➳❦

KATNISS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK AS SHE ROAMED AROUND DISTRICT THIRTEEN. She understood that they had survived the war and she was supposedly safe here. But being the head of a revolution that she barely knew anything about, wasnt exactly on her list of things to worry about. Katniss was trying to find Finnick who shouldve been around here somewhere.

But as she made her way down the hall, she heard a commotion that made her stop in her step. Her eyebrows furrow as she wondered what was going on. Gale had told her that there was usually never any fights, that the district lived in peace with one another. So, she made her way down the hall slowly in order to find out what it was.

"Where is she?" Katniss could hear someone ask. She walks a bit faster, making her way to the hall. As she rounds the corner, she saw the back of a man next to two guards and a lot of onlookers also trying to figure out what was happening. "She's supposed to be here." The man states, glaring at the two men in front of him.

Katniss tried to get a better look at him, peering around the bend. When he turns slightly, she recognizes him from the elevator back in the Capitol. The one who stopped Arya when she was threatening them. It was Matthew. He was probably looking for Arya.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to calm down." The guard says, holding his hands out. This only angered Matthew even more as he lets a scoff leave his lips.

"No, don't you dare tell me to calm down when you won't tell me where she is." He snaps toward him, his eyes glancing around for a moment. "Where's Haymitch?" Matthew asks, wanting to speak to the man who told him he would get Arya out. If he had succeeded, then where was she and why wasn't he anywhere to be found?

The guard only remains silent, sharing a glance with the other. "Where the hell is he?" Matthew asks once again, this time his tone was slightly threatening. The guard didn't want to escalate the situation any more.

"Sir--" He tries to say, grabbing Matthew's arm.

"Get the hell off of me." Matthew shouts as he pushes the guard away from him. Katniss takes a step forward, still not being in view of the man.

"Matthew." She calls out, making the man stop for a second. Matthew turns his head at the sound of the voice, his gaze meeting Katniss's. Katniss could only lift her hand, waving it a little. Matthew slowly walks over toward her, a bit wary.

"You're out." He says, his eyes staring down at her. Katniss nods her head a bit, fiddling with her fingers. Being underneath his gaze definitely made her tense.

"Yeah."

Matthew knew Katniss would give him the answer that the guards werent. She had to know something about what happened in the arena since she was there. "Where is she?" Matthew asks her. Katniss saw the pain in his eyes, he just wanted to know that she was okay. And katniss couldnt even give him that
"Haymitch and Plutarch... they said she'd be here after the games." Well, they said a lot of things.

Haymitch promised he'd get Peeta out and he didn't. And now the Capitol had him. Just as they had Arya. Haymitch told her that the Capitol had rounded up Peeta, Arya, Johanna and Wesley because they still had their trackers in their arms. Finnick seemed just as pissed as her. Apparently he had already attacked Haymitch before she had come into the room.

She hadn't seen Finnick since. And now she had to tell Matthew that not only was Arya not in District Thirteen but she was held hostage in the Capitol. That's if she was even alive. Matthew noticed her hesitation. "Katniss, where is she?" He asks, not really wanting to know the answer now but he had to. He had to know what to do.

The only thing it seemed that he had right now was his little sister. She was the one thing that he got to save himself. And she kept asking where Arya was. Katniss closes her eyes for a moment, her head dropping. "I'm so sorry." Katniss's voice was barely audible as she could barely look at the man. Matthew could only stare at her as the woman tried not to get emotional.

Katniss didnt even think she got close enough to Arya to feel this way. They had only known each other for a few days and half the time, they hadnt been nice to one another. Arya had literally tried to kill her. So, why was she so broken up about the fact that she was captured?

"She's not here." Katniss denies, her eyes finally meeting Matthew's again.

"Then where--" But Matthew really didnt need her to answer that question. He knew what that meant. He knew that the other victors had been captured. And that meant she had been too. He stops himself when he sees Plutarch appear behind Katniss. "You son of a bitch!" He didn't think twice before storming toward the man.

