AN: Summary says it all. Kat, Haymitch and Peeta's reactions to the Quarter Quell announcement. I know that Katniss's part is about twice as big as Haymitch's and Peeta's; sorry about that. This is my first fic, review and tell me if it's horrible!
Katniss runs.
She runs, just as she ran from the mutts in the Games, from the predators in the woods. Only this is something she is entirely unequipped to face. Something she can't take down with a bow and arrow. At least then, she had the option to turn around, to confront her enemy.
She runs, and doesn't realize where she is heading until the fence is only yards from her face. Of course, she went to the woods. It's her safe spot, her one place of solitude. And now the world has taken that from her. Just as it took everything else.
She runs, and for a moment, she considers not stopping at all. Just crashing into the electrified fence. Letting it all end. She would never have to face the nightmares again, never have to hear the screams of the children - the children - she had murdered on her mindless quest for survival.
She runs, but she can't kill herself. She is truly an animal, an untamed, savage beast that obeys only its instincts. Survival is hardwired into her brain. It's all she's ever known, all she's ever tried to accomplish. It's her nature, her reason for being. So she skids to a halt, and turns away.
She runs, and every drop of sweat and tears and blood ever shed in her Games is pursuing her, screaming for vengeance. Because she is going back there, back to the slaughterhouse, the land of murder, and she can't escape them. She always knew she could never forgive herself, but she tried to forget. Now it's clear the Capitol has other plans.
She runs, bursting through a window, shattering the glass and not caring, not even noticing. The nightmares have almost caught up to her, and the end of the crooked stairs she reaches a wall. The primeval scream that has been building up in the back up throat fights its way loose, ripping through her.
She has nowhere left to run.
Haymitch drinks.
He drinks, because drinking numbs. It's his painkiller, his way to ignore the nightmares that seem to have broken all normal nightmare bonds and decided to come during daylight now, even if he's awake. It dulls the memories of his seventeen-year-old self, the murderer. It dulls the memories of the girl who's head was split open by her own axe, the boy who dropped dead with a dart in his back, the girl who's hand he held while she lay with her throat torn open, in a pool of her own blood. He drinks until he can't remember their names.
He drinks, because drinking can get him through anything. He'd seen more kids die than anyone ever should - some of them he had killed himself - but his white liquor got him through it. He depends on it. He's way past the point of no return.
He drinks, because alcohol is his only friend in a world that is constantly betraying him. He was supposed to be safe, safe forever, from the moment they announced his victory. And no matter how bad his life was, no matter how often he drank himself into unconsciousness, he was never supposed to go back to the arena. He doesn't think he can handle it.
He drinks, because drinking is all he's ever done. It's all he knows how to do. For almost a quarter of a century, it's been the reason the nightmares didn't drive him insane.
But then again, isn't he insane already?
Peeta cries.
He cries, out of shock. This is entirely unexpected. Of course, he still has a chance; Haymitch could be picked instead of him. But Katniss... she is going to be a tribute again. In the President's mind, this must be revenge. She started a rebellion, so he's retaliating.
He cries as he makes his decision. He needs to be there, to protect her. He'd do anything for her. So if Haymitch is called, he'll volunteer. Haymitch will be of more use as a mentor, anyways. If both of them work as a team, Katniss might make it out of there alive.
He cries, because inside he is already mourning himself. He's going to his death. Already lost. No, not lost. He has a purpose now. To keep Katniss alive, at all costs. He'll kill himself if it comes down to it, if they're the final two.
He cries, because she might not even make it to the final two. Maybe there won't be arrows in the arena, and she'll be weaponless. Maybe she'll take a knife to the back running towards the Cornucopia. Maybe she'll make an alliance with someone and they'll kill her in her sleep.
He cries, because if she dies, he dies too. He'll kill himself, or just wander around until someone found him and put him out of his misery. It would be easier than life without her. Anything would be easier than life without her.
He cries. Because if Katniss Everdeen is going back into the arena, he is going with her.