A/N: Okay, so here's my idea for my new story. It's really, really AU and it takes place modern day. The POV will switch, but I'll always tell you who's it is. I'll try and explain any climbing terms I use. Ask any questions you wish and I'll do my best to answer them.

Enjoy!

Peeta

16,900 feet. Or 5,150 meters for you metric system people. That's the elevation of the base camp on the northern side of Mt. Everest, in Tibet. About three miles above sea-level. It's incredibly daunting, yet purely exhilarating.

My name is Peeta Mellark, and I've just arrived at Everest Base Camp. I'm here to climb, and hopefully to summit the tallest peak on earth. To stand at the roof of the world, knowing nobody is higher than me as I look out at the same height that jetliners fly at.

I trudge into the makeshift village – one of the highest human settlements in the world – exhausted from the journey it took to just get to this point. A lot of people make it to base camp and decide they're done – that making it here was enough of an accomplishment in itself.

I've been a climber since I can remember. I grew up in a tiny town in northwestern Maine called Panem. We were right on the Appalachian Trail so I met a lot of hikers as a kid. I was always fascinated by the mountains. My first 'summit' was when I was five – my dad took me to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. I was hooked. I'm sure my dad wanted me to be a baker like him, and I do love to bake, but now, at twenty-five, I've spent the last eight years of my life traveling the world, eking out sponsorships and pro deals just to climb the next peak.

I walk through the camp, looking for the tent that is the base of operations for Haymitch Abernathy, who I'm paying thousands of dollars to help get me up the mountain. It's nearly impossible to climb Everest on your own. In 2006, a young British climber died not far from the summit because he lacked a support system. Many climbers stopped to try and help him, but they would have killed themselves trying to get him off the mountain. It's basically a law when you come to Everest – if you can't get yourself off the summit, you're not getting off it.

Haymitch Abernathy is organizing this year's summit push with only seasoned climbers. He only accepts clients who have extensive mountaineering and climbing experience, and all of us have been in the 'death zone', or above 26,000 feet, before.

I see the American flag fluttering in the wind, and I know I've arrived. I walk into the command tent and sling my pack off.

"Hey, Haymitch," I say tiredly. He's at a laptop, no doubt looking at weather reports.

"Hey kid, you made it," he replies without looking.

I've known Haymitch for a few years. I met him in South America when I was climbing Aconcagua, the highest mountain on the continent (and the tallest mountain outside the Himalaya). My climbing partner came down with High Altitude Pulmonary Edema, or HAPE, and Haymitch hooked me up with another partner. He's been my friend ever since.

"Yeah, nice place you got here," I say sarcastically.

"Don't tell that to the Sherpas," he warns gravely.

The Sherpa people, born and bred in the Himalaya, are the backbone of any expedition on Everest. Their physiques are genetically bred for the mountains. They're short and wiry, unlike the tall and bulky Westerners who come here to climb. They climb faster, their bodies absorb more oxygen naturally, and they just happen to be some of the nicest people on the planet. I can't wait to work with them. One of the first two men to summit Everest, Tenzing Norgay, was a Sherpa. He and Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand conquered what the locals call Chomolungma, or Holy Mother, in 1953.

"Who else is on the team?" I ask Haymitch as I sit next to him. I look at the monitor and see he's looking at the wind speeds of various points on the mountain.

"The O'Dairs," he tells me. Annie and Finnick O'Dair are probably the most famous climbers in the world, considering their day job is being Hollywood A-List actors. But they've proven that the climbing world's first impression of them is completely wrong. They're both strong, capable, smart climbers who I'd have on my rope team any day.

"Great. They're always fun to climb with," I chuckle, remembering last year when Finnick and I shared a tent on Mount Vinson Massif, in Antarctica. I can't remember laughing that hard in my life.

"Yeah. Johanna Mason's here too."

