Tear You Apart

Drunken fervor and fierce cheers filled the streets of the Capitol.

Mid-arena.

Only 7 Tributes remained.

Finnick watched with anticipation, his eyes never left the screen. Black circles orbited his lower lids.

Near Pandora's feet Seven rested. His furry chin relaxed on her toes, his blue eyes stared on Finnick watchfully. Bringing the wolf home didn't bare the best of results. Finnick not only voiced his disgust with Pandora's new pet, he hated it.

His green irises briefly glanced to Seven and narrowed.

"Tell your dog to stop staring at me."

Pandora dropped her eyes from the screen and peered at Seven, "He's just curious."

"He's staring."

"It's just a dog, Finnick."

Her hand lowered to Seven's head, she gave his ears a scratch before leaning back.

Finnick angrily clenched his jaw and turned his attention back to the screen just in time to see Caesar Flickerman appear in the corner.

"It looks like things are starting to heat up…"

Finnick straightened his posture.

The Careers were in the center of a clearing. In the distance was the dam and surrounding forest. 7 Tributes were still alive, 5 of them were Careers. Both Tributes from District 4 and 1, and the female of District 2. But this gathering wasn't why Caesar thought things were about to heat up.

Pandora furrowed her brow.

The Tributes were bickering, the male tribute form 4 was having an altercation with the male of 1.

She felt Finnick's hand shake in fear, he leaned closer, "They need to get out there."

Pandora speechlessly stared.

Annie Cresta was shying away from the huddle, Pandora put herself in Annie's position. If she were in the arena right now she would have made a run for it, but Annie wasn't moving. She looked petrified.

"What is he doing!? He's picking a fight he won't win."

The male Tribute from District 1 had an axe in his hands, it gleamed as he gave District 4 a shove.

"Oh my god," Pandora whispered, she wanted to look away but couldn't.

"No…" Finnick, grabbed his head, his whole body was shaking, "They need to run. Run, Annie…"

Pandora's breath stopped. She corner-eyed Finnick. She didn't like him using her name.

The first punch thrown was District 4, but it was the only one he was able to throw. District 1 sent him flying, his female counterpart grabbed District 4's hands and pinned him to the ground.

Cameras panned to Annie, she was on the ground. Her green eyes were wide with terror, unblinkingly wide.

Pandora felt the blood suddenly rush out of her face as snickers from the Career Tributes sounded.

"Turn it off," she whispered, cradling her head, "I—we—it's too much, turn it off!"

Seven urgently perked up to his master's worried shouts, a low whimper murmured from him as he looked to Pandora.

But Finnick didn't move. He was breathing so loud.

Just as the axe came down and blood spew out Pandora cupped her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes.

Annie's screams echoed.

Pandora could feel Finnick lurch forward in a frenzy as the cannon boomed.

"No…" his voice was broken and beaten, "She has to move!"

"I can't watch this," Pandora responded, struggling to find her footing as she moved off the sofa towards the kitchen.

"It's looks like we have a runner, Claudius."

Caesar's voice broke through the tension.

"The District 4 Tribute, Annie Cresta, is moving fast with the other Tributes hot on her heels."

Claudius responded.

Pandora peered over her shoulder, Annie was crying, there was a madness in her eyes as she broke through the trees and low thickets.

"Finnick, please turn it off."

Again he didn't respond.

He was so engrossed, too swallowed in the Games that he refused to look away. His teeth chattered against his nails as balled his hands into fists and shook his head in terror.

"C'mon, move…keep going!"

He winced as Annie fell to ground, parting his lips as she picked herself up again.

Pandora felt Seven brush against her leg as she twitched her eyes between Finnick and the screen. Her expression was a mixture of sadness and sickness, in her eyes a faint spark of envy swirled. She rubbed her temple, silently trying to subdue the irrational emotions heightening inside.

It would be bad to wish any young girl death, but in that dark moment her bad side suddenly shown through. She wanted Annie to die, it would be so much easier that way. She wished she would die.

Instant disgust made her gasp and turn away.

She curled her hands around the counter and steadied her breath. She was disturbed by her own thoughts, irrational and evil thoughts.

"I can't believe it! It looks like she's tricked them. Annie Cresta is still alive, they completely bypassed her!"

Pandora didn't have to look at Finnick to know the smile that was on his face. A smile of relief.

She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. Her hands still clawed at the counter, "Turn it off."

Finally he looked her way. "What?"

She spun around and clenched her jaw, "Turn it off!"

