Not sure if anyone is still reading this, but i hope it doesn't disappoint.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Hunger Games or the film/novel Don't Say a Word. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit out of this and all of the characters, unless otherwise no ted, belong to their respective owners, the great Suzanne Collins and Andrew Klavan

Chapter 13: The Perfect World

"Daddy no! I don't wanna go!"

"You have to mija."

"But I don't wanna!"

The young girl ran back into her room, climbed on top of her bed, and laid face down on her pillow crying her grey eyes out. Her father ran in after her and scooped her up in his arms before he walked out of the room.

"Put me down!" she yelled as tears were cascading down her soft round cheeks.

The brown skinned man put her down in the living room of their small apartment. The girl was just about to run back to her room, but her father grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him. He bent down to meet her eyelevel and grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her from going anywhere.

"Mira mija." he said in a stern voice, "I know you don't want to leave. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is take you away from here and from all of your friends, but I have no choice."

"But why?" she sobbed, "Why can't I stay here?"

"Mija, you can't. You can't just stay here all by yourself. You have to come with me."

"But WHY? Why can't I stay here?"

"Because you just CAN'T!" he yelled.

The young girl did nothing but sob in front of her papa. She didn't like making him mad but she didn't know what else to do to make them stay.

He gave a loud sigh as he murmured Spanish curses under his breath. He looked around the small apartment before his eyes landed on the black duffel bag and the small backpack by the door.

He had to do this. He didn't want to, but he knew he had to, and fast. It was the only way to make sure that HE would never get to his daughter, his most valuable possession.

"Lo siento mija," he said softly as he cupped his daughters face and wiped the tears away from her eyes with his thumb, "But we have to go now."

The girl gave a small sniff as she slowly nodded her head.

"Pero mira," he whispered, "I promise you that one day we'll come back. Okay?"

"B-But what about mami?"

The man sighed.

"W-What will she say when we don't visit her on Sunday's anymore?" the young girl asked.

"Mami will be with us everywhere we go. I promise."

"B-But how?"

The man sighed again before he looked towards a small table against the wall. His eyes landed on a round snow globe that contained miniature versions of New York's landmarks. His lips curved up into a small smile as he reached for the snow globe that once belonged to his wife. He held it in his hands before he gently shook it in front of his daughter. As he watched the snow fall softly over the Statue of Liberty, the memory of the time his wife bought it suddenly entered his mind.

It was exactly a week before his daughter was born and they were walking in Times Square. Their arms were linked together as they admired the city lights above them. They were talking about the plans they had after their precious baby was born. They had planned to move as far away from the city as possible because they didn't want to raise their child in a city environment. His wife was a bit hesitant to move away from her home. However, her husband had assured her that it would be better for the three of them. His wife though, was not thoroughly convinced since she argued that New York was 'The best city in the world'.

He did not want to disappoint his wife. So they stopped by a small vendor on the side of the street. He told her to pick something from a table filled with souvenirs. After looking at all of them, his wife had finally decided on the round snow globe with the revolving subway train at the base. The man paid for it before they both walked away hand in hand and talked about how she wanted to give the souvenir to their daughter so that she would always know where her parents had come from.

Needless to say, his wife never had the chance to give it to her daughter because three weeks after her birth and two days before they were moving away, she died. The man became distraught and overcome with the fear of raising his daughter on his own, especially with his line of work. He feared leaving her with random strangers in a place were he would know no one. Most of all, he was filled with remorse over his wife's sudden death and feared not being near her, even if she was six feet underground. So he decided to stay in New York and raise his daughter with the help of Mags, his 60-year-old neighbor who never asked questions about his line of work..

"Mami will always be with you," he whispered as he handed the snow globe to his daughter.

The young girl took the snow globe from her father. A small smile appeared on her face as she gently shook it with her small hands. She had known that the snow globe belonged to her mother, but she never imagined that one day it would belong to her.

Her father gave her a small kiss on her forehead before he stood up and walked towards the bags. He picked up the small Barbie backpack and walked towards his daughter. He knelt down in front of her, unzipped it, and held it open towards her. She gently placed the snow globe in her backpack, making sure to wrap it around some of her clothes to keep it from breaking.

He then stood up, walked towards his own duffle bag and picked it up.