He had his arm ready to just punch him across the face, but one of the guards had stopped him. "All right, settle down!" The guard shouts at him, dragging him back and trying to hold him from going after Plutarch again. But it seemed his rage was stronger than the guards hold.

"You told me you'd get her out!" Matthew shouts at him, furious that he had been lied to. Katniss felt awful that Matthew had seemingly helped with the plan and hadn't gotten what he was promised. "I believed you! I did what you said and you left her in there to die!" Plutarch knew he'd be angry. Hell, even Haymitch seemed devastated that she hadnt been near the lightning tree.

But feeling bad about it didn't change the fact that she wasn't here. That they had only saved two of them. And one wasnt even coming out of his room because of it. "You left her!" Matthew screams, catching more attention from some of the people around.

"There wasn't time." Plutarch says in a calm voice, trying to diffuse the situation. But really he was just making it a whole lot worse by using that excuse.

"That is a load of bullshit."

"We will rescue her at the earliest convenience." Plutarch tells him which just made Katniss clench her jaw. The earliest convenience? That was his solution. They planned on just leaving them in the Capitol unless it suited their plan.

"You're talking like she's some food shipment." Matthew sneers, glaring at the man. She was someone who deserved saving. Its not her fault they abandoned her. If it wasnt for her letting Katniss go, they wouldnt have their stupid revolution. "She's suffering, she may be dead for all we know and you don't even care." He points out, shaking his head. He knew Plutarch was being insincere.

Matthew was sure that no one cared for Arya but him and his sister. Wesley maybe, but he was also in the Capitol. No one in District Thirteen would move any sort of muscle to help her, unless it benefited them. "But you got your mockingjay, huh?" He says, his eyes moving to Katniss once again. She just moved her gaze to the floor. Plutarch let's out a sigh.

"Snow won't kill her." He denies, shaking his head. Matthew raises his eyebrows at the brute claim.

"And how do you know?" Matthew asks him, taking another step toward Plutarch. A smirk grew on his face but it was more one of hatred and finding this whole situation just fucked up. "You were his little buddy, huh?" He taunts, pointing his finger at him. "Let me guess, you suggested torturing her was better than killing her?" He questions, tilting his head.

Plutarch had tried to give Snow the idea to maybe keep Arya around. He knew there was a chance she wasn't getting out of the arena. They should he grateful that he hadn't killed her with anything in the arena like Snow had wanted him to. "She'll survive until we can get to her." Plutarch tells him.

She'll survive but at what cost? They all knew that Snow wasn't exactly going to be gentle with her. And if they took too long, the Arya they got back, may not even be worth saving.

"No, screw that." Matthew snaps at him, pushing the hand that was reaching out toward him. Plutarch sighs as he didn't need Matthew going off on his own and getting him and possibly others killed. "Snow better count his fucking days. Because if he laid a finger on her, he's a dead man." He threatens, his glare set toward Plutarch.

Letting out a scoff, he just shakes his head, turning around. Matthew meets Katniss's gaze again for a split second. All she could do was stare back at him. There really wasn't anything she could say to reassure him. Because they truly didn't know if Arya was okay or not. Or if Snow had killed her immediately.

Matthew walks past her. Katniss stares down at the ground, hating that this had all happened. She didn't know what Matthew did to aide Haymitch and Plutarch in their plan, but it was clear he was pissed that they had abandoned Arya. Just like she was pissed that they abandoned Peeta.

It seemed that only her and Finnick had made it out unharmed, and katniss didn't know what to really think about that.

➳❦

PEETA KEPT GLANCING OVER TOWARD ARYA, she had just been staring at her hands for quite some time now. He wondered how her wound from the arena was but he didnt think Snow would allow her to die from an infection. Especially if he didnt plan on killing her anytime soon. Peeta knew she was probably thinking about finnick. For not liking him, she sure seemed broken up about his potential death.