"Pandora—I can't—what if something happens."

Her nostrils flared as she practically sprinted to the thin remote. She snatched it and pursed her lips angrily before pressing the button.

"What the hell?!"

Her feet moved backwards as she darkly looked into Finnick's eyes and tightened her grip around the remote.

"I think I've seen enough death for today."

"Give me that," She could tell he was irritated but she didn't care.

When he tried to reach for the remote she took another step back.

"No, this is enough."

"I'm their mentor! I need to watch!"

"No, you want to watch, you don't need to!" She growled.

"How would you know?"

"I know that it won't help to watch, to fret over every spill of blood and lifeless kid."

Finnick glared at her, "You wouldn't know, you've never been a mentor. You don't even have a clue!"

His harsh words fueled her agitation, "I'm not watching anymore!"

"You're being ridiculous."

She mashed her lips together and took in a breath, "Since when do we support the Games, I didn't think you endorsed watching death matches, at least you didn't used to!"

"Seriously? This coming from the person who goes on camera to support the Hunger Games. You're telling me that my watching the games because I'm worried is wrong?!"

She narrowed her eyes, her head was hunched. Her lips parted in offense.

"You know I don't have a choice doing that!"

"Do I?! You seem to like it."

Silence.

"That's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be."

Raw breaths passed her teeth, "What's the matter with you?"

"I need to make sure she's okay."

His eyes maddeningly twitched to the remote.

Pandora let out an insulted laugh, more like a breath. She blinked her eyes away and nodded.

"Just give that to me!" He roared.

She staggered back in surprise. Finnick's angry shouts suddenly upset Seven.

Instantly the wolf got in between the two of them. A snarl sounded through his fangs as he stared at Finnick. Its back wildly arched in defense.

"Get that muttation away from me!"

Another snarl, more agitated than the first.

Pandora fearfully lowered her gaze to Seven.

"Woah," she knelt to the wolf's side and slowly pet his neck and back, "It's okay."

But another growl hissed from the wolf. His blue eyes were locked on Finnick. Apparently he didn't like the way he spoke to Pandora.

"Shh—" she whispered, "It's okay."

"Why do you even have that thing? It's just another cruelty of the Capitol."

Her brow furrowed as she peered up to Finnick, "He's not bad, he's just a wolf."

"He's a muttation!"

Seven snapped his teeth at Finnick harshly.

"See? He's nothing but an animal."

"You're scaring him."

"Yea, right. That thing was made in the labs, it's not scared of anything. It's probably waiting for a chance to rip out your jugular."

Pandora felt like crying. Her lips closed as she glanced to the floor and tried to regain composure. Her breaths quivered as she held out the remote. She couldn't look at Finnick. She tossed it to him quickly and whistled for Seven to follow as she made her way to the door and grabbed the leather leash Mironov had given her.

"What are you doing!?"

"I'm going on a walk."

"Pandora—"

She snapped the leash around Seven's neck and spun around, "Don't you apologize to me, not right now."

Finnick lifted his hands, "Don't leave."

She arched her eyebrow, "As long as that screen is on I won't stay here for another minute, you hear me? I have seen enough death to last a lifetime, I don't need to watch it for fun!"

She held back the true reasons for her departure. Sure she was disgusted by the arena, by the violence, but more than that she was disgusted with Finnick's preoccupation with Annie. Of course she was his mentee but after everything that had happened over the past weeks it felt like more than that. With every sleepless night Finnick had, every nightmare it was hard to imagine that Annie wasn't a partial cause of those.

Her eyes narrowed at the thought of Finnick dreaming of Annie, even if it was a nightmare she was jealous.

Never had they had a fight that bad, and over something as inconsequential as that. But it was the things that lay beneath the surface, the unsaid things. That was the cause of the fight. That was the cause of Pandora's dismay and fears. The larger problems lurking beneath the surface. It clung to her like a damp blanket.

Seven led the way but made sure to keep close to Pandora's side as she strode down the walkways.

Everyone was celebrating.

It wouldn't be long before the finale to the 70th Hunger Games, minutes even.

Her lips sadly pursed.

There was no doubt in her mind that by tonight they would be over, a Victor would be crowned, celebrations held.

Her head was spinning. Her pale cheeks felt the lash of the wind as she sauntered blindly through the streets.

Droplets of rain started to fall, but she barely noticed them.

Her eyes slowly glanced around the streets, her frown looked devastating.

She walked for a long while, without any sense of time. The only thing she kept an eye on was the sun, which slowly fell behind buildings and mountains. Orange light horizontally melted across the Capitol. It would be evening shortly.

