Mockingjay: Broken Wings
By: Jamie Sommers
Chapter Twenty-Two: I'll Go To Hell To Be With You
Previously our band of rebels took to the tunnels beneath the Capitol in order to stay alive. Effie, Justus and Lavinia are on their own mission and only Haymitch, Plutarch and Beetee know about it. Peeta, Katniss, Gale, Messalla, Pollux, Jackson, Leeg 1, Homes and Finnick are hiding in some sort of room with pipes along the wall so their group can rest until Peeta jumped to his feet at the sound of his name being called out.
Thank you for waiting. I do hope you all had a lovely holiday. My Easter was grand. Thank you to all of you that are reading and reviewing, and for those of you not reading...well, you won't see this, will ya? I'm telling you all now there are probably mistakes up the ying yang in this chapter as I only had one beta. My regular betas S and A were unable to beta this week, but I still appreciate all that they have done and are doing. My new beta S (different S) has stepped up to the plate for this chapter and I cannot thank her enough. Thank you so much other S. THANKS! If there are mistakes, it's my fault. Not hers. I get brain farts when I write.
Don't know about you all, but I'm curious to see what's happening in the world of...
Mockingjay: Broken Wings
Haymitch hadn't run this fast even during his training for the Quarter Quell. The sound of his feet echoed in the empty hallway as he raced in front of a panting Plutarch towards Beetee in Special Weaponry. If it were up to him, he'd leave the man behind, but Plutarch held the computer that linked to Effie and her short communication that had him shaking in his boots. "Move your ass," Haymitch held the door open and waited for the former Head Gamemaker who was completely winded. "Give me that damn thing," he ripped the computer from his hands and went through security as quickly as possible, leaving Plutarch in his dust. "Beetee!" He screamed the man's name to the girl that was sitting at the computer desk and recognized her as the same woman that had been there in the middle of the night the last time he had made one of these trips. Snow had rebel prisoners back then, and Haymitch wondered if the man had forgone capturing the rebels and went straight for the kill this time.
"Beetee is in his quarters." She looked over her shoulder in the direction of the man's small sleeping chamber.
"Damn," he slapped his hand against the wall and raced out of the room towards Plutarch who was still trying to catch up with him. "Quarters," was all he said. Haymitch ignored the grunt that Plutarch let out and walked swiftly until he got to the tiny room adjacent to one of the other offices lit up with computer displays and began pounding on the door. "Beetee! Wake the hell up!"
"Haymi..." Plutarch sputtered and tried again. "Haymitch, you'll wake everyone if you're not quiet."
"No one sleeps down here but him," Haymitch pounded again. "They don't let him leave this stinkin' place. Got him trapped down here like one of those damn mice with the friggin' cheese or...shit!" His fist tightened as he released his fury against the man's door, "OPEN UP!"
"The way you're yelling you're bound to wake the dead," Plutarch said between deep breaths as Haymitch started using his foot to kick at the base of the door.
"Yes...yes...I'm...I'm here," Beetee was pushing up his glasses with his middle finger as he opened the door to them. "Haymitch, Plut..."
Haymitch forced his way past the man without waiting for an invite. "We've got problems." He looked around and found a small table. "Christ," he placed the computer down and gestured to it taking notice that the only things inside of the room were the table, a chair and a pathetic excuse of a bed. "Effie sent us a transmission, only all we got was her screaming and a bunch of yelling."
Beetee began tapping away at the computer and asking questions. "Was she yelling at you or in general?"
"If I knew that do you think I'd be here waking your ass up in the middle of the night?" Shaking some sense of urgency into the man would probably be frowned upon, but Haymitch was seriously considering it.
"Yes. Yes. True. True," Beetee pulled up the recorded transmission and played it.
"Move! Justus...Lavinia stay behind me!" Effie's voice was barking out commands. "Do you see them? Dear God!" The sound of guns blasting reverberated through the room from the computer's speaker and Haymitch cringed. Effie was speaking through the gunfire, but none of them could make it out with the naked ear, "...got mu...s! They're...niss an...P...ta! I...sure...it! ...ave...bort the...sio... NO!" The sound of gunfire grew louder, a loud burst of static shot through the speaker, and the transmission died.
"My goodness," Beetee pushed his glasses up on his nose. "What happened?"
Haymitch's foot automatically shot out and kicked the only item of furniture in the room. The chair flew up against the wall landing in the middle of the bed's rumpled sheets and thin blanket.
"That is why we came to you, Beetee," Plutarch placed his hands on the man's shoulders and moved him out of Haymitch's line of fire. "Perhaps you can reestablish communications with her or pull apart the recording to let us know what it is she was saying?"
"Yes," he went for the door. "I'll need to access my main computer. Let's go."
"Are you coming, Haymitch?" Plutarch asked.
"Go!" Haymitch yelled at them, needing a minute to regain some form of composure before he hurt someone. "I'll be right there. Just go." Plutarch and Beetee didn't waste any time leaving him behind. Haymitch simply stood and stared at the chair that was now upside down on Beetee's bed thinking to himself, 'I shouldn't have ever let you go, Trinkie.'
Effie stood with her new weapon strapped onto her in the middle of the Hangar waiting for the medical team to arrive when Haymitch began to reconsider the entire mission. "This is too dangerous." Haymitch shook his head from side to side. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Oh, please. I have been in a battle before." Effie gave the first of the medical team a little nod of greeting, completely ignoring Haymitch's warning to her.
He yanked her to the side of the Hangar away from peering eyes. "Don't delude yourself into thinking that what you did when we escaped the Capitol is the same as what's happening out there now. You have no idea what's happening out there now. What you'll have to do." He inched closer. "Damn it, Effie. You're gonna have to kill people. Innocent people..." he pointed a finger at the tip of her nose, "Your former neighbors."
"I am aware," she sounded distanced and unaffected.
"Bullshit!" Haymitch noticed the way she snapped her eyes towards his when he swore. "Oh, my swearing gets under your skin, but you're okay with pulling the trigger on some...some kid wearing a white uniform because Snow told him that was his duty?"
"Do not make this any harder for me than it already is, Haymitch." Effie set her shoulders back and into a rigid posture.
"You think it's hard now? Just wait till you get there. It's gonna get a hell of a lot worse." He ran his hand down his face wondering where the prissy little nag that he had fought with for so many years was. The woman that dressed to the nines, made sure she was matching from the tips of her toes to the puffy wigs and oversized false eyelashes was long gone. She was now standing before him in a dark military issued uniform, her hair slicked back into a tight bun with a weapon strapped to her back and a rifle in her hands. "Why, Effie? Why are you doing this? We've got men...trained men and women that can go in there and do this. You don't have to," he lowered his voice down. "Stay here and take care of that kid of theirs."
"Haymitch, what kind of mother would I be if I allowed my son to risk his life for his child, yet I wasn't willing to do the same?" She lifted her chin a little higher and spoke softly. "I may not have given birth to that boy, but he is mine, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to take him from me or Katniss," she paused for a moment. "Those are my children, Haymitch. Those are..." She turned away from him for a moment then faced him head on and spoke with unconditional love dripping from her voice, "That is my baby out there."
In that instant Haymitch knew what Peeta meant when he told everyone that Effie had always been his mother and that they needed a few years to find each other. "You two deserve each other," Haymitch took her hand in his. "I don't say that lightly cause I think pretty highly of the kid."
"I know you do," she gave him a pleased smile. "Thank you. I am very proud of the man he's become. His father and I are both so very proud."
"Miss. Trinket. The craft's ready to go," someone called to them.
"Well," Haymitch took a step back. "Ya heard the man. The craft's ready to go."
