FIGHT OR FLIGHT.

The black oily water cascaded like a wave she'd never seen before. It was mesmerising—almost a siren waiting to pull them to their death. First shocked then ensnared in the way it moved, then captivated by the inky darkness it left in its wake and then... well, then death.

Aella had ran from that inky death one too many times. She refused to let it kill her and her loved ones again.

She truly felt as if time itself had slowed as she turned with wide eyes to Finnick as he stood beside her, immersed in the inky death that was tearing over the block like a tsunami. His face was purely blank. He was just as mesmerised as she had been the first time she'd seen it but she knew they needed to run. The second that tarry substance touched their skin they were doomed to a fate worse than death.

She knew what it was like to feel like you were suffocating while your entire body burnt from the inside out. All the while it ensnared you in metal coil and tortured you to the point where you begged—pleaded—for death as an escape before finally it dealt its killing blow and the metal coil turned into barbed wire and pierced every important artery, letting you bleed to death.

For once, she was going to outrun this with her loved ones still alive beside her.

She grabbed his hand in a vice grip, screamed his name in urgency, and dragged him with all her might. He snapped out of whatever trance he'd fallen into, his hand squeezing hers in some kind of final goodbye should they not make it but Aella refused to acknowledge it. No, there were hundreds of apartments surrounding them, all they had to do was outrun the fatal wave and make it to one of those doors.

Together the two of them ran for their lives in the opposite direction, the black oily waves snipping at their feet. They could hear the cascades of it sloshing against the archway, hear the slicing of the metal wire as it cut through anything it caught.

Aella refused to look back. She'd made that mistake far too many times. It always either slowed her down or distracted her when she saw someone had tripped and she sacrificed herself to save them. Not this time. Finnick was right beside her and that was all she needed. It was a kill or be killed world they were living in, it was time she realised that.

They sprinted across the grass, towards the back right corner. Aella had already seen the busted door hanging on its hinges. It seemed to be the only one open for them to escape into and get to high ground. They had to run faster to beat the wave closing in on them from the right but with every step their freedom—their safety—was getting closer and closer.

Finnick jumped first, his body clearing the step up with ease and Aella followed, a mere two steps behind him. For the split second her feet were off the ground she could feel it in her bones—relief was starting to seep in. The door was less than fifty feet away, they were close. So, so, close.

Her feet crashed on the ground harshly, knees straining under the pressure and weight and her left one twisted so violently she heard it pop. A mind-numbing pain washed over her and her stomach coiled as nausea roiled through her. She was falling to the ground before she could even fully comprehend what was going on. She landed on her back screaming but all she could hear was static in her ears, as if the pain was so intense it drowned out everything else. Her body curled inward instinctively and she cradled her knee, looking to see her kneecap facing a way it shouldn't be.

She knew she should've ignored it—dulled out the pain—and got up but she didn't. She allowed that distraction to consume her and to make matters so much worse she looked ahead of her to see where that wave of death was....to see how close it was to taking her captive again.

She wouldn't even have the time to get to her feet and run before it caught her but she knew she couldn't watch either as it took her prisoner. She made to turn her head away, accepting her fate when she felt hands underneath her shoulders pulling her back. Aella dropped her head back and looked up. Her heart clenched when she saw Finnick above her, dragging her back just in time before he stepped around her to pick her up.

He moved so quick but so did the oil and in her twisted time warped state of everything seeming like it was in slow motion, Aella saw the black oil sloshed over Finnick's boot. He didn't even seem to notice it himself but her mouth was falling open and she was screaming except she still couldn't hear anything. Finnick glanced down at his boot, his eyes widening before he looked back at Aella, his eyes barely on her for a split second before that metal wire ensnared him and—

"AELLA!"

Her heart lurched so violently in her chest she thought it had stopped for a moment. She blinked ferociously, looking around with eyes so wide the whites of them were visible, and found Finnick in front of her. Her body was shaking...or was that Finnick shaking her? She couldn't tell but the high pitched tune of static was slowly fading out and the deafening roar of crashing waves was overpowering it.

She had no idea if it was real. It was the endless cycle of whether it was simulation or reality but by the pure and undiluted fear that pulsated through her body, by her body's inability to move, she could hazard a hazed guess that this was real.

Indistinguishable voices all parroted over one another bouncing with urgency and fear as a thunderous chorus of footsteps echoed past her.