Johanna Mason is one of those hard-nosed, no-nonsense, get to the summit at any cost climbers. She chooses her climbing partners very carefully. I've never personally been on an expedition with her before, but I've heard good things about her capabilities.

"I've met her before, but never climbed with her," I reply.

Haymitch grunts sarcastically.

"She's got a mouth on her, that one," he reminisces. "She brought her climbing partner with her."

"Who's that?"

"Gale Hawthorne."

"Oh," I respond. Everyone knows who Gale Hawthorne is. He's been on the cover of Outdoor Magazine like ten times. I'd never say it to his face, of course, but the scuttlebutt is he's only in it for the glory, for the recognition. Not the kind of person I'd want to climb with.

"So is that it? Me, the O'Dairs, Hawthorne and Mason?" I ask.

"No, kid. There's one more climber here. And they're going to be your partner up the mountain," Haymitch says, weirdly excitedly.

"And that is….," I prompt.

He turns to me, sarcastic grin plastered on his unshaven face.

"Katniss Everdeen."

Katniss

Ugh, I can't believe Gale's here. He used to be my climbing partner until it became apparent to me he cared way more about himself and his accomplishments than being technically sound or watching out for fellow climbers. I climb because I want to, because I love it. Because when I stand on top of a mountain, I know that I got myself there, nobody else.

I stopped climbing with Gale three years ago, and have gone on mostly by myself since. I find climbing in solitude to be relaxing, peaceful. Too bad Haymitch won't let me go up Everest alone. I tried, of course, but he wouldn't budge.

I'm happy Finnick and Annie are here. At least they'll make this fun, and they're always good people to have on your team. They'd give up their summit bid in a heartbeat if anyone was in trouble, they're just built that way. I have no doubts that Gale would continue on, not even stopping, intent on gaining personal glory.

I walk into the command tent and I see Haymitch in conversation with somebody I haven't seen in my two days at base camp. Their back is turned to me, so I have no idea who they are, though I can tell they're probably a male around my age. Maybe it's the final member of our team that we've been waiting for. Haymitch refused to tell me who that is.

I should probably tell you how I ended up here. I'm from a tiny, one horse town in the middle of nowhere in Maine called Panem. I grew up with mountains and woods all around me. I just always felt more at home outdoors than anywhere else. It didn't matter if I was hiking, or canoeing across Flagstaff Lake, or just running around in the snowdrifts. I am never more happy than when I'm living with everything I need to survive on my back. So, eventually, I turned that into a career. I guide occasionally, and get sponsorships and pro deals so I can climb what I want. And right now, I want to climb Everest.

My dad died when I was eleven. He was a logger, a lumberjack, like most men in upstate Maine. He was crushed when a log fell out of a grappler. I still remember the preacher coming up the front steps and telling my mom, and how she collapsed right there at the door. She was never the same.

From that day, I had to provide for my mom and my little sister, Primrose, or Prim. At first, that meant hunting, fishing and foraging like my dad had taught me. But that doesn't help much in the middle of winter when game is scarce and there's just about nothing to forage. Not to mention the lake being frozen over.

Then, one day, I found two hot, fresh loaves of bread at our doorstep. No note, nobody standing there, just two loaves that represented life. Every single week after that, I would find two loaves waiting for me. I never saw who dropped them off, but I had a pretty good idea. The baker had a son around my age, I think his name was Peeta. I used to see him at school, but I never talked to him. I never gained the courage to ask him if he was our mysterious savior, then we both left home at around eighteen.

I've heard of Peeta Mellark in passing over the years, finding out that like me, he's a climber. We've been in the same places a few times but never met up, never talked. There's always been a part of me that wants, no needs, to find out if it was him who saved us.

Anyways, back to base camp. I take a seat at one of the other laptops and scan over the weather reports. Everest only lifts her skirt a few weeks out of the year, allowing a lucky few a shot at her summit. We have to hit the mark on the right day at the exact right time, or we could die. Easily.

