Hey guys! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you guys like it too!

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A special thanks to my beta C.J. Ellison! You are absolutely amazing!

Disclaimer: When I own The Hunger Games, I promise you guys'll be the first to know.


Chapter Six

Katniss


Let's paint a picture, of a perfect place

They got it better than what anyone's told you

They'll be the King of Hearts and You'll be The Queen of Spades

And we'll fight for you like we're your soldiers.


When Katniss woke up the next day, she was relieved to find that she had not been plagued with a single nightmare the whole night and actually felt well rested for the first time since the reaping. She decided to take a bath before Effie decided to initiate her usual routine of physically assaulting her door. Still too groggy to concentrate on the controls of the shower, she instead ended up pushing almost all the available buttons. The rest of the hour was spent being attacked by jets of alternatingly boiling hot and icy cold water and an assortment of shower oils that consisted of lemon, rosemary, apricot, cherry and about ten other luxurious scents and essences that she couldn't identify. When she returned to her room she found that her clothes had been already laid out for her. Her attire consisted of a burgundy tunic, black skin tight pants and leather boots that came up to her calves. Considering all that she could have been commanded to wear, she was extremely relieved. It almost felt like she was getting ready for a day out of the woods with Peeta instead of preparing for training to survive the massacre of the Games. But all she needed to do was take a look around her to see otherwise.

Sighing, she tried to ignore that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach- with a full day of training, she had to eat something substantial- and stood in front of the mirror to braid her hair, noticing that it was now devoid of the little threads of glittering gold that Cinna had woven into it the night before. It was the most like herself she had felt since stepping onto the Capitol train.

She walked into the dining room to find it devoid of people except for two Avox, stood at opposite sides of the room. She had been repulsed ever since Effie had explained what an Avox actually was at dinner the night before. Even now she couldn't bear to look an Avox in the eye and told the girl now standing beside the table that she would serve herself. She grabbed herself a cup of hot chocolate and piled her plate high with scrambled eggs just as Peeta entered the room, dressed in an almost identical clothes to Katniss. His hair was sticking out in every available direction, a hand blearily rubbing his eye as he walked over to Katniss and gave her a drowsy smile, before leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

Unfortunately, that was also the exact moment that Haymitch decided to enter the room. His eyebrows rose above the hair line before he composed his expression and started pilling his plate with breakfast. Katniss was surprised to see him up and about this early. Perhaps it was owing to their spectacular performance the night before; maybe Haymitch decided they were worth the struggle after all. For a moment the three of them sat quietly around the table, noiselessly munching on their food while Katniss and Peeta shared little panicked glances between themselves. Katniss had almost cleaned her plate when Haymitch decided to break the silence.

"So, let's get right to it," he declared, leaning his elbows on the table, an unusually sharp look in his eye as his gaze flicked between the two of them, much like a hawk. "What's going on between the two of you?" He demanded bluntly.

With a brief exchange of anxious expressions, they both decided to play innocent. "What do you mean?" Katniss asked nonchalantly.

"Don't mess with me, sweetheart." Haymitch snarled, already impatient with the faux-coy act. "Don't forget that I'm from District Twelve too. Heard all the gossip 'bout the baker's daughter with the Seam boy."

Oops. Katniss bit her lip sheepishly. Of course he'd heard about it. Gossip like that even travelled to the ears of the town recluse. Nobody had been pleased when Katniss had decided to befriend Peeta, not the merchants or those from the Seam. A mutual arrangement had been developed years ago, after the end of the dark days. The merchants and the seam people interacted only to the extent of trade and generally kept to their own society. Katniss and Peeta had been the first violation of the unspoken pact. That was perhaps why people had found the knowledge of their relationship scandalous. Katniss shifted her gaze towards Peeta again. He shrugged as if saying, well, he already knows, doesn't he?

"Peeta and I," Katniss said carefully, sending a slight glare in Peeta's direction for making her do this. "We're… um… together."

"Together?"

