Chapter One- Katsa POV

AN: This is a crossover with the books Graceling and Fire. It uses the characters from those books in the Hunger Games universe. Basically you will notice that Katsa has a supernatural ability for combat, and Po is able to hear people's thoughts about or aimed at himself. He can also see everything in a different way where distance doesn't really matter and he can see things behind him however that misses details such as colour. In the next chapter you will be introduced to Fire who is able to enter people's minds to hear what they are thinking as well as alter thoughts and memories, this also includes mind control. I'm almost certain that as long as you know that the story will make sense to someone that has never read those books. Also I have switched around the timelines so that Katniss and Peeta won the 73rd hunger games and it is now the 74th hunger games.

I do not own Graceling or Hunger Games. Thank you for reading.

The house looked abandoned. Maybe house was a bit of an over exaggeration, the unpainted wooden boards that made up the walls had cracks between them where the wind whistled through. Maybe I had mistaken the scream for something else. But then, the unmistakable sound of suppressed sobs.

I think I should help, but maybe I am trying to prove something. Prove that I am not the monster that the capitol made me. Whatever the reason, I take a few steps closer to the shelter. There isn't any door at the entrance; Just a piece of ripped and worn cloth, flapping in the wind. I rip the fabric away. Inside the shack a horror unfolds, only made more terrifying by its reality.

A young black haired girl cowers in the corner as a coal-blackened man stands over a woman lying curled up, bleeding on the ground. As the man notices me he delivers a fierce kick to the back of the woman's neck. She goes limp and the little girl lets out a more audible sob.

It's a horrible thing, but I'm used to this. The woman is obviously dead, but the girl still has time. Before the man can make another move I shove the heel of my hand forcefully up towards his nose. It is a practiced move; I can calculate exactly how much force I need to make it a killing blow or a maiming blow. He drops to the ground to join the woman in death.

I am a monster, but I will be a monster with good intentions.

I know it was the right decision when the little girl looks up at me, not with fear or disgust, but with gratitude. This was not a one-time occurrence.

The little girl opened her mouth.

"Katsa!"

How did she know my name, I had never seen her before? Maybe she had heard of me though. District 12 wasn't a very big place, gossip spreads fast. But if she had heard the rumours, then why wasn't she afraid?

She said my name again, louder this time.

"Katsa! Katsa, wake up!"

Then I jolted awake, my instincts forced me to be instantly alert. The knife I kept under my pillow was in my hand before I realised that I had been having a nightmare. I relaxed as I saw where I was. Light streamed in through the cracks between the walls of our small shack. Not the same shack as in my nightmare, but very similar. Po had already left, probably bartering for our breakfast. The little girl was older now, but still young, 12 years old.

"Bitterblue, what's the matter?"

Usually I was left to sleep until I woke up on my own; then again usually I don't have nightmares that make me sleep past my set wake up time. I guess it's true that it's hard to wake up from a nightmare when it's real.

"The president has another mission for you, and you need to have enough time after that to get ready for the reaping."

Bitterblue just barely bit her thin bottom lip at the mention of the reaping. It was the first time that she was eligible to be picked for the "great honour" of competing in the hunger games. After years without her father's abuse that was still the only amount of weakness she would show, and only to Po or I.

Usually Bitterblue didn't reveal any emotions other than her carefully constructed mask, the fact that her mask had broken just that tiny bit told me that she was terrified. Who wouldn't be?

I pretended that I missed her small show of emotion. Acknowledging her feelings made her feel weak. It was a result of her father's treatment. Sometimes I wished I hadn't killed her father so mercifully.

"Where are the instructions?"

My face was emotionless; I had given up on showing my bitterness at the capitol's absolute control. Bitterblue and I made quite the pair, two seemingly emotionless robots having a conversation. If Po were in the room things would probably be a bit lighter, although with how he feels about my "missions" it might not have been.

