❝we're burned for better❞

ISLA WANTED TO BANG HER HEAD AGAINST THE WALL. She was still stuck in bed, and she desperately wanted to get up. The IV was stuck in her arm, which was the only good thing because that meant that she didn't have to feel the pain of all of her burns and cuts and bruises and internal injuries.

Lexa had gone to get them some food, so Johanna was sitting with her on her bed to keep her company while she rotted. The blonde girl raised her eyebrows at the woman she had become fairly well-acquainted with during the last few months. "How are you doing?"

"Awful," Johanna groaned, throwing her head back in annoyance. She was staying in the room beside Isla's, but she was in much better condition because they had taken away her medication and just told her to get some rest. "They've cut off my morphine supply."

"Loser," the Angler girl teased with a slight chuckle, sticking her tongue out at the older female.

This caused Johanna to glare at her, and if she were not good friends with the woman, she would be terrified for her life, being on the other end of that death stare. The Mason woman glanced over at the bag of fluid hanging in a bag beside the bed. "If you're not careful, I'll take some of yours."

"Your beautiful hair," Isla cooed, reaching up and rubbing Johanna's shaved head. They cut it off in the Capitol during one of the torture sessions. The blonde girl had looked in the mirror a few times since she arrived, and she discovered that they had cut her hair so that it fell just below her chin. If she was being honest, she missed her long hair, but she was definitely glad to be alive.

The older woman reached up and put her hand next to Isla's, rubbing the short pieces of hair back and forth. She did not seem to mind the loss, and she just shrugged it off. "I thought I looked pretty badass."

"Oh, you do. You definitely do," Isla assured her. It was the truth. Johanna Mason looked that much more menacing with the short hair, and the Angler woman knew that she could never pull that off at all.

"They wanted to keep yours so that they could stick you in front of that camera," the girl from District 7 explained. They had never put her in an interview with Caesar. Peeta and Isla were the only ones to step foot in that room with him. "I think they knew that if they put me there, I would raise some hell."

Isla grinned at the thought of what would happen had they tried to interview Johanna. She hadn't even been civil during the interviews before the Quarter Quell. Think about what would happen if they tried after everything went down and after torturing her physically and emotionally. "You would've torn Caesar's head off."

"Hell yeah. That son of a bitch has it coming," the Mason woman practically yelled, and a bunch of nurses and passersby stopped to look at them and make sure that nothing too crazy was going on in there. She gestured to the girl opposite her, remembering when she dove at Caesar when he mentioned Lexa. "You almost had him."

"Then they strung me up and showed me in my underwear to the entire country," Isla finished, reminding her of how that whole thing ended. She did not exactly win that interaction, at least she didn't think that she did.

Johanna just shrugged again, leaning back against the frame at the foot of the bed. "You win some, you lose some." Isla made a weird face at her, not sure that that was the best way to describe it, but then again, it was Johanna Mason. She was not going to be sensitive about anything.

Both of the girls looked up when they heard excited squealing because that was not a common sound in District 13. The first thing they saw was the flash of red hair before Annie came bounding in with the biggest grin on her face. They looked at her with confused expressions, waiting for her to tell them what the hell she was so excited about.

"We're getting married!" she announced finally, and all of the eyes in the room were wide.

Isla immediately sat up and held out her arms, and Annie practically dove into her to complete the hug. Isla grinned over the girl's shoulder at Johanna, who, despite being Johanna, was smiling back. The blonde girl rubbed Annie's back before they pulled away. "Okay, we have a wedding to plan!"

《✤》

ISLA WAS BEING LED BY A DOCTOR DOWN A VERY PLAIN HALLWAY. Once she could walk on her own, she immediately asked to see Peeta. He was being kept in isolation in a room on the other side of the compound. The only person that had been to see him was Prim, and Isla knew that he was going to go crazy in that room with nothing to do and no one to talk to. They were trapped and tortured in the Capitol, but at least they had some company during the pain.

"Don't make any sudden movements. Don't talk too loud. Don't touch him unless he initiates it. Do not mention Katniss Everdeen," the woman instructed her. Apparently, even the mention of Katniss caused him to lash out. They reached the end of the hall where a steel door was waiting for them. "If at any point, you think you're in danger, get the hell out of there."

She tapped her key card on a scanner by the door, and something clicked, allowing them to open it and step inside. There was a dark room with windows into the completely white and brightly-lit room where Peeta sat, strapped to the bed so that he could barely move. The windows were most likely one-sided mirrors, but judging by the way that Peeta was glaring right at them, he was aware of that fact.