But he knew she blamed herself. No matter what problem she had with Finnick, there was a reason she didn't kill him in that arena. And she didn't mean for him to follow after her. Peeta just wanted everyone to place the blame on Snow. He was the reason for everything. He was the one who took pleasure in taking peoples lives.

"How are you doing?" Peeta asks her curiously. Arya just slowly moves her head in his direction, her eyes seeming tired. They hadnt really slept, mainly because they were sure that the guards would just come and wake them up.

"You don't have to keep asking me that, Peeta." Arya denies, knowing he was just trying to be nice but nothing about her behaviour would change. She tried to keep herself optimistic, to tell herself to not show any emotion for Snow. But it was difficult now that she wasn't the only one he had.

"When do you think they'll come back?" Wesley questions, glancing over at them. The guards had left the room and it seemed like it had been a long time ago. Then again, they had no sense of time so it really could've just been a few minutes.

"The guards?" Johanna asks, raising an eyebrow. Wesley nods his head. "Probably soon. Keeping us on our toes." She says with a sigh, resting her head back against the wall. "Do you guys want to place bets on who gets tortured next." She asks, somewhat joking as she smirks over at them. Peeta gives her a blunt expression, shaking his head.

"It's because of me." Arya says, catching all of their attention. They were confused on why she would even suggest that. Snow did things because he could, because he had the power. "He's torturing you to hurt me." Her voice cracks, not wanting any of them to get hurt because of something she said to piss of Snow.

"Hey, we all did things to get on Snow's bad side." Johanna points out, hating how she couldn't really be there for her since she was in a separate cage. But she was glad Peeta was in the same one as her.

"He told me that there's a fate worse than death." Arya admits, her eyes drifting for a second. This was what he meant. Being responsible for other people's pain, losing your mind slowly, this is what he had meant by the fact that she'd wished she was dead. "He knew that I hated being the cause of other people's pain." It was the whole reason she was staying behind in the arena. Because she didn't want to be the cause of Matthew being hurt or his sister.

"You think it's hard to see you in pain either?" Peeta asks her, furrowing his eyebrows. Did she think she deserved to be tortured? None of them did anything to warrant this kind of thing. "You think we wanted to see you get dragged in here?" He felt his heart drop when he noticed her being pulled into the room with them. Especially with the way she was just limp in their arms.

"Arya, he's doing this because he can." Wesley tells her, reaching his hand through their cages. Arya stares at it for a moment but eventually she grabs a hold of it. "Even if you never said what you did in the arena, this would've ended the same." He assures her. Snow would've still kidnapped them, he would've still wanted to hurt them.

"I'm sorry." She whispers, covering her face with her hands. Wesley sighs as he rests his head against the cage.

"I said I was glad we were in the games together, didn't I? Well, getting tortured together wasn't exactly on my bucket list." She teases the woman. Peeta once again just shook his head, not seeing how her comments were helping. "Either way, I'm glad we're here together. And I can clearly see that you're alive." Johanna didn't know what she would have done if Arya wasn't here.

Not that she wanted Arya to be hurt. But at least she knew she was alive. If she wasn't with her, her mind would come up with every possible scenario. Every single one would convince herself that Arya was dead. Because Snow clearly had a vendetta out against her now.

"He can only win if you let him." Wesley says, needing Arya to know that. He can only win if she allowed him to. If ahe allowed his power to break through her barrier. "You're strong, Arya. We all are." He tells them, looking at the others as well.

Arya forced herself to nod, sniffling as she wiped her face. "I won't let him break me." She promises, mostly to herself because she had already done that. Arya couldn't allow Snow to win, not when he had already taken so much.

"Exactly." Peeta says, brushing her hair behind her ear and gazing at the woman. She meets his gaze, trying to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. "Don't let him break you." He states with a soft smile on his face.