Effie's arms wrapped around him, and his around her waist. "I shall be waiting victorious for you in the Capitol."
"And I'll come and getcha Trinkie," he kissed the side of her head and felt hers on his cheek in return.
"Of course you will," she said over her shoulder as she walked away. "You love me you drunken buffoon."
"Yeah, well..." he called out to her, "...you love me too ya know...nag."
As Effie placed a foot onto the hovercraft's step, she turned to him and said with her trademark smile, "It would be wise for you to remember that," ducking inside before he could respond.
Haymitch reached for the chair and put Beetee's room back in order. It took less than a minute, but he felt better fixing the disturbance he caused in the man's bedroom. As he headed down the hallway towards Plutarch and Beetee he thought of the woman and the words he had once said to Katniss about Peeta then directed them at himself, 'You could live a thousand lifetimes and never deserve her,' vowing once again, 'I'm coming to getcha, Effie. You just stay alive.'
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The first mutt burst through the floor, the sound of Peeta's name came out of its mouth like a loud, threatening, burst of air. "PEEEETAAAAH!" Everyone took aim on it, but no one shot due to the man it called out to. Peeta had whipped himself around and reached for it, taking hold of the creature before anyone could even get a good look at it. While the group was hollering at him to move so they could kill it, Peeta was ripping it, shredding it apart with his gauntlets.
"Stay away!" He screamed out to them when the orange glowing blood began to puddle at Peeta's feet.
"What the hell wa…" Homes stood with his back to the wall just as the second mutt slid from behind the pipes and attached itself to his spinal column. The gun he held in his hand, dropped to the floor. Katniss took aim on the mutt and shot it through the head with her arrow while Gale shot it through the body, but it was too late. Whatever this mutt was, it had already gotten its hooks into Homes and had drained the life from him within seconds.
"We need to get the hell out of here," Jackson ordered them.
"Not yet," Peeta stood with his fists balled next to him.
"There could be more," Finnick said as he headed for the door.
"There are, but they're not here yet." Peeta chose his next few words very carefully, "I…I can hear them. These were scouts. They were searching for me," he faced Katniss. "The others will be coming, but…" Peeta began to shake his head. He wanted desperately to squeeze it, but his hands were covered… He did a double take when he noticed that his gauntlets were dry and clean. "I…I ripped that thing apart with my hands. Real or not real?" His eyes shot to Katniss, but no one answered. "REAL OR NOT REAL!?"
"Real," they all began answering within seconds.
Jackson began to take control of the situation. "We cannot stay here."
"And we can't go out there yet!" Peeta pointed to the doorway that led back to the tunnels.
"Peeta," Katniss quickly got his attention then began speaking the way only they understood leaving everyone in the room what wondering what they were keeping secret. "You need to pull yourself together."
"Okay," he spoke to her taking in everything around him. "Okay," he repeated himself in a somewhat calmer tone. 'One thing at a time,' he thought to himself. 'Your gauntlets. Why don't you have blood on your gauntlets?' He looked towards the mutt he left in shreds and took a step towards it. When Leeg 1 did the same he put his hand out and stopped her. "Stay away from their blood. It's tracker jacker venom."
"That's why it's not on your uniform," Katniss said to him. "Beetee fixed it so that we couldn't get stung. The venom beads off of our uniforms like water does."
"A tracker jacker stinger can't puncture your uniforms, but these aren't tracker jackers," Gale looked at the one on Homes' back. "Is it safe to touch him?"
"Better let Peeta do it," Jackson suggested. "He's got those gloves."
Peeta moved closer to Homes, but the shell of a human being lying on the floor looked nothing like the man that had been standing there only minutes ago. "Good God," he reached out a tentative finger and poked at him. His skin sank down to the bone. "His eyes are…geez," Peeta grimaced. "They dropped to the back of his skull. I think it drained him of his blood or something." He could hear the others making sounds of disgust, but chose to face the inevitable instead, rolling Homes over to see what it was they were facing. The weight of the man was primarily on his back where the mutt was attached. Peeta gave him a big heave and jumped backwards in one swift motion. What they saw was like nothing they had ever laid eyes on before.
"Wha…what is that thing?" Gale's eyes bulged out of his head.
"Mutt," Peeta's pupils dilated into pinpoints as he focused on the reason they were sent into the tunnels. "They're after me, Katniss. This is what…they…" the air in the room suddenly went dry, his throat felt as though he had swallowed handfuls of dust. The weight of the weapons lining his suit could be felt in each and every muscle of his body. "You need to go." He looked to Gale. "Get her out of here. Take her. They know how to find me."
Gale quickly took Katniss by the upper arm and began dragging her towards the doorway to which she protested. "No! No!" She ripped her arm from his grip with an unbelievable amount of strength.
"You don't get it," Peeta could feel the hysterical sensation growing out of control deep within. "These things can detect me. I can hear them and they can hear me. I don't know how," his head was shaking frantically as his feet began their crazy circular pacing motion. "I just do. Snow's using them in the hopes to get rid of you, Katniss, and in order to do that they have to track you. That's what these two sons of bitches were doing!" He pointed at them, his whole body was getting hotter and hotter. "They were tracking you, but not by following your footsteps or anything like that. NO!" His voice sounded crazed and maniacal. "Through me. Somehow they know where I am, and they're going to keep on finding me! Tell their friends! And then this entire place will be swarming with these things!" Peeta stared at the four foot long centipede like mutt with tentacles type legs that attached themselves to Homes' spine, sucking the fluids from him. The somewhat shiny green and gold skin covering the creature resembled that of a tracker jacker's body. The black lines etched deep within its hard skin every four to five inches even gave it a bumble bee type of look, but the body was unnaturally bloated, filled with Homes' fluids which began seeping onto the floor of the room they were in out of the dead mutt's deadly six inch legs. There must have been over a hundred of them, thin appendages that not only attached itself to Homes' skin, but had the ability to slither with speed and accuracy. Its mouth was filled with sharp, pointy teeth and two long fangs that could either rip their prey from limb to limb or inject them with the deadly venom. "They'll just keep coming if I stay with you!" He held onto Katniss' upper arms and did his best to make her understand. "They won't stop, Katniss! If we separate…if I go another way then maybe I can mislead them…draw them…"
"Let's go," Gale reached out for Katniss again.
"Head back the way we came so our paths don't cross," Jackson said it as though leaving Peeta behind were a foregone conclusion and everyone's mind had been made up.
"I am not leaving him!" Katniss screamed. "What if Snow catches him again? Then what?" It was her greatest fear.
"Then I'll take my pill," Peeta said to her.
"I'll go with him," Finnick stood next to Peeta. "We're allies, right?"
Peeta had no idea what he'd do without Finnick Odair in the arena. The man had literally brought him back to life. "Yes." Peeta could feel his raging boil gradually calming to a slow simmer. "Which is why I need you to protect my wife. Get her out of here."
"This isn't going to happen," Katniss began ranting as Peeta gripped her face between his hands. "No," she spoke with a clenched jaw.
"It's the only way. They'll find you. Please, Katniss. Please. Go with them and let me do this."
"If you do then I'll take it…I'll take this damn pill the first chance I get," She threatened him with her moving lips and no sound. "They can kill Snow. They can go back." She gestured towards the rest of their group. "You leave me now then we both know I'm going to die here anyway."
"Don't say that," He gave her a little shake. "What about Maysilee?"
"What about her? Maybe if I'm dead then they'll stop tracking you?" Stormy, dark silver eyes pierced intense cerulean blue. "She needs her father, and if you tell them about the pill, I'll shoot myself, or I'll let the damn mutts kill me or I'll walk into a pod…there are plenty of ways for me to end this, so what's it going to be?" Katniss could feel her pulse racing and the dull throbbing in the back of her eyes turning into an almost blinding stabbing pain as she stared Peeta down.