There were hands on her arms, tight hands, and they moved to her face with such urgency. The familiar callouses against her skin were soft and comforting but Finnick's eyes were not. They were wide with fear and panic and his lips were moving. Words she could barely register were becoming clearer and clearer.

"...have to go now. Aella!"

And then she was being dragged. Her feet followed without question as Finnick grabbed her hand so tightly one squeeze would break her bones. He pulled her along, following their team as they all ran for their lives. Aella didn't even notice Boggs' body on the ground as they ran past him, she could hardly see anything through her narrowed vision of total darkness.

Voices of urgency continued to pass back and forth. They filtered through Aella's mind but none of them were enough to stick. She just ran, taking the steps to higher ground two at a time as Finnick pulled her along.

Until in front of them she watched Peeta Mellark grab Katniss Everdeen by the back of her jacket and pull her to the ground, the butt of his gun raised in the air as he moved to slam it down on her head.

It all moved too fast for her to actually comprehend. One minute Finnick was there beside her, pulling her along, the next he was gone. Aella barely registered watching him side tackle Peeta to the ground before he killed Katniss. They rolled across the grass until Peeta was seconds away from pushing Finnick backward into the pooling oil wave that was catching up to them.

Horror made her whole body freeze and she watched at the last second as Mitchell ran in out of nowhere and intercepted them, trying to take Peeta to the ground. Peeta released his grip on Finnick but he elbowed Mitchell square in the jaw before pushing him into the pit of black oil instead. Within seconds of his body being engulfed in that inky darkness it was being snatched back out by the metal trap, snaring him like an animal and the sound of knives piercing his body echoed around them.

A blood curdling scream tore from Aella's lips as she watched Mitchell meet his demise. Finnick looked over at her as he restrained Peeta with every ounce of his strength, feeling his own heart ricochet against his chest. He had heard her scream before but it had never been as terrifying as that. It sent shivers tearing down his spine and he knew he'd hear it in his nightmares for the rest of his life.

He could do nothing but watch her, torn between releasing Peeta or going to her as paralytic fear consumed her.

But the tsunami of death was still chasing them. It didn't ease up just because it had caught one of them. They needed to move if they wanted to survive and Finnick knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he let go of Peeta he would try to kill Katniss again. But he also knew if no one grabbed Aella she would stand there until whatever that black oil was would kill her. He was utterly torn.

Or he would've been if it weren't for Pollux and Cressida running back towards them and grabbing Aella between the two of them, hauling her up to higher ground in front of him where he could see her.

"Come on! Don't stop! Let's go!" Homes yelled over the mayhem.

The shouting intensified and voices parroted over one another. Aella was so disoriented when she heard the sound of gunshots. She could barely see as Jackson and Homes shot through the glass of a front door ahead of her. All she could feel was her body being dragged across the grass.

"Everybody inside! Go! Upstairs! Go! Hurry up!" Homes shouted, rallying them all inside as the tsunami of black oil continued to hone in on them. They were completely cornered, all seconds away from death and they all barely made it inside as it lapped the pavement.

Gale and Katniss took the lead. The Leeg sisters were behind them with Castor helping carry the injured sister. Cressida and Pollux were practically dragging Aella behind them, with every step they took her legs gave out more and more. Finnick was hauling Peeta along behind them, Messalla following and in the back was Homes making sure everyone who was still alive made it.

But their luck ran out on the second floor when they found the staircase up to the third floor completely destroyed. They had no choice but to congregate on the landing and watch the oily substance rise closer and closer towards them. No one could think over the combination of Aella's laboured breaths, the Leeg sisters' pained cries and Finnick trying to sedate Peeta.

All Aella could do was slide down the wall and sit with her knees drawn up to her chest as she heaved so heavily for breath she thought someone was sitting on her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as her body trembled but flashes of Boggs and Mitchells bodies plagued her. Panic and fear had her trapped in a vice grip and she was seconds away from falling off the edge of that sharp cliff.

Cressida crouched beside Aella, her hand on the woman's shoulder in an act of comfort. She kept one eye on the black oil and the other on Aella before saying, "It's slowing down." And then she lowered her voice to a quiet tone and said to her, "It's okay, Aella. It's slowing down."

Her eyes were entirely bloodshot. Cressida didn't know when she had started crying and when she had stopped but it was obvious from her still wet cheeks and swollen lips that the tears she'd shed had been thick and fast. The Aella she used to know—the one she'd been pretending to be since she had arrived the day before—was long gone. Instead, her new counterpart was present.

