This chapter does have a nightmare in it which is a bit gruesome. If you're sensitive you may not want to read it. Just skip the dream bit, it's all OK again after there.

P.S. Sorry about the delay. I fried my computer.

Chapter 11.

Cato and Johanna spent the first couple of hours in silence, which didn't surprise Cato. He knew of her near legendary hatred of tributes from inner districts, and he didn't particularly like her. She was one of those people that won the Games by being sneaky and, what was in his opinion, cheating. Then again, if it came down to pure strength and skill, District 1 or 2 would win nearly every year. Katniss was one of those few exceptions.

After 4 hours and 13 minutes, Johanna surprised him by initiating a game of chess. Cato was grateful that she had; it was boring enough just sitting and watching tributes sleeping. She swivelled her overstuffed, lime green chair around to face him and Cato flickered his eyes over to her.

'Want to play?' she asked abruptly. Cato looked at her in surprise until she pulled a chess board out from a drawer in the table, a board that Cato hadn't even noticed was there. He mentally scolded himself; a mistake like that could get him killed… then he remembered that he had already been in the arena and come out. He no longer needed to worry about that. Then he realised that Johanna was waiting for an answer. He gave her a grudging nod, and she deposited the board on the table. Cato looked on as she arranged the pieces so that Cato was white and she was black.

Cato knew that tactics weren't his strong suit, and he expected Johanna to wipe the board with him. He was surprised when she didn't; in fact it turned out that they were quite evenly matched. Johanna eventually managed to get Cato's king into a checkmate with her bishop and rook, forcing him to surrender. They were so focused on the game that neither one noticed when Enobaria came into the room to check on Cato. They were lucky the game ended when it did or they would have missed seeing Katniss begin to stir in the cave.

They did exactly as Haymitch ordered; Johanna woke him immediately whilst Cato put away the chess set. Haymitch arrived a couple of seconds later looking and smelling much better. Johanna did her best to recount what had happened during the night, struggling slightly because she actually hadn't been paying attention. Between them though, they managed to get a good enough description that Haymitch seemed satisfied.

Katniss rolled out of bed, and Cato noticed that Peeta's odds had increased hugely overnight; the fever had broken. She left the cave to quickly gather some berries to make into a meal for Peeta, but Peeta woke up before she returned. He tried to get up, anxiously looking for Katniss.

'I woke up and you were gone,' he said as soon as Katniss returned. 'I was worried about you.' Katniss laughed gently as she pushed him back down.

'You were worried about me? Have you taken a look at yourself lately?' she said, evidently teasing him still. Her voice was light but at the same time carried an undercurrent of disbelief.

'I thought Dominus and Clove might have found you. They like to hunt at night,' Peeta explained, still serious. Katniss's humour faded.

'Clove? Which one is that?' she asked.

'The girl from District 2. She's still alive, right?' Peeta asked uncertainly.

'Yes, there's just them and us and Thresh and Foxface,' Katniss confirmed. Peeta looked puzzled, so Katniss clarified. 'That's what I nicknamed the girl from 5. How do you feel?'

'Better than yesterday. This is an enormous improvement over the mud,' he admitted. 'Clean clothes, medicine, a sleeping bag . . . and you.'

Katniss looked slightly surprised before she remembered that they were supposed to be in love. Cato snorted in amusement; she was an awful actor. The only reason she was getting away with it so far was because the Capitol audience wanted to believe they were in love. The whole thing sickened Cato. Love was one of the things that the Games shouldn't taint.

Eventually Peeta managed to get Katniss to go to sleep. Cato dozed off in his chair as well.

**** Dream Sequence ****

Cato dreamed that he was sitting in his house in District 2, the one in the victors' village. It wasn't him though, it was the old Cato. It was the Cato that was allowed in the streets without an escort and slept well at night. It was the Cato that didn't constantly watch the shadows for people ready to kill him.

The old Cato was sitting in front of the fire and fiddling with something in his hands. He looked down and realised it was his gold knife, the one from the arena. Then he noticed that the array of golden weapons that had been in his arena was displayed above the mantle piece. Clearly he had been in the arena. The centre sword was laced with silver, showing where the breaks had been when it was shattered.

The door behind him opened, and he turned around to see Katniss's tiny blond sister enter the room. The little girl was pulling Katniss behind her with one hand, and Katniss smiled when she saw Cato. Then he noticed that Katniss was also pulling someone behind her, a peacekeeper with a jagged hole in his abdomen. Blood gurgled from the peacekeeper's mouth, and his slimy organs were visible through the rent in his armour.

The chain of people continued with the peacekeeper leading another peacekeeper behind him. This one's head hung at a weird angle, the neck obviously broken. Trailing behind the second peacekeeper was an avox servant with a knife sticking out of his eye. The eyeball fluids were trickling down his face. The chain of victims continued; the gruesome injuries that had killed them clearly displayed.

Katniss stood next to Cato the whole while, and she was soon joined by Cato's sister, Demeter. Both girls were shaking their heads disapprovingly as the line continued, the injuries getting more gruesome as they got closer to his Hunger Games.

Then he saw the body of Satin, her blond hair stained crimson by blood, the shards of her skull like eggshell in the scrambled mess of her brains. Realising what was about to come next—the one kill he couldn't bear to see—Cato yelled out in denial. To his surprise, someone else called back.

**** End Dream Sequence ****

Cato awakened from his nightmare and fell silent in surprise, realising that his eyes were shut. Opening them quickly he realised that he was in one of the side rooms of the mentor lounge.

Haymitch was standing behind a chair, resting his hands on the back like he was ready to move quickly. Cato was confused briefly before Haymitch asked;

'Are you going to throw that knife of yours or not?' Cato realised that he was holding his gold knife in his hand; he must have unsheathed it whilst he slept. Cato smirked and shook his head. Haymitch visibly breathed out a sigh of relief, stepped around the chair that he had been ready to use as cover, and sat down.

'There's a feast tonight. Peeta won't let her go so he needs to be asleep.' Cato nodded slowly, and Haymitch took a deep breath. 'Well, put it this way boy. As much as I hate to admit it, you're good and you know what you're doing. I need some advice. Should I send her sleep syrup for him?' Haymitch finally finished. Cato frowned in thought; Katniss was vulnerable while Peeta was vulnerable. She needed him to recover, and going to the feast would also be an opportunity to take out a couple of the other tributes. Finally Cato nodded, and Haymitch sent the gift.

Katniss seemed to recognise the syrup immediately because she thanked Haymitch and quickly mixed it in with some berries. It didn't take her long to coax Peeta into eating the entire bowl of berries. The baker's son realised what it was in the last couple of minutes, forcing her to clamp her hands over his nose and mouth to stop him from spitting it out. She wiped a single berry off his chin and rocked back on her heels, looking down at him.

'Who can't lie, Peeta?' she whispered before she stood and made her preparations for the feast.

Haymitch grumbled at this. ''Thanks for your consideration', 'who can't lie'. She's good at snarky and sarcastic. If only she was that good at something useful for interviews.'

'Thanks for your consideration?' Cato inquired in confusion.

'Mmmmh. It's what she said to the gamemakers after the private training session. She shot an arrow at them.' Haymitch replied offhandedly.

'She shot an arrow at the gamemakers?!' Cato asked in utter disbelief.

'At an apple in the mouth of a pig on their table. Felt they weren't paying enough attention.' Cato laughed appreciatively. The 'Girl on Fire' wasn't just a name; it suited her personality.

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