Author's note: This chapter should answer a lot of those burning questions!
Much thanks to my awesome beta LavenderVanilla for helping mold this one and explain a few things better than I originally had. Her story Blinds is moving forward with some really great stuff, so you should go read that!
(See bottom for an extra note of inspiration)
Happy reading!
Chapter Six
Katniss pulled off her shoes and sat back with a sigh. "I hate those boots."
Finnick chuckled and sat across from her.
She glanced at his feet. "I don't need you traipsing round on my clean floors in your dirty boots."
"I have somewhere to go tonight." He said vaguely.
She gave him a calculating look. "Where?"
"Can't tell you." He said quickly. "Your daddy asked me not to."
"You better tell me." She warned.
"Or what?" He leaned forward. "You going to gut me in my sleep? Or are you going to leave me out in the woods next time?"
She leaned in some more. "It sounds really tempting. But I don't think so. You're stuck with me, Finnick."
"Great news." He slanted a kiss over her lips.
She made a face and wiped at her mouth. "What was that for?"
"To thank you." He grinned and sat back with a sigh. "I'm going to a meeting. And I don't know where or what it's about, but Caleb was adamant I go. He gave me some directions."
Katniss started drawing circles on the worn tabletop. "You have to be in the mines early. Is it going to take all night?"
Finnick crossed his arms. "Thanks for your concern. I don't get a lot of sleep with your tossing and turning anyway, so I'm used to it. I'll be okay."
She sighed. "You're so kind." She placed her boots by the door and walked toward the curtain. "Just don't be too loud when you come back."
He followed, stepping into the bedroom area even though he knew she was dressing.
"Excuse me." She grumbled as she hung her blouse on a hook in the corner.
"You're not going to tell me not to go or demand to go with me?"
"If Daddy wanted me there or wanted me to know, he would have said something to me. I trust my father." She didn't sound entirely convincing as she hung her skirt on a hook and went to work on her undergarments.
He took several quick strides across the room and gently grabbed her arms. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and stepped back. "I will be quiet as a church mouse when I get home."
"You better be or I will make good on one of my threats." She pulled her nightgown over her head. "Just be very careful out there."
"I promise to come home in one piece." He stepped out of the curtain. "And I'll tell you everything I find out."
"You better. And you can tell Daddy I'm not happy about this." She followed him to the door.
He chuckled. "I'll let him know your opinion."
"I mean it, Finnick, you be careful out there. You never know who could be watching"
"I promise, Katniss." He kissed her forehead once more and then left.
Katniss hurried to the window and watched Finnick make his way quickly down the road, keeping to the shadows. She leaned her head on her hand and kept watch until he turned a corner and was out of sight.
Eventually she moved to the bed, sat on it with her legs crossed, and waited. After a while, that grew boring and she got up to retrieve her arrows. She spent the rest of the night sharpening them and replacing feathers. She wandered to the window several times, waiting to see any sign of her husband making his way home and then went back to her arrows. It was a very long night.
Finnick was sure he'd taken a wrong turn. Caleb had told him to walk past the Hob and keep going for one hundred steps. Then he was to turn to his right and continue until he found a cabin nestled in the woods.
He stopped and looked around. He was in the middle of so many trees that he couldn't even see the stars to make his way back into town. He was about to turn around and try anyway when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, making him jump.
Caleb's deep laugh relaxed Finnick a moment later. "You scared, boy?" He asked.
Finnick shook his head. "Only a little concerned that I got myself lost."
"You're on the right track. Come on." Caleb jerked his head toward a path that Finnick had missed in his growing panic. "This way."
After walking for what seemed like an eternity through the same trees, Caleb pointed to a small cabin nestled in the space between a boulder and several overgrown trees. A small flicker appeared in the window, like a single candle was lit inside.
