I sleep the through the night, but when I wake at dawn, I'm covered in a cold sweat. I don't know why, but I have a very bad feeling about this venture into the ruins of District 12. I wanted to fight the decision to go, but Haymitch consented to keep Coin from losing her cool. I just hope whatever I'm supposed to see down there is worth it. I think.

I get out of bed, and start to get dressed, but before I could get to the door I felt Johanna rest a hand on my shoulder. "What do you think is going to happen out there?" she asks.

"I'm hoping to come home in one piece, both mentally and physically." I say.

"You think that you could have an episode?" she asks.

"Yeah." I say.

"Good luck." Johanna says, removing her hand from my shoulder.

"I'm going to need." I say.

I exit our room, and head to cafeteria to get a bite to eat. When I get there Peeta is already waiting for me, with a tray of food. I lean in and kiss Peeta on his lip. "Thank you." I say and then took a few bites of my food.

"You said that going back to District 12 is a dumb idea. Why?" Peeta asks.

"I spent all last month under the influence of tracker jack venom." I say.

"You think that you could have an episode, and freeze?" Peeta asks.

I nod my head, and keep eating. After we finishing eating and getting rid of our trays, plates, cups, and silverware, I head back to my room and brush my teeth. I step back outside my room because I have no idea where the hanger is. Peeta said he would come back to get me. Before long Peeta returns with Gale in tow. I don't know why, but I'm happy that I said Gale could come along. I'm so happy that I walk right up to Gale and give him a hug. Peeta laughs, and Gale gives me a sideways glance. I squeeze Gale tightly, and then let go. I wave for Gale to lead the way, and he leads the three of us to the hanger. When we get there Finnick and Haymitch were waiting for us. Finnick gives me a hug, which I return in kind. Haymitch hands me an earpiece.

"Come back in one piece." He says.

"I will, but no matter what happens, don't beat yourself up over it." I say, putting the earpiece on.

Haymitch gives me a sideways glance, but I just grab his hand, and give it a quick pat. I give Haymitch a hug before I step on to the hovercraft. For some reason as I step onto the hovercraft I grab Peeta's hand, and I hold it as we take a seat. I noticed that Peeta had to adjust something before he got comfortable, and I noticed that Beetee had forged a sword for Peeta.

"How's the leg?" I ask, remembering that his one of his legs was replaced over a year and a half ago.

"The leg is fine. I have had to have some adjustments done, but since we came to District 13 it's been in better shape since we left the Capitol." Peeta says.

I see Gale sitting in the distance eyeing me and Peeta, or is he eyeing me. I think of how last night he was trying to talk to me because I told Peeta to tell him about the moving past surviving and looking for somebody to spend the rest of my life with. I need to ease his conscience. I think.

"Peeta, I need a moment with Gale." I say.

Peeta picks up our hands up, and kiss mine, and then gets up to go get an update. After Peeta leaves the hanger, I turn to see Gale make his way over to me. He sat down as he began to speak. "I'm sorry, for everything. The way I treated you after you came back from the Hunger Games, not believing you when we should have keep our heads down and keep quiet, and I'm sorry for the trouble I cause you-" Gale began to say.

I place a finger over his mouth, keeping him from finishing his train of thought. I don't say anything, I just stare, and then I just pull Gale into a hug. For some strange reason I feel Gale is about to become a strong friend again. He won't replace Peeta as a love interest, but for some strange reason Gale and I are going to develop a strong bond again.

"My attitude since I came to District 13 isn't you fault. I know why you said that I needed either one of you to survive, but aren't we past surviving?" I ask, after breaking the hug

Gale nods his head. "I'm sorry that I've treated you like a jerk since I've been up and moving around, but I'm really tired of people taking advantage of, so please forgive me." I say.

"I do." Gale says.

"Will you do me a favor?" I ask.

"No matter what happens out there, promise me that you will keep Peeta safe?" I ask.

"Why? What's wrong, Katniss?" Gale asks.

