𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔; 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒍

Finnick is the first to wake up after being rescued from the arena. His injuries were minor compared to Katniss and Beetee. Haymitch greets him, and quickly brings him out of the room before he can see who's with him. Or rather, who's not with him.

"Where's Lilith?" He asks once he's in the same room as Haymitch and Plutarch. He's desperate to finally be able to be with her the way he wants.

"Finnick," Haymitch says. He feels sympathy for Finnick, but they did what they had to do. He rubs his face.

"Where is she?" Finnick asks again, this time with more force. The silence that surrounds him makes him feel uneasy.

"I am going to assume she's on her way to the Capitol right about now," Plutarch says, his eyes avoiding Finnick's gaze.

Finnick's heart drops. They left her. He promised her everything would be okay. He promised to take her to District Four when this is all over. He. Promised.

"You left her there?" Finnick says slowly. He can feel his sadness turning to anger. "After everything she's done to help? Wait until Johanna hears about what you did," Finnick threatens.

"Johanna is in the custody of the Capitol as well," Plutarch says hesitantly.

"You left both of them?" Finnick begins to raise his voice. "How could you?"

"They still had their trackers in. We couldn't risk taking them," Haymitch says.

"What about Silas? She was basically his family, and you still left her!" Finnick shouts in Haymitch's face. Haymitch guiltily looks down at the table.

"It's not about who's close with who. It's about the revolution. The Mockingjay," Plutarch reminds Finnick. "We couldn't risk the entire rebellion because of one girl."

"But all of those victors could risk their lives for it," Finnick replies bitterly. He's never felt this way before. This kind of emptiness is new to him. He doesn't know what to do with it.

"Can we please get back to discussing the Mockingjay?" Plutarch says loudly, wanting to get back on track.

Finnick slumps in his chair, feeling the defeat and guilt sink in. "Discuss what? We protected her, now she can do her part."

"Well, she's gonna lose it when she finds out about the boy," Haymitch says, feeling guilty about leaving Peeta behind.

"She'll still cooperate, though?" Plutarch says. His main concern is getting the symbol of the rebellion to do what they need her to.

"Without Peeta?" Haymitch says with a shake of his head. "There's no guarantee."

"Your problem now," Finnick mutters under his breath.

Just as Finnick mumbles under his breath, Katniss emerges from the doorway, looking over everyone. She felt confused seeing this trio of people. A gamemaker, a traitor, and Haymitch.

"Morning sweetheart," Haymitch greets her with a small smile.

Katniss glares at Haymitch, her eyes narrowing as she lunges towards him to attack. Since Katniss is weak from injuries, Haymitch easily pins her against the wall, wrestling a syringe out of her hand.

"What are you doing with them?" Katniss demands with a snarl. She breathes heavily as she struggles against Haymitch.

Haymitch doesn't answer. He looks at the syringe he took from her. Pathetic choice of a weapon, really. "You and a syringe against the Capitol?" Haymitch mocks her. "See, this is why no one lets you make the plans."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Katniss spits out, glaring at Finnick from over Haymitch's shoulder.

"Stop, stop," Finnick waves his hand in the air tiredly. "Just listen."

"We couldn't tell you with Snow watching. It was too risky," Haymitch says in a low voice. He releases his grip on her slowly. "Better for you to know nothing."

As soon as Haymitch loosens his grip enough, Katniss shoves his hands off of her angrily. "Where's Peeta?" She says immediately.

"Now, Katniss," Plutarch begins in a gentle and steady voice, careful not to agitate her further. "You have been our mission from the beginning. The plan was always to get you out. Half of the tributes were in on it," Plutarch pauses for a moment, letting her take in the information he just gave her. "This is the revolution. You are the Mockingjay. And we are on our way to District Thirteen right now."

"Thirteen?" Katniss repeats with confusion. She feels overwhelmed by this abundance of information being thrown at her.

"Thirteen. Yes," Plutarch confirms.

Katniss pauses for a moment, the conformation that Thirteen is real and the rebellion is real, causes her to stay silent. But then, she realizes no one has told her where Peeta is. "Where's Peeta?"

No one answers her for a moment. Both Plutarch and Haymitch avoid looking the Mockingjay in the eye. Finnick looks down solemnly, thinking about his girl being in the hands of Snow. "They left them."

Katniss snaps her head towards Finnick when he mumbles those words. "What do you mean?" She quickly asks.

"He still had his tracker in his arm. Johanna cut yours out," Haymitch announces, feeling incredibly guilty for leaving Peeta behind.

"Where is he?" Katniss asks frantically. Her mind races through all the horrible scenarios Peeta could be trapped in.

"In the Capitol," Haymitch reveals slowly. "They got him, Johanna, and Lilith."

Katniss freezes for a second, before her fury takes over her. She glares and scowls at Haymitch, lunging towards him again. "You son of a bitch!" She hits him hard. "You son of a— You promised me that you would save him over me!" Katniss's screams fill the room. She's heartbroken. She feels betrayed. Plutarch injects a sedative in her arm as she hits Haymitch on the chest. "You promised me! You're a liar! You're a liar."

Finnick doesn't like seeing Katniss so emotionally hurt, just how he feels right now. But no matter what, he won't stop fighting to get Lilith back. Not when they were so close to happiness. He won't ever stop fighting for her.