Finnick felt himself trembling as they stepped through the door. Four other men were on the other side, one in the shadows and three sitting near the candle in the middle of a small table. He nodded his head in greeting to Conrad Mellark and both his older sons Graham and Ryan. All three men bore such a strong resemblance to each other that he could almost picture Peeta. He felt inadequate every time he encountered even one of them, much less all three.
The fourth man leaned into the dim candlelight, giving Finnick a greater shock than seeing all three Mellark men in the same clandestine space. Haymitch Abernathy was one of his supervisors at the mines. He and Caleb kept the crew going and looked out for the safety of the dig as well as getting new tracts started when they had tapped all the coal at one spot.
"What's going on here?" Finnick asked.
Caleb indicated a chair and waited for Finnick to sit before he started talking. "We're missing quite a few players, but we can't all go missing from our homes at the same time. It would alert the peacekeepers."
Finnick looked around the room once more. "How many are there of this group?"
"A few dozen." Conrad supplied. "Mostly your co-workers. But a lot of other members of the town."
Finnick crossed his arms and sat back. "So what is the point of all this?"
"First, an apology." Conrad continued. "It's partly my fault, Mr. Odair. And I'm sorry for that. Snow knows we're against him. His people have never been able to catch us in the act of rebellion, but they know. So does he. And he knows how to hurt us."
"By taking away one of your sons." Finnick concluded. He looked toward his father-in-law. "And what better one to take than the one in love with your daughter?" He appraised the room again. President Coriolanus Snow was a tyrant. He had his finger in a lot of pies, making sure everything went toward his own plan and gained him more money and more power. He never did anything without personal gain. Finnick had seen him often, but never had the displeasure of actually talking to him. But he knew plenty thanks to his bedmates and their loose tongues. He nodded. "All right, I follow you so far."
Caleb nodded. "We assume there was an exchange. Katniss mentioned Annie to me once."
Finnick's head whipped around. "She what?"
Caleb held up his hands in surrender. "Just that you had a girl you intended to marry in District Four and that her name was Annie. I know nothing else. All the rest is assumption and Haymitch's word."
Haymitch finally spoke. "I have a contact in Four. She got a note to me that Peeta is there."
Finnick stood. "Then we need to go."
Caleb put a hand on Finnick's shoulder and pushed him back down. "We can't just run off to District Four. None of us can."
"What about getting them here?" Finnick demanded. "If you got a letter to Peeta that you were sick—"
"We've thought of that." Ryan pointed out. "But the post is monitored. Peeta sent a letter the first month, but our mother destroyed it and alerted the authorities. No more post can travel between anyone in this district and that one without being read first."
"And if Dad's not sick, the letter will not make it to Four." Graham added.
Finnick looked at Haymitch. "So how did you get a note?"
"At very high risk to the informants." Haymitch drawled. "And my own livelihood."
Finnick rubbed his eyes and then looked wildly around the room. "Can I tell Katniss?"
"I wish you wouldn't." Caleb said.
"If you give me a good reason not to, I'll keep my mouth shut." Finnick promised.
Caleb grinned proudly as he thought about his daughter. "Katniss is headstrong. And as soon as she finds out where Peeta is, she'll take off. And possibly get herself arrested in the process. It would set us back several months."
"So what is the plan? Just sit around on our asses and wait?" Finnick stood. "This is bullshit, Caleb. She needs Peeta back."
"I need Peeta back." Conrad argued. "He's my son. Do you think we're doing this for fun? If we act too soon or too rashly he could be harmed. Then where would we be, Finnick?"
With a heavy sigh, Finnick sat down once more. "So what's the next step?"
Haymitch slapped a folded piece of paper onto Finnick's thigh. "There is a large rock outside Gale and Madge Hawthorne's house. Slip that under there."
Finnick opened the note and read it, "'Sunrise.'" He looked up to Haymitch. "What does this mean?"
"The person who needs it will know." Haymitch explained. "Put that in place before you go home. Tap on the front window three times and leave quickly. Stay in the shadows."
"And why not Caleb?" Finnick demanded. "Or anyone else?"
