Katniss was anxiously watching the wall that Taiya and Finnick had gone behind. The whole squad were making themselves look busy, pretending to give the couple some privacy. But so far no one had heard anything.
Finnick was sitting down, with Taiya standing opposite him. She had her arms crossed as she icily stared down at him.
10 minutes and not a word.
"Please say something," Finnick whispered.
"I want to drown you in a bathtub right now."
"Would it make you feel better if you did?" he asked.
"Probably not."
Finnick sighed, he knew he deserved every bit of Taiya's anger. "I messed up, Tay," he admitted, looking down at his hands. "I should have told you. I should have included you in the decision."
Taiya continued to glare at him, her arms still tightly crossed. She didn't say anything, silence was one of Finnick's biggest weaknesses. This would be upsetting him more than a screaming match would.
"I thought… I thought I could protect you by keeping you out of it. I didn't want you to worry," he looked up at her. "You weren't doing well, Tay. I was worried about you. I am worried about you. I know it was the wrong thing to do. I shouldn't have kept it from you. We're a team, and I'm sorry."
Taiya gritted her teeth. She could feel a prick in her eyes. She didn't want to cry. "You think you can just run off to the Capitol without telling me? You knew how scared I was and you did it anyway. You made me think everything was ok. This is not ok, Finnick! Do you know how it felt to hear about you being here? No one told me anything! You had all my friends lying to me. I had to sneak my way into a meeting to get the truth. Do you know how insane that is?"
"I didn't want you to worry," Finnick repeated, genuinely remorseful. "I thought it would be easier for you if you didn't know."
"Easier for me?" she scoffed. "Finnick, I can handle the truth. What I can't handle is being lied to, especially when you're heading into danger! Do you know how important trust is? You broke mine!"
Finnick nodded, it wasn't like he could defend himself. "You're right. I should have trusted you to be able to handle this. I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't have come here at all. You decided to keep me in the dark, you don't get to do that. We're a team. We face things together."
He nodded, feeling the weight of her words. Trust was paramount. "I know that. I promise, no more secrets."
"How were you expecting to explain this to me when you got home, huh? You think you'd get away scot-free because I'd be happy to see you?"
"I didn't think that far ahead yet," he ran a hand down his face.
"You didn't think, period!" she snapped. "I have half a mind to get the number of Romulus' divorce lawyer," she grumbled to herself, but then she glanced down at him. She didn't mean the words obviously, but the expression on Finnick's face broke her heart.
"Please say you don't mean that," he pleaded.
Taiya sighed. "No, I didn't mean it. I should. But no. I don't mean it. You promise me," she held her pinky up to him. "No more secrets, no more stupid 'she's a damsel I must protect her' nonsense. You promise me. Honesty."
"I love you and I promise," he immediately linked his pinky with hers and shook it.
"Good," she released his finger. "I'm still furious though so don't think this fight is over. Lie to me again and I'll have to kill you. My mother has plenty of suggestions."
"What?" his face immediately morphed into concern.
"What?" she repeated. She hadn't meant to say that last bit out loud.
"Are you hearing the voices now?" he asked, standing up.
"Voices," she chuckled. "What voices? The only voice I hear is yours. Anywho, where's Peetie boo," she walked back around the other side of the wall to join the group, not missing how quickly Katniss spun around, trying to pretend she wasn't listening in.
She glanced around the room before spotting Peeta tucked away in the corner, two armed squad members watching him.
"Peetie boo?" he asked her as she came to sit next to him.
"You heard that?" she grimaced.
"Everyone did. There's not a lot of sound insulation here," Peeta smiled lightly at her. "You ok?"
Taiya huffed as Finnick came to sit opposite them. He really did look like a sad puppy. "Yeah, I'm ok," she assured the boy. "He'll be sleeping on the couch when we get home though," she glared at Finnick.
There was a moment's silence as Finnick shrank under her glare.