"Estas lista?" he asked her.

She nodded her head and followed him towards the door. She was about to walk out after him when she suddenly stopped.

"Wait!" she yelled as she ran back into her room.

"Mija, we can't keep doing this!" he yelled, "We have to go now."

She suddenly ran back into the living room with her precious doll that her father had given her. It was the doll that her father had told her to keep close to her at all times.

"Here," he said as he grabbed her back pack and held it open to her, "Put her in here."

The young girl scrunched up her face in confusion, "But why? How can I show her off to all the other girls if she's in there?"

Her father shook his head, "Now's not a good time to show her off."

"But why?"

"Because the ride to our new home is far and we don't want to risk her getting lost now, do we?"

His daughter contemplated this before she shook her head. She put her doll in her backpack next to the snow globe. She then took the backpack from her father's hands and put it on her shoulders.

She followed her father out of their apartment and out of the building. Once they were out, her father slowly looked up and down the street.

Finally, he breathed out a sigh of relief and took her small hand in his.

"Ok," he said, "let's go."

However, what the ten-year-old and her father failed to notice in the short minute it took for both of them to turn the corner, a black four door Sedan had quietly turned on and began to follow closely behind.

"So what are they going to do with her?" asked Finnick.

Annie ran her hand through her hair and sighed, "They're going to take her away again."

Finnick suddenly turned towards his friend.

"B-But they can't!"

Annie shrugged her shoulders, "They can, and they will."

The two friends turned to look at the window, which allowed them to look into Katniss' room. She was currently sitting back on her bed playing with her snow globe while she listened to Cinna who sat in the chair next to her.

Annie sighed again as she thought back to the argument she had with Cinna the day before. Although she had tried her best to argue with him, they both decided that it would be best that Katniss be transferred elsewhere.

"Do we know where?" asked Finnick.

Annie shook her head, "No. He said it was completely confidential."

Finnick rolled his eyes as he leaned against the table.

"Well this is great," he said with sarcasm evident in his voice, "How are we supposed to help her now?"

Annie shrugged her shoulders as she saw Cinna get up from the chair and walk out of Katniss' room. Annie walked out of the viewing room and met him in the hallway.

"What did she say?" asked Annie.

"Nothing, not that it surprises me."

"I'm telling you Cinna, this is a bad idea."

"Dr. Cresta," he began, "we have no other choice."

"How can helping her not be a choice?"

Cinna sighed, "We went over this already. Unless we want whoever is after her to get her, then she should stay. But since we don't, then it's best she leave."

Annie rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Now, I told her that we'll be here for her tomorrow morning," he said.

"But tomorrow's Sunday. Dr. Aurelius won't be back until Monday, how am I supposed to release her without his consent?"

"That's why they invented phones."

"But…"

"We could argue all day again Dr. Cresta but I have work to do. I'll be here around nine to pick her up," he said before he walked away leaving Annie alone in the hallway.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed. That man sure could get under her skin.

In a fit of rage, Annie took the folder she held in her hands and threw it against the wall, letting the papers fall everywhere.

"E-Excuse me Dr. Cresta?" she heard someone say.

Annie looked towards the person who distracted her from venting out her anger and was met with Peeta's confused eyes.

Annie blew some hair away from her face before she bent down to pick up some of the papers.

"What do you want Peeta?" she asked.

"I-I just wanted to talk to you about something," he said as he knelt down to help her.

"What about?"

"It's umm…it's about Katniss."

"What about her?"

"Katniss has umm…she has shown a lot of…improvement these last few days and…I was wondering if I could…you know…take her somewhere to…celebrate?"

Annie stopped organizing her papers and looked at Peeta with an arched eyebrow.

"You want to take her out?"

"Y-Yea," he stammered.

Annie sighed before she stood up, "This is a hospital Mr. Mellark, not a dating service."

"I-I know that, its just…its just that I think that she needs some time away from this place. You know? Maybe she'll open up more if you let her out of here, just for an afternoon," he said as he stood up as well.

"Look Peeta, as much as I think it might be a good idea to let her get some fresh air, the answer is no."

Peeta face fell.

"N-No? But why?"

"Because she's leaving."

Peeta's eyes widened in shock.

