Finnick and Annie

Squad 451

AN: I can't believe there's almost 100 chapters to this story already. We're getting closer to the end; honestly I can't wait to finish. Thanks to everyone that's been reading this from the start!

When I learned I'd been selected for the "Star Squad," I was pretty outraged. When I thought we'd finally do something important, Gale, Katniss and I were essentially shipped off to film more Propos. Plutarch insisted we'd be doing actual fighting, but the first three days in the Capitol proved they had no intentions of putting us in any danger; it would be hard to replace their stars. There were other people in our squad, Boggs was the commander, then Jackson, Leeg 1 and Leeg 2, Mitchel and Holmes, all of them excellent sharpshooters, and of course Cressida and her camera crew, who followed us around everywhere.

Leeg 2 didn't make it past the fourth day, which was unfortunate of course, but what really bothered me was her replacement. Peeta strolled out of the train station without his guards and restraints, wearing a uniform like ours with our squadron number stamped on his hand. Boggs seemed outraged by this and ran off to make a call, but Peeta was sent by Coin herself so there really was nothing to do. Coin was willing to do anything to win this war; putting Katniss' life in danger was a small price to pay.

Boggs was furious, so they took Peeta's weapon away and set an around-the-clock rotation. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. Sure, I understood why Katniss was worried, but when I looked at him I saw the pain and confusion I'd often seen in Annie's eyes. The Capitol broke him too; that wasn't his fault, and Katniss was being a real bitch about it.

"Here," I told said during my watch, handing him the piece of rope that had helped me, and then Katniss.

"What's that?" he asked, his voice tired. It must have been hard having to sleep outside so that everybody could keep an eye on him.

"You tie knots with it. It keeps your mind busy." He looked at the rope suspiciously, but took it from me and fiddled with it for a bit. I taught him a few more difficult knots, which kept him occupied for most of my shift.

When my four hours were up, I returned to my tent, but it was hard to go back to sleep, especially when I saw Katniss move to the center of our camp to watch over Peeta. The two of them just sat in silence for a while, under Jackson's watchful eye, but about a hour later Peeta's voice broke the silence. "These last couple of years must have been exhausting for you. Trying to decide whether to kill me or not. Back and Forth. Back and Forth."

I expected Katniss to say something mean and hurtful, but she seemed to think about it for a second before answering, "I never wanted to kill you. Except when I thought you were helping the Careers kill me. After that, I always thought of you as... an ally."

Peeta repeated the word as it trying to make sense of it. "Friend. Lover. Victor. Enemy. Fianceé. Target. Mutt. Neighbor. Hunter. Tribute. Ally. I'll add it to the list of words I use to try to figure you out." He weaved his rope thoughtfully before speaking again. "The problem is, I can't tell what's real anymore, and what's made up."

"Then you should ask, Peeta," I said, from the cover of my tent. "That's what Annie does."

"Ask who?" he retorted. "Who can I trust?"

"Well, us for starters," said Jackson. "We're your squad."

"You're my guards," he pointed out.

"That, too," she said. "But you saved a lot of lives in Thirteen. It's not the kind of think we forget."

After that we figured out a little game to help Peeta remember things, and Katniss, Gale and I would tell him whether his memories were real or not real. It seemed to work out okay, but he was still obviously confused.

After days of shooting dumb Propos, we started shooting one that was a little more exciting. It was more complex and demanding, especially because some of the members of our squad were worse actors than Katniss. Nevertheless, things seemed to be going pretty well, until Boggs took a wrong step and set the bomb that blew off his legs.

In the chaos that ensued, I couldn't stop thinking about the arena. The first days in the Capitol were boring an uneventful, almost a waste of our skills, but things were becoming more dangerous, even for our puppet squad. What would Annie think when she realized what I'd gotten myself into?

Immediately after the bomb, everything went to hell. I was trying to revive Messalla, who'd been blown against a wall by the blast. Katniss was kneeled next to Boggs, who was dialing something into the Holo. Then the black, oily tar started pouring into the street, rushing towards us. Peeta was out of control, pushing Katniss to the floor, trying to bash her head in. A moment later Mitchel was dangling from a net made of barbed wire, blood pouring from his body. More bombs. Gunshots. I carried Messalla into an apartment Gale had managed to break into, and everybody else rushed in. Peeta restrained by the cameramen, with his hands shackled again. Gale retching into the kitchen sink due to the fumes, while the others covered the cracks of the door and windows with wet towels. Boggs was on the floor, a bloody puddle where his legs should have been, whispering something to Katniss. Somewhere down the hall Peeta was kicking trying to break out of the closet he was locked in, but his kicks became weaker and further apart.

"He's gone?" I asked, looking at Boggs' blank look. Katniss nodded. "We need to get out of here. Now. We just set off a streetful of pods. You can bet they've got us on surveillance tapes."

What followed was a mess of threats and lies. Katniss claimed she was on a special mission from Coin herself to execute President Snow, which was according to her why Boggs had transferred the Holo to her. Jackson didn't buy any of her bullshit, but Cressida quickly came to Katniss' aid, and soon enough we all had Jackson convinced. I knew Katniss was lying, but her mission and mine were the same, so I took Boggs' gun from him and told Katniss to lead the way.

We traveled a few blocks back the way we'd arrived over the gel-covered streets. Though sticky, the black substance remained clear of footprints, so we were able to move away from that street without setting off any pods, since the black tar had done that for us, and without any camera's to spot us. Once we settled into a new apartment a few blocks away, an explosion went off back were we'd left Bogg's body. Soon a screen in the living room turned on to show an emergency broadcast in which a herd of Peacekeepers bombed the building where we'd last been seen, declaring us dead.