The ground was a livewire, filling her senses with this sort of chaos that catapults her into this crazed mess of stumbling and shaking as she struggles to get everything to still so that she could focus, but you couldn't stop a war, couldn't act them to wait, to freeze for just a moment so she didn't collapse under the crushing weight of her memories.

Terra would have to face this and all the things that she'll have to do without the reassurance that he was going to be there to save her from herself.

Twisting her hands around the handle of her hammer, she lets someone push her along -- never dragging, never grabbing, just shoves that herd her in the right direction that keeps her from falling to her knees in loud tears.

"Keep up. Don't get caught into the fight," Salton urges, pushing at her shoulder. It spurs her forward, picking up her feet as she darts forward away from the hands that reach for her. She knew this part of the Capitol, had seen it from outside her room's window.

She had walked these streets, had cut meat around this corner, and as they dodged down a street, watching as they filled led citizens into the safety of the large yard in front of Snow's mansion.

The children were wide-eyed with terror, clinging to their parents as they were carried along and held close.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she focused, swearing to end this quickly, before any more innocents could get hurt. Kids, no matter where they grew up, didn't deserve to deal with the problems of their predecessors.

There were cameras linked to the suits, watching their every movement, filming each step they took, and Terra wasn't sure how that was going to help them get the footage they needed when she wasn't in any still, specific shot.

It wasn't that she cared all that much about the shot anyway, she wasn't the one that the people wanted to see, and as long as someone got to Snow, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

She was going to be the one to get to him. It had to be her.

Ignoring the shot being fired that turned into muffled noise, Terra sprinted for the Mansion, heading directly for the side entrance, away from the main doors and the large yard that was slowly filling with children and their mothers.

This was closer to his greenhouse filled with white roses. He wouldn't want anything to happen to his precious flowers, the defence would be high, but it would be easiest to slip in through here than against the crowd. The fight was pushing on this side, sending the peacekeepers back against the citizens.

There was also the chance that he had taken to sitting among his flowers instead of the equally unsafe building.

Coming up to the high gate, she eyed it carefully, Salton coming to stand at her side as they waited for the commander to check it. An electric charge through high-quality metal could be fatal.

"It's good, open it up," they ordered, two people coming forward to cut away the bars.

"Better hurry," Salton says. "They might change their mind about the electricity when they see us trying to get in."

Terra shakes her head. "No. That's too simple, too underhanded. Snow wants to put on a show till the end."

"Just get us in," the commander snaps.

The ground shakes, shuddering under the force of a blast that burns against her cheeks, heat stinging her eyes, and she flinches back, feet slipping from under her as she tumbles back -- hand coming up to shield her face.

The blast sends dirt raining down, flames flickering in the cloud of smoke that billows. Screams ring in her ears, echoing the sound over and over.

Terra can only gape at the death and destruction.

The children...

"Come. Come on! We have to go no!"

Stumbling to her feet, she tries to pull away, head for the flames and smoke and the chilling cries that continue to rise. They pull her away, drag her along across the prim grass.

The ground shakes anew and she's thrown forward, knocked to her stomach with a strangled gasp.

And then they're dragging her along once more, pulling her until they're locked inside of Snow's mansion with the door secured tightly behind them.

It was dark, faint light cast through the thick, heavy curtains that lined the windows. A shiver ran down her spine and she breathed in deeply, clearing her mind as she wiped her arm across her face to rid it of tears. It was hard to breathe in here -- nightmares lurked behind every corner.

She didn't want to be here. Coming had been such a mistake. Terra was an idiot.

She took the lead anyway, shifting her hammer in her hand as she inched her way forward -- lifting the heavy thing before her defensively, whip ready to uncurl in her free hand.

Each step was like a jolt of electricity under her skin, stealing the life from her limbs. She wasn't sure how she found the will to keep herself calm, and aloof.

It was all for him, though. He wanted freedom, justice and equality more than anyone else did. More than she ever had, at least. He was willing to fight until the end, go back and face the evils of the world, of the Capitol, head-on.

Terra was going to end this war for him.

"Don't make any sudden movements," she warns them, creeping across the floor slowly. "And keep a close eye out for anything that does move."

She doesn't waste time as she carefully makes her way through — only the sounds of her heartbeat and their steps to comfort her. At least she wasn't alone.

The doors were missing leaving the room open for anyone to go in or come out. It was a stupid tactic, destroying his own house just to scare them.

Terra didn't expect anything less from the horrible man.

Each room is checked before they proceed, the waiting of something to come at them almost as bad as the actual pods could be. Scare tactics.

It was likely that he already knew they were there and was just waiting for them.

Terra waits as they check another room, standing ready in the threshold, unable to turn from the endless stretch.

Snow was hard to pin. His method of attack was truly just a bunch of different people that looked to him for approval. The Gamemaker has those jobs for a reason, and when there were so many minds working to kill you, it made it hard to predict.

Which made it pretty easy for the Victors' to have an idea on what to expect.

She should have known that something was wrong the moment she saw the lack of doors. She should have realized that it was a trap when a flash of movement from the empty room across from her caught her attention and she found herself stepping toward it despite a voice screaming at her to wait for the rest of her team — a voice that sounded so much like him that she couldn't help but want to hear more.

Metal doors slammed down in place, locking her out of the room, separating her from the others. It was a series of loud bands as each room closed off, trapping her alone in the hall.

"Salton? Saltin!" She screams, banging on the metal. She doesn't get a reply. "I- I'm going to find a way to get you out."

She waits, hoping to hear them at the other side, but it's dreadfully quiet on their end. The sound of her breathing puts her on edge.

