CHAPTER 12

Hey guys! As it seems today is another one of those days when I absolutely suck at introductions, here's the latest update :)

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING? You've put us all in danger! What if you had been captured? You could have gotten all of us completely and totally FUCKED!"

Katniss had eventually dozed off on the edge of her bed, but jumped up startled hearing Haymitch yelling in the hallway. She ran to the door and pressed her ear onto the polished wood.

"Oh come on Haymitch, get a fucking grip on yourself!"

"But all those people dead! It's horrific! Not to mention the kind of attention it might draw-"

"Huh! You and your friends want to overthrow the Panem government! How did you think this was going to be? That you would kindly ask them to step aside and they would? Honestly now!"

"Haymitch, Hazel is right" Cinna intervened. "When he decided to get involved in this we knew from the start that it would be…"

Then the door suddenly opened and Katniss was nearly knocked down. She took a few steps back as Cato walked in and closed it back after him.

"Cato! You're back!" she whispered. Then her gaze fell down on his dirty and bloodied clothes. "Oh my God! What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." He motioned toward a package of plastic sheet he was currently holding in his hand. "I brought you something"

Katniss held her breath, genuinely hoping it wasn't a piece of someone, but she still took it and opened it with trembling hands. Inside, carefully tied together, were the bow and arrows she'd had during the Hunger Games. She gasped and couldn't help running her fingers over the smooth aluminum surface.

"Where did you get this?"

"Where you left it" he replied with a brief smirk. "I thought you might want to have it…"

"Thank you" she murmured shyly, and then looked up at him. "Is he dead? Seneca Crane?"

Cato sighed and shook his head. "Sadly the odds were not in his favor… so yeah"

For a moment she thought he was going to grin, but he didn't. And she noticed that he looked neither triumphant nor satisfied, just tired.

"Are you sure you're ok? You don't look too good" She placed the bow on her bed, and took his hand. "Come on"

She led him into the small bathroom adjacent to her bedroom and made him sit down. "Let's take a look at those wounds" she added concerned. She took a small sponge and soaked it in water, then gently began to clean the dried blood smeared on his face. But to her surprise, beneath it the skin was smooth and flawless, not even a mark had remained on it. Her eyes widened and she noticed that he was observing her. Without really knowing what she was doing, she stooped and cupped his face with both hands before pressing her mouth on his. She'd intended it to be brief and soft, but suddenly he stood up, slamming her back on the tiled wall and the kiss got significantly rougher. Cato wasn't the gentle type, she remembered as her hands shyly found their way down and grabbed the hem of his shirt and yanked it up. He only broke the kiss to allow her to pull it over his head, and then continued to devour her mouth. Her inexperienced fingers proceeded to explore his torso and up his shoulders, then the back of his neck, eventually tangling in his short hair. She inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. A smell of forest, of dirt and of blood – the wild scent of a hunter.

Then someone cleared their throat and Katniss pulled back abruptly to see Haymitch staring at them. Shit!. Cato groaned against her neck.

"The… this is just…" she tried to say, but the mentor made a dismissal gesture.

"Whatever it is, sweetheart, I really don't want to know. And trust me, I'm not even by far drunk enough for that. I just came to say that tonight's 'great accomplishment' just got all over the news and for now it is uncertain what will happen in respect of the Iron Games"

"Oh… they will not begin this week?" Katniss asked.

"I have no idea"Haymitch shrugged, but then pointed a finger at them. "But on to the current matters, I don't think you should-"

She didn't get to hear the end of it, because Cato slammed the bathroom door in his nose and placed his hands on the wall, on either side of her head, his mouth resuming the ministrations on her neck.

I only have a few days left anyway she eventually told herself and allowed her light nightgown to join his shirt down on the floor.

-x-

"How did he die?"

"He was run through with a sword or a similar weapon, Sir. We believe that it was one of the weapons that were found missing from the Cornucopia"

President Snow straightened his back in his armchair and ran a hand through his hair, thoughtful. "So, stabbed to death in the Arena…" he concluded. "I can't say it's particularly regrettable, he brought us enough trouble as it was. And now he's got himself an end befitting a Game maker, one might add. You have to admit to the irony of the situation"

"Yes, sir" his secretary agreed.

