Disclaimer: I own a "Keep Calm and DFTBA" poster, not The Hunger Games

Katniss' P.O.V.

Peeta and I anxiously waited for the train to come pick us up. This was all too familiar and going back to the capital will bring back all those memories I was trying to forget about. That place is a nightmare I'd rather not revisit but I don't have a choice in the matter do I? The thing I'm most worried about is Peeta. I can only imagine what's going on inside his head right now. Going back must be horrific for him. Ever since Haymitch told us we would be leaving in a few days he's been on edge. I've tried comforting him but all my efforts have failed. How can I calm him down when I'm terrified myself?

Sitting wasn't enough for my racing mind so I stood up and started pacing. I'm trying really hard not to bite my nails. God knows my stylists have enough work on their hands.

"Haymitch is late." I said

"I know."

"What could he possibly be doing that's more important than this? I'll kill him."

"No you won't." Peeta said.

I paced some more.

"Katniss sit down."

I looked at his pleading smile and obeyed. The second I sat down Peeta rested his arm on my lap, offering his hand and I gladly took it. This small gesture was significant to me. It means we're in this together. Always. I looked up into his blue eyes and for a moment all my worries melted away because I had Peeta to get me through this. He kissed the top of my head and the smile on my face grew even larger. I rested my head on his shoulder to hide my red cheeks. We sat in silence as we waited to see who would arrive first, Haymitch or the train?

The answer was Haymitch but the train was a close second. He arrived drunk, as usual, but not totally waisted for once. When the train arrived Haymitch quickly got on, no doubt making his way towards the free drinks, while I reluctantly followed with Peeta at my side.

When I stepped onto the cart I instantly noticed some drastic changes. The usual polished paneled walls and wood floors remained but other than that the cart was missing much of it's extravagance. The most drastic change was the lack of food. I scanned the room three times until I saw a small table in the corner of the room with a bowl of fruit and a tray of cookies. There was not one avox in sight either. There was only a couch and an arm chair in the room making the cart seem fairly empty. Haymitch was probably scouting out the drinks so Peeta and I were left alone.

I turned toward him and asked,

"Do you notice anything different?"

"Yeah, where is everything? Are we on the right train?" he said.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out. Come on. We need to find Haymitch" I grabbed hold of his hand and led him into the next cart which was identical to the first. As we ventured on down the train we came across a narrow hallway with doors leading into the sleeping quarters. Inside one of the rooms was a young avox boy, or so I thought. He had short, brown hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. The boy was vacuuming when I approached him.

"Excuse me. I don't want to interrupt or anything but I wanted to know if you've seen a man walk by, long hair, thin, middle aged. If you could just point me in the right direction that'd be great."

He looked at my quizzically and said,

"Oh I think I saw a man walk by a few minutes ago. He went that way I think." The boy pointed to the right, the same direction we had come from. Great.

I was taken by surprise when he spoke. This boy wasn't an avox. In fact, he wasn't even wearing the standard red uniform they usually had on but instead he wore a plane white shirt and dark pants. I stared at the boy in confusion. Nothing was making sense and there's nothing more I hate than not knowing what's going on.

Peeta nudged my side, breaking me from my thoughts. He gave me one of those "Katniss you're being rude" looks and I realized how uncomfortable the boy looked. I guess I was starring at him too long.

"I'm sorry it's just that I thought you were an-"

"-avox?" He finished my sentence for me. "You really don't know what's been going on do you?"

"No I guess not."

"Well a lot's changed now that Paylor is president. They aren't cutting anyone's tongues off anymore, there are too many avoxes already. Not that I'm a criminal! They just started hiring people like me, who could use the money, to do the avoxes jobs. A lot of people don't have homes, or families, and we're all sort of stuck, in need of money. Many factories and fields have been destroyed you know. The good thing is they need a lot of workers to clean up the districts so those of us whose old jobs are no longer in business can still make money. I'm from district 4 but they've sent me to help work in the capital. Oh, that's another thing, they've stopped locking the borders to the districts! You're allowed to travel wherever you like as long as you carry around a card that states your name, home district, and purpose of travel. Isn't that great! There are so many new things happening I wish I could explain them all but I've got to get back to cleaning. If you need anything, food, water, blankets, just let me know! Sorry they've taken away a lot of the extra furniture and food from the trains. They really needed the extra supplies since there's been so many shortages on resources. My name's James by the way. It's an honor to meet you both!"

And with that, James slid past us and into the room across the hall, vacuum in hand. I stood there, jaw dropped, and speechless. Paylor was a rebel leader from District 8, I met her a few times and she seemed pretty tough, definitely a good leader but I didn't know just how good. I had about a million more questions that needed to be answered but I didn't want to bother my new friend. All these changes sounded really great actually and I wish I wasn't so isolated from all the action. I thought it would be nice to get away but now all I want to do is get involved. I looked towards Peeta who seemed pretty shocked as well.

"Wow" is all I could manage to say.

"We should really get out more." Peeta said, making me laugh. I grabbed hold of his hand again and pulled him in the direction James pointed us to.

"I think it's time we talk to Haymitch." I said

"I think you're right."

xXx

We half walked, half ran in the direction James pointed us in. We were both pretty energized by the wonderful news. When we got close to the cart we first came in we had calmed down a bit. Right before we walked in I caught a glimpse of Haymitch talking to...Effie? I stopped in my tracks and Peeta gave me a strange look. I lifted my finger to my lips and pointed at the window. They looked like they didn't want to be overheard so I naturally wanted to know what they were talking about. We got as close as we could to the door without setting off the sensors that would open it and strained our ears to hear their conversation.

"... convince them." Effie's voice was barely audible. I got a little closer.

"I know but they're not going to like the idea." Haymitch said. Closer.

"It doesn't matter whether they want to or not. It just has to be believable." Too close.

The doors opened revealing Peet and I, which startled both Haymitch and Effie. I let out a nervous laugh and slowly walked toward her. Peeta followed.

"Effie! What are you doing here?!" I said with an over exaggerated cheerfulness.

"We've missed you!" Peeta said. We both hugged her awkwardly.

"It's good to see you too. How much did you guys hear before you came in?" She asked after breaking the hug. She doesn't beat around the bush I'll tell you that.

"Not much." I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her, eyebrows raised.

"We have a lot to talk about."

"Why don't you start with every single thing you've been keeping from us the past few months."

"Why don't we all sit down. This is going to take a while..."