. SURVIVAL GAME . .៹♡
                                                 CHAPTER FOURTEEN
                                        ─── BROKEN PROMISE

Velren felt the world spinning around him as he slowly emerged from unconsciousness. A cold shiver ran through his body as he noticed the tube protruding from his arm and heard the gentle hum of a hovercraft around him. His eyelids fluttered as he tried to orient himself, and the faint murmur of four people reached his ears. The voices sounded muffled, but an underlying panic tinged their words.

A sharp pain shot through Velren's throat as he took a deep breath, and he felt his fingers trembling as he attempted to remove the infusion from his arm. Each inhalation felt like a needle piercing deep into his lungs. With a suppressed cry, he finally managed to disconnect the tubing, but his hand slipped and thudded painfully onto the floor of the hovercraft.

Getting up was agony; every muscle seemed to scream in pain. Yet Velren knew he had no choice but to muster the strength to rise. His gaze drifted to the doors of the craft, and he felt a mixture of fear and determination brewing within him. Whatever lay behind those doors would require his strength and courage to overcome.

Velren immediately recognized the voices; they were clear and familiar. Haymitch, Adrian, Tobias, and Plutarch, he thought to himself. But as he slowly looked around, he almost stumbled over Beetee and Katniss, who lay unconscious on the floor of the hovercraft, their wounds carefully cleaned and sterilized. A hint of peace rested on Katniss' face, a stark contrast to the fighter Velren had known before. It was obvious that in her moment of despair, she must have somehow destroyed the arena.

"The question is how we can break the news to him gently. His losses are already too great to have to deal with this news now." Velren heard Adrian say as he slowly walked towards the door. "As for the plan - " Haymitch began to say, but before he could continue, he was interrupted by Plutarch. "Plans can change."

Velren flinched in surprise when the door suddenly opened with a creaking groan and the four people he had assumed would be there appeared. The four men looked tired and stressed. But when their eyes fell on Velren, who was standing innocently at the doorway, a faint smile flitted across their faces. Tobias sighed deeply  and didn't dare to look him straight in the eye. "Good morning, my boy."

Adrian gently led Velren into the room and assigned him a seat at the head of the small table. Plutarch furrowed his brow as he hesitantly opened his mouth, as if searching for the right words. Velren let his gaze wander around the room and immediately recognized the absence of a number of people who were of great importance to him.

"Where's Finnick?" Velren's voice trembled with apprehension as he spoke the question and looked at everyone in the room. "Where the hell is he?" When no answer followed, he felt the anger rise within him. With a sudden movement, he slapped his hand on the table.  Velren's hand shook with anger as his eyes slowly filled with suppressed tears. His eyes reflected not only anger, but also a desperate pain. The silence that now reigned around him seemed to torture his ears, and his heart pounded irregularly, far too fast for normal rest. Something was wrong, he could feel it in the depths of his soul.  "Why the hell aren't you answering?" he asked, and his voice shook with desperate anger.

"Unfortunately, after the force field exploded, there wasn't enough time to free you all in time. Finnick still had his tracker in his arms, which meant that we would have run too many risks if we had tried to free him at that moment. " Plutarch explained the situation with a regretful tone, but Velren didn't seem to be listening. He had turned away to the wall behind him. His arms were crossed as he desperately paced back and forth.

"No, no, no, no, no!" A shattering sob erupted from his throat as he buried his face in his hands. The force of the emotions seemed to penetrate his body, trapping him in a maelstrom of pain and despair. Every single muscle twitched with tension, his knees threatened to give way and let him fall to the ground. "This can't be true. This can't be true." he whispered to himself in a desperate attempt to calm himself down.

 Haymitch frowned at the sight, not only because he felt bad, but also because of the eerie realization that Velren sometimes reminded him of himself. This realization was extremely unpleasant and unsettling for him. At that moment, Haymitch was overcome with guilt.

He was gone, Velren thought through his tears. He was gone. Finnick - his Finn - the love of his live- was a prisoner in the capitol.

Velren wiped his wet eyes with the back of a shaking hand, sniffled softly, and then slowly turned to the others  while he struggled to keep his emotions under control. He felt the urge to let all his feelings out, but he forced himself to remain strong. There would be time to cry later. "What about Peeta?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice. "I didn't see him either."

Haymitch ran his hand desperately through the tangled strands of hair and let his gaze wander to Plutarch, Tobias and Adrian in turn. "She's going to lose it when she finds out about the boy." he finally said with a deep sigh.

 "She'll still cooperate, though?" Plutarch wasn't entirely convinced himself. Velren's anger was not only directed at the four people in the room, but rather arose from Plutarch's concern that Katniss might become the second face of the rebellion. There was silence in the group for a moment before Plutarch finally turned his gaze to Velren. "You'll cooperate, won't you?" 

Velren stared at him in disbelief.  An expression of contempt was on his face as he opened his mouth to insult Plutarch. But before the words of anger and contempt could pass his lips, Tobias interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Without Peeta, there's no guarantee."

