Finnick hadn't taken his hand off her. Not once. They were sitting on the side of the room with Peeta while everyone tucked into the food that Taiya and Gale had recovered from Seneca's apartment, and Finnick's hand was resting on the inside of her knee.

She and Gale had been very successful. They'd managed to grab an array of foods that included canned stews, canned fruits and some dessert truffles. Seneca was such a sweetheart, Taiya would always order a plate of these truffles when they were out for dinner. Seneca was never a huge fan, so Taiya had to imagine he'd ordered them specifically for her.

"I don't think I ever really understood the Capitol until now," Gale muttered to Katniss, making Taiya turn her head in his direction. He was studying the dessert in his hand, but before he continued, he lifted his head to look over at Taiya. "You eat like this you'll believe anything," he scowled.

"Prick," Taiya scoffed under her breath. Gale was a close-minded fool. If he hadn't been carrying the cans in his satchel, she may have just slipped and pushed him down the stairs. The only one who'd be upset would be Katniss, but she'd get over it.

"He's just looking for a reaction," Finnick squeezed her knee in comfort.

Before Taiya could reply, the TV burst to life with the sound of the Panem anthem. There was another broadcast.

Cressida's face was shown on the screen, along with the label 'Capitol' to represent her home.

Taiya grabbed onto Finnick's upper arm with a gasp. This was the 76th Hunger Games, and these were the faces in the sky. The fallen tributes.

The rest of the film crew's faces were then displayed. Castor's face was next. Then Pollux. Then Messalla.

Then it was Finnick with their home of District Four written under his name.

The aforementioned man was rubbing up and down his wife's hand that was clinging onto him, but he couldn't resist letting out a little chuckle at seeing his own face on screen. Ordinarily, Taiya would find his cheerfulness charming.

Taiya was not laughing though. That was not a reality she could allow. He couldn't die. His was the one face she'd never be able to survive seeing in the fallen tributes display.

Taiya's face was the next on screen. Taiya's lips did lift slightly when she saw it. She could understand some of Finnick's amusement when she saw her own picture. There was a satisfaction in knowing they'd tricked the entire Capitol. She couldn't laugh about Finnick's 'death', but she could smile at her own.

Bread Boy was up next and then lastly, the Mockingjay.

"HA!" Taiya laughed loudly, looking over at Gale. His face hadn't been displayed. No one cared.

"So, Katniss Everdeen," President Snow's voice broke through Taiya's temporary enjoyment from mocking. Her blood ran cold. It was him. She hadn't seen any videos of him or heard his voice since her rescue. "A poor, unstable girl, with nothing but a small talent with a bow and arrow… is dead. Not a thinker. Not a leader. Simply a face plucked from the masses. Was she valuable? She was extremely valuable to your rebellion because you have no vision. No true leader among you."

"True," Taiya muttered to Finnick. Coin was useless.

"Shh," he smiled down at her, prying her hand from his arm, and lifting it so he could kiss her knuckles before lowering it down into his lap to hold.

"You call yourselves an alliance. But we saw what that means. Your soldiers are at each other's throats," Snow continued before he froze. There was a disturbance in his broadcast.

"Good evening," Coin's voice crackled through before her face appeared on screen. Beetee was good at his job. "For those of you who don't know me, please allow me to introduce myself. I am President Alma Coin, leader of the rebellion. I have interrupted a broadcast from your President in which he attempted to defame a brave young woman. 'A face picked from the masses' he called her. As if a leader, a true leader, could be anything else. I had the privilege of knowing a small-town girl from the Seam in District 12, who survived the Hunger Games and the Quarter Quell and rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army! Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this revolution," Coin's voice cracked, she was pretending to be upset. They all knew there was no love lost between Coin and Katniss. "She will not have died for nothing!"

"I had no idea I meant so much to her," Katniss deadpanned.

"Think about what a cool prank it will be at the end of the war when you pop out and are like 'Surprise it's me!'" Taiya smirked over at the girl. Katniss had to snort, that would be something to see.

"Her vision and ours will be realised. A free Panem. With self-determination for all. And in her memory, we'll all find the strength to rid Panem of its suppressors. Thank you. And be safe," Coin signed off.

