With tensions still high among the divided squad, Gale warily moved away from Katniss' side only to be swiftly replaced by Dahlia and Finnick. The pair glared at Jackson for the bold move she had pulled by threatening Katniss, but they were waved off by the Mockingjay herself.
"Dahls, it's fine." She mumbled quietly, stepping forward slightly to check up on the injured Leeg sister and missing the surprised smile on the woman's face. The last person who referred to Dahlia by that nickname was her sister.
After experimentally placing his foot on the dried black substance coating the stairs, Gale turned to the squad and announced, "I don't think we're gonna leave any footprints. We should move now. And those cameras outside should be covered up by the oil."
"She can't move forward like this." Castor spoke up as he knelt next to the wounded Leeg. "Her leg is too bad. We have to evacuate her." Then he turned to the woman's sister with a sympathetic gaze and murmured, "I'm sorry."
But the first Leeg was determined not to leave her sister behind and declared to Jackson, "I'll stay with her."
"As soon as we make contact, we will send somebody back. I promise you." Jackson pledged in an uncharacteristically soft voice before slipping back to her usual commanding tone. "All right, everybody, move out. Let's go!"
"Let's get him up." Gale ordered, nodding dismissively to Peeta who was still drowsy from the sedative.
Reassured that Katniss was safe with Gale, Dahlia and Finnick were the ones to haul the sluggish boy to his feet. "Can you walk?" Finnick asked him in concern as Peeta stumbled on unsteady legs, but the boy gave no answer. The pair flanked each side just to be sure.
The strange liquid that had pursued them up the stairs had dried like paint on every surface it touched, leaving a hardened black sheen on the exterior of each building. Gale's predictions for the surveillance cameras thankfully turned out to be true, crystallised droplets of tar hanging from the equipment like the stalactites from her first Games. Squad 451 were ghosts for now.
But the most horrifying sight of all was Mitchell's cemented form suspended above them on wires in a gruesome public display. As Dahlia and Finnick led Peeta underneath the casualty that he had inadvertently caused, she saw his head tilt up in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what he had done.
"Don't look, Peeta." She mumbled gently, redirecting his head to focus on the stained ground beneath their feet. "You don't need to see it."
Dahlia knew from experience that the scene above him would haunt his mind for the rest of his life. It wasn't worth looking, because it would only bring him more guilt. She knew he didn't need that. She just knew.
"Come on, this way." Gale instructed, beckoning the column of soldiers across the ruined courtyard.
Noticing the solemn expression on Dahlia's face, Finnick leaned across and muttered sarcastically into her ear, "Who put him in charge?"
An instinctive smile crept onto her lips at the comment, making Finnick grin in triumph. Eyeing the back of Gale's head with a mocking look, she whispered back, "Katniss has the Holo now. He obviously believes he's her right-hand man. Makes him feel powerful. All that power goes to your head."
Nodding in agreement, Finnick jeered back, "Let's just hope it doesn't make his head get any bigger. He can barely fit through doors as it is."
Dahlia spluttered with laughter, snorting as she tried to keep her amusement contained. As she and Finnick descended into quiet giggles with each other, the soldiers in the front of the procession sped up into a jog and Gale called out, "Let's go! Quickly!"
The pair picked their pace up but their high spirits were not dimmed. That was the beauty of Finnick and Dahlia. They could find joy with each other even in the darkest of times.
They approached a different building on the other side of the courtyard and Gale used the butt of his crossbow to break the glass in the entrance (though Finnick suggested to Dahlia that he should've used his head as a battering ram instead). Once upstairs, they found themselves in a luxurious Capitol apartment, lavishly furnished in bright colours and wacky decor. But they didn't have time to linger and admire, they needed to hide.
"Get these curtains closed." Jackson demanded frantically, making the squad scramble to carry out her orders.
Just as Dahlia finished tugging the silky material across the window, she heard trucks steadily moving into the courtyard. Finnick joined her, his chest pressed up against her back as they carefully peered out the window to watch the action. Peacekeepers and armoured trucks had swarmed the area, all of them pointing their guns at the building the squad had just fled from. They hurried to get into position, taking cover and preparing to gun down the people inside. But they weren't the ones who fired the first shot.
