AELLA DIDN'T KNOW KNOW
how to process what had just happened. One minute she heard Katniss's words, saw the Holo falling toward she and Finnick, and the next Pollux and Gale were dragging them both from the ladder just as a fiery explosion happened below them.

That surge of adrenaline that she'd used to save both herself and Finnick was still residing in her body as she laid on the ground panting heavily for breath. Her entire body was numb and mind numbing, sharp pitched, ringing echoed in her ears. A searing pain was exploding from the side of her abdomen and wrapping into both her stomach and her spine but when she felt the thick drip of blood on her hands she knew it didn't belong to her.

Strangled breaths mixed with pained groans. They pounded through her head and came from her right and she turned her head to see Finnick lying beside her, eyes still closed. The blood was his, she remembered, and it was still oozing out from the side of his throat in fast waves.

Panic danced through her veins as she pushed herself on to her knees and reached for his body. She couldn't see the wound for the blood but she knew it was bad. Bad enough to put his life in imminent danger if she didn't get him any medical attention within the next fifteen or so minutes—perhaps even less. He was quite literally bleeding to death in front of her and she refused to let that happen.

"Fin, Finnick-no!" She rushed out, pressing her hands to his throat mindlessly. His brows furrowed and a pained groan tumbled from his lips but he didn't open his eyes, "Someone grab me something—anything!" Aella rushed out quickly.

Cressida was on her knees beside her in a moment, pulling the contents of her backpack out in search of anything that would help stem his bleeding. When she pulled a shirt out she barely had the chance to offer it up before Aella was reaching over and snatching it out of her hands. She bundled it into a ball and pressed it to his blood-soaked neck before using her ripped waist holster as a tourniquet, wrapping it around his neck.

"Aella we have to go." Katniss was saying, pulling on her shoulder... pulling her away from Finnick, "He's too badly hurt, he's going to—"

Aella was on her feet shoving Katniss into the wall and holding a dagger to her throat before anyone could comprehend it. Complete and utter rage roiled through her veins as she looked at Katniss. She'd tried to drop the Holo on them, tried to sacrifice them without even consulting her. Aella had barely stood a chance at trying again to get she and Finnick to safety.

It didn't matter if they were willing to die together to save their team. What mattered was that Katniss had taken one look at their predicament, determined there was no way Aella would've made it, and made the decision to drop the Holo. Now she had the audacity to suggest leaving Finnick behind? To say what? He was too badly hurt...was going to hold them up? Perhaps. But Aella couldn't care one bit. She wasn't leaving him and he wasn't leaving her. He'd just made her that promise.

So when she looked at Katniss underneath her dagger she snarled at her and said, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right here."

But Katniss couldn't. She didn't have an answer for her.

Gale was on them both a second later, prying Aella away from Katniss, "We don't have time for this. We need to leave."

But Aella didn't listen, not until she heard Peeta saying, "Aella if you want to save Finnick we need to get him out of here."

That did the trick. In a split second she'd forgot about Katniss and was rushing back over to Finnick. Momentarily distracted... once she knew he was out of imminent danger she'd go back to dealing with Katniss. Peeta knew that.

"Someone help me get him up." She said, hooking Finnick's arm over her shoulder and beginning to haul him up. Pain danced through her body and she squeezed her eyes shut as she seethed but she did her best to ignore it. Finnick was in a far worse state, he needed help.

Gale was there hoisting Finnick up with her in the next second and he was nothing but dead weight between them both as Gale yelled, "Come on! Come on! Let's go!"

He and Aella ran with Finnick in the middle of the group. Pollux, Messalla and Cressida led the way out into the same underground railway tunnels they'd escaped from twenty-four hours ago while Peeta, Homes and Katniss ran in the back. They burst through the door into the orange tiled, low ceiling tunnels only to be shot at by round after round of gunfire.