"To prove we can trust you." Graham said.
"You're a man of few words, aren't you?" Finnick asked. He stood. "Someone point me in the right direction to town."
Caleb stood. "I'll walk you. But first," he held out his hand to Haymitch who produced a flask. He took a drink and handed it to Finnick. "Take a swig. When we get to town, stagger a little."
Finnick took a mouthful of the liquor into his mouth and swallowed it down quickly. "That is awful." He coughed and handed it back. "You should get your informant to get you some of Thomas Cresta's whiskey."
"Can't." Haymitch took a long pull and passed the flask to Conrad. "He's dead."
Finnick froze. "Dead? When? How?"
"A few months after you got here. He just didn't wake up one morning." Haymitch impatiently watched the Mellark men handle his flask and then took it back and swallowed the last of its contents with a scowl.
"Do you know how Annie took that?" Finnick demanded. "Is she really okay?"
"As far as I know she's fine." Haymitch said softly. "Communication with the informants is shorthand. I only get the basic facts."
Finnick sighed. "Care to tell me the name of your informant?"
"Yeah, I do. I won't risk lives any more than I already have." Haymitch slipped his empty flask into his pocket. "But I'll try to figure out a little more about Annie for you."
Caleb placed a hand on Finnick's shoulder. "Come on, Finnick."
After walking away from the cabin for several long, quiet minutes, Finnick finally asked, "Does Iris know?"
"She does. She's part of the group, too." Caleb chuckled in the dark and stopped. "She's the one that got me in."
Finnick backed up and stood beside his father-in-law. "She did?"
Caleb nodded and leaned against a tree. "My parents were slaves, Finnick."
"Katniss told me."
"They were also part of the Railroad, helping other slaves escape from the inside. They were pretty important. Moses herself showed them the way." Caleb paused and looked down. "They were killed for it." He sighed. "I was one of the last they helped escape. Just before President Lincoln freed us all."
"Caleb, I know all this." Finnick said impatiently.
"Katniss told you?"
Finnick nodded. "Yes. But only because I pressed. She never told me about this group."
"She doesn't know about this because it's the only thing I've ever kept from my girls." Caleb pushed off from the tree and walked on. "Iris brought me in because she knew how dangerous Snow is. He had Lincoln killed and then took over without a proper vote. All he has to do is point and a person disappears. But for the rest of us, it hurts more when those we love suffer. She fell for me and her parents were killed for it. She needed me part of this group to find a better way. So we could all be happy. But Katniss is paying for my part. And you and Peeta paid for Conrad's."
Finnick hurried after him. "That's the real reason, then? That I'm here and Peeta's there?"
"It's how it would appear." Caleb said. He stopped when they got to the main road. "District Thirteen is that way. Right through the Capitol. I understand most of Snow's opponents live there, but they're cut off from the rest of us."
"All the districts are cut off from one another." Finnick pointed out.
"That road is guarded the heaviest of all the roads between the districts." Caleb turned in the opposite direction and began walking. "Act like your drunk. Don't forget to drop off the note." He winked and started singing loudly. His smooth voice that could make the birds fall silent was the complete opposite in his feigned inebriation. Birds started calling out angrily to each other as Caleb leaned on Finnick's shoulder and laughed giddily.
They stumbled through the streets, singing at the tops of their voices and shushing each other. They laughed some more. A few people stuck their heads out and berated them. Finnick made rude gestures with his hands and kept walking. Caleb stumbled up the front steps to his porch.
"Thanks." He whispered with a wink as he opened the door.
Finnick nodded and staggered to the house across the street. He placed the paper underneath the rock and tapped on the window. Then he laughed hysterically and tripped back down the steps, humming to himself as he made his way home.
He stepped into the apartment and saw Katniss sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with arrows all around her.
"Hello." He said softly, sitting down to take off his boots.
She smiled and looked up from her work. "You made it back."
