Chapter 1

Rue woke to the sound of whistling. She sat up quickly, her back aching, sore from her days in the arena.

"Careful," a voice said. Rue blinked her eyes, then rubbed the sleep from them. "Cato?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Don't . . . ask so many questions. You'll give me a headache."

"What?" Rue was confused. She thought back to the last thing she remembered: Thresh's face after being blasted backwards from some weird burst of aura. Looking around more, she saw that she and Cato were in a pure white room with no furniture of any kind, nor door or windows that she could see.

"By the way, your friend's alive. I saw him too . . . I think." Rue frowned. Cato's voice sounded unsure, like he doubted what he had seen. Maybe he didn't trust himself. Cato knew that she didn't believe him, but she would see soon enough. He wasn't crazy. Was he? Cato whistled softly to himself. Rue snapped her head up at the four-noted lullaby emitting from Cato's mouth.

"How do you know that?" she demanded.

"Well, it's not a secret. We could hear that dam - dang whistle every time you two called it, " said Cato. He avoided looking at the District 11 girl. He was careful not to say Katniss' name. After all, he was the one that killed both the Girl on Fire and Lover-Boy.

Cato cleared his throat. His fingers twirled, the ghost of his sword in his hands. Of course, it wasn't there in the room with them. It was gone, along with his special armor. The little girl in front of him was wary and alert as if she was ready to bolt at the first chance she got. He didn't blame her, it was one of the things he admired about her. Rue, the way she jumped from tree to tree like a bird. Like a . . . Mockingjay, he realized. Maybe it was no coincidence that the Girl on Fire and this girl teamed up. After seeing Thresh, Cato hoped to see Clove again. He needed his other half with him. When he had his breakdowns, she was the one to calm him. But they were dead. They were all dead. So how could he explain seeing Thresh? Recalling Thresh carrying Rue, he was also reminded of the fact that someone else had helped him too, right before he lost consciousness. So how did they get into this room and where were they? Rue watched Cato stare at her. He seemed to be lost in thought. She realized that he was much cleaner than he had been in the arena; no blood or mud splattered across his face, his blond hair was cleaned up and styled neatly, his signature smirk of his scrawled on his lips. But when Rue looked into those eyes that were so much like Peeta Mellark's, she saw a cloud of darkness over them.

"We're all just pieces in your Games!"

She guessed that the District 2 Career had finally seen the Games for what they truly were, and they had broke him. So Rue gathered up the courage to ask the question that had been nagging at her ever since the Games started:

"Why did you hate Katniss and Peeta so much?" Cato looked at her in surprise. "I never hated them. Okay, maybe I did. But . . . We were jealous, you see? They could show their love to the world while we Careers were stuck behind the sidelines."

Rue let that sink in, coming to an conclusion. "You were in love," she said.

Cato nodded, running his hands through his spiked, messy blond hair. "We all were. Careers aren't supposed to show any kind of weaknesses during the Games. But yes, we were in love. Marvel was in love with Glimmer, I was in love with my Clover . . ." Cato smiled wryly as he continued, "Finch was in love with Thresh."

"Uh, what now?" Rue asked, flabbergasted. "Did you just say that Foxface was in love with - "

"Thresh? Yes, I did. Apparently, they formed a secret alliance, hidden from the cameras, from us... When those mutts killed him, I heard him scream for her."

The little girl had wondered why Finch committed suicide. Now she knew.

"I never knew . . ."

The sound of a door sliding drew their attention towards the center wall in front of them. A woman in black combat boots stepped towards them and smiled. The two tributes had their mouths agape.

"Katniss?" Rue asked.

Cato shook his head furiously. "Nonono!" he chanted. "You can't be Katniss. Katniss was like hot. Hotter than you. Er, I mean - she's a bad-ass with a bow. And - and she's a brunette!"

Rue arched an eyebrow, shooting Cato an incredulous look.

"Uh, thanks for the compliment, Cato, " the woman said. "Now if you too would follow me, I can explain everything."

The blond-haired woman turned but Cato stopped her.

"Why should we go with you?"

"Because," Blondie said, looking at him straight in the eyes, "You'll be seeing everyone again. Even your Clove."


Stepping out into the brightly lit, almost cheerful hallway almost seemed like a insult considering their days in the arena.

It was eerily silent except for the two tributes footsteps echoing down the corridor.

Rue shot a glance towards Cato, who was walking besides her. He walked his normal, cocky stride, except Rue noticed that Cato's hand was trembling. Without thinking, she slipped her tiny hand into his, which earned Rue a look of surprise. But Cato did not let go, for he felt warmth spread throughout his whole body. Stopping, the blond haired woman with the identical braid to Katniss' turned to face them.

"What you're about to see may shock you. Prepare yourselves." The woman turned, waving her hand in a single sweeping motion in front of her.