I can just hear Haymitch speaking to the mystery climber. He's telling him who's on the team, so I assume my guess about him being the sixth and last member is correct. Then, I hear him say my name.

"Katniss Everdeen."

My head snaps and looks towards them, but both their heads are still turned.

"Yeah?" I call out gruffly.

They both slowly turn towards me, and I scowl at Haymitch for no real reason other than its fun to. Then my gaze turns to the person next to him. My jaw instantly drops and I can't find any words.

"P – P – Peeta Mellark?" I manage to stammer out.

"Katniss Everdeen?" He stammers in a similar fashion.

We both end up nodding like idiots at each other.

"Well it looks like you two already know each other," Haymitch says sarcastically. "Great."

"We're from the same town," Peeta explains without breaking eye contact with me. I hope he never does. Wait, what?

"Good, that's fantastic," Haymitch says in the same tone.

"Shut up Haymitch," I grumble.

"Oh calm down sweetheart," he waves me off. "You and the kid are going to have plenty of time to stare at each other."

"Why's that?" I ask, frustrated.

"Because you're climbing partners, of course!" He grins evilly at both of us.

Peeta

Oh my god. I can't believe it. Katniss Everdeen. Katniss Everdeen, the girl I've loved since I was probably five years old, is sitting not five feet from me. And Haymitch is telling me she's my climbing partner. That means I'm going to spend more time with her in the coming weeks than anyone else.

I hope I don't look like an idiot, because I can't take my eyes off her. But, granted, she's also staring at me, neither of us speaking.

Haymitch slaps me hard on the back.

"You'll be fine, kid," he says casually. "Katniss is one of the best in the world."

"I know," I nod. It's true. She is.

"And Peeta is one of the strongest climbers on the planet, Katniss," he tells her seriously. "I wouldn't have let him on this team unless I had complete faith in his abilities."

"I know," she repeats my sentiment. I feel incredibly proud knowing that Katniss thinks I'm a good climber.

"So you two take some time and, well, I guess reacquaint. It's going to be a long slog to the summit kids." With that, Haymitch smirks at us and exits the tent, leaving me and Katniss staring at each other, neither of us with any clue of what to say.

"Um, hi?" I say, more of a question than a statement. She chuckles lightly.

"Hi, Peeta," she replies.

A/N: I've had this idea for a while, and I just felt like writing it. I know it's majorly AU, but I think it's going to be quite interesting seeing how their relationship progresses under such high stress situations. And not to mention, Gale Hawthorne happens to be a member of the team as well.

A few notes about climbing and its culture:

The 'Death Zone' is any height above 26,000 feet. This only occurs on a few mountains in the world, Everest and K2 among them. Once above that height, your body is so starved for oxygen it literally starts eating your muscles and flesh to try to keep you going. That's why MOST climbers use bottled oxygen at this height and above. Some 'purist' climbers, like Reinhold Messner (the first man to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen) don't use it, but they're freaks of nature. Once in the death zone, you have a MAXIMUM of about 48 hours before you're dead unless you descend.

The South Side of Everest is more famous, as it's the route Hillary and Norgay took in 1953, but I decided to use the North Side. Don't ask me why, I just did. Ha.

Sugarloaf is a real mountain in Maine (I've bagged the peak at least five times) that's not very hard to climb. If you look at a map, I envision this fictional version of Panem to be in the general area of Eustis, Maine.

Aconcagua and Vinson Massif are the highest mountains on their continents, as is Everest. From this, we can assume Peeta is attempting to complete the 'Seven Summits', summiting the highest peak on each continent. We'll learn more about Katniss' climbing history as we go on.

I'm trying to keep some of the backstory from THG intact, like having them come from Panem, Peeta's dad being a baker, Katniss' dad dying, etc. I hope it works well.

Please let me know if you liked it, as it was a lot of fun for me to write. Climbing is probably my biggest passion in life (behind writing Fan Fiction, obviously), so this one is close to my heart.

Thanks for reading! Please Review!