Black & Blue || Finnick Odair

27

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' Everything can change in an instant. Everything. And then there is only before and after. '

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Venus was a little reluctant to follow Katniss down a rather dark alley, but she did it anyway; her hand threaded through Finnick's. Her eyes watched Peeta as he walked ahead of them, his body slightly tense as he moved. She didn't say anything, instead she jumped when a pipe suddenly broke and begain hissing loudly. She ducked down, wrapping her free arm around her face as she let go of her husband's hand.

'Everybody okay?' Jackson called.

'Yeah,' Katniss answered for all of them.

The group slowly started to move again, Venus muttering curses to herself as Katniss stepped down into chest height water. She glared down at the girl as she removed her holsters from around her waist, wrapping one hand around both the boomerangs and the other around her staff before she held them above her head. With a long sigh, she stepped into the water, which immediately froze her to the bone. She continued to mutter to herself, wishing many things upon Katniss Everdeen.

The further along they got, the more shallow the water got; much to Venus' appreciation. She waded through the knee deep water, wrapping her holsters back around her waist before she did the belt up. She took her staff back from Scout, sending him a tight smile before she looked ahead at Finnick.

'All right, everybody, we're gonna stop here for a bit and get some rest, yeah?' Jackson called as they came across a walkway; 'I'll take first watch.'

Venus stepped up onto it, sitting toward the middle where Finnick was standing; her staff tucked behind her on the ground.

'Hey, Peeta. Just tuck in there,' The man called as he motioned to the spot beside her.

'All right, settle in, everybody,' Jackson demanded as she found her own spot to sit.

The Hereford girl leant her head on Finnick's shoulder as he sat between her and Peeta, a protective aura around him. She turned her head and kissed his cheek with a small smile, which only grew when he turned to kiss her properly. She leant her head back on his shoulder afterwards, sending a quick smile to Scout as he settled in beside her.

One by one, everyone slowly began to fall asleep; Venus waking a few hours later to find everyone still sleeping. She looked around to see if anyone was on watch, raising an eyebrow at Katniss who was propped up beside Peeta. She knew then that it was meant to be the Girl on Fire on guard, and she had fallen asleep again.

'You ok?' Scout whispered.

She jumped slightly and turned to look at him, 'Yeh. Can't sleep. You?'

'Nightmares.'

'Johanna?'

'Yeh. They drive me crazy.'

'I know the feeling.'

She flickered her eyes to Finnick, running a light hand over his hair.

'How'd you survive in there? Without him?' Scout asked.

Venus looked at him, 'I didn't. I barely lived.'

'Hanna doesn't talk about it much. Being in that place, so I don't really know much.'

'We went through some pretty horrid stuff, I doubt I'll ever tell Finnick the extent it went to. I don't think I'm mentally stable enough to do it.'

He nodded, 'I miss her.'

'I know you do. You're good for her, Scout. You keep her grounded, it's what she needs.'