"As in dating," Peeta cut in, with a roll of his eyes, probably more to do with the fact that Haymitch was being deliberately obtuse than Katniss' vague answer.

"'Course you are." Haymitch snorted with something that sounded suspiciously like exasperation. He straightened his shoulders and fixed either of them with a serious look. "Alright, fine. In that case, here's what I want you to do. When the cameras are on you and even when they aren't, I want you both together every single second of every single day. Stick to each other like glue, understand?"

"And why would you want us to do that?" Peeta asked narrowing his eyes in Haymitch's direction. "None of the other tributes have ever done anything like that, so-"

"Exactly," Haymitch cut in. "Remember that national broadcast after the recaps of the reapings?" They both nodded the affirmative. "You saw what reaction you two got after that public hug and the volunteering and whatever, right? That's the kind of reaction we want. That's the kind of reaction that results in sponsors. Sponsors with big fat wallets that can give you an edge and wind up saving your life in that arena- if you get their attention and persuade them that you're worth it, that is. If you want to win, you have to be in the spotlight, which by the looks of last night, you are. And a love story? Folks here in the Capitol just eat that stuff up. Star-crossed lovers, a fight to the death... that's entertainment. They'll love it."

It was after a moment that Katniss finally understood the meaning behind Haymitch's words. Her eyes widened.

"You're saying that- you mean, the Capitol might actually be interested in... in our relationship? In seeing- in watching us..." She trailed off with a cringe, her voice an octave higher than usual. The idea was so revolting in her head that she wanted to run until the Capitol would be nowhere within her sights.

"And you want us to show it off?" Peeta asked in a disgusted tone, his expression mirroring Katniss's.

Haymitch waved a hand indifferently, dismissing Peeta's rebuttal. "I'm telling you that you've got something unique, and to play up. Stuff like the hugging and the hand-holding the two of you have been putting up already should be more than enough to get them talking. Just give the audience enough to keep them interested. Make it subtle. Make them question if there's something more going on between you two," Haymitch advised. "Even the slightest hint of a good story and the Capitol will run with it."

Katniss mused over his words. It was hard to admit it, but Haymitch's logic was already making sense. She knew that he was a drunkard- but he was an experienced drunkard nevertheless. And it really wouldn't be that difficult to send mixed signals to the audience; she and Peeta would just act normally around each other. But her relationship with Peeta was something that she prized beyond words and she wasn't sure if she was ready to jeopardize it by shoving it into the limelight for the sake of winning over the audience. Although, if that was what it took to get Peeta out of the arena alive, she was willing to risk everything.

Still, she looked to Peeta's eyes for agreement, an action both of them had been repeating since they stepped off onto the Capitol soil. His stormy eyes were already searching hers, determined and grudgingly compliant to the plan. She slowly nodded her agreement.

"Fine, we'll do it." Katniss said.

"I wasn't asking for your agreement, sweetheart," Haymitch drawled.

Peeta frowned in Haymitch's direction. His brows furrowed and he pressed his lips into a thin line. "You got anything else for us?" he snapped challengingly, clearly not quite ready to blindly trust the man who had been so blasé as to their fates up until this moment.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Haymitch deadpanned, unperturbed. "Tell me about the extent of your skills. You first, boy," he said, nodding his head at Peeta.

Peeta's expression instantly changed from anger to that of discomfort. He glanced around from the corner of his eyes, and Katniss knew that he was searching for hidden cameras. If he announced that he was an archer, the Capitol would easily put two and two together and know that he hunted illegally. Then again, even if they found out what was the worst they could do? Throw Peeta in the Games? Katniss felt a sardonic smile twist at her mouth.

"I can shoot," said Peeta eventually, after a small lapse in the conversation. It wasn't as if he had much of a choice; Katniss was willing to bet that even a after a month of tearing the penthouse apart, there would still be more tiny cameras and microphones hidden wherever there were a few spare millimeters of space.

But it looked as though Haymitch already knew that as he inclined his head and rolled his eyes. "How good are you?"

Peeta shrugged in answer. "I'm okay."

