Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Chapter 25~Annie

I was watching the clock the entire day and I knew something was wrong when I checked the time and saw that Finnick should have called over thirty minutes ago. The baby kicked in my stomach and I gently rubbed it.

"I know. Your dad should have called by now," I said as I tried to keep my worrying in check. Maybe Finnick just got busy or he forgot. He should be calling soon.

However as time continued to tick on I went down to Beetee to see if he'd know anything. When I came down to the Special Defense he was buried behind a pile of work as usual, but this time I didn't hesitate to interrupt him.

"Beetee," I called. He jumped from his work and smiled at me.

"Annie, hi is everything alright?" He asked.

I shook my head and sat down. "I don't know. I think something is wrong. Finnick told me he'd call hours ago. Do you know what they're doing today?"

"Yeah, they're just doing a more complicated propo. I was supposed to air it tonight," Beetee said.

He glanced up at the clock and his expression changed. It darkened before he quickly concealed it behind a mask of ignorance. However I caught the change. I've become an expert at seeing through masks.

"Beetee, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he lied. "I just need to go talk to President Coin upstairs."

With that Beetee wheeled himself around me and took the elevator up without waiting for me. If he was trying to convince me nothing was wrong, he was doing a terrible job at it. I ended up going back up and just sitting around until someone I didn't recognize called me and told me President Coin wanted to see me.

Now I'm sitting here in Command. I don't know most of the other people here. I only know Mrs. Everdeen, Prim, and Gale's mom so I stick by them. Everyone seems worried and confused. I may not know any of these people but it doesn't take long for me to discover that we're all the families of the squad Finnick left with. If we're all gathered here then nothing good can be happening.

Everyone is murmuring nervously but I'm just sitting silently and playing nervously with the necklace Finnick gave me. I look down at my wedding ring and pray that everything is okay.

Suddenly the door opens and Plutarch and President Coin walk in. Someone demands to know what's going on and Coin holds up a hand for silence. She stands at the head of the room with Plutarch slightly behind her.

"I know you're all wondering why you're here. Earlier today we sent Squad Four Five One to film a more complicated propo deeper in the Capitol. Boggs, the commanding officer, has a Holo device which contains a map of the traps laid in the Capitol's streets. Things have been going smoothly but circumstances have arisen which cause us to believe that there were some unforeseen traps."

A middle aged man stands up angrily and points accusingly at Coin. "You said they were safe there! Now you're saying there were complications?"

Coin doesn't even seem fazed by the outburst. She just calmly holds up a hand again. "Please sir, we are in a war. Safety is never guaranteed, but with the Holo and our inside sources we have ensured the maximum amount of safety for our soldiers."

The man along with a few others scoff at her words. I never liked Coin that much, and with what she's saying now I'm beginning to understand why Finnick hates her so much.

"Given that, we can't foresee everything. This afternoon we lost contact with Squad Four Five One. We've been doing our best to discover their current status and whereabouts. However we haven't had any luck and just recently saw this."