A/N: Here it is, guys! The kick start to the sequel of It's a Jungle Out There! I would strongly recommend reading that first before you try this one if you're new.

I know some people weren't happy with how the first story ended and I respect your decisions regarding whether to continue or not. I would also like to avidly apologize for the rant at beginning of the final chapter. I shouldn't have involved anyone else in what was going on and it was very childish of me to do so.

Onto a happier note! I hope to see some familiar faces from It's a Jungle Out There and I hope you enjoy this first chapter! :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.

Broken Winged Birds that Cannot Fly

Chapter One

Agony rips through my body. Like a sledgehammer is being slammed into my gut repeatedly. Again and again and again. I scream until my throat is raw, clawing at my belly as I'm wheeled through endless white corridors. I try to lift my head but it's so heavy I can only manage a couple of centimetres but it drops down heavily again. Every time I try, I catch a glimpse of scarlet red blood coating the white sheets beneath me.

I grab the paramedic's arm with a sweaty hand. "What's happening?" I beg to know. She doesn't answer me. Her eyes are focused straight in front of her, no expression on her face besides indifference.

I'm wheeled into an operating room. There's a doctor waiting there for me, a mask obscuring most of his face. He looks old but I can't tell for sure what he looks like. The paramedics push me down by my chest and I feel two hands grab my ankles, forcing my legs apart to assess the damage beneath. My chest heaves as I fight for breath, my eyes frantically searching the ceiling for an answer to what is happening to me.

The loss of blood is making me dizzy. The room is spinning; so fast I feel like I'm going to fall off the bed. My throat is too sore to voice anything over than mild distress, the only sound leaving me being broken whimpers and cries. My baby. What's wrong with my baby?

I look to the woman I had grabbed before. She looks at me as well. Her piercing green eyes pin me down and the room slows down a little as she removes her mask. My heart lurches into my throat as Glimmer stares down at me, a sly smirk burned into her features. "Time to get the little one out now," she purrs at me before bursting into maniacal laughter.

The other paramedics remove their masks. Cato. Gale. Marvel. All of them staring at me like I'm a meal they're about to devour like wolves. I scream and lash out, beating them with my bloodied fists. It doesn't bother them. In fact it makes them laugh even more. I force myself to sit up. If they're the paramedics, then who . . . ?

The doctor sitting between my legs lifts his eyes to meet mine. Nausea sweeps over me as I recognize the beady, snakelike eyes. He too pulls off his mask and I'm staring into the face of Principal Snow. "Now Miss Everdeen, I think it's about time you started to push, hmm?" he says.

I wrench my feet out of his grasp and lash out blindly. They all laugh at me. Their amusement building into a deafening harmony until I can't hear anything besides their sick satisfaction-

"Katniss, it's time to get up!"

Mum's voice jolts me awake. I interrupt her with a gasp of surprise and I nearly fall out of bed in shock. I grab the edge of my mattress and cling on, my fingers digging into the material as I desperately try not to fall. I pull myself back up onto the bed and look around my room, expecting to see all the blood and the mocking faces of my enemies. Instead I see my four walls and cluttered floor. No blood. No enemies. No hospital.

I fall backwards onto my bed and cover my face. I've been having nightmares like this ever since I found out I'm pregnant. It's only the end of October-I'm only a month and a few weeks into it-but dreams of labour have been haunting me ever since.

Next week is autumn break and it couldn't come along sooner. I've only been back to school after my suspension for a couple of weeks but it's felt like forever. Nobody knows that I'm pregnant. I'm keeping quiet about it for as long as I can. The only people who know are Peeta and my friends. Anyone outside of that is a threat. I'm getting enough shit right now at school, I don't need any slut shaming. I'm not an idiot. I know that's what will happen when they find out.

Marvel doesn't even know about it. I've been contemplating telling him but I don't know how he will react. I'm sure he's suspicious. Especially after the phone call about the condoms. I've been considering hiding it from him and just giving the baby away when it's born. I can't see Marvel being particularly keen to go against me in this regard so I don't know why I'm putting off telling him. Maybe I'm just being a coward.

I drag my leg out of bed and stand up, stretching myself out so all my bones crack into place. My leg is in a brace now and I don't need crutches to walk. I still move with a laboured limp but it's easier than hobbling around with the crutches. I'm still seeing Doctor Aurelius and taking my pills, just not as regularly. Apparently, I'm making excellent progress. I don't know how because I don't feel like it. In fact, I feel like I'm regressing more than I'm progressing.