When the black wave crashed gently against the top step and lulled to a calming stop Aella released a whimpering sob of what sounded like relief and dropped her head back against the wall behind her. Her tears returned, falling uncontrollably down her face in waves.

Cressida dropped her head and released a sigh, "The Gamemakers are still putting on quite a show."

"451 to base. Over." Jackson said over the radio.

Finnick eased Peeta to the ground, "Hey, we better move—" He began to say but stopped as he turned and saw Aella curled in a tight ball on the floor. He'd seen her with Cressida and Pollux briefly when he'd been dealing with Peeta but in those seconds where he had to restrain him she'd vanished from his head. Seeing her on the floor, a breath away from a panic attack had him driving into overdrive.

He left Peeta—Homes standing by him—and crossed the short space to crouch down in front of her. Her eyes were wider than saucers and fixated on the ground. He could see her lips moving as she rocked gently forward and back but he couldn't hear her words. He swallowed the thick lump in his throat and placed his cool hands against her wet cheeks, guiding her to look up at him.

She jumped and shifted her petrified eyes to his frame but after three or so seconds her face twisted and she released a deep sob, stretching her arms out for him. Finnick wasted no time in cradling her to his chest, holding her tightly while running his hand soothingly over her hair.

"Shhh, it's okay." He whispered to her gently, "I'm here, I'm here."

"Are you real?" She whispered brokenly, "Is this real?"

"It's real, I'm here." He replied, "I've got you, okay?"

She released her tight grip on his shirt and Finnick watched her look at her trembling hands. He was about to take them in his own until he saw her counting backwards. She'd done it a few times around him since her rescue and he'd never once asked why she did it or what it meant but he felt her relax somewhat when she closed her last finger and reached zero.

"It's real. Real, real, real." He heard her mumbled.

He swallowed thickly. Holding her head to his chest, he looked at the group around him, "If Peacekeepers don't know where we are they do now."

"Those surveillance cameras caught us." Castor agreed.

"451 to base. Come in."

"This is a bad spot. We need to move now." Gale said.

"451 to base. Over." Jackson said again before turning to the group, "I can't get a signal.... But I can get us back to base. Everdeen, give me the Holo," But Katniss didn't move, "Everdeen, what did I just say? The Holo. Come on, let's go.

"Boggs gave it to me." Katniss responded.

Finnick continued to soothe Aella knowing she had absolutely no idea what was going on around her. Her tears were slowing to a stop and she wasn't trembling as much anymore but he knew she was still shaken...knew that what they'd just witnessed had re-hashed some kind of trauma. Everyone else seemed to be too engrossed in Jackson and Katniss to see it.

"What are you talking about?" Jackson asked.

"He did," Homes defended her, "He transferred security clearance to her. I saw him."

"And why would he do that?" Jackson questioned.

"I'm on special orders from Coin."

"To do what?"

"To assassinate President Snow." Katniss said without missing a beat.

Jackson was silent for a moment before she said, "I don't believe that for one second. As your new unit commander, I order you to transfer security clearance to me now."

"I can't do that." Katniss said.

Then Jackson shocked everyone by pulling a hand gun from her holster and aiming it at Katniss. Gale jumped in, weapon raised to Jackson and one by one guns and weapons were raised in the air pointing to different people. Finnick and Aella remained on the floor out of the way and glad for it. Aella started to pull round somewhat, her eyes flickering around as if trying to recall where she was and how she'd gotten there but the remnants of the conversation, or rather altercation, happening around her was registering in her brain.

"Let's not lose our heads here." Gale said.

"I'm not asking you again, Everdeen." Jackson said sternly before commanding, "give me that Holo."

"She's telling the truth." A broken voice said hoarsely. Everyone looked down to Aella and Finnick to see her slowly peeling herself out of his embrace. She still looked somewhat dazed but her eyes were clear. She found Jackson's gaze and nodded, "They sent me thinking I could help her. They told me to use the story of helping Peeta as a cover up."

Finnick knew she was lying but only because he knew her better than he knew himself. Aella was a brilliant liar. She always had been. It was a requirement if you wanted to survive as a Victor of the Hunger Games. She just so happened to be one of the most convincing liars in Panem. So while Finnick knew she was lying on behalf of Katniss he didn't know why.