Arya nods her head, taking a deep breath. "I won't give up. I told Matthew I wouldn't." She knew that he meant to not give up in the arena. And she felt awful that she practically broke that. But she wasn't going to give up now. She was going to get out. She was going to get them all out.

"He's fighting for you, I can feel it." Peeta says, he knew Matthew was probably causing havoc where he was trying to find out where she was. Aryas eyes brighten, a hopeful look in them.

"You think he's alive?"

"I do." Peeta assures her with a smile. Arya nods her head, her eyes going back to her hands. She wanted to be optimistic, she wanted to have hope that he was okay.

But there was never much hope in her life. And Snow would do anything to take everything from her. And Matthew was the one person he could take that would completely shatter her essence. The only way she'd really know is if she saw him herself.

Which didn't seem like it would happen unless Snow kidnapped him as well. That would defeat the whole point of having hope that he's alive.

➳❦

FINNICK SAT ON THE BED, still in the gown they had put him in. His eyes were stuck on the beige wall in front of him. Everything that he had tried to prevent in the arena ended up happening. The only thing that went right was Katniss being rescued as well. But everyone else had been taken. Everyone else was in the Capitol. She was in the Capitol. All because he didn't force her to go with him.

It wasn't even the fact that they were dragged apart because they weren't. He had willingly walked away from her. He had chosen to do that and to go back to the tree alone. That's what really stuck with him and that's why he had felt so guilty. Because she didn't have to be taken. He could've saved her. He couldve brought her with him.

The others, he didn't know where they had went off too. But Arya, he knew exactly where she was. She was within his grasp and he let her slip away. Finnick didn't know why he would think that she would be okay nonetheless. That maybe they would pick her up anyways.

But when he had woken up on the aircraft and Haymitch told him that she wasn't on it, he had gone mental. Finnick had attacked Haymitch and screamed at him. He had cornered him, wondering why Haymitch asked him to protect her, to stop her from killing Katniss if they were just going to leave here.

Haymitch did feel guilty but Finnick didn't care. All he saw in that moment was rage and he had laid a few punches on Haymitch before he had been pulled away. Even though the person he was most mad at was himself. Haymitch wasn't in the arena, and Arya still had her Capitol tracker inside of her. There were circumstances that he simply couldn't have stopped.

Finnick felt like his whole world had come crumbling down. All because of her. All because of the woman he claimed to hate. The woman who had annoyed him and frustrated him every second that they were together. His heart was broken because of someone who never even batted any eye toward him. His heart was broken over someone who would never feel anything toward him. Who would never reciprocate what he tried so hard not to feel.

"Finnick." He hears from the doorway. Finnick didn't even have to turn his head to know who it was. It was Katniss. He couldn't really face her, he couldn't face anyone since he got off the aircraft. Because their mission, as much as district Thirteen saw it as a victory, he saw what they lost.

Finnick wanted to place all of the blame on Haymitch and Plutarch but he couldn't even do that. Because he was the one who had left Arya. "I wanted to go back for them but i-i couldn't move." He admits. Finnick felt paralyzed after that lightning had hit. If he could, he would've gotten up and tried to find all of them.

But unfortunately that hadnt happened. And he was taken. And they were lefr behind. "They took her." Finnicks voice was hoarse, his eyes still staring in front of him. Katniss walks over to him, sitting herself next to him. "Aryas in the Capitol." He tells her. Katniss sighs, nodding her head.

Of course, Finnick didn't even know if that was completely true. That's just what Haymitch had told him and what they had presumed. But they all knew how much Snow wanted her dead, especially since she revealed Lucy Gray. He knew a bit about the woman from his time spent in the Capitol, but not as much as she did. And that meant she was dangerous to Snow.

"I know." Katniss responds, looking down at her feet. "Matthew went off at Plutarch about it." She admits with a small sigh. That was another reason why he hasn't left his room. Since Matthew had been here, he didn't want to see him. He didn't want to feel the guilt because he knew how close they were.