Peeta's chuckle pulled her attention back to him. "Seriously though. 'How dare you, Odair?' That's the best you could come up with? I'm so embarrassed for you."
"Shut up, Peeta," Taiya bumped her shoulder with his.
"All that practice and we ended up with 'How dare you, Odair'," he snorted.
"I was overtaken with rage," she tried to defend herself.
Peeta just smiled at her. "You do one poem insulting President Snow in a propo and all of a sudden you think you're a poet," he shook his head in amusement.
"Leave me alone," she laughed.
"I liked the Soldier Secrecy one the best," Peeta told her.
"I liked the Capitol teaching him honesty one," Taiya smirked, before both of them turned their gaze to Finnick who looked as though he was praying the floor would swallow him whole.
"Boggs," Katniss' voice interrupted their torturing of Finnick.
The leader of the squad had returned. He'd run away to make some calls to base, demanding an explanation of why Peeta, who currently had Katniss-murdering tendencies, was being put on a squad with said girl.
"Taiya was telling the truth," he nodded his head over to the District 4 girl. "They want us to add him to the propos. Show that he's on our side now."
"Told you so," Taiya grumbled under her breath, before pulling out her new favourite toy, the stress ball, and rolling it in her hands.
"We'll move forward a few more blocks tomorrow and shoot the new footage."
"He's not in control of himself," Gale pointed out. Taiya had to glare at him of course. Stupid Dale.
"I say we schedule an around-the-clock watch on him. The Legs till 1700, Holmes and Mitchell till 1900," Jackson addressed the squad.
"Give me a watch," Katniss requested.
There was a stunned moment of silence as everyone turned to look at Katniss. Everyone except Peeta who was doing his best to stay sane.
"And if it really came down to it, do you think you could shoot him?" Jackson asked.
Taiya frowned. She wasn't going to let that happen. Why would they shoot Peeta for something that wasn't even his fault? He didn't ask to be tortured by the Capitol. He didn't ask to be hijacked. He didn't ask to come to the Capitol. And yet some people were treating him as if his instability was his fault. It was ridiculous. It was unfair.
But of course, Katniss had to have an answer for that.
"I wouldn't be shooting Peeta. I'd be killing a Capitol mutt."
That made Peeta look over. Taiya didn't need to look at him to know how much that hurt him. Even if he didn't understand his feelings towards her, everyone had told him about it. So to hear her say those words would have contradicted everything they'd said to him about how much she cared.
And Taiya couldn't have that.
Finnick though, knew Taiya too well. And he knew exactly what she was about to do.
He leapt up from his seat and intercepted her stress ball, which had been viciously thrown in the direction of Katniss' head.
Hearing the commotion, the entire squad looked over at them.
"Sorry," Finnick chuckled, waving the ball in the air. "I fumbled the catch," he lied. "My bad, Tay," he gently threw the ball back to her. "Please, carry on," he smiled at the squad before quickly returning to his seat. His eyes were pleading with Taiya to let it go.
But she wasn't impressed, so this time she threw the ball, albeit, lighter, at Finnick's head and watched as it bounced off his forehead. He didn't try to stop it this time.
"I'm not sure that kind of a comment recommends you for the job either, soldier," Jackson returned to the conversation.
"Put her in the rotation," Boggs agreed with Katniss before walking outside.
"I tried to get her for you, buddy," Taiya placed her hand on Peeta's shoulder. "If the party pooper didn't get in the way that would've…" she clicked her tongue and jerked her head back melodramatically. "Well, maybe it wouldn't have been that dramatic. But it would have sent a message."
"I appreciate the thought," he mumbled.
Finnick stood up and bent down to pick up her ball and handed it back with a soft smile on his face.
"Have you ever just wanted to rip someone's head off, Peeta?" she asked, taking the ball from Finnick, before turning back to her friend with a wide smile. "Because that's kind of how I feel right now."