Rapid gunfire erupted from the building, shattering the glass window and shooting down a number of Peacekeepers. The opposition were quick to return fire, immediately engaging in a surprise gun fight.
"It's the Leegs." Finnick announced quietly, his face hovering so close to Dahlia's that his lips brushing against her ear as he spoke.
They kept watching as the shootout continued with the Leegs putting up an excellent fight despite being outnumbered. But in the end, their valiant effort ended in a noble sacrifice. The Peacekeepers surrounding the foot of the building started backing away and taking cover until eventually all the gunfire ended. This made way for their big gun to take centre stage as its missile was launched mercilessly at the source of the return fire.
The whole building collapsed into rubble, the upper levels caving in after being left with no support. Smoke clouds billowed from the chaos and shards of glass fell upon the remaining Peacekeepers like acidic droplets of rain, until their white uniforms were no longer visible.
After witnessing the downfall of two more squad members, the rest of the group ducked down out of sight and let the curtains fall back in front of the windows. Their unit was dropping like flies. Four dead in such a short space of time, including their commander. Dahlia hadn't known them well, just like she'd never known many of the tributes she killed. But, after the amount of people she'd lost, she was starting to feel numb to the intensity of grief. Guilt, however... That she felt stronger than all but one emotion.
Love.
Because she was relieved that, of all the people they'd lost, Finnick wasn't one of them. And she would never feel guilty for that.
No sooner had the building been blasted to dust than the screen in the middle of the room spurred to life and the Capitol fanfare echoed around the open area. A mandatory viewing message was splashed in front of them, suggesting that this report was being broadcast across all of Panem. The squad instinctively sat up to attention, heads craning to hear what important propaganda the Capitol were spreading today.
The familiar face of Caesar Flickerman popped up on the screen, his hair surprisingly muted in colour and his face devoid of any of his usual humour. With a stony expression and serious tone, he began, "Good afternoon. I'm Caesar Flickerman. Here with our continuing coverage of the defense of the Capitol." Katniss slowly stood to her feet, eyes transfixed on the screen like everyone else as Caesar continued, "Today, as our Peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels, our story takes a surprising twist."
The screen shifted to display footage of the squad running away from the mysterious black liquid. An event that Dahlia felt had taken place months back, not a few minutes ago. The catalyst for a series of disasters for their squad.
"Katniss Everdeen, our once favourite daughter, has infiltrated the city with some of the Victors, whose names are all too familiar. Finnick Odair, Peeta Mellark and, our formerly reformed protector, The Black Dahlia."
The woman bristled at the use of her former character, no doubt an attempt to get under her skin. But Finnick interlocked their fingers quickly and she felt the cool metal of his wedding band soothe the heat of her anger. She wasn't the Black Dahlia. She wasn't even Dahlia Blossom. She was Dahlia Odair. The woman she was always meant to be. One untainted by the torment of Snow and untouched by the plague of the Capitol. She was just... Her. And when she had him, that's all she needed to be.
The image then showed the exact moment Peeta started attacking Katniss and Dahlia jumped in to defend her. "Hmm. Clearly, some alliances don't last forever." Caesar commented coldly, before the camera zoomed in on Dahlia placing herself in front of Peeta and trying to calm him. This time, Caesar chuckled snidely as he remarked, "And some cases of madness cannot always be cured by the benevolent nature of the Capitol."
Dahlia snorted at the pitiful effort to belittle her and label her time as a brainwashed hostage to be a result of improved sanity. They claimed they helped her overcome her madness, see the error of her ways and join the right side of the war. But Dahlia knew which side she was on now. Whichever side Finnick stood.
"Take a look at what happened just a moment ago, when our Peacekeepers cornered Katniss Everdeen and her band of foolish rebels. Whatever arrogance brought this treacherous girl back to us, you are about to witness a great victory, not only for the Capitol, but for Panem." As Caesar finished his dramatic berating, a clip of the attack they had just witnessed appeared on the screen.