In answer to my question Bitterblue handed me a thick piece of paper that was folded down the middle. It had the unmistakeable smell of blood and roses. I unfolded it, the capitol seal was clearly displayed at the top of the page, an eagle spreading its wings. Underneath the embossed image was the president's signature, I didn't doubt it was the real thing, very few people knew about my special job; this classified information would hardly be left in the hands of a secretary.

I was surprised that I had been given a mission today. Law required that I attend the reaping, at 17 years old I could still be reaped. It would probably be somebody close by, either a fellow member of district twelve, or somebody in the outskirts of eleven.

I didn't think I was able to be shocked by a mission anymore; I had punished some surprising people. But I was proved wrong by the words written on this card. Very simple yet specific orders

Find Katniss Everdeen in the third house in victor's village.

Restrain Katniss and any others with her.

Find Primrose Everdeen, break Primrose's arm while Katniss is watching.

Speak only to tell Katniss that she is failing.

Below the writing there were labelled pictures of both Everdeens. President Snow always made his orders easy to follow and without loopholes. When he first found out about my natural abilities and demanded that I become the law enforcement for some of Panem's more difficult cases. I had resisted. He had ordered me to publicly execute someone; I dragged them into the street and snapped their neck. Apparently he wanted more of a show, more blood, and more pain. After that my instructions were specific, like he was ordering around a simple minded fool. I resented that.

I hadn't resisted after that, especially after I met Po and Bitterblue. They were my greatest weaknesses, but I couldn't live without them.

Just as I finished processing what the instructions required, Po walked in. He held a loaf of bread and a small block of cheese. He looked from the piece of paper in my hand to me. My shock must have shown on my face because his smile faded just a little. As he walked in he set down our meal and hugged us both. As he held me, he whispered in my ear.

"Katsa, he can't control you, don't let him."

Of course I knew what he was talking about, but there was no way to actually accomplish this. President Snow had cameras monitoring every district and every person whom he considered a threat. There was no way to disobey. Po knew about the cameras, that is why his little message came during a hug. So why did he need to make me feel worse.

Po cringed, he had heard that one. I angrily projected my thoughts to him.

"And HOW would I escape the President exactly"

He couldn't answer, it might reveal his ability. Po was similar to me.

When I was young, 7 or 8 years old, a peacekeeper had found me. I had been living alone for a long time and was hiding inside a doorway to get out of the rain that was viciously pounding down. He had seen me huddling there, and approached my hiding place. He had knelt down to my level. His eyes were gleaming dangerously, but his words were gentle and sweet. It was a terrifying mixture. I remember he asked me if I wanted to come to his house. He said it was warm there, but then his hand moved to my thigh.

Without thinking I had punched him in the face. The force of the blow was enough that it broke his neck. The next day the President himself appeared to "offer" me training and a job. I was useless to him until I had learned enough not to outright kill people. He brought me back to the capitol. I trained in the training centre, formally used during the hunger games. I stayed in twelve's rooms and ate more food than I could have imagined.

The training started with me trying out the weapons. I mastered them easily with the help of instructors who came in daily. Soon I started fighting people. For a year my only break from training was when the tributes from the games used the facility.

On my last day of training, I remember Snow watching from behind a protective force field. That fight was a particularly taxing exercise. I was unarmed against 6 peacekeepers in full uniform, firing to kill. My supernatural fighting abilities let me anticipate where a bullet would hit, almost before the trigger was pulled. With almost superhuman speed I was able to dodge the bullets that were continually fired in my direction. Every movement was carefully planned, bringing me closer to my opponents

Once I was close enough the real fighting began. For this drill I had been ordered to injure, but not kill the peacekeepers. I dropped to the floor and tripped the first peacekeeper just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet intended for me hit one of his comrades in the shoulder. Their moment of shock allowed me to deliver a quick jab to their temples, knocking them out. The remaining peacekeepers tried to shoot while I was close to the ground. Springing up to my feet, I dodged just in time. I moved behind the closest one and at the same time as he pulled the trigger, I knocked his hand just enough so that it hit another's foot. Those two were quickly unconscious. Seeing that I only used their weapons against them, the last two peacekeepers holstered their guns. In hand to hand combat they were almost too easy to beat. Their uniform made them clumsy, and they couldn't move fast enough to dodge or block my constant attacks.