The last thing on the screen before it turned off was a tribute to the Mockingjay, complete with the rebellion whistle sound effect. It was very cheesy. Beetee obviously had to put that together in a hurry, or he had an intern do it.

Snow's face was then back on the screen, Beetee had handed back the broadcast channel to the Capitol. His face looked composed, but it was his eyes that gave away his emotions. He was furious. "Tomorrow morning, when we pull Katniss Everdeen's body from the ashes, we will see exactly who the Mockingjay is. A dead girl who could save no one, not even herself." Capitol seal, anthem, out. Snow was going to kill whoever was in charge of protecting that broadcast signal.

"Except that you won't find her," Finnick voiced what everyone was thinking. The relative safety they had found with everyone thinking they were dead would soon disappear. There would be eleven bodies missing.

"We can get a head start on them at least. Snow's in his mansion," Katniss leapt up, not wasting a second. "Where is that?" she moved into the centre of the room and opened up the map on the holo so they could all see.

Finnick tried to pull Taiya up alongside him so they could join the meeting in the centre, where everyone was gathering. But Taiya wouldn't stand. She just shook her head at him and scooted closer to Peeta. "Go," she whispered to Finnick, freeing him to move those couple of steps away so he could join the rest of the squad.

It'd been hard seeing Snow again after what they'd endured, and she wanted to check on Peeta. But she also knew she needed a minute.

It felt like this was the first time she'd seen Snow and not felt his power. He had none over her anymore. He thought she was dead. He thought Finnick was dead. The rest of her loved ones were in District 13. Kenna would be safe with Romulus.

He had nothing to threaten her with. Nothing to hang over her head. And it felt like this was maybe the first time she'd heard him speak and hadn't cared what he said.

She wasn't feeling terrified of him now. She had always been so terrified that she'd do whatever he asked of her so that she could ensure she and her family would stay safe. Now she looked at him, and she felt what she knew Finnick had been feeling for years, what she'd been suppressing. She felt pure rage directed straight at him. She wanted him dead.

She'd always hated him, she knew that. But her survival instinct when it came to him seemed to be to respect him. Snow craved respect and admiration, and she'd give it to him to stay in his good graces. She'd always excused his discreet threats with the reasoning that he hadn't lied. She'd allowed him to manipulate her because she knew it kept her safe. She'd grown up around local politics, with her dad being the mayor, so she knew how to read the situations around her. And she'd played right into Snow's hands. She'd done so for years. She hadn't had a choice.

And now she wanted him to suffer. Suffer just like she had. Like everyone had.

Taiya shook her head. Katniss was on a mission to kill him, and she knew Johanna made Katniss promise to kill him. Katniss wouldn't break that promise.

"That's us," Cressida pointed out on the holo map. "That's the city circle. It's at least 70, 75 blocks north."

"75 blocks?" Finnick gawked in disbelief. That was a lot of walking.

"Uh-huh," Cressida nodded.

"Nobody knows we're alive. This is our chance," Katniss tried to pep them all up. "These buildings. Do these overlook Snow's gardens?"

"I…" Cressida shook her head unsure.

"They do," Castor confirmed.

"If he goes outside at all, I could get a clear shot," Katniss laid out the game plan. She took a deep breath before she looked over at Taiya. The girl looked trapped inside her own head. She wasn't paying attention to what they were discussing. "Taiya?"

"Hmm?" Taiya blinked, snapping out of her mind and looking over at the Mockingjay.

"Did you recognise what room Snow was in just now?"

"Yeah," Taiya breathed and nodded her head, casting her eyes down at the ground.

"If we run out of options, do you think you could get me in? You wouldn't have to follow, you could just direct me. Draw a map. If he doesn't step outside, I'll have to go inside to get him."

Taiya opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not sure what to say. "It'll be near impossible Katniss. There'll be Peacekeepers all around the mansion. And there's the pods."

"She's right," Jackson agreed. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. Whether they're looking for us or not, we are pinned down. Hit that button. Scan for pods," she instructed Katniss.

Taiya couldn't see how many popped up on the map, but from the intake of breath everyone took, it wasn't good.

"Just about every 10 steps," Homes noted. Yep, definitely not good.

"Yeah, that doesn't even show the new ones," Gale huffed.