In the bathroom, I plop onto the toilet and grab the black bags out from under the sink. It's a bitch having to knot bags over my leg every morning but it's better than the alternative. Besides, I get to sit on a stool now when I shower. It may sound lazy of me but the aid is greatly welcomed.

As the hot water splatters my hair and body, I think about school. About how my friends and I have made a pact to bring down Principal Snow before Senior year ends. How do we expect to do it? I have no idea. I'm glad I've gotten my act together and switched to the good side of the pond. The people who I used to consider as the dwellings of 'Loser's End' are actually extremely nice people. And they're overwhelmingly clever. Without them, I would be in this alone. I'm greatly thankful for their support.

I grab a bowl of cereal and sit down at the islet in the kitchen after my shower, where Prim already sits eating toast. She's already off on her Halloween Holidays. In Middle School you get two weeks whereas Principal Snow only sanctioned one week for us. It's not enough to get him taken down for but we've made a note of it, just in case it comes in handy later.

"Where's Mum?" I ask as I sit down.

"She's on the day shift so she left while you were showering." Prim pushes the milk closer to me so I can add it to my cereal. "How'd you sleep?" she asks over a bite of chocolate spread toast.

"Alright," I mumble, sounding exhausted and contradictory to the answer I give.

"I heard your bed creaking a lot. Thought you might be having a nightmare or something," Prim says.

I shake my head and rub my eye with the heel of my hand. "Nah, I'm fine. Just the usual silly things, you know?" I say. Wanting to get off the topic of my dreams, I ask, "Any plans for today?"

"Rory and I are going to catch a bus to the Capitol," Prim explains. She sucks chocolate off her thumb and dives back into her toast.

"Rory?" I repeat dumbly. "As in Rory Hawthorne?"

"Mmm-hmm. He got transferred to my class," says Prim. "He's really cool. We're going to go pick out Halloween Costumes for Rue's party this weekend."

Rory Hawthorne is Gale Hawthorne's brother. I don't know him very well. All I can hope is that he isn't like his big brother. Judging from how different Prim and I are, this is thankfully entirely reasonable to hope for. I don't even know what I'm doing for Halloween yet. Cashmere is having a party, I know this much. However, ever since I started dating Peeta and hanging out with his friends I have become unwelcome at all of her parties. It doesn't matter to me. If she can't accept Peeta as my boyfriend then I don't want to attend her shitty party anyway.

The kettle clicks as the water boils. I swivel on my seat to get it but Prim waves me off and gets it herself. "You be careful with him," I say. "His big brother is in my year and he's"-

"A douchebag, I know," Prim says. She pulls two mugs out of the cupboard, dropping a tea bag into one and coffee granules into the other. "Rory says Gale is a bit of a prick. He apparently dates this super annoying girl called Glimmer. Rory says she has this ugly voice and wears so much make up she looks like Miranda Sings half the time."

I snicker over my cereal bowl. Even Gale's siblings don't like Glimmer. Absolutely brilliant. "Well, as long as you know what you're doing," I tell her, still trying not to laugh about Rory's description of Glimmer. "Don't make the mistakes I did."

"Oh trust me, I won't," says Prim as she pours the water into the mugs. She turns around and hands me my coffee. "You don't have to tell me twice. It seems that some boys are wind up merchants and others are just complete idiots. I don't even know how you could sleep with a guy who was dim enough to believe that you could poke holes into your condoms without consequence."

"It's more complicated than that," I mutter. The coffee warms my belly and I feel it already taking effect on my senses. Theoretically you're supposed to drink coffee and have a fifteen minute nap for it to work properly but I don't have time for that. I need to be heading off to school soon. I'm allowed under 200mg of coffee a day (two cups of instant coffee) and it won't harm the baby in any way. I'm thankful for that because without coffee, I'd be a grumpy zombie and there'd be no hiding that I'm pregnant.

"What do you want to dress up as?" I ask Prim.

"We're thinking of maybe doing couples costumes," Prim explains. When I raise my eyebrows at her, she zips her lips at me. "Our priority is the Joker and Harley Quinn."