"Fine," his silent response sliced through her. She knew her threats had gone a bit far, but he needed to understand, she was willing to die in order to ensure he lived. "I'm going," Peeta announced to the rest of them, "but before we leave there are some things you need to know." He gave the mutt one last look and said, "Stay away from their teeth and these things," he kicked at the leg. "Katniss and I have protection from them. None of you do." He faced Katniss. "Put your helmet and your face mask on. It'll be hot as hell, but their…whatever these are," again he gestured to the legs, "won't be able to get through. Their teeth will kill you, so stay away. They can slink through a tiny crack like a mouse, but their bodies are like armor except for the black lines. If you hit them, that's were you have to strike or you have to shoot them in the head like Katniss did. Gale, you're lucky your arrow went through the black part, but…" Peeta pulled it from the mutt and the rest of Homes' blood mixed with that of the mutt drained onto the floor, "…see how the tip is bent? That's what will happen. Your bullets will bounce off of it, so aim carefully. Now it's belly," Peeta gave the mutt a kick to show the underside of it. "There's nothing shielding that. The reason they don't really worry about it is because they slither until right before they attack and by that point…well, we all saw how quickly it came out of the ground."
"Not to mention how fast it killed Homes," Leeg 1 added. "He didn't even hear that thing coming for him."
"Their legs are soft too, but they have the ability to run faster than…" Peeta began thinking about the mutts he and Katniss had faced in the arena. "Let's just say, they're not like anything you've ever seen before."
"How do you know all of this stuff?" Gale asked and everyone stared at Peeta accusingly, waiting for an answer except Katniss and Finnick.
"Wish I could tell you that, Gale, but I have no clue. I just know."
The center of Gale's brows knit together. "You said they could hear you, Peeta. How?"
"Again. I don't know. All I know is this entire day I could have sworn someone was whispering my name." Peeta let his head sink back for a second and blew out a breath. "I thought I was hearing voices again." He looked at Katniss with guilt in his eyes for not sharing his concerns with her.
"Annie said you heard someone talking to you when you were being held prisoner here," Finnick spoke quietly.
"That's what I thought it was," Peeta gave Finnick a pathetic nod. "I thought maybe it was me remembering some kind of torture I went through or…I was going crazy or …I don't really know what. All I know is that these things can somehow sense me."
"Well," Gale gave Peeta a curious look. "If they can detect you, then doesn't it reason that you can do the same?"
Everyone's eyes darted towards Peeta. "In a way."
"I mean…you knew it was here before any of us did," Gale gave his right shoulder a little shrug in Jackson's direction.
"That's true," Jackson added. "You knew that one that attacked Homes was there. I'm not sure why you didn't know about the one in the ground, but you knew about the one behind the pipes."
"I think we all assumed the one behind the pipes was the one in the floor," Katniss swung her bow over her shoulder, thankful that talk had now seemed to be swinging in the direction of Peeta being an asset to their team instead of hindering it. "Peeta, before we leave here, and I think we need to get the hell out of this room fairly quickly, maybe you should take a minute to think about what's been happening to you today, and the signs that led up to this attack. We'll get our things together and form out a plan with Pollux while you do that. Maybe you can pinpoint when and how you've been detecting them and how we can avoid them." Katniss looked around the room to the rest of the group that had nodded and made slight noises giving their approval before taking a step away from Peeta.
"Katniss?" Peeta called to her. "Come here a second." The rest of their group was gathered around Pollux and checking over their weapons, staying as far away from either the mutt, their dead friend, or both.
"Yeah," Katniss stood about three feet away from Peeta who was standing at the edge of a puddle of blood that had pooled at his heels.
He took a step towards her and felt the extra grip of his boot against the ground. "Why would you say something like that to me?" He didn't have to explain what she said. She knew her silent threats would cause him to change his mind.
She was horrible with explanations. Always seemed to screw them up somehow. It would usually take her some time to come up with an appropriate answer, but in this instance she knew what to say. They may have been her father's words, but Katniss had used them once before in their lives. She swore she wouldn't tell him about that day. She wouldn't even hint at it. Not that she didn't want to, but he needed to discover their past on his own and if he didn't remember, oh well, they had a new life now. But when he asked her this question, Katniss knew exactly how she had to respond. She lowered her voice down to a barely audible whisper, shut out the world for only the briefest seconds of time and pulled the love she felt for him from her heart, pouring it out into one simple sentence, "Because, you're worth fighting for, Peeta." The tiny hint of sadness that caused her voice to crack at the end of his name had her walking towards the group and pressing the buttons on the Holo so Pollux could begin plotting out their path.
Peeta focused on Katniss' back for a second, watched the braid as it floated down the side of her head.
Katniss was kneeling in front of him in their home back in District Twelve. The fire was going and there were crumbs from the bread they had broken still on his fingers. "He told me, he'll be the one worth fighting for. The one that will fight for you. I never knew why he was acting so funny that day. Like he had to tell me or it would be too late. Like he knew he was running out of ti..."
"Let's go," Finnick slapped Peeta on the back abruptly forcing him back into their harsh reality. "Did you really think she'd leave here without you?"
"Huh?" Peeta tilted his head, still trying to place what it was he remembered, and who Katniss was talking about.
"Reverse the situation and ask yourself if you'd ever leave her behind?" Finnick asked.
"No," Peeta didn't even have to think about an answer to that question. "I'd never leave Katniss behind."
"Now ask yourself why. Then tell yourself, the female version of you, granted a bit scarier and with a much worse temper, is right over there," Finnick gestured towards Katniss. "And stupid you went and asked her to leave you behind."
'Ask yourself why,' Peeta silently repeated Finnick's words to him as they traveled down the dank, smelly tunnels towards the center of the Capitol. 'Why wouldn't you just let her leave you?' A million reasons popped into his head. 'You love her more than life itself. You're her husband. She's the mother of your baby. You said that you'd always stay with her. You promised her father that you'd take care of her. You made a vow to...'
"Peetaaaah," the sound of his name, though not loud enough for everyone else to hear began to resonate through his ears.
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The only thing helping Finnick to keep it together were thoughts of going home to Annie. Home with Annie. Taking her back to Four where they could rebuild their lives with their baby. God how he wanted that. He wanted to go through everything an expectant married couple went through. Finnick shot a glance over his left shoulder when he thought he heard something, and refocused his attention towards the front of the group where Katniss and Pollux led the way. Peeta was directly in front of him, Messalla behind him, Leeg 1, Gale and Jackson taking up the rear. The second he saw that mutt burst through the floor of their hideout, Finnick felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.
Neither Katniss nor Peeta said that the mission they were on was to head in his direction, but Finnick wasn't an idiot. None of these people were. They had to get to Snow. In the back of his mind he hoped that maybe Effie, Justus and Lavinia, who had left hours before them, were attempting to do just that. Kill Snow. That maybe...maybe the rebels would win this thing and his little group of allies would step out of the dark tunnels to find the president had been assassinated, but fantasies had never really helped him in his life. They were fine for passing the time with Annie while they were on the beach, but in real life...in real life fantasies always led to the inevitable. Affliction.
The water licked against their bare toes in the sand before the dawn. There was nothing like the sight of the sun rising over the ocean except for maybe the silhouette of Annie in the moonlight, flinging her long hair back over her head to keep the water from her eyes after they'd sneak in a swim. Finnick would have to watch closely because the fleeting moment would only last for a split second, but what a second it was. He grinned, as he looked across the buoyant waves, picturing it.
"What are you smiling at over there?" Annie pressed her fingertip into one of his dimples.