"Any ideas?" Katniss opened up to the group for ideas on how to move around.

"So we can't go anywhere in the streets," Finnick concluded.

"And the rooftops are just as bad," Jackson added.

Taiya jumped slightly when she felt Peeta grab her hand, she looked over at him to see he'd closed his eyes out of stress. She gave his hand a quick squeeze back. He supported her, she'd support him. Sometimes you just needed to hold onto someone when you felt your mind swaying in order to stay grounded.

"We still might have a chance to withdraw, go back the way we came," Homes suggested half-heartedly. "But that would mean a failed mission."

"It was never intended for all of us to go forward," Katniss frantically shook her head, trying to give people an out for her fabricated mission. "You just had the misfortune to be with me."

"Well, that's a moot point. We're with you now," Jackson assured. "So we can't stay put. We can't move up. We can't move laterally."

"There might be another way," Castor spoke, and Taiya looked over to see his Avox brother Pollux signing to him.

"Underground," Gale understood immediately.

Taiya had to snort and she elbowed Peeta gently, making him open his eyes and look over at her. "Did your parents ever tell you the bear hunt story?"

"The what?" Peeta frowned, having no idea what she was talking about.

"Oh, bread boy, you have missed out. This, Peetie boo, is We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Capitol Version).
We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day! We're not scared.
Oh-oh! Pods! Stupid, dangerous pods.
We can't go over it. We can't go through it.
Oh no! We'll have to go under it!"

"That is the weirdest thing I've ever heard in my life," he frowned at her.

"No way. It's cool."

Peeta snorted loudly, drawing the attention of the rest of the room. "That is not cool. That was so lame."

"You know who would love it?" Taiya challenged, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms.

"No one?"

"Johanna. Johanna would love it. The coolest trauma bro."

"I thought you made an official proclamation that you were the coolest trauma bro?" Peeta's eyes lit up, having caught her mistake.

"Dangit!" Taiya groaned. He had her there.

"You two okay?" Finnick asked them. These were not two people who looked like they'd do well underground. After being trapped in prison cells in the Capitol, and then underground in District 13, having them both in an enclosed space could set either off. Everyone would have to be careful not to upset them.

"Peeta says he hasn't heard of We're Going on a Bear Hunt," Taiya immediately dobbed him in.

All concerns Finnick had about the next few hours vanished. "You haven't heard of We're Going on a Bear Hunt!" he gasped and moved back over to them. "What was your childhood even like?"

"We can't all be weird like you guys from Four," Peeta teased, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"Hey!" Taiya whined, not happy with being insulted. "Don't be so sour, dough," she smiled widely. Both Peeta and Finnick just stared at her. It was far from her best joke. But she was happy with it.

"That was not good," Peeta shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" her smile instantly fell.

"I liked it," Finnick kissed her temple.

Taiya grabbed the collar of his uniform as she looked into his eyes. "Another reason why I married you. You're so sweet. You're just not a good liar," she giggled as she leaned up to kiss him.

Katniss was running through the plan with Taiya in the corner whilst the others cleaned up the apartment. They had to make it look like they were never there. That meant throwing out all the rubbish and flipping the blood-stained cushions.

"Two buildings down, there's a vertical tube that connects to the tunnels," Katniss pointed out on the map so Taiya could see.

"Well, how do we get there?" Taiya asked. "Surely the cameras in the street are working again. If we go outside, they'll see."

"There's this," Katniss enlarged the map. "On the upper floor, there's a maintenance shaft that runs around the back of all the buildings. We can get into the shaft through the back of a closet space. That shaft will take us to the other building."

"The upper floor?" Taiya sucked in a breath. "Which floor?"

"The 14th."

"Of course," Taiya dropped her head onto the table.

"Gale said…"

"Yeah, yeah, I can get us in," Taiya grumbled her agreement. "Just don't touch any of my stuff." She didn't want them damaging what was left of her friend's belongings.

"We'll be careful," Katniss promised.

They were all just about ready to go. The only one holding out was Peeta.

He'd planted himself on the sofa and was refusing to move. "I'm not going. I'll either disclose your position or hurt someone else."

"Snow's people will find you," Finnick reminded him. He couldn't leave the boy there. He deserved a shot at a future.

