"Mama!"

Katniss's eyelids flew open at the panicked shout.

"Prim! Bist du krank?"

She sat up and got her bearings. Early morning was just cutting a thin white line at the horizon into the inky blue outside the curtained windows. Her stiff joints informed her she'd slept through the evening and night on the thin carpet. She sat up as she heard the bedroom door open and two sets of feet hurry to the bathroom. She crawled to her feet and stumbled to the open door.

Peeta was setting Prim into the tub in her dress. Her eyes were lost and sad. A dark wet spot ran from her groin to her toes.

"Again?" Katniss asked.

Peeta spun around. "Yes," he sighed. "She was dreaming." He turned on the faucet. Prim stuck her hand out to catch the water.

Katniss remembered the kick she got in the stomach when she last helped Peeta. "I'll take care of the sheets," she offered.

She stripped the bed and noted the leak hadn't gone too deeply into the mattress. The stain was darker than she'd hoped. She walked back to the bathroom to find a hand towel.

Prim's dress was soaking the sink and Peeta was pouring a cup of water over her. She shook the water from her chopped hair. She growled when Katniss returned.

"She needs to drink some water," Katniss said. "Her urine is dark; she's dehydrated."

He looked at the girl. "Möchtest du ein Glas Wasser, Prim, Prim?"

She nodded. She glanced at Katniss.

"I found some food. You both should eat."

She watched Prim for a moment while Peeta tried to get her out of the tub before she turned away. She took the white hand towel from the rack and soaped it heavily to press into the mattress.

She gathered the linens in the bedroom and carried them down to the first floor. She found the wash basin in the kitchen and realized she'd have to hang the sheets on the line outside. She hoped it did not attract visitors.

She was wringing out the sheets over the sink when Peeta carried Prim in, wrapped in a towel. His shirt was wet where her head lolled against his shoulder.

"There's a bottle of milk in the icebox for her," she told him.

"Prim," he told her, "Katniss hat Milch – milk – für dich gefuden. Was sollst du ihr jetzt sagen? What do you say?" Prim eyed Katniss warily then looked away. Peeta tried again. "Prim, what do you say to Katniss?"

"I don't think she likes me much," Katniss said.

Peeta sighed. "I am sorry. She is a very sweet girl."

"I'm sure she is," Katniss smiled, "when she's not so hungry. Give her some breakfast; I'll hang these outside."

When she came back to the kitchen, Peeta was attempting to give his sister a small glass of milk. He caught the bottle sitting beyond the glass as Prim lunged for it.

Prim pushed the small glass away angrily and reached for the bottle again. Katniss caught it when it threatened to fall. Prim caught Katniss's fingers and dragged the bottle to her mouth across the table top. She didn't release her hand as she tipped it to her mouth.

"I guess she wanted the whole bottle," Katniss smiled.

Peeta smiled. "Prim, give Katniss her fingers back please."

Prim changed the hand holding the bottle without acknowledging Katniss. Katniss lit the stove and pulled the bread from the icebox.

"It's pretty stale, but if we heat the bread it should taste all right."

"Katniss, anything is good," Peeta told her. "I feel like we have not eaten in years."

She smiled. "Then slice up these potatoes." She dropped the basket of sprouting potatoes on the table.

"Yes, ma'am," he grinned. "I will use the toilet and come back down."

He stood and Prim jumped up from the table. She wrapped her arms around his leg.

"Prim, I am going to the bathroom. You cannot come with me." She squeezed her eyes shut and didn't let him go. He looked to Katniss. "She cannot come with me," he pleaded.

"Prim?" Katniss knelt down to her. "Peeta will be right back." Prim let one green eye open to glare at Katniss.

"Here," Peeta said. He reached down and removed Prim's hands from his leg and she began to whimper. He quickly moved her hands to Katniss's shoulders. "Will you hold her for me?"

Katniss clung on to Prim while she struggled to follow Peeta up the stairs. "Prim! It's all right, it's just the bathroom. He'll be right back!" Prim shrieked. Katniss's head throbbed with the noise. She sat down on the floor to collect Prim more fully into her arms and held the child to her.

"Shhh, please," she moaned. "You don't have to be scared anymore."

The keening was drilling a hold in her brain. Prim wriggled and tried to kick her, but Katniss held her tight. Prim stopped struggling and began to cry.

