once upon a time • finnick odair

ix.) what happened that night

That night, Lucian had barely closed his eyes to sleep when he heard Katniss's voice shaking him awake.

"Run! Run! The fog's poison!"

Lucian jerked awake and saw a cloud of smoke coming toward them that was sure to be poison, from what he had heard from the young girl.

Instinctively, he grabbed all of the supplies next to him, which consisted of his backpack and the rest of the weapons that didn't include the ones Katniss, Finnick, and Devon had at the moment.

He saw Finnick running with Mags on his back, and followed suit, seeing that the fog was coming closer to him with each second he hesitated. Lucian could swear he could almost hear Haymitch yelling back at the Mentor's Room, telling him to run as fast as he could.

"Promise me that you'll stay alive," Haymitch demanded.

Lucian laughed softly. "Sweetheart, I'm a Career. Why wouldn't I?"

"Just ..." Haymitch hesitated, unlike his usual self. Both of them were hesitant, both of them were terrified that they wouldn't be able to see each other again forever. "Just stay alive until I come for you. Please."

"I will. And when I'm back, I'll bug you for so long that you'll get sick of me," Lucian promised.

Haymitch looked up at him with his clear blue eyes that Lucian loved, and let out a breathy laugh. "Of course you will."

Lucian ran to catch up to Finnick, his legs aching and burning as he tried to escape the fog and stay up with Finnick simultaneously.

But Mags was muttering something unintelligibly as she and Finnick ran, and Finnick looked back at Lucian.

"Lucian," Finnick breathed.

"Yes," said Lucian.

The two ran, Finnick not continuing until he took a deep breath. "Can you take Mags?"

Lucian looked at Mags, who nodded at him and he had to accept. After all, he knew Finnick's feelings for Hyesung as well.

"Yeah."

They paused briefly, Lucian slinging his backpack over his front and Finnick moving Mags over to his back, and they separated without another word. All of them knew what they had to do.

As Finnick ran in the direction that Lucian was guessing Devon and Katniss went—he didn't know since he didn't see them—Lucian grabbed onto Mags harder as he ran as fast as he could.

"You'll make it out of here, Mags. I promise," Lucian assured her.

But he knew that it wasn't a guaranteed promise.

What Enobaria had told him back at the Training Center in Two was right—his age was catching up to him, and his legs started to slow.

Lucian gritted his teeth and ran. He had to make it out, and he would make it out with Mags.

He couldn't abandon the woman, no matter how much his legs hurt.

Not long after, Lucian felt a tapping on his shoulder, but he ignored it. He didn't have time to spare, especially not on the run. "Don't worry, Mags. We got it. We're almost there."

He didn't know if they were almost done, but it felt like an eternity. The fog kept catching up to him, and Mags' tapping got more insistent.

Lucian, ignoring his leg's cries for help and Mags' signs, ran as fast as he could until they managed to pass a border where the fog suddenly stopped as if blocked by a wall.

Lucian heavily breathed as he seated Mags carefully on the forest ground, only to see terrible boils and marks on her neck and hands that were surely more painful than he could imagine.

"Mags, Mags ..." Lucian muttered. He took off his backpack and tried to look for something.

Water, water would help, Lucian reasoned. Devon always looked for water when someone had a boil ...

One was left, and he started dropping it on Mag's boil, but she stopped him midway and instead muttered in her thick District 4 accent and mumbles.

Lucian strained to understand what she was saying, but he understood clearly with her body language.

He knew what that could mean.

"You want ... you want me to kill you? Because it hurts?"

Mags nodded.

"Mags, but—"

Mags patted him and took out the knife he had been keeping inside his sleeve. Lucian thought he had hidden it well, with none of them realizing it, but it didn't seem like that was the case for Mags.

"You knew everything," Lucian choked out.

Mags smiled kindly and tapped his ring, the wedding ring that Haymitch had kept for years even after their divorce.

The same one with its pair that had melted and turned into ashes when Snow dropped poison on it.

Mags gave the knife to him.

Lucian laid Mags down and swallowed down tears that were watering his eyes. "Mags, we can wait. We can wait for a sponsor gift—they'll give us something—or Finnick—"

Mags tapped on his hand insistently, and Lucian knew what she was trying to say.

"You can live, Mags. Please, please ..."

Mags shook her head slowly. Lucian knew how much pain she was in and knew logically that he should obey her wishes, but he didn't want to.

"Mags, Mags ... " Lucian muttered her name like a prayer, swallowing tears. "Please ..."

Mags tapped on him, but Lucian couldn't look up. He couldn't look at her kind green eyes that would fade because of him.

Because he would put his knife through her heart.

Lucian finally looked up after a while, his eyes brimmed with tears and bloodshot. "I'm sorry."

Mags nodded, as if to say, "Don't be sorry."

As much as Lucian knew how to kill a person painfully, Lucian also knew how to kill them painlessly.

Lucian plunged his knife right where her heart was.

Mags closed her eyes, and only a second later, the cannon rang.

Lucian cried out.

His heart burned.