"L-Leaving? But she can't be leaving," he said as she began to walk towards the viewing room.

"Yea, well social services doesn't think we're doing a good job so they're taking her away."

"But they can't!"

Annie suddenly turned to look at him.

"Look Peeta, I hate it just as much as you do. But let's not forget our jobs here, okay?"

"But I thought that we were supposed to help her? Not make her go away!" he exclaimed.

"That's what I said, but do you think they listen? Just go in there and talk to her some more. It might be the last time you do it," she said before she walked back into the viewing room.

Peeta stood there in utter shock. How could this be happening? How could they be taking Katniss…his Katniss away from him? It just wasn't fair! How can they take those big grey eyes and those pink, round lips away from him? This couldn't be happening. This wasn't right. They were supposed to help Katniss, not take her away.

He was supposed to help her open up about her suicide. He was supposed to be there when they finally release her from the hospital. He was supposed to be there when she went back to school. He was supposed to there when he introduced her to his friends and to Prim as his girlfriend. He was supposed to kiss her until there was no more air in either of their lungs. He was supposed to be the one that would hug her and promise to take care of her forever.

But not anymore. He wouldn't be able to do any of these things now. Why? Because the fucking idiots from social services think that they're not doing a good job in helping her.

It wasn't fair.

Peeta felt like screaming at the top of his lungs. But he couldn't. He needed to be strong. So he did what any other regular teenage guy would do. He brushed his feelings aside and walked into Katniss' room.

However, as he was about to walk towards the door, he suddenly looked down and noticed that he was stepping on a small stack of papers that were stapled together. He picked them up and skimmed through them.

Bristel, age 14, Portland Oregon…Rory, age 15, Boston Massachusetts… Venia, age 16, San Diego California…what? Who were all these people?

Peeta didn't remember ever seeing any of these people on this floor.

'Maybe they're from another floor,' he thought before he folded the papers, stuffed them into his pocket, and walked towards Katniss' room.

Once inside, he found Katniss laying on her stomach. Her feet were resting on her pillow as her head faced the tinted window. She wasn't looking at the window though. No. Instead, she was carefully watching snow fall over a small city in a snow globe that she held in her hands.

Confusion spread throughout Peeta's face. Patients weren't allowed to have anything made of glass. However, he figured that it was probably acceptable since Dr. Cresta hadn't said anything about it.

He took a step closer to her. She hadn't heard him enter the room since she just lay there, mesmerized by the snowfall that covered the small city like a blanket. He walked a little closer to her. A small smile appeared on his face as he faintly heard her singing.

"In between the cover of another perfect wonder and it's so white as snow,"

She shook the snow globe once again as she gently touched the glass with her index finger.

"Running through the field where all my tracks will be concealed and there's nowhere to go."

He walked closer to her as he noticed her draw invisible circles on the glass while a soft sigh escaped her lips. The smile on his face grew bigger as he opened his mouth,

"I said hey hey yeah oh yeah, tell my love now."

Katniss jumped as she heard the voice. But it wasn't just any voice. No. It was his voice. Peeta's voice. The voice that she had grown so accustomed to hearing.

She looked up to meet her grey eyes with his deep blue ones. Her lips curved upward into a smile as he stepped closer to her.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he answered.

She sat up on the bed as he walked over to the chair next to her.

"How are you today?" he asked.

She looked down at the snow globe and shook it once again.

"I'm alright.," she whispered.

He looked down at her snow globe and watched as it covered what appeared to be the Empire State Building.

"What's that you've got there?" he asked as he pointed to the globe in her hand.

She looked down and let out a small sigh.

"A perfect world" she said.

Peeta arched his eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

She looked back up at him and offered him a small smile.

"It's the perfect world," she repeated, "It's a place where you don't have to think or worry about anything. You never have to run or hide. You don't have to worry about where you're going to sleep that night or whether or not you'll go to bed hungry."

She looked back down at 'the perfect world' in her hands.

"People might think that living in a bubble is scary. It makes them feel trapped and alone. But what they don't realize is that that bubble gives them protection from all the evil things in the world."

She looked back at Peeta and met his soft stare.

