𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐀 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 - Finnick Odair

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

     Phoenix's eyes were wide as she listened to everything Maeve told her. The stories of Peeta Mellark made Phoenix feel sick to her stomach. She remembered the things she was told during her meeting with Coin, but this was different. She was now able to hear these things in their extensive detail, something she didn't get before.

Phoenix was still shocked, already having a hard time trying to picture Peeta's hands wrapped around Katniss' neck. " Yeah. " Maeve nodded her head, wrapping up her story. Maeve thought about telling Phoenix how her first time seeing Finnick nearly mirrored Peeta's first time seeing Katniss. Yet she opted to keep the similarities to herself, not wanting to make Phoenix feel guilty over feelings she seemingly couldn't control.

But Phoenix could see the similarities for herself wondering if she would've done the same if Maeve hadn't been there to hold her back. A sigh left Phoenix's mouth as she shook the possibility out of her head, deciding to deal with it at a different time. Yet it still lingered in her mind.

" What did they do to Peeta? "

Phoenix questioned more to herself than anyone in the room. Even inside the Capitol, Phoenix knew Peeta got it worst than her. But hearing it in detail only made Phoenix question the intensity of his experience. It felt to Phoenix that she had shaken most of the Capitol's lies off her within the weeks she'd been here, as did Johanna and Annie. But if they needed her to talk to Peeta that meant his struggles and trauma were so much deeper than anything the other three girls got.

Maeve shook her head, still not knowing for certain the extent of Peeta's torture. " We're not too sure about anything but there's one thing we do know. " Maeve began. " You were conditioned to believe you killed Finnick, while Peeta was conditioned to be used as a weapon against Katniss. " Although Maeve didn't wanna mention Phoenix's belief that she had killed Finnick, it was the only way to compare the difference of treatment the two got.

" So when we finally got you used to the idea of Finnick being alive, you're recovery was quicker. This just isn't the same with Peeta. " Phoenix nodded her head slowly, still processing the way the Capitol changed Peeta. " What is there I can say? " Both Maeve and Canary could tell this question was genuine and they wondered the same thing for a moment. Multiple people had gone into the room with Peeta, each trying to break the chokehold, President Snow still had on him. So what could Phoenix say that hadn't been said to him before. But Phoenix had something none of them had, that being a sense of what Peeta went through.

" You're the only one who got to see him in the Capitol. " Phoenix felt a pit in her stomach grow at the thought of the interviews. " You have some idea what he went through, we think it'll help. " Maeve finished and Phoenix knew she didn't have a choice. Knowing this was more than likely set up by President Coin, Phoenix didn't think there was any way out of this. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Peeta, it was that she didn't know how much help she would be to him.

" Yeah, when? " Phoenix agreed, watching Maeve nod her head at the answer she gave. " Today. You're gonna be busy these next few days but we'll talk more about it later. " Maeve brushed past the topic of Phoenix's growing schedule, knowing that it made Canary tense up.