Aella screamed in a mixture of shock and fear as Peacekeepers appeared from the stairs leading down. Messalla covered Aella as she ran, shooting out at the Peacekeepers until a wide shaft of golden light appeared beaming down on him from the ceiling. Messalla all but disintegrated next to Aella and she watched in horror as golden beams continued to shine down on them as they ran activating pod after pod.

They ran for their lives trying to avoid both the Peacekeepers shooting from behind and the beams that rained down on them. Aella could feel Finnick's body getting heavier by the second and in turn she was struggling to keep hold of him. His blood was seeping on to her skin and her clothes. It was already all over her hands and she struggled to keep a tight grip on his arm for it.

"Gale!" She all but sobbed in warning.

"Keep going!" He yelled out over at her.

She gritted her teeth, dug her nails in and kept running. Even as the sound of whirring metal and heavy crunching began to echo behind them she didn't stop.

"Don't look back!" Gale shouted.

She didn't. She couldn't afford the distraction. Instead she put everything she had into dragging Finnick to safety as fast as she humanly could. Pollux and Cressida were still in front of her and she saw Homes fall to the ground out the corner of her eyes...dead.

She didn't even have the brain capacity to react. Her whole body was running on the sole purpose of getting Finnick to safety and stopping his bleeding.

Katniss and Peeta lingered behind her as they continued to run for their lives. Up ahead Cressida was guiding them to the surface and when she saw a staircase upward getting closer and closer she pushed herself to keep going.

She and Gale dragged Finnick up a step and his head rolled to the side, practically resting against Aella's as he groaned in pain.

"We're almost out, Fin. Keep breathing for me, okay?" She said to him.

Ahead Cressida, Pollux stopped and turned back to them and Gale started to slow down. Aella had no choice but to follow and her she felt her heart pounding in her throat as she came to a complete stop. She dared to glance at Finnick quickly seeing his face five times paler than what it had been minutes ago and just as she opened her mouth to hurry the group along she saw Peeta crouched on the ground with his head in his hands while Katniss called out to him.

A few feet away from them the floor had been destroyed and replaced by spinning metal spikes. It looked like some kind of meat grinder and Aella knew that was what she had heard whir to life behind them when Gale had told her not to look back.

Peeta was rocking back and forth and Aella could only watch, clinging to Finnick with every ounce of her strength as he shouted over and over again, "I'm a mutt! I'm a mutt!"

Katniss ran over to him, skidding to her knees, "Peeta, look at me. Look at me!"

She grabbed his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. Aella's eyes widened in shock as she watched them. Katniss said something she couldn't hear but she saw clarity flood into Peeta's eyes as he nodded and replied. That was all it took. Katniss was getting to her feet with her hand grasping Peeta's not a second later and then they were all running again through those damn tunnels.

"I know where we are!" Cressida yelled over her shoulder to them as she pointed to the stairs, "I know a place! Up those stairs."

Aella sobbed when she saw the stairs that waited for them. With every step they took she could feel the cold kiss of air against her skin until they were outside again and underneath the dark sky. Snow fell in light flurries from the sky as they reached the stairs and began to drag Finnick up them one by one.

Before they knew it they were back out on the streets of the Capitol though Aella saw the difference immediately. The buildings that surrounded them were still intact, street lamps were still working. It was still just as desolate as all those blocks they'd walked previously but this was somewhere where the war hadn't yet reached. This was untarnished. Perhaps even safe from pods.

They passed a billboard that showed Finnick's portrait on the screen. Aella barely had a second to register the photograph but she knew it had been taken for the Quarter Quell. His name and his District were written underneath along with the words depicting him as a wanted man. She  barely registered at it as it flicked to her photograph next.

Cressida continued to lead them through empty streets and they passed billboard after billboard. They were around every corner, two or three all lined up perfectly next to one another with all of their faces on for the whole of the Capitol to see.

Now they weren't actually dead anymore the Capitol had initiated their own manhunt.