Standing in the middle of the room was a tall, scruffy man with blonde hair down to his shoulders. He looked really familiar to Isla, but she could not quite put her finger on where she knew him from. When they entered, his eyes landed on the blonde immediately. "Thank God, he's been asking for you."

"Who are you?" the Angler woman asked slowly, praying that she did not completely forget someone important. He obviously knew who she was, and she was kind of scared that he was some old family friend, even though she didn't have family friends.

He looked shocked that she was confused, and he glanced up at the doctor before going back to Isla. He introduced himself like it was obvious, "Haymitch. I'm Haymitch."

"Oh. Hi," she greeted awkwardly. She winced because she thought that she should say more. Haymitch was the one that plotted with Lexa and Finnick and Johanna to get them out of the arena. Or get Katniss out of the arena. Whether she was part of the original plan or not, she would not be standing there if it were not for him. "Can I go in?"

"Go ahead," the woman confirmed with a nod, gesturing to the door separating them and the boy on the other side of the wall.

The Angler girl slowly reached for the handle, and it made a loud noise as she turned it, pushing the heavy door open. Peeta sat up quickly, raising his eyes to her as she closed the door behind her. He breathed out, "Isla."

"Hey, Peeta," she returned the greeting with a soft smile, hesitantly stepping further into the room. She was replaying everything that the doctor had said in her mind so as to not scare him or make him mad. There was a chair by the bed, and she gestured to it questioningly. His eyes fell to the chair and then back to her before nodding, letting her know that it was okay.

As she sat down, he explained to her, "I didn't know if you were alive. They wouldn't tell me anything."

"Well, I'm alive, and I'm here," she informed him, even though it was obvious. She knew it didn't hurt to hear, especially since he must be questioning his sanity. Somehow, he looked worse than he did most of the time in the Capitol. He still looked terrified and hurt, but it was like there was something missing in his eyes. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm chained to a very uncomfortable bed on my own, and there's literally nothing to do in here but stare at the obviously fake mirror," he responded with a sarcastic tone, and she was surprised when he chuckled a little bit. She took this as a sign that she could smile as well.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. She really wished that he did not have to be in there. He only freaked out when he saw Katniss or when someone mentioned her. Surely there was a way that he could be moved to a hospital room or something instead of that terrifying place. He could room with her, and she would promise not to even mention teh Everdeen girl. "I can come visit whenever I can if you want."

He grinned, excited by the thought. He was so lonely, and her visiting would give him something to look forward to to pass the time. He nodded, informing her that that was something that he would enjoy. "That would be nice."

"Finnick and Annie are getting married," she told him after nodding, confirming that she would come visit more when she could. She did not know if anyone had let him know about the wedding.

Another smile spread across his face as he thought about it, but it faltered when he realized that he was most likely not going to be allowed to attend. He shook it off and replied, "That's nice. They deserve it. They're good people."

"I was wondering if you wanted to make the cake," the female quizzed. She had been helping Annie with wedding planning, but they did not know anyone who knew how to make cake. That was when they remembered what Peeta used to do before the Hunger Games. "I know you used to work in a bakery, and the ingredients are limited, but I'm sure we could figure something out."

"I would like that," he answered. She was a bit surprised because of his current state, but he continued to explain, "Anything to get me out of here for a bit. And it's something that reminds me of home."

Isla froze after that, remembering that he was just recently informed of the loss of his family and home back in District 12. The entire District had been destroyed, and very few people made it out. Even fewer were alive. She very hesitantly reached for his arm, expecting him to throw her off or yell, but he let her rub her hand up and down from his elbow to his wrist. "I'm really sorry for your loss, Peeta."

"I'm sorry for yours too," he responded, and she nodded thankfully, knowing that he was talking about Mags and the other people she cared about back home. "I know you lost people back in District 4."

"Well, I have to go. Lexa's waiting for me," she informed him after a moment of silence. She patted him once more on the shoulder before standing up.

This caused his eyebrows to shoot up because he had not been there for their reunion nor heard anything about how they were doing. For all he knew, they could've tried to kill each other, but judging by the fact that Lexa was waiting for Isla, they seemed to have worked everything out. "How's that going?"

"It's going good, yeah," she answered with a smile. Just thinking about the Armada woman made her blush and look down at her feet. The idea of getting to hold her at the end of the hallway was practically more than she could bear.

He nodded, and the hope returned to his eyes when he saw the expression on his face. The Capitol had messed Isla up like crazy, but if she could find happiness, there might be some hope for him as well. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Peeta."