AELLA HAD NOT QUITE FELT
rage like it in a very long time. Had not felt her body seethe and tremble in anger in so long. She was shocked her body had turned to such rage and not the crippling panic she'd been subjected to since her rescue. She knew deep down she was panicking, knew that once this blind rage wore off she'd be so fearful she wouldn't be able to move. She knew her fear was ruling her anger.

But it was still anger. It was so much anger she didn't even know what to do with herself. She thought she might erupt into flame it was so intense. The edges of her vision had even darkened. She was looking through a tunnel. Every part of her body screamed in such raw anger but her mind was deathly silent. There was such a killing calmness that rolled off her shoulders, that oozed from her, as she stormed through command.

People took one look at her face, at the icy fire simmering in her eyes, and jumped out of her way. They hurried to clear out of her path. No one had ever seen Aella Barnes so vicious, so bloodthirsty. No one in District Thirteen had ever seen the Huntress. Not even Aella could recognise herself in that skin as she prowled. The Goddess of War sat at her shoulder in protection like she had done through all those fights for freedom in the Capitol.

She had felt her world fall out from underneath her—Coin had ripped it away from her. Finnick thought she would fall to her knees and sob, Johanna half expected her to just go silent in shock. None of them had expected to see her eyes harden into that terrifyingly familiar gleam and watch her turn on her heel and storm out the room. They didn't even stand a chance in catching her either. She had been long gone by the time Finnick and Daniel got out into the hall.

Aella refused to let this happen to her. She refused to let Coin take Finnick away from her after she had fought with every damn fibre of her being to get back to him in that godforsaken Capitol. She would not be another pawn in another Game and she was about to make it known. She didn't care for the niceties anymore. She didn't care that Coin had 'done the nice thing' and provided them with shelter after they had become rebels. She didn't give a fuck.

The only thing President Coin had done was take them out of a tyrants hamster cage and put them in her own.

But Aella was no ones pawn and she was no ones to control. Neither was Finnick. Or Johanna. Or Peeta. She was done.

No one could stop her as she grabbed the door handle to the centre command room and pushed it open so hard it swung and dented the wall. No one could catch her as she stormed into the room she knew Coin and Plutarch Heavensbee to be. No one could stop the whirlwind of a storm she was about to unleash upon them.

Coin had the audacity to look outraged as she beheld the dented wall and Aella storming over to the table—standing opposite them and leaning over it. Plutarch had the good sense to keep his face controlled. His neutral expression served him well though his face had blanched a shade or two paler when he saw that look in her eyes—when he realised it was not quite Aella they were facing, rather a woman far greater, far more powerful.

And when Coin began the battle, he kept his mouth shut when Aella initiated the war.

"What do you think—"

"How dare you!" She shouted at them both. She didn't care for Coin's outraged tone, didn't care for the widening of her eyes.

The mixture of shock and outrage never left Coin's face as she narrowed her eyes and said, "Excuse me?"

"How dare you command him to go out to war." Aella seethed, "Did you even ask him if he wanted to go?" She knew they hadn't because she knew his answer would have been no.

Coin had the good sense to fix her face into one of neutrality. She folded her arms on the table in front of her, back ramrod straight as she replied, "He is a soldier."

Aella fist's slammed off the table so hard she felt the force ripple up into her shoulder, "Bullshit!" She shouted, "He is not a citizen of District Thirteen. He is a refugee who was promised peace should he succeed in getting Everdeen out of the arena alive!"

"Miss. Barnes—"

"He risked his life! His life—to make sure this rebellion came to life. Without him, there would be no war. There would be no rebellion and we would all be dead and this is how you repay him? By ordering him to go to war?" She yelled.

She was unleashing herself entirely. The Goddess on her shoulder hadn't seen daylight in almost two long months—hadn't had to fight in that long. This...it had been bubbling for a very long time. Aella had been silently simmering for weeks waiting for the moment to erupt.

Coin fixed Aella with a narrow stare, "He's joining our propaganda squad. They'll be days behind the front lines."

"I don't care what he's joining. War is still war." She snarled, lip curving viciously.

"The decision is final—"

The decision that Finnick hadn't even had a say in. Aella could hardly believe what she was hearing. She knew she was hysterical when she scoffed and repeated the word to herself. She shook her head, fixing both Coin and Heavensbee with icy glares that made Plutarch realise he never wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those glares ever again, "Decision," She mumbled, "As if you even let Finnick have his say in this."

