Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Twenty-Six

Marissa winces when Galla dabs concealer onto the bruising on her cheekbone, reeling away from the stylist.

"Sorry," Galla whispers, her eyes cast downward. The presence of the peacekeepers, armed and ready to take down Marissa, who has no doubt been labelled as a risk with her attempted assault of President Snow and the peacekeepers that took Peeta to his interview, has Galla acting anxious. "You know what you have to say tonight?"

"Yes," Marissa responds, her jaw clenched. She isn't at all impressed that she is being forced to say things she doesn't believe on television but, all snow had to do to convince her was threaten to hurt Finnick and Peeta. Marissa almost feels bad for her snappy attitude with Galla but, the stylist can put up with it as she is not being held against her will in the Capitol.

Marissa is dressed up in a baby doll style dress, the white chiffon covering her neck to hide the bruises from Brutus. The colour makes her look innocent, it makes her look weak and, she hates it.

"Oh, Marissa, you look so pretty," Galla gushes. The redhead rolls her eyes, ignoring her stylist. The woman from the Capitol frowns, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Marissa, I'm sorry this happened."

"Me too," Marissa whispers, fiddling with the bottom of her dress which reaches around her mid-thigh. One of the peacekeepers marches forward and grabs her by the arm. Their grip is painful and, normally Marissa would fight against it but, she doesn't. She lets the peacekeeper drag her into the room where she is due for an interview with Caesar Flickerman.

Caesar Flickerman wears a dark suit, his hair dyed mauve and tied back into a ponytail. He smiles when he sees Marissa and motions to the chair opposite him which she reluctantly takes, her stomach churning anxiously. She plays with her fingers as the camera starts rolling, not looking up until Caesar introduces her to the citizens of Panem.

"So... Marissa... welcome back," Caesar says. Marissa forces a smile onto her lips.

"I bet you didn't expect to see me again," Marissa jokes dryly. As much as the Capitol claims to love her, she knows that not many of them were expecting her to win the Quarter Quell.

"I confess, I didn't," Caesar says. "I thought that you might give up your life for Finnick."

"I would," Marissa says certainly. "But, before the rebel plan, I think we'd both accepted that we were going to die."

"And why's that?"

"Neither of us would have been able to cope if... if the other died," Marissa pauses, swallowing the lump that forms in her throat at the thought of Finnick dying.

"I see," Caesar says, nodding thoughtfully. "And, what about the rebel plan? You were in on it?"

"The... uh... the rebels manipulated Finnick and me into joining them," Marissa lies. "They knew that we'd do anything to try and keep each other alive and, they used it to their advantage."

Finnick Odair, who's finally been coping a little bit better with the promise from Coin that they will save and pardon Marissa and Annie, stares at the television. One hand rests on the screen, not caring that he's obstructing other peoples views and, the other covers his mouth. Katniss has her hand on his shoulder but, her eyes remain fixed on the screen.

"Could you tell everyone what the plan was?"

"The plan was to get Katniss and Peeta out of the arena. Beetee was supposed to blow up the forcefield and, Finnick and I were responsible for cutting out Peeta's tracker-"

"Which you didn't do," Caesar says, referring to how Peeta's tracker was never fully cut out. Marissa's hardened expression falters for a moment but, she composes herself once again.

"Which I didn't do," Marissa confirms.

Finnick can see her guilt through the screen. It's clear to him that she's blaming herself for Peeta's capture.

"And, Katniss and Peeta had no idea about any of this?"

"No, they had no idea what was going on. We weren't allowed to tell them about it," Marissa defends the younger pair. She chews on the inside of her mouth for a moment before she adds what President Snow wants her to say. "I doubt Katniss even knows what's really at stake. The rebels are using her, just like they used Finnick and me. When they're done with her, they'll leave her behind."

"You think that the rebels are using Katniss for their cause?"

"That's exactly what I think," Marissa lies, her fingers still playing with the bottom of her dress.

The only relief that Finnick can find at that moment is that Marissa doesn't seem to be harmed and Katniss has made the deal so that her words, which would definitely be considered traitorous, mean nothing.

"Now, I would like to ask you about your thoughts on the war," Caesar says and Marissa nods.

"I think it needs to stop now before it's too late. We almost went extinct the last time we fought each other and now, there's even less of us."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't fight each other, Caesar. There aren't enough of us left. I want everyone watching to stop fighting. I want everyone watching to lay down their weapons."

"So, you're calling for a ceasefire?"

"Yes. I'm calling for a ceasefire."

"All right. I think that wraps it up. So, back to our regularly scheduled programming."

The image on the screen changes from Marissa and Caesar to a woman from the Capitol reading out another list of expected shortages in the Capitol. Finnick doesn't move though, his hand remains on the screen for a while until Mira enters the room, searching for him. Her arms wrap around his torso, hugging him tightly and he rests his arms around her shoulders. His head sits on top of hers as she buries her face into his chest and they lean into one another for comfort. 

"It's okay," Mira says out loud in an attempt to convince both her and Finnick. "She was fine. She wasn't injured. Everyone was angry about what she said, though."

"She would never say that unless she was being forced to," Finnick defends her and Mira nods.

"I know that and Mags knows that but these people don't know her, Finnick. They don't know what she's like. As far as they can see, she's just as stuck up and pro-Capitol as the victors from One and Two are."

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