When Aella heard the word 'tunnels' every thought and feeling disappeared out of her mind.

She didn't sleep that night for fear and she couldn't sit still either. At some point through the night she had decided enough was enough and had ventured upstairs to the bathroom to freshen up.

The cold water on her face was almost enough to lull her heart back to a normal rhythm. It had been pounding for the better part of twenty-four hours and she was exhausted but she could not close her eyes and sleep. She couldn't even relax her body for a fraction of a second. She'd been on high alert for far too long and when she sensed someone standing behind her she whirled on her heel faster than the mysterious person could comprehend.

Aella pinned Katniss Everdeen to the door of the bathroom with a short dagger to her throat and Katniss stilled when she recognised the mixture of fear and fight in Aella's eyes. She'd only ever seen it once. It was the night she'd been rescued from the Captiol when all those unfamiliar doctors and nurses were circling her.

So instead of fighting back or struggling Katniss remained as still as death and waited for Aella to realise that she wasn't a threat.

Aella released a breath but she didn't lower the dagger from Katniss's throat when she said, "See what I mean? Trauma response."

Katniss swallowed, her throat bobbing under the blade as she said, "I'm sorry for scaring you."

Aella shook her head with a scoff and stepped back, removing the blade from her throat. She didn't re-sheathe it though, instead she kept it in her hand, "Maybe don't sneak up on me next time if you want to stay alive." She said in response, "Or Peeta for that matter."

Katniss barely nodded once before she asked, "Why did you give your Nightlock pill to him?"

"Because he deserves to have one." Aella frowned as if it was a stupid question, "You think it's fair to let him suffer if they capture him again? To let him go through that torture again? Because I don't."

"I didn't mean it like that." Katniss said.

Aella shook her head, "It doesn't matter how you meant it, Katniss." She said rigidly, "He deserves one and Jackson gave me another anyway so it's not like it means I don't have one myself."

Katniss nodded in response but she didn't say anything nor did she make a move to leave. Aella sheathed her knife and folded her arms across her chest, leaning back against the wash basin with a sigh, "What do you want, Katniss?"

Katniss's throat bobbed as she swallowed and said, "I spoke to Boggs yesterday... after you and Peeta arrived."

"Yesterday," Aella sighed, shaking her head, "feels like a lifetime ago."

Katniss nodded, "He warned me about President Coin. He suggested that she might be trying to use Peeta to get rid of me and if you or Finnick die as collateral she won't be bothered about that either."

Aella scoffed and nodded, "Oh, she absolutely is trying to do that."

Katniss frowned at her straightforwardness, "What?"

"I said the same to Boggs myself last night." Aella nodded, "Peeta isn't here to show unity to the front lines. He's here because Coin hopes he'll loose himself like he did today and kill you. She'll be elated right now thinking you're dead...thinking we're all dead."

"Boggs said it's because I'm a threat to her." Katniss said and Aella watched confusion cloud her eyes before she asked, "Why would she think that?"

"Would you support her in the election?" Aella asked her.

Katniss shot her a look, "That's what Boggs asked me."

Aella's brow quirked and she said, "But would you?"

Katniss hesitated before shaking her head and saying quietly, "Probably not."

Aella nodded, "Then you've just answered your own question, Katniss." She said, "I don't know if you've noticed but the woman is a narcissistic control freak. She doesn't like anyone or anything she can't control. We are people she can't control."

"You wouldn't support her either?" Katniss asked curiously.

"I wouldn't support her if the world was on fire and she was the only one who could save it from burning down." Aella replied honestly, "The woman is poison, Katniss, and I made a point of telling her that myself."

Katniss frowned, "What do you mean?"

"She's had us all running around her hamster wheel doing her dirty work for her whilst she sat on her ass and watched." Aella replied, shaking her head in infuriation as she did so. A bitter scoff echoed through the bathroom, "Getting you and Peeta out of the Quell was all Heavensbee, yes, but everything else was Coin. Sending us to District Eight, you and Finnick to Twelve, to District Two... do you get where I'm coming from?" Aella asked her while staring into her confused eyes, "We rallied and fought and pretty much almost died only for her to take all the credit for it. Even tonight when she interrupted Snow's broadcast she named herself as the Leader of the Rebellion when you and I both know that if it's anyone on this earth it's us."

"She's just like Snow." Katniss whispered and Aella saw the pieces of the jigsaw falling into place.

"Of course she is." She exasperated in a quiet voice so anyone awake downstairs couldn't hear her, "She's poison, Katniss... and she knows she's gotten everything she can out of us so she's sent us all here—a setting much similar to the Hunger Games so we can pick one another off like the animals she thinks we are."