"Then leave me a pill. I'll only take it if I have to," Peeta argued.

"That's not an option. Come along," Jackson tried to coax him.

"Or you'll what? Shoot me?" Peeta asked.

"We'll knock you out and drag you with us," Homes shook his head. "Which will both slow us down and endanger us."

"Stop being noble!" Peeta snapped. "I don't care if I die! Katniss, please. Don't you see, I want to be out of this?"

Taiya glanced over at Katniss who was still standing beside her. She could see it on the younger girl's face. She'd watched Peeta snap mere hours ago. But she recognised her Peeta now. And she could never let her Peeta go.

"We're wasting time," Katniss shook her head. "Are you coming voluntarily or do we knock you out?"

Peeta shook his head frantically, prepared to argue back again.

"Peeta?" Taiya spoke up. "Please," she pleaded.

Peeta just buried his face in his hands for a few moments, before he rose up to join them.

"Should we free his hands?" Cressida asked.

"No!" Peeta growled, pulling his bound hands even closer to him. He didn't care if it hindered his ability to defend himself, he couldn't bear the idea of hurting anyone else. Not after what happened earlier. As long as the cuffs hindered his movements even slightly, they'd be staying on.

"No," Katniss shook her head in agreement. "But I want the key," she held her hand out to Jackson who passed it over without protest. "Alright, let's go," Katniss led the procession up to the 14th floor.

Thank god Taiya had attended some training in 13, no matter how half-heartedly she did it. These stairs were a killer.

"Alright," Taiya turned to face the whole squad after she'd unlocked the door to the apartment. "Ground rules. No one touches anything…. that's actually the only rule. So that's ground rule, singular. Bienvenue dans ma troisième maison," she held her arm out, beckoning the squad in. "Which bedroom do we need to get to?" she asked Katniss who was holding the holo.

"This one," she pointed to the room where the maintenance shaft entrance was.

"My room. Swell." At least no one would be trampling through Seneca's things. "This way mes amis," she walked in the direction of her room. "Alright," she swung open the closet door and pushed her dresses aside. "Where is this secret entrance."

"Can I?" Homes asked politely as he stepped up beside her.

"By my guest."

Homes tapped his knuckles along the back wall until one panel in the closet sounded different. "Here," he mumbled to himself and pulled open a hidden door, before prying open the small metal door to the maintenance shaft.

Castor and Pollux had to leave their camera contraptions behind. They weren't going to be able to fit through the small shaft with the massive cameras on their backs. But due to the massive size of the equipment, there wasn't anywhere to hide them. They just had to leave them in the closet. It left an uneasy feeling in Taiya's stomach. This would just give the Peacekeepers a trail to follow when they eventually came to hunt them down.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Taiya just kept muttering to herself as they sidestepped through the maintenance shaft. It was such a tight fit. She was clinging onto Finnick's hand, letting him guide her as she closed her eyes. It was not a great time to feel claustrophobic.

It took them about five minutes until they'd successfully been able to shimmy their way into the building two doors down.

"Alright," Homes huffed as he surveyed the new apartment. "Now to the lowest floor?"

Katniss just nodded.

These stairs were going to be the death of the squad at this rate, they didn't even need to worry about pods. Stairs were the real enemy.

So down they trudged to the ground floor of this building, with Taiya's lock-picking skills coming in handy again as she picked the lock to the apartment they needed.

The whole squad immediately rushed over to the utility door in the apartment. The door that led to the tube they wanted.

"Bit of an eyesore," Taiya commented as they looked down at the wide circular cover.

"Oh absolutely," Messalla agreed. "It's why no one ever wants the centre unit. Workmen coming and going whenever and no second bath. But the rent's considerably cheaper." It was a good thing Messalla looked over at Taiya and Finnick. They were both staring at him with an amused expression. Gale was scowling. "Never mind," Messalla bashfully shook his head. They had to stay focused.

It was easy to unlatch the tube's cover. There was a wide ladder they all had to take to descend into the bowels of the city.

Taiya went after Finnick, his hands finding a place on her waist as she got near the ground, helping her step down off the last rung.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly.

Her hand slipped into his. "Just stay by me?"

"Always," he ran his thumb up and down hers.