When I was done I looked up to see Snow watching me with a calculating eye. That day I also had my first mission. Afterwards I no longer lived in the capitol, I didn't have any extra food at the end of a meal and I certainly didn't have a house. I was just a tool to be used and then put back in district twelve until my next use.

That's why they couldn't find out about Po. Po could read any thoughts that were about him. At first this had terrified me, a person who could tell when I was lying. See through my mask and know what I was feeling even when I couldn't. But Po's abilities had limits. He couldn't just see any of my deepest darkest secrets, it had to concern him. He also could "see" things in relation to where he was. Almost like eyes on the back of his head, but without colour. He could see what was behind a wall and could tell which people meant him harm. They were useful abilities, but they could be useful to Snow also.

There wasn't any conversation while I changed into the President-approved, expensive, skin tight black outfit that was reserved for my jobs.

Before I left I kissed Po and told him that we probably wouldn't see each other until the reaping. I forced myself to sound cheerful to ease Bitterblue's worry.

"We can have a celebration after the reaping. I've saved some money for sweets."

My smile probably looked more like a grimace, but I felt like I had reason to not be smiling. Though I would buy some "we're not dying yet" sweets after the reaping.

I left the shack without any further goodbyes. I knew where victor's village was, everybody did. It was the richest part of district 12, with some of the tallest buildings. I could see some of the roofs from where I was standing.

Walking over to the village didn't take enough time. I pushed past the gate slowly, thinking about how this is the first time in a while now that I had really dreaded a mission.

Everyone knew who Katniss and Primrose were. Last year I had stood beside Katniss when she volunteered for Primrose. We were the same age. We used to be in the same class at school, before I was taken out of school by the president. The teachers would always mix up our names. Katsa and Katniss, we even had the same skin tone and hair colour, though my eyes were much more exotic than her gray eyes. I had had one eye green and one eye blue for as long as I could remember.

Now I had to punish her by hurting her sister. If people liked Katniss, then they were in love with little Primrose Everdeen. She was such a sweet girl, growing up with nothing had taught her to be humble, so now that she was rich she didn't gloat. Primrose was kind to people, but anyone who had met her could tell you that she had a hidden knowledge behind her innocent blue eyes.

And now I was going to barge into her house, for no reason other than to cause her pain.

As I approached the door, I systematically removed all emotion from my features and tried to make my mind empty. I could almost pretend that I wasn't angry at the president for ordering this. I could almost pretend that guilt wasn't gnawing away at me. Then I opened the door.

Primrose sat on Katniss' lap on the living room couch. Primrose had tears running down her face and she looked terrified. For a moment I panicked, thinking that she knew why I was here. Then I realised she was probably worried she would be reaped again. This day probably brought back horrible memories for her, the memory of acknowledging her imminent death.

Katniss was singing softly to her little sister. I had only ever heard such beautiful music while watching this same girl sing to a dying child on live television.

Suddenly I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't hurt these people who had already suffered enough. The rope in my hand to use for binding Katniss seemed to be mocking me; the weight in my hand reminding me that I couldn't just turn around and leave. But I had a plan.

I slammed the door shut to get Katniss' attention. She immediately reached for a knife hidden in her boot. I walked calmly to stand in front of the pair. Katniss had moved to a standing position with Primrose behind her.

I moved fast, knee coming up to knock the knife out of her hand following a feinted punch towards her face. As I had hoped my strategy had worked on the first try, knife skidding across the room. Katniss was used to fighting with a bow; she was poorly trained in close combat. But she wasn't done struggling. Katniss hadn't won the hunger games for nothing.

She punched my stomach with surprising power. I didn't even flinch, just grabbed the hand as it moved back towards her, and spun her around in her moment of confusion. As I tied the rope around her wrists I whispered in her ear.