Katniss met Aella's gaze, pulling her eyes up from staring at the floor and asked, "What exactly did you say to her?"

Aella clenched her jaw and released a heavy breath through her nose, "When she ordered Finnick out to war I told her she was poison, exactly like President Snow.... Then when Heavensbee told me I would be coming out here with Peeta she decided not to join but I knew she was watching so I told her that the game was on."

"Game?" Katniss echoed, "What game?"

Aella sighed and she cradled her hand to her forehead before saying, "Look, Katniss, I'll be damned if I let that woman become the new President of Panem after I've just almost lost everything fighting to make this world better. Because let me tell you, she will ruin it. Just think of how bad—how strict—her rules are in Thirteen and picture it ten times worse."

Katniss's brow pulled into a small arch, "So you're trying to overthrow her before she's even had the chance to become President?"

Aella straightened and nodded, icy determination bleeding into those cobalt blue eyes, "Damn right I am."

And suddenly Katniss understood as she looked at the same woman who had made an assassination attempt on President Snow during the Quarter Quell. Aella Barnes was a woman at the end of her tether and she was going to fight tooth and nail to make this world better for everyone, free of any form of tyranny no matter how hard it would be.

This was the same woman who had killed Drew Lopez in cold blood. Who had fought tooth and nail against Cashmere while bleeding to death. Who had jumped in front of Brutus to save Peeta's life. The Aella Barnes she had once been hadn't disappeared like everyone thought she had. No, Katniss realised, she was still there and she had been all along. She was everything everyone had ever called her and more. The Huntress, the Phoenix, the Golden Girl, the Goddess of Death rolled all into one to become Aella.

She wasn't weak. She wasn't some petrified woman on the brink of a mental breakdown. She was strong—stronger than she'd ever been in her life, just with fears and triggers and imperfections like everyone else.

So Katniss Everdeen nodded her head as she looked at Aella Barnes and said, "It's not going to be easy."

Aella chuckled, her eyes shining in dark amusement, "No.. but I do love a challenge."

• • •

The tension that had been present when everyone had fallen asleep the night before was still thick when they all woke up. It came with grief of having lost four team members and having to leave them behind. Aella barely knew the Leeg sisters or Commander Mitchell but she did know Boggs and his death hurt. He had protected her to the very best of his ability, had said to her he'd planned for her to have a long and full life with Finnick. He had been willing to risk it all for her and ultimately he had.

But his death was not her fault and it was something she spent the better part of the night and morning reminding herself of. She'd gotten so used to blaming herself for death in those simulations she faced it was almost like second nature now but Boggs's death was not on her shoulders and she could not let that drag her down.

She had to think about the end goal which was assassinating President Snow and showing the world just who President Coin really was. That's what she reminded herself of when Pollux led them all through desolate blocks and into underground tunnels. The crisp chill of air that had kissed her skin disappeared when she found herself in the lower levels of the Capitol. The familiar murky brown walls that bled into bright orange sickened her to her stomach but she refused to let that fear control her.

So she kept her face neutral and nodded her head whenever anyone asked her if she was okay—Finnick and Gale especially—and she followed Pollux's lead knowing he was just as terrified as she was.

They walked the tunnels for miles, Katniss and Pollux heading the front of the group with the Holo when the loud echo of a train reverberated off the shallow tunnels.

Aella's heart spiked and she blindly grabbed Peeta's arm, pulling him to a run as Finnick grabbed her hand and did the same. They dipped behind a wall for cover as the sound of the train grew louder and louder until it approached. Aella pressed her body into the back of the wall, watching as the train passed with hundreds of Peacekeepers aboard. She clutched Finnick's hand tightly, watching the train until it disappeared and only then did she release the breath she had been holding.

Everyone relaxed and Finnick looked to Aella with a worrisome expression on his face and asked, "Are you okay?"

Aella swallowed thickly and met his sea-foam green eyes, "Yeah." She croaked hoarsely before clearing her throat, "Just don't know how much more of this I can take."

Finnick nodded in understanding. The strain on their bodies from being on constant high alert was taking its toll, as was the continuous anxiety and fear of being caught. Aella felt as if she'd been running on adrenaline for several weeks yet the pulsating of her heart as it recovered from almost being caught was enough to make her want to curl over and vomit.

No, that wasn't a thought. She was actually going to be sick.

"Oh, shit." She moaned as her stomach flipped. She clapped her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut.

Familiar hands wrapped around her upper arms, "Ella?" Finnick asked, "What? What is it, what's wrong?"

She swallowed slowly, releasing a deep breath, but she didn't open her eyes, "I feel sick."