Katniss couldn't hold in her snort no matter how unladylike it was of her. Peeved, she addressed Haymitch.

"Are you kidding me? He's great. Excellent actually. He could probably bring down five birds from the air in a single round." It wasn't too far off the truth, actually. Katniss had once gone hunting with Peeta and thrown a stone to flush out a flock of wild geese from the thicket. Peeta had loosed five arrows at the flurry of feathers that burst from the foliage. Four of them hit their targets.

Haymitch raised his eyebrows in Peeta's direction. "You're that good?"

By this time, Peeta was glaring at her. She already knew what his plan was. To make sure that she won the Games. But that was where her own plan came in- and it unfortunately relied on making sure that his didn't work.

"She's exaggerating," said Peeta in as much of an offhand tone as he could manage whilst still sending her a meaningful glare.

"No I'm not," she replied almost instantly in a sharp voice. "I'm making a fair assessment of your skills. Don't underrate yourself."

"I'm not. You're overrating me."

"Alright. Katniss, I already know that you're handy with a knife." Haymitch cut through, sensing the growing tension in the room. "Can you do something else?"

She broke away from the staring contest she and Peeta had started up. "Not really."

This time it was Peeta's turn to interfere. "She's strong," he said quickly. "Really strong. I've seen her lifting bags of flour in her parents' bakery. She can probably lift as much as I can."

He had an eyebrow raised in challenge. Who's undermining their-self now? His eyes seemed to glint at her determinedly.

"Peeta knows everything there is to know about plants," she shot back. She was never the one to back down from a challenge; especially when he was the one presenting it. "He can identify almost anything at a glance, from edible to medicinal to poisonous."

"Yeah, sure, that's going to be useful. I'm going to win the Hunger Games by identifying strawberries," Peeta retorted sarcastically, his voice rising slowly in volume with each word.

"No," she said, her own voice rising to meet his, "but you're a lot less likely to die from eating the wrong kind of plants!"

Haymitch's eyes were again darting to and fro between them. She could almost see the gears churning in his head.

"Well, well, well," he said in a voice that suggested that he found their glaring match highly entertaining. "Neither and both of you are right. Don't underestimate your skills, Peeta- your knowledge on plants could save your life. Katniss, work on that physical strength. It plays an important role in hand-to-hand combat, especially against the opposite sex where men tend to miscalculate female strength. And both of you, try not to display what you can do until your private session with the Gamemakers. Try out the other stations- climb a wall, swing a mace, anything. And don't dismiss the basic stations either. Those will give you some essential skills in surviving whatever environment they decide to throw you into this year. Hypothermia can kill you just as well as an axe to the head."

Haymitch quickly dismissed them afterwards. Katniss' head was still churning when she and Peeta met Effie at the elevator door at ten sharp, mulling over the details of Haymitch's instructions. Effie had apparently decided that it was about time that she changed the color of her wardrobe and was now completely plastered in orange, adorned in a flashy top and a silky gold colored skirt that sprinkled a trail of glitter in its wake. She wore matching make up and excessively long lashes tipped with ochre feathers and Katniss found it hard looking at the combination of excessive orange and exaggerated fluttering for even short periods of time. So naturally, she complimented Effie on her new look as Peeta passed her a look that she discerned as are you kidding me?

She gave him an I-don't-kid look. Peeta rolled his eyes.

During the elevator ride, Effie obliviously began gushing about how she was already helping them get sponsors and how many of her friends came to congratulate her on the brilliant performance in the tribute parade, including something about some 'clever' phrase involving pressure on coal and pearls, which, if Effie was saying what Katniss thought she was, was utterly wrong. It was only the third day since the reaping and Katniss was already an expert on tuning out Effie's voice. It was no wonder Haymitch had been reduced to drinking. Katniss already felt like she had gotten enough of the Capitol- except for the food. She felt a little more sympathetic towards Haymitch considering he had to spend a month here every year, but not sympathetic enough to stop her from smiling at the thought of him having to endure Effie's wardrobe and cloying enthusiasm year after year.

