The Price of Peace (Finnick Odair)

Hopelessly Devoted

Evadine Ripley-Odair would be the first to admit this was a foolish idea. 

As she was quickly ushered out of immediate danger with Finnick at her heels, her ears still rung from the sound of the blast that took Boggs's life. 

The smell of black tar stung her delicate sensibilities as she tried to push away the pregnancy-induced nausea. 

She should have stayed in the safety of District 13. She shouldn't have put their little fishy in danger by stowing away on an aircraft destined for a war zone. She knew it was dumb already so she didn't need Finnick chirping the sentiment again and again in her ringing ears. 

"-Of all the insane things you've done Evadine, this takes the cake! You could have died! What if the plane went down and we didn't have enough parachutes for an extra person? What if something had happened? I would have never known what happened to you! What if-"

Sick of his incessant guilt-tripping,  Evadine smacked down the one card every pregnant woman held in their back pocket. 

She cried. 

She cried hard. 

Immediately, Finnick's mind stalled and he was scrambling to console his crying wife. She batted away his hands, pitifully asking him not to touch her. She might as well have ripped the heart straight from his chest. 

"You! YOU LIED TO ME! You left me all alone and went to war! You didn't even let me say goodbye to you! A-and now you're yelling at me!" She whined in between huffing sobs. 

Finnick looked devastated. His fingers mindlessly clenched and unclenched at his sides, desperate to reach out for her but trying to respect her wishes. This was most definitely not the time or place for this conversation. 

Their argument was the soundtrack for a real argument about how to proceed with the mission. Boggs was dead and had given control of the Holo over to Katniss of all people. 

Black tar from a pod had enveloped the street around them. Finnick had been quick to leave the others to survive on their own as he lifted his wife into his arms and ran to higher ground. Katniss had tried to drag Boggs to safety, but Peeta attacked her, triggered by the chaos. 

Katniss managed to fend him off long enough to escape to safety along with the other members of the squad, minus one who set off another pod when he saved Katniss from Peeta. 

Peeta was unconscious and the capitol had officially declared them all dead, showing their portraits one by one, Hunger Games style. They did notice however that Evadine's picture was not shown. 

No one knew why that was. 

It was obvious she was there. If they were looking at camera footage then there was no denying Evadine's presence, especially as she stood next to Finnick. 

"Baby, please! I just want you to be safe! I want our child to be safe!" Finnick choked on his own words, trying not to break into tears along with her. 

"There is no point in living in this cursed world if you aren't in it! Do you think I could raise this baby properly without you? The moment your heart stops you take my soul with you! I would be a shell of a monstrous being! You are my love, Finnick! My humanity! Without you, I am nothing more than a weapon with a pretty voice!" Evadine descended into madness the longer she raved. 

She truly believed it was the truth. 

She had been terrified of being a mother. Thoughts of her own mom's madness played in her head. She needed Finnick, the baby needed Finnick. He was her balance, her sanity.