Interwoven

Full Plot: After being rescued from the arena, the hovercraft heading to District 13 crashes leaving Katniss and Finnick as the only survivors. Having no idea where their original destination is located, they stumble across the ruins of District 12. Devastated and afraid, Katniss tries to pull herself together with the help of Finnick. They seek refuge in Katniss's old house that is surprisingly untouched. Hurt, afraid, and lost, Katniss and Finnick have no one but each other to depend on and they begin to discover more about one another as they try to build a life in the ruins of the district. Though as pleasant as things may seem at first, their lives are interrupted by certain enemies…

Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort/Tragedy

Author's Note: This basically takes place right at the end of Catching Fire, except Gale doesn't have time to tell Katniss about District 12's destruction. This is a romance story between Katniss and Finnick but it'll be friendship first. I'm not going to rush their relationship, but know that they will start to develop deep feelings for each other in the future. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: Breathe

Theme Song: Dawn by the Cinematic Orchestra ─ [Pull it up on YouTube and listen to it as you read. Adds more effect to the story. Start listening after the flashback is over.]

~Finnick~

Smoke and toxic fumes fill the air, mixing in with the atmosphere, and continuously floating about around, heading upward. These noxious vapors fold through the whole area, soaring from the waves of fire that still lingers steadily on piles of rubble. Fortunately the fire doesn't spread any further amongst the forest; it only stays burning slightly on a few of parts of the broken pieces of the hovercraft. Fragments are scattered about everywhere, in one place and in another, in big or small clumps. Somehow a few pieces managed to attach itself to a tree and dangle there loosely. Seats from where passengers used to sit at are spread out everywhere, having broken off during the crash.

Most of the seats hold passengers who are bleeding heavily and are no longer breathing. One of them, who is only hurt slightly, manages to open his eyes slightly. The smoke burns his eyeballs when they touch them and they begin to tear up. He has to blink his eyelids a few times to adjust to the atmosphere around him. Somehow his seat managed to stay secure, unlike most of the other passengers who had either fallen out of their seats or were destroyed in the crash. The bronze haired male takes one look at his surroundings and feels like a black hole opened up within his stomach, pulling him under the depths of darkness.

Crash landed, he realizes.

His head begins to throb in pain as he recalls the events that took place before the incident.

[Flashback]

Finnick is standing with a blanket wrapped over his shoulders. A large table platform is set in front of him as he and few others stand surrounding it. A plate of food and a cup of coffee is set on the table near him, left untouched. There's a map of some important information of the Districts forming a square part of the table that they all peer at curiously.

"Tell me…" Finnick murmurs, finally deciding to lift his coffee cup. It's less warm than it was a few moments ago. "Why can't we get Annie now before we head to District 13?"

Haymitch rolls his eyes at the question. "I told you already," he says, "we can't risk flying all the way down to District 4 and picking her up without drawing attention to ourselves. It's a trip we simply can't take. We have more important business to take care of in Thirteen."

Finnick stares at the black liquid in his cup. He can see his expression slightly, shimmering in the fluid. His hair is still damp from that quick wash he had earlier and he can still smell the scent of lemon soap radiating from his body. Secured and fixed on the outside, but broken and destroyed on the inside. "She's not in District 4, is she?" his words are more like a statement than a question.

He can tell that Plutarch and Haymitch are exchanging looks without having to see them.

"No," says Plutarch quietly. "The Capitol picked her up when they found out about us retrieving the tributes from the arena. They have Peeta Mellark as well."

Finnick studies the map on the table, closely, having no interest in what lays out before him in the least. Then he looks up at Haymitch's tired expression. "What are they going to do to her? Shouldn't we go get her before they try anything?" he asks, keeping his calm. Inside, he was panicking, as thoughts roamed his mind about the Capitol torturing or killing Annie.

Plutarch answers for him, "It's simply impossible for us to get her," he says. "It'd be dangerous and the mission was to get Katniss Everdeen to District 13 as soon as possible," he rubs his eyes with a napkin, before returning his gaze to Finnick. "Remember the deal we made? You agreed to help with this mission and this mission is long from over. We'll get Annie for you, mister Odair, but we just can't do it now."

Finnick sets his coffee cup down, without drinking any, now starting to lose his composure. "Yes, I understand that, but we─" his shouts are cut short when the door to the facility room opens. All of their attention turns to the person standing in the doorway. Standing there is Katniss Everdeen, looking beat and tired in her jumpsuit. Her arm is bandaged up from when Johanna cut out the tracker. In her hand, is a syringe, and her expression isn't at all pleasant.