Effie escorted them to the basement level where the training would take place and where they were surprisingly the last to arrive. She did a quick assessment of the room and found that she and Peeta were the only two dressed alike. If Katniss had hoped that their matching outfits wouldn't be noted she was mistaken as she saw several pairs of eyes inspecting their getup as they walked in, a few scowls and a few looks of distaste. She knew them for what they were. She smirked inwardly when she realized the other tributes were jealous of them for stealing the spotlight at the Opening Ceremony. The Tribute Parade had made her feel a little hopeful, like there was some chance for Peeta after all- a small one nonetheless, but a chance.

A trainer began to speak but Katniss was already sizing up her competition. Her stomach dropped when she noticed that almost all the males were bigger than her save for the spindly little boy from Three and the cripple from Ten. The girls from the Career Districts looked twice her size from all the training they would have been brought up doing. She could see the muscle on their arms and even spotted a few scars and scratches as a proof of the years of preparation. But she also noticed that being from a relatively well fed family had given her an edge. She could spot a number of hollow faces with sunken cheeks and bony figures. In comparison, she had a fairly healthy figure.

As the training started, she and Peeta stuck together, as per Haymitch's instructions. She saw Peeta's eyes immediately dart to the shooting range before eyeing the collection of gleaming bows hung up beside the range. She could almost feel his hand itching to grab a bow and shoot to his heart's content but Haymitch had specifically warned him to stay clear from archery. She nudged his shoulder with hers.

"Where shall we start?" She asked him.

He eyed the other weapon ranges where the Careers had already started to show off. Spears and knifes whizzed onto the bull's-eye while their respective owners smirked proudly. The male from Four proudly displayed his trident wielding abilities while the girl from One had challenged an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

"Let's stay clear of the ranges for a while... or else I'll suffocate from all the cockiness floating around," he said with a look of pure distaste.

"Ditto," she replied.

They decided to try knot-tying, in which he was good and she was horrible. Katniss fumbled with the ropes until the twine was a tangle at her fingers and she didn't have the slightest idea where to begin correcting it. Peeta, on the other hand, was astoundingly dexterous with even the most complex knots- not even noticing how spectacularly she was failing, Peeta made another loop in his rope, brought it up from under and secured it into a neat knot. She scowled in his direction.

"Uhh…a little help maybe?"

He finally looked over at her and laughed at seeing the 'knot' she had attempted. She scowled again and slapped his arm with her free hand.

He laughed again, teasingly. "Jeez, don't get violent, Baker Girl," he said.

She tried to hide her smile at the old nickname as he helped her untangle her fingers. He had given her that a few years ago when they were fourteen when she had tried to teach him to bake simple sugar cookies. Just like her archery lessons, it had ended in disaster.

"No, no, no," she cried for the nth time. "More flour, that looks more like cake mixture than cookie dough, we need to thicken- I said more flour! That is not flour, you idiot!"

Peeta stopped abruptly in his tracks. He had been about to tip a small bowl of white powder into the cookie batter- which still looked extremely runny. He delicately set the bowl back atop the counter and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Well, what the heck is this, then?!" He complained indignantly. "It's white and it's a powder!"

She looked at him, amused. She admitted that although he was screwing up badly she was still enjoying seeing him whine and looking confused, like he had stepped into alien territory, which in his mind, he had. She supposed she was being a bad friend but seeing Peeta lose his composure was highly entertaining. His air was sticking up all over the place and was dusted with what was actual flour, his eyebrows scrunched together like he was trying to solve an impossible puzzle.

"That is powdered sugar." She told him false irritated voice, trying to hide her amusement. She pointed to another larger bowl filled with white powder. "That is flour, over there, next to the milk."

He rolled his eyes and went to grab the correct bowl all the while muttering and huffing under his breath. It was times like these that she truly loved. When Peeta forgot to be the head of the family for a small amount of time, even if it was just an hour, and was instead her best friend or a mere fourteen year old boy. His eyes would lose their hard, penetrating appearance and the small crease lines on his forehead would disappear. He would laugh fully and heartedly, something she rarely saw him do outside the confines of the woods, and for once she felt like they were just two regular kids, living something that was perhaps remotely close to a regular life.

