Protect me ⚔️ Finnick Odair

Three

"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides."

David Viscott

Finnick was woken from his sleep by a sharp kick. He was awake in an instant. Bree was having a nightmare. Finnick could feel her shaking and thrashing as she muttered. He could barely pick out his name.

Finnick gently shook her shoulders as he repeated her name. The next thing he knew, he was on his back with a half-asleep Bree straddling him. It would have been sexy had it not been for the knife at his throat and the tears streaming down her face.

"Bree, darling," Finnick whispered as he slowly took the knife from her hand.

Bree seemed to wake from her semi asleep state at that.

"Finnick, on my god, are you okay," Bree asked frantically, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, love, it's okay," Finnick assured her as he pulled her down to lay on his chest, "do you want to talk about it?"

Bree nodded against his chest, "it was the memory from my game's when the Carrer Pack killed the little ones I was looking after. But it wasn't them dead on the floor. It was you, mags and Johanna," Bree sobbed against his chest, "And all I could see was your lifeless eyes, and I knew that I was never going to hear your voice again."

"I'm okay, love," Finnick assured her, as he gently brought her hand up to his throat so that's she could feel that it was uncut, "I'm still here."

Bree's cries seemed to calm down after a while as she started to fall asleep again. And only once he knew that she was peacefully asleep could Finnick go back to sleep.

✯⚔️✯

Finnick and Bree walked into the training room hand in hand. Bree saw Finnick looking longingly across the room at the tridents. Bree gave him a light shove towards them. Finnick looked at her as if to ask her where she was going. He was reluctant to leave her after what happened last night.

"I'm going to go with Mags," Bree assured him.

That was enough for Finnick, so he walked towards the trident's. Checking over his shoulder as Bree went to Mags. Mags smiled up at Bree when she arrived. Mags thought of Bree as a daughter. The two loved each other deeply.

"Watch'ya doing?" Bree asked, watching as Mags went around picking up some feathers. Mags just gestured for her to wait and watch.

Bree watched for a while, "you are making a fish hook," she proclaimed, proud of herself for realising.

Mags nodded, proud of the girl for getting it so quickly. With the information that she had gotten in right, Bree did a joking victory dance as she punched her fists out, making Mag's laugh. Mags then gestured at Bree to start making her own. Bree went around picking up the necessary items with a spring in her step. She had been practising since Mags had last shown her how to do it. Bree then sent to work making her own. Occasionally checking with Mags to make sure she was doing it right.

Bree was so in her own world that when she suddenly realised a person was behind her, she had pulled out a knife and had it pointed at the person before Bree even realised what she was doing.

Katniss was slightly surprised by the fact that a knife pointed at her abdomen in less than half a second.

"I'm so sorry," Bree apologised, seeming slightly surprised herself, stepping away from Katniss, "are you okay?"

Katniss realising that it wasn't malicious, just smiled calmly and Bree. Katniss could see the way that Bree seemed to relax at that. Katniss could guess that it was probably PTSD. She knew that feeling. The sudden feeling that the person behind you was about to try and kill you. The sudden need to protect yourself.

"That's beautiful," Katniss complimented, gesturing to the fishhooks Mags and Bree were making, "I saw you volunteer for that young girl. It was really brave."

Mags shook her head as she put her hand on her chest and then on Katnisses shoulder.

"Prim is my sister," realising that the atmosphere was getting tense, Katniss changed the subject, "If you two, um... If you two teach me how to make a fishhook like that, I could teach you how to hunt."

"Yes, please," Bree cheered, "I'm so jealous of your hunting skills!"

Katniss smiled at Bree. Katniss liked the girl. She seems so sweet and friendly despite what she had seen. Mags then bent over and showed Katniss what she had been doing, as Bree explained for Katniss.

When they had finished, Katniss then lead them both over to the shooting range, "Do you wanna try with me?" Katniss asked.

Mags shook her head and pointed at Katniss, "how about you go first and then you can teach use," Bree suggested.

"Okay," Katniss chuckled at their enthusiasm, "I'll go first."

Katniss picked up a bow and some arrows before stepping onto the room. Bree watched as she prest some buttons on a monitor before taking up her position. Bree waited as the light show started before changing into people. Bree was in awa as Katniss hit them. She didn't miss how they were copies of that year's tributes. Bree did flinch as Katniss shot an arrow through the head of the one that represented Bree. She then saw the Finnick copy leap to the Bree copy's defence. Only to be shot through the chest. Bree looked around. This made her want to check on Finnick. Thankfully he was walking over to her to see the show. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I'm okay," he whispered in her ear. Finnick knew what was going through her head.

They heard Wiress clapping. They turned to see Katniss face as she looked at the audience she had accumulated.

"Okay, you so have to teach me that," Bree cheered as she walked into the room with Katniss, "you are so cool."

Katniss just smiled at Bree, glad to have her attention diverted from the crowd watching her.

Then honouring her promise, Katniss started to teach Bree and Mags the basics of using a bow and arrow. She enjoyed Bree and Mag's company. They were lovely people who had been put through awful things and came out with the literal and metaphorical scars to prove it.

Mags ended up getting tired after a bit and leaving just Katniss and Bree alone. Bree had, of course, automatically suggest she leave Katniss alone. And to no one more than Katniss surprise, she decline. Katniss enjoyed Bree's company; it made her feel a bit less alone. Don't get Katniss wrong. She loved Peeta and Haymitch, but it was nice to be able to talk to a girl.