'She caught you,' he thought to himself with a schoolboy expression on his face. "Just remembering something."
"Something good?"
"Yeah," he lifted her hand to his lips and placed a kiss against the palm of it. "Real good."
"Then it must be me you're thinking about."
"It's always you I'm thinking about Annie. You're always the one on my mind." Annie ducked her head down a bit and fluttered her lashes at him. When other women did this as a means of flirtation Finnick found it to be deplorable and off putting, but Annie never even realized what it was she was doing. It was merely a bashful reaction to his statement. "We're going to have to head back soon," he said with regret.
"I know," her voice held a morose tone to it.
"Wish we could watch the sunrise from here," he spoke the words that he knew she was thinking.
"When you come home we'll watch them all." Annie let out a soft sigh.
Finnick gave the beach one last look, turned Annie into his arms and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Are you ready for your poem?" She nodded and he recited it to her.
"Finnick Odair," Annie rested her hands against his chest and looked up into his eyes. "Out of all the poems you've written for me, that is my favorite."
"Yes, I know that." Each year, since the first time he told Annie he loved her, Finnick had recited the poem to her before leaving for the Games as a reminder that she was always his one and only. "It's your poem, Annie."
"No one can ever take that from us, can they?" He could see the tremor in her bottom lip and knew it was time to leave their beautiful safe harbor.
"Never." He kissed her forehead and led her towards Victor's Village. "They'll never take that or my love for you."
As they walked quietly across the beach towards their homes, they passed the houses of the children that would be reaped in a few short hours. Finnick wouldn't have to mentor them. Skip would be sent in to do that. Finnick would be too busy with all the customers Snow would have lined up for him. He'd have to leave Annie in Mags' capable hands soon enough, but for right now thoughts of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games were pushed to the side. He had only an hour, maybe two, before the district would be crawling with Peacekeepers and cameras and Finnick was determined to live them as though they were his last moments on earth.
Finnick's head jutted forward the instant Peeta said, "I can hear them," to Katniss.
"Where are they?" He began scanning the area as they moved forward.
"I...I don't know, but they're getting closer," Peeta's face held a disturbed quality to it. "The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up."
"Put your helmet on," Finnick tapped at it with his finger. "Protect yourself."
"Helmet Katniss," Peeta repeated Finnick's advice to her and pulled his atop his head, pulling the clear shield over his eyes and top of his nose.
Their footsteps were getting louder as they hurried through the tunnels when the sounds of screams came from somewhere in the distance. "Geez," Finnick hadn't felt this much panic even when he was in the arena as a child.
"Avox," Peeta said to them. "That's what Darius sounded like when they tortured him."
"We need to get the hell out of here," Katniss stopped as did the rest of their group. "Pollux, what 's the quickest way to the top. We're like fish in a barrel if we stay down here."
With a wave of his hand they were all racing after the man, the sound of their feet splashing in puddles of refuse did nothing to hide their location, nor did Katniss' orders to them which had to be spoken louder for all to hear. Finnick stopped short, as did the rest of them when Pollux held up a hand at one of the transfer stations. A large area that the delivery trucks could easily drive through. The floor appeared to be in tact, but it was merely one of the Capitol's illusions. Pollux reached down and picked up the first solid thing he could find and threw it into the area only to have one of the Capitol's deadly traps revealed. A large pool of liquid that shot a burst of acid into the air and dissolved the stone Pollux threw. Finnick could feel his pulse racing uncontrollably as the Avox pointed a path along the sides of the walls, but even that was tricky. If one of them slipped, waved a gun, a limb...anything over the acidic floor, they could all be hit with the spray.
"There's got to be another way," Finnick said as he noticed Peeta looking down the tunnel at the ceiling.
"There," Peeta pointed, "They're coming."
"There's no other way," Jackson moved into position. "Stay close to the walls, hug the damn thing if you have to. Now go! GO!" She yelled in Peeta and Katniss' faces. "Get out of here Odair," Finnick hesitated when she and Leeg 1 took up a fighting stance instead of following Katniss, Peeta and Pollux.
"Come on," he urged the woman. "We can all make it."
"No," She turned his shoulder so he could face the exit. "We can't. Someone has to stay behind and protect our country's future. Now get them to safety! Head out!" She screamed when Finnick didn't jump to her order. "GO!" The first blast at the deadly creatures heading their way was fired by Leeg 1.
"Come on," Finnick heard Gale's voice and saw him reaching a hand out to him. "There's another tunnel up there. We've got to move."
Finnick held on for dear life as the wall of the acidic chamber bubbled behind him. Now that he was inside of the transfer tunnel he could smell the stench of the chemicals they were using as a weapon and felt his stomach churn. He kept his eyes focused on the thin strip of flooring that Gale was walking on, making sure to follow in his precise footsteps, not wanting to alter one inch from the man's path for fear of what might happen, not only to him but those trapped inside of the deadly chamber with him. The sound of Katniss and Peeta screaming for them to hurry was calling to him as was the screech of something...someone else. A scream, though it was nothing more than a short burst of a woman's wail, sent a bloodcurdling chill down Finnick's spine. 'Leeg,' he thought to himself as he listened to the woman's last cry. Gale was moving further away, not out of cruelty or revenge of any kind, but out of the desperate need that one finds themselves in when thrown into an arena and forced to fight for their life.
"TAKE COVER!" Peeta screamed out to them and Finnick instinctively held his arms over the back of his head. The loud splash could be heard as Peeta called out over and over again, "STAR! STAR!" Finnick didn't have to turn to know that he was shooting blades into the mutts that were heading their way.
"MOVE!" The sound of Katniss' voice had Finnick's feet swiftly floating across the thin strip of flooring, catching up with Gale.
His natural instinct was to look behind him to see where the mutts were, but his time in the arena told him not to. Even the slightest hesitation could mean your life. "Don't look back!" He shouted to Gale, just in case. "Keep your eyes on your target!" Gale gave him a nod as he rushed towards the ladder to the next tunnel.
"Fire!" Gale screamed up to Katniss who immediately took out an arrow and aimed it over his head. Finnick could feel the heat lapping at his heels as he reached for the ladder's rung.
"Through there," Peeta pointed to where Pollux was heading. The acrid stench of the acid was still stinging Finnick's nostrils as a loud explosion came from the transfer area. Bits of mutts sprayed out as Peeta slammed the lid to the tunnel close. "There's more, so keep moving!" Peeta ordered him, and Finnick didn't stop until he saw danger up ahead.
"Wait!" He called out to Katniss before she was caught in the same trap Messalla had walked into. Finnick reached out, pulling her back as Messalla stood frozen amidst a golden light that melted him like a candle's wax.
"Wh...where..." Katniss began stammering. Pollux was looking from side to side and Gale looked like he was about to throw up, which was how Finnick was feeling at that very moment. The only one that actually seemed to keep it together was Peeta. Peeta who had suddenly lost his fear of the mutts and their ability to find him now looked like he was filled with a combination of rage and purpose.
"Where is Leeg 1 and Jackson?" Peeta yelled out.
"They stayed back to hold off the mutts," Gale answered.
Peeta pounded his gauntlet covered fist into the wall causing a crack to spread out like a spider's web. "We need to move. Those things won't be far behind, now go, and keep that damn Holo on so you can see the pods," with his common sense order barked out, Katniss flipped the switch to show a pod only an inch away from Finnick's feet trapping him in his spot. "Damn it!" Peeta yelled what Finnick was thinking.
Finnick could feel the blood draining from his limbs. There was no place for him to go. "Katniss," he pressed a hand on her shoulder hoping to bring her, as well as himself a bit of comfort and strength to get through their current predicament. "Go," he tried his best to ease the guilt and fear in her eyes. "I'll stay here and...and when the mutts get close enough...I'll...I'll..."