Only Aella and Katniss knew that part of Katniss' words were truth. Yes, she was there to assassinate Snow but there was no order from Coin. Though both women knew Coin would gladly take the idea as her own should Katniss succeed. Aella didn't want her plan to change because of this. As much as she wanted to return to base she needed to see Snow dead.

"It's true." Cressida stepped into the cause, "Plutarch wants it televised. He thinks if we could film the Mockingjay and the Huntress assassinating Snow, it'll make the Capitol surrender before the casualties get too high."

Only Finnick noticed Aella shiver when Cressida called her the Huntress.

"While we're arguing, there's a hundred Peacekeepers on their way here." Gale added.

"We need to go...now." Aella almost begged, looking at Jackson with wide eyes, "They won't just kill us if they find us."

Her words were spoken like a promise reminding her comrades that she knew firsthand just what those Peacekeepers could do. None of them ever wanted to be close enough to find out for themselves. Just seeing that raw fear in Aella's eyes was enough.

Katniss pushed Gale's gun down, away from Jackson's face and said, "Boggs promised me that when the time came, you would help me."

A tense silence seeped between them that lasted what felt like an eternity before Jackson finally lowered her weapon and nodded once, All right, soldier, Holo's yours."

"I don't think we're gonna leave any footprints. We should move now." Gale said, "And those cameras outside should be covered up by the oil."

"She can't move forward like this." Castor said from the ground by the Leeg sisters. Aella glanced over to see the injured sister leaning against the wall whimpering in pain, "Her leg is too bad. We have to evacuate her." He said before looking at her sister knowing exactly what risks they would be taking, "I'm sorry."

"I'll stay with her." Her sister nodded.

"As soon as we make contact, we will send somebody back. I promise you." Jackson reassured them before she stood up and said, "All right, everybody, move out. Let's go!"

Everyone made to move. Finnick looked at Aella still curled tightly on his knee and said, "Can you walk?"

But her eyes were cast over his shoulder, looking at Peeta as Gale and Homes pulled him up off the floor, "Is he okay?" She asked him.

He could hardly believe it in one sense but in the other he absolutely could. She was so loyal but he already knew that. Peeta had become one of those very few people Aella would protect with all her heart. Finnick was struggling to understand the whole thing... Aella was still physically shaking in his arms, traumatised over what had just happened yet she looked like she was seconds away from tackling Gale to the ground as he grabbed Peeta under his arm.

Just like that she was back...and suddenly it all made sense to him.

Peeta was some kind of tether for Aella, an anchor of some sort. The sole reason the Captiol hadn't broken her—because they all knew, even Aella herself, that they should of—was because of Peeta Mellark. Because of the promise Aella swore to make before the Quarter Quell that she would protect him with her life. Finnick would never of thought it in a million years.

Peeta Mellark had saved Aella Barnes without even knowing it.

• • •

They only made it across the square before they heard the trucks of the Peacekeepers nearby.

Finnick had practically carried Aella across the courtyard with his hand over her eyes, blocking her from seeing the horror of what had become of Boggs and Mitchell. He had no doubt by her reaction that she'd seen or been forced to endure that before but he didn't want her to have to see it in real life. Her legs had given out fairly quick and Gale and Homes had all but dragged Peeta along also.

But the distance between them and the approaching Peacekeepers was deeply unsettling. Aella was still reeling from what had just happened and she couldn't tell whether she was going to have a panic attack still or not. Finnick had sat her down on the pink sofas as everyone had hurried to pull the curtains. The gunfire had started quickly after that with the Leeg sisters trying to fight back but everyone watched—and Aella heard—as the grenade was fired and the whole building collapsed.

She clapped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut while Finnick pulled her into his chest and whispered soothing words to her. He was interrupted quickly by the fanfare tune of the Capitol echoing around the room, the hologram lighting up with a mandatory announcement alert that they all looked at.

Aella dropped her hands into her lap, leaning into Finnick was Caesar Flickerman appeared on the screen, "Good afternoon. I'm Caesar flickerman here with our continuing coverage of the defense of the Capitol. Today, as our Peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels, our story takes a surprising twist."

Caesar was replaced with black and white camera footage...footage Aella recognised very quickly.

