TOGETHER⇉F.ODAIR✔️

forty eight.

FORTY EIGHT

FALSE PROMISE

The blood coated her from head to toe. Finnick had killed a few at first, and then Talia had snatched the trident from his fingers when her bullets ran dry. She'd slammed man after man after man into the ground and stabbed the weapon through their flesh. It was over. No Peacekeeper remained in District 4.

Everyone was silent on the hovercraft as she sat there, her armour and robe caked in blackened blood, even her face was covered. All of it, revenge. No one could blame her, but no one had expected it. As she sat there her hand palmed her stomach. Inside was a life, and one day, she hoped that life would forgive her for her actions. She did not regret it, but she was not proud of it either.

Before they had left, they had sent her parents and Rossan's bodies out to sea on burning boats, the usual way people of District 4 honoured their dead. A few of the remaining rebels had come out of hiding to pay respects to the Riverthorn family, including Coral Harper's wife, Joyce. Joyce reported that only 100 District 4 residents remained alive, the remaining few hundred had been murdered by the Peacekeepers when they tried to storm them when they killed Talia's parents.

Joyce promised to find Talia in battle in the coming weeks, Talia didn't doubt she'd see her again. District 13 neared, it was almost time to head to District 2. Talia would eat lunch, see her siblings and then head onto another hovercraft going to the District that was yet to break.

"Talia, are you okay?" She lifts her head and Alana is looking at her, the scar from eyebrow to chin was what Talia saw first. The girl who was wearing a medic band on her arm gives Talia a soft smile. "Its not easy, what you did, but what you did saved the hundred or so citizens that remain in District 4,"

Talia just shrugs. Sacrifice the few, to save the many. Some of those Peacekeepers probably had families, many of them were probably just taking orders- but they were undoubtedly on the wrong side of the war, and had massacred hundreds of District 4 citizens. Perhaps they didn't deserve it, but they surely had it coming for them?

Finnick followed closely behind Talia as they made their way to their room. They'd been sharing one since they'd seen each other in the canteen. As soon as the door is closed Talia sheds the layers and forces the armour, robe and layers of clothes through the hatch that sent dirty laundry down to the lower levels for cleaning. Blood had still managed to coat a lot of her face, hair and hands. She looks up at Finnick who was knotting his rope over and over. Her heart sank a little.

"I'm going to shower...This is your chance to decide if you're coming to District 2," She says.

"I'm not," He replies immediately, "I have things to do here, things I must discuss with Coin and Beetee,"

"Very well," She says, turning on her heel and closing herself in the bathroom.

The shower is hot enough, she supposes, nothing like the beautiful showers they have in the Capitol. One day, when this is all over, she hopes her own house might have one of those fancy showers. She watches the sin wash away down the drain, the dark red liquid mixing with the water. Thats when it comes. The tears. Falling down her face, disguised by the shower water. She sobs and sobs, her shoulders heaving up and down as emotions rock her very core. It was rare she broke down this way, rare she found herself in such a state. It hurt, all of it did. Losing her parents, losing Rossan, losing thousands of District 4 people.

She shudders as the water runs cold- her time limit for showering. She steps out and grabs a towel, wrapping it around herself.

Outside, in the bedroom, Finnick was sifting through the wardrobe looking for some clothes of his own when something fell from the pocket of one of Talia's coats. He picks it up and unfolds the paper. Eyes scanning the printed words. A lump forms in his throat as he reads. Recommendations from the infirmary, from Primrose Everdeen. The back of the paper stamped with the word "classified".

The bathroom door slides open and Talia's heart misses a beat, before it begins thudding rapidly under her ribs.

"Finnick I can explain-"

"Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you just going to die carrying my child?" He yells, his free hand balled into a fist, his face red with anger. Talia had never seen him this way.

She tries to force the lump out of her throat, but it refuses to budge, she croaks her words out, "I was going to tell you, if we survived and won the war,"

"Talia, that baby is ours. That child should be the priority, and yet you're running around, doing exactly the things doctors tell pregnant women not to do! You're riddled with stress, sadness and anxiety and yet you still want to go the Capitol, carrying a baby!"

"Finnick...Please...You must understand why...Don't you know how much it pains me to know that President Snow is still sat in his mansion, breathing? When so many have died just to try and get one step closer to killing him? One step closer to ending the Hunger Games? Or have you forgotten why we're here?" Talia yells back this time.

"Of course I know why we're here! It was me who got us here! And now I'm going to get us out, I'm going to Coin and I'm explaining why we can't go to District 2, or the Capitol," Finnick says softly.

"No," Talia snaps, "She'd sooner cut the baby from my belly than not have me go...Please, Finnick, no one can know! Especially not Coin,"

"Promise me you won't go to the Capitol," Finnick says firmly, grabbing Talia's shoulders.

She looks up at him, deep into his sea-green eyes and she lies to his perfect, handsome face, "I promise,"

___________

👁👄👁

so this wasn't how i originally intended for Finnick to discover the pregnancy, but, i wanted more angst surrounding the reveal than just a happy moment where Talia breaks the news

anyway, i hope you enjoyed!

~cupidlies❤️