A loud hum, a slight click, and a door opened. "Okay. Go right in. Oh, and my name's not Katniss. It's Iris."

Cato and Rue watched the not-Katniss walk away and entered the room.

They thought they had prepared themselves; they were wrong.

A mixture of emotions ran throughout them; Rue saw familiar faces that she'd thought she'd never see again:

Katniss.

Finch.

Peeta.

Thresh.

She ran to them, tears streaming down her face.

The four tributes embraced Rue into a group hug, earning "Aww-s" and laughter.

Cato saw his friends: giving Marvel a high five and a quick bro hug, and Glimmer, a short embrace.

But his eyes searched for her. Then he saw her. There she was, his Clover. The short, petite, knife-throwing brunette he had fallen in love with in the Games stood a few inches away from him. He dashed towards her, cupping her face with his hands and held her tightly. He was happy. To have her close again.

Marvel and Glimmer whooped loudly.

Meanwhile, across the room, Rue chatted about the Games with Thresh cutting in to tell the rest. It was Marvel that helped Cato into the hovercraft. The feed had been lost in all the Districts and the Capitol.

The whole country was on the verge of rebellion, Haymitch Abernathy spoke as he appeared behind Thresh.

Cato entwined his hands with Clove's pulling them across the room to see what was happening, Marvel and Glimmer following closely behind.

". . . We'll meet Finnick Odair and his wife, Annie Cresta when we pick them up. To be fairly warned, try not to mention Annie's Games, or else she'll go off somewhere in her mind. Finnick's the only one who can call her back."

Cato cut in, "What's happening?"

As Haymitch tried to explain once more, Cato noticed Katniss and Peeta exchanging worried looks.

And he had this feeling that whatever the feeling was, it was not about him. Cato had the strangest revelation that it was about something much bigger.

They thought they were safe. After all, they had not been attacked since the end of the 74th Hunger Games.

All hell broke loose.

Gunshots rang out, plunging the room into total darkness. Screams and shouts of pain were heard as bullets whizzed and streaked by. The lights flickered back on and Cato scanned the room.

There were no major injuries, they were lucky to avoid getting killed. A tribute had his earlobe grazed and another had a bullet pass through her arm, but she'd live, Cato thought.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he saw Marvel.

Looking into the eyes of the former District 1 tribute, Cato knew something was up, the way Marvel and Glimmer had been glancing at each other when they thought Cato wasn't looking. Like Katniss and Peeta.

What if?

Cato pushed the thought away.

No, it wasn't true, he chided himself. They were all here.

Weren't they?

"Rue?" Cato called out, letting go of Clove's hand.

"Can you come here?"

Rue had been examining the District 4 - her name was Coral - girl's arm wound when Cato's voice broke her thoughts.

Rue headed towards Cato. He grabbed her hand, pushing the little girl behind him.

"Cato?" Clove asked, stepping towards him.

"What are you doing?"

Rue did not understand what was happening.

Cato shook a finger towards Clove, ignoring her question.

"On the day that you died," Cato started slowly. "What was the last thing I said to you?"

"Cato, what's -"

"WHAT DID I SAY?!" Cato roared.

"I love you," Clove answered.

There was a very pregnant silence in the air.

Cato stared at the girl in front of him. "No," Cato whispered, "That's not what I said at all."

Then Cato managed to wrap an arm around Rue, pushing them both to the floor, as then he heard a voice say almost distantly, "Fire."

A gunshot rang out from outside the room, from the hallway, and a bullet streaked through the now-open door, hitting Clove in the shoulder. Clove cried out in pain and fell to the floor.

"What?" Rue managed to choke out, in shock of what she had just seen. Cato had watched Clove get shot, and wasn't doing anything.

"They're mutts!" he spat out as more gunshots spewed forth.

Haymitch, Katniss, Glimmer and Peeta all lunged for him, their eyes changing colors. Cato shot to his feet, pushing Rue through the door. Something grabbed his ankle, sending him crashing down. Rue froze.

"GO! GO!" Cato yelled as Mutt-Clove crawled on top of him.

Cato watched as Rue took off, then turned to the impostor. Her dark-brown eyes were a glowing red, teeth sharpened into points.

The mutt growled as Cato wrapped his hands around her - its - throat. It wasn't Clove, he reminded himself.

The mutt went limp as it became dead weight. Cato threw it aside, breathing heavily.

Ian (the District 3 tribute whom Cato had snapped his neck) slammed him into the floor, tile spewing everywhere. His District partner, Kalia, grabbed Cato, both of their eyes turning silver. More mutts began swarming him. Cato yelled in pain. They were no match for his physical strength; they were stronger than him. He was weak. Cato was going to die.

Mutt-Marvel and Mutt-Glimmer eyes' were gold, sharpened teeth - they both seriously needed to brush their teeth - were opened wide as they prepared to take a bite.

Cato screwed his eyes shut.

