Heart of Gold • Finnick Odair

-59-

The next morning, Joseph Boggs gives Peeta an empty gun for propo purposes before the group set off, heading five blocks north.

Finnick reads the speech with Peeta on their way whilst Katniss and Gale walk in front of them and Rosalie walks behind them, her arm linked with Johanna's.

They pick their spot, in the courtyard, so Boggs begins to make sure the area is clear by using the Holo.

It begins to beep faster, showing Boggs a nearby pod, so the group split to take cover.

Finnick leads Peeta to the opposite side to the one Katniss took, Rosalie and Johanna follow them. Rosalie is crouched beside Boggs whilst he throws a piece of rubble to set off a pair of guns that immediately begin to fire rapid bullets.

Finnick smiles to himself as he watches the bullets shoot at an archway, causing it to break and crumble to the ground.

Once clear, they move on again.

Whilst the group subtly observe Peeta struggle to control himself, not knowing what to do, an explosion goes off.

At the sight of Boggs laying in pain, Rosalie wastes no time in sprinting towards the man. She's closely followed by Katniss.

Rosalie kneels by his side before Katniss reaches them.

"Hey," he looks at her with a sad look in his eyes.

"Hey Joseph," she greets him as Katniss kneels too, momentarily confused by her using what she assumes is his first name.

"The Holo, the Holo," he tells her, his eyes looked panicked.

She hands it to him and he speaks into the device. "Unfit for command. Transfer primary security clearance... say your name."

"Katniss Everdeen," she replies quickly, still confused. "What did you do?"

"He gave you the control," Rosalie tells her quickly.

"Katniss, don't trust them. Kill Peeta if you have to. Do what you came to do," he tells her.

He turns to Rosalie who was holding his arm and he gives her a weak smile, something he doesn't do often.

"It's okay, you're gonna be with Jasmine now right?" she reassured him, referring to his sister he'd told her about.

His small smile grows a little as he nods at her before his eyes grow distant and his strained breathing stops. His head drops to the ground.

Rosalie looks away, unable to hold the eye contact anymore now that his looked so still and lifeless.

One of the Leeg sisters are laying in pain and, in attempts to get to her sister, the other one runs towards her. Unfortunately she set off a pod when she moved.

The area becomes enclosed as some sort of metal walls appear, trapping everyone inside.

A substance, looking like black water, begins to flood the area.

Rosalie turns to see Finnick dragging both a dazed Peeta and a frightened Johanna.

Once they reach her, Rosalie takes Johanna under her own arm and begins running with the girl so that Finnick can focus solely on Peeta.

Peeta lunges for Katniss, attacking her, and Mitchell tackles the blonde boy in attempts to save her. He succeeds, but it costs him his life.

Peeta stands, pushing him into the black liquid, and he is submerged before being caught and raised into the air in some kind of netting.

The black substance doesn't stop. Once Rosalie sees Finnick is okay, as he grabs Peeta and drags him towards the building, Rosalie keeps her arm locked with Johanna's as the girls run.

They all manage to get into the building, sprinting inside and up the stairs until they reach a level and found the stairs to be broken.

The black substance is still oozing it's way inside as the injured Leeg sister is placed on the floor whilst she groans in pain.

Finnick, who had previously been half fighting/half dragging Peeta along with him, now pins the blonde against the wall whilst someone else injects him to knock him unconscious.

Rosalie is stood with Johanna, who still seems to be in frightened shock, and rubs her back soothingly until the girl eventually nods, silently telling her friend that she's alright now.

Now that Peeta was slumped against the wall unconscious, no longer a threat, Finnick walks over to his wife and immediately wraps his arms around her. She wraps her own arms round his waist as he places a kiss against her head. She can feel his shaky breath against her hair and tightens her arms around him in response.

After a long moment, he pulls away slightly but still leaves one arm wrapped around her shoulders, Rosalie doing the same thing with her arm around his waist.

He glances over to Johanna, looking her up and down to check she's alright, and comes to the conclusion that she will be fine when his eyes meet hers and she glares at him with a look that says, 'stop worrying about me or I'll give you something to worry about'.

The black liquid begins to slow down, just about reaching the top step before stopping. It begins to run back down the stairs, away from the group, whilst the remaining liquid dries somewhat.

"Gamemakers are still putting on quite a show," Cressida mutters.