"Doesn't it strike you odd that, even though it has been flushed from my system, President Coin is sending me to a place that could have serious psychological effects due to the tracker jacker venom?" I ask.

"You think that if you go down there you going to have a flashback, and crash?" Gale asks. I nod my head. "Anybody else know about this possibility." he asks.

"You, Peeta, and Johanna." I say.

"Stay safe." he says.

At this time, Peeta was coming back with someone I haven't seen before. "Katniss, this is Boggs. Boggs, this is Katniss." Peeta says introducing the dark skinned man.

"So you are the woman I've been hearing all about." Boggs says.

I shoot Peeta a surprised look. "All I know is that you are stubborn. Maybe you could show me how good you are with a bow sometime." Boggs continued.

"Maybe. I need to get reacquainted with the tool first." I say, smiling at Boggs sentence.

"We're approaching District 12." Peeta said.

I tense up, only slightly. Both Peeta and Gale caught, and the two of them rest a comforting hand on my shoulder. The right side of my mouth curls upward in a small smile, and I head towards the hanger bay door. I feel Peeta grab my hand, and I give him a semi-manic smile. I hear the door begin to open, and I can smell the forest scents being carried on the wind. I don't even get off the hovercraft and I'm already starting to feel anxious. I can smell the ash, and as the door has opened far enough for me to see the district, I could see that we are in the square. We step of the hovercraft, and the door shuts and the vehicle disappears into the sky. I saw it as soon as the door opened, the bodies, dozens of them. Some with their skin still on, but it was charred and a grayish, white color. The rest were skeletons. I was in tears. All of them dead because of my actions.

"Did I?" I ask in tears.

"No!" Gale said.

"Don't even go there!" Haymitch said.

"Even if you didn't, the Capitol would have done it sooner or later." Peeta says. "Let's move on, anywhere in particular?"

"I'm guessing the Seam was wiped out." I say.

"Yeah, so was my family's bakery." Peeta said. "They didn't make it."

I could see black circles entering my vision, but holding at the edges. When he said that his family didn't make it, the circles began encroach on my vision. I reached out pulled Peeta in for a kiss. "I'm… so sorry. Let's head to the Victor's Village." I say as we break the kiss.

"What are you apologizing for? I don't blame you for their deaths, and I've already mourned them. To Victor's Village we go." Peeta says.

We start walking towards the Victor's Village not because I wanted to see the place, I knew that Capitol wouldn't touch the place, but because the black circles are becoming persistent. That and I'm starting to see the children being murdered, again. My brain starts misfiring, and I start lose my grip on reality when we hear. "Katniss! Peeta! We have a problem! The Capitol has a couple of hovercrafts coming in, so you need to find cover." Haymitch said.

"Awesome." I whisper, and then wrap an arm around his waist.

"Katniss." Peeta says, surprised that I had started to lean more heavily on him. "We have to move, and I don't think I'll be able to support us both."

"I'll try, but I'm not going to make any promises." I say.

We make it half way up the path before we hear the sound of the incoming hovercrafts, more appropriately, I hear the mockingjays go silent. We barely get to the tree line in time as the first hovercraft sweeps the district. We skirt the path, and remain in the trees until we get to the Victor's Village. My house is the closes, so we go in the back door. By the time Peeta gets the door shut behind us, my body gives out, I fall to my knees falling forward with my arms out to brace my fall so I don't smack my face on the floor.

"Katniss!" Peeta screams.

"What's wrong, Peeta?" Gale asked.

"Katniss just blacked out." Peeta said, the desperation in his voice, as he cradled my body in his arms

"What do you mean black out?" Boggs asked.

"I'm guessing by the sound of that loud crash that was Katniss' body hitting the floor in one of the Victor's houses." Haymitch said.

"How long until we can get a bird to get us out of here?" Peeta asks.

"According to our scans, it's going to take about thirty minutes. Their patrols are never short." Boggs said.

"Don't be late." Peeta said.

