𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗 ✪ 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝙾𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚛

- ȶɦɨʀȶʏ ֆɛʋɛռ

ᴄᴀᴘɪᴛᴏʟ

It was easy to hurt Willa once you learned how. Snow had always said there was an art to it — that pain wasn't just a weapon, it was a sculptor's tool. You didn't destroy; you reshaped. And Willa, for all her defiance, had begun to take shape beneath his hands. She sat on the cold marble floor of her cell, back pressed against the wall, her wrists bruised from the restraints that had become as familiar as her own skin. The walls around her hummed faintly — the same sterile, sweet-scented hum of the Capitol's machines, the ones that whispered when she slept.

"Tell me again," the voice came, smooth and steady through the intercom. "Who saved you from the rebels?"

Her lips parted, the words caught behind her teeth. The silence stretched. Then... static. Pain lanced through her skull. A shock. A reminder.

"The Capitol," she whispered, her voice breaking.

"And who betrayed you?" Her hands trembled. She wanted to say no one. She wanted to say him. She wanted to scream Finnick's name until her throat tore apart. But when she opened her mouth, the words weren't her own.

"The rebels." she said.

"Good girl," the voice purred. She stared straight ahead. The walls didn't move, but she could almost feel them breathe.

ᴅɪꜱᴛʀɪᴄᴛ 13

Finnick had never felt rage like this before. Not even when Annie was taken. Not even when the Games had first branded him like an object. Now, it wasn't just pain. It was purpose.

"She's alive," he said, pacing the war room. "And they're using her."

Plutarch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Finnick, I know what you think you saw—" he started to say.

"It wasn't a hallucination!" he snapped, slamming his hands on the table. "You saw it too. You saw her standing beside Snow like some... some Capitol puppet. You tell me how that happens unless they got her out of the arena alive."

"You're too emotional to be objective." Coin's voice was low but cutting. Finnick turned toward her, eyes blazing.

"You're too cold to be human." he countered. The room went silent. Even Haymitch didn't move. Coin's expression didn't change.

"You're dismissed, Odair." she said. Finnick didn't. He stood there, chest heaving, jaw trembling as he tried to breathe through the fury. Then he turned and walked out, the echo of his boots trailing behind him. Outside, he leaned against the concrete wall, sliding down until he sat on the cold floor. His fingers shook as he pressed them to his face.

"Willa," he whispered, voice raw. "Hold on."

ᴄᴀᴘɪᴛᴏʟ

Snow entered her cell in silence, the soft click of his shoes echoing like a metronome. Willa didn't lift her head. He crouched down, studying her.

"You're stronger than I anticipated," he said. "Most of them break by now."

She didn't answer. He reached forward, brushing a strand of pale hair away from her face.

"Do you know why I keep you alive?" he asked. Her throat worked, but no sound came.

"Because you mean something to him," Snow said softly. "And through you, he will learn obedience. Love is a weakness, my dear. And you," he smiled faintly, "are his greatest flaw."