Peeta just looked at her with furrowed brows. "Well… yeah," he directed his gaze to Katniss, who had followed Boggs outside.
"Ah," Taiya pursed her lips. "Ok, good point." He, in fact, could relate to that sentiment. "Oo, she's free," Taiya looked over to see Boggs walking away, leaving Katniss standing alone. "I'm going to go talk to the swamp potato," she smiled at Peeta. "Be right back pita bread!"
"Taiya, please," Finnick stood up, worried she was going to get herself in more trouble.
"I don't need a babysitter," she snapped at Finnick. "I'm not going to do anything. I am taking my ball though," she held it in the air to taunt him before she walked outside and joined Katniss.
"Hey jerk," she greeted Katniss.
"Hey," Katniss sighed.
"Look," Taiya got straight down to business. "I like you. But don't ever talk about Peeta like that again," Taiya warned, her eyes narrowing. "I don't care if you're the Mockingjay or the Queen of Panem. You lay off, or I'll knock your teeth out. Clear?"
Katniss stared at Taiya, a mix of surprise and irritation on her face. "I don't need your threats, Taiya," Katniss grumbled.
"You need a reality check, Everdeen," Taiya shot back. "He didn't ask for this! He was hijacked! Where is your empathy? He was tortured for months, just because the rebels got you out instead of him. What if you were in his position, huh? Do you think he'd give up on you? No. Don't you realise saying things like that is just going to make him retreat into his hijacked state? You're just antagonising him. It would help if you tried being nice to him, it might pull him back. Why do you think he's fine around me? I'm nice to him, I don't treat him like the enemy."
Katniss just stayed quiet. It looked like Taiya had maybe gotten through to her a little bit.
"I've got enough on my mind right now," Taiya turned on her heel to leave. "I don't need your drama."
"Taiya," Katniss called out. "Are you okay?"
"Meh," she shrugged. "Twitching with rage, so just the usual. Figured, why not make a trip to the Capitol? May as well just serve ourselves up to Snow on a silver platter so he can finish his victor purge."
"That's not what this is Taiya," Katniss looked at her friend. "We're going to win this. We're going to kill Snow."
"I like your optimism. I don't share it, but I like it. Just think about what I said," she walked away and headed back inside, leaving Katniss standing outside to process the confrontation further.
The squad members exchanged glances, unsure of what had just transpired, but they knew it was heated. Finnick, who had been nervously watching the exchange, sighed in relief as Taiya returned to the little group in the corner with him, Peeta, and two armed guards.
"Problem solved?" Finnick asked.
"For now," Taiya replied, reclaiming her seat next to Peeta. "Did my best to scare her into submission."
Peeta didn't respond, but he did reach down and give her hand a little squeeze.
Finnick trailed behind Taiya and Peeta as they made their way through the line to get dinner. Taiya hadn't left Peeta's side, she'd been worried about how the others would treat him. However, to her surprise, most of the squad members had been kind to him. They understood he wasn't at fault for his past behaviour, and Katniss' comment had left a sour taste, even among those who were initially sceptical. So it seemed now sympathies had turned against Katniss, and towards Peeta.
As they stood in line, Finnick offered, "I can get them."
Taiya shook her head. "Not unless you can grow an extra hand to carry Peeta's tray. Which I don't think you can. So we're fine here, thanks."
Finnick had to respect her loyalty to Peeta, but he was disappointed. He really didn't know how he was going to dig himself out of this hole.
The trio got their trays and were walking back to their corner. To get there, they had to walk past Katniss and Gale, who were making their way to the opposite side of the room.
Taiya didn't know why she did it, but she stopped, pretending to check the bottom of her shoe. Finnick had continued to escort Peeta back, knowing she'd be just behind them.
But she wanted to hear what Katniss had to say.
And she didn't like what she heard.
Neither Katniss nor Gale had taken much notice of Taiya, so Gale wasn't filtering his words.
