To Trade in Secrets

Finnick Odair was left as a mere shadow when he discovered that Annie had been killed by the Peacekeepers who were keeping a tight rein on District 4, it was like all the happiness and light had been sucked out of him.

His Annie, his beautiful lost Annie with her sparkling blue eyes and her long mocha hair and wide, heartbeat rate increasing smile was lost to him forever. His slim, agile fingers unconsciously knotted and twisted the length of rope he had acquired on the hovercraft.

He had tried to tell himself so many times that she was in a better place now, a place where she would never have to be scared again, would never have to crower down in fear, would never have to remember her tortuous time in the Arena where she saw the her friend's head getting sliced of in the Cornucopia, where she had held his limp lifeless body and sobbed at the injustice of it all, he remembered her telling him how she could feel the warm, thick blood ooze into her pants and stain her clothes. Her partner had been just a boy, barely thirteen. His name was Mesh and he was one of her best friends. She could finally meet him again; Finnick felt sadness cover each bright spot left in his life.

Why Annie?! He had wanted to turn up to the heavens and shout, why her!? So innocent and beautiful… maybe too innocent and beautiful for this world, God took the angels closest to him first when he collected the dead.

As it turns out the raid that was held to recover Annie and Peeta had brought some surprising results, Cato with his body genetically enhanced and repaired after the damage the Mutt's did to him was brought back, So was Rue and Thresh. Apparently they couldn't afford to lose a fighter with brute strength like Cato, which is why they had kept him alive… just barely, Rue and Thresh they had managed to revive because they felt like they would be the perfect bargaining chip to bring Katniss to her knees.

Katniss… he remembered with a jolt, he may have lost Annie forever but he had the beautiful memories they had created and those would forever remain untainted. But Katniss had suffered the worst blow; her memories of Peeta now only consisted of pain and anger, the Tracker-Jacker venom that had been used to hijack him, had spread far too deep into his brain, making all his memories painful reminders of the Arena.

He wanted to visit her so with supreme effort he forced himself into the bland District 13 clothes and walked towards the hospital where he knew Katniss was.

She had been spending most of her time there, if not in the observation room watching Peeta with a pained look in her eyes then helping her mother deal with Cato or Rue or Thresh; all of whom had been tortured and Cato was by far the worst of the lot, they had used his perfect body to perform tests and study genetic mutation.

Now all he did was lay there with a blank look on his face, his once alert bright blue eyes glazed, he flinched whenever anyone touched him. For some reason he seemed to trust Katniss and she too seemed to have forgiven him for his ruthlessness in the Arena, as it turn out Cato's father was just a poor miner and his three younger sisters were all below the age of ten. They lived towards the outskirts of District 2, where the rebellion had started.

He had volunteered because he wanted a better life for his sisters, because he had known that his strength would make him lethal, as opposed to popular belief that he had trained in some fancy academy Cato had actually gained his strength and agility, his fighting skills by hauling tons of rock from the quarries where his father worked.

Katniss worked with him every day, trying to get him to open up, trying to understand from his garbled speech what he wanted to tell her.

They could make out a few things, he talked constantly of needles and metal, he talked about pain and screams and how he could feel the doctors ripping out his skin and replacing it with something synthetic. Till now the doctors of 13 had been able to make out that he had a prosthetic metal arm and certain other joints reconstructed. Whatever they had been doing they hadn't been successful, Finnick felt sorry for the blond boy and vowed to visit him after he met with Katniss.

Rue and Thresh were doing okay, Rue had been revived with a small surgery after her body had been taken and they found her heart still pumping blood, Thresh was another powerful fighter, the Capitol was planning to genetically enhance him too like Cato, clearly this had been Snow's idea right from the beginning of the 74th Hunger Games when he saw Katniss's rebellious attitude as a threat.

Unfortunately they never recovered Cinna's body, so many dead… so many suffering… thought Finnick with a weary sigh pushing the doors of the hospital open and walking toward the end where Rue and Prim were playing a game, Thresh sat still with his eyes closed; like he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was free. The bed after theirs had its curtains drawn.

"Katniss is in there with Cato." Rue told Finnick, she had become used to him now… having spent nearly two years locked up side by side; he no longer intimidated or frightened her, for two years she had been listening to his painful nightmares and him crying out his sisters names in his sleep, for two years she had heard his tortured screams of pain as they tested him, for two years she had seen blood and filth seep out of his cell as he curled up in a ball in a corner, shivering in agony.