"Imagine standing in the middle of this world and looking up at all the buildings. And then you look up at the sky and feel the snowflakes fall on your face. You can feel them melt but you don't care, because those snowflakes and those buildings…they can make you believe that just for one minute…you're free. You're free in a beautiful place where nothing can harm you."

"Can I see it?" he asked.

She nodded her head and handed him the globe. He took it from her hands and gently shook it.

"Where did you get it from?" he asked as he played with the subway train at the base of the globe. He slowly began to spin it around with his finger.

"It was my mothers."

He looked up at her, "Yea?"

"Yea," she whispered.

She looked away from him to try to hide the emotions that threatened to spill from her eyes. But it was too late. Peeta had already seen them. He stared at her as she started to draw invisible figures with her finger on her bed.

"W-What happened to you parents?" he asked.

She suddenly looked at Peeta with an unreadable expression in her eyes. He looked down at her hands and noticed them scrunch up into tiny balls.

Uh-oh.

Had he gone too far? Had he suddenly opened a big can of worms that was never supposed to be open in the first place? Had he made her uncomfortable? Was she going to freak out on him again?

'Great job Mellark!' he thought to himself, 'you just made her hate you again. What the fuck were you thinking asking her about her parents? She's not going to want to speak to you again. This is great; this is just fan-fucking-tastic!'

"They're dead," he suddenly heard her say.

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He met her eyes again and was surprised to find pain and sorrow instead of anger and fury.

"D-Dead?" he asked, unsure if he should be pressing the matter more. He placed the snow globe next to her hand on the bed and sat back on his chair.

She slowly nodded her head as she stared back at the tinted window, a clear sign that she didn't want to discuss it any further, and Peeta had no intention of making her uncomfortable.

An awkward silence fell in the room. Peeta nervously sat playing with his thumbs as he let out a loud sigh. If there was one thing he hated more than Gale talking while his mouth is stuffed with mashed potatoes, it was awkward silences.

"So," he began, "do…do you like ice skating?"

She looked back at him with her eyebrow arched up in confusion.

"You know," he said, "ice skating? You wear shoes with blades under them and you just slide around before you fall on your ass?"

"I know what it is," she said with no emotion in her voice.

"Oh…well, do you like it?"

She shrugged her shoulder, "I guess, I-mean I haven't done it since I was little."

"Would you like to try again?"

She gave him a blank stare.

'Think fast Mellark.'

"Primrose loves ice skating."

He noticed her face fall at the mention of Prim for a second before she went back to giving him a blank stare. What was up with that? Was she sad? Was she jealous? Maybe he just imagined it.

"She's been bugging me to take her for a while now. I was going to take her tomorrow and I was wondering if maybe you…you know…wanna go too?"

"W-Why would you want me to go?" she asked, "Wouldn't you want to be alone with Primrose?"

"I'm always alone with her. She's always there when I fall asleep and when I wake up, and I want you to go because I think you deserve to have a day of fun."

Katniss' eyes widened in shock while her cheeks started to turn a light shade of pink.

"Umm…" she began nervously, "I-I'm sure it'll be fun…b-but umm, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why?"

"B-Because I wouldn't want to be a burden on you."

"You won't."

"Well…then I don't want to interfere with your couple time."

"What couple time?"

She looked at him with confusion in her eyes, "Y-You know."

He scrunched up his face, "N-No I don't."

"Peeta, call me crazy, but I have no interest in watching you suck face with your girlfriend."

Peeta almost chocked on his spit at the mention of the word 'girlfriend'. Did she think Prim was his girlfriend? Is that why she was acting weird?

"Girlfriend? Eww, no!" he exclaimed, "You think Prim is my girlfriend?"

"Isn't she?"

Peeta let out a small laugh as he shook his head.

"Then who is she?" asked Katniss, clearly annoyed at the fact that he was laughing at her.

"She's my six-year-old sister."

Katniss' mouth made an 'O' shape as he continued to laugh. Her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink as she let out a small chuckle. She looked down at her hands. She felt so stupid and embarrassed for jumping to conclusions. It wasn't like she was jealous or anything. She totally didn't care if Peeta had a girlfriend or not. It wasn't any of her business.

Suddenly, she felt his rough hands touch her own. He gave them a tight squeeze as she met his eyes once again.

"I uh…I don't have a girlfriend," he said as they looked into each other's eyes.

