Black & Blue || Finnick Odair

13

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' Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
the most massive characters are seared with scars. '

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Venus woke with a start from her induced slumber, sitting up straight in her bed as the machines around her began beeping wildly. She looked around the room frantically in search for something that could tell her where she was, but all she saw was white; walls, floor, sheets. There were no windows for her to look outside, and across from her bed sat a large cloudy glass door; firmly shut. The girl began to shake slightly out of fear, she hardly remembered what had happened in those last fews seconds of the games.

All she remembered was watching a large piece of metal landing on Johanna's legs, the girl screaming out as blood cascaded down her face. Then it went black. The pounding in her head was enough for her to know something hit her there, the rest of her body was covered in cuts and bruises; the one on her face was now stitched up. She felt like a mess, a queasy feeling in her stomach and her eyelids sat heavy; ready to close at any second.

As the door in front of her unlocked, she looked straight towards it; waiting to see who would appear when it opened. But as it did, she immeadiately became scared when two peacekeepers walked in with guns by their sides; President Snow following in directly behind them. Venus screamed as it dawned on her to where she was, the Capitol. The girl tried to move away from the grinning man, but as she hit the bed head tears began to well in her eyes. She had a bad feeling about this.

'Hello, Miss Hereford,' Snow stated; 'Welcome back to the Capitol. This is where you will be staying until the rebellion is over, or you die. You will undergo a few procedures before you are allowed to do the tasks I give you.'

'No!' Venus screamed.

'Oh, I don't believe you have a choice Miss Hereford. Start the first treatment.'

The nurses around her nodded quickly before a trolley was rolled in, a dark purple liquid sat in tubes on top with a large syringe sitting beside them. Venus screamed loudly as the peacekeepers grabbed at her arms and legs after they stormed in, chaining them down so she couldn't move.

'Ready to start treatment one,' A nurse with full grey head said to a peacekeeper; 'Venus Hereford, we are going to ask you a few questions to start. If you lie to us, you will be punished. If you tell the truth, you won't be punished.'

The brunette only screamed in return as she struggled against the restraints, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head.

'Did you have any knowledge that Katniss shooting the force field?' The woman spat.

'No!' Venus screamed.

'Did you know Katniss' plan?'

'No!'

'She's lying, inject her.'

A loud screamed echoed throughout the room as the purple liquid was injected into her arm, she could feel the think liquid running through her veins as it was scattered all over her body. She suddenly felt very light headed, her vision becoming slightly blurred as she looked around.

'Miss Hereford, I'm good to ask you one more time. Did you have any knowledge of the rebellion?' The nurse asked.

'N-No,' She stuttered.

'Inject three more, then play the video.'

The young Hereford's screams could be heard throughout the floor, setting Peeta and Johanna into a frenzy as they heard their friend cry out in pain. Nurses and peacekeepers were running in every direction as they tried to settle the other tributes, their efforts weren't useful. As the final injection was finished a video began to play on the small screen, allowing the nurses to leave unnoticed. Venus had no clue what to think as the short documentary was played before her, her senses were muddled because of the purple serum.

It told her of Panem's history, of the dark days before it spoke about Katniss and the rebellion. She cried as the boy she loved appeared on the screen killing people, killing her family and friends. It made her confused as she knew in the back of her mind Finnick wouldn't do anything to hurt her. There was then a section about Katniss, how she forced Finnick to do those awful things; how she was the bad guy. As the documentary finished, the girl watched as another liquid flowed through a tube that lead to her hand; she giggled insanely as it a disappeared before she blacked out.

Over in District 13, Finnick sat in his hospital room staring up at the ceiling with nothing on his mind. It had been a week since he had seen or held Venus in his arms, it was driving him insane. He had just got her, and now she had been taken from him by the Capitol along with Peeta and Johanna. It was intended to hurt him, Katniss and Scout; the boy from Ten becoming quite attached to the girl from Seven. And it was working.

Scout had become mad, any little thing that happened he would explode. Katniss had joined President Coin to help the rebellion, officially becoming the Mockingjay. As for Finnick, he hadn't left his hospital bed but he wasn't sure he wanted too. Snow was ruining the boys, but making Katniss want revenge more. She was unsure about whether or not to help Coin, whether or not she wanted to be the face of the rebellion.

Finnick sighed as he heard someone enter his room, not bothering to avert his gaze from the roof as he waited for them to speak; continuing to tie knots into the small piece of rope that he had asked for. But after the person didn't speak for a while, he eventually moved his gaze to find Katniss standing by the door; looking over him with a look of pity that he didn't want. He looked away with a sigh, untying the knot he had just created before starting again.

'Finnick,' Katniss said softly and as the man didn't reply she repeated herself; 'Finnick.'

She watched him continue to tie a knot, completely ignoring her existence in the room causing her to walk closer to the bed. The girl place a hand over his fidgeting ones, making him pause as he looked up at her with a deadly glare. Finnick snatched his hands from under Katniss' before he started tying another knot in the rop, remaining silent as she let out a huff of annoyance.

'Look, I know you're not going to talk to me so I'm going to talk. I just finished talking to Coin and I'm thinking about agreeing to being the mockingjay, but only if Peeta is rescued,' The Girl on Fire stated.

'What about Venus?' He croaked.

'I don't want to push my limits.'

'I know you don't like her Katniss, but she's everything to me. She's all I've got left besides Annie.'

'I can't rescue her Finnick, I'm sorry.'

Finnick stopped tying the knot he was currently on before he looked over at Katniss, he was completely broken as tears rolled down his cheeks. She had just made his worst nightmare come true, Venus not being rescued. Not being able to hold the girl from Ten in his arms ever again. The man blinked before he looked away and back up to the roof, his hands still sitting still on his stomach.

'Leave,' He stated simply.

'Excuse me?' Katniss replied baffled.

'Get out. Go away. Leave me alone!'

Katniss took a step away from the bed, her mouth opening and shutting as she tried to find something to say but as she came up with nothing, she turned and left; allowing Finnick to have the space he wanted. But as she left the aqua eyed man broke down, tears leaving his eyes and dropping onto the pillow underneath his head. Quiet sobs left his mouth before he let out a loud yell, arching his back up before he fell back down completely defeated.

'Finnick?' A voice came from beside him.

'Go away!' He yelled.

'Finnick, you need to calm down. It's me, Prim. It's ok.'

'No, it's not! I've lost everything... I-I don't even know if Annie is still alive or where Venus' little brother is... Or if Venus is still breathing... Nothing's ok. It's not ok.'

'It will get better, I promise.'

Prim sat on the edge of his bed then, taking one of his hands in her own before looking out at Katniss through the window; motioning with her head for her to leave. The young blonde continued to coo to Finnick until he fell asleep, the last of his tears rolling down his cheeks as his eyes fell shut. She knew then she had to do something for him, though she knew getting Venus back was unlikely; but there was Annie and Tommy. She was going to find them and make Coin bring them to the District to help with recovery.