Updated*

"What do you mean I'm in America? America was destroyed a hundred years ago.."

I was going to lose it. If I wasn't confused and discombobulated enough from being drugged twice and sold into slavery, being told I was residing in a country that for all intents and purposes was nuked to oblivion probably did the trick.

"Um... Sorry I guess it's technically called New America. That's probably how it appears on your maps back in Panem." Peeta said.

New America…I didn't even know such a place existed until just this second. I always figured that there were other countries that must have made it through the final devastation but I never dedicated much time to thinking about it. All we were taught in school about geography were the locations of the cities in what used to be called North America and why those individual districts survived the final devastation. I guess in a dictatorial society it's not in the country's best interests to teach their youth about other areas that survived, lest they decide to escape or worse revolt. It's clear that the other countries didn't feel that way. There couldn't be too hostile of a relationship between the two countries if "Americans" were allowed to visit Panem… What was life like in America? Was it safe? Was there freedom?

I looked up and realized I had been quiet for a while now and it seemed Peeta was waiting for a response. I had never been good with words being able to show my emotions with my actions instead. Now I didn't know how to phrase the myriad of questions going through my still foggy brain. I wanted to ask about New America. I wanted to know what he knew of Panem, how I got here, and if I could find out if my family was safe. I wanted to know, but wouldn't dare ask, about him and what he expected of me. He said he wouldn't hurt me and that I shouldn't worry. He said that I could trust him. But being someone who doesn't trust easily, I wasn't going to start now with this complete stranger. So in the end all I said was,

"Can I have some water?"

"Oh! Of course, how rude of me for not offering you must be hungry too. It's a long trip I'll have the staff bring up a tray for us for lunch." He moved across the room and started touching a flat screen light panel installed in the wall. I took the time to notice the small things about him. He moved with a slight limp that somehow added to the gracefulness of his gate instead of detracting from it. He was tall with wide shoulders and a strong chest. His blonde hair was wavy, falling over his eyes every so often, until he pushed them back with his long fingers. His hands were large and I could easily see some calluses on them. I found this exceedingly interesting; his clothes were of the finest quality I had ever seen and based on my surroundings it's clear he lives a life of luxury. So why would someone as wealthy as him have the hands of a workman?

I was forced to pause my casual perusal of him as he turned towards me and I finally made eye contact with him. He was beautiful. He had the bluest eyes I have ever seen, with different shades of the color coming together in a stunning harmony. I couldn't tear my gaze from them, I only realized I had been holding my breath when I felt myself audibly exhale. I was terrified that I may have sighed. I never sighed. With that thought, I felt my cheeks heat and I finally managed to tear my gaze from his.

"I ordered lunch for both of us. It should be here in the next half hour or so. I know you probably want to have a chance to relax. If you'd like to take a shower before lunch, my bathrooms right through that door. I'll get you a towel." Peeta said.

I just nodded a thank you and made my way to get off the bed towards the door he pointed at. I forgot about the pull from my ankle until it was too late. I moved too quickly and felt a shock shoot up my right leg stemming from my ankle cuff. I must have cried out because the next thing I knew Peeta was by my side looking at me with a worried expression. He saw me grasping my leg and ran his warm hand gently from above my knee down to my ankle. That's when he noticed the cuff. When he touched the golden exterior of the bracelet it let out a slight shock and he quickly pulled his hand away. His gaze met my eyes as he said "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you're not wearing this as a fashion statement." I nodded in confirmation and watched as he turned away from me and looked at a golden folder sitting on his nightstand. I hadn't really noticed the folder before now I just assumed it was his. On second glance however I could see the crest of Panem embedded in the thick paper.