She saw herself all but glued to the ground while Finnick shook her before he eventually grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the sea of death that was chasing them. She didn't see herself falling, didn't see her dislocate her knee or Finnick running back for her only to meet his demise like she thought had happened. Instead, she watched as Peeta threw himself at Katniss and tried to kill her, watched Finnick leave her in the safe hands of Cressida and Pollux before running to Katniss's aid only for Peeta to try and kill him. Then Mitchell stepped in, saving Finnick's life and Aella had to look away as Peeta punched him in the face and knocked him back into the wave that swept him up and killed him.

It was sheer and total chaos.

"Katniss Everdeen, our once favorite daughter, has infiltrated the city with some of the Victors, whose names are all too familiar. A recently engaged Finnick Odair and Aella Barnes along with Peeta Mellark." 

The footage ended and returned to wherever Caesar was broadcasting from, "Hmm. Clearly, some alliances don't last forever. Take a look at what happened just a moment ago, when our Peacekeepers cornered Katniss Everdeen and her band of foolish rebels. Whatever arrogance brought this treacherous girl back to us, you are about to witness a great victory, not only for the Capitol, but for Panem."

And then Aella was forced to watch what she had just covered her ears from. The sight of what was at least thirty Peacekeepers aiming up at the building they'd just ran from—the building they left the Leeg sisters in—was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach with fear. Rounds after rounds of shots were fired from automated weapons to the Leegs before the grenade was launched and the building collapsed and Aella couldn't look away no matter how much she wanted to.

In a matter of ten minutes four members of their squad had died and the worst part was, she still couldn't even figure out if it was she who triggered the pressure plate. She didn't know if it was her fault.

"So there you have it," Caesar said as the camera returned to him again, "Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire. A girl who inspired so much violence, seems to have met a violent end herself. Stay tuned for more information. Caesar flickerman. Thank you."

"So now that we're dead, what are we gonna do?" Gale asked after the boardcast ended and the hologram switched off.

"Isn't it obvious?" Peeta said brokenly from somewhere close by, "The next move is to kill me."

Aella looked for him in the room of people and found him standing leaning partially behind a partition wall...hiding. His eyes were red and she could see the tears rolling down his cheeks. The expression in his eyes killed her inside. It was almost as harsh as a physical blow to the gut and another reminder of her failure. She had been sent to keep him sane, to protect him, and she had made the mistake of not making sure he was behind her when they had split off to trigger the pod.

If she had been there with him talking him through it he would've been okay but instead she went the wrong way and when she had tried to reach him to help him the second pod activated by what she thought was her hand. She had failed him and in turn he had blacked out and the Peeta the Capitol had created to kill them all had taken over. The sedative had subdued him enough for Peeta himself to claw his way back but it looked like he remembered everything he had just done and that broke Aella.

"I murdered one of our squad members," He said hoarsely, "Katniss is right....I'm a mutt...and it's only a matter of time before I snap again. I'm not in control. I need a nightlock pill, so I can die when I need to."  

"If it gets to that point, I'll kill you myself." Gale said but it didn't offer anyone any comfort.

Before she could fully comprehend what she was doing, Aella was using Finnick to push herself up to her feet. He let her, watching her silently as she looked at Peeta with guilt pulling her beautiful features taught. He hated how Peeta's pain and inner turmoil affected her. He hated that there wasn't anything he could do to fix it.

The room was deathly silent as everyone watched Aella move. Peeta didn't say anything as she walked over to him slowly. They just held eye contact until they were within arms reach of one another and she was grabbing him by the sleeves of his jacket and pulling him into an embrace. She dropped her chin to rest against his shoulder while whispering to him, "I'm sorry."

Her apology was heard in the quiet room and the mix of sincerity and pain behind her words pulled at everyone's heart. It was starting to become abundantly clear to them all just how much Aella blamed herself for what had become of Peeta when it wasn't even her fault. She was apologising to him for something she ultimately had no control over and those who hadn't already realised it—like Finnick and Katniss—knew then that if given the chance Aella would switch places with Peeta in a heartbeat.

And if Peeta had said it once, he'd said it a million times, "It's not your fault."

Aella didn't waste her breath arguing. Instead, she pulled away and reached into the breast pocket of her jacket. With trembling fingers she took the blue pill in the palm of her hand and extended it to him, "I promise that you won't ever need to use it." She said and her eyes shone with promise, too.

The air in the room shifted as their comrades realised what it was that she was doing but no one argued against it. Instead, they watched silently as Peeta stared at Aella in shock before looking down to the little blue pill.