"Do you want me to kill him?" he asked Katniss.
"That'll get us both sent back for sure," Katniss stuttered, obviously rattled by his blunt question. "I can deal with him. Taiya will help. TAIYA!" she gasped.
That was what caught Finnick's attention. That and the clattering of trays.
He turned around just in time to see Taiya body slam Gale to the floor from behind.
Peeta's eyes widened, and he nervously shuffled backwards, trying to distance himself from the unfolding scene. He knew if he got too close he might be set off.
Taiya though, had Gale pinned to the floor. "What did you just say?" she screamed at him.
"What the hell is your problem?" Gale tried to shove her off, but she had a knife in one hand, and he didn't want her to move that closer to him.
"You are! You want to kill Peeta, huh? You try that, I'll put you in the ground, Hawthorne!" Taiya yelled before she was ripped off of Gale, Boggs coming to the rescue. "You insensitive prick!" Taiya continued her tirade. "No one even gives a shit about who you are, you're just a District 12 foot soldier. The only reason you're relevant is because of Katniss."
"Calm down soldier," Boggs yanked her away, having arrived to rip her off only a moment before Finnick.
"You better watch your mouth, Hawthorne," she refused to listen. "Next time I'll take you out."
"Taiya, please stop," Finnick pleaded.
"Enough soldier," Boggs marched her towards the corner she, Finnick and Peeta had taken up residence in. "We can't have you attacking squad members. I'm going to have to make a call to base."
"Oh yeah? Try it!" she squirmed in his arms, trying to pull away. "Plutarch won't let me go back. So good luck with that!"
"Even if that is the case, we're a team, and you need to act like one. Violence is not tolerated," he stopped as they reached Peeta.
"Yeah, well, Peeta's a part of that team as well. What about threats of violence against a team member?" Taiya snapped.
"Gale will be spoken with," Boggs held up his hand.
"She didn't mean it, Boggs," Finnick tried to reason with the man. "She just got overwhelmed. Please don't blame her."
Boggs studied Taiya's smirking face and then glanced at Finnick. "I can't let this slide. We can't afford internal conflicts, especially not physical altercations." He then dropped his voice lower. "Look, I won't make a call this time. Because I do think you could work well with this team. But this is not acceptable."
"Please," Finnick pleaded with Boggs. "She'll calm down. Just give her a moment. She didn't mean anything bad."
But Taiya wasn't having it. "I did mean it! And if he says anything like that again, I'll do worse," she declared.
Boggs sighed, he wasn't being given much of a choice here. "Sorry, Finnick. We have to maintain discipline," he pulled some cuffs out of his belt.
Finnick's heart sank as he looked down at them. Taiya though was unbothered.
She proudly extended her hands for Boggs. "Slap them on," she encouraged. "I'll just use them to strangle him."
Boggs froze at that, before groaning quietly to himself and putting them on her wrist.
"Hey check it out, Peeta," she turned to her friend, who at this point was looking on the verge of delirium. "We have matching friendship bracelets again," she held her wrists up in triumph before she grabbed his arm and sat down at their seats. "We could make a cool cuff bros handshake to show Johanna when we get home."
"Yeah, ok," he nodded, his hands slightly shaking.
Taiya looked up at Finnick who was watching over them. "Come on seaweed brain, sit down," she tapped the seat beside her.
He couldn't help but smile. She hadn't let him sit beside her the whole day, and now she was offering him a seat and calling him seaweed brain. It seemed like all it took to put her in a better mood was attacking Gale.
"I'm going to go see if I can get another dinner tray," he walked forward and kissed the top of her head. "You take mine," he pushed the tray towards her before returning to the dinner station. He was walking back with a pep in his step. She hadn't pushed him away.
ShiaraS46: Yeah I guess that's a silver lining haha! Instead, she'll be in the tar with them! Good luck with the rest of your exams! I'm sure you'll smash it out of the park!