Finnick was the first of the rescued tributes to wake up, his injuries being the least severe of the group. Haymitch had been there to greet him, quickly ushering him out of the room before he could notice that there were only two other tributes with him. His mind was still hazy from the explosion as Haymitch officially introduced him to Plutarch Heavensbee. Then the question both men had been dreading left his lips.

"Where's Lia?" He asks weakly, desperate to be reunited with her now that they were free of the Capitol. Haymitch and Plutarch exchanged nervous stares, neither wanting to be the one who had to break the news. The tense silence filling the room makes Finnick's heart rate spike in panic, glancing back and forth between the two men for an answer. "Where is she?"

"Finnick..." Haymitch begins before cutting himself off with a sigh of dismay, rubbing one hand over his face wearily. "She still had her tracker."

Those words were all he needed to hear to confirm Finnick's worst fear. They had left her behind in the clutches of the Capitol to face the twisted wrath of Snow. Shaking his head in horrified denial, tears immediately sprung to his eyes as he pulls away from the table.

"No." He mutters faintly, backing away from the two men like he'd just been burned. "No! Tell me you didn't leave her there! Tell me you didn't just abandon her!"

"Finnick," This time it was Plutarch who spoke up, his voice soft and compassionate towards the distressed Victor. "You have to understand that it wasn't our choice. We couldn't put the entire revolution at risk just for one girl."

"No, you'd just have all the Victors give their lives for one." Finnick scoffs incredulously, pointing out the hypocrisy behind Plutarch's words. The tributes of the Alliance had risked everything for Katniss (none more so than Dahlia) under the belief that their sacrifices could be rewarded with freedom.

"The Black Dahlia was a liability to our cause." Plutarch reasons calmly as Finnick's panic slowly morphs into anger. "Her sanity was questionable and her loyalties unclear."

"You left her behind because you think she's mad?" Finnick spits out venomously, fists clenching at his side as he hears the slander being spouted about Dahlia. "She fought harder than anyone to get Katniss out alive. She's the only reason any of the other tributes agreed to join. Does that not prove where her loyalties lied?"

"Alaric was the one who insisted she be brought into the Alliance." Plutarch tried to argue, Hamitch's head hanging low at the mention of his fallen friend. "I trusted his judgement, but I don't trust her."

"She's a good person." Finnick retaliates fiercely, glaring harshly at the man who didn't deserve Dahlia's trust. "She only did what she needed to do to survive, like all tributes do."

"Don't make excuses for her. Dahlia was a heartless, cold-blooded killer and that's all she'll ever be. We don't need someone like that in our ranks." Plutarch states sternly, not hesitating to let Finnick know the exact reason they didn't want her presence. Evidently, this was the wrong thing to say.

Finnick's features hardened in disdain, his eyes glaring with a darkness that would rival Dahlia's own stare. Then his fist flew towards the man's face, hitting his cheek with a satisfying crack. Gripping the material of Plutarch's clothing, Finnick slammed his back against the wall and shouted wrathfully into his face, "Don't you dare talk about her like that again! You don't deserve to even say her name. She has a good heart, a loyal soul. She was mine and you left her! You took her from me!"

A string of curse words left Finnick's mouth as he continued to brutally hit and berate Plutarch for his words. No one had ever seen such fury from the man before. It caused genuine fear in the hearts of the other two men at the violent and protective display. The violent assault would've continued for as long as Finnick deemed necessary if Haymitch hadn't snapped from his shocked daze and physically separated the two.

"Calm down, Finnick." He hisses to the boy, who continues to struggle in the older Victor's arms as he is dragged away from Plutarch. Finnick grunts in fury, kicking and fighting against Haymitch's hold as he's desperate to unleash his rage. "Stop it! Calm down!"

Eventually, Finnick's fatigued body loses the energy to keep fighting and the boy completely breaks down. He couldn't believe he had actually lost her. She was his reason for living, his tether to happiness. How could he survive without her? The answer was, he couldn't.

"Kill me." He pleads to Haymitch in little more than a frail whisper. "Let me die, please." Haymitch just stares at the boy in confusion as he babbles on about needing to die. The normally over-confident Victor was now a broken young boy who'd just lost his heart. "Lia and I made an agreement. Either we both leave that arena, or neither of us do."

"She's not dead, boy." Haymitch points out, clasping Finnick's shoulders firmly to make the boy see reason.

"She's as good as." Finnick retorts, utterly defeated at being separated from her. "You left her to rot in the hands of the Capitol. Whatever happens to her now is your fault."

"And that's a guilt I'll carry with me for the rest of my life." Haymitch admits sorrowfully, already feeling like he'd let Alaric down and betrayed his oldest friend. "I don't know much about her, but I do know that Dahlia is a fighter. And she's gonna be fighting to get back to you. So you need to do the same for her." Finnick knows Haymitch's words are true, and if Dahlia were here she'd scold him for giving up so easily. But it's difficult to find the motivation to carry on without her by his side. "Now, pull yourself together and lets get back to discussing the Mockingjay."

Suppressing his emotions as best as he can, Finnick joins Haymitch and Plutarch at the table once again. Though tensions between the men are high, they are forced to put their grievances aside for the moment and only show their dislike through discreet scowls.

"What's there to discuss?" Finnick asks numbly, leaning his body against the table as exhaustion catches up with him. "We did our job, she needs to do hers."

"Well, she's gonna lose it when she finds out about the boy." Haymitch reveals, feeling even more guilty for leaving Peeta behind as well.