"I am going to pretend to break Prim's arm."

Once the rope was tied, I grabbed Primrose, who was attempting to get help. I murmured a similar warning in her ear and hoped that she was a good actor. Once Primrose was still I turned back to Katniss to fulfill the last requirement of this mission.

"The President wishes you to know that you are failing."

I brought my elbow down onto Primrose's elbow, I made it look like I was holding her arm with her elbow pointing upwards, but in reality the inside of her arm was what I hit and her arm bent naturally, not in the awkward way it appeared to have been forced.

Luckily Primrose had already been crying and it was easy for her to start crying again. She screamed at the same time Katniss shouted her name, which also happened to be when I brought my elbow down. The combined actions of the three of us should reduce the suspicions of my faking a job.

I wouldn't have made this ludicrous plan if I didn't think it would work. The person watching this video most likely had a poor view, or we would have seen the camera, I knew Katniss could act from what I had seen in the games, Primrose already was crying and their mother was a doctor who could put a false bandage on Primroses arm. So why did I feel as if I had just made this huge decision that changed everything?

But I didn't need to think about this anymore. The job had gone quickly. I could probably see Bitterblue and Po before the reaping. I left the house, not bothering to close the door or untie Katniss; just putting as much distance as I could between us.

When I got back to the shack, I found that Po and Bitterblue had already left for the reaping. Snow had already had one of his minions bring the money I had earned from my last mission. I breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought the mission was a success. I put the money under a loose floorboard where we kept anything of value.

I took my long dark hair out of the messy bun that I had used to keep it out of my face during the mission. There would be no elaborate hair do in preparation for the reaping, though I had to change out of my work outfit.

The stretchy black clothing soon joined the money under my feet and I changed into a plain grey blouse and my nicest pair of black pants. I didn't want to stand out, but it was the unofficial rule that you had to wear nice clothes to the reaping. These clothes were about as close to dressed up as I wanted to be. After living in the capitol for a year I had decided that fashion was not my thing.

My sturdy yet flexible boots and loose hair would not change because there was a chance I would fight to the death on television. If I go to the hunger games there is no way they are putting me in a colourful dress to parade me around. I probably wouldn't die if I was in the games, but that didn't mean I was going to pretend it was a celebration like those stuck up capitol fools.

Po always finds those kinds of rants ironic because I always insisted on dressing up Bitterblue. I imagined Bitterblue in her girly knee length blue dress. It brought out her pale blue eyes that were sometimes hidden beneath her straight black hair. I hope she wore that dress, she almost never did. She always had been forced to act like an adult, so to her wearing a dress like that would be childish. It might be hypocritical but I felt like she needed to stop putting up masks around people and regain her missed childhood. Some things were just much easier said than done.

I should have stopped thinking, try to desensitize myself so that I didn't feel anything for the next boy and girl sent off to their deaths. But I couldn't. the day had been too eventful; I can only hope that this year's reaping is uneventful. Somehow even thinking those thoughts made me feel horrible. Today will change people's lives forever, and all I can do is hope I'm not affected.

As I'd been thinking I had started walking into the town square, I hadn't look out of place walking like a zombie, not paying attention to the world around me. Most of the kids I pass don't seem to be paying attention to what's going on around them. I wonder what would happen if I waved my hand in front of their face.

It looked eerie, all these children who looked to be marching to their deaths. But that wasn't true, only two of them would be.

Now it was my turn to have my blood taken. I hardly noticed the pinch as I searched the crowd for Bitterblue and Po. If we were in any other district I probably wouldn't have found them, but here in twelve there weren't many people who made an easy living and for those who didn't it was hard to survive until reaping age. And there they were, searching for me as I had been searching for them. I waved once as I walked to my roped-off age group section.

Po smiled at me as I took my place beside the other 17 year old girls. I gave a small smile back. I was worried for him. There were only two people I had ever loved, Bitterblue…and Po. Bitterblue was like my little sister, or even like a daughter, but Po… he was something more.

