(I own only plot)
*Katniss's POV*
I hear the bombs falling and people are screaming. "Prim! Prim!" I hear my voice, but the sound isn't me.
"Katniss! Run!" Prim screams.
A bomb falls and I watch as my sister becomes a human torch. "Prim!" I scream.
Her sweet little voice reaches my ears. "Katniss! Come on, let's go!" She screams.
"Prim!" I yell, hugging her. "How did you-?!"
"No time, Catnip! Let's go!" Gale yells, propelling us on.
We are met outside by Haymitch. "Come on, sweetheart, let's get out of here!"
"My mother's still in there!" I scream at him.
Prim yells "She's not there, Katniss! She's in Thirteen!"
That is a weight off my chest. We run as fast as we could back to the shelter.
"Oh, thank goodness! Are you two alright?" My mother asks, fussily.
"Just a bit shaken." I reply. I then turn to Gale. "Could I have a word with you? Alone?"
"Go easy on him, sweetheart. He's been through just as much as you." Haymitch tells me, winking.
"Not now, Haymitch." I snap and drag Gale out.
He faces me in the hall. "What?" He asks. "Did you want her dead?"
"No. I just want to know how she's alive. I saw her, she went up in flames." I tell him, amazement, worry and gratefulness welling up in me.
"I knocked her aside. You really think that after all that's been done for her, you being scarred for life, the dead kids, the rebellion, Peeta getting hijacked, all our dead friends, your crazy prep team, your stylist, your escort, that I'm letting that girl get hurt? Wake up, Katniss, that won't happen." Gale tells me.
I jump on him. "Thank you, Gale!" I gasp, hugging him. Tears start streaming down my cheeks. "God... I'm sorry. I do nothing but cry."
"It's understandable. It's fine." He tells me, hugging me tightly.
I hear footsteps, running quickly up the hall. I recognise the gasp and the clicking. I turn in shock, reaching for my bow. "Don't!" The voice squeaks.
I relax. It's just Effie. "What's the matter?" I ask her.
"Nothing. Katniss, Plutarch sent me to collect you. He has someone who he wants you to see." She tells me. Even now, two years after I got to know her, that accent is still a grating, loud, irritating one. I try to love it, I know she can't help it, but when I've been through this much in one day, I really don't need her squeaky little voice drilling down my ears. "Come on!" She squeals, her eyes lit up with excitement.
Haymitch walks out of my bunk. "I thought I heard nails screeching down a chalkboard. Turns out it's just you, huh, Princess?"
"Don't call me that. Are you coming? Katniss has a visitor."
"What's that got to do with me, Trinks?"
Effie rolls her eyes. "I just thought..."
"That's where you're going wrong. Now, who thinks they get to see our little mockingjay?" Haymitch asks, looking at Effie. There is something strange in his expression when he looks at her. Almost how Peeta looks at me.
She doesn't notice. Or she pretends like she hasn't. "Come on, Katniss!" Effie squeals. "Bring your friend! And if he wants to come, bring Haymitch!"
Gale shrugs. "Come on, Catnip." He follows Effie, who is already trotting off down the hall.
As we follow Effie, who is surprisingly quick in her five inch heels, Haymitch says "So, then, sweetheart, who do you think it is?"
"I don't know. I don't care, either. If it's Snow, I'll kill him here and now." I reply, hurrying after Effie. The thought of her sparks the question. "Haymitch?"
"What is it? God, she's quick." He gasps.
"It's Effie. I heard that you were part of her rescue team?" I phrase it like a question.
"Stop being a girl. I rescued her, yeah. But that's it." Haymitch tells me.
I shake my head. "You hate her." I remind him.
He gives me a weird look. "I don't hate her. Who told you that?" He asks.
"Nobody, it's just how you treat her." I shrug, feeling my ribs aching again.
"We're here!" The perky ex-escort grins. "Come on, come on!" She squeaks.
When I walk in, the visitor turns to face me and I gasp. "Missed me?"
I don't process it, I just stare in amazement.