"She'll still cooperate, though?" Plutarch questions, becoming nervous that his symbol of hope won't comply with their revolution, especially after the efforts it took to get her out.

Haymitch shakes his head lightly as Plutarch turns to him, "Without Peeta? There's no guarantee."

Finnick rolls his eyes with a huff of annoyance, grumbling under his breath, "Well, you should've thought of that before you abandoned him and Lia--"

His chastising rant is mercifully stopped before his anger can get the better of him as Katniss appears in the doorway. All conversation halts as Katniss surveys the room, taking each individual into account. As far as she was concerned, one of them was a traitor and the other was a slave to the Capitol. So she was both relieved and confused to find Haymitch among them.

"Morning, sweetheart." The District Twelve mentor greets the girl with a soft tone and a lazy smile.

Katniss' eyes narrow at the man, her lips curling into a snarl as she darts forward and attacks him. Her weak body is ineffective against Haymitch, who grabs her arms and wrestles her over to the wall. It was unusual for him to be playing peacekeeper on so many instances today.

"What are you doing with them?" She demands furiously, her voice hoarse and breathing laboured.

Haymitch doesn't answer her question, instead regarding the pathetic needle she'd chosen as a weapon gripped in her hands. "You and a syringe against the Capitol?" He mocks casually, wrenching the syringe out of her fingers. "See, this is why no one lets you make the plans."

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Katniss growls out, eyes burning into Finnick's over Haymitch's shoulder.

"Stop. Stop." Finnick urges her tiredly, holding his hand out in an attempt to calm the resentful girl. "Just listen."

"We couldn't tell you with Snow watching. It was too risky." Haymitch explains into her ear, gradually releasing his hold on her as she begins to settle down. "Better for you to know nothing."

Katniss grunts and shoves Haymitch away from her once his grip has loosened enough. "Where's Peeta?" She asks in distress, just wanting to have the boy with her.

"Now, Katniss..." Plutarch starts, his tone even and steady as he clears up her confusion. "You have been our mission from the beginning. The plan was always to get you out." The poor girl grows even more distraught, her eyebrows furrowing at the revelation as everything begins to make sense. "Half the tributes were in on it. This is the revolution. And you are the Mockingjay. And we're on our way to District Thirteen right now."

"Thirteen?" Katniss repeats, feeling completely overwhelmed by all the information being thrown her way.

"Thirteen. Yes." Plutarch confirms with a gentle nod, before Katniss realises that no one has answered her question.

"Where's Peeta?" She asks again, growing nervous as all three men avoid looking her in the eye.

Finnick's jaw clenches at the reminder of what they did to Dahlia, how they left her behind without hesitation. A scoff of irritation escapes his lips as he fights hard to contain the anger bubbling inside. Turning away from the girl, he growls to the others (traitors in his eyes), "Go on. Tell her what you did."

Katniss' eyebrows furrow at the ferocity in the boy's voice, a rage she had never seen him display in their short time together. It is left to Haymitch to announce the boy's fate, "He still has his tracker in his arm. Dahlia cut yours out."

"Where is he?" Katniss asks, though all the worst case scenarios have already flooded her mind.

"In the Capitol." Haymitch finally admits with a voice full of shame and remorse. "They got him, Johanna and Dahlia."

Katniss' face twists with anger, a spiteful look decorating her face as she launches forward to attack Haymitch again. "You son of a bitch!" She screams out, delivering a harsh slap to his cheek. "You son of a-- You promised me that you would save him over me!" Her painful cries pierce Finnick's heart as he recalls his own reaction mere minutes earlier. They had both lost their other halves and now they had to be thrown into the deep end. Plutarch seemed unaffected by her wails, calmly sedating her even as she was ripping into Haymitch. "You promised me! You're a liar. You're a liar."

They are liars, Finnick thinks bitterly to himself. They promised him and Dahlia freedom and all they got was war. But he would fight a thousand wars single-handedly just to get back to her.

•——————•°•✿•°•——————•

"President Snow," A peacekeeper calls out as he steps into the president's office. Snow nods and gestures the soldier forward, eager to hear of any news regarding the disastrous Quarter Quell finale. "Katniss Everdeen is gone, Sir. As is Finnick Odair and Beetee Latier. It seems the escape was pre-planned as Plutarch Heavensbee and Haymitch Abernathy have also disappeared." The President internally curses the Head Gamemaker for being able to fool him so easily. Just as he goes to dismiss the soldier so he may release his anger in peace, the man speaks up with more information, "But we did manage to capture some of the Victors from the arena."

"Which ones?" Snow questions, leaning forward on his desk in interest.

"Enobaria Golding..." She was a Career and more loyal to the Capitol, therefore she was of little use to him. "Johanna Mason..." A formidable warrior but a stubborn one, steadfast in her beliefs against Snow. "Peeta Mellark..." Now that peeked Snow's interest a little more. The lovebirds had been split apart and the boy could be used as leverage against the Girl on Fire. "And Dahlia Blossom."

A sadistic smile spread across Snow's lips at that final name. The Black Dahlia herself was in his grasp and finally separated from her loving Finnick. It was something he'd been hoping for since the girl won her Games. A weapon more powerful than anything those traitorous rebels could throw at him.

"Excellent." Snow mumbles, the unnerving grin never faltering on his face. "Send for the Madame. She'll be delighted to know our long-awaited plans can now be put into action." The peacekeeper rushed away to carry out the orders as Snow smirked at the luck he's been given. He's been handed the reins of a monster that only he will know how to control and he will bend that creature to his will. "Oh, Miss Blossom... It's time for you to unleash the true power of The Black Dahlia."