesterdays confusion returning.
"Be with me?" he asked, not really wanting to know what it means, but he knew he would find out sooner or later.
"Why do you think they sent you that trident?" Haymitch said flatly, as if explaining this to Finnick was a tedious thing to do.
"So I would win?" he stated, it wasn't really a question. He really just wanted Haymitch to move along with the explanation. Haymitch sighed in what seemed to be frustration.
"They wanted you to win so you would come back. From the moment they saw you they loved you, you never had a chance Finnick. The Capitol gets what it wants, and it wants pretty victors, victors they can buy, victors that want nothing more than to give them what they want." His words burn into Finnick like fire. Finnick finally sees what he's on about.
"So, I'm going to be a prostitute." He states, almost without emotion, like the words don't mean anything to him. He sees the sadness return to Haymitchs eyes, it was like he wanted to help Finnick so much, to save him from this life but there was truly nothing he could do.
"Basically." When those words left Haymitchs mouth, Finnick knew he was going to have to just get over it, just accept it. He wondered then if the same thing had happened to Haymitch, or mags for that matter. He didn't know what had happened to their families.
"Did this happen to you?" Finnick asked, sincerely hoping the answer was no. He looked back up at Haymitch, who had a sad little smile on his face. He looked sad but with a sort of nostalgic look. He met Finnicks eyes and laughed.
"Yes, but I wasn't as smart as you are. I didn't listen, and they paid for it. Now it's just me, no family, just me and a couple of tributes I get to watch die every year." He explained, still not looking particularly upset about it. Finnick looked away from his to Mags who simply nodded at him.
"Who else?" he asks, not really sure why he wants to know. Mags and Haymitch look at each other, obviously they have something else they don't want to tell him. Finnick sighs and sits stands up.
"Well not many people like to talk about it, you know it's not really something you want to go home and tell your mother about, but there is one victor who I think you'd like." Haymitch says, a slight smile on his lips. Finnick is confused again, he said it almost like this person is happy about their circumstances.
AN: Don't really know where I'm going with this story, it's kind of making me sad so I think I'll make it more fun from now on. I'm sure a lot of you can guess who this mysterious person is.