He nodded. "I did. Your daddy and I pretended to be drunk, so prepare yourself for questions about it on your rounds tomorrow."
She laughed. "I bet that was a sight."
"Oh, it was." He sat his shoes beside hers next to the door and then dropped to the floor beside her. "We were right."
"About what?" She blew some dust away from her arrowhead.
Finnick placed a hand on Katniss's cheek and turned her face so she was looking at him when he said, "Peeta is in Four."
Her eyes showed several emotions in just a few seconds: shock, joy, fear, desperation. "Are you sure?"
He nodded. "But we can't go to them yet. They're working on it."
She looked down at her work and wiped at a tear. "Are they married? Like we are?"
"I wasn't told that." He draped an arm over her shoulders and she stiffened. When she didn't immediately move away, he wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her head onto his shoulder. "Annie's father died." He said softly, swallowing around the thickness in his voice. "And I wasn't there to help her through it."
Katniss looked up and patted Finnick's chest. "If she has Peeta, she's fine. I know it's far from the same, but at least she might have someone."
He nodded and smoothed a hand over her hair. "I'm tired. Should probably go to bed." He stood and held out his hand to Katniss.
She gathered her arrows and slipped her hand into Finnick's allowing him to pull her to her feet. "I want to plan our escape."
He nodded. "But we can't go yet. I promised Caleb and the others that we'd stick around." He walked through the curtain as his wife put her weapons away.
"Who are the others?" She asked softly.
"Your mother is one, apparently. But she wasn't at the meeting."
She blew out the lamp and slipped through the curtain. "So who else was there?"
He pulled on his nightshirt and started working on the buttons. "Haymitch Abernathy and Conrad Mellark. Conrad's two older sons."
"So they've known where Peeta is? For how long?"
Her voice had a hysterical edge to it and Finnick hurried over. "Keep it down, Katniss."
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" She demanded.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently. "They couldn't tell you. It would probably harm all of them."
"But I love him, Finnick. It isn't fair that everyone kept this from me." She had a bit of a whine in her voice, but he thought it was justified.
"I know." He rested his hand against her cheek. "And we'll make our way to them when the time is right."
"I can't sit around doing nothing." She said through gritted teeth.
"We won't." He assured her gently.
"It's exactly what we're doing." She plopped down on the edge of the bed.
He sat beside her. "Caleb and Conrad both assured me that they were working on it, Katniss. You have to understand. It's why your daddy didn't want me to say anything to you. He knew you would fly off the handle and try to leave."
She nodded and looked up into his eyes, the gray of hers even darker than normal. "Do they know about us? Peeta and Annie?"
"I don't know. Haymitch didn't make it seem like they did." He smoothed his hand over her hair. "We both need sleep."
"I don't want to sleep, I want to go to Peeta." She said petulantly.
"We can't just run away in the middle of the night without provisions or a solid plan." He slipped under the blanket and tugged on her arm until she stretched out beside him.
With a sigh, Katniss pulled Finnick's arm around her waist. "I'm sorry, Finnick."
"For what?" He asked softly, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her stomach.
"Stop that." She bent his thumb back until it popped.
"Ow!" He exclaimed and yanked his hand out of her grasp.
"Don't touch me like that, please."
"I won't." He promised, draping his arm over her waist once more. "Why were you apologizing?"
"Because I pushed you away all that time." She said softly. "And you are really quite sweet to me when you try." She moved to her back. "You could have kept this from me, couldn't you?"
"I could." He propped his head up on his hand. "I should have because Caleb asked me to. But I didn't think it was fair to you when it concerns someone you love." He leaned down and kissed her forehead and then rolled away. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She moved opposite him, their backs leaned against each other.
Finnick closed his eyes and thought about Annie, falling asleep with the hope that someday soon he would be with her again.
Post-chapter note: One of my favorite movies is Gone With the Wind. The scene where the men act drunk leaving from the meeting is a bit of a nod to that. Fortunately in this story no one was shot.