Aella ignored them all and she clung to Finnick with every ounce of strength that remained in her body. His hand was slippery in hers, thick blood staining her pale skin and running down the sleeves of her suit. His blood, her blood... it was everywhere, splattered across her face, matted in her hair, dried on her neck. They looked like they'd been involved in a massacre—a scene carved from hell itself.

Her hollow chest heaved as she swallowed down the fresh air as best as she could. Every inch of her body burnt—her lungs were alight but she forced herself to keep going. The sweat that beaded at her forehead and ran down her face went unnoticed. The only thing she could focus on was the laboured breaths and pained groans that escaped Finnick's lips as he bled to death....

Because that's what was happening, he was slowing bleeding to death right in front of her and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

She'd lived through this nightmare one too many times during her capture. She'd seen how it ended and she had no intention of letting it reach that point.

Finnick drew out a staggered breath that was interrupted with a pained groan. A sob bubbled in Aella's throat as she readjusted her grip on his arm that slung around her shoulder, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She breathed to him, her own body slowly giving in. Gale took the rest of Finnick's weight as he helped her carry him and he grunted under the strain of Finnick's body growing heavier and heavier by the second.

Lethal panic raged inside Aella's veins as she beheld the empty Capitol streets in the night fog. The area was desolate. No sign of life for miles.

The last hour circulated around on replay over and over again. The way those creatures had attacked, the throb of their claws digging into the flesh in her abdomen that was still bleeding. Finnick's screams reverberated in her skull; agonising and pain-filled.

Fire danced in her irises as she stared at Katniss' back in pure, undiluted, rage. Kill her—that's what she'd do when established that Finnick was going to be alright.

Finnick grumbled an incomprehensible complaint of pain pulling her from her murderous plot. Aella turned her head to look at him fleetingly. His face had blanched to a deathly pale colour within the minutes his body had started to shut down. A cold sweat gathered at his brow. His body became heavier in her arms.

She looked to Cressida's back ahead and said in pure fear, "How far, Cressida?"

The woman glanced back—observed Finnick—and grimaced, "Just down this road."

"Come on, Fin," Aella said on a breath but her words were unheard in his ears. She spoke only to herself, crying, "You're not allowed to leave me like this, remember? You promised me."

Aella watched as Cressida tucked herself into a small doorway and knocked several times. By the time she and Gale had caught up to the group, Pollux flanking their behind, the door had opened and a hooded feminine figure lingered in the shadows. Aella didn't hear much of the interaction, she just saw the door open wider and Cressida rush through.

She hauled Finnick over the threshold, Gale following her and her eyes briefly flickered over the woman in the hooded cloak. It was made solely of fur, some kind of tiger print, and a feline grace emitted from her. Aella barely caught a glimpse of the intricate markings and tattoos on her face, the permanent modifications to the woman's body—infamous modifications. Even at a fleeting glance she knew who the woman standing before them—offering them aid—was.

"Tigris." She breathed partially in shock.

The woman—or Tigris—beheld Aella's frenzied state. Saw the blood lingering on her bare skin and the man she clutched to desperately who she came to recognise under all the blood as Finnick Odair—Aella's fiancée. She beheld the wound, the colour of his skin and his practically unconscious form.

Then Aella noticed Katniss's raised bow as she aimed it at Tigris.

"Katniss it's okay." Cressida said to her before walking past her and looking at Tigris, "Tigris do you remember me? I'm with Plutarch's underground. We need your help."

Tigris simply looked at them all before walking to the back of her shop. As Aella looked around she recognised where she was. The decor hadn't changed since her mentoring years but the designs on display certainly had. It had been a few years since Aella had seen Tigris last but she hadn't modified her body any further since. Tigris had been Palex's mentor when he first stepped into the world of the Hunger Games as a designer. He had spoke so highly of her, comparing her to the aunt he'd never had but always wanted, and he had jumped at the opportunity to introduce Aella to her the year after she had won her Games.