Katniss moves her eyes back to Finnick, looking at him closely. "What happened? Why wasn't she at the tree?" She asks. Katniss didnt even know why they had left. Was it because they were attacked too or was it another reason? That was the piece of information she didn't really know. The same as she didn't know why Peeta had left.

Finnick seemed hesitant, his fingers picking at one another. "Arya said she was going to check the perimeter, both Wesley and I said she shouldn't go alone so I went with her." He starts to explain and she nods her head. But with the look on Finnicks face, she knew it was more than that.

From the moment that Arya had that knife pressed against her neck and she was saying she wanted to be with them, her family, she knew the girl was just broken like the rest of them. Arya didn't really want to be in that arena, she didn't want to attack katniss, but she felt like she had to. That's why katniss didn't hold it against her.

"Then I realized... she just wanted to get away from everyone." Finnick says after a moment. Katniss was still looking at him but Finnick had yet to meet his gaze. He felt guilty. Of course he would. But it still wasn't his fault.

"Because she didn't want to leave the arena." Katniss replies to him. Finnick lifts his head slightly, closing his eyes as he takes a shaky breath in.

"No." Finnick confirms it. Just by that, he shouldve just brought her with him. Instead he heard her out, he let her go, and he walked away. He walked away. "I tried to convince her, I did." He admits, feeling tears brew in his eyes.

He just shakes his head, sniffling as he presses his lips together tightly. Katniss watched as the tears escaped from his eyes. "She wasn't budging." Finnick says, his heart aching as he even just talked about her. "She was so scared that things would go wrong and she would be captured." If only he knew what would happen, he would not have hesitated to turn back for her. He would never have even left her in the first place.

"She was captured anyway, Finnick." Katniss points out. If that's what she was scared of, then Finnick shouldve told her that it was going to happen whether she stayed in the arena or not.

For the first time since they started their conversation, Finnicks gaze moved to hers. But his eyes were now filled with anger, a glare set on his face. "Don't you think I know that?" He asks her, his voice snapping at her. Katniss knew she had phrased it wrong. She hadnt meant to upset him more.

Finnick clenches his jaw as he brings his gaze back to the wall. "I should've just dragged her. I should've done something to get her back to that tree." He didn't care if she had fought against him, he would rather be hurt than abandon her again.

"Then she wouldve surely killed you." Katniss jokes, trying to ease the tension a bit. She could see Finnick bite the inside of his cheek, obviously trying to fight off a smile. Katniss sighs as she reaches over, grabbing a hold of his hand. "You can't blame yourself for something that may or may not have changed the outcome." Neither of them knew if that would've done anything.

But clearly Finnick believed it would have. "If I got her back to the tree when you shot that arrow, do you really think she'd still be in the Capitol?" He asks her, staring at the woman intensely. Katniss stays silent for a second. She didnt want to think that way, because that wasn't what happened. They had to face the reality of it all.

"Arya is strong, she will get through this." Katniss wanted to promise him that but she couldn't. She couldn't promise anything because nothing wad certain. Katniss couldnt even give him the slightest bit of hope that she was alive unless they saw it.

"You don't even know if she's okay. If any of them are okay." Finnick mutters, shaking his head. He needed to know, he did. Because if he didn't, he would go crazy believing he was the reason for her death. Because he was. In his mind, he was at fault.

Katniss wanted to save Peeta. She wanted to save them all. But they couldn't do that by staying in their rooms and letting their heads get to them. "We'll save her. I believe that. Because if I don't... then that just leaves the alternative and I can't accept that." She denies. She wasn't going to believe that Arya was dead, because that meant peeta was close behind.

Finnicks voice was in a whisper as the pain filled his eyes. Katniss could see in that moment that he had really cared for Arya. They may have joked about it, but she knew it was real. "I wish she was dead."

"I wish they were all dead and we were too."

➳❦