"Stinks down here," Taiya commented for the whole squad. It was like a mixture of chemicals, mildew and sewage. Not exactly the next perfume scent. "You okay Pollux?" she frowned as she looked at the Avox. He was pale and sweaty and clutching onto Castor's wrist. He looked like he could belong with the trauma bros.

"My brother worked sanitation down here after they made him an Avox," Castor explained. "Took five years before we were able to buy his way up to ground level. Didn't see the sun once."

He would definitely fit in with the trauma bros.

And trauma bros, support trauma bros. So while everyone else was silent, it was Peeta who spoke up. "Well, then you just became our most valuable asset." Castor had to laugh, while Pollux smiled. Peeta's attempt to put a positive spin on a horrible circumstance seemed to have worked.

Pollux waved his hand and took the lead with his brother, leading them down a tunnel.

Peeta was being kept under close watch by Jackson and Gale, his current guards. So Taiya positioned herself and Finnick just in front of him, that way if he wanted to chat to get his mind off of anything, they'd be nearby.

Pollux was a godsend for the group. Being underground with him just about made the holo useless. Pollux knew when certain pods would be active. He knew all the passages, shafts, train tracks and drainage tubes. He knew when gas masks were required, where live wires lay, where giant rats resided. He would signal to the group when a gush of water was going to sweep through, he knew what time the Avoxs changed shifts, he knew which pipes to lead them through to avoid cargo trains.

They'd only had one close call. They were crossing some tracks when Katniss, heard a slight noise. "Go, go, go," she whispered back at them and started running. They all sprinted and managed to duck behind a wall just as a train pulled past. The trains were electric and ran so quietly that it was almost too late by the time Katniss had heard it. They got lucky that time.

Pollux was a genius. He was leading them through with remarkable speed. They'd been going for about six hours before everyone finally gave up in exhaustion. It was three in the morning, so they would probably have a few more hours until it was discovered that they weren't, in fact, dead.

"Let's take a rest," Katniss called out.

"Oh thank god," Taiya's legs immediately buckled. Finnick grabbed around her waist before she could collapse onto the damp ground.

"Is there a good spot to rest, Pollux?" Finnick addressed the man, a smile on his face as he held his dramatic wife up.

Pollux waved them over to a small walkway nearby. It was above water level and dry. much more appropriate than the middle of a tunnel. There were some humming machines, which worked to keep the room warm. He held up his fingers to signal the number four. They had four hours until they'd have to get moving again.

"I'll take the first watch," Jackson volunteered, no one argued with her. Everyone else was exhausted.

"Peeta," Taiya grabbed onto his arms, making him turn to look at her and Finnick. "You can sit with us."

"Yeah," Finnick agreed. "Just tuck in there," he pointed at the spot in the corner. If something went wrong and he snapped, at least Finnick and Taiya would both have a chance at grabbing Peeta before someone else did.

The boy nodded and lowered himself into the corner, letting his head rest against the bars. Taiya sat down sloppily next to him, resting her head on Finnick's shoulder. Her feet were aching, her legs were burning, and her eyes were heavy. But she knew she shouldn't complain.

"Alright, settle in everybody," Jackson instructed.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Taiya mumbled, her eyes already closed. She wrapped an arm around Finnick's waist and nestled further into him. Sitting up wasn't the most comfortable position.

"Come here," Finnick wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in even closer so he could rest his chin on the top of her head.

"You're the best pillow," Taiya mumbled against his shoulder, already half-asleep.

"I'm just the best, period," he smirked. "You don't have to add anything after that."

"I love you."

"I love you too," he instantly returned.

And then they were both asleep. This time, Taiya was so exhausted her brain didn't even have enough energy to dream. Which in turn kept the nightmares away. For one of the first times in ages, she was having a completely nightmare-free sleep.

Until the source of her nightmares seemed to break into her unconscious mind and jolt her.

"Katniss."

ShiaraS46: Gale's thought process is sooo dangerous, and I feel like it's how a lot of people's minds end up thinking when they get into combat circumstances and it's just so wrong.

Mim31: Gale a une si mauvaise mentalité qu'il fallait que quelqu'un lui crie dessus. Je ne pense pas qu'il ait écouté. Stupide Gale