Since then she had frequented the shop whenever she had been in the Capitol—always with Palex, of course, but Aella still knew the woman and a margin of her history.

Tigris led them to the back of the shop and pulled back an expensive cream rug to reveal a trapped door and pulled the hatch, lifting it for them all to see. Aella barely peered in but she saw the darkness lurking below and felt her stomach churn. A cold sweat formed on her brow as a shiver tore up her spine. The wave of claustrophobia hit her. The image of those cells flashing before her eyes.

"I know you," Katniss said then, still skeptical, "you're a stylist from the Games."

Tigris removed her hood, revealing the full extent of the markings on her face, throat and chest and she said, "Until Snow decided I wasn't pretty enough anymore."

"I'm here to kill him." Katniss replied and a hint of a smile twitched on the woman's lips.

Just then Finnick gasped for a breath and Aella's fight mode resumed. It was a sharp reminder that he was somehow still alive and they all jumped into action. Pollux moved first, climbing down the ladders and motioning for Gale to help Finnick down next. He and Aella worked together slowly, the latter apologising with every tear that slipped down her cheeks as she beheld his pained grimaces and hollow breaths. Once Finnick was in Gale followed and Aella turned to Tigris as Peeta climbed in next.

"I need a needle and thread." Aella said shakily, looking at the woman through silver lined eyes, "Any alcohol if you have it, bandages or anything that could be used as one and matches."

Sensing what Aella was going to do, Tigris nodded and vanished into the next room not a second later. Wisely, Cressida sent Katniss down the ladder next feeling Aella's anger radiating from her shoulders. She followed and called for Aella to do the same as she stood on the ladder.

The young woman peered down into the cellar once more and saw Pollux, Peeta and Gale around Finnick as he laid out on the floor. Gale applied pressure to Finnick's neck but that same fear consumed her again. Nausea ripped through her body and gripped her harshly. The sheer thought alone....

Peeta glanced upward and met her gaze and for a fleeting second Aella stared into clear eyes. She hadn't seen his gaze so clear in days, weeks, and she beheld the warm expression he portrayed. A reassuring nod followed. It's okay, he seemed to say, you'll be okay, they can't hurt you down here.

Aella schooled her fear enough to climb into the cellar though her hands trembled viciously while she did so. As she reached the bottom Tigris returned with the supplies Aella requested and handed them over wordlessly. The young woman wasted no time in hanging around. Instead she mumbled a quick thanks and left Cressida to speak with Tigris.

Aella knelt to the ground by Finnick's head and laid out what she needed around her. She soaked the small black towel in the bowl of water before ringing it out and handing it to Gale, "Clean him up. Apply pressure again once you've finished."

He got to work doing so and Finnick groaned in pain, eyes fluttering open in distress as Gale tried to work. Aella watched Peeta and Pollux work to gently restrain his arms but he fought back. His ragged breaths echoed through the air as he twisted, blood spilling from his neck faster than before. Aella cursed under her breath watching the sticky substance drip from Gale's hands and pool on the floor.

Too much blood, Finnick was losing too much blood.

She abandoned the needle and thread and leaned over him instead. She placed both her blood stained hands to his equally blood stained face and cupped his cheeks gently. In a soothing voice she whispered, "It's okay, Fin, it's me. I'm right here.... I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry."

In a quick motion she clenched her fist and aimed for the spot she knew would render Finnick unconscious. The connection echoed through the room and not a second later Finnick's tense body relaxed. Aella loosed a shuddering breath as she closed her eyes for a brief moment. She felt for his pulse and found it thready and quick but there. Still alive... for now.

Silence loomed over them like a heavy blanket and Aella wiped her sweaty hands on her trousers before picking up the needle and thread again. She tried to thread the needle, her hands trembling as she did so and Gale worked quickly to clean Finnick's pale skin.