Peeta opened the folder and began reading in silence. I watched his eyes rapidly scan the pages found inside and flip through them carefully. Every so often he would look up at me with an expression I couldn't quite decipher. Just when I gathered up the courage to ask him what he was reading he pulled out a disk and set down the folder. "Well that explains a lot." I wanted to ask him what it explained and if it had information about me in it. I wanted to know about what was in store for me as slave to the man standing before me. In the end I was too nervous to say anything so I just looked up at him with the questions in my eyes. He seemed to have read a few questions right off my face because he said, "You don't know anything about this, do you? Do you remember signing any documents before you got here? Do you remember what was written in them?" I shook my head no. I hadn't remembered what it said and truth be told I hadn't eaten for two days at the time I read the document. I have to admit I didn't pay close enough attention to the fine print. I was desperate to do whatever it took to feed Prim who was getting dangerously thin in the harshest winter we had ever experienced in the city. I had rushed through the document and signed the dotted line. I ran home with the large food rations provided immediately for those who signed the contract on the same day. Hearing Prim's laughter as she ate a hearty chicken stew that night was the last thing I remembered of home.

"What did it say?" I asked him quietly. I was worried now that in my haste to fix a smaller problem I had willingly created an exceedingly larger problem for myself. Peeta sat down on the bed again and looked at me closely he seemed to be weighing how much he should tell me. "It had everything in it. I know now that your Katniss Rose Everdeen, 20 years old, AB negative blood type. I know that your family has a history of lung disease from your father's side. I know your mother suffers from depression and your sister Prim suffers from moderate malnutrition and has a severe calcium deficiency." My eyes widened as he spoke. I flinched when he mentioned Prim. He looked at me to make sure I was still listening and then he continued, "The golden cuff on your ankle serves many purposes. It's a honing device; complete with a navigator, so I can know where you are at all times. It has a security system built in that can limit you within a set radius. It seems it is currently set on a four-foot radius. That's why you can't get off the bed without getting shocked. It also has a thousand other little programs in it to make it impossible for you to even breathe without me noticing." With that he sighed and ran his hand though his hair, " The folder also has your birth certificate, your report cards from elementary, middle and high school, and what seems to me as every document proving you exist. Essentially Katniss, when you signed the contract you agreed to have all the documents placed in this folder and sold your right to control your life." He looked up at me with sadness in his eyes over what I was not sure. I should be the one in a perpetual state of grief not him. From where I was sitting this was fantastic news for him. He could legally do whatever he wanted with me or to me with no one to stand in his way. The fact that he wasn't overjoyed left me with a strange feeling, there was something I was missing. I watched as he got up and stuck the small disk he had taken out of the folder into the wall adjacent to the flat screen panel he had used to order lunch. For the next few minutes I watched in silence as he touched things on the screen I could not see. I let his words from earlier sink in, and came to the conclusion that everything he told me was more or less what I thought I was signing up for. I didn't really take the time to digest the information enough to understand the ramifications of signing that document. My mind rapidly went through the thousands of scenarios I could find myself in, all of them occurring with me defenseless. I was curious as to how Peeta would treat me knowing this new information.

Up until this point he has been nothing but polite and hospitable, treating me as a guest instead of the poor slave I actually am. When I raised my head I looked up into the face of my new master, the man who controlled my fate. He had walked over to me without me realizing. My senses must be dulled from fatigue, and I felt his large hand slowly lift my chin towards him. Fearing that I would see a new cruelty or malice in his eyes I was surprised and relieved to find the same sweetness in his gaze.

"I adjusted the radius on your ankle cuff. I was only able to adjust it to the confines of my suite but for today that should be enough. It's probably safer this way anyways for now." He gave me a small half smile before moving to lift the folder once more. Without pausing in his stride he walked over to one of the landscape paintings and pushed it up revealing an electric keypad. Peeta typed a code into the pad and the painting seemed to vanish into the wall, Peeta then pressed in another code onto what seemed like blank wall to reveal a handle. He placed his hand on the handle and a blue light glowed from the handle to scan his hand before opening up to reveal the interior of a safe. Peeta quickly placed the folder into the safe and shut the door. The painting materialized back into the exact place it had been no more then a minute ago. If I hadn't been paying such close attention, I would have assumed I imagined it. Peeta turned back to me seeming more relaxed then he had a moment ago and walked over to stand in front of me.