She turned around, facing her own batch of cookies that were all set for the oven. She tweaked and prodded one or two cookies into correct shapes before slipping the perfect tray into the oven. She went to stand next to him to observe his success or the lack thereof but noticed something was off again.

"Peeta…" she said slowly. "Just how many eggs did you add?"

He looked up at her, unperturbed, and she almost giggled at his flour-dusted hair. "I don't know… uh, five?"

She resisted the urge to face-palm and instead closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Peeta, I said three. I distinctly remember saying three. That's why the batter is so runny!" She cried and almost cringed when her own voice came out as a whine.

He huffed again and crossed his arms over his chest, looking charmingly petulant and flustered. "Well, we can't all be good at making cookies, Baker Girl!"

The flashback faded into reality as Peeta finally succeeded in untangling her fingers, the tips of which had almost gone purple. She breathed a sigh of relief as the rope came loose and wiggled her fingers in the air so that the blood could resume its journey through her system. She and Peeta tried another half an hour worth of luck at the knot tying station before trying someplace else. By that time Peeta had successfully attempted a perfect noose while she had succeeded in not entangling her fingers for the third time.

The two of them spent another hour inspecting and learning about various plants and herbs, where the small man seemed delighted to finally have tributes by his station. The whole time they bickered back and forth and laughed at each other's lame attempts at jokes, and by the time they left to try out the ranges she was sure they had thoroughly convinced the man at the station- and probably everyone else in the Training Centre- that the both of them were probably more than 'just friends'.

She felt a wave of unpleasantness roll inside of her at the thought. Hers and Peeta's relationship was something that had always felt personal, like a part of herself that she would never want to give away. She felt that if anyone knew, the whole world would conspire against them to tear them apart. Not to mention that, as much as she hated thinking about it, she knew that they hadn't have much time left that was just theirs. She wanted to cherish all the small things while it lasted. Like the almost timid way Peeta would hold her hand, or that glint in his usually steely eyes that appeared only in her presence, or the contentment she felt when his arms were around her. These were the small things that usually overwhelmed her and now given the small amount of time they had left, they didn't feel like even nearly enough anymore.

Katniss shook her head to rid her mind of such thoughts and focused on the task at hand. She picked up a spear precariously between her fingers and juggled it from hand to hand to find the proper balance. She then twirled it around her fingers to get used to the hard steel within her grasp instead of the plywood handle of her knife back at home. She looked around to find that Peeta had wondered ahead to check out the other ranges. Katniss focused her attention on the target and fixed her eyes upon a single point, like she did with her knife. She extended her arm backwards, closed her left eye and breathed in deeply, before jerking it forth and releasing the spear from her grasp.

The spear pierced the air with a whoosh! as it hurtled towards the target-dummy. For a second Katniss thought that she may have actually gotten the bulls-eye before the sharp tip of the spear collided against the corner of the circular board and clattered loudly to the floor. Katniss shrugged mentally. It was her first try; this was probably as good as it got. Her hand was inches away from another spear before she heard a laugh echo through the gymnasium.

"What do you call that, Twelve?"

She whirled around abruptly to come face to face with the male tribute from District One. His lips were stretched into a roguish smirk and his eyes danced with mischief. He turned a spear idly between his fingers like he was handling a toothpick instead of a lethal weapon. In her shock, Katniss stumbled back on her feet and his grin widened. Her memory supplied a name to the daunting face. Marvel. His name was Marvel.

"Get lost, One." she hissed coldly, mustering as much threat into her voice as she could. She silently prayed that he would not hear the barest tremble in her voice or the evident throbbing of her heart. Her brain silently analyzed the fact that she barely came up to his shoulders and he had a deadly sharp spear, fresh at his disposal.

"Where are your flames now, Fire Girl?" Marvel taunted as he started to edge closer.