"It's all right. He's not gone. He's upstairs." Prim looked up at Katniss. "He came to find you," she told her. "He came all the way here just for you. He'd never leave you, Prim."

Prim was quiet. Katniss looked at the bright red nose and pink-rimmed eyes. She had her brother's eyes. Katniss gazed at her. She tucked her chin and kissed Prim's forehead gently. Prim lowered her face and let her head rest against Katniss's shoulder. Katniss waited and wondered if she was about to wet her lap in revenge. But she wasn't wriggling in discomfort. She was breathing deeply, but not enough to be asleep. She seemed to relax.

Peeta returned. "She is quiet." Katniss thought he sounded hopeful.

"I think she wears herself out," Katniss offered. Prim stretched her arm out to Peeta. He came to her and tried to take her from Katniss, but Prim kept one fist gripping Katniss's sleeve.

"Prim, Katniss needs her shirt," he smiled. Prim refused to let her go.

Katniss slipped her thumb between the fabric and the clenched hand and held Prim's hand in hers. "I'm right here," she told her. "I'm not going anywhere."

Prim watched her a long moment before she released her thumb.

The morning was warmer than anticipated. Prim clung to Peeta as they walked down the ruined streets to the infirmary dance hall. She growled at the soldiers that passed them.

Aurelius was wincing at the bitter coffee in his cup when they came back. He raised an eyebrow at their borrowed and ragged clothes from the chapel donation bin. Prim glowered as he greeted them.

"She's a real peach," he sighed.

"She's been doing better," Katniss defended her. "She's just anxious," she added.

Aurelius pulled out a stethoscope and rubbed it warm on his hand. "Hmmm," was all he offered her.

Prim squirmed and whined but didn't kick as he listened to her lungs and prodded her neck and ears. "She looks all right. A little lean, but," he sighed. "aren't we all?"

He coughed uncomfortably and looked at Katniss sideways. "Did you check…?"

Katniss nodded. "We gave her a bath. Two, actually. She looks all right," she murmured. Peeta realized what they were saying and he stumbled.

"Peeta?" she asked. Prim reached for him.

He was white. "I need water," he croaked. "I…I need water."

"Peeta, she's all right." Katniss touched his arm gently. "She's fine."

"I just…I cannot," he staggered to the hallway. "Water."

Prim began to panic and Katniss quickly moved to the buffet table now serving as a surgical bed. She enveloped Prim in her arms to shush her.

"She's lucky," Aurelius said, tossing the stethoscope aside. "Little kid on her own." He watched Prim press her ear to Katniss's heart as she sat up on examining table and waited for her brother.

"I told him she was waiting for him to find her," Katniss smiled. "I think she was."

"Is she mute?"

"Sorry?" Katniss was startled.

"She talk?"

She blinked. "I think…yes?"

"Do you know your name?" he asked the little girl.

"She's listening and responding to Peeta," Katniss told him. "She's just not speaking."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Probably to be expected. What she saw at her age; I'm sure she doesn't have words for it."

Katniss looked down at the fuzzy little head. She imagined the large eyes watching her mother dragged from their bedroom; her brothers shouting in the next room. Hearing the shots in their garden. The march north, alone. Whether it was mercy or arrogance that saved her short life, she would never know. She shuddered and gripped Prim tighter. Prim made a noise more like relief than a whine.

"Well, it's communication anyway," Aurelius thought aloud. "Take her someplace quiet. You have a bunk somewhere?"

"We took a house," Katniss confessed. "The whitewashed cottage by the chapel. They weren't going to let her stay with Peeta."

Aurelius raised an eyebrow. "You're there too?"

Katniss felt her neck grow hot. "There are two bedrooms," she stammered.

Peeta returned and Aurelius glanced between the two of them. Prim reached out an arm and Peeta crossed to stand by her so she could hold onto him.

"Better take her back to that house," Aurelius finally said. "I don't need her kicking my patients."

Peeta thanked him and apologized again, lifting Prim into his arms. She kept her eyes on Katniss as they walked back to the cottage. Katniss spied Gale watching their procession from the door to the makeshift mess hall. She looked away from his curiosity. The other refugees had been shipped southeast yesterday as she had concealed them in the cottage.