Aella didn't make promises very often. She'd learnt from a young age that they were always meant to be broken and she knew the heartache they caused but this was something she was determined to keep until her very last breath. Her word was her word and she wasn't going to break it. Not after the last promise she had made had been to Peeta when she told him the night before the dam had blown in District Five that they were going to be just fine.

And those words—that very promise—echoed in Peeta's mind like a faint memory just then. He opened his palm and watched her drop the small capsule into his hand with baited breath before looking up at her and reciting that very promise, "We'll get through this. They're coming for us. We're going to be just fine, I promise?"

Aella nodded as her lip trembled. She swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "Real."

Peeta nodded softly before he tucked the Nightlock pill in his breast pocket for safe keeping. That was that and with a small, trembling, smile Aella looped her arm over Peeta's shoulders and guided him over to the sofa where Finnick was sitting. She met his gaze and was shocked to find silver lining his eyes and the second she sat down next to him he was leaning in and pressing a kiss to her temple lovingly.

Peeta sat down on her other side and he took comfort in just being close to her.

Then, before any of them knew it, hours had passed and the night sky had blanketed the world. The small table lamps were switched on to illuminate the room for mainly Aella's sake for she was still deathly afraid of the dark and the squad helped themselves to whatever leftover food they could find that had been left behind in the apartment they'd taken refuge in.

Aella had drifted off to sleep, her body curled into Finnick's and he laid back against the sofa for her, mindlessly stroking her thigh in comfort with one hand—his arm wrapped around her back—while he ate with his other. Her legs were laid across his lap, her body resting into his side and she used his shoulder as a pillow. Her heavy breaths kept him informed that she was still asleep and it remained that way until a hauntingly familiar tune played through the apartment.

The hologram lit up the darkened room. Panem's national anthem jolted Aella awake and Finnick tightened his arm around her in comfort as she rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked at the hologram.

A headshot of Cressida lit up the screen in tribute along with her place of residence and the death cannon boomed over the tune. Aella flinched at the sound as she realised what it was that was being played. It was in mocking....a tribute by the Capitol to their lives but instead of it being a tribute they were using it as a way to showcase their victory.

The headshots of Castor, Pollux and Messalla were followed by Finnick's and he chuckled shortly under his breath seeing it. But a chill tore down Aella's spine. She never thought she'd see his face shown in tribute paired with that music. Once upon a time it had been her worst fear. She had prayed and prayed during the Quell she wouldn't see his face among the list that had died in that time while they were apart. She realised then that it was still her worst fear because even the notion of Finnick being dead made her so terrifying close to losing her mind.

When her face lit up the screen next her throat bobbed. The old Aella would've laughed much like Finnick had. Hell, she probably would've even gone as far as to compliment herself saying how good she looked from that angle but the new Aella merely looked away. That woman on the screen was not the woman she was now. That icy fire in her eyes was gone, as was her confidence and strength. Her hair was thinner and much, much, shorter following her rescue from the clutches of the Capitol.

It was just another startling reminder that she was not the same person who had gone into that Quarter Quell all those months ago.

Peeta and Katniss's headshots followed Aella and Finnick but none of the rest of their comrades from District Thirteen or Gale and as the tribute ended a message followed.

The only man in the world who had the power to completely break Aella lit up the screen and she froze entirely as he sat there in his high back chair with his signature white rose fastened to the breast pocket of his deep blue suit jacket.

"So, Katniss Everdeen, a poor unstable girl with nothing but a small talent with a bow and arrow is dead." President Snow said but nothing in his voice changed. There was no joy, no elation. It was just that same stoic face and that same monotonous voice, "Not a thinker, not a leader. Simply a face plucked from the masses. Was she valuable? She was extremely valuable to your rebellion because you have no vision, no true leader among you. You call yourselves an alliance. But we saw what that means. Your soldiers are at each other's throats—"

Static noise interrupted him and for a brief second the connection was lost. Aella watched with a frown as a feminine voice merged in with the static until a face she detested with equal amount as President Snow took over the screen.

"Good evening." President Coin said, sitting before a flag, "For those of you who don't know me, please, allow me to introduce myself. I am President Alma Coin, leader of the rebellion."

Finnick dipped his chin to whisper in Aella's ear with mild smugness, "I thought that's what everyone was calling you?"

She hummed in response, malice dancing in her eyes while annoyance twisted her features, "Plutarch did," she responded just as quietly before adding, "clearly she's jumped at the opportunity to pry it from my not even cold hands."