"Oh my god!" She heard someone shout.

Her feet froze.

Suddenly a chorus of applause and gasps rattled her.

A group of people were clustered around public screens.

A rumble of crashes suddenly followed. She widened her eyes and stumbled backward. It took her a moment to realize that the noises weren't coming from around her but from the screens.

Something was happening in the arena.

Without thinking she grabbed the leash and started running towards the cluster. She had pushed past a few people before she stood on her toes to see the video of the arena.

Her eyes froze.

She couldn't even gasp.

The dam in the arena had broke. Water was rushing through the forest, through the clearing. It was wiping everything away. Tributes were drowning, unable to swim. Even the Tributes that could swim struggled against the crashing waves and currents.

"Look!" A child shouted in excitement.

Pandora saw what the child was pointing to before he spoke. Annie Cresta was swimming against the current. Her arms weren't struggling with the water, they were moving with it. She was heading towards one of the only dry parts left and she was making it look easy. Her hair clung to her face, her shoulders sliced through the water.

Cannon started sounding.

2, then 3.

Pandora's whole body shook.

There was still one more Tribute left, but she knew what was about to happen.

Her feet lifelessly staggered away from the screens. Her eyes unblinkingly looked to the ground. She had just crossed the street when the final cannon boomed.

Almost as if on cue the Capitol erupted with glee and overwhelming cheers. It surrounded Pandora, her head ached.

She leaned against the corner of a building, trying to reason with herself, trying to wake herself up.

Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she suddenly broke into a run.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Your Victor of the 70th Hunger Games…Annie Cresta!"

Caesar Flickerman excitedly announced.

In eerie unison all of the Capitol started chanted Annie's name.

Pandora's brown eyes finally showed a tinge of life in them as her feet pounded against the pavement.

She wasn't going back to the apartment, no…she knew that Finnick wouldn't be there. Her eyes twitched around as she darted down alleyways, cutting across the crowded streets.

She was heading towards the infirmary, that's where Finnick would be.

It was pure chaos. Not only were there mobs chanting and cheering, but peacekeepers and soldiers.

Her pace slowed as she turned the corner and caught sight of the infirmary. It was a large building, monumental even.

Already soldiers lined the perimeter.

A roaring sound echoed across the sky.

A jet zoomed overhead. Pandora paused, swallowing her nerves.

It landed on the flat top of the infirmary. Annie would be in that. She pushed her bracelet up her arm and pulled on the leash.

At the entrance she struggled to push through the crowd.

A peacekeeper stopped her before she could get by.

"You're not allowed in."

"Yes, I am."

He tightened his grip on her arm and pulled her back, "Show me you're identification then, I'll be needing one for that dog too."

Pandora narrowed her eyes and proudly tilted her chin up, "My name is Pandora Sullivan. I am the Victor of the 68th Hunger Games and a friend of Viktor Mironov's. I've probably killed more people than you can count, and I'm ordained by the President himself to go where I please. Is that a good enough identification for you?"

She had no idea where this sudden confidence had come from, but she wasn't about to budge.

The peacekeeper's face reddened with anger.

"I suggest you get your hands off me."

From beyond the doors a familiar face peered out.

Adric let a few seconds pass before he exited the building and kept his eyes on Pandora. He was only a few feet away when he spoke.

"I'll take her."

The peacekeeper whipped around in surprise.

"Pandora, is that alright with you?"

She gave the peacekeeper a severe look before turning back to Adric, "That'll be just fine, Officer."

He reached for her wrist and nodded, "Alright, follow me."

She gave the leash a quick tug, seeing Seven trot by the line of peacekeepers before she looked ahead again.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was out walking my dog…"

"You were what?!" Adric dropped his eyes in surprise and shook his head, "How did you get that wolf?"

"Long story."

"I'm sure," he quipped.

Pandora urgently glanced around as doctors bustled around the hallways, "Is Finnick here?"

"He arrive just before you, he was ushered into the waiting room."

Her lips anxiously curled, "Good."

Doctor's angrily blinked to the wolf and stumbled back as they marched through the infirmary. A few rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

They had just reached the waiting room when Pandora saw Finnick. Her lips started moving as she shoved through the doors and stopped.

"Finnick…"

"Pandora, what are you doing here?!"

She broke away from Adric and slowly walked up to him, "I wanted to be here for you."

