Prompt: Annie having an episode of her "madness" and Finnick helping her.
[WARNING: Maybe a bit of a graphic scene, not really sure. It might just be my imagination making it much more graphic than how I wrote it. But just as a reminder, Annie did see her district partner get beheaded... and I had a theory about how Annie was tortured in the Capitol.... So just keep that in mind if you read it!]
Also, I wrote two separate ones for this prompt because I wasn't sure about this first one, but I also didn't have the heart to scrap it and start over... so here's two different scenes :)
#1:
The day before the wedding, Finnick woke up, holding back a scream and holding Annie's hand so tightly he thought he could have broken it. He'd had a nightmare about the wedding: Annie had been walking down the aisle, wearing her beautiful dress, but as soon as Finnick turned to look at her, the dress was torn and bloody, and Annie was laying on the floor, dead. He ran towards Annie, but the more he ran the farther away he was from her. He turned around in panic and the walls started to close around him and just before he woke up, he saw President Snow smiling, "You'll be dead before you can be truly happy," His voice had sounded like a snake.
Annie stared at Finnick, her eyes wide with concern, "You're okay. Nobody here is going to hurt you," she whispered, hugging him tightly until he calmed down. He stroked her curled hair absentmindedly, staring at the wall.
"What would I do without you?" he mumbled into her hair.
"Probably go crazy, like me," Annie whispered, ignoring the look Finnick gave her.
"No." Finnick said sternly, pulling away from her and touching her cheek lightly, "Annie Cresta, you are not crazy. No matter what you or anyone else says, you are not crazy," he looked so scared and angry that Annie nodded in agreement.
--
Later that day, Annie sat in the room alone, humming mindlessly as she braided her hair into many different styles. She hated being alone in the room, it made her feel like she was being watched, or back in the Capitol, so she kept the door open and watched as children ran by her room. She listened to the different conversations, but eventually got bored of that and lay down, staring at the ceiling.
The whole room was very plain and small. The lighting was dim and even the bed was really only big enough for one person. She shook her head, "No, Annie. This isn't the Capitol," her voice seemed to echo, and she winced as she heard a child outside screaming. They must have been playing a game, but suddenly, Annie wasn't in the room anymore.
She was back in the Capitol. She could hear Peeta and Johanna screaming in their cells, and Annie rocked back and forth, humming loudly to try and cover it.
"Miss Cresta," A man pushed her down, kissing her down her neck and grinning. "I had a lovely time with Finnick once," he muttered, "But I think I'll have a lovelier time with you,"
Then Annie was in the Arena. She could hear the screams as the boy and girl from district 2 killed off her allies. And even worse, she could hear the gut wrenching scream of Charles, her district partner, as they cut off his head. She could see the blood as the head rolled down the hill. "NO! NO!"
Annie struggled against the grip of the District 2 tributes, but suddenly, she heard Finnick's voice. "Annie! Annie, please! You're not there anymore! You're safe, Annie!" Finnick was yelling over her screams, holding her close and hugging her so tightly she couldn't move.
Annie gasped for air and hugged Finnick, "Finn... I'm so sorry. I... I don't want to be crazy, Finn," she sobbed and Finnick kissed her cheek.
"You're not crazy, Annie. You're not crazy," Finnick whispered over and over until Annie calmed down.
"Don't leave me alone, okay? You're the only one that keeps me from going back there,"
"Don't worry, Annie. You help me and I help you. That's how love works," Finnick whispered as he stroked her hair.
[For some reason, this was harder than I thought. It was hard trying to find a dramatic enough trigger, and I'm still unsure whether the trigger for this was good at all. It's weird, because I've thought about these kinds of scenes a lot, but I've never really written them. I didn't think it would be hard. I like a challenge :P But here it is. I hope you like it :) I know it was supposed to be Annie having an attack, but I really wanted to do Finnick as well, so yeah.]
#2:
This scene takes place right after Finnick and Annie had the meal with Peeta, Katniss, Gale, Delly, and Johanna. Johanna had said, "We're very familiar with each other's screams..." and Annie had blocked it out.
After their meal, Finnick led Annie to their room. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried. After Johanna's uncensored comment about the Capitol, Finnick was cautious, in case Annie had a panic attack. But Annie had just ignored the comment and covered her ears as if it would stop her from hearing Peeta's and Johanna's screams.
Annie nodded, "I'm okay,"
"Are you sure?" Finnick stopped and turned so he was looking directly at her, "What Johanna said about her and Peeta--" he stopped, realizing he was probably making it worse.
Annie put her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She hummed to herself and Finnick watched, unsure of how to stop it. "Annie, I'm sorry," Finnick hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her but Annie stumbled backwards, causing Finnick to flinch.
"Don't TOUCH me!" she cried, hitting the wall behind her and sliding to the ground, shaking.
Watching her like this shattered Finnick's heart into a million pieces. He could've saved her before she was tortured. He could have told her to hide before the Quarter Quell. He could have done SOMETHING! He had told Katniss before that he'd wished she was dead instead of tortured, but now he watched with agony as Annie rocked back and forth, humming a song that made Finnick feel sick. It was the same song Annie had sung in the Arena as she tried to fall asleep: about Charles, her district partner, and how he was beheaded.
People were starting to gather around the hallway and stare, and Finnick turned towards some of the adults angrily, "You are NOT helping! Leave!" he shouted, feeling a pang of guilt as they scattered. "Annie," Finnick's voice cracked as he got down on his knees and sat across from her, careful not to touch her. He tried not to think about the reason she was scared of a simple touch. It made him want to break down and scream at President Snow. He'd done everything he could to protect her from being used, but in the end, Annie was forced to the exact things Finnick had hated. "Annie, you're not in the Capitol anymore. Annie, it's me. It's Finnick," he pleaded for her to stop humming that horrible song, his eyes glistening with tears that threatened to fall.
As Annie finally stopped rocking, Finnick took his chances and wrapped his arms around her. "You're safe, Annie." He mumbled into her hair, as Annie finally uncovered her ears and opened her eyes. "You're safe, and I love you, Annie Cresta. With all my heart."
