Galaxies | Cato Hadley

Chapter Five

"WREN HAS GONE AWOL," MARVEL SAID OVER THE CALL. Cato's heart dropped as he heard those words. He snatched the radio from Finnick.

"What the fuck do you mean she went AWOl?" he snapped. "Go fucking find her."

"She's after Snow," Marvel said. "Clove and I are almost to the cells. We can't abandon the mission, Cato. I love Wren too, but Clove and I are sticking to the mission. We're in too deep."

"Find my fucking wife, Marvel. You hear me?" he shoved the radio back into Finnick's hands. "God dammit! I should've gone with them. I fucking knew it."

"Cato, she'll be okay," Finnick tried to calm him down.

Cato wouldn't calm down. The blond boy was pacing back and forth. If he walked any faster he would burn a hole in the ground. Dozens of skulls cracked under his feet as he walked.

He was ushered onto the carrier to head back for District Thirteen but he wanted nothing more than to head to the Capitol and get his girl back himself. "Someone better find my fucking wife or I'll do it myself and come back with Snow's head on a goddamn pike!" Cato shouted at the group as they landed back in Thirteen.

Finnick carefully approached him. "Hey man, I get it, they have my Annie."

"It's not the same Finnick! Don't even try to pretend it is." Cato told him. "I let her go there. I let her go. She's in there because I stayed behind. Tell me Finnick, would you let Annie do that?"

Finnick kept his mouth shut and watched the younger blond boy grab the nearest, and largest, gun. Cato checked the rounds, turned off the safety, and clicked it back into place. The fire in his eyes could burn down cities.

"I'm getting her back and you can either help me or get the fuck out of my way."

"Mr. Hadley," said President Coin. "Don't step onto that craft."

"Why the hell not?" Cato sassed.

"Because you have one of my guns- my property. You can't take it."

Cato removed the gun and tossed it at her feet. "Then I'll go unarmed."

"They'll kill you on sight. Come back into Thirteen. We'll get her home."

Cato shut his eyes tightly before shaking his head and heading back into the District that made his stomach knot more than the Capitol.

...

Wren reached the familiar garden she had met Snow in before the third Quarter Quell. The white flowers made her want to vomit, but a figure out in the gazebo made a chill run down her spine. It was President Snow.

He was alone. Almost as if he was waiting for her.

Wren opened the door. The blue sky above her was mixed with grey, a few raindrops hit her blood-covered skin. She lightly touched one of the flowers turning the white petal to red.

"Hello, Ms. Eldrid," he turned around, "or is it, Hadley, now?"

"Don't you fucking talk about Cato."

President Snow chuckled. "What a pretty ring on your finger, Mrs. Hadley," his voice was rough.

Wren watched as the old man coughed into a white cloth. The cloth turned scarlet as he removed it from his mouth. "You know, Mrs. Hadley, I don't like when people double-cross me. It makes me look bad."

She released a whip. "You knew I wasn't going to kill Katniss."

"You're right," he said.

"Then why make the deal with me if you knew I wasn't going to follow through?" Wren walked a step closer. The rain came down a little more. The stairs to the white gazebo became splattered with red.