"And what of the Peacekeepers what were with him? No survivors?"

"None, sir. Some of them were shot with one of their rifles, others slaughtered, apparently also using the missing weapons. It was nothing short of a bloodbath there"

"And how would you explain this?"

The secretary cleared his throat. "Well, sir, Mr. Crane had received many threats before. The Iron Games-"

"Yes, yes I know, the Iron Games are a great stake for many. Yet I do recall that a similar incident has occurred a few months ago, in… District 9 wasn't it? At least a dozen Peacekeepers slaughtered in the woods, not a trace of the killers… many shot with their own guns"

"Yes sir, they were pursuing some escapees from District 9. They were captured and interrogated but-"

"Interrogated?" Snow snorted. "I know, a family with two children, the father crippled in a work accident a couple of years back. I dare think it wasn't them"

"Do you think it could have been rebels, sir?"

Snow rubbed his chin. "Rebels? Could any rebels be that professional, that efficient and not leave a trace? Can rebels sneak under our noses into the Capitol and murder our citizens? No, Franks, I don't think so. I have seen rebels back in the days, brute District people driven mad by fear and hatred… No, this is not the work of rebels at all. More likely it's someone inside the Capitol – someone who knows us well, who has studies us carefully" he said pointing to the large city outside his windows. "And someone with the kind of resources to pull such stunts and confident that they will get away with it"

"Could this be a political move, sir?" the secretary Franks suggested. "Think of it - the pessimists already assume that we might be on the brink of a new District uprising, and right now, just days before the beginning of the Iron Games, in which that girl who started it all is to take part, there's this terrible murder. And what happened in District 9. What if someone is trying to discredit the government, and ultimately you, sir? To prove that right now when things are about to boil you cannot handle the situation"

President Snow's expression darkened. "But we can and we will handle the situation, won't we, Mr. Franks?" He leaned forward on his desk. "Name a new Game maker to replace Seneca Crane now – there will be no more than one day delay in the beginning of the Games! And whoever this is that's causing all this trouble, find them!" he added in a menacing tone.

-x-

Katniss opened her eyes slowly to the bright light pouring in through the windows. For once in quite a long time she'd had a good, dreamless sleep. Cato had sneaked out of her room some time earlier to avoid further discovery and she found herself missing the feeling of his body against hers. She was still confused big time about the whole thing that had happened, but she didn't regret it. She wouldn't giggle over it as if it were a happy beginning, or get further confused and overanalyze how she really felt about it. The absence of a future made everything very simple - so it was better if she did her best not to think of it at all.

She pushed the covers aside, pulled on some sweat trousers and a t-shirt, and then glanced through the large window, to the world outside. The sky was so blue and the random clouds looked so soft and beautiful. Just like back home. She shook her head, not wanting to leave this newly found state of numbness. Numb was good.

An awkward silence met her in the living-room and she saw her mentor fretting nervously. Cato stood from the couch and drew closer to her, but she avoided his gaze for the moment.

"Haymitch? What's wrong?"

"Katniss listen… I'm afraid that all we managed to get you was an extra day, that's all" Cato said gently, placing his hands on her shoulders. "The Games will begin in two days"

She looked up at him and slowly reached to cup the side of his face. "It's ok. We knew this would happen anyway…" she murmured.

"Haymitch got a notice that they'll come for you today to take you to the Coliseum. All participants are kept there until the end of the Games" He shifted uncomfortably and rubbed the back of his neck. "Katniss I…"

"It's alright, Cato. I'm gonna be ok. Everything's gonna be ok" she said with a sad smile. Then she suddenly remembered something.

"Where's Peeta?"

Cato turned and looked at Haymitch, who downed his drink and cleared his throat. "Sweetheart, Peeta is…" he began running a hand through his hair. "He did not come back last night… You see, the thing is that… they took him"

That was all for today folks! :)) Let me know what you think! (God I really need to update these endings, they're getting old )