Katniss

I swear I was going to kill Cato the first chance I got.

There he was again.

The sadistic motherfucker.

"Peeta," I whimpered into my shoulder. My tears blurred my vision, but I wiped them away. I had to win this thing for Peeta, or else I was going go insane.

Never mind.

Can't be insane if I'm dead.

"Fire Girl," I heard a gruff voice hiss. I whirled around, and of course, I shot. The arrow lodged itself in the tree next to the tall, blond boy. I gritted my teeth. Cato's blow to my head was messing with my aim.

"Fuck off!" I shrieked, grabbing another bow. Cato whipped out his knife immediately. We circled each other, identical looks of malice on our face.

"Stupid Fire Girl. Why don't you just shoot? Too scared?" He grinned maliciously.

"You killed Peeta." I said, my throat growing dry. On a whim, I dropped my bow and arrow on the ground. "Kill me too." Cato looked at me, stunned. He slowly lowered his knife.

"What?"

"Kill me. I want to die too." I whispered, falling to my knees. Peeta was gone. What was the point of living anyways? It was all my fault. I couldn't live with this.

I'm sorry Prim. I'm sorry Mother. I'm sorry Gale.

I just don't care enough anymore.

I closed my eyes when Cato began to smile, and laugh. He liked to see me like this, no doubt. Sleep. Eternal sleep.

That would be nice.

But a loud voice interrupted my sleep.

"AND HERE ARE YOUR VICTORS OF THE 74TH HUNGER GAMES!"

Cato's knife fell with a clatter as I opened my eyes. He looked at me again, the same stunned expression on his face. Then the expression turned to anger, and then rage. He gave a tortured yell and flung his knife into a tree.

Drama queen.

"Congratualations, Cato." I said numbly.

"Fuck you." He snapped. The hovercraft came overhead, and a ladder dropped down. Cato ignored me on the ground and started to climb. I stared stoically, wishing, wishing I was dead.

I took the first ring and was lifted into the air.

We were rushed off to be operated on as I fell asleep, hoping to dream of Peeta. But of course, life doesn't always treat us well.

Cato

Well, looks like Fire Girl made an impression on everyone. Enough for the games to be stopped as she wanted to die. The bitch wanted to die. I could have killed her cleanly – tortured her even – but no. It's all about her and fucking Lover Boy and she just had to be saved. I waved the doctors off and winced as they poked and prodded me. The mutants went after Peeta, not me. I grumbled slightly at the memory of throwing him down, but it got the mutants and Katniss off my back. Then again, what's another death matter?

We finally landed and were whisked off by our prep team. Giana, a plump and grinning woman, pulled me into her arms before I could sit down and get ready for the interviews.

"Hi." I muttered, pushing her off.

"Oh, don't be like that Cato!" She cried out, pushing my ass into the chair. The other nameless people in the team flittered around me, covering scars and scrubbing away at dirt. I grunted when they started tugging at the knots in my hair. They only giggled in response and pulled out scissors in chop off the impossible ones to untangle.

"Katniss, that girl was a fighter." One of them started. I grimaced at the air.

"Wasn't she?"

"Shut up!" I growled. They tittered and stopped talking about that stupid Fire Girl. I tried to doze off to sleep, but then the topic of Lover Boy popped up, because wherever Fire Girl was, Lover Boy was too.

"Peeta was just darling." One of them said wistfully. I felt a sharp pain on my face. Accident, or on purpose, I gritted my teeth in anger. "Oops, sorry!"

"I said, shut up!" I yelled, my eyes snapping open. They gasped and backed off a little, the blue in my eyes shocking them. "Get away from me." I snarled, snatching my suit off of the floor. I got changed quickly and strode out of the room, knowing they wouldn't stop me. Why handle someone that could kill with their bare hands? I stumbled along the endless halls of the hotel, trying to find my way back to my room. The memories of killing, anguished screams, and fire came back to me, as I have been trying to avoid them. I shut them off immediately-something I had learned over the years. Block off the emotions.

A small sob popped the silence as I passed by a slightly ajar door. I rolled my eyes, hearing the familiar lilt to the cries and the voices that tried to soothe her.

"Cinna," Fire Girl cried. "I want him back!"

"I know, Katniss, but he's gone now." The man said warmly. I sighed and rubbed my hair in annoyance. What I would give to have him as a stylist, rather than Giana.

"Who's there?" The voice suddenly shrieked. My instincts kicked in as a plate came sailing out of the door, nicking my forehead as I went down.

"Ow." I grumbled. I looked up to see Cinna looking down on me, with an expression of rage, sadness and pity. I spat at his feet. The pity didn't disappear.

"Why don't you come in, Cato?" He said kindly. I glared at him. Kind people only wanted something for themselves.

"Cato!" I glanced down the hall to see Giana waddling towards me. Without a second thought, I pushed my way past Cinna and shut the door behind me. Fire Girl's sobs had stopped. Good. My ears had had enough for today.

"You," She hissed. "What are you doing here?" I glared at her, but softened as Cinna approached her, pulling her up from the bed. The yellow dress she was wearing made her seem like an innocent girl that had no chance in the Games. But she made it out, alive and scarred. I gave her a hard stare. This girl looked to be too innocent. I saw the angle Cinna was trying to work, and I respected him for it. I couldn't even yell at her without thinking of the kids back home.

"I..." I trailed off. What was I doing here? "I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" She looked defiantly at me, daring me to say it. I'm sorry I killed your boyfriend.

"Know what? Never mind." I stormed out of the room as tears started on her face.

Caesar Flickerman annoyed the fuck out of me. Happy, happy, happy. Sad. Disappointed. Enraged. Tell the man to jump off a cliff for the sake of the show? He would do it. While Katniss slouched over – Katniss, there, your name. Happy? – and wouldn't dare to look at the recap of the Games, Caesar just went mad.

"Katniss, where are you?" He sang. He snapped his fingers in front of her face and looked adoringly at her. I tried not to roll my eyes as I leaned back into the couch. We were on the farthest ends, not daring to let the closest material of clothing touch each other. When I stretched my arm out around the back of the couch, she flinched and turned even more away from me, and the crowd.

"Katniss, now, we miss you!" The crowd yelled in appreciation.

"Well, I miss Peeta, and not much can be done about that, can it?" She snapped.

"Oh, god." I grumbled, hearing the thickness in her voice. She was going to start crying. Great, just fucking great. Caesar looked uncertainly into the crowd, and to President Snow, unsure what to say. The crowd seemed to cry along with her. And there I was, the villain.

"How are you, Cato?"

"Fine."

"Reeling from the victory?"

"Sure." I looked anxiously at Katniss, hoping she wouldn't grab onto the first thing she saw and cry into it – because that would be me. She glared back at me and put her head on the arm of the couch.

"Katniss." I whispered. "Would you please get a hold of yourself?" No reply. Caesar was trying to get the crowd riled up for President Snow's arrival with the crown. I elbowed her sharply. She gasped in pain and I almost apologized, but held it back. We were all a bit sensitive after the games. She was just going to have to deal with it.

"Go away, Cato."

"Katniss."

"Stop calling me Katniss!" She grumbled. "Why Katniss? Why not Fire Girl, like you always did? Just stop acting nice."

"Would you stop being so stubborn?"

"You killed him, Cato. You killed him." Her voice cracked. I turned as Snow put the crowns on our heads, and the interviews ended. When I looked back at the other end of the couch, Katniss was gone.