"You need to eat." She heard Cressida say and a hand appeared on her back a moment later, "You didn't have anything last night or this morning your body is probably empty. It's a miracle you haven't passed out yet."

"I've survived on less." She responded dryly yet no one could figure out if it was reference to her time in the Hunger Games or her time in captivity.

Finnick unwrapped some plain looking oat bar and held it to Aella's face, "Here, eat." He ordered.

Aella opened her eyes as the smell of dry oats made her stomach churn. She pushed the oat bar and Finnick's arm away with wide eyes as she bent over and dry heaved.

"Jesus, Ella." Finnick mumbled, hands flying to hold her while she tried to silence her coughs so not to draw any attention to them.

Her body continued to retch but nothing ever came up and after a few minutes she blew out a heavy exhale and stood up. Exhaustion nipped at her bones as the wave of nausea passed and once it had she opened her eyes and said, "It's okay. I'm fine."

"You're not." Cressida shook her head, "Your body is likely crashing from lack of sleep and food."

Aella's eyes met Cressida's. How the woman knew she hadn't slept since she had arrived she didn't know but she didn't want to ask. Instead she merely shook her head dismissively and said, "I'll live."

Finnick shook his head in disapproval, "If you won't eat this at least have a drink."

Aella turned to meet his stern eyes and met his gaze with equal amounts of displeasure. She eyed the water skin in his hands before ripping it from his hold and taking a drink. A bitter taste slid down her throat and she grimaced as she swallowed whatever re-energising drink it was, "There," she choked before spitting on the ground and shuddering, "better?"

Finnick merely grunted in response, neither satisfied or happy.

"We need to go," Katniss's voice broke their interaction, "We're too exposed, c'mon."

They followed Pollux out from behind the wall. Finnick never straying far from Aella as she ran with the group and they descended down another level. This time high ceilings surrounded them as Aella looked around at what once would've been some kind of place people worked. She could tell it had been abandoned. They were deep underground and yet somehow water was still dripping off the high ceilings and landing in big puddles on the gravelly ground.

She wondered how far they could travel—how low they could go—before they had to brave going back up to the surface and she continued to follow Pollux blindly as he led them. It wasn't until he stopped before a heavy grate in the ground and pull it up did she stop. He signed something that she had the ability to understand but didn't see because she was too busy staring into sheer darkness.

The edges of her vision swirled when she shuffled forward and shone her flashlight down into the sea of abyss. Her heart rose up into her throat and her palms began to sweat. She couldn't even see the bottom—it was almost pitch black—and she stumbled back a step while shaking her head. A phantom hand reached around her throat and squeezed, cutting off her air supply. Alarm and panic flooded her body.

"My brother says this is the only way they won't find us." Castor said aloud for the group to hear, "These tunnels haven't been used in years."

And then Pollux actually climbed down the ladder and Aella almost fainted then and there. Millions of flashbacks rushed at her, almost knocking her off her feet, but that phantom hand curled tighter around her throat until she was almost on her knees gasping for breath.

Castor shone his flashlight down the small tunnel and Pollux was there, standing on the ground and beckoning for them to follow him.

She took another step back, right into Finnick's chest and she jumped slightly in fright. Her wide eyes landed on his frame and she shook her head wordlessly as he frowned in concern at her. All he could see was fear in her eyes—fear he'd gotten so accustomed to seeing since she had been rescued. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she folded into his body and looked down where Pollux had just disappeared into. When he saw the darkened space he understood.

"I-I cant go down there, Fin." She whispered into his shirt.

Finnick squeezed her tighter, his jaw clenching. She had panicked going one level down into the tunnels, this was far worse. The worst part about it all was that they genuinely didn't have a choice either. If they didn't they be found and killed, or captured but her going down there was obviously going to trigger something traumatic.

"I know, Ella, but we have no choice." She told her soothingly, watching as people began to follow Pollux down. He met Katniss's gaze as she looked at them both and merely shook his head.

No, she was not alright.

"I can't." She said in terror.

Finnick was utterly torn. He hated that they'd have to force her down there but there was no other alternative. None at all. There was only them, Peeta, Katniss and Gale left to go down and Peeta was already on the ladder when he looked up and saw Aella and Finnick. 

Wordlessly, Peeta got off the ladder and walked over to them both. Katniss and Gale watched curiously as he stood before Aella and put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Aella turned her head to acknowledge him and Peeta saw it all in her eyes. He remembered seeing it all before and he remembered how to make it better.

"You'll be okay, El." He said to her in a tone no one had heard him use since he had been captured. For a second it was like looking at Peeta Mellark, the one who hadn't been hijacked with tracker jacker venom. It took them all by surprise.