I'm coming home, Clove, Cato thought. I'll be there soon, wherever you are . . .

Then an unmistakable sound whizzed through the air.

Cato opened his eyes just in time to see a silver arrow pierce Ian's head.

Kalia hissed angrily as her nails scraped Cato's face. The mutt was pulled back screeching as Cato felt himself being helped up. He saw a man in his late twenties or so, with bronze hair and sea-green eyes. Cato had no time to shout out a warning as a mutt leapt towards the man's back but the man did not need it.

He turned, thrusted his weapon forward, the tips of it ramming to its desired target.

The mutt howled as the man tossed it aside. People in grey uniforms came surging in, carrying guns. The man whistled to someone in the crowd; someone tossed him back 2 weapons: a sword and a trident. Cato wanted to slap himself for not recognizing the District 4 Victor: Finnick Odair.

"This yours?" Finnick asked teasingly as Cato nodded.

Finnick handed it over, then went back to attacking the mutts.

Cato prepared himself as Mutt-Katniss charged towards him. A knife sailed from behind him, nailing the center of Mutt-Katniss' forehead.

Bullseye. Only one person he knew could do that.

Cato turned seeing the familiar brunette. He was unsure.

What if it was all another trick?

So, he asked the same question he'd asked earlier. He remembered that the cameras were focused on him and Clove as she laid dying. Clove kept her voice low when she answered. Cato felt joy spread through him, and kissed her.

"Hey, look at the lovebirds, Marvel! They're at it again! While we're killing all the mutts! Hello, a little help here?!" Glimmer's voice rang out.

"Glim, shut your damn mouth for once! We don't need to be hearing every single thing you see!" Marvel retorted back.

There was a loud wail as the last mutt was struck down by no other than Thresh himself. Cato was seething inside.

Why had he and Rue been ushered into a room where the mutts had been pretending to be their friends only to attack them later?

Why hadn't they been attacked the minute they stepped in the room?

The real Katniss Everdeen stepped through the door, armed with a silver bow and arrow curled in her hands.

Cato recalled the blond woman who looked eerily similar to her but had said her name was Iris. He made a mental note to tell everyone later.

"What the hell happened? No, screw that! What the hell is happening? How did we get here?" Cato yelled.

"Now is definitely not the best time. This isn't a safe place. We need to go," Katniss said, raising her bow higher.

Cato raised his sword; Clove tightened her hand around her knife, then bent down, offering Rue a knife. Rue was surprised, but took it. At least she'd have a weapon. Nothing attacked them on the way out, or up onto the stairs.

"This is too easy," Clove muttered as they ascended another flight of stairs.

Pushing through the roof doors, Glimmer tried to explain, "The Capitol can't exactly . . ."

"Let us get away," Marvel picked up.

"Since we are the tributes of the 74th Hunger Games, " Thresh finished.

"All of the Victors knew about this. They formed a plan, to get us out so the Rebellion could take place. I am the Mockingjay because of the token I wear. The District 12 Volunteer who was never suppose to volunteer in the first place and then fall in love with Peeta Then we found out about 13. They wanted to help. We just need to get on the hovercraft we have."

It was daylight, Cato and Rue could see once they reached the roof, stepping outside.

Indeed as Katniss had said, a hovercraft was waiting and they all boarded and strapped themselves in as the engines roared to life and then, they were flying up into the air.

Clove squeezed his hand for reassurance. Rue was sitting next to Thresh.

Cato's eyes flickered from face to face. He remembered the ones he had killed .

He saw Katniss and Peeta talking and wondered what they were talking about. Then Cato felt his seat lurch.

BOOM!

Cato smelled smoke. He immediately knew that something bad had happened.

Another noise erupted and they were all screaming as the hovercraft started spiraling down.

Then -

Darkness.

". . . GET UP!"

Cato struggled to open his eyes. It was Clove's voice, in pure panic mode. He thought he could feel her hands shaking him, trying to rouse him, but he couldn't open his eyes.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.

"GET UP!" Clove shouted, her voice somewhat becoming distorted. "C'mon! Get up, Cato! Please! PLEASE! Don't you leave me! Not like this! Get up! Get -"

Then her voice disappeared completely and Cato was left all alone in the dark, sinking into a whirl of dreams and fantasy.

Special thanks to:

AllieClifford1995, BlackRabbit148, bsinger95, courtney 44, CWFANDOM8, DepressedAleera, foxgirl98, , KatnissxPeeta724, lewisrachel39, 1, MissEnigma, THGgoddess4ever, wouldratherbeaunicorn, chloejohanna, Cinnanmon Buns, Lislizzy, Mkrazy11, Storyspinnerbah, SuckYourBlood, fluffytardis, leoandkatnissinchicago, Danielle, Emy Dagger, CombinationsofClato22, Lya200, Gelato, sshhiippeerr, Ariana, and Adela-Elli.