When she sees all of them, here, looking calm and collected, her expression hardens. Then her eyes land on Haymitch. "Finally decided to get up now, sweetheart? Done trying to kill yourself?" he says sarcastically. He might be referring to when he witnessed Katniss knocking herself out multiple times earlier.

Finnick can see her sides heaving in anger but her expression is filled with confusion. "Where are we? What's going on? Where's Peeta?" she demands, looking at all of us. When her eyes land on Finnick, he looks away. He doesn't want to be the damper on bad news.

Finnick pretty much stops listening when Haymitch and Plutarch begin to tell her of the situation. He walks toward the long window with his hands behind his head, stressfully. Their voices become muffled in his ears as his mind drifts off to Annie. It's dim outside, with clouds covering the sky. The hovercraft seems to be high above the ground to the point where he can't make out what their flying over. Annie was never safe. He couldn't be there for her. Somehow, someway he has to get her back and it has to be soon. These idiots, Haymitch and Plutarch, aren't being cooperative enough for him and it's driving him crazy. They don't understand how much this is tearing him apart inside.

When Finnick turns back around, he sees that Katniss is sitting down in a chair while quivering a bit. Plutarch just informed her of their whereabouts and the plan to pull her out of the arena.

"You didn't tell me. None of you," she snaps.

"We couldn't risk it," Haymitch says, looking stressed out.

Plutarch urges Katniss to eat the food he's handing to her but she just shakes her head at him. "Where's Peeta?" she demands.

This won't be good. Finnick thinks, folding his hands behind his head again in tiredness. She won't take this well.

"Katniss…the Capitol has Peeta." Plutarch murmurs, as he sets the plate down onto the table.

Then in an instant, Katniss is up on her feet and she's attacking Haymitch, threatening to kill him while trying to stab him with the syringe. Immediately, Finnick hurries over to grab her. With the help of Plutarch they are able to pry her away but she manages to get a few scratches on Haymitch's face. They struggle to push her down onto the chair and Finnick manages to hold her there as she struggles to get free. "You promised and you lied to me!" she shouts at Haymitch.

"Calm down!" Finnick grunts, as she scratches his arm with her nails. His grip doesn't falter though. After a few seconds, she starts to calm down some, but he still keeps a firm grip on her. It's understandable, the way she's acting. He knows the feeling. Her breathing is still heavy and she's pointing death glares at Haymitch. Before her mentor can even get a word in to explain himself, the hovercraft begins to rumble quickly. Finnick is hardly able to keep his balance. "What's going on?" he demands, staring expectantly at Plutarch.

Plutarch looks as confused as he is, as he grips onto the table to keep himself from falling. With a grunt, Finnick releases Katniss, and moves over to the window, stumbling on the way there. In horror, he sees that the back of the hovercraft is lit with flames. Haymitch is beside him in an instant and frowns when he sees what he sees.

"Everyone, get to your seats and buckle up!" exclaims Plutarch.

Everyone is piling out of the room, even Katniss, in single file. There's a sound of an emergency beeping that's warning them of the damage of the hovercraft. A voice on a loud speaker says for everyone to buckle up and that we'll be crash landing. They all make it to the room where the seats are held and waste no time in buckling themselves up. Finnick had no idea there were so many people on this hovercraft as he watches many of them begin to file in, in a crowd. Somehow he's sitting next to Katniss. Her hands are fumbling with her belt as she tries to fasten it, her eyes panicky. Finnick whips off his belt and gets up to help her. When her belt is safely secured, she shoots him a weak grateful look, and he belts himself back in.

The hovercraft is shaking without control now, going through major turbulence. Finnick shuts his eyes, feeling Katniss gripping his hand. She must want someone to hold onto because she would never voluntarily touch him. Finnick interweaves his fingers with hers. They squeeze each other's hands tightly as the hovercraft rocks and tumbles. He keeps his head firmly butted against the back of his seat, keeping his eyes clenched tightly shut.

This is it. This is how we die. Finnick thinks. I love you, Annie.

Then bang…

Everything goes black.

[End of Flashback] [Listen to Dawn by the Cinematic Orchestra now for more effect]

The harsh memory brings pain to Finnick's head. He places a firm palm on his head and holds there for a few short seconds. A moment ago Katniss was sitting next to him, holding his hand, but she's no longer there anymore. No one is no longer around him, no longer in their seats. Somehow most of the seats had broken off and turned over during the crash. His seat miraculously stayed together and he's slightly unharmed, except for the few scratches along his arms and face. Looking at the damage that was done, he wonders how he is even alive. And had anyone else survived?