"I'm afraid that won't be allowed," a voice from a hatch in the tunnel above them spoke, trapping them all in their spots, much like Finnick.
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"Peeta," Effie's heart was thumping wildly out of control as she hurried towards the exit with Justus and Lavinia.
"Effie," the sound of Lavinia's computerized female voice came as a shock to her. "We need a plan first."
"A..." Effie didn't want a plan, she wanted to race out of their little hovel and find whatever it was that Snow had sent out to hunt down her children. "A...plan?"
"Think Effie," Justus' throat convulsed as he spoke to her and his eyes bored through hers. "Let's be smart about this. You won't do Peeta and Katniss any good if you're dead."
"Yes. Yes," she took a few short staccato breaths. "Forgive me. You're absolutely correct." She began speaking, "Hagar, can you detect where the sound came from?"
"I have made an attempt at triangulating its location, but have not been able to pinpoint it."
"Can you point us in the general direction?"
"Yes, Effie," the computer instantly mapped out a diagram for them to follow. "The train will be arriving in..."
"The train," Effie interrupted Hagar. "Our mission," she looked to Justus and Lavinia.
"Won't do us any good if Snow kills Katniss and Peeta," Justus said. "We can come up with another plan to capture Snow, but we only have one shot at protecting Katniss and Peeta from whatever it is that's out there."
"Yes," Effie felt relieved that they felt the same way she did. "We'll need to tell Haymitch and Plutarch that we are aborting our mission immediately. Hagar can you open up a line of communication with them please?"
"Effie, Peacekeepers have been dispersed and are approximately three minutes out," Hagar's warning solidified her decision to forgo their plan and head back towards her kids.
Effie threw a glance over her shoulder, "It'll have to wait. Let's move out." Effie led her team through the tunnels, away from the Peacekeepers, and towards the sounds she had heard. A possible death wish, one she had no choice but to take. Her mission to make her way into the tunnels beneath Snow's headquarters to capture him was now a thing of the past. Keeping Peeta and Katniss safe from whatever harm they were about to endure was now the priority and one she would never take lightly.
The second she heard Peeta's name being called out again Hagar began to speak to her, "Effie, I have performed a vocal analysis. The sound of Peeta's name is not coming from anything in my database."
"Keep following that noise," she ordered Hagar and led her team swiftly through the highlighted path, carefully avoiding the few pods that had been planted in the deepest bowels of the Capitol.
While her Holo was active her targeting scanner was still functioning, but the ability to see what was behind her had to be sacrificed. Fortunately Hagar's detection system was still running at full capacity. "Peacekeepers are closing in."
The transfer station where the train ran, where they were going to make their entry into Snow's compound, was one of the most guarded stations at the Capitol. Peacekeepers would have already been at the ready to prevent entry. Whether or not said Peacekeepers knew there was a trio of rebels ahead of them Effie hadn't a clue, but she didn't think their position had been compromised yet. The first forty-five minutes they ran through the tunnels Snow's soldiers didn't follow in their direct path. It wasn't until they saw the first slithering Capitol mutation, squeezing out the crack of a wall, that the trio gave their position up by firing their guns.
Effie's weapons were unlike those of the two behind her whereas they did not shoot bullets. Hers were more like those of the elite guard that cared for Snow. When Justus and Lavinia's bullets failed to pierce the skin of the mutts and Effie's weapon splattered them into oblivion, she realized she'd be the only defense against the Capitol's creatures. "Concentrate on the Peacekeepers," she called to them. "Your bullets are no good against those things." Her eyepiece zoomed in on a target and before she could even blink its ghoulish blood was splattered against the wall of the tunnel. "Hagar, get Haymitch!" She called out as she raced towards the mutts, knowing that she needed to update him on the state of their circumstances before it was too late. "Pick up the pace!" She called back to Justus and Lavinia who were firing at the Peacekeepers twenty or so yards behind them. "Move!" Effie dropped the rifle in her hands allowing the strap to keep it in place against her body, reached behind her and thought, 'Capture.' Two handles jutted out from her pack as she ordered, "Justus...Lavinia stay behind me!"
"I have patched you through to Haymitch and Plutarch, Effie," Hagar's voice spoke, but she ignored it for the moment.
She pulled on the handles behind her, freeing a new weapon and took aim on the Peacekeepers, waiting until they moved within range. Her targeting system honed in on the group of ten men and women as they shot at her. Justus and Lavinia's backs were plastered against the tunnel's wall while Effie took her place in front of them. 'Fire,' she thought to herself as the weapon shot out a tiny ball which grew as it got closer to the group of white uniformed soldiers, spreading out and covering all of them in a net, with the exception of one. Both Lavinia and Justus took fire on the man running in their direction. The rest squirmed beneath their trap. Screaming out in pain from the microscopic barbed fibers the netting was made out of, preventing them from making a move without shredding their skin. With the Peacekeepers taken care of Effie had new concerns. The mutts. "Do you see them?" Her feet began racing in the direction she had last seen one of the mutts go in. "Dear God!" She called out when she heard the screams coming from deeper in the tunnel, fearing the worst.
"Peacekeepers," Lavinia's computer voice spoke to her the same time Hagar's did.
"Two dozen Peacekeepers are closing in on you. There is a small tunnel fifty feet ahead," her eyepiece showed the way. "And your line of communication with Haymitch is still open," Hagar spoke.
"I'm almost out of ammo," Justus said as he took careful aim on Snow's men heading their way.
"Me too," Lavinia followed.
'Do something or you're all going to die,' Effie thought to herself. If she shot a wide burst on her rifle she'd be able to take out at least half of Snow's men, but her weapon would be severely depleted using that large of a burst. It took an awful lot of energy to use the tracking devices and to communicate with Hagar. If she used her smaller guns... 'My guns,' she quickly bent down to retrieve the one in her boot and the one issued to her by Thirteen, in her waistband, and handed them over in quick succession to her team. "Haymitch, we have a severe problem here," she began calling out as they started racing in the direction of the tunnel's entrance that Hagar had highlighted. "We've got mutts! They're hunting for Katniss and Peeta! I'm sure of it!" The Peacekeepers were shooting at them, striking the tunnel's walls, but getting too close for comfort. "We've had to abort our mission! And are now..." Effie felt herself being thrown into the wall of the tunnel as Lavinia jumped in front of her, using herself as a human shield. The vibration of Lavinia's body against Effie's as bullet after bullet entered her had Effie screaming at the top of her lungs, "NOOOOOOOO!" With her back pressed up against the wall of the tunnel and Lavinia's bloody body convulsing, Effie thought, 'Wide shot,' took aim and killed the majority of Snow's men in one blast. The rest hit the ground and gave her and Justus the time they needed to make their way through the tunnel's hatch. "We have to seal this panel," Effie began looking around for something heavy and saw nothing but darkness.
"Go," Justus stood tall. "I'll hold them off."
"No," Effie shook her head. She had just lost Lavinia and she refused to lose Justus too. "I refuse to abandon you."
"Effie, you have to get to Katniss and Peeta. You're our last hope now. If those mutts find them, it's all over. Regular bullets won't kill them."
He was making too much sense, and it cut her to the core. "Please do not ask me to do this, Justus. Hagar," she called out and got no response. "Hagar!"
"You used too much energy when you fired that last shot." Justus pushed at her shoulders. "Go."
"We can both get out of this alive, Justus. I know we can." She shoved the rifle into the charging unit and pulled out a smaller gun, clicked something on the side and handed it to Justus. "Come on. I have an idea." Her eyepiece was still functioning, highlighting two pods. "Be very careful. Make sure you stay as close to me as possible. I'm going to have to cut power to the Holo in order to use this," she tapped at her eyepiece. "There's a pod right here," she pointed to a spot on the ground.