"Aella," Katniss breathed from somewhere behind the woman, "Wh-what can I do? How can I help?"

A quiet rage washed over Aella—calm and lethal—and the woman managed to thread the needle. She picked up the match and lit it before holding the edge of the needle to the flame, "The only thing you can do for me right now Katniss is get out of my face before I kill you." Aella seethed violently.

Peeta met Gale's fleeting gaze hearing her lethal words before they both looked at Katniss. She stood behind Aella not knowing what to do with herself—eyes wide and filled with horror.

Without having to be instructed, Pollux poured some of the alcohol on to one of the many scraps of cloth Tigris had given them. The mute man gestured for Gale to move his hands and he cleansed the wound on Finnick's neck throughly as Aella continued to heat the edge of the needle.

She examined the wound while he worked. The bleeding had began to slowly clot. The edges were jagged from the claws and the slash itself stretched from the underside of his jaw by his ear downward toward his collar bone. It had barely missed his jugular. The only small mercy otherwise he'd of been dead before they got out of them tunnels.

She blew out the flame of the match-stick and leaned down to get to work. The other end of the needle went between her teeth while she splashed the remaining alcohol on her hands and shook them dry. As she moved to thread the needle through Finnick's skin those around her held their breath in trepidation. No one dared to breathe too loud for fear of distracting her. She worked silently, efficiently, schooling her shaking hands and rioting nerves for the minutes it took to sew Finnick's wound together.

It wasn't until she had threaded the last stitch did Cressida dare to say, "You're oddly good at this."

Aella's eyes didn't even lift when she replied, "It's not my first rodeo."

No further explanation yet Cressida pined for one, "No?"

"My District had a habit of getting into trouble. Sam he—" She stumbled over her words while clenching her eyes shut. Did they think she was still dead? Did they know they had survived? Just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach, "He and his friends started to fight back against the Peacekeepers. Nine times out of ten I'd end up prowling the streets at night searching for them with Daniel, seeing if any of them were injured. If they were we brought them back to my house and I sewed them up like Sam's mother taught me to."

"We used to have an underground medical clinic for those who had been injured while fighting Peacekeepers and such," she continued to say, "because they kept an eye on all the admissions to the hospital. Sal used to nurse for the clinic and sometimes I'd volunteer down there. The Peacekeepers never did find out but we had a few close calls over the years."

Cressida only nodded. Instead, they all remained silent and watched as Aella tied off the final stitch before cutting it and dressing Finnick's wound. She dropped the needle to the ground and straightened her back, putting her hands on her knees. The sound of her heavy breaths echoed through the silent basement as she fought to keep them controlled. With an exhale she pushed her blood-stained hands through her wet and knotted hair. Her fingers trembled as she did so and she closed her eyes as a bout of nausea washed over her.

The room felt like it was tilting slow and she was moving with it. She hardly heard someone call out her name as she opened her eyes to a kaleidoscope of colours. Her vision danced and swirled and she squeezed her eyes shut. Dull ringing echoed in her ears, so quiet at first until it grew louder and louder to a point it was near deafening.

And then she was falling through that tilted world. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body became limp as she succumbed to that dark world of abyss.

•    •    •

Falling, falling, falling...

She awoke with a startling gasp, reaching out for anything she could find but she found nothing. She didn't even remember falling asleep, couldn't remember anything actually.

A dark brown ceiling was all she could see through tired, hazy, eyes and she rubbed her face with a quiet groan. She tried to sit up, shifting her arms behind her to balance her weight but stopped when a searing pain stabbed through her abdomen and into her back. It felt like the sharp blade of a knife cutting through her skin and she moaned in pain looking to the source.

A dark circular blood stain sat on her light grey shirt and with furrowed brows she used her trembling fingers to lift the material up. Her arm was shaking taking all her weight and she lowered herself to her elbow, resting there instead. A large white bandage wrapped around the side of her abdomen stained with dry blood patches. Her skin was sickeningly pale—almost just as bad as it had been during her months of captivity.