Weakly, his hands try to find the belt buckle. His hands are shaking uncontrollably, which reminds him of when Katniss had trouble fastening her own belt. He grips the fabric on his pants legs for a moment to stop them from shaking and shuts his eyes. His breathing has increased without his consent. Don't think about it. Relax. He keeps telling himself until his breathing subsides a little. Now finally he's able to gain control of his quivering fingers a bit, as he begins to unbuckle his seatbelt. He braces himself for the fall. His shoes hit the ground roughly and he nearly twists his ankle when he lands awkwardly. Upon regaining his balance, he steps over the pile of debris that the hovercraft left behind. He stumbles onto flat ground, managing to get past broken parts, and glances around.

The entire hovercraft is utterly destroyed. Fragments of it, large and small, are spread out along the area and a few parts are still burning with fire. Fortunately nothing else catches and the fire doesn't hungrily take over the forest that surrounds this area. Finnick inhales sharply, only to allow a stinging scent of smoke to enter his nostrils. He coughs without sense as he falls to his hands and knees. The soil seeps in between his fingers as he curls his hands into fists. He tries to control his breathing. How did this happen? He remembers seeing the back of the hovercraft on fire right before the crash but there's no explanation as to how that happened. All he can see is that, the fuel engine must've burnt out causing the hovercraft to catch on fire. Still this wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Finnick lets out a raspy breath when he sees a mangled body crushed under a large pile of fragments from the hovercraft. This person is unrecognizable with blood covering their disoriented face and limbs folded in odd angles. Bile rises in Finnick's throat and threatens to push itself out. He clenches his mouth shut as he forces the vomit back down, tearing his gaze away from the sight. To his misfortune, he's now starting to see more and more bodies each way he turns. A body hanging loosely from a tree still strapped to their seat; another pierced in the heart by a large object; another folded in their seat, smashed between two heavy parts. Then it's all too much and Finnick gets up, backing away, only to stumble backward, tripping over something.

As he climbs back to his feet, he thinks, everybody's dead. They're all gone. All of them. He presses the back of his hand to his mouth, holding in more vomit. He swallows it back down hard. Just a while ago, he was speaking to Plutarch and Haymitch about Annie's whereabouts and now there's nothing of either of them left. He's pretty sure one of those bodies belong to them but he doesn't bother to stare long enough to get a good description of them. There are no other survivors. He's the only one left, far as he knows. Then a string of hope flares within him when he hears a muffled voice a few feet away from him. He quickly moves forward, leaping over a large item. Then he sees someone, lying flat on their back, with a long object projecting from his upper belly.

Haymitch.

Finnick kneels down in front of the District 12 victor. He looks him over. The man has lost a lot of blood from his wound. It'd instantly kill him if Finnick tried to remove the object protruding from his stomach. With a shaky hand, Finnick grasps onto Haymitch's tightly as the man gags below him. Now Finnick regrets all of the horrible thoughts he had about him. Idiot. Stupid, drunk-tard. Drunken bastard. All those insults that Finnick shot at him, are all wrapping around his mind, tormenting him nonstop.

Haymitch rasps, trying to speak. Finnick leans toward him to try and make out what he's saying. "K-keep…her…alive…." he says weakly. Finnick moves away. Doesn't he know that there's no possibility that Katniss is alive in the first place? He just nods his head anyway as the man lets out his last dying breath. His chest slows gradually until it becomes utterly still, his eyes frozen, staring up at the sky.

Finnick releases Haymitch's bloody hand and closes the man's eyelids, before pulling himself to his feet.

As if on cue, Finnick hears someone break out in coughing. He whips his head around to see none other than Katniss Everdeen holding her stomach as she coughs crazily. Other than the few scratches on her arms and legs, she seems unharmed. When she sees Finnick, she stumbles toward him. He meets her halfway, making sure to block Haymitch's body from her view. He doesn't want her to see her dead mentor or she'll freak out.

When she finally stops coughing, she manages to rasp out, "Haymitch?"

A simple shake of Finnick's head is enough for Katniss to breakdown. Finnick catches her with his arms before she can sink to the ground. He pulls her up against him, holding her tightly, one hand behind her head and the other around her waist, as she weeps in his chest.