They were forced to watch the shootout again, no one able to look away from the scene as the Leegs heroically fought back. Then the flash of orange and red lit up the screen as the building was blown up with the sisters inside. It was more difficult seeing it happen the second time round, knowing the outcome of the situation and remembering there was nothing they could do to change it.
"So there you have it." Caesar chirped, his smug face appearing on the screen once more. "Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, a girl who inspired so much violence, seemed to have met a violent end herself. Stay tuned for more information. Caesar Flickerman. Thank you."
The host's beaming smile is the last thing they see before the feed cut out and they were left with the proudly glowing symbol of the Capitol. Dahlia was the first to break the silence, scoffing under her breath as she muttered, "They certainly didn't waste any time broadcasting that footage."
Finnick huffed his agreement but Gale didn't hesitate to bluntly ask, "So now that we're dead, what are we gonna do?"
A small puff of laughter escaped Dahlia's lips as she was reminded of a boy who had once been so convinced he was already dead, he felt like he had nothing to lose. With a melancholic gleam in her eyes, she repeated the phrase Wyatt Armstrong had once used to taunt her, "It's amazing how far you can go when you feel like you're already dead." Only now she understood what it meant.
"Isn't it obvious?" A feeble voice spoke up while everyone was pondering the best course of action. All eyes turned to Peeta, the one who had spoken, sitting isolated from the rest of the squad with a horrified expression on his face. "The next move is to kill me."
Dahlia was the most sympathetic to his plight, knowing exactly how it felt to lose control of your own mind. But Finnick hadn't given up on her, and he didn't let her give up on herself. She wasn't about to let Peeta do the same. "No." She declared firmly, surprising everyone with her stubborn defiance. Even Peeta seemed shocked that she would advocate for him. "Just because you did a terrible thing, it doesn't mean you are a terrible person."
Eyes watering with outrage of what he'd done, Peeta protested, "I murdered one of our squad members. Katniss is right. I'm a mutt. And it's only a matter of time before I snap again. I'm not in control. I need a nightlock pill, so I can die when I need to."
"If it gets to that point, I'll kill you myself." Gale proclaimed fiercely, every word dripping with truth and integrity. Everyone knew that he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger, but Dahlia would never let him get the chance.
With a discreet glare in Gale's direction, Dahlia left Finnick's side to approach Peeta and knelt next to the distraught boy. There was a haunted look in his eye, one that Dahlia was more than familiar with, and his hands trembled anxiously. But the gentle smile on her face put him slightly at ease in her presence. Because, for reasons unknown to him, she was on his side.
"You're not a mutt, Peeta." She murmured to him, watching him start to shake his head in disagreement. "I promise you, that is not what you are."
"What am I then?" Peeta countered, a tear sliding down his cheek despairingly. "A murderer? A pawn? A monster--"
"A victim." Dahlia interrupted sharply, softly taking his hands in her own to shop them shaking so badly. At her delicate touch, Peeta glanced up in wonder and disbelief. He did not believe he deserved to be held with as much compassion as Dahlia was showing him. There was a ferocity burning in her eyes, an unyielding desire to make him see that the injustices he had suffered were no fault of his own. With that determination ablaze in her soul, Dahlia recalled the affirming words Finnick had adamantly told her, "The past cannot be changed, forgotten, edited or erased. It can only be accepted."
Peeta gazed up at her fearfully, but with the first hints of hope tugging at his heart. Desperately seeking comfort and assurance, he found himself timidly asking, "How... How do I do that? How can I accept all that I've done?"
For the answer to that question, Dahlia need look no further than the man who had accepted her long before she could even accept herself. He mingled civilly with the other squad members on the other side of the apartment, yet his eyes always flickered over to her every once in a while just to check that she was alright. It was then, Dahlia noticed, that Katniss was doing the exact same thing with Peeta. Whether she realised she was doing it or not, the Mockingjay still truly cared for the boy despite all that he had done. She knew who Peeta once was, and she would fight to get him back.
Turning to the expectant boy, Dahlia tenderly replied, "Remember who you're fighting for." And as her gaze was naturally drawn back to Finnick who grinned at her with his golden smile, she couldn't help but affectionately add on, "And remember who's fighting for you."