"Just tell me what to do."
Effie hurried down the tunnel in the opposite direction of the mutts and stood in front of the other pod, pushed a button on the side of her eyepiece and said, "Hold out the guns like you're firing at Peacekeepers." Justus took up a position without question. "Scan," Effie placed the order and a red light beamed up and down Justus' body. "Got it." She took the eyepiece off and placed it gingerly on the ground next to the pod. She pulled out the pack of gum Beetee had given her from her pack, unwrapped the center stick and balled it up, placing that next to the eyepiece, and then placed the order, "Display." She took hold of his arm and said, "We're going to lose our Holo capabilities, but it's better than the alternative." She took off in the opposite direction, avoiding the pod she had pointed out and ran down the tunnel. "They're coming," she whispered to Justus as they hit the deck, using darkness as their only form of cover.
The first of the Peacekeepers made their way into the tunnel. "There! Freeze!" One called out and bullets began to fly, but not towards them. Towards the projection of Justus the eyepiece had created out of light. "Drop your weapon!" Peacekeepers began calling out one over the other. "He's not falling! He must be wearing body armor!" Effie waited until they were within range of her trap before taking aim on the balled up stick of gum then took her shot. The explosion caused the entire tunnel to quake, bits of rubble showered down on them as pieces of Snow's men lay scattered across the muck.
"Let's go," Effie stood up and dusted herself off ignoring the screams of those still left alive.
"Effie," Justus put a hand out to stop her. "Isn't that me?" He pointed to his projection.
"My word," she gasped. "Stay here." She held her gun out and followed the same path back, stepping over bits and pieces of human remains. There were three Peacekeepers still alive, one reaching out to her for help. Effie took aim on each of them and put them out of their misery before picking up her eyepiece. She swallowed the bile in her throat, wiped the bloody bits off of its lens and snapped it back into place. As she took her stance next to Justus, she fought to keep her mind on the task at hand. "That Beetee certainly created a masterpiece. I shall have to thank him when we return," her voice never faltered. Their path was lit up, there were no pods in sight, but her earpiece could hear the sound of mutts calling out Peeta's name in the distance. She took a deep breath, blew it out between pursed lips and said, "Shall we?"
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The small band of rebels could barely breathe when they heard someone say, "I'm afraid that won't be allowed," from the open hatch overhead.
Their eyes locked onto the woman standing above them and the man behind her. "Mom," Peeta said with relief in his voice.
Effie stood with a short barreled gun pointed down the tunnel. "We'll have time for regards later. For now, we'll need to get you out of here. Katniss, you first," one by one she ordered them to climb up the ladder where Justus pulled them to the side, but when it was Peeta's turn he refused to leave Finnick. "Young man, I do not have time to argue with you. Now get your derriere up this ladder or I will climb down there and drag you up here by the skin of your teeth!" She snapped at him.
"You better move, Peeta," Finnick glanced over his shoulder at him. "Your mom sounds pretty pissed." He had no clue what Effie had planned, but he was pretty sure the woman had something up her sleeve.
"My word, they're coming," Effie said to the rest of the group. Finnick didn't have to ask who it was that was coming. He could guess. More mutts. "Finnick, I need you to stay perfectly still." Effie disappeared for a second then came back holding a long barreled rifle with some sort of attachment at the end. Before he knew it she shot at him and something bore into the wall an inch above his head. "Grab onto that," She ordered. He lifted his head and saw small triangular shaped handle hanging down from a thin wire.
"Will that..."
"Damn it, Finnick! Grab it!" Effie hollered, and any argument he had was now a thing of the past. He reached up, hooked his hand through the handle and felt himself being lifted from the ground and slid up past the ladder, through the hatch, before he could blink. Hands reached out and grabbed at him as Effie stood, smacked the side of her rifle, and whatever he rode on disappeared into thin air. "We need to move!" She flipped her rifle behind her and yanked out two guns.
"The Holo," Peeta called out to Katniss who was already loading an arrow into a bow.
Finnick could see the mutts coming for them down the tunnel. One broke through the wall about three yards in front of them and his trident soared through the air, plunging deep into the open mouth of a mutt. As he ran behind the rest of the group he pressed the button on his wrist and held his hand open in wait for his trident's return. Within seconds it was in his hand again and Finnick was throwing it in the direction of yet another mutation. He could hear Effie barking out orders to someone, but he couldn't make out what they were or who she was talking to. He tried to listen in...tried to follow the group so as not to step on a pod, but he could feel himself slipping behind. "Come on," he urged himself to hurry up as his feet pounded through the muck.
"MOVE!" Finnick could hear Peeta's voice from up ahead. "Katniss! NO!"
A new burst of life seemed to surge through him when Finnick heard Peeta call out Katniss' name. He was terrified that one of the mutts had gotten to her. That she had gotten killed. The girl was like a little sister to him and the thought of losing another member of his family petrified him. He could see the head of one of the mutts slinking through the sewage and threw his trident with so much force it ripped the head off. When he pushed the button on his wrist the trident returned with the mutt's head still attached. "Son of a bitch!" Finnick screamed as he stepped on the head and yanked his trident free, hoping he didn't get the poisonous blood on himself, then continued to run in the direction of his allies who were now yards ahead of him. He could see them disappearing up a ladder as the noises grew louder behind him. "PEEEETAAAAAH! PEEEEETAAAAH!" His heart was pumping so hard and fast he could feel it beating in his throat.
'Get there! Get there! Get there!' Kept going through his head with each splash he made in the puddles of human waste. He could see a man's legs dangling from the ceiling, then disappear. A woman's legs. Then they were gone. "Annie. Annie," he breathed out over and over again. He had to make it back to her. He couldn't die here. Not after all they had been through. Not now. Not after everything they had overcome. He had made it out of two arenas. He had done what Snow wanted and sold himself year after year to the men and women of the Capitol...sold his soul, in the beliefs that one day he'd have a better life. One day he and Annie would be able to get married and have a family. That they'd be able to go home to Four and live out their dreams.
"Are you going to say it, Finnick?" Annie stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his chin.
"Of course I am," He brushed the hair away from face and looked into her eyes. He didn't want her to watch the hovercraft's departure from Thirteen so they were saying their goodbye in their quarters. "Did you really think I would leave without reciting your favorite poem first?" Annie shook her head from side to side and Finnick spoke the words he wrote for her so many years before, hoping it wouldn't be the last time, fearing that it very well could be, "I do believe the Gods above, created you for me to love. They picked you out from all the rest, because they knew I loved you best. I once had a heart and it was true, but now it's gone from me to you. Take care of it as I have done. For you have two and I have none. I'll give the angels back their wings. Their golden harps and all those things. To prove to you my love is true. I'll go to hell to be with you."
He was tempted to glance back at the swarm of mutts diverging upon him, confirming he was in a hell like none other. He could hear Katniss' voice screaming to keep the tunnel's hatch open, but Finnick knew they had to close it or everyone would die. He silently willed her to shut it. To close the lid and not look back. They had more than just themselves to think of now. They had a child waiting for them...a baby that needed them. He thought of his and Annie's baby. How he wished he could have had what Peeta had with Katniss.
"She's got morning sickness pretty bad, though I guess I shouldn't really be calling it morning sickness since it happens all the time." Peeta gave his head a shake as they sat on the beach and stared up at the lightening tree. "I know I should feel horrible about it, but..." Peeta grinned at Finnick, "...gosh I like the little changes that are happening to her. I mean...it's so exciting Finnick. I'm going to be a dad." Finnick couldn't help but smile at the kid who let himself forget for a second that they were in the middle of the Games and relish the prospect of being a father. He wasn't jealous, but he sure was envious.