To Finnick, it feels like the whole world has come crumbling down. The smoke in the air, the damaged that was done; makes it appear that everything has ended. They were supposed to be heading to District 13 but that didn't happen. They crashed, leaving only two survivors. Only two survivors. As if the realization hits Finnick for the first time, his eyes begin to water slightly. Not sure if it's because he's not the only survivor or because everyone else is dead. He won't let his tears fall. He won't let Katniss see him cry. He won't let her see that he's as broken as much as she is.

She lost her mentor, as did he. Mags was lost long ago during the games. Haymitch is gone now. Finnick squeezes Katniss tighter as she starts to shake without control. They're going to get out of here, one way or the other. They're going to get help before they lose themselves. He'll make sure of it.

~Katniss~

It's dark now. If it weren't for the full moon tonight, neither of them would be able to see their own shoes. The jumpsuit is tight on Katniss's body and it doesn't really give her enough warmth in this cold night. She holds her arms tightly around her, breathing through her mouth silently, warming up her icy lips. The air was a lot warmer earlier and she wonders how the atmosphere can change so abruptly. Finnick suggests they take a break for the night in a clearing. In relief, Katniss leans her back against the bark of an oak tree and slides down until she's resting on her rear. Finnick leans against another tree across from her.

Katniss wraps her arms around her knees and rests her chin on top of them. They had been trekking all day for hours, leaving the destroyed hovercraft behind in their wake. She's still not too keen on the idea of heading to District 13 without having any clear idea of its location. Perchance they should have stayed with the hovercraft and waited for help to come to them? Then she remembers all of those bodies back there; Haymitch's body that Finnick wouldn't let her see. She decides that she'd rather be away from the damage and the horrid memories. But the thoughts are still consuming her mind though like bees in a hive. She wants to forget everything. Forget the games, forget the crash, forget the deaths. Her mind thinks otherwise.

She can still feel herself strapped in her seat as the hovercraft tumbles and shakes. Her heart had been pounding uncontrollably in her chest and she thought it would burst out. Fear had gripped at her being, and she had to grab hold of Finnick's hand the whole time and nearly squeezed the life from it. When the hovercraft finally hit the ground, only then her mind ran blank and she forgot everything. Just as her thoughts started to come, the dreams, she thought she was dying or already dead. She saw Peeta standing over her. He was in the Capitol so that couldn't have been real. Then when she opened her eyes in the world of reality, she wished she didn't have to witness what had become of the incident.

The cool air is piercing her skin like syringes going through her body and Katniss is all reminded of the last words she said to her dead mentor. "I'll kill you!" she had said. Now he's dead. Is she happy, now that she got what she wanted? No. She is long far from happy. The pain is there, in her chest, twisting in complex angles, suffocating her until she has to gag up more vomit. She leans over, holding her stomach, as she spills her guts out in a bush. The tears are there, spilling from her eyes that she hardly even notices. Then there's Finnick, who is suddenly beside her, rubbing her back in smooth circles. She wants to slap his hand away, tell him to get away from her, but she doesn't have the strength to do the action. He's only trying to help, she'll give him that much. Even after he kept secrets from her with Haymitch and the others who were involved.

Johanna, Mags, Seeder, Chaff, the Morphlings, almost half of the tributes were in on it. They formed the plan from the beginning, to rescue her and Peeta. The two of them were never told of this plan though. Everyone claimed that they didn't want to risk it. It's already too late to be mad about it. Katniss already expressed her anger when she attacked Haymitch and she's regretting the memory every second she releases her insides. When she's done, she flops back down onto her rear to sob some more. She loved Haymitch. He was like family to her. She never wanted him to die. She didn't mean it when she said she would kill him. The anger had consumed her at the time and she was so focused on Peeta that she said things she didn't mean. Now she can't apologize to him. He's gone.

Finnick hasn't gone back to his spot yet. First, he pulls his sweater over his head, leaving himself only in a plain black t-shirt, and then hands the sweater to Katniss. "Here," he says.

Katniss stares at the dark gray sweater extended toward her. She's too cold to reject it, so she takes it from him and pulls it over her head, putting her arms through the holes. The sweater feels warm from Finnick's body heat. She rests her elbows on her knees and snuggles her face in her arms for warmth. Then there's Finnick's footsteps retreating back to his spot. She didn't thank him for the sweater and she didn't want to either. She doesn't like Finnick, but she doesn't genuinely hate him either. Though she's glad that someone survived in the crash or otherwise she'd be alone. Still, if she had to choose who to survive in the accident, she would have chosen Haymitch without a doubt.

