A/N: thanks to abee for reviewing. So not only am I rereading the Hunger Games, but I'm also going to go see it again. Of course, I hope by then can actually send me e-mails.

Chapter 21

With Francine's official return to the Games, there's a storm of reporters hounding our door, wishing to speak with us. The Peacekeeper meant to keep us in has been doing a fairly good job at keeping them at bay, but Haymitch is telling me this'll hurt us if the Games extend any longer than a day. Thus I've decided to volunteer, since he's now pouring bottle after bottle into his mouth. I approach the door, my nerves trying to get the better of me. Why can't Peeta be here instead, I ask myself. He's so much better with people and I'm better at killing. It seems like there's a divine joke upon us that started when he declared his love for me.

I knock on the door and a slit opens up, the white-garbed guard staring through. "I wish to speak to them," I tell him. He raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. He unbolts the door and opens it up, since the keypads got disabled last time I slept. There's a massive crowd filled with cameras and microphones, all being shoved into my face.

The first voice calls out. "What do you think that chances of Peeta making it out alive are now, with your other tribute being revealed to have survived?" My mind slipped for a second and now I'm trying to catch back up, coming up with a plausible answer.

"The same as they've always been," I tell the bronzed man who asked. He has a tattoo around his mouth. "And she doesn't add much to his chances of dying, since she always has believed that she was taking a one-way trip from District 12 to the Capitol." They all begin shouting until the Peacekeeper waves his weapon in their direction.

"Next question," says a man with purple skin. "What do you think about the alliance your husband has formed with Finnick and Johanna, previous victors of the Hunger Games?"

I shrug before answering. "They have experience, so I guess it's the best move. And it seems that Finnick is willing to die for Peeta, so I guess it's fine with me." The questions continue and they have little importance until the shortest person there pushes through the crowd to the front. He isn't tattooed, but his clothes are a shiny yellow.

"What are your thoughts on Francine Jacobs and what do you think are the chances she'll betray your husband so she can survive?" I, along with everyone else, pause. Nobody had expected the question he had thrown at me and now I was struggling to come up with something. Peeta was still better at these sorts of things.

"She's an unfortunate girl," I state, not sure what to say. "I was somewhat surprised to discover she was good with a weapon I had only heard of from the oldest Capitol films, but I don't believe she'd kill Peeta. Even though she's revealed herself to be a cold killer, I have my doubts she'd ever do that to me. I still hold firm to my belief that she's serious about her thoughts that she wouldn't be returning to District 12." I turn away, disturbed by the question. There's already angry shouting at the man, but the Peacekeeper forces them to leave. I wait at the door for a couple of minutes until he returns from shooing them out of the building.

"Sorry about that one," he tells me. I'm as surprised by this act of kindness. "Some of the people here are to fervent about the Games, even more so than President Snow or the Gamemakers." He opens the door and I walk through. Haymitch is watching me walk in and the guard yells in "the gate shall open upon the third hour of the third day." He then closed the door and I give the drunk a confused look. He just falls over, and watches as I race over. He's too important to let die, since he knows what he's doing. However, Haymitch just leans up and begins to laugh at me, seeing that I'm worried.

"Don't worry sweetheart," he says, holding back. "It'll take more than some alcohol and a fall to kill me." He glanced at the ground. "That was actually sorta nice and refreshing." I was close to punching the drunk, but I decided to hold back. I could attack somewhere else, where he wasn't important for the survival of Peeta. I turn back to the hologram, reminded of the danger he's in. The short man who's question sent me retreating now pops into mind. He seems familiar, but I can't place it.

For now, however, I just watch the holographic markers of the tributes start to near; Peeta, Johanna and Finnick have started for the Career position. Francine is stalking around the forest edge, watching. The three at the Cornucopia aren't moving much, one of them right at the edge of a line the hologram has formed for Francine's line of sight. I wait for that one to lean over too far, but that never happens. Peeta's group is about halfway there when the Careers begin to move, drawing away from the Cornucopia. They move a couple of feet away; they're in Francine's range, though.

As I watch, I continue to question her motives and why she hasn't fired yet. Haymitch is now back on his stool and watching too.

Peeta, you better come back to me.

They watched as the Career pack emerged from behind the Cornucopia. Finnick broke apart a salvaged spear and held it above his head. He locked in on the male from 2 and pulled the weapon back. He twisted his upper body and sent it flying. It sailed to the left and impaled the tribute not from District 2. The body crashed onto the watery ground and then a cannon fired, rocking the arena. Everyone stumbled around, but they soon got back to their charge. Only six of us left, Peeta thought as the Careers neared. He hid a smile, since he knew he was closer to getting back to Katniss.

Johanna charged into the female from 2, her spear low to the ground. Once within spitting range, she pulled it up, aiming for the soft midsection. The girl slammed down on the shaft with one of her knives, preparing the other one to drink Mason's blood. The victor threw her weapon away and drew out one of the awls she had grabbed during the bloodbath. The woman from 7 pulled her weapon back, aiming for the younger ones face. The girl had a split second in which she could've pulled back and tried a different attack, but she didn't. Her arrogance and foolishness ended with the awl smashing into her face, chopping through skin, bone, and flesh alike. Blood sprayed upwards, painting Johanna's panting body. The first Career fell to the ground already dead. A cannon fired and the ground shook once more. District 2's sword cut through part of Finnick's back, slicing from armpit to armpit as the tributes tumbled around.

Peeta dashed into the fray, knowing that his inclusion would drive Katniss insane. He had suddenly gotten worried about Finnick, even though he had a number of years on his enemy. As he neared the Career, a swishing sound passed him by. He was confused as to what the sound could've come from, but his question was soon answered. The man, who now looked more like a boy, fell to the ground nursing the quarrel. Another cannon shot, yet this time the arena didn't shake with it.

"That was faster than I thought it would be," Finnick stated, looking at the two bodies. Across the water was Francine, emerging from the woods. We all watch as she slowly approaches, her crossbow lying across her arms. Now that they've had time to actually look at her, they notice that her hair is strung about randomly; it's as if she's a wild being, never touched by civilization. Johanna glares at her, yet she continues walking until she reaches the three.

"So now what?" she asks. "Are we just going to kill each other now, or will it be a slow, arduous process?"

"The slower, the better." Finnick glances up before continuing. "It'd be the most interesting if we stay together." They all agree that as a group they can both survive longer yet keep the Games interesting enough for the audience. They start for the area where the fog had been. Francine takes the rear, with Peeta being the closest. In front of them is Finnick and before him is Johanna. The entire way over, she loudly complains about how foolish she thinks this is and how she wishes that they'd just end it all.

Peeta, however, was fine with the arrangement for now. Finnick can deal with Johanna and Francine can deal with him. And I believe she'd willing kill herself for me, or at least die fighting Finnick. He glanced back at the girl. She had hardened since the beginning of the Games. Yet will she still side with me?

I couldn't believe what was going on. Apparently Finnick had convinced the others to form a strange sort of suicide pact. The four of them remained together and decided to continue on as if they weren't the only other ones alive. Haymitch is on a phone, talking rather loudly with someone named 'Coin'. Some of the things he's saying confