It was the whirring of the helicopter that gently roused her.
She could feel an oxygen mask on her face and began to raise her hand to remove it, but before she could lift her hand too far, someone quickly grabbed a hold of it and lay down beside her.
"Keep your eyes closed," Gloss whispered.
"What?" Taiya whispered back. "What's happening?"
"They say they're from District 13."
"Huh?" Taiya's eyes ripped open. How was that possible? 13 had been decimated years ago.
"Close your eyes," Gloss hissed and she immediately obeyed. "I don't trust them. They questioned me when I woke up but wouldn't tell me anything. It's best if you keep your eyes shut until I can work out what's happening."
"Is it just us?"
"No. They got us all out. Johanna, Peeta, Mags and Annie. Mags and Annie are awake. Johanna and Peeta are both in and out of consciousness."
"Mags and Annie?"
"They're ok," Gloss assured. "They don't look like they were touched. Johanna and Peeta though...they're not looking too hot."
"District 13 doesn't exist. It was blown up decades ago."
"I know, that's why I need you to keep your eyes shut. I don't want to get separated. They're waiting for you to come to."
"Where are Jo and Peeta?"
"They got moved to another area pretty soon after they woke up. They're really beaten up. Someone's coming! Stay quiet."
"Hey," a male greeted Gloss. "Any movement from her?"
"No," Gloss snapped back rudely.
"Let us know when she does."
"I already said I would," Gloss retorted.
A scoff was the only response before the man left again.
"She's not awake yet," she heard the man tell someone else. "I thought the gas would have worn off by now."
"It should have," someone else sighed. "How's Odair going to take it if she's not awake by the time we land? He'll lose it."
"Well, how's Katniss going to take it when she sees Peeta? He's a mess."
"They're trying to trick us," Taiya whispered to Gloss.
"What makes you think that?"
"I told you. Finnick is dead. If they're saying he's alive, don't trust them."
"Ok," Gloss squeezed her hand. "Keep quiet, I'm just here. I'll let you know if I think it's safe."
They remained silent for the rest of the two-hour trip. They were being watched too closely by these soldiers to keep conversing.
When they did land, there was a mad flurry of people running onto the hovercraft.
"What are you doing?" Gloss asked.
"We're just going to put you on stretchers so we can take you all down to the hospital to be assessed," a lady answered.
"I'm not leaving her, she's not even awake yet."
"Yes," the lady replied as Taiya was lifted up onto a stretcher. "That's what we're worried about. She's the only one who hasn't woken up yet. We'll need to get her thoroughly checked out. You will need a check-up as well."
"I'm fine, I was healed by the Capitol, nothing bad happened to me. I'm not leaving her side."
"Sir," the lady asserted firmly. "We need to get her assessed, you'll have to wait in a separate area."
Taiya felt her bed being wheeled away, Gloss held onto her hand for as long as he could before he released it, following behind with Mags and Annie.
*********************
There was nothing to do but wait for Finnick. He sat alongside Katniss, Tyler and Buck as they waited for word about the mission.
It'd been hours.
But no word.
Success or failure.
Dead or alive.
They were in the dark.
He'd just been sitting there tying knots in his rope.
Now that there wasn't such an audience, Tyler and Buck tried to get Finnick to talk about how he felt revealing his life as a victor on television. They were absolutely livid that they hadn't been consulted before Finnick was put in front of a camera.
Sure, Finnick was an adult and could make his own decisions. But he wasn't exactly clear-headed and stable enough to do so. Haymitch had assured them Finnick was fully aware of what he was agreeing to and promised them that he wouldn't have allowed it to go ahead if Finnick wasn't clear-headed, but they still didn't approve. When it came to getting Taiya back it just wasn't possible to describe Finnick as clear-headed.
"Did you love Taiya right away, Finnick?" Katniss asked quietly, finally breaking the silence.
Finnick paused his knots as he looked up at his friend.
"I did," he nodded. "I bumped her off the pier, and the second she resurfaced and I saw her face I knew I was done for. She didn't love me right away though, I think I snuck up on her," he smiled. That was more the answer Katniss was looking for. He knew she was contemplating exactly which way she loved Peeta after what he'd said to her in the bunker the other night. Peeta had snuck up on her.
It was past midnight when Haymitch pushed open the door. Everyone instantly tensed up, anxious to hear the news.
"They're back. We're wanted in the hospital. That's all I know."
Finnick went numb. Of course, that's where they'd take them, but the word hospital rang around in his mind.
How bad was she?
He'd lost the ability to move, and without even realising it, Tyler and Buck had left him in the dust. They'd jumped up and ran.
Katniss waited for him though. She gently took his hand before giving him a tug, leading him out of Special Defence and down the path to the hospital.
The hospital was in uproar when they arrived. Doctors were shouting orders. The rescue mission soldiers were getting small wounds tended to.
The pair narrowly avoided being run over by a gurney that was being quickly pushed through.
Johanna.
That poor girl.
Her head was shaved, she was unconscious and just completely emaciated. Her pale skin had bruises, fresh and old scattered all over.
Finnick's jaw clenched in anxiety. Johanna knew the same amount as Taiya did about the rebel plan. Is that why Taiya hadn't been on the last interview with Peeta? Did she look like this?
"Do you see her?" Finnick asked Tyler and Buck, whose eyes were both rapidly scanning the hospital.
"No," Tyler's lower jaw shook in fear.
"TYLER!" a screech echoed through the hospital and a mop of tangled red hair flew at him, pulling him into a hug as her whole body shook.
"Annie!" Tyler gasped in relief as he wrapped his arms as tight as he could around the mad girl. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" he pulled back to check her over for wounds.
"No," she shook her head. "Mags and I are fine."
"Mags?" Finnick gasped. He thought in all honesty given the woman's age she wouldn't have made it. But there she was. A mess of curly grey hair, giving him, Tyler and Buck a small wave.
"Mags," Buck breathed in relief.
Buck quickly started to make his way over to the older woman before immediately screeching to a halt.
"What the fuck?"
"What?" Tyler asked in confusion, releasing Annie and turning his head to follow Buck's line of vision. "What the fuck?" he echoed.
"What is it?" Finnick raced forward thinking maybe they'd spotted Taiya. But they hadn't.
Sitting on a chair, getting a single bruise looked over, sat Gloss. The victor they'd all seen die during the 75th Hunger Games.
The District 1 victor seemed particularly happy with their surprise and shot them a wink.
"How are you alive?" Buck asked as he took a cautious step towards the victor that only Taiya seemed to like.
"You should talk to Tay about that," he taunted, just itching to piss some people off. "She and Snow struck a secret little deal before the Games, I was used as an incentive to get her to do his bidding. Speaking of, where's your little girl on fire? I've got a bone to pick with her. She shot me you know, right here," he pointed to the centre of his chest.
"Where's Taiya?" Tyler demanded, not having the patience to put up with the man's rubbish. "Is she ok?"
Gloss shrugged. "Define ok."
"Gale!" Finnick desperately called out to the man on the other side of the room. Gale immediately began racing over them, ready to fill them in on Taiya's condition.
"Tell us where she is," Tyler stepped toward Gloss threateningly.
"They think she's still unconscious," Gloss decided to tell the truth.
"Think?" Tyler frowned in confusion.
"She woke up a while ago. I told her to pretend to stay asleep. Wasn't sure if it was a trap."
"So where is she? Spit it out, Gloss."
"She's in there," Gloss pointed to the room he'd watched Taiya be wheeled in moments before the victor crew burst through the doors. "She's in there with a bunch of doctors."
"Doctors?" Tyler's eyes widened. "Oh shit! Out of my way!" he took off running towards the room, shoving people away in his desperation to get there before all hell broke loose.
"What's happening?" Gale asked Finnick with confusion as he watched Tyler run off.
It was still fresh in Tyler's mind, that time Taiya went absolutely mental on a bunch of doctors when she didn't feel safe after her Games. They could not afford for that to happen here. They did not want to upset the delicate balance of peace they'd managed to build inside District 13.
"Where's Taiya?" Finnick swallowed nervously. He knew Katniss had negotiated immunity for Taiya, but if she killed a District 13 citizen, that deal might not stand.
"In with the doctors," Gale answered, obviously not knowing Taiya's history.
"Better hurry pretty boy," Gloss smirked. When he suggested to Taiya that they should both cause hell, he meant it, and he knew she did too. Her post-Games meltdown was legendary to him. It was one of the only times a victor was able to get away with fighting back with no repercussions.
He was hoping for a repeat.
*********************
"What's her heart rate?" a doctor asked.
Taiya could feel them hooking her up to a whole bunch of machines, but she was determined to remain 'asleep' in their eyes.
"Too high," another doctor answered. "120, why's it so high?"
There seemed to be lots of movement in the room as they set up the equipment and she couldn't feel anyone standing too close to her for the moment, so she took this opportunity to crack her eyes open and survey the room.
Three nurses, and two doctors. Easy. She could handle this in her sleep.
Glancing to her left, she noticed a metal medical tray that had been left a fraction too close to her.
There was an array of tools on it, but what took her interest in particular was a scalpel and a syringe.
She knew she had to act now. She couldn't let them get that syringe in her. This could just be another of Snow's tricks. Make her feel like she'd been rescued and then rip it from her. So she should at least get some revenge while she had the chance.
So she leapt forward.
Snatching the syringe, she immediately shoved it into the closest nurse's arm and injected it.
The nurse screamed out in alarm, pulling everyone else in the room's attention.
"Woah, take it easy," a doctor tried to calm her down, but she wasn't listening, the blood was already in her ears.
She wanted to keep ahold of the scalpel, she could use it like a knife, and she was good with those.
So instead she lifted the tray and smacked him around the side of the head with it, putting a dint in it and sending him crumpling to the floor.
"STAY BACK!" Taiya screamed at the rest of the doctors, holding up the scalpel in warning. She didn't want them anywhere near her. She only had one weapon left, but they knew just how deadly she was with a blade and they were not going to test it.
The door then burst open as Tyler raced in, skidding to a stop as he assessed the scene before him. An unconscious nurse and doctor. To be honest, it could have been much worse.
"Are they dead?" Tyler asked, hands in the air trying to calm her down.
"No," Taiya glared. "HEY!" she yelled as she noticed another doctor reaching for a syringe.
"Woah woah, back up," Tyler asked the doctor as calmly as he could.
The doctor didn't listen though and picked the syringe up.
Taiya moved the scalpel behind her head slightly, readying it to throw and Tyler's eyes widened.
"Back up!" Tyler yelled at the doctor. "If she throws that she won't miss, ok? You'll be dead. Now back up!"
The doctor merely pursed her lips before she lowered the syringe and took a step away.
"Alright, now you're going to calm down," Tyler spoke directly to Taiya whose glare hardened. She did not like that one bit.
So she threw the scalpel at him. He didn't even flinch, he knew it was never going to hit him. She'd never do that. So her attack was pointless, and her mouth fell open as she watched the scalpel bounce harmlessly off the wall behind him.
"Oh crap," she groaned, realising she was left without a weapon. So she made a run towards the discarded medical tray she'd thrown across the room earlier.
Tyler cut her off and grabbed her around the waist, pinning her arms to subdue her.
"Sorry about all this," he apologised to the shell-shocked observers in the room. "I should have warned you, she's never really been a fan of doctors. Knock it off would you?" he asked her, struggling to contain her violent thrashing as she fought to break free.
"Let me go!" she yelled, flinging her head back and slamming it into his nose.
"Bloody hell!" Tyler cursed, but he wouldn't loosen his hold. He was determined. He had to get her under control before they all got kicked out.
But it only took one word to break through her hissy fit.
Her own name.
But it wasn't her name that did it, it was the voice that spoke it.
She immediately froze in Tyler's arms, stunning everyone around her. She slowly looked up to meet the devastated eyes of Finnick.
"Taiya," he breathed in relief, tears welling up in his eyes.
He was studying her. There were a few bruises, she didn't look malnourished, and there was a bandage wrapped around her calf. But these were all physical symptoms of damage, when he studied her eyes he saw where the damage had been done.
It was like she'd regressed back to after her Games. There was the same anger and resentment brewing within them.
And her reaction to him was not what he thought it would be. He was hoping he could pull her back, that they could pull each other back.
But instead, she let out a wailing scream.
Tears immediately burst out of her eyes like a waterfall. Instead of continuing to fight Tyler, she turned around and grabbed at him, desperate for a hug.
"What the hell?" Tyler mumbled, holding her to him. This was the opposite reaction to what he expected. Her clinging to him for comfort rather than running for Finnick.
"What's happening?" she sobbed. She had no idea what was real. She'd become so convinced that Finnick was dead, and now here he was standing in front of her.
Snow warned her that if that happened, it just meant he'd been cloned and was in fact a mutt. But this Finnick looked so real, and Johanna had warned her time and time again that Snow lied.
She had no clue what was true.
"Finnick, what's that?" Tyler demanded urgently. A stream of guards had just burst into the hospital.
Finnick immediately spun to block the doorway, there was no way he was going to let them take Taiya. But they weren't headed for this room. Instead, they charged into the room he'd seen Katniss run into.
The room Peeta was in.
And as soon as they opened the door, more screams erupted throughout the hospital.
"What is going on in there!" Tyler yelled, having no clue what was happening with all the recovered victors.
"Is that Peeta's room?" Taiya asked, her head buried against Tyler's chest.
"Yeah, do you know what's happening?" he asked her.
Taiya just shrugged. "He hates Katniss now," she answered quietly. "Wants her dead. No biggie."
Tyler looked up at Finnick. Mental torture was the one that cut the deepest.
And didn't Finnick know it. When he looked at Taiya all he could see in her eyes were sadness and betrayal.
A mix of emotions he never dared to consider would ever be directed at him.
*********************
So spoiler, she's not hijacked or anything. Peeta is going to be the only one that's actually hijacked. She's just very very confused right now, but trust me, it won't last.
She'll get all her facts straight in the next chapter and we'll be on the road to recovery that ends with hugs and rainbows (and creepy sewer lizards)