Black Widow - A Hunger Games Fanfic

Chapter 8: Lightning Strike

Ava stood up and gave Finnick a small smile. She was still shaken by the event, but she didn't want to miss out on the planning.

"Where would the Careers be if not in the jungle?" Beetee asked.

"The jungle's a mess," Johanna said.

"Probably here," Peeta said.

"And why aren't they?" Beetee questioned.

"Because we are," Johanna answered, "we claimed it."

"And if we left, they'd come?"

"Or stay hidden in the tree line," Finnick said.

"Which in four hours will be soaked with the ten o' clock wave," Beetee agreed, "what happens at midnight?"

"Lightning strikes that tree," Katniss answered him.

"Here's what I propose," Beetee starts, "we leave the beach at dusk, we head to the lightning tree. That should draw them back to the beach. Prior to midnight, we run this wire from the tree to the water. Anyone in the water or in the damp sand, will be electrocuted."
"How do we know the wire's not going to burn up?" Ava asked.

"Because I invented it," Beetee said confidently, "I assure you, it won't burn up."

Everyone exchanged silent glances to see what the other thinks. Johanna was the first to speak up, "It's better than hunting them down."

"Yeah, why not," Katniss agreed, "if it fails, no harm done anyway."

"Alright, I say we try it," Peeta said, letting the sand in his hands fall.

"What can we do to help?" Ava asked.

"Keep me alive for the next six hours. That will be extremely helpful," Beetee said. They all agreed on the plan before waiting it out until dusk.

Ava and Finnick started walking down the beach as the sun started to set. They both were quiet for a moment, before Finnick said, "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Ava looked up at him, "I thought you knew everyone's secrets."

Finnick looked down and smiled a little, "You must've been his very closely guarded secret."

"No...it wasn't like that," Ava shook her head. If she told Finnick about how Seneca and she got together, she'd have to tell him a lot more than just this one secret, "he...he was there for me when I needed someone the most. He knew things...things I couldn't tell a soul, but he knew and he didn't judge. He cared for me despite knowing what he knew. And we fell in love over time."

"How long?" Finnick asked.

"About two years," Ava whispered.

"That's a long time for not a single person to know about the two of you," Finnick said, wondering how they kept it a secret in the Capitol, where nothing was really a secret. Especially not for Finnick.

"We had to...because of our jobs. Or his mostly, especially since we got together so close to after my games. Bad PR," Ava said, but that wasn't the whole truth. No one could know the actual truth.

Finnick gently took Ava's hand in his and stopped walking. Ava looked up at him and he said, "I'm sorry for your loss. It must be hard to grieve for someone when no one knows how important he was to you."