Katniss swallowed the lodge in her throat and discreetly moved back, trying to maintain as much dignity as possible. She was aware of eyes turned in her direction, starting to stare at the commotion. Her heart was thudding against her ribcage and her hands felt clammy. She knew the other tributes had been less than pleased, owning to their climatic reaping and their big-show at the Opening Ceremony; but she had no idea that they would be willing to take it this far. She didn't know if Marvel would actually dare to hurt her but she couldn't let herself get humiliated in front of the others. That would put all of Cinna's efforts to waste. Besides, if she wanted to protect Peeta in the Games, she would have to guarantee that all of her limbs would still be intact for her to do so.

She lifted her shoulders and straightened her posture to a more defensive position. "Hard to admit we stole the spotlight, huh, District One?" She goaded, making sure her voice reverberated across the room.

Marvel's face transformed into a snarl and the muscles on his arms tensed, preparing for the throw. Katniss ducked just in time as the spear zoomed past her shoulder and embedded itself straight into the bulls-eye. She staggered backwards, crashing into a display of spears. All around her, weapons rattled and clanged to the floor. Her limbs trembled from the shock. Anger spiked up inside of her, trickled with fright and surprise. She curled her quivering fingers into fists and gritted her teeth together. She could've been killed. Damnit, she could've died. The Games hadn't even started yet!

Before she could lunge into action, whatever she may have tried to do, she was cut short by the threat that resounded through the makeshift arena.

"Get... away... from her... District One," Peeta said slowly, punctuating each word with a snarling vehemence. His voice was dangerously low, a little more than a hiss through his teeth, yet sounded loud and clear in the silence that had spread through the remaining tributes. He stood a few ranges away, the muscles of his body strained and taut. A vein flickered at his forehead. She had never seen him this angry- not since he had seen some kids at school bullying Prim. Belatedly, she realized that his fingers were clasped tightly around a silver bow and he had a streamlined arrow notched straight at Marvel's chest.

If her heart hadn't already been beating fast enough, now it was threatening to burst out of her ribcage. She immediately dropped her guard, sensing the perilous situation at hand. If Peeta's temper acted up at that moment, she knew they would be in trouble. Her gaze desperately searched Peeta's face until her eyes landed on his. She shook her head at him vigorously. Don't do it, Peeta. Stay away. It's not worth it.

His eyes flashed and his grip tightened in answer.

"Or what, Twelve?" Marvel challenged looking amused, yet still intimidated by Peeta's unexpected interference. He turned around to face Peeta and gave a faux laugh when his eyes landed on the bow trained over his chest. His surprise at seeing the weapon was palpable. It was the way Peeta held the bow- like he was born to do it. His stance was in perfect angle, his shoulders were confident and his arms in flawless formation. Inconspicuously, Marvel tried to edge away so that Peeta's arrowhead was no longer aimed directly at his heart.

"Kids shouldn't mess with weapons." Marvel jeered. A drop of sweat ran down his brow. "Someone could get hurt."

Peeta released the arrow, his only answer to Marvel's taunts. Katniss cursed mentally and closed her eyes shut, not prepared to see the repercussions of Peeta's actions. A sharp whizz tore the air, followed by a shocked scream of outrage and the harsh clattering of spears. Katniss opened her eyes. She was disgusted with herself when she was relieved to find Marvel unharmed, lying among another case of spears he had knocked over. A silver arrow was implanted deep into the wall behind where his head was previously positioned.

"You could've killed me!" Marvel bellowed, outraged and completely out of his wits with what sounded like a blend of rage, fear, incredulity and barely concealed relief.

"If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead right now," said Peeta flatly, steel eyes filled with ice.

Katniss felt a thrill run down her spine. Suddenly, she realized her job of making sure that Peeta won the Games had simultaneously become so much easier and so much harder.


So what do you think? Frankly I loved writing a badass Peeta xD

The song is All the Right Moves by One Republic.

Reviews, favorites and follows are appreciated!

-EG

xoxo