"Katniss, if your file ever got into the wrong hands it could be disastrous for you. Although you are registered to me, without those documents as proof anyone could do unimaginable things to you. Do you understand?" I nodded my head once in understanding, too afraid to ask what he intended to do as the holder of those documents. "Good, that being said lunch will be here in a few minutes so why don't you take a shower while I set up the program they provided for me. The sooner I get that set up the safer you'll be." I nodded my head even though I didn't understand the program or how it could make me safe. As I got up to walk towards the bathroom I felt the floor tilt beneath my feet. A pair of strong hands steadied me at my waist and a strong chest behind my back. Taking in a deep breathe I became aware of how physically close we were standing and felt a tingle where his warm hands encircled my waist. "Are you okay? Looked like you were going to pass out on me for a minute there.." He smelled like cinnamon and sandalwood, a comforting scent that had me breathing him in. I noticed that he made no move to pull away from me, rather he had stepped ever so slightly closer so that his upper body was flush with the back of mine. The warmth at our connection felt incredible and I wondered how it would feel if his entire body was pressed behind me. Shocked at my inner thoughts I moved away on unsteady feet towards the bathroom. "Thank you I must be a little off kilter from having been lying down for so long."

My words must have jolted him too because the next thing I knew he was preceding me through the bathroom door and turning on the shower. The bathroom was magnificent almost the size of my entire house with blue granite counter tops and golden marble flooring. The shower Peeta was turning on was huge with half marble/half glass walls and a shimmery mosaic tiled floor. A blue granite bench wrapped around the marble shower walls, with a large faucet head coming down directly from the ceiling spraying a strong stream of water that reminded me of a water fall. "Do you want some body jets?" Without waiting for a reply he pressed another button that had water shooting out from every direction. To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. As Peeta moved towards a set of large mirrored bi fold doors in the back of the room, I noticed the bathtub. To call it a bathtub was ridiculous; in front of me was a pool. I had never imagined a tub so big that it would have steps just to get in. I felt something soft on my arm and turned to see Peeta holding two plush towels out to me. I took them with a quiet "thank you" once again unable to meet his eyes with mine. As I bent over to set them down by the shower door I felt the same awareness with him as I did when he was pressed up behind me in the bedroom. I didn't know if I could willingly undress with him staring at me. I could never ask him to leave though. From what I grasped before being sold to him I was probably better off undressing now and getting myself accustomed to the state of half nudity expected of me sooner rather then later. Feeling my face redden with embarrassment I began to lift his borrowed t-shirt up over my head revealing once again the sheer bra and panties I was delivered to him in. I controlled myself from covering my exposed areas as I felt his gaze on my body. I exhaled slowly willing myself to remove my bra as I walked toward the shower; I had never felt more self-conscious in my entire life. I turned and dropped my bra facing away from him deciding that I would turn around to face him only if he demanded it of me.

I didn't know what to do about the underwear. Even knowing it was sheer did not make me any more comfortable with the idea that I would be fully naked in front of Peeta. I was hopeful that he would just be satisfied looking at me for now and that if I pleased him enough and showed that I would be obedient he would continue to remain gentle and kind to me. Unable to stop myself at this point I shyly glanced over at him and saw his deep breathing and his blue gaze focused on my body. When his eyes met mine I saw the heat in his gaze and felt my body subconsciously react to him. My stance became less fearful and embarrassed the longer I held his gaze. For some reason seeing the desire in his eyes took away my fear and self-consciousness where it probably should have terrified me. His gaze held mine as he moved slowly to close the distance between us. My back was still facing him with my head turned looking over my shoulder frozen where I was from the heat of his gaze. I bit my lip in an effort to control my escalated breathing. He was about to reach out for me, a question appearing in his heated gaze when three sharp knocks were heard through the door shattering the moment. I watched as his eyes closed in what I assumed was frustration only to open back up again and steady his breathing as he moved away from me and towards the bedroom. Before he left the bathroom he turned back and said "Take as long as you need in the shower, I'll have them set up lunch in the meantime." As he closed the door, I let out a long breath and leaned my forehead against the shower door. I knew I should feel relief at the interruption but I was more confused than ever to feel disappointment.