But she shook her head with silver lined eyes. She was trying—so damn hard—but that fear still gripped her in her times of vulnerability and latched on with an iron fist, "Peeta, I can't—"

No one knew where this fear stemmed from. What kind of background it had but it was still one she had acquired from the Captiol.

"You won't be trapped down there," Peeta told her softly, "we control when we leave, right?"

She nodded uncertainly. Finnick watched the whole exchange, still holding her to him to provide whatever comfort he could.

"You won't be alone." He said to her, "We're all right here."

She took a deep, calming, breath as she closed her eyes and counted to ten. She told herself she was safe, she reminded herself that she was in control, no one else and she nodded before exhaling. Her eyes were still uncertain when she opened them but she climbed down the ladder and she did not panic.

Peeta and Finnick were there, reminding her that she was in control the entire time. Even when the dim lighting died the further they walked and all they had to rely on was flashlights. The walls closed in, smaller and smaller until they were trekking through the catacombs of the Capitol. They walked in freezing cold water that was chest high and with every step Aella continued to remind herself of who she was, she told herself she was safe.

They had walked for what felt like hours and yet Aella never took her hand out of Finnick's. They remained side by side the whole time, his calloused thumb brushing mindlessly across the back of her scar freckled hand. It was a comfort she didn't know she needed as he talked to her softly about anything that came to his mind. He didn't care if the rest of the group was silent with tension. He did everything to keep her calm and centred because he knew if she did slip into a frenzied state he'd have a very difficult task trying to get her back out of it when they were so far underground.

But she held up. She managed to stay calm with him and when they came across a small pocket of walkways in the sewers that was well lit—compared to the darkness they'd been in for the last however many hours—and out of the water Jackson announced they were stopping for what they presumed to be the night.

Aella was quick to find somewhere to sit and she slid to her feet with a soft breath before releasing a quiet groan of relief. Finnick mirrored her when he finally sat down and for a brief minute they both sat with their backs leaned against metal railings and basked in the relief of being off their aching feet. The rest of the squad were reciprocating their moans and groans of relief, rubbing their sore joints and aching bones and it didn't take long for people to settle in and close their eyes.

They didn't even have the energy to eat or talk. The watch had been set up through as little words as possible and grunts of acknowledgment.

Aella was seated between Finnick and Peeta and glanced to him first to check he was doing okay. Peeta's responding nod was answer enough, his eyes full of exhaustion and Aella nodded in satisfaction before curling into Finnick. He wrapped her up in his arms, brushing a lock of fallen hair from her face before he dropped a kiss to her forehead lovingly. She glanced upward at him following the action and looked into his tired yet happy eyes. He wore a beautiful smile on his lips—genuine—and she found the energy to reciprocate it.

"I'm so proud of you." Finnick said quietly to her before dropping his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, "So proud." He repeated when they pulled away.

"I wouldn't of been able to do it without you and Peeta." She replied quietly.

He shook his head in disagreement and whispered against her lips, "You're stronger than you think, Ella." He said before giving her a second chaste kiss. When they pulled away she dropped her head into the crook of his neck and he embraced her, closing his eyes, "Get some sleep."

She hummed in response, barely able to stay awake much longer but she what she didn't expect was to wake up in a complete and utter nightmare.

•    •    •

"Katniss—"

Aella jumped awake when she heard Peeta's voice. It wasn't uncommon for him to wake her up when he'd been dreaming about her. She knew she did the same to him some nights but when her eyes were open she was awake. She looked around, expecting to feel the cold bars pressed against her body separating she and him, Johanna still curled in a ball in her own cell opposite them but she wasn't there.

There was no cold bars against her body, only smooth muscle and the scent of citrus fruit and ocean breeze she knew belonged to Finnick. Jackson was opposite her, not Johanna and it took her a minute of remembrance for her to realise where she was.

She stirred, Finnick's arms still wrapped around her body. The heavy breaths emitting from his mouth signalled he was still asleep and she remained still as she looked over at Peeta tiredly and said, "You okay, P?"

Any and all lingering exhaustion disappeared when she saw Katniss standing in the middle of the dark tunnels looking at she and Peeta with terrifyingly wide eyes. Peeta was already staring at Katniss, not seeming to have heard Aella's voice and she was about to reach out to him and question him again when she heard it.

It was distant but the hauntingly familiar sound bounced off the tunnel walls in a sickening echo. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and goosebumps covered her entire body as the distant hissing continued over the soft dripping of water falling from the pipes overhead.

Peeta turned his head, eyes wide in alarm, and looked at Aella in silent question. Her back straightened as she pulled herself away from Finnick, waking him up with a confused groan of protest.

