𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 || 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐎'𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐱 𝐎𝐅𝐂

(xiv). heaven, when i held you again

"Take your time," Cressida tells Finnick, watching as Finnick takes a stance on the rubbled ground. He wasn't fit for combat, but Finnick still wanted to help the rescue team save Malia.

    Beetee insisted that Finnick should give a live proposition that would help him take down the Capitol's security system. Katniss was too overwhelmed to do anything, but Finnick knew that Beetee was smart.

    So he agreed.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Cressida adds, giving him one last opening to back down if he wanted to.

"No," Finnick tells her, sternly. "If this helps get her back, I'm ready."

"Okay," Cressida nods. "Just remember to keep talking and don't stop."

Cressida points to her camera crew and they nod at Finnick as the cameras start rolling.

"This is Finnick O'Dair," Finnick starts. "Winner of the 65th Hunger Games and I'm coming to you from district thirteen, alive and well. We survived an assault from the Capitol. But I'm not here to give you recent news. It's a lot more than that. The truth."

Katniss walks into the command center and sees Finnick's face on the screen, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Why is Finnick doing a propo?" She asks.

"Beetee has commandeered the system," Haymitch replies.

"Finnick agreed to it," Jake tells her, crossing his arms. "He's not saying or doing anything he doesn't want to."

"It's a broadcast system," Beetee pipes in. "It's jamming the Capitol's entire security system with noise. It's allowing our team to get in and out undetected."

"I'm not here to tell you about the myths about a life of luxury," Finnick continues. "Not the lie about glory for your homeland. You can survive the arena. The moment you leave, you're a slave."

Katniss watches as Finnick hesitates. Almost as if he was debating on whether to continue with what he was about to say next. She could see him swallow, and he looked back up at the camera, his voice shaking slightly.

"President Snow used to sell me. Or my body at least. I wasn't the only one."

Katniss stared at the screen in horror. She knew the Capitol was fucked up but she didn't realize to what extent.

"If a victor, like Malia and I, are considered desirable, the President gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them. If you refuse, he kills someone you love. Your friends. Your family."

"Jake lost his twin in the Games," Finnick continues and Jake bites his nails slightly. He had given Finnick permission to use his past in his speech, to make his propo longer. But now that things were about to be out into the open, Jake could feel a dam starting to break.

"And then when he refused to be sold, President Snow murdered his entire family," Finnick adds. "To make themselves feel better, my patrons would make presents of money or jewelry. But I found a much more valuable form of payment. Secrets."

"I'm in," Beetee announces and Plutarch speaks into the comm.

"Rescue team, get ready to go on my command."

"See, I know all the depravity, the deceit, and the cruelty of the Capitol's pampered elite," Finnick continues. "People like Flint Hendricks and his awful fetish of sleeping with underaged girls– mostly victors– up until his untimely death. But the biggest secrets are about our good President, Coriolanus Snow. Such a young man when he rose to power. Such a clever one to keep it."