"So, do you want to go?" he asked with hope in his voice, "Prim's been dying to meet you. She wants to know the girl that's been stealing her awesomely cool older brother."

She gave him a small smile before she broke their stare and looked down at their hands that were still connected.

"I-I can't," she said as she pulled her hands away from his.

His face suddenly fell when her hands left his, "Why?"

She looked back at him and sighed, "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Peeta let out a loud sigh. Of course, how could he have forgotten?

"Right," he said, "Dr. Cresta told me. B-But maybe we could go before, you know?"

She shook her head, "No. I'm leaving in the morning."

"Oh. Do you know where?"

She shook her head again, "No, they don't usually tell me until later."

There was a moment of silence in the room.

"I-I'm gonna miss you Peeta," she suddenly said, "You were the only one that treated me like a normal person instead of a juvenile girl who tried to commit suicide."

A smile appeared on his handsome face as she suddenly intertwined their hands.

"I'm gonna miss you too."

There was a sudden knock on the window, which signaled that it was the end of their session. Peeta looked at the door and cursed Dr. Cresta for letting people who don't care about Katniss take her away.

He sighed as he looked back at her.

"I have to go," he said as he stood up.

She nodded her head as she stood up as well and followed him to the door, their hands still entwined.

They stopped in front of the door and stood facing each other.

"Katniss I…" began Peeta, "I really want to do something. But I'm afraid of what will happen if I do."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He let go of her hands and pushed a curl behind her ear. He gently touched her face, cupping it with his hands.

"I'm afraid I'll fall for you, more than I already am," he whispered.

It was in that moment that Peeta decided that she never looked so beautiful. Her lips were nicely curved under her cute little nose. He felt like he could get lost in those big silver eyes and never want to be found.

"I'll allow it," she whispered as she also found herself drowning in his deep blue eyes.

"You will?" he asked.

"I will," she responded before he slowly closed the gap between them and allowed their lips to touch.

Her lips were surprisingly soft and moist. He loved the feeling of his lips against her own and the tingling sensation that he felt when he realized that she was gently kissing him back.

Peeta couldn't believe what he was doing. He couldn't believe that he was kissing the Katniss Everdeen, the same Katniss Everdeen whom he couldn't get out of his mind. Her lips were slowly running a current through his body, making him feel things he's only felt in fantasies of them rolling around in his bed. He felt like he could stay there with her forever. However, a sudden knock on the window caused the two to jump and break apart.

Millions of thoughts were running through his head as he tried to catch his breath. He met her eyes and saw the same want and passion he had reflected in her own.

"I really don't want to say bye," he whispered once he finally remembered how to speak.

He stepped closer to her and grabbed both of her hands

"Me neither," she whispered as she rested her forehead on his chest.

"I can ask Dr. Cresta to give you my address so we can keep in touch."

She looked up at him with a small smile, "Yea…I'd like that."

"Goodbye Katniss," he said before he gave her one last kiss on her cheek

"B-Bye Peeta."

He gave her the famous Peeta Mellark smile as he took one last look at her and left the room.

She stood there, watching the door shut behind him. She closed her eyes for a minute before she suddenly opened them again. Small tears began to fall from her eyes as she let out a shaky breath.

"There's a lot you don't know."

She began to sing softly as the tears started to fall freely.

"There's a lot you don't know. And there's a lot I can't tell. Would you think I'm crazy if you knew me that well?"

By now, she had walked back towards her bed. She slowly sat down and stared at the wall that had been her only companion before Peeta arrived.

"Cause there's a lot you don't know but you say you won't go and I'd like to believe you."

She laid back on the bed and spread out her arms. Her eyes began to burn from the tears leaking out.

"But I know there's no one left to save me."

"He's taking her tomorrow."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, I just saw him get in his car with some paper work. It looked really important from what I could see."

"I'll get my men right on it."

"What about the boy?"

A dark laugh suddenly filled the earpiece.

"Don't worry about him. I'll deal with him myself. Besides, I think its time I pay Mr. Mellark a little visit."

Song credits:

Snow (Hey Oh) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Save Me by the Pierces

P.S. The idea of the "perfect world" comes from a quote from The Lovely Bones, one of my favorite books.