Thirty minutes later the hovercraft landed near the entrance to the Victor's Village, and then Peeta came limping out, with me cradled in his arms. When Peeta gets me on the hovercraft there's a stretcher waiting for me. "What happened?" Boggs asked Peeta, while the med team was strapping me in.

"She did say something like this might happen." Gale said, sharing a look with Peeta.

"Katniss said what?" Haymitch exclaimed.

"Katniss had a hunch that she might blackout, and we would find ourselves in this situation." Peeta said.

"And she still went anyways?" Boggs asked.

"President Coin probably wasn't going to take no for an answer." Haymitch said.

"How long until we get back to District 13?" Peeta asks, his prosthetic leg was giving him fits.

"Two hours tops." Boggs says.

One of the field medics had Peeta sit down so they could work on get fixing his leg. Gale sat down across from Peeta as he watched the medic work.

"What's the plan?" Peeta asks Gale.

"First we get you fixed up, and then we go from there." Gale says.

"And Katniss?" Peeta asks.

"Do you have any idea how long she is going to be unconscious?" Gale asks.

"Good point." Peeta says.

"Let's worry about what we can fix, then take care of her." Gale says. Peeta nods his head, and then turns his attention back to the medic working on his leg. The medic had finished and was working with Peeta to make adjustments.

"I think it would be better to do a full work up when we get back." The medic said.

"Okay." Peeta said. The medic packed up her gear, and then left the hanger.

"Katniss told me to keep an eye on you." Gale said.

"No offense, but I bet that request drove you up the wall." Peeta said.

"Sort of, but given the current situation I, or what might happen when Katniss wakes up, you might be the key to pulling her through this. So if I need to keep you alive for her sake, who am I to argue." Gale says.

Peeta nods his head, and then rest a hand on my foot. The two hours back to District 13 were long and agonizing because I didn't wake up. Physically I'm fine, but in my head was another story. It was a hellish nightmare, one with no coherence. I watch as my family, and Peeta dies over and over again. Just when I thought it was over, I would be cursed with another nightmare. How many ways can you watch somebody die? I think desperately.

When we get back to District 13, Peeta and I are taken to the hospital, but when we get there they put us in separate rooms. When Dr. Lawson finds out that I came back from District 12 in my current state she was incensed. "Who authorized the mission?" She screamed at Haymitch, who had the good graces not to argue with the woman.

"I did." President Coin said nonchalantly entering the ward, her entourage and Plutarch following her. "It was best course of action to get Katniss on our side."

"Best course of action? Do you have any idea what you have just done?" Dr. Lawson screamed at President Coin.

"I give Katniss a push in the right direction. If we didn't do that, she would have just laid around the district doing nothing, and I couldn't have that." President Coin says.

"Well I hope you're happy because we are going to have absolutely no clue what Katniss' mental state is going to be like until she wakes up! You just setback Katniss recovery by months because of your stupid actions. Katniss was not in a shape, mentally, for a trip to District 12!" Dr. Lawson screamed some more.

"Is Katniss… going to be alright?" Prim asked, standing behind the group. Everybody turned to look at her, but standing behind her was Finnick, Johanna and Beetee in his wheelchair. To everybody's surprise Annie was standing behind Beetee, pushing his wheel chair.

"Katniss is going to be fine." President Coin said.

"Shut up Alma, and get out of my hospital! You've done enough damage!" Dr. Lawson screamed.

President Coin stared at Dr. Lawson, but turned and left, her entourage and Plutarch following. "I'm sorry you had to hear that Primrose and Mrs. Everdeen, but we have no clue what Katniss mental state until she wakes up." Dr. Lawson said, as my mom had joined the group. "Did Katniss mention anything thing to you two about this being a possibility?" Dr. Lawson ask Gale and Peeta, who had just joined the group on crutches as the medical staff was fixing his leg.

"Yeah. Last night she said it was a dumb idea, and just this morning she told the both of us that something like this might happened." Gale said. Peeta just nodded his head in agreement.

"How long until she comes around?" Mrs. Everdeen asks.