Velren wiped his wet cheeks slowly, a feeble attempt to stem the tears that were finding their way inexorably. With a heavy sigh, he leaned his palms against the cool tabletop,hoping to keep his body from slumping. "Just tell her when -" he began to say, but interrupted himself when he heard the unmistakable hiss of the door opening.

 The five men turned their heads towards it and saw Katniss emerge on the other side. Her eyes searched the room, while an expression of furious determination dominated her features. Every muscle in her face seemed taut with the pent-up rage blazing in her eyes. She held a syringe tightly in her hand.

"Morning, sweetheart." Haymitch dully greeted her as he walked slowly towards her. Katniss reacted quickly, and lunged at her mentor. She tried to pierce his skin with the syringe in her hand, but Haymitch  grabbed both arms before he slammed her back against the door and pinned her arms to her side.

"What are you doing with them?" Katniss snarled angrily and tried to free herself from his grip. "You and a syringe against the Capitol?" Haymitch asked her as he took the syringe from Katniss' hand with ease. "See, this is why no one lets you make the plans." 

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Katniss spat out as  she glared at Velren with a mixture of confusion and anger. "Stop, stop. Just listen." Velren begged her in a slightly broken voice, and swallowed hard. His gaze fell on his trembling hands. Why he couldn't feel it was unknown to him. Katniss frowned at the sight.

"We couldn't tell you with the Snows watching, it was too risky. Better for you to know nothing." Haymitch explained to her and let her go when she seemed to calm down. "Where's Peeta?" she asked immediately before she looked around once more and glanced at Velren, whose eyes were wet with tears again. "And where's Finnick?" she asked and looked back at Plutarch.

"Now, Katniss." Plutarch began to say. "You  and Velren have been our mission from the beginning. The plan was to always get you and Velren out. Half the tributes were in on it. This is the revolution. You are the Mockingjay and Velren is the Phoenix. And we're on our way to District Fourteen right now."

Katniss looked over at the silent Velren again before she turned back to Plutarch. "Fourteen?"  she asked in disbelief. "Fourteen. Yes." Plutarch confirmed.

"Where's Peeta?" she asked a second time. Velren almost flinched at the name. "He still has his tracker in his arm." Haymitch began to explain vaguely as he let out a deep sigh. "Johanna and Aurora cut yours out. And Velren managed to cut his own out himself." "Where is he?" Katniss asked, still not understanding what Haymitch was getting at. "In the Capitol. They got him, Finnick, Aurora, and Johanna." he replied and lowered his gaze as if it were difficult to speak the words. 

Pain flashed through Katniss' eyes, a flicker of disappointment slowly morphing into a wave of betrayal and anger that erupted across her face. With a desperate cry, she lunged at Haymitch, her hand repeatedly striking his face. "You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch! You promised me that you would save him over me!" Katniss exclaimed as Plutarch pulled a syringe from his back pocket. With a deliberate motion, he plunged it into her back, releasing the sedative.

Tears welled up in Katniss' eyes, her gaze dull and broken. "You promised me!" she whispered with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "You're a liar! You're a liar! You are... you... you..." Her words trailed off as her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, her face marked by a mixture of exhaustion and unbearable emptiness.

The atmosphere  became filled with silence as all present fell silent. Not a word was spoken, and time stretched into a long, uncomfortable silence that seemed to weigh heavily on the room. 

Velren furrowed his brow, his expression marked by discontent, as he became aware that he was in precisely the same uneasy situation as Katniss. His throat now felt as if it were surrounded by searing flames, accompanied by a racing heartbeat that seemed to crush his chest. It took several moments before he even noticed that Tobias had joined him at his side.

Velren immediately clung trembling to Tobias, seeking support. Tobias reacted swiftly, managing to shift his weight beneath Velren and gently lower him onto a nearby chair. "Velren..." he said in a hushed whisper, his voice filled with concern and remorse. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Nevertheless, despite Velren not showing any audible reaction, Tobias embraced him tightly, his arms enveloping Velren protectively. Velren, with his head buried against Tobias' shoulder, felt the tears slowly streaming down his face, moistening his cheeks. In that moment, he could no longer contain the flood of his emotions. It was the first time ever that Velren was unsure of how much longer he had the strength to keep fighting.

                                               | END OF ACT ONE |

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

And we're done with Catching Fire! I personally have not read a story where Finnick himself is taken by the Capitol. This unexpected event was a deliberate move on my part to increase tension and captivate you, the readers.

A short chapter, certainly, but I chose it consciously because there wasn't much new to tell, apart from the dramatic revelation about Finnick. Additionally, I wanted to avoid a sudden time jump in the final chapter of Catching Fire. Such an abrupt change would have caused confusion. Besides this, I wanted the relationship between Katniss and Velren from  Mockingjay Part One onwards to be as loyal and sibling-like as possible.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed Catching Fire! If you did, be sure to vote, comment, and share this story with your friends! I'd really appreciate it.

Until next time! Much love to you all!