Her throat bobbed in fear when she asked Peeta, "Real or not real?"

Peeta looked down to his hands, his fingers in particular and Aella followed his eyes. She counted his ten fingers before she counted her own ten fingers and an almighty chill skittered down her spine. Her entire body rushed in cold fear and the distant hissing that sounded so familiarly to screaming echoed again.

"What is that?" Jackson asked over the sound.

Peeta met Aella's gaze once more and they knew.

Aella sprang from Finnick's arms faster than a bolt of lightning, "We need to move. Now! We need to get out of here right fucking now."

Peeta was on his feet, following her at the same quick pace, "They released mutts!"

Aella was already in the water, reaching back for her machete as she stared head on into the darkness ahead of her. Finnick knew when she reached for her machete that it was bad. She hadn't bothered to arm herself properly since she had arrived. The knives and daggers she wore had stayed in their holsters but now she clutched the blade of her machete with hauntingly familiar precision.

Everyone was on their feet faster than ever as Aella shone her small flashlight down the never ending tunnel of abyss. Their hurried footsteps echoed over the approaching sounds of mutts when Katniss said, "Pollux, what's the fastest way out?"

Aella turned and looked at the Avox with urgency in her eyes, "Even if it takes us straight to the surface. The closest exit you know."

The man nodded, jumping into the water with both women as Jackson rounded the group quickly, "Come on! Go! Go!"

They all jumped in the water, looking behind and ahead at the cocoon of darkness they were trapped in as Gale lit up a fire headed crossbow and shot it ahead, ensuring the pathway was clear. Aella slotted her machete away and instead equipped two small daggers in either hand, flicking the cap off the bottom of them both and hovering her thumbs over the red button underneath them.

They started to move slowly—far too slow for Aella's liking and she turned to Katniss from the back and said, "We can't fuck around Katniss. We need to move fast or we're dead meat."

No one wanted to know if she was serious or not but judging by her expression she most certainly was.

The pace picked up but it was no where near as quick as she desired it to be and Aella manned the back with Jackson. The only thing that brought her ease was knowing Finnick and Peeta were ahead of her in the middle of the group and not behind her.

"You know how to use those things?" Jackson quipped from beside Aella, looking at the small daggers in her hands.

Aella didn't dare take her eyes off the pitch black tunnels ahead as she replied, "I'm going to try to not take offence to that."

Jackson held her gun and flashlight steady but it didn't illuminate much of the tunnels ahead when she said, "What's out there?"

"Let's just say if it was me leading, I'd be having us running for our lives." She grumbled.

Jackson didn't reply but Aella audibly heard her gulp.

They continued to move as fast as they could while being as quiet as possible and Gale fired a second arrow down the tunnel as they turned a corner at Pollox's instruction. Aella strained her ears to listen for the mutts but it had gone quiet. Suspiciously quiet and she hated it. She could feel her heart pounding erratically in her chest, feel the rush of blood behind her ears but her hands remained steady as she clutched her two explosive daggers and manned the back of the group with Jackson.

They came to a steady stop as they reached as manhole in the wall they'd have no choice but to climb through. It was only small, not big enough for them all to pass through two or three at a time. No, they'd have to go through individually and Pollux went first, signalling for them to wait while he scoped it out.

The tension was thick and palpable while he was gone. Aella could practically taste the fear oozing from her team mates and she knew one sudden move would scare them all half to death. When he returned a collective sigh of relief echoed through the tunnels and Pollux made the signal for them to start passing through. Katniss went first, then Gale.

They continued to move through one by one, so painfully slow, until it was Finnick's turn. He hesitated, looking back at Aella with a concerned frown, "Ella?"

"Go." She dismissed him without even looking back at him. She didn't dare take her eyes off the darkened tunnel, didn't even dare blink, "I'll be right behind you."

Finnick had no choice but to go and the second he was through he was calling for her to follow him but she hesitated.

"Go on." Jackson urged her.

Aella barely glanced at her, "You sure?"

Jackson nodded once, her too keeping her eyes trained on the darkness that loomed ahead, "I'll cover you."

Aella walked as far back as she could without turning her back to the tunnel and only when she had to climb through did she look away. The fear that was pulsating through her body was almost enough to consume her for the rest of her life but she didn't let it rule over her. Instead, she released a calming exhale and crawled forward through the gap, her daggers still in her hands.

When she reached the other side Finnick was there helping her out and she turned to Jackson, "Okay, I'm through."

The woman glanced back and nodded but she hesitated a second before she lowered both her gun and her flashlight. She turned her back on the tunnel, looking at the group—at Aella and Katniss stood side by side in front of them all, armed and ready—before she turned back one more time just as someone shone their flashlight through for Jackson to pass through.