"I'll keep the first watch," Finnick murmurs. "You get some rest."

Katniss clenches her hands into fists. Is he being serious? "I can't sleep," she says tersely. Not after what happened. Even if she could, her dreams would most definitely be filled with horrid nightmares about it.

Finnick doesn't respond to her statement directly. "They should come for us, you know," he says. "Well, more so you. You're the Mockingjay. The whole point was to keep you alive and I'll make sure it stays that way."

Katniss feels angry with him for talking about that. The Mockingjay. She's supposed to be the Mockingjay. That's the whole reason why everyone was keeping her alive, not because they genuinely cared about her. It was a plan, a deal, to spark the rebellion. How can he sit here and talk to her that way? "That's all though, right?" she seethes, looking up at him now.

He stares at her.

"No one's coming for us," she says. "We don't even know where we are and for all they know we could be dead," as she says it, she doesn't even know who they are. Plutarch Heavensbee and Haymitch, but that's it. And they're dead. Who else is there? "You could have told me," she says.

"Believe me, I would've told you," Finnick says. "Everyone was told to keep it secret. We were only following orders, doing our part for the rebellion, even if it meant risking our own lives."

That explains why that Morphling jumped in front of Peeta before that monkey killed him. Still, Katniss would've felt more comfortable knowing, instead of being an oblivious fool during the games. It hurts knowing that no one trusted her enough, not even Haymitch. Although she tries to keep Haymitch's view in the present, she has to remind herself that he's no longer alive and has to refer to him in past tense now. More tears want to come, but she pushes them away by blinking rapidly. No more tears for tonight.

"And you're still following through with it," she says quietly, her anger subsiding.

"The faster we get you to District 13, the faster we'll be able to rescue Peeta…and Annie." Finnick says the last part more quietly.

Katniss remembers Johanna telling her about Finnick's undying love for the mad girl who won the 70th Hunger Games in the arena. "They have Annie?"

Finnick nods his head shortly. She can see his throat move as he swallows. "The Capitol picked her up and took her as hostage to use against me…" he begins to fumble with something his hand. A piece of string. Where'd he get that from? Katniss wonders. Then he starts to create knots with it, moving at a quick pace.

Katniss watches him for a moment, trying to figure out whether to feel bad for him or not. If they're using Annie for questioning then they'll be doing the same for Peeta. Snow will torture them, she just knows it. It pains her to think about it. She didn't think Finnick had feelings like that. He showed hardly any emotion of pain or guilt during the games, except for when Mags died.

"I'm sorry about your mentor, Katniss." Finnick murmurs sincerely, avoiding her gaze.

Her bottom lip twitches at the sound of Haymitch's name. She was on the verge of tears again, but she pinched the skin on her thigh to stop them from cascading.

The whole night, they stayed up. Katniss entertained herself by watching Finnick make multiple knots with his string. When her mind was at ease for a few seconds, the negative thoughts would come up again and remind her of the horrible things that took place recently. When the sun rises, just above the horizon, the two of them decide to start moving. The air becomes warmer as they move forward, thanks to the heat of the sun that quickly rises higher in the sky as they go on. Minutes go by, or even hours, as they trek through the vast forest. These trees aren't like the ones in the arena. They aren't like the ones in District 12 either.

Finnick is walking ahead of Katniss. She wanted to give him back his sweater but he told her to keep it and that he was no longer cold. He stops abruptly in front of her and she nearly bumps into him. She opens her mouth to ask him what he's looking at but he speaks first.

"Let's go back the other way."

"What?" Katniss asks in disbelief. They just had come a long way. Why would they turn back? "We've been walking for hours and there's nothing back there for us," she reasons.

Finnick is shaking his head, backing away. He sees something. Katniss tries to look around him but he blocks her view with his body. He turns to face her and grabs her by the arms. "There's nothing for us this way either. Let's just go back," he says, sounding serious. Then Katniss sees the desperation in his eyes and that only raises her curiosity. She yanks her arms free and moves around him in one swift movement. When she sees the sight, she wishes her curiosity didn't get the best of her.

The sight before her is devastating and it nearly makes her knees buckle. District 12 is gone.

To be continued…

I know it starts off rather tragic but things will start to get better once Katniss and Finnick become closer. Hopefully enough of you will like it for me to continue. Do you guys think you'd want to read more in the future to see where this goes?