"I should wait then." He said, coming down onto his haunches near the two thirteen year olds, "What are you two doing?"

"It's an old game we used to play in District 11 called checkers, we're playing it with smooth rocks that Katniss brought back from her hunting trip." Rue explained as Prim knitted her eyebrows and decided her next move, from behind them Thresh chucked and smiled indulgently at the younger girls, he had looked out for Rue during the all the time they had been together; first in the Hunger Games and then when they were being held captive.

"Finnick is that you?" came Katniss's soft voice. "Are you okay, it has been only a few days since you…" she swallowed painfully… "Found out…"

"I'd rather not talk about it." he said stiffly and then flashed her his signature smile, his sparkling blue eyes glinting and his single dimple winking at her, "I'm fine Katniss, how is he?" he said gesturing with his head towards Cato's bed.

Katniss quietly shut the curtain behind her and stepped over towards him, gesturing with her hand that he moved away from the two girls playing on the floor near them.

"He's better than Peeta that's for sure…" she said uncomfortably, "Peeta is the worst of all the people we rescued, Effie is almost back to normal now; berating Haymitch.. The usual, she's had a shock but I think the only thing bothering her now are the clothes 13 had provided her with and the lack of makeup." She said with a faint laugh… God! How long had it been since she had last laughed thought Katniss with a sigh, probably never since Cinna's death she thought with a painful grimace.

"Frankly she looks much better au natural." Said Finnick with a smirk, "She can't boss anyone around anymore with her being so short that no one can hear and all…" he said to his friend and they both grinned thinking of the enraged tiny blonde who had protested rigorously when she was introduced to the 13 way of life.

Effie now stood barely 5'1 with long golden hair that fell to her waist, she was younger than Katniss had first thought; maybe in her early thirties, without the pale powders and the unnatural lipsticks she looked much younger. Beautiful even, Katniss had noticed Haymitch giving her odd looks time and again; by the way he looked at her one would think he had missed the woman who he had made fun of endlessly while in the Capitol.

"So how is Peeta doing?" Finnick asked

"How's he doing…." Katniss said, struggling to come up with a decent answer; she looked down and studied the white tiles under her feet, "Terrible… he is doing worse than we thought, he has become rabid. The Tracker-Jacker venom has seeped too deep into his brain. I doubt he can return from this." She said sadly, keeping the tears that had been threating to fall at bay and hunching her shoulders.

"They'll find a cure Katniss." He said firmly, pulling her into the comfort of his own warm embrace, "They will." He said with conviction, disregarding her disbelieving expression.

For a moment Katniss just soaked in the warmth of Finnick's arms and shut her eyes before pulling back.

"So what about Cato?" asked Finnick, "Any luck with that?"

"The things they did to him…" Katniss said shaking her head, "He says things when he's under Morphling, gruesome… terrible things they have done to him. Some nights he wakes up screaming and no one can subdue him besides Rue or Prim, Prim reminds him of his younger sisters and Rue because she used to sing to him when they would finish their tests and leave. Sometimes her singing is the only thing that can remove him from his nightmares. They used him a like a test dummy, some medication here, some testing there… whenever he was fitted with a new prosthetic they made him do a mini-Hunger Games to test its special abilities without letting it even heal. I know saying this is bad but Annie was very lucky that she died with just a single gunshot wound." She said sadly, "You should talk to him; he's in awe of you."

Finnick could not believe the heights of President Snow's treachery, cruelty and inhuman nature. That man was Muttation in his own right. "Let me talk to him." He said to Katniss and they began to walk back to Cato's bed.

Katniss drew back the curtains and gently picked up one limp, pale hand that lay on the bed, "Hi Cato, see I brought you a friend that I thought you might like to get to know." She told the unresponsive blond.

He was still the same, monstrous size, bulging muscles but somehow he seemed pale and vulnerable, almost childlike in his excitement.

"Who is it?" he said turning his burning blue gaze onto Katniss and regarding her with utmost trust.

"This is Finnick, you know Finnick you're a huge fan of his." She explained to him.

Finnick was next to receive a bright, delighted smile, "Hello!" said Cato, "Katniss told me you were here but I didn't believe her!"

"I'm sorry Katniss." He said with a fearful glance in her direction, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"It's alright." She reassured him, "Why don't you two talk and I'll come by later." She said, giving Cato a smile and Finnick a warning look that clearly meant not to say something that would upset him and walked of.

Finnick looked at the warrior sadly; the Capitol had broken him… completely.

Unconsciously Katniss wandered towards Peeta's chambers and into the observation room. He was alone in his room, wandering around aimlessly muttering under his breath. Katniss looked at him hungrily through the glass, this could be the last time she ever saw him… he looked the same, her sweet Peeta; with his long blond lashes and his messy hair but he was not her Peeta anymore she told herself firmly, now he too was one of Snow's Mutts.

Suddenly Katniss's attention was drawn to an odd choking sound from inside him room and when she looked up she saw Peeta's eyes roll to the back of his head as he clutched his throat, trying to fruitlessly stop the painful spasms!

Katniss ran to the door and shrieked in a panicked voice, "HELP SOMEONE! Please! HELP!" and without a thought ran into his room.

Dodging his weak clawing hands Katniss bent down close to him, he was losing breath… he couldn't breathe and so the energy was rapidly draining out of him. Two of the District 13 doctors ran inside and lifted him up onto the harness clad table in the center, one of them filled syringe with an odd yellow substance and shot it into his arm. It didn't seem to be helping.

All the while Katniss just stood; shocked by the dramatic turn of events, eventually they stopped trying to revive him. The Tracker-Jacker venom had spread to his lungs… there was nothing they could do about it… the amount in him had been higher than they had expected.

Katniss just stood dazed as she watched the life drain out of Peeta's beautiful eyes and for a second she thought she had gotten a glimpse of his old self shining out towards her. And then she turned and walked out of the room, he was gone… gone…gone…gone…. it kept replaying in her head as she walked out the door.

Everyone had received the news, Effie and Haymitch watched her sadly, Finnick opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, Prim watched her sister disintegrated in soul right before her eyes but she could do nothing about it.

As soon as she was out of the hospital and out in the open air she let out a loud shriek… piercing and painful it echoed of the wind and bounced around the solitary forest.

It was all her fault! She thought hysterically banging her head against a tree, ALL HER FAULT THAT HE WAS DEAD! He never wanted this war! He never wanted to rebel! He just wanted her to be safe, for her to live and it had brought him this fate! It was all her fault! And now she regretted offering him those berries, she should have taken them alone. He didn't deserve to die! Nor did Cinna or Portia or Annie! It was all because of her! She was selfish… he had always been kind to her, loved her despite her just using him. He deserved to live! If anyone deserved to live, he did!

She didn't know when she had collapsed into a heap on the ground, she didn't know when her tears had soaked the surrounding grass along with her blood, she didn't know what time it was or whose strong arms had picked her up and cradled her… carried her back inside. She wanted to curl up and lose herself in the woods, she wanted to return to the old days where she was just another hunter, hunting the Capitol's venison illegally with Gale by her side.

…..

"It's been three day Katniss." Came Finnick's gentle voice, "Eat something please."

Katniss remained curled up in her fetal position disregarding her friend, "Deep in the meadow… under the willow ." she sang to herself, rocking back and forth.

With a sigh Finnick rose and left her.

….

"Katniss I'm all better now! Won't you come eat with us?" said Cato softly, touching her shoulder. She didn't flinch away from him.

For one wounded creature recognized another.

"Please Katniss … please come." He pleaded.

…..

"Katniss it's me Rue, me and Prim came to see if you want something?" came the gentle tone, Katniss felt two small hands stroking her haphazardly cut, half burnt hair.

"Won't you get up?" Prim said, touching the side of her sister's face, stroking it gently, "We can get you some broth, you can have it in your room." She said gently.

They waited for a response but when they received none they sighed and covered her curled up body in a blanket and left.

…

"Sweetheart it's his funeral today… don't you want to say goodbye one last time?" said Haymitch softly. Effie hovered near the door, unable to stop sobbing when she saw Katniss's blank eyes.

"Katniss! Peeta would have hated what you have become! You know that right!?" Haymitch said angrily.

"Peeta is gone… gone… gone… gone… gone." she chanted turning away from them.

"Gone… gone… gone…gone…gone…gone."

"Gone…gone…gone…gone…gone." she continued until she passed out due to exhaustion.

Just a one shot I wrote! Hope you enjoy and please do review!