Aella would've screamed at the first sight of those sickeningly familiar mutts but her lethal focus stopped her from doing so.

One second Jackson was there, the next she was gone and a dozen mutts were in her place.

The first time she had seen the scaly, white, humanoid things she had never felt fear like it. It had been the worst kind of torture the Capitol had forced her to endure. Seeing them then, she barely had a second to register before she pressed the button on the bottom of her dagger and threw it with such force it tore the breath from her.

The explosion of fire sent her stumbling backward into Finnick's awaiting arms. The mutts disappeared in the ball of flame but no one had a second to process their scaly bodies and razor sharp teeth before Aella was recovering in Finnick's arms and grabbing him, "Move! Move! Let's go!" She screamed to the rest of her squad.

"Pollux get us out of here!" Homes yelled to the front and unlike a few minutes prior, they all broke out into a fast sprint.

Pollux guided them through the dark tunnels and they ran for their lives, weaving through the water that splashed around at their knees and soaked their feet but no one cared. Aella couldn't bring herself to think about the noise they were attracting to themselves. She knew the mutts had unparalleled hearing but they had no where to hide. She hoped that if they did catch up to them before they escaped they had enough fire power to kill them.

They were so focused ahead they hardly saw the approaching pack as it met them from the left tunnel as they reached a cross junction. Castor's agonising screams rang out across the low tunnels, burning traumatic memories into all their brains. Aella glanced back for half a second, her wide and crazed eyes looking at the man who had captured her engagement to Finnick, who had laughed with her and Pollux on the ride out to District Eight, who had escaped the Capitol and its tyranny for a cause he believed in.

A pack of mutts swarmed him, tearing into his body while he was still shouting out and screaming for help while a second pack emerged from the cross junction the front of the group was just about to pass. Aella barely had the time to react as Finnick went surging forward, so close to the mutts that rounded the corner. She screamed his name so loud, a pitch so terrifying it sent a wave of goosebumps riding over everyone's skin. Her voice broke as she grabbed him blindly by the back of his shift and ripped his body back with so much force he fell to the ground behind her.

The explosive dagger in her hand was no good. It was long range only and those mutts were far too close. So she shoved the dagger back into her holster and she grabbed her machine gun. She thumbed off the safety and opened fire with deathly focus, shooting round after round of bullets into the bodies of the humanoid mutts. Cressida did the same, standing right beside her and neither woman removed their fingers from their triggers until no more mutts ran at them.

An explosion sounded from behind them and Aella felt the lick of flames on the back of her neck. She glanced backward fleetingly to where Castor had once been and saw nothing but fire as Gale struggled to hold Pollux back as he fought to get to his brother.

"MOVE! MOVE!" Homes yelled out to them and they took off forward into a sprint again as another pack of mutts emerged from the fire of Katniss's arrow, giving chase to them.

Aella had never seen so many. In all the simulations they'd forced her to face she had never faced more than three dozen. This was a whole new level of hell.

She followed blindly, her hand wrapped tightly in Finnick's but her brain wouldn't let her think about him and what fate was about to bestow on them. She wouldn't do it to herself. Instead, she kept focused and allowed that lethal killing calmness to wash over her like a blanket.

Pollux led them to a ladder upward and he pointed to it vigorously before beginning the climb up. Aella—one of the last to arrive—stopped at the bottom of the ladder and looked around at all the open manholes leading out deeper into the sewers. She heard the hissing and screeching of the mutts as they neared, the sloshing of water and she prepared herself, putting away her machine gun and unsheathing her machete.

The whoosh of the blade as she removed it from the holster calmed her and she closed her eyes for a fleeting second, retrieving an explosive throwing dagger, and she took a deep breath. The icy flame lit her irises up when she opened her eyes just as the first of the mutts ran out into the large storm drain.

The dagger in her hand went flying and exploded in the manhole as it landed in the skull of one of the faceless mutts. Red hot fire licked Aella's skin, forming a sweat to bead on her brow. Katniss released the first of her arrows, she and Aella silently agreeing to buy everyone enough time to climb to safety by holding the pack of mutts back.

Aella released a third explosive dagger but she didn't watch it hit home, the explosion of fire confirmed her precision. Instead, she turned to the pack approaching her and began her dance of death. She wielded her machete like it was an art form and she cut, maimed and killed the mutts as they barrelled toward her snarling their hundreds of razor sharp teeth at her. She barely registered Katniss at her back, firing arrow after arrow as mutts surrounded them from every angle.