"Attention."

I was instantly alert, almost going so far as to jumping at the voice that had broken my thoughts. It was just Effie; trying to get the district's attention.

The only thing that set this year apart from the others is that when Effie called the mentors up to the stage, Peeta and Katniss walked up to the stage. Haymitch didn't get to trip all over Effie this year. Instead, Panem's newest celebrities looked uneasily down at the crowd, wondering which of us would die under their care.

Then it was time for the Mayor's speech. It was the same speech as last year. With the same video. The only one who paid any attention was Effie, in her colourful capitol outfit with a matching wig. This year her outfit was entirely gold, she had been obsessing over the colour since the last games when district twelve had actually won. I guessed it was because of the mockingjay pin that Katniss wore.

All too soon the video was over and Effie was marching over towards the glass orbs. She was cheery as always, standing between the two bowls of names.

"Well than, ladies first!"

Saying that you could hear a pin drop would have been an understatement. I could hear the rapid breathing of more than a few people, others didn't breath at all. I almost told them that suffocating themselves would only cause death faster than being reaped.

Effie dropped her hand gracefully into the first orb. For a moment I understood Effie's constant enthusiasm. She had to convince herself that it was all a game. Who could face the reality that every year they picked two children to gruesomely die while their family watched them on a screen far away from them.

But in a moment that sympathy vanished.

"Bitterblue….I'm sorry but there is no last name…" Effie giggled nervously, confusion written on her face.

I turned to my baby sister, the girl I had found in that bloody shack years ago. I had never understood Katniss' sacrifice before. I had admired it, but never understood it. Until now.

Bitterblue was wearing the blue dress that made her look like a little girl, but with her stony face you couldn't tell how young she really was. She was looking right at me.

"Don't do it Katsa. I don't need your help, there is no childhood for me to lose."

Her voice echoed clear through the silence, nobody so much as moved.

Except for me.

This wasn't a desperate rush like Katniss had.

As Bitterblue looked down at me from the stage I stepped forward. I spoke in a loud whisper but in the silence that seemed to engulf me it was a shout.

"And that is why you are staying here. Because I won't let them send you to die when you haven't even learned to live."

Then louder.

"I volunteer as tribute."

The world had stopped for that single moment, but as always it started moving again, all too fast.

As I took Bitterblue's place, she glared at me. I looked away from her, not wanting to see the unmasked hatred that Bitterblue could show so convincingly. But when I looked away from her, I caught Katniss' eye. She recognised me from our earlier encounter. A look of shock crossed her face before she hid it. I guess we all have our masks.

Effie let out a nervous giggle.

"A volunteer two years in a row! And what is your name?"

I looked over the crowd. Effie shoved the microphone in my face.

"Katsa"

Another giggle escaped Effie.

"Do people not have last names anymore?"

Now I was angry, which was probably dangerous.

"Only if you never met your parents."

That shut her up. That's good, giggling wouldn't have been good for her health. But now she needed to pick a male tribute.

I continued looking over my district's head. I didn't need any admiration, any pity. I just looked straight ahead. From the stage you can just barely see between the shops to the seam. My shack was somewhere over there. I might not ever return.

"Greening Grandemalion"

That snapped me out of my daze. I turned to Effie my face blank.

"Po"

She looked at me, confused.

"His name is Po."

And there he was, making his way up to the stage slowly. I threw my idea at him. He didn't nod his head, but I knew he'd heard me.

We stood so close together, but not touching. Both of us were looking over the crowd's head, neither of us thinking. Thinking was too painful.

Effie wasn't very cheerful anymore. I seemed to have that effect on people.

"Everybody put your hands together for district twelve's tributes... Po and Katsa!"

This was when we were supposed to shake hands, but neither of us held out our hands for the other to take. We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed. We kissed before district twelve, before the cameras, before Panem. Everybody was watching, but for a moment it was just us.

And everything was fine.