Prim took turns dogging Peeta and Katniss all afternoon. As Katniss restocked her medical pack from the house's meager supply, Prim kept three fingers laced through her belt loops. When Peeta was in the cellar searching for canned goods, Prim was standing on his foot. She pushed open closed doors angrily when they moved out of her sight and shrieked if either was away from her too long. Katniss's ears rang and her head ached by the time the dusk began to fall.

"Prim, please," Katniss sighed that evening. She tried to move back and forth around the kitchen, but with the child holding both of her legs she was afraid she was going to step on her. "Peeta?" she called to the living room.

He appeared and Prim ran to his legs. "Thank you," Katniss sighed. "That's all I needed."

"Prim," he chided. He looked to Katniss. "Is there any help I can do?"

"Just keep her from underfoot," Katniss said over her shoulder. "I'm afraid I'm going to trip and fall on her."

He sighed and led her out of the kitchen. Katniss could hear her whining even as he began to speak softly to her from the sofa.

Katniss lit the pilot to warm the oven. Her stomach rumbled at the meager amount the three had to share. Two cans of beets and one of corn were all the basement held, and they'd eaten them for lunch. Only the rice and a few potatoes were left. She reserved the half-jar of milk for Prim. It would be a hungry night, but she hadn't yet figured out how to sneak away the newly-arrived rations she would need for three people. She checked the remaining bread; it seemed more dismal and stale but she would heat it anyway. Peeta was at least four inches taller than her and had been eating less than her for a long time.

She went into the living room to ask if she should boil the rice or save it in case they needed it later. She stopped at the sight of Peeta dozing with Prim resting on his chest. She smiled at the memory of her father's flannel shirts pressed against her cheek in winter. She remember the sound of his breathing as they napped in their summer hammock when she was small enough to fit alongside.

Prim blinked and held an arm out to Katniss sleepily. "Shh," Katniss gestured as she crossed to lift her off Peeta. "Let your brother rest." Peeta stirred and sighed, then settled.

Prim followed her back to the kitchen and watched her pull a small handful of rice from the jar to cook. Her stomach had swayed her opinion. Dropping the rice into the water she sat down at the table to wait. Prim climbed clumsily into her lap.

They sat quietly and listened to the water on the stove. Katniss rested her chin on top of Prim's head and smiled as the choppy hair poked her chin. She felt a tug on her blouse and saw Prim was chewing on the wooden button of her borrowed shirt.

She jumped and pulled back. "Prim, don't do that," she murmured, sweeping it from her mouth. "You might choke." But she was doing it again as soon as Katniss's free hand returned to her back. "Prim, stop," she sighed. The button clicked against her baby teeth. She stared at the child. She protested when Katniss moved to put the rice in the water, but she wasn't nearly as loud as she'd been all day. Katniss hoped she'd fall asleep early that night.

Peeta's tired eyes were at the door. "Thank you for watching Prim. I am sorry, I did not mean to sleep so long."

"It's all right," she smiled. "I was more hungry than tired."

He smiled. "Prim, would you like a potato?" He asked the girl wrapped around Katniss's knee. She shook her head. "More milk?" She nodded.

He set her at the table, but she climbed down, taking the bottle with her and clung to his legs while he sliced a the potatoes' shoots at the sink. Katniss slipped the bread into the warm oven and set a pot of water to boil on the stove. She and Peeta dropped the potatoes into the pan and he showed her how he could toss and flip them with a flourish. Katniss pulled Prim into her lap while he transferred them into a small bowl.

He turned around to find Prim was chewing Katniss's button again. Katniss shrugged helplessly. When he tried to take her, she squirmed away and buried her face against Katniss's damp shirt.

"I suppose she does like you," he frowned. "Or at least your buttons. She chews them?"

Katniss nodded. "I hope she doesn't chew it off. I only have one spare uniform now."

Peeta shook his head. "I do not even remember the feel of my uniform. I am glad to never wear it again. You must be tired of pants and ready for dresses again."

Katniss shook her head. "I never liked the dresses my mother bought for me. My father bought me a dress for graduation from the nursing program. I wore it for him, but," she confessed, "I never cared for it much."

"You are a tom?" he asked.

"Tomboy?" she grinned. "I suppose a bit. It's more than I think pants are more practical."

