Sugarcubes // Finnick Odair - Hunger Games Fanfic

XX.

I am awoken by Katniss screaming, "That's it! It's a clock."

She comes back towards us, Wiress following behind her happily, and starts to shake Peeta and Beetee awake. I do the same with Finnick, sensing that she has something to say. I'm still half convinced this is going to be a waste of time, but the confused look on Finnick's face as he wakes up is worth it. I smile at him, and then all of us gather around Katniss in a circle. I constantly look over my shoulder, making sure we are indeed alone on the beach.

"Tick Tock!" Wiress screams, and Katniss pats her gently. "Yes, tick tock, the arena's a clock. It's a clock, Wiress, you were right," She says. "You were right."

She explains the clock theory to us, that at each hour in a different section of this circular hemisphere of horrors, a different nightmare begins. It sends shudders down my spine just thinking about it. I think when I voice my disagreement, including a few swear words just to make sure nobody thinks that I've gone soft, it's mostly because I sincerely hope that the Game-makers couldn't be so cruel. But with my history with them, she's probably right; they're probably the only people that could think of ideas so cruel. So, I eventually relent, letting her explain her, or to be more accurate Wiress's theory, to the group.

Wiress nods at the blood rain, which has now started pattering a little way away from us, where I first emerged from the forest. "One-thirty," she says.

"Exactly. One-thirty. And at two, a terrible poisonous fog begins there," Katniss informs us, pointing at another point in the forest. "So, we have to move somewhere safe, now."

Wiress smiles in satisfaction and stands up, Katniss hands her a makeshift woven bowl to drink from, and Finnick gives her the last bit of bread. I stay next to Finnick gripping my axe tightly as I stare at the rain. Blight died in that rain. For a bit, one horror filled moment, I wonder how the game-makers got so much blood; and who they got it from. And then I realize I can't be thinking about that stuff.

I snap out of my daze as Peeta offers to carry Beetee, who is still pretty out of it. He protests, muttering weakly; "Wire" I immediately know what he's talking about, but for some reason I stay quiet, hoping somebody will figure it out before I have to bring it up. My knowledge of Beetee and his talents will only make me more susceptible to the game-makers, especially if they think I'd risk my life to save him. I would, but I'd rather not have anybody know that.

"She's right here," Peeta tells him, "Wiress is fine. She's coming too."

I sigh. Looks like nobody is as smart as I thought they'd be.

"Oh, I know what he wants," I say impatiently. I cross the beach and pick up the cylinder they must have removed from his belt when they were bathing him. It's coated in a thick layer of congealed blood. "This worthless thing. It's some kind of wire or something. That's how he got cut. Running up to the Cornucopia to get this. I don't know what kind of weapon it's supposed to be. I guess you could pull off a piece and use it as a garrote or something. But really, can you imagine Beetee garroting somebody?"

"He won his Games with wire. Setting up that electrical trap," says Peeta. "It's the best weapon he could have."

I know that.

But I don't say it. The more I project myself as the mean selfish bitch, the better for me.

"Seems like you'd have figured that out," Katniss says. "Since you nicknamed him Volts and all."

I actually did not come up with that nickname. It was Lia. I thought it was incredibly funny and mentioned it to Beetee. He liked it too. Wiress's name Finnick came up with – I didn't mention that to Beetee, though I'm sure he knows we call her that.

Katniss's smartness is exhausting me. I roll my eyes at her, and decide to hit her where it hurts hoping to shut her up for the next few hours.

"Yeah, that was really stupid of me, wasn't it?" I say, checking to make sure Finnick is out of ear shot before dropping the bomb. "I guess I must have been distracted by keeping your little friends alive. While you were...what, again? Getting Mags killed off?"

Katniss's hand tightens around her knife, but I only scoff. Finnick appears beside me, his arm snaking around my waist, and I lose all the destructive thoughts floating around in my head. I try to pretend I don't enjoy the feeling of his hand on my body as much as I actually do.

"Maybe we all had better be careful where we step," says Finnick, shooting me a look. He takes the coil and sets it on Beetee's chest. "There's your wire, Volts. Watch where you plug it."

Peeta picks Beetee up, and I shoot Katniss another dirty look. "Where to?" He asks.

"I'd like to go to the Cornucopia and watch. Just to make sure we're right about the clock," says Finnick. It seems as good a plan as any. Even if we end up being wrong about this clock shit, nobody will be harmed. Everywhere in sight is free from other life anyway. Besides, I wouldn't mind the chance of going over weapons again. And there are six of us now. Even if you count Beetee and Wiress out, we've got four good fighters. Well three. Peeta I'm still not sure could hold up in a fight, and Katniss would be practically useless if we don't see the enemies coming from three miles away. But it's still nice to have Finnick. I can see Katniss's cold and calculating eyes turn on me and Finnick. She dismisses me off fairly easily, but her gaze rests on Finnick. I squeeze his hand, involuntarily, receiving a spark through my body when he squeezes back.

I hadn't thought about this when Finnick brought the idea of the cornucopia up, but now, it seems clear we're going to have to cross the water again to get to the cornucopia. As soon as I touch the liquid, memories flood my brain. I take a deep breath and stop moving.

"Maybe somebody should stay here with Beetee while the others check the cornucopia. He doesn't seem to be in a position to swim." I tell everybody, and Katniss narrows her eyes at me suspiciously. I don't blame her. Just a few hours ago, I was ready to kill everybody here.

"The traps will reach the forest here in about an hour or two. It will be safer to move him there." She tells me, turning back and continuing to wade into the water. I shudder, taking a few steps further into the water. I'm up to my neck, on my tiptoes, when I decide I'd rather go it alone. I start to turn back, but Finnick catches my hand.

"It's not that hard you know? Here I'll help." He says, probably linking my inability to swim with my hesitancy to go to the cornucopia. He's about 80 percent accurate. He guides me further into the water by my waist, assisting me the fifty meters until the rock strip comes out of the gold horn. I can tell the swim is tiring for him too. My desperate kicks, given that the stupid floatation device doesn't work after one use, go all over the place. He's on the receiving end of a few of them, judging by the gasps that escape him once in a while. I clamber onto the strip as though something dangerous lies in the water. And honestly, maybe they do. The memory of being dragged into the water by my hair isn't exactly a harmless one. I shake the water off myself and let out another involuntary shudder before assisting Wiress out of the water. Katniss and Peeta help Beetee, and Finnick appears by my side again. I touch the rope on my hand. I'd forgotten to give it to him in all the crying and the rage that followed seeing him in the arena again.

"Oh! I got this for you, Fin," I tell him, untying the rope from my hand and handing it to him. He smiles at me; the same cocky smile I've been on the receiving end of for 8 years, with an undertone of admiration and gratefulness.

"Thank you, Ms. Parstons." He tells me as we walk towards the cornucopia.

"We really need to teach you how to swim, seven," He tells me, throwing his trident up in the air with a spin and catching it again. His bronze hair is stringy and damp, and it takes all my willpower not to kiss him. Oh, how much I long to kiss him.

If we survive this thing, Finnick, you can teach me.

Published: 7 April, 2023