"Harley Quin?" I turn my nose up as an image of the character comes into my head. "Isn't that costume a bit . . . revealing?"

Prim rolls her eyes. "I'm the Joker and he's Harley Quinn!" she insists.

"Oh." I frown. "What?"

"Some bet he has with the guys in our class. He has to wear a female costume," Prim shrugs. "I wouldn't wear it on my life but I'm definitely up for being the Joker!"

Well, that's not so bad then. I'm not entirely fond of the idea of my sister parading around a party dressed in a skin tight costume. I know she has to experience the consequences of things herself but a party full of possibly drunk kids is not a good time for a learning experience. Especially when Prim is blue eyed and innocent. Prim is smart but there's some things smarts can't save.

I down the rest of my coffee and shoulder my satchel as I stand up. "I'll have to go now. I'll see you later."

"Bye, have fun!" says Prim.

"You too," I reply at the door.

The walk to school is nice. The weather this morning isn't too brutal so I'm not going to get blown over or slip on some puddle. It's been getting brighter and warmer since the storm at Homecoming weekend but I think it might just be the build-up before the winter drop. Where temperature plummets and ice begins to settle everywhere. The leaves are already beginning to turn to mulch on the ground. The crisp orange phase is beginning to pass to the 'everything is dead' phase.

I've sworn to myself that I must keep fit. I can't let my pregnancy make me lazy. I've seen what happens to women who think they can lounge around and 'eat for two', thinking their weight will drop off again once they've given birth. I'm due in May, meaning there's a still a chance I can cheerlead at the last game of the season in June. My leg is predicted to be healed around February but by then I'll be showing and there will be no hiding that I'm pregnant so trying to immediately get back on the squad then will not be possible. I just have to maintain my body mass intake and stay as fit as I possibly can until the end.

Clove is waiting for me at the school gates. She too has lost the respect of many of the 'popular' students because she stands by me and my decisions. She could give less of a damn like me but I hate the fact that I've dragged her down with me.

"I am exhausted," I say, leaning against the gate for a minute to catch my breath.

"Didn't sleep well?" Clove asks.

"Bitch of a nightmare," I answer, "but I was asleep for all of it."

"Couldn't your mum have given you a lift into school?" Clove asks as we enter the school building.

"She's been on earlys," I explain. "She leaves before I'm even dressed. Besides, the exercise will do me good."

We grab our books out of our lockers and don't linger around the corridor. We go straight to form period so I have somewhere to sit down. My legs practically collapse out from underneath me as I sit at my table. I'm mid-way through my first trimester and I'm constantly feeling like I'm going to pass out. The only teacher in the school who knows about me is Miss Trinket. My mother came into the school and had a private conversation with her about the situation. I don't mind Miss Trinket knowing. She's one of the very few teachers-alongside Mr Abernathy-who are genuinely alright.

Miss Trinket pulled me aside when I came back after my suspension. We had a talk after class about what the school can do to help me (and by school, I know she means just her because I'm 100% sure that if Principal Snow knew I'd be on my own). I've been given a toilet pass and I'm allowed to drink as much water as I need during class. Since Miss Trinket also teaches P.E, she allows me to be excused from it and swaps my study skill class for a 30 minute session of 'gentle exercise' that she will take me through step by step.

When Peeta comes into class I try to perk up. He has a tendency to worry about me in the same way I worry about him. We're like mother hens towards each other in that regard. He kisses me-earning some scoffs in the background-and asks, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. A little tired. You?" I reply.

"Pretty much the same," Peeta says. He pulls a seat over to Clove and I's table and sits. He opens his satchel and hands me his food diary. Peeta's doctor told him that he must keep a food diary and keep track of what he's eating to ensure he's getting enough calories to gain and maintain a healthy weight. He's supposed to show it to a family member so they can revise it and make sure he's doing okay but Peeta was uncomfortable with doing it with any of his siblings or his mother. He would have asked his dad to do it but I think his dad would have discussed it with his mother which would have defeated the purpose of keeping it from her. So Peeta asked me to do it. And I'm honoured to help in whatever way that I can.

My eyes skim the diary. Last night he ate a poached egg with toast and this morning he had cereal for breakfast. I nod my approval and close the book, smiling at Peeta with delight. "Good job," I say. "No red stars for a while now!" The red stars represent a meal that he couldn't stomach and forced back up. There hasn't been any stars marked for a week now.