Finnick's arm tightened around her and he replied, "We'll call you the people's leader then, hmm?"

"Absolutely we will." She replied with pursed lips and for a second Finnick saw that old spark that used to dance in her eyes return, "Obviously she's forgotten who rallied all the Districts for her. Ungrateful bitch."

He chuckled quietly in response and out the corner of her eyes, she saw Peeta turn to her with a small smile on his face.

"I have interrupted a broadcast from your President in which he attempted to defame a brave young woman." Coin said, "'A face picked from the masses,' he called her. As if a leader, a true leader, could be anything else. I had the privilege of knowing a small-town girl from the Seam in District Twelve who survived the Hunger Games and the Quarter Quell and rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army! Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this revolution. She will not have died for nothing—"

"I had no idea I meant so much to her." Katniss said flatly.

"At least she mentioned you." Aella quipped, looking at Katniss from across the room.

"Careful, Ella," Finnick mused with a smirk, "your claws are showing."

"Her vision and ours will be realized. A free Panem with self-determination for all. And in her memory, we will all find the strength to rid Panem of its oppressors...." Aella couldn't stop the snort bubbling inside her as Coin choked on her words. Her tears of insincerity, along with her words lit that blinding fury inside her, "Thank you... and be safe."

The broadcast ended entirely but not before a tribute to Katniss from the rebels was made. Her headshot along with the words 'remember the Mockingjay,' lit up the screen and Aella clenched her jaw in anger. Just when she thought her hatred for Coin couldn't grow any bigger she found it was practically eating her alive. After everything Aella had sacrificed, all that she had done...

It was no secret amongst the rebels that she had been one of the—if not the most influential—driving forces in the rebellion. Not Katniss, not really. All she did was show her face and read off a script, it had been Aella who had spoken from the heart, who had inspired the rebels to fight back. She had never intended for it to be that way but that was how it had gone and yet Coin couldn't even give her a mention.

She knew that the promise she had made her—the threat she'd left her—of how Panem would soon see her for who she was had been delivered to her. She knew the next war was already starting before this current one had even been won.

"Snow's in his mansion." Katniss said suddenly, interrupting her train of thought and pulling her out of her plotting and scheming, "Where is that?"

Aella didn't move from her position curled up against Finnick as Katniss pulled out the Holo and turned it on to the map of the Capitol.

"That's us." Cressida said, pointing to a block that Aella knew was very, very, far away from Snow's mansion. She pointed to said building next, "That's the city circle. It's at least seventy—seventy-five blocks north."

"Seventy-five blocks?" Finnick asked.

"Uh-huh." Cressida nodded.

"Nobody knows we're alive. This is our chance." Katniss said.

The reminder punched Aella in the gut and robbed her of all her air. All she could think about was her family back in District Thirteen, because that's what they were now....what they had been for a long time. They weren't her friends anymore, they were family. She thought of Clio and the baby, of Daniel consoling her while trying to remain strong. She thought of Sal and Sam and Natalia... of Johanna and how she'd be thinking she was the only one left alive of she, Aella and Finnick. Of Annie. They all thought she and Finnick were dead and she wanted nothing more than to be able to send them a message to let them know otherwise.

Katniss looked back at Cressida, "These buildings. Do these look over Snow's gardens?"

"I..."

"They do." Castor said when Cressida faltered.

"If he goes outside at all, I could get a clear shot." Katniss said.

"Either of us could." Aella chipped in surprising both Finnick and Katniss.

"We're getting ahead of ourselves here." Jackson said, "Whether they're looking for us or not, we are pinned down. Hit that button. Scan for pods." She instructed.

Katniss did as instructed and they all watched as hundreds of small orange dots littered the large scale map of the Capitol.

"Just about every ten steps." Homes sighed.

"Yeah, that doesn't even show the new ones." Gale added.

"And they're all designed to either kill us or contain us in excruciating ways until Peacekeepers find us, trust me I know." Aella nodded as she said bluntly, looking at the map with hollow eyes. She crossed her arms and shook her head, "We can't go anywhere in the streets."

"And the rooftops are just as bad." Jackson agreed.

And just when they thought that was it and their one shot at assassinating Snow was over, Pollux looked at his brother and signed one word that would maybe be the answer to their problems.

Castor looked to them all with a tight grimace on his face and said, "There might be another way."

•    •    •