Her brows pulled into a deep frown as she looked up and took in her surroundings. She just needed something to trigger her memory of what had happened to her and how she'd come to end up in this unfamiliar room.

It looked to be a basement of some kind. Dressing racks with numerous suit carriers were placed around the room. Boxes of old and unused fabrics. Desks pushed up against the walls. Shelves of what appeared to be sketch books.

She swept the room again, focusing more on if anyone else was with her or if she was just in some strangers basement god knows where. Just when her heart started to pound in fear she saw Peeta sitting on a chair nearby, his hands cuffed round a pipe

"What...?" She mumbled quietly to herself, trying to push herself up further but that same sharp pain sliced through her again. She fell back to her elbow with a soft cry, her face scrunching in pain and a string of curse words tumbled past her lips.

"There's some profanities I've never even heard there, Aella."

She opened her eyes to see Cressida crouching down beside her, a soft smile that didn't meet her eyes on her face. She looked exhausted.

Aella didn't even have the strength to hold herself up anymore. She lowered herself on to her back again when she noticed she was lying on something thick and soft, some sort of cushion was under her head. A thick blanket made of some kind of fur was draped over her legs.

She looked at Cressida through tired eyes and said, "What's going on?"

Cressida visibly gulped and something like guilt or sorrow danced through her eyes. It made the hairs on the back of Aella's neck rise. The woman sat herself down properly, curling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, "You don't remember?"

Aella shook her head, "Trying and failing."

She looked back on her memories. It was all a bit of a blur. She could remember watching the footage of them all scrambling to safety after Boggs had died. They had taken refuge in an abandoned apartment building to hide from the Peacekeepers. Caesar Flickerman had released a statement saying they were all dead. She remembered making their plan to get to the mansion. She remembered talking to Katniss in the bathroom.

Then something about tunnels...

The word reverberated through her skull and fired off signals she couldn't quite understand. Memories were starting to trigger along with feelings and emotions. She remembered panicking—feeling like the entire world was curling against her. She remembered the catacombs and the chest high, icy cold water, sheer darkness....

She looked at Cressida, "We were in the tunnels?"

She nodded slowly. Pain danced across her face and it worried Aella. What an Earth had happened down there for her to wake up having no recollection of?

"Cressida what happened?" She whispered fearfully, "Did I..." she swallowed thickly, "Did I hurt anyone?"

"No." Cressida reassured her immediately, "No, Aella, if anything you saved our lives."

"Then why can't I remember what happened?" She asked with fearful eyes.

Cressida released a long sigh and hung her head briefly before saying, "It's likely some kind of trauma response. You were running on adrenaline, we all were. When that wears off sometimes you're left not remembering what happened."

"But do you remember?" She asked her.

Cressida hesitated for a second before she nodded, "The Capitol released mutts..."

That one word triggered a tsunami of memories. They came crashing down on her at an unprecedented rate. She was drowning in them. Suddenly she was reliving it again. Jackson's death... Castor, Messalla, Homes and—

Finnick.

That time the pain didn't stop her when she shot up faster than a bullet out of a gun. She looked for him frantically but Cressida was blocking her whole view of the basement. Her gaze was frantic and her heart was pounding against her ribcage so hard she thought she might vomit.

"Aella. Aella, calm down."

"Finnick, Cressida." She said dismissively, looking at her in pure fear, "Where is he? He's alive. Cressida tell me he's still alive. Please—"

Her voice broke as she released a sob. Tears fell down her dirty cheeks quickly.

The blonde woman grasped Aella's upper arms and shook her, "He's still alive." Was all she said, "He's okay for now. You stitched him up, remember?"

Aella nodded but her words were lodged in her throat as she tried to talk, "Y-yeah."

"You passed out afterward. The mutts scratched you, too. You lost blood as well, Aella, and the shock of it all—"

"Where is he?" Aella interrupted, trying to push her away.

