Author's Note: This story was originally going to be a oneshot but I've received a few requests for it to be turned into a multi-chapter fic, and I really enjoyed writing it so that's what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to alternate between Finnick and Annie's POVs every chapter. The next chapter will be posted soon :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.

Chapter One - Finnick

I wipe the sweat from my brow and quickly exhale. I'm sat up in bed in the deserted underground hospital ward of District 13. The clock above the door tells me that it's 3.15am. The only light is coming from a lamp on a small table beside my bed, which also holds a glass of water. I take a swig and then carelessly place it back down, sending small drops of water flying. There is a trail of thin rope in my hands that is so long it curls around several times at the foot of my bed and spills off it into a tangled mess on the floor. I've already knotted and re-knotted the entire length tonight, and I'm now on my third go. My hands are red and sore and are starting to blister, but I don't want to stop. Stopping means having to sleep, and sleep means nightmares about what they're doing to her. To my Annie.

My beautiful Annie. With her flowing red hair and glittering green eyes and flawless ivory skin. With her delicate petite frame and soft, gentle hands that I hold every day and dainty little feet that I massage every night. With her tender pink lips that kiss me good morning, goodnight, I love you. I wonder, is someone else kissing those lips right now? A strong, threatening Peacekeeper, perhaps, forcing himself onto her, pinning her down, taking everything from her...

The thought makes my jaw clench and fists tighten. I produce two more knots in a matter of seconds, pretending that the rope is President Snow's neck. Oh, how I'd love to kill that bastard. No, not just kill, kill is too kind, how I'd love to slaughter that bastard, for taking her away from me, the one and only thing that kept me going, the one and only thing that gave me hope above everything else. For taking my Annie.

My sweet Annie. Who always fed our stale bread to the birds instead of throwing it away. Who helped elderly people cross the road. Who donated all her old clothes to charity, and who spent her free time working at District 4's animal rescue centre. Are they using animals to torture her? It's possible. Fierce, brutal mutts designed and created by the Capitol, clawing at her, scratching her skin until it bleeds while she lies underneath them, motionless, screaming out in pain...

I shudder at the idea and quicken the pace of my knot-tying. I'm now a quarter of the way down the rope. I want her back here, back here with me, where I know she's safe. The one person I've ever loved, and the one person I know loves me truly. Those horrific women in the Capitol say they love me, but they don't, they don't. They love my body, they love the way I'm forced to make them feel. Annie is the only person who really loves me, who knows me, who understands me.

She's probably locked in a freezing cold cell right now. She'll be lucky if she's wearing any clothes. My eyes sting with salty tears as I picture her curled up on a hard, stone floor, naked, shivering and crying. I want her to be sleeping next to me, with her head resting on my chest and my arms wrapped around her, protecting her from everything and everyone, the two of us snuggled up under warm, clean blankets. I want to be sleeping next to the woman I desperately hope to marry some day. Next to my Annie.

My sensitive Annie. With her traumatising flashbacks and dreams and the way she closes her eyes and covers her ears and rocks back and forward, trying to block out the painful memories. Maybe that is how the Capitol is hurting her - are they showing her footage from her Games? Are they strapping her down, forcing her to watch her District partner get decapitated over and over and over again? That's what ignited her immense fragility in the first place - witnessing the twelve year old Tribute from District 4 getting bludgeoned by a Career from One with an axe...

I let out a groan of frustration as my complicated knot snaps. I furiously shove the severed rope away from me, jump out of bed and start pacing the ward, clutching my hair with my hands.

I can hear Annie shrieking. I close my eyes. She's screaming and screaming and screaming, screaming my name, begging me to help her. I feel all my muscles twinge as my body prepares to switch into flight mode. But I can't go anywhere because I'm trapped, trapped in this stupid underground facility just as she is trapped in the Capitol.

"I'm sorry, my love," I cry, sinking to my knees. I know it's ridiculous and I know she's not here, but if I can hear her, maybe she can hear me too. "It'll be over soon, my angel, I promise. Help is coming."

I let out an animalistic wail as I fall pathetically forward and land on the white, shiny floor with a thud. I need her. I need her to come back to me so I can at least start living a semi-normal life again. I need her to pick me up off this floor and hold me and tell me everything's going to be okay. I need my Annie.