"Maybe one day I'll be able to hold my wife's hair to the side and rub her back too," he had said, thinking of Annie.
"I hope you do get that chance, Finnick. I truly do."
'Me too,' Finnick thought to himself as he splashed his feet through the muck that much faster...pumped his elbows that much harder. He needed to reach that opening before it was closed. The combination of sounds escaping the mutt's mouths had become a jumble of noises causing the hair on his arms to stand on end. The flash of white uniforms running towards them caught his eye as the sound of guns firing and human screams echoed through the tunnel in a chorus of sheer horror. They were gaining on him from both ends. The few mutts that had been in front of him had been killed either by himself or the rest of his allies, but those behind him were still alive and determined to reach Peeta. There was only one thing he could think to do. "CLOSE IT!" Finnick screamed out. "SEAL THE DAMN TUNNEL!" If there was only one thing he could do, only one act he could perform as a father, then this would be it. He would sacrifice himself so his child could live without the fear of being thrown into an arena. His eyes locked with Katniss'. He could see the question in them. "DO IT!" He had meant to scream it, but no sound left his lips. He could hear her screaming out the command for the Holo to blow just as the first mutt reached his foot and the small handle appeared above his head attached to the thin wire. His hand reached for it, but Effie had shot too high. He could feel the mutt's pushing at his legs...his back with their hands, lifting him off the ground.
"NIGHTLOCK! NIGHTLOCK! NIGHTLOCK!"
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Katniss immediately knew what Gale had meant when he called out, "Fire," to her. She whipped out one of the fire arrows and shot it directly into a burst of the acidic floor causing it to shoot up in a burst of flames just as the last of their group made it onto the ladder. The sound of high pitched squeals rang out as the mutts burst into flames. Her body moved of its own accord down the tunnel behind Pollux and Messalla. The hand that reached out and stopped her from moving came as a shock to her system as did the sight of Messalla disintegrating into a puddle of liquid flesh. She had to stop and get her act together, but stopping put them all at risk. The mutts could attack at any minute. She couldn't seem to keep track of her thoughts. She could hear Peeta growing angry, heard Gale say something about Leeg 1 and Jackson, but it wasn't until Peeta slammed his fist into the wall and caused it to crack that she pulled her head back into the never ending Games.
"We need to move. Those things won't be far behind, now go, and keep that damn Holo on so you can see the pods," Peeta yelled at her. Without hesitation Katniss flipped the switch on the Holo showing a map of their surrounding area and a pod an inch away from Finnick's feet, trapping him in his spot. "Damn it!" Peeta yelled out, and Katniss began to tremble in fear.
"Katniss," Finnick rested a hand on her shoulder. "Go. I'll stay here and..." There was no way she could leave him behind. For a brief moment Katniss wondered when Finnick had become such a vital part of her life without her even knowing it.
Katniss blew out a breath and rested her head against the wall behind her. "Good lord this kid is dancing on my bladder," she grumbled to herself.
Finnick let out a little chuckle. "She's just anxious to make herself known to the world. The daughter of the Mockingjay and Jabberjay is just as feisty as her mother." She could see Finnick staring at her bulging stomach. "What's it feel like?"
"When she kicks?" Katniss asked him.
"Yeah." Finnick had always been handsome, but the happiness that radiated from him that day...his wedding day, seemed to magnify a boyish quality that left Katniss with an appreciation for the man's inner beauty and excitement for what lay ahead. Not only for Finnick and Annie's nuptials, but for the prospect of them being able to experience what she and Peeta were going to in a few short months.
"Want to feel?" She offered.
"Really?" His brows shot up and his dimples deepened.
"Give me your hand," she reached out to him. "Here," she placed it on the spot Maysilee was pounding away at.
"Wow," Finnick's entire face lit up. "That's amazing."
In less than a minute Maysilee stopped her movements. "That's it," Katniss sighed in relief. "She's done...I hope."
Finnick pulled his hand away and said, "Why would you hope for something like that? I'd want to feel that all the time."
"That's because she's not using your organs as a diving platform."
Finnick let out a little chuckle. "Does she kick a lot?"
"Hmmm," Katniss thought about it for a second. "She kicks whenever Peeta puts his hand on my stomach and talks to her."
"Just Peeta?"
"She kicks other times too, but he's the only one she responds to," Katniss answered. "She knows it's him," Katniss said more to herself than to Finnick.
"She knows her dad's touch," the softness in Finnick's tone matched his expression. "One day..." he let his sentence trail off and stared off to the side.
Finnick's shaky voice caused Katniss to quake, "...and when the mutts get close enough...I'll...I'll..."
"I'm afraid that won't be allowed." Everyone's focus shot upward towards the familiar voice of Effie Trinket.
"Mom," Katniss could hear the relief in Peeta's voice at the sight of his mother.
The weapon Beetee had given to Effie put all of theirs to shame as far as Katniss was concerned. How Effie was able to rescue Finnick from his precarious spot with such speed and accuracy left all of them a bit flabbergasted. "We need to move!" Effie hollered as the first of the mutts entered from both ends of the tunnel.
Katniss immediately reached for an arrow and took aim on one of the deadly creatures in their path. With a deep breath and fire flowing through her veins she released the arrow just as it opened its mouth and let out Peeta's name, cutting it short. "Peet..."
"The Holo," she could hear Peeta calling to her as she pulled another arrow out and released it.
Unsure of how it shut down, she flipped the switch, showing the map of their surroundings, and called out, "NO PODS!"
"There's a hatch up there," Peeta said loudly from behind her. "Head towards it and don't stop running. "STAR!" One of his blades shot out and decapitated a mutt.
Finnick's trident flew past her and into yet another as she continued to take aim, careful as to not waste too many arrows. "We can't keep running towards them!"
"Keep moving!" Peeta yelled at her. "They're behind us too!"
"Take cover!" Effie screamed. Katniss could see Pollux hunching over and followed his lead as blasts of strange sounding gunfire rang out overhead. "Watch out, Gale!" Effie's voice shot out, but what happened behind her she had no clue. All she could concentrate on was the escape hatch fifty feet ahead of her that led above ground. If she could get there then she'd have better aim on her targets and be able to pull the rest of her allies to safety. Her path was free and clear as far as she could tell. She could see the sheer adrenaline running through Pollux. The veins in his neck were pulsating, his entire face had turned red and a loud grunt came out of his throat as he released the latches on the hatch and forced it open with his back. He practically jumped through it then shot his hand down, reaching for Katniss. She flipped her bow over her shoulder, jumped onto the first rung of the ladder then heard it calling out Peeta's name from her left in an eery hiss. "Peeeetaaaah."
"MOVE! KATNISS! NO!" She heard Peeta scream with terror in his voice, "Heat!" Katniss knew that was his order for the blade that could slice through pretty much anything, quickly followed up with the short squeal of pain from one of the mutts. She didn't want to imagine how close it had come to her if he was able to use his blade on it, and let herself be hauled to safety by Pollux.
"Come on," she and Pollux both reached through the opening for Peeta and pulled him to safety.
"MOM!" Peeta quickly flopped onto his stomach and reached for Effie, yanking her through the opening with one hand. "Give me your hand," he ordered Gale just as the sound of a gun fired and her life long friend's body slipped down a few rungs.
"GALE!" Katniss screamed and tried to make her way to help, but Pollux held her back.
Peeta lunged forward, grabbing onto the back of Gale's uniform as shot after shot was being fired in the tunnel. "Come on," he grunted as he pulled with all his might.
