RUINATION | FINNICK ODAIR

THE LIES THAT KILL

"I made it up."

Even though they'd heard her, none met Katniss' eyes. There weren't many of them left to address.

Pollux was sobbing in the corner, making no sound yet expressing his pain clearly. Lara cried as well, but she was deadly silent. The tears kept streaming out of her eyes but she made no sound.

Katniss' words sunk in as she continued to profess her guilt.

"There was no special mission from Coin. There's only my plan. Everyone that's dead is dead because of me. I lied."

Cressida was helping keep pressure on Gale's wounded neck. She was the only one to respond.

"We know. We all knew."

Katniss frowned, "The soldiers from thirteen?"

Cressida nodded, "Did you really believe Jackson thought you had orders from Coin? She trusted Boggs and he clearly wanted you to go on."

Lara's nostrils flared. She'd covered for Katniss; kept the woman alive even when she didn't want to be. She lost everything because she made the decision to fight.

"I never meant for this to happen," Katniss whispered. Her voice was shaking from held back sobs, "I failed. I...I killed them. I killed Finnick."

She looked at Lara sorrowfully. She met her angry eyes with absolute regret.

"You have every right to hate me."

Lara's tears stopped momentarily. Of course she was angry but it wasn't at Katniss. She needed some outlet though.

She stood up quicker than expected, taking fast steps towards the mockingjay. Gale thought she would attack Katniss but Cressida held him back from protecting her. She knew Lara wouldn't have come all this way just to kill her.

Just as Lara got within inches of Katniss, she stopped herself. Her hands reached out to strangle her but she stopped herself. She clenched her hands into fists and pulled away.

Her nostrils flared as she sharply inhaled. She didn't want to hurt Katniss, she was just angry. And since Katniss was willing to take the blame, she wanted to throw it at her instead of facing the truth.

Katniss awaited any punishment Lara had coming for her. She was surprised when the woman took a step back and turned her back to her. Lara began to pace slowly to collect herself again.

Katniss turned to Pollux and delivered another apology. Everyone in the room felt grief beyond words. Yet, Peeta felt more anger towards Snow than he did towards his partner.

"Glimmer, Marvel, Mags, Octavian, Clove, Wiress, Rue," he listed. It effectively gained Katniss' attention as he named off every dead tribute that's sacrificed for her, "What do all those deaths mean?"

He lifted his head up to make eye contact. For the first time since their mission, he didn't seem weak or scared.

"They mean that our lives were never ours," he stated, "There was no real life because we didn't have any choice. Our lives belong to Snow and our deaths do too."

Lara bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from shouting. Her hatred for Snow reached beyond the maximum she thought she was capable of.

"But if you kill him, Katniss...if you end all of this, all those deaths mean something."

"Cinna, Boggs, Castor, Jackson...Finnick," he paused as he spoke his friend's name. His loss hurt him just as much, "They chose this. They chose you."

That's what broke through the Lara. She couldn't hide from the truth anymore.

Despite the danger being higher upstairs, she couldn't stand being down there anymore. She ran up the stairs, bursting through the hatch until she reached the main floor of the shop.