"He—"

Aella was so done with whatever excuse Coin had to say. So far past it she didn't care that she had interrupted her again when she made a point of saying, "We have followed every one of your ridiculously shit rules. We have conformed and sacrificed and spent our lives being used." She said, "I thought—we thought—when we came here that things would be different. That this new world we would be fighting for would make it different. We have done our job. Is it not enough for you to let us rest? To let us have this peace we so desperately deserve after risking our lives again and again and again?"

If Coin felt guilty she didn't show it. She didn't let anything slip. She only looked at Aella with that cool calculation and rose her brow. If she was going to say anything Aella interrupted her before she started, "If you're going to force him to go you can send me with him." She said, "If he goes, I go."

Coin shook her head in dismissal, "We can't sanction you to go into live combat. You're too unpredictable."

Aella cocked her head and repeated with lethal calm, "I thought he was going to be days behind the front lines, no? It's not exactly live combat then is it?"

"There are still risks." Coin replied coolly.

"Then admit you're sending him into proper war." Aella said harshly, "Is it not enough for you that we've done all we have? Are you really that much of a cold hearted, selfish, bitch that you force us into doing more of your dirty work?"

Rage gutted through Coin's green eyes. Her lip curled in disgust, "That is enough." She snapped.

Aella leaned further on the table, "Send me with him." She said quietly. Her tone was unnerving and a shiver tore through Heavensbee as that undiluted rage shone. He had no doubt that if she had a knife in her hands they'd both be dead.

If Coin was effected by it she hid it well. The President lifted her chin and did not sway as she said firmly, "I already told you. I can't sanction you to go into live combat."

Aella scoffed and shook her head bitterly, "So you'd rather me lose my mind here, right? So you can lock me up in a white padded room like you did Peeta. Why take the one person who can keep me sane away from me? Punishment?" She shrugged, "I risked my life for you, Coin, for your stupid rebellion and this is my thanks?" She tutted, "It's a fucking joke."

Coin, to her credit, did not react to her words. It only fuelled Aella's rage even further.

She stood up straight, glared at the woman, crossed her arms over her chest and said, "You're just like him."

Heavensbee straightened in his chair at that.

Coin's eyes went wide, "Excuse me?"

But Aella didn't back down, "You're just like President Snow." She breathed low and viciously, "Promising us peace when really you're forcing us to play your games for you. You're poison, Coin, just like him." She fixed her stare into something deadly—something only those she killed ever saw before she looked at her though her lashes and said—threatened, "Panem will realise soon enough, I'm sure," because she would make them, "you'll get what's coming to you."

Cool and calculated words from a woman who had already threatened to assassinate one President. That time, Coin did balk and Aella saw straight through it. She had long since stopped caring about the repercussions of her actions. Let Coin lock her up in a white padded cell. Aella would make sure the nation learned of it one way or another. She would destroy Coin before she even got her hands on Snow's throne—on his power—and Coin realised it too.

Aella didn't say anything else. She knew when to walk away from a fight and she was more than willing to walk away from this one knowing she had won. She left the way she had entered, the door slamming so violently Plutarch felt it in his very bones. She left them in pure silence until Plutarch composed himself enough to clear his throat.

"You once asked me why they started calling her the Huntress, Madam President." He said to her. She merely looked at him and said nothing as he continued, "That is why."

• • •

Finnick's order gave him thirty-two hours to prepare before he had to be on that hovercraft. He and Aella had spent every waking moment together after she had returned. He hadn't asked where she had been but he had noticed people were looking at her with weary expressions the next day, he'd watched them make a point of moving out of her way. He didn't want to know. He didn't want to bother himself with it when he would be leaving her for however long after they'd promised to never spend another day apart.

They had thought of every way around it. Had even thought about running away together. Aella had contemplated sneaking on to his ship or one that sent out supplies to the front lines like Katniss had. She had no desire to join the War or the supposed propaganda team Finnick was said to be joining. She didn't even want to step foot in Capitol territory but to be with him she would do it.

Those thirty-two hours had passed in a heartbeat, however, and they were no further forward with a plan. No amount of pleading or begging had made President Coin reconsider. There was no other option and they had ran out of time—knew it, too when they had to force themselves out of bed that last morning. Neither of them had slept a wink that night. They'd just laid in one another's arms and memorised every little detail.

The feeling of dread and fear was overwhelmingly familiar to Aella as she watched Finnick get ready to leave, as they walked to his hovercraft hand in hand. She was waving him off to war but it felt startlingly similar to when he had kissed her against his apartment door in the Quell and said goodbye knowing they would see each other in the arena. She had tried to keep her head clear for him but with every passing second she was failing. She knew she was minutes away from falling apart.