"Yeah, it's kind of getting easier," Peeta replies sheepishly.

"I think I can even see some muscle coming back," Clove says, playfully punching Peeta's arm.

"Now I know you're just kidding around with that one," Peeta smiles back.

Clove blows on her knuckles and rubs them against her shirt. "I speak the truth and nothing but!" she declares dramatically.

"Except when you're caught selling beer to the Freshmen," I remind her with a grin. "Then it's all 'oh, I thought it was ginger ale'!"

"Can it Everdeen, I'm making a point." Clove sticks her tongue out at me childishly. I stick my tongue back out at her.

Miss Trinket calls Clove over to talk about her recent bleep test results. Peeta takes my hands in his and asks, "How are you really feeling?"

I shrug. "Shitty," I admit. Peeta can spot a lie from a mile off. "I've been having these horrible nightmares." I lower my voice to a whisper. "About going into labour and the birth."

Peeta nods his understanding. He strokes the top of my hand with the pad of his thumb and it's extremely relaxing. "Do you have an appointment with a midwife yet?" he asks quietly.

"Yeah, my mum made one for me," I reply. "It's on Friday at 4:00."

"Well, that's good then," Peeta says. "You can get all the information you need from them."

I nod. The appointment with the midwife will apparently get me started on a long list of things I must do during this first trimester. I'm already behind since I didn't figure out I was pregnant until midway through. I'll be hitting the second trimester in December and I haven't even started anything I'm supposed to have done yet.

"Peeta?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you come with me?" I ask. "I'm supposed to bring the father but I can't bear to tell Marvel yet because I don't trust him. He'll tell everyone and I'm not ready for that."

Peeta's eyes shone with concern. "Am I allowed? Since I'm not . . . ?"

"Oh yeah, of course you are. It's not like you're intruding or anything. I can bring anyone I like, it's just the first choice is usually the dad," I quickly explain.

Peeta then smiles. "Then of course I'll come with you," he says.

I lean forward and hug him. He wraps his arms around me and gives me a squeeze. I'm content to just stay this way. My face seated perfectly in the crook of his neck. My nose buried in his collarbone. My hands hooked around him. Bodies nearly pressed together. It so relaxing, so nice, I feel like I could almost fall asleep-

Something cold suddenly engulfs me and I scream in shock. Peeta and I jump apart and I realize with horror that I'm drenched in something sticky. I spin around and see Glimmer standing a bit away from us with an empty cola cup in her hand.

"Stop with the humping, you're making us sick," she spits.

I move to stand up and fire something back at her but Peeta grabs my arm and holds me tight. I look at him with fire in my eyes but he shakes his head in this tiny minute way that only I can see. I slacken. I promised him I'd stop baiting Glimmer and company. I have to become the bigger person.

"Glimmer!" Miss Trinket yells. "What was that all about?"

"The loser twins were imprinting on each other," Glimmer snaps. "It was making me feel nauseous."

"Go to Principal Snow's office now!" Miss Trinket shouts.

Glimmer shrugs and chucks her cup away behind her as she leaves. The rest of the class are snickering in amusement. Peeta pulls a packet of tissues out of his pocket and hands it to me to dry my face with. He wipes himself down as well. We both know that Glimmer won't get punished. It's almost become a routine now.

Clove returns to the table, looking like a bull about to rampage a small village. "I'm going to fucking strangle that bleached bitch," she mutters.

"It's okay, Clove," says Peeta. "It's honestly not worth it."

"Yeah. No one got hurt. We're okay," I add. My clothes are already beginning to stick to me and the smell is making me feel nauseous myself. I stick my hand up. "Miss Trinket, can I use the bathroom?"

"Of course, Katniss," Miss Trinket replies.

"Do you need someone to come with you?" Clove asks quietly.

I shake my head. "No, I'm fine."

I stumble out of the room and run to the bathroom. Thankfully it's empty as I throw myself into the nearest cubicle and upchuck my breakfast. The smell of vomit fills my nose and throat and I have to force myself not to cry. This is how my life is going to be for the next eight months. I have to learn to deal with it.

A/N: I am currently doing some research regarding pregnancy so I can make Katniss' journey as accurate as possible. This story won't revolve around the fact that she's carrying a baby but it's something that also can't be ignored at the same time until it's been nine months.

Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)