"Peace...keepers," Gale breathed out as first his head, then upper body was pulled to safety by all of them.
"We need to close the hatch," Effie said and met Peeta's eyes with fierce determination.
"No," Katniss reached out to stop Peeta. "There could be others trying to get to safety." She threw herself onto the ground and looked through the opening, blocking out the sounds of Peacekeepers crying out in pain from the mutts that didn't care what side of the war they were on. "Finnick," she whispered harshly. "No, Peeta we can't close it," she turned to him. "Not yet," she pleaded with him and turned to Effie, but even her former escort knew what Katniss didn't want to admit. They had no choice. "We have to kill those mutts." Her eyes flashed to the Holo and Boggs' words came back to her. 'Please hurry,' she said over and over again as her fingers fumbled for the wristband.
"CLOSE IT! SEAL THE DAMN TUNNEL!" Katniss met Finnick's stare as he yelled up the order to her, but she wasn't quite ready to seal the hatch yet.
'A few more seconds,' she thought to herself.
"Do it," Finnick mouthed to her, but she could hear his voice as clear as day.
They were waiting for Plutarch to come back and tell them it was time to make their way in for the wedding ceremony, but the man had disappeared into thin air.
"If you knew what you knew now, would you do it again?" Finnick asked her. "Would you do it?"
It was a question she had asked herself many times. If she had known she was pregnant before the Quarter Quell would she have gone into the arena or would she and Peeta have made a run for it? "I don't know."
Finnick sat on the arm of the sofa and nudged her shoulder. "You'd do it."
"How do you know when I can't even answer that?"
"Because you're a good person, Katniss. Granted you hate admitting that out loud, but it's the truth." He gave her shoulder a pat and said, "Sometimes life presents alternatives that have disastrous consequences no matter what you choose, but a person like you will always do what's in the best interest for those that don't have the ability to help themselves." Finnick stood up and walked towards the edge of a table then turned to face her. "You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone you're not as much of a hard ass as you make yourself out to be." Katniss grinned up at him. "Just promise me something. If me and Annie ever have a kid, you'll do what you can to keep it safe."
"God forbid you ever reproduce," she said with humor in her voice, "I'll do my part Finnick. You'll never have to worry about that."
Katniss' eyes flashed to Justus and saw his lips moving and his throat making a strange motion.
"Stand back!" Effie called out from behind her and shot something above her head.
Everything seemed to happen at once, but Katniss felt like the entire event occurred in slow motion. "NIGHTLOCK!" She screamed out the command to the Holo as the buckle that held it in place finally gave way. "NIGHTLOCK!" The thin wire from Effie's rifle was shot itno a wall behind Katniss and one in the tunnel. "NIGHTLOCK!" She dropped the Holo into the tunnel just as Justus lifted Finnick from around his ankle and his behind pushing him towards the handle dangling above his head. Finnick zipped past them, screaming out the Avox name, as the explosion went off and Peeta slammed the hatch closed. The earth began to shake beneath their feet. The muffled explosion shook them all to their core. Katniss' head whipped around to see Finnick's back plastered against the wall. The thin wire that had led him to safety was now held taught by the sealed hatch.
"Justus," Effie clasped a hand over her earpiece and threw it to the ground, sucked in a breath and let out a small cry.
"Justus," Katniss stumbled backwards and was held up by Peeta's strong grip. "Regina...Adam," she choked out. Her tear filled eyes met Finnick's who appeared to be in a state of shock.
"We need to..." Peeta blew out a burst of air and clapped his hands over his ears.
Pushing all forms of emotion to the back of her mind Katniss allowed the adrenaline coursing through her to the foreground. She took stock of who was left. Pollux stood trembling against a wall. Finnick kept pushing the button on his wrist for his trident which was nowhere to be found. Gale was slumped over with his hand pressed against his bleeding wound. The unflappable Effie Trinket stood like a statue with her hands wrapped around her arms and Peeta. "Peeta?" His hands were still covering his ears, but now he was on his knees rocking back and forth. "Peeta."
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They had barely made it out of the tunnel alive. Finnick made it out by the skin of his teeth, but Justus was dead, either by the mutts or from the explosion. Peeta had no clue. What he did know was that his head was reeling and his ears were ringing. Like the explosion had occurred not only in the tunnel but between his ears as well. His hands flew up to them, pressing against them in an attempt to quell the screeching cries.
"Peeta?" Katniss was talking to him, but he couldn't stop the squeals shouting out to him, and in that instant Peeta knew the truth. "Peeta."
He had no clue when he fell to his knees or why she was grasping at his arms, trying to pull his hands free. "Katniss," he gasped out.
She yanked at his hands, ripping them free and clutched them in her own. "If you're going to tell me to leave you here, don't bother, because I won't," she cried. "I can't," she said between grit teeth.
Behind them they could hear Effie talking to Gale and his stifled grunts as she bandaged his wound, but neither one paid it much attention.
"They didn't want to kill you," he looked into her eyes. "They wanted to inject me with more venom," the reality of Snow's plan spilled out of him, "so I could kill you in order to weaken the rebellion." He lifted his arm and showed her a small tear on his uniform. "I think it got me," he began shaking uncontrollably.
"No," she began examining the tear, looking for a wound and found a small scratch. "It's nothing. A scratch. That could be from anything." She held his cheeks in her hands as he began hyperventilating, forcing him to keep eye contact with her. "It's over. They're dead, Peeta. The mutts are dead."
The sounds of their cries were slowly coming to an end. His head, which had been full of voices only seconds earlier, was now silent. "They're gone." Their reality began to sink in. The death of Justus. Gale being shot and the sight of the mutt crawling out of the wall's crevice and bearing its fangs at him...its legs only a milometer away from Katniss as she escaped from the tunnel...all of it poured down on him. His hand reached out to Katniss, and pulled her to his chest. "You almost died. You can't die. You hear me? You can't leave me, Katniss." He began peppering her face with kisses.
"I won't." Her fingers dug into his back as she returned each of his kisses with hard stamps of her own. "You can't leave me either, Peeta. You can't. I'll die without you." Their lips mashed together.
He pulled her face away from his and held her gaze. "Don't you ever threaten to take one of those pills again. Do you hear me?" His grief stricken voice cut through her heart. "Don't let him take you from me. You and Maysilee...that's all I've got in this world, and he can't have either one of you."
"He can't have you either," her hands clawed at the back of his helmet, wishing she could feel the curls beneath it. "I'll fight for you till my dying breath."
The memory came back to him like a sharp smack across the face. He could see it all before his very eyes.
"You okay?" Peeta asked as he headed towards Katniss.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine."
"I'm glad one of us is, because I'm a mess." Peeta let out an uneasy laugh and ran his hand through his hair. "My insides are shaking like a leaf."
Katniss hugged him and confessed. "Me too…I mean…" she pulled away from him saying, "I'm nervous. Don't know why…I mean…we're already married."
"Not yet," Peeta's expression was full of love. "But we will be." They opened the front door and went outside. "Ready?" Peeta asked her.
Katniss nodded her head. "Yeah." She held his gaze and asked, "On three?"
Peeta couldn't have thought of a better way to start their life together. "On three," he agreed.
"One." He trailed his hand down her braid.
"Two." She placed her hand against his heart.
"Three." They stepped over the threshold of their home as husband and wife.
Their voices disappeared as their lips moved in unison, "Stay with me." And though they both meant it from the bottom of their hearts, neither one knew for certain if it was the truth when their lips moved together once again, "Always."
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MJ:BWO readers I will have a new chapter posted very soon. RtR readers, I should have a new chapter of that soon too. I needed someone to do a beta on it. ~J