Clio, Daniel and Johanna had come to see him off though it was only really down to the fact Finnick had asked them to be there for Aella once he was gone. He'd of been more than content in saying his goodbyes the night before but he knew Aella would need someone to keep her steady. He didn't want her to have to go through it alone.

Sal had been at work but she had cried in the dining hall the night prior when they'd said their goodbyes.

The helipad was busier than usual. A flurry of men and women worked to prepare the hovercrafts waiting to depart. Supplies were still being loaded and people were still boarding. The influx of voices and commotion was loud around them but Aella was deaf to it all. The only thing she could hear was a ringing in her ears. Everything around her was in slow motion.

She slowed to a gentle stop by the ramp to the aircraft, Finnick stopping with her and their three companions hung back. He turned to her, hand in hand, and gently cupped her cheek, "I guess this is it."

Silver lined Aella's eyes but she was determined not to let them fall. Finnick watched her throat bob as she clenched her jaw and whispered, "I hate her."

"I know." He nodded solemnly, "So do I."

She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes, savouring the feeling of his calloused palm against her skin, "How could she do this to us?" She asked him hoarsely, "When we've given so much?"

He couldn't take the pain in her voice. He wrapped his arms around her, dipping his head into the spot between her shoulder and her throat and he inhaled deeply. Lavender and Jasmine overwhelmed him and he savoured it. He didn't let himself think about whether it could be the last time he ever smelt it on her. Her shirt in his bag would be a comfort but it would never be the same.

She trembled in his arms but to her credit did not let her sobs free. Finnick squeezed her once and pulled back enough to study her face, to examine her features one last time. He lost himself in those cobalt blue eyes that shimmered like the ocean—eyes that reminded him of home. He pressed a fleeting kiss to her forehead before dropping a firm kiss to her lips. She sucked in a sharp breath through her nose.

He pulled back, smoothing his hand over her hair, "I love you," He said earnestly with more love than he ever had before. He hoped she could see just how much he loved her in his eyes as he looked at her, "so much." He breathed.

Her lip trembled and a single tear fell. Finnick watched it. He didn't have the heart to brush it away.

"I know." She whispered brokenly. A pained smile rose to her lips, "I know, Fin," She rose her hands and cupped his cheeks. He grasped her wrists lightly in response as she stared deeply into his eyes and nodded, "I love you."

He exhaled deeply and nodded. He could feel her love but he could also feel her fear. It felt as if they had only just gotten one another back and they were being forced to separate again after they'd sworn to one another not to spend another day apart ever again.

"Five minutes until takeoff."

Her stomach twisted. A man walked past Finnick—someone he obviously knew—and clapped him on the shoulder once, "Come on, Solider. Time to strap in."

He barely nodded at the man who had paused mid-walk. The stranger turned to them and for a brief second watched them stare deeply into each other's eyes in such love and pain.

"I have to go." Finnick said to her ruefully.

Aella grasped his cheeks and nodded, "I know, I know." She choked but she didn't let go. She couldn't.

Finnick's eyes slid over her shoulder for a brief second and he looked at Daniel—said all the words he couldn't say aloud—before looking back at her. Not a second later was Daniel there, gently tugging at Aella's shoulder with a grimace on his face, "Aella, c'mon," He urged her gently, "he has to go."

Those words that had a double meaning sliced through her and she squeezed her eyes shut, a second tear escaping, "I know." She repeated.

Clio appeared at her other shoulder, voice soft and gentle, "Aella, let go." She whispered.

She held Finnick's eyes through the silver that lined them. She nodded once, twice, three times but she still couldn't let go.

"Three minutes until takeoff."

Daniel's hand was there then, gentle and soft, as he pried her off of him. She allowed him to do it, too. As if she knew she physically couldn't do it herself. Johanna had stepped forward on silent feet and stood beside Clio. Aella had tangled herself up in Daniel and Clio's arms, clutching to them with such trembling might, but she didn't once look away from him.

Finnick nodded once and he exhaled deeply before he turned away from her and walked the rest of the way over to the aircraft. With every step that separated them Aella felt pain tearing through her, shredding her apart. She barely managed to stop the third tear that fell, or the fourth, or the fifth. She watched his foot step on to that ramp and felt every emotion, felt every memory, every feeling that they had experienced in the last two months and she closed her eyes to relive it.

With a startling exhale she opened them.

"Finnick!"

She was moving before she ever registered it. She ran after him and watched as he turned and dropped his bag to the floor. He opened his arms, ready to catch her, and her legs curled around his waist, her hands gripping the back of his shirt. Every breath escaped him as he held her, clutching to her so tight. He allowed himself to breathe in deeply again. Allowed himself to remember her lavender and jasmine, to remember the way her body felt against his—how it fit perfectly like a jigsaw piece against him.