"I don't have a definitive answer to your question, and while we're on the subject, I don't want Katniss to see the three of you right away when she does wake up." Dr. Lawson said.

"Why?" Peeta asks, he decided to sit in the chair to give his arms a rest.

"Anybody know how long Katniss was injected with the tracker jacker venom?" Dr. Lawson.

"Pretty much the whole of last month." Peeta said.

"President Snow's goal was to break Katniss, to make her think that her family and Peeta were killed. If he could make Katniss think that they were dead, then when he televised her execution nationwide, she would have broken shell of her former self." Dr. Lawson said.

The group heard a blood curdling scream coming from my room, followed by me shouting. "PEETA!" Gale, Dr. Lawson and a group of nurses rushed in to see me ripping out me IV line, and attempting to get out of bed. A group of nurses attempted to keep me in bed, but the psychotic break that I was having was making me stronger them, so I was able to push them off of me with little effort. Gale and Dr. Lawson were attempting to calm me down so a nurse could inject me with a sedative, but it wasn't working. I look up and freeze. I see Peeta standing in front of me, and my mind can't comprehend what its see.

"What's going on? Who is that boy?" I'm ask, screaming.

Gale look back at the door to see Peeta standing in the hall on his crutches, and he motions for Peeta for get out of sight. "What's going on? I saw Peeta die. He died in District 8. WHO'S THIS IMPOSTER WEARING PEETA'S FACE?" I screamed some more.

That split second when I saw Peeta bought the nurse prepping the syringe enough time to get the sedative drawn, and when I froze she had injected the sedative into my neck. I didn't even feel the prick of when the syringe broke my skin. I start to feel the sedative kick in, and then I'm unconscious in mere seconds. The group fighting to keep me in bed had to catch their breath.

"Thank you nurse." Dr. Lawson said.

"You welcome, Dr. Lawson." the nurse who injected me said. The rest of the nursing staff left the room, a few attached restraints on my wrists and ankles before leaving.

"I see why you didn't want Katniss to see us." my mom said when Gale and Dr. Lawson exit my room.

"Is she going to recover?" Prim asks, with tears brimming in her eyes. Prim didn't see the episode in my room, but hearing my screams and shrieks definitely affected her.

"I honestly don't have an answer to that question. Maybe if we can get her to understand that whatever she saw in the Capitol was doctored footage to make her believe that you three were killed. Gale heard the conversation, but he didn't hear it. He was looking at Peeta, who was on the brink of tears. Prim saw Peeta was hurting by the current diagnosis to my situation. She walked and hugged him, and they cried for me. My mom walked over and hugged both of them, seeing as how Peeta is my lover, and the closes thing to a son-in-law.

"Gale." Dr. Lawson said.

"Yes, doctor." Gale said.

"I want you to stay here for the time being. If anybody can reach Katniss, it's you." Dr. Lawson said.

"Okay." Gale says.

My mom pulls away from the hug she had on Prim and Peeta, and walked over to Gale. "Bring my daughter back to me. I don't care how you do, just bring her back."

"Yes, ma'am." Gale said.

My mom hugged Gale, and then return to her rounds. Prim walked over to Gale, and Gale knelt down to hug Prim. "Please, I just want my sister back." she pleaded with Gale.

After Prim broke away from Gale and returned to her rounds, he sat down next to Peeta. There was a moment of silence before either of them spoke. "Look I'm not going to even pretend I know what you're going through, but if Katniss is going to pull through, she is going to need to you remain strong." Gale says.

"Easier said than done." Peeta says.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not." Gale says.

"Oh." Peeta says, looking at Gale.

"We just get her to think of something, anything that she said to you that only you could answer." Gale said.

"I think I know a particular conversation that we could use, but that's only if Katniss brings it up." Peeta says.

"That could work." Gale says.

"Mr. Mellark, we have finished with you prosthesis." A nurse said, as she approached them pushing a wheel chair.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Peeta said after he got into the wheel chair.

"I'll be here." Gale said, as Peeta was being wheel off to get his prosthetic limb refitted.