What would he do? Terra wasn't even sure. She didn't have any idea on how she was meant to proceed through something like this. Coin specifically didn't want her going off on her own, but here she was, apparently.

There was so much empty space, so much room to move, but she was frozen, stuck as something cold seeped into her boots.

Water.

Terra whimpers, a scream lodged in her throat. That Bayard was going to drown her again.

She's might not know what he would do, but she certainly knew what she would.

Taking off down the hall, Terra splashes though the slowly rising water, navigating the building as though she had lived their for years.

It was easy when it was like Snow was leading her to him. He wanted the confrontation, it seemed, wanted to have that moment where he could personally cause the light to leave her eyes.

It's too bad she wasn't going to let that happen.

The man really should have known better, honestly, because Terra knew she had two defaults, but when her life is in danger, she had always become angry.

She was dangerous most of the time, but she was deadly when she was angry.

And that anger cleared her mind, sharpened her focus and it was like nothing else mattered to her.

When the first Peacekeeper stepped out toward her, gun raised to aim, she didn't try to differ as she simply lined at the man.

The bullets that hit her vest knocked the air from her lungs, but it didn't stop her from landing her hammer on his head. He had no room to shoot with her so close, no room to stop her from bringing it down again and again.

"Terra."

Freezing, she slowly looks behind her, eyeing the other rebellion group carefully.

"Who are you?"

A dark skinned woman steps forward. "I'm Commander Paylor. Where's the rest of your squadron?"

She swallows, shifting her weight atop the dead man. "There were locked in one of the rooms back there. I wasn't going to stay around and let Snow drown me."

The woman eyes the rising waters levels, understanding dawning in her eyes. "You'll join us."

Terra doesn't argue. Not when moving with the team got her through so much quicker than she would have gotten on her own, their guns doing wonders to bring down the others, and she revelled in the way her whip would rip weapons from their hands — loving the way fear would seize control of them in their final moments.

Is this what he had felt? Was he scared when Snow killed him? When he stole soulmate without a care in—

Stop, she tells herself, breathing deeply to push away the pain in her lungs, he would never forgive you if you got yourself killed.

It was only once they got to wide double doors that she realized they had made it. Snow would be behind those doors, he would be waiting, he would know they were here.

"President Coin wanted you featured, correct?" Paylor asks, turning to the girl.

She doesn't look away from where soldiers are moving bodies to the side. "Yes, but you can take point. I don't care as long as he's dead."

"We aren't killing him here."

Terra whips around. "Why not?"

"She wants it to be a public execution."

"What about the other cabinet members? What of Egeria?"

Paylor eyes her. "They are to be captured if possible," she says, pausing. "I'll leave her to you."

"Thank you," Terra grins.

It's a contained, controlled sort of chaos as they enter the room. They don't fight back, don't fire any weapons. She has half a mind to kill them where they stand, already so exposed and vulnerable.

But there is running. There's screams and hitting as they're captured.

Snow is seated with his back to them, gazing out the window to his people and the flames that continued to flicker on his front lawn.

His granddaughter was seated quietly to the side, tears silently streaming down her cheeks as she held tight to her mother.

Egeria was a steady figure at Snow's side. No one touched her as she moved closer, stepping out of Terra's way as she made her way to the woman.

"You're lucky they have rules for this sort of thing," she says, speaking directly to the woman, hand gripping her hammer dangerously tight. "I would have killed you right there and then if they didn't."

Egeria shows no fear as she faces Terra. "You still could. They wouldn't kill such a loyal radical."

Her grin is feral. "No. No, it would only take a few seconds and then it would be over. Paylor has a point about those public executions, after all. I want you to suffer."

The flash of terror in her eyes is all wanted to see as she reels back and punches the woman in the temple. Egeria crumbles easily, lifeless, almost, and it brings a pleased smile to her face as she basks in the feeling.

It lifts a weight from her shoulder, freeing her spirit. She was above torture. She wouldn't be able to put another through that after she had gone through it herself, but words were empty and served their purpose.

When the time came, she would kill this woman. Egeria would be the last Terra ever killed.

"You show remarkable restraint," Snow states, unmoving as Paylor trains her gun on the man, holding him still as her teams works to empty the room of prisoners.

"You learn a lot when you have nothing to lose. I'm going to take pleasure in seeing you die."

He chuckles. "You've always taken pleasure in death. You wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Don't you dare. You turned me into this so you have no right to judge," Terra snarls, twitching with the urge to hit him. "I have lost everything because of you."

Snow smiles, blood coating his teeth. "Have you?"

Terra takes a step back, fight leaving her in a wash of dizziness. She shoots Paylor a glance. "Don't play with me. What are you talking about?"

Snow laughs, shaking as he cackles. He doesn't answer the question.

"What are you talking about?" She demands.

Cackling.

She turns to Paylor, pleasing. "Shut him up. Shut him up!"

The woman cracks the butt of her gun across his forehead and the man quiets.

Her breath shakes, air fighting to reach her, but it seems too far, too distant.

Terra sits heavily on the couch, hammer banging as it lands on the floor.

"Are you alright?" Paylor asks softly, kneeling before her.

She shakes her head. "I don't feel so good."

"Just sit here while I call a medic," Paylor commands, motioning for one of her men.

The war was over now. Snow was captured, the districts freed and she felt so light, so tired.

Terra's vision blurs and she feels herself falling.

Finnick would have been so happy.

°°°

Wow it's been a hot minute since I updated but yo what's up y'all?? It's like the ending, almost, and I decided to finally pull my shit together and just write it.

Unedited

2020-01-17