They jumped in from the manholes higher up in the sewer, from the eight tunnels that led outward into the catacombs they'd just ran in from. They were everywhere but she continued to gut and kill.

With a strenuous grunt she stabbed her hunting dagger into the belly of a mutt, black oily blood splashing across her clothes, and she dragged the sharp blade upward—gutting the creature from its belly to its nape before she pulled the dagger out, turned on her heel and slammed it into the head of a mutt just behind her.

All around her everyone was fighting them off, the numbers on the ground dwindling as one by one they climbed to safety.

Peeta breezed past her, fighting off a mutt who had attacked Katniss with absolutely no weapon and Aella saw as he was pinned to the ground. She moved to his rescue, stabbing her machete into the mutts' back with a heavy cry and then kicked the dead corpse away from Peeta. She grabbed his still cuffed hands and sliced through the strap restricting him before putting the curved hunting knife into his hands and saying, "Don't die."

Peeta looked at her in genuine fear and shook his head, "I won't."

Aella hauled him to his feet and pushed him over to the ladder where Gale and Finnick stood protecting it, "Get your ass out of here, Mellark, and take my fiancée with you."

Peeta didn't get the chance to question her. When he glanced back she was gone, tumbling through the water with a mutt as it launched itself at her. He was about to step in, memories of the Quarter Quell hitting him in the face of when she'd all but sacrificed herself to save him from Brutus, but he stopped when he watched her find her footing. She rose from the water like a Phoenix rising from ashes and beheaded the mutt with battle cry.

Her eyes found him once more and she shouted, "Go, Peeta!"

He did just that, running to the ladder but Aella watched as a mutt tackled him to the ground again. Before she could run after him, Katniss rose up from the waist deep water and found him. She jumped out, running to his aid and tackled the mutt off his body, killing it with a short dagger.

Aella looked around for a brief second. The more they seemed to kill, the more appeared. It was like they were doubling. She knew they needed to get up that ladder if they stood any chance at survival. They wouldn't be faking their deaths anymore, they'd be dead for good and no one would find their bodies.

But why were the mutts in the tunnels in the first place? Who knew they had survived...

Her hand moved to the holster around her thigh where her explosive daggers sat and she found she had one left. A rough and loose plan formed in her head. She'd have one chance to get it right. There was a chance it meant her sacrificing herself but she was willing to do it to save the rest of her team. She just had to get them all up that ladder.

So she ran over to Peeta and Katniss as they fought off the mutts. She grabbed Peeta by his jacket and dragged him to his feet, cutting down the mutts in their path as she pushed him up the ladder, "Go, now!" She shouted at him. He glanced back at her with pain-filled eyes, mouth open as if he was about to question her instruction but she pushed him again and repeated, "GO!"

But Peeta recognised that look in her eyes. It was the same look he'd given her just before she'd wrestled that gun out of that dead Peacekeepers hands and shot five more of them down. It was that 'I have a plan but you're not going to like it' look and just like that last time he couldn't argue with her to bring her back to sense. Not as she dragged Gale to the ladder as well and pushed him into climbing it.

Aella didn't even look back as she ran to Katniss. From the safety of the top of the ladder, Cressida, Homes and Pollux were shooting at whatever mutts they could, trying to keep the escape path clear.

Katniss watched as Aella cut down anything in her path with expert grace, the embodiment of the Huntress, and when the woman reached her she grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, we need to move." She yelled over the chaos around them. They fought their way back to the ladders and Aella had almost gotten Katniss there when she felt a heavy weight fall into her body and pull her down. One second she was on her feet and the next she was drowning in ice cold water as sharp claws embedded themselves in the side of her abdomen.

She opened her mouth to scream but inhaled lungfuls of water instead. Sharp talons dug into her thick jacket while the creature removed its claws from her abdomen. She managed to open her eyes under the water and saw a blurred figure of one of the mutts above her as it held her down under the water. Her entire body was screaming, her lungs were burning from the inside out and she was choking on water and all she could do was watch the mutt as it raised its arm to swipe down on her again.

Just when she thought the death blow was going to be dealt the heavy weight disappeared from her body and she was being hauled out of the water. Hands were on her body as she coughed viciously, spitting out the water she had inhaled. When her vision cleared enough for her to see clearly she saw Finnick was standing in front of her, water rolling down his face. His damp hair covered his forehead but his sea-foam green eyes were hard as he looked at her and checked she was okay.

They didn't even have the seconds to waste by talking. Instead, Aella grabbed his hand that was clutching her face as if it tell himself she was alive and she ignored the burning pain in her stomach as she dragged him over to the ladders. Katniss was half way up and a mutt was launching itself at her but Finnick threw his trident through the air, impaling the creature as it moved to make the killing blow without a second thought leaving him weaponless.