Cressida gestured to Aella's left where they'd left Finnick to rest. Like they had with her they'd stripped him of his heavy jacket and bulletproof vest. His boots were sat neatly against the wall. A brown fur blanket covered his body up to his chest but Aella could see the grey shirt he had been wearing. His throat was covered in white bandages much like her abdomen had but his dressings were clear. His skin though... god. If Aella thought hers was pale, it was nothing compared to his.

It was a miracle he had any blood left inside of him but judging by the colour of his skin there wasn't much left.

"Fin."

She was dragging herself over to his unconscious form without a second thought, pushing through her pain as if it didn't exist. When she reached him a soft sob tore through her lips. His lips were chapped and pale. There wasn't an ounce of colour in his cheeks.

She reached out with trembling fingers and pushed his limp hair back off his forehead. His skin was so cold. If it wasn't for the sound of his heavy breathing she'd of thought he was dead but his chest continued to rise and fall in steady intervals.

Pollux was sitting close by, solemn eyes looking at the engaged couple as Aella cried. She pressed her forehead to his and squeezed her eyes shut while begging for him to open his eyes but he didn't. He remained unconscious and none of them could decide if it was a curse or a blessing.

"Please, Fin, please don't do this to me." She whispered brokenly, "You can't leave me. You promised me, remember? I can't do this without you. I can't. I can't. I can't."

Aella felt a hand at her back and she straightened up as Cressida knelt by her side. She continued to run her fingers through Finnick's hair lovingly before she looked between Cressida and Pollux, "How has he been?"

"He hasn't woken since you knocked him out." Cressida said softly.

Aella looked at Pollux as he began to sign something to her. He looked just as exhausted as Cressida and he'd taken his hair out of his usual bun. His blond hair fell thickly to his shoulders. His eyes were red and bloodshot, no doubt from crying over the loss of his brother.

He's comfortable, Pollux signed, we've changed the original dressing. It started bleeding.

Aella nodded and released a deep exhale, "Thank you Pollux." She said before looking at him earnestly and saying, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Tears glossed Pollux's eyes again and he nodded, signing back, thank you.

Aella glanced at Cressida, "How long has it been?"

Cressida shook her head with a lost expression in her eyes, "It's hard to tell." She replied, "Tigris brought us some food and water but didn't say much. As far as I know it's still early hours of the morning."

Aella nodded, lost for words. She dipped her head to her chest and exhaled again deeply just as a searing and unbearable pain shot through her lower stomach and ventured deep into her back. She seethed in pain, curling her hand around her belly as she bowed over before a second wave of pain hit her and robbed her of oxygen.

A small hiss turned into a soft sob that turned into a pained shout. She slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her voice but the pain only intensified.

It continued to grow and grow but she didn't even have enough air in her lungs to reply to Cressida as she asked her repeatedly what was wrong. Even taking in a breath hurt. It wasn't a panic attack, no, this was something else. Something was actually wrong, she could feel it deep in her stomach. It was the worst kind of cramping she had ever experienced in her entire life.

She barely managed to sit upright to point to her lower stomach and cry out, "Here."

The next wave of pain had her doubling over again in pain. It continued to build with the passing seconds to a truly unbearable point. She thought she was going to pass out again but not before she felt something warm and thick at her thighs. At first she thought she was imagining it until she looked down.

No. That's when she realised it wasn't in her imagination at all. That's when she realised it was very, very, real and there wasn't anything she could do to prevent it from happening. She didn't even know. There hadn't ever been any symptoms. There was nothing. Nothing and yet it was happening.

She sobbed hysterically, barely able to take in breath after breath. She just had to sit and wait for it to pass and she had to do it knowing Finnick wasn't there to support her and that was almost just as agonising in itself.

•    •    •

A/N; yeah... this chapter hurt to write🥺 my poor girl.