"Your mother likes this?" he asked.

Katniss paused. "Um. My mother and I are not close."

Peeta frowned. Prim sighed and chewed the button. "I am sorry."

"No, it's…it's my fault. I was always my father's daughter," Katniss said quietly. "I didn't…I didn't give her a chance."

"I am sure you loved her very much. You are a very good woman, Katniss."

Katniss smiled down at Prim in her lap. The small fingers balled little sections of her shirt into a fist and released. "I'm no mother, though, am I?" she whispered.

Prim chewed the button off the shirt while they were eating the potatoes. She spit it out of her mouth in surprise. It clattered across the floor.

Katniss moaned. "Oh, Prim."

Prim slid off of her lap and moved to sit with Peeta. He offered her a bit of potato. She accepted the fork while her eyes searched for the button on the floor. She made another face and refused more potato.

"They're not very fresh," Katniss said to her. "But they're still good. I wish I had found some salt, though. Or pepper."

"They're real food," Peeta breathed. "I am very tired of crackers."

"If I see a saltine ever again it will be too soon!" Katniss laughed. "Maybe Prim will like them."

"I do not know if she has had them," Peeta said, rubbing Prim's short hair. "I do not know what she was eating when she was living with that family."

"She needs to eat more. There's the rice, do you think she'd eat that?"

He shrugged. "Reis, Prim?"

"Nein." She rested her chin on the table and kicked her legs.

He nearly fell off the chair when she spoke. "Prim!" She did not speak again, but he was beaming all the same. He and Katniss washed the few dishes in the sink as Prim took turns pulling on their pant legs as she looked for the button.

"Maybe it's under the refrigerator?" Katniss asked her. "It could have bounced."

"She should not eat buttons if she will not eat rice," Peeta frowned. Katniss laughed.

The knock at the door set Prim off. She tried to pull them both out of the kitchen by their pants, but she fell down in her panic and lost her grip on Peeta's leg. It was enough to frighten a scream out of her like something Katniss had never heard.

"Peeta, take her upstairs!" Katniss cried, covering her ears.

Peeta picked her. Prim reached for Katniss and wailed in terror. The noise continued up the stairs and to the bedroom and through the closed door.

Katniss took a deep breath and opened the door.

"What the hell is that?" asked the staff sergeant at the shrieks from upstairs.

"My, um, patient," Katniss answered. She could see Gale trying to signal her to stay quiet behind the sergeant.

"What patient?"

"Prisoner laborers that were left behind. What do you need?" Katniss deflected, stepping outside to shut the door. "She's very upset and shouldn't be disturbed."

The sergeant eyed her. Gale clenched his jaw. "Getting my headcount in. Anyone else staying here?"

Her throat felt stuffed with cotton. "Yes."

The sergeant waited.

"My patient's brother." Katniss swallow. "They're both minors."

The staff sergeant checked his clipboard. "What nationality?"

"Sorry?"

"Your prisoner laborers. What nationality?"

Katniss took a slow breath. "Polish." She saw Gale's mouth twitch a quick frown.

"Okay. There's a supply transport leaving on Thursday, heading south. They can go with them. When's your unit going out?"

Katniss glanced at Gale. "Wednesday," he answered for her. "Wednesday morning."

"Wednesday," she repeated.

"Okay," the staff sergeant said, noting it down. "You can tell them to be ready Thursday? They speak English?"

"Yes," Katniss said. "Better than most."

He left without another word. Gale stared at Katniss for a moment before he followed the staff sergeant around the corner of the house.

Katniss stepped back inside and locked the door. She leaned against it heavily.

She climbed the stairs to the bedroom. She could hear muffled tears from behind the closed door. She gently turned the knob.

"Peeta? Is she all right?"

Prim tumbled off the bed and ran to Katniss. She grabbed her pants and frantically tried to get back to where Peeta was sitting on the mattress. Katniss lifted her back to sit next to her brother and was obliged to sit as Prim would not release her hand.

"She is back, Prim," Peeta said softly, wiping her small face. "Katniss is all right."

"Sie nehmen dich. Sie nehmen Katniss."

"No," he whispered. "They will not take me or Katniss. We are here with you."

Katniss watched him. He looked at her. He knew it wasn't necessarily true either.