Slowly she slid to her feet and he grasped her chin, pressing his lips against hers hard enough to rob her of air. Over and over again they kissed as if it would be the last time. They were taking no chances. Not after the last time one of them got on to an aircraft and didn't end up returning for a long, long, time.

When they pulled away, breathless, he cupped her cheek and said,"I'll be back soon."

She nodded, "I'll be right here waiting."

A ghost of a smile shone on his lips and he said before kissing her again, "I don't doubt it."

They pulled away properly that time and with a final glance, a final 'I love you', Finnick grabbed his bag and walked on to the aircraft. Daniel tugged Aella back as gently as he could as the doors closed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Clio's wove around her waist from the side and Johanna stood close by. They held Aella up as her knees trembled and as they watched the roof open up—as Aella felt the sun kiss her skin—and the aircraft took off she collapsed and the first sob tore through her body.

Clio closed her eyes as Aella curled into her. She soothed her as well as she could, praying that she would hold on. They prayed that losing Finnick wouldn't break her but the way Aella was clutching to her...the heavy sobs that wracked through the space... Clio had half the mind to storm up to Command and slap President Coin for putting Aella through this. She hoped the woman was watching, hoped she felt guilty for taking away her biggest support.

She knew she wouldn't. Knew the woman didn't have an ounce of sympathy inside her otherwise she wouldn't of done it. So she focused on holding Aella but her sobs didn't lessen. She broke down right in front of her very eyes and Clio guided her through the Districts while she had her first panic attack without him. Still, Aella didn't settle. Daniel carried her back to her room and none of them left her for the rest of the day, or the night.

Aella sat—still and silent—and she stared blankly ahead. She didn't move, didn't talk, didn't eat and she didn't drink.

And her friends knew that they were losing her and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

• • •

Johanna never thought she'd be moving into what was Aella and Finnick's apartment but there she was two days later. She had only been back in her own apartment for shower and a fresh changes of clothes. Aella had slipped so drastically there was nothing that any of them could do to get her back apart from just be close.

That first night after Daniel had carried her back she had sobbed for hours until she had eventually passed out. She hadn't been asleep long when she had woken up screaming. Johanna had only heard her scream like that on a few occasions—all in the Capitol. It was ear shattering and Aella had grasped and clawed at both her throat and her face until she made herself bleed mumbling about a hood over and over again.

Aella had never told Johanna about the hood the Capitol used on her but she had heard her mumble about it on sleepless nights in those cells. She didn't know what it did, what it looked like...all she knew was that it petrified Aella.

She had screamed so loud someone on their floor had sent for both medics and guards. They all arrived at the same time, braying on the door that Sal had left open when she'd ran in hearing the commotion in the dead of night. Aella had been thrashing on the bed, sobbing so hard she physically couldn't breathe and Daniel had been faced with no choice but to sit behind her and wrap his arms around her body to keep her from hurting herself further.

She'd marked and marred her face. Deep scratches ran down her throat, over her jaw, underneath her chin. She'd even come close to scratching her eye—the cut mere inches away. They were deep cuts, not just small markings. Daniel knew without a doubt that she wasn't even aware of what she was doing and when he had tried to hold her arms down—tried to wrap himself around her to protect her—she had turned on him. The claw marks she'd left over his arms were painful but it was nothing compared to how much it hurt seeing her in such a state and not being able to help her.

When the medics had arrived Aella had been hyperventilating so hard they'd taken one look at her and ordered Daniel take her straight up to the hospital. Even getting her there had been a battle in itself. He, Clio and Johanna had tried to get through to her the entire rushed journey and even when they were directed into one of the treatment rooms and Dr. Vann appeared. Nothing worked. She was wide awake but it was like she was still stuck in a nightmare. The way she had thrashed and clawed at everyone broke Clio's heart.

It broke Johanna to see them restraining her to the bed.

'For her own safety.' Dr. Vann had assured them, 'just while we get her sedated and settled,' she promised. By then the white sheets they'd laid her on had been covered with her blood. It ran down her throat, smeared over her face. The whole ordeal was what nightmares were made of.

Johanna couldn't watch as Dr. Vann administered the sedative. She had to leave the room as Aella's body became floppy and relaxed in all the ways Johanna remembered it had when they were in those cells. She knew some part of Aella's consciousness was aware of what was happening, too, because she recognised the change in her screaming. She saw her fight change.