Finnick stared at her, his eyes looked sad but he smiled still. She could tell how sorry he was, see the apology in his eyes.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"Hey! You can't have that thing in here!" A passing doctor suddenly shouted, pointing to Seven.

Pandora protectively wrapped the leash around her hand, "He's not going to do anything."

"It's not sanitary, you need to get him out of here!"

Adric quickly stepped forward, "He's right. It's hazardous. I'll take him."

Pandora hesitantly glanced between Adric and the grumpy doctor.

Adric's eyebrows arched, "Don't worry, I'll give him back."

She leaned into Finnick and rubbed her lips together. Quietly she nodded and extended the leash to Adric. He smiled as he took it, nodding to Finnick and tipping his hat.

"Congratulations, Mr. Odair."

Finnick stared at him coldly, "Thank you."

He winked to Pandora and patted her on her shoulder kindly before pulling Seven away. The doctor quickly followed.

The door swung closed. It was just Pandora and Finnick.

"He's always around isn't he?" Finnick slowly whispered, returning to his seat.

"What?"

"That soldier."

Pandora watched him for a moment before taking a seat next to him. Her fingers rubbed against her brow as she rested her elbows on her knees, "I don't know."

"Are you friends with him?"

"No," her answer was short and quick.

"He certainly bends over backwards to help someone he's not friends with."

Pandora kept her eyes on the doors, she picked her fingernails and slumped into the seat, "Has anyone come out to tell you what's going on?"

"Not yet, I don't know how bad the injuries are."

Despite her own issues, her own fears, Pandora silently moved her hand to Finnick's. She stroked his fingers against hers, "It'll be alright."

"Yea," his fingers tightened around hers, "I hope…"

With a side-glance she could see Finnick's eyes watering. His hand was sweaty. He looked like he was going to be sick.

She grimaced, pretending not to notice.

They sat in the waiting for hours before someone entered the room. Though he wore a surgical mask, Pandora noticed him right away.

Mironov wiggled the mask away from his beard.

"Hi," he managed, nodding to both Pandora and Finnick.

"How is she?" Finnick asked.

Pandora felt his hand slip away.

"She's good, apart from some water in her lungs and a few fractures and bruises she hasn't sustained that many injuries, at least not as bad as I've seen before…" Mironov looked to Pandora.

She remembered the state she was in after the arena, she would have died within minutes of being plucked out of the arena if it hadn't been for the Capitol's advanced technology.

"That's good," Finnick breathlessly mumbled, "So everything is okay?"

"Um—not exactly. What I'm about to tell you a very complicated subject."

Pandora furrowed her brow.

"Annie had to deal with a lot of trauma in the arena, which as I'm sure you both know is very common, but she's showing signs of post traumatic stress syndrome."

"What!?"

Pandora shifted her gaze to Finnick. He looked devastated.

"How—how do you know it's not—just because it's only been a few hours. I mean—you can't know that right away!"

Mironov calmly nodded, "Yes, that's true, however her reactions aren't characterized by the common fits. I've known Victors fresh out of the arena to think they're still fighting, to cry out for people they've lost, but Annie's fits aren't like those. Now I'm not saying this is completely accurate, time will tell, but it seems that what we're dealing with is a loss of sanity."

"I want to see her!"

Suddenly Finnick was on his feet.

"Mr. Odair, she needs time to heal, it's going to be a few days!"

"No! I want to see her right now!"

Pandora's eyes widely stared up at Finnick. He was so out of sort, so crazed. He looked like he was on the brink of a mental breakdown himself.

She reached out to grab his hand but he swatted her away and stepped forward.

"I need to see her."

Mironov looked to Pandora and then to Finnick. He cleared his throat in irritation, "Alright—you can see her, she won't recognize you right now, she's still out of it. She probably won't be conscious."

"It's fine—I just—I need to see her."

Mironov nodded.

Pandora slowly brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and stood up, "I'll come with you."

"No!—I mean—don't worry about it, okay?"

She parted her lips in shock, her eyes glanced to Mironov before they completely dropped to the floor.

Pandora watched Mironov lead Finnick through the doors. Rain trickled against the window in the waiting room. Her eyes were full of confusion and hurt. She was thinking about the day she found Finnick on the roof, it was the first real conversation they had exchanged with one another, one that left a mark on her soul.

They hadn't had a real conversation since he left for the Reaping. They hadn't been the same since then.

Suddenly she felt like an old pair of shoes, dirtied and ripped. She felt unwanted.

Her uneven breaths matched the erratic beating of her heart. She leaned her head back and tried to stop the sting of tears.