They reached the ladder together when Aella tried to push him up first but he grabbed her hand and shook his head, "No, Ella."

"Finnick, please—" She sobbed. Tears of fear mingled with water and ran down her face as he stood there at the bottom of the ladder with her.

"I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself Aella," he said to her with such urgency before adding, "I won't live in a world where you're not in it. So if you're going to do it, we're going to do it."

"Promise?" She asked, for she had no desire of living in a world without him either.

"I promise." He nodded, "Now go first."

She handed him her machete before turning to the ladder with tears in her eyes and beginning the climb up, knowing Finnick was right behind her. She clutched her final explosive dagger in her hands, ready to turn and drop it when the time was right but—

"AELLA—"

Agony sluiced through Finnick's voice and he shouted her name again. She looked down to find Finnick gone. All she could see was a pack of five mutts surrounding the bottom of the ladder and water sloshed and rippled around them. A human leg kicked out—Finnick's leg— and it caught one of the mutts, throwing it back and Aella's heart dropped down into the bottom of her stomach.

"FINNICK!"

She leapt off the ladder without a second thought, landing on the back of one of the mutts and stabbing it in the head with a dagger. She moved on pure adrenaline, killing and maiming each mutt that surrounded she and Finnick. When they were dead she reached into the water and pulled his heavy body out. He was limp in her arms, eyes closed and heavy. She screamed in terror when she saw the gush of scarlet blood seeping from his neck. It ran down his body like a waterfall and covered her hands.

She shook his body, full sobs tearing through her while she shouted for him in agony, "Finnick! Finnick, wake up, please wake up!"

But he didn't. He remained unconscious and motionless in her arms. She glanced up at the ladder knowing she and he were the only ones left to climb. Everyone stood around the top of the ladder, beckoning and shouting for her to climb up. They shouted her name with urgent eyes but she was completely and utterly torn.

Sacrifice herself and die with him or fight like hell getting them both to safety?

In no way was there an option of leaving him, not in any universe would she do that.

She clenched her jaw and she dug deep knowing she had one hell of a fight ahead of her.

She thought on her toes, unstrapping the holster around her waist while holding on to his body with all her might. Quickly, she adjusted the strap and wrapped Finnick's arms around her neck from behind so his chest pressed against her back and she looped the belt around them both, using it to tie his body to her. She tightened it to the point of pain, the straps digging into her body and then she used the holster around her thigh to tie his arms.

One arm looped over her shoulder and the other under her arm. That way his weight against her throat wouldn't completely choke her but it was enough to keep him from falling.

She carried Nyle on her back for thirteen hours when she was just fourteen—two foot smaller and less than eighty pounds—she'd carry the love of her life up a ladder injured and exhausted to save his life.

She began the climb, blinking through her tears. Her body was fighting to stop but she wouldn't allow it. She tuned herself out to all the noise in her head, to the unbearable pain in her abdomen and to her exhausted body.

Instead, she pushed on with all her strength and might climbing step after step. It was slow and it was hard but her team above covered her from the mutts that gathered below waiting for her to fall. She took her time, breathing heavily through the strain as her hands wrapped around each wet bar.

She didn't dare look down. She kept her eyes up on her team as they got closer and closer with each step upward. She knew she was close, almost three quarters of the way there if not already there. So she reached for the next bar, a mix between a grunt and a sob tearing through her lips, but she missed.

Her supporting hand slipped as her body buckled under the weight on her back. She screamed in pure fear as she slipped down the ladder, trying to catch herself to no avail. At the last second she managed to make contact and she gripped on to the bar harder than anything she'd ever held onto before. Her hands were slippery, covered in blood and water but she refused to let go.

She clenched her jaw as she groaned under the strain and looked up. She'd fallen halfway but she could still sense the mutts underneath her, snapping their teeth waiting for her to fall.

Above her, her comrades shouted for her to keep pushing and below her was the snarling and hissing of mutts. She was stuck in the middle, arms trembling so hard she was seconds away from falling and Finnick was dying.

She didn't know what she was going to do until she spared a fleeting glance upward again, blinking through her tears and the water that dripped on to her face from the pipes above, but she saw Katniss standing there with the Holo in her hands and an apologetic look on her face.

And then she heard her say,

"Nightlock, Nightlock, Nightlock..."

•    •    •

A/N; Welp! Sorry to leave you on this cliffhanger over the weekend...or not? Maybe... but within the next two weeks Aella and Finnick's story will come to an end as much as it pains me to say.

Have a lovely weekend! See you all for the next update on Monday!