But ultimately the sedative won and as soon as she was unconscious the restraints were removed. The guards that were stationed outside her door, however, were new. No one knew how she was going to react when she woke up. Dr. Steven didn't know if she'd remember anything of what had happened. She couldn't predict if Aella would just wake up screaming in total fear again and they'd loop the cycle over and over again.

Aella had been out for well over fourteen hours before Plutarch Heavensbee made a very rare appearance in the hospital without President Coin. The mere sight of the man had riled Daniel enough to want to kill him—founder of the rebellion or no. He had a say in Finnick's drafting to the War whether he wanted to deny it or not. It wasn't solely President Coin's decision.

He had heard of her condition apparently—had come to see if she was okay. They had recognised genuine concern in his eyes though and that was what made them tell him everything that had happened. Johanna had recited everything she knew about the hood Aella kept on mentioning and it had been seconds before Plutarch's eyes had shuttered. A realisation he could've very well done without knowing.

The clawing of her face, feeling like she was choking...it sickened him—truly nauseated him—to figure it out and when Clio had asked what it was he'd apologised in advance for having to tell them what horror he'd figured out.

'It was an old technique used in the First War for torturing rebels for information,' He had told them, 'the Capitol used this leather hood, similar to a gas mask. It covered the victims entire face and head and strapped in behind the back of the head and under the jaw. There was no eye holes and only flaps over the ears. You could render the victim blind and deaf, total sensory deprivation. There was a small circular chamber over the mouth that the victim would breathe out of but it could be opened and closed. Effectively they'd use the chamber to seal off the oxygen and the victim would—'

'Choke on air,' Johanna had muttered in realisation. Her face had blanched and her eyes had turned bleak, haunted, as she recalled all those times Aella had woken up literally choking on air—unable to breathe.

Clio had vomited at the sheer notion alone. For them to learn of what she had gone through—to figure out her deepest fear that had changed her both physically and mentally had altered something inside them all. Of everything the Capitol had ever thrown at her—had done to her—it had been the hood which had affected her the worst. It was the only thing she hadn't been able to talk about and now they knew why.

'There's no telling of how long they used it on her. How many times they cut off her oxygen.' Heavensbee had said.

So much made sense.

The sedative lasted for eighteen hours. When Aella woke up she bore the most haunted gaze. There was no life in her eyes when Dr. Vann had tried to explain to her what happened for her to end up back in the hospital. Johanna sensed that Aella remembered exactly what had happened and that was why she looked so haunted.

They kept her overnight for observation and started her on new medication to try to settle the nightmares and ease the anxiety. It would take time to work and it was their last resort but with Aella turning into a hollowed-out shell of the person she once was they were willing to try anything. Gone was the woman who had smiled so brightly every time she looked at her engagement ring. Now she just stared at it with bleak eyes.

She was discharged the next afternoon. Clio and Daniel had gone as far as the door to her apartment while Johanna had followed Aella inside. The woman didn't even look back at the newly weds lingering. She hadn't said anything to them since she'd woken up the night before, nor to Johanna. She just stared into space with those soulless eyes—hadn't even realised the hand Clio had kept rested against her barely swollen belly.

Johanna had, however. She'd also seen how exhausted they both were. Daniel was practically holding Clio up in the doorway she was that tired. She reassured them they would be okay, said she'd come get them at the first sight of anything amiss but ultimately told them to get some rest.

They had left without protest and Johanna had closed the door behind them. She turned to find her best friend standing in the middle of her apartment, eyes drawn to the bed. Sal had been in and cleaned up without any of them ever asking. She'd gotten rid of the blood stained and sweat soaked sheets and remade the bed for her. Aella stared at it expressionless. Johanna had no idea where to begin in trying to figure out what was going through her mind.

"Are you okay?" She asked her best friend.

Aella didn't look at her. She didn't look away from her bed. She merely nodded her head once and toed off her boots before walking to the bed and lying down facing Finnick's side. She reached out and took his top pillow, hugging it against her chest. She dipped her chin, holding it to her face and she inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering shut as she did so.

Citrus fruit and sea salt invaded her senses.

Johanna watched her body relax. Aella didn't move from that position for the rest of the day.... Or the four days that followed.

• • •

A/N; This is the saddest chapter I've written in Ethereal to date but there's a few to follow that will 100% top it.

Up until just now I had always planned for Sam to go out and join the 'Star Squad' too. Maybe you'll of guessed why *hint, hint* but I'm actually struggling to fit him in to the chapters I'm writing right now so I've decided to leave him in District Thirteen with Annie.

I've also updated the Trigger Warnings at the beginning of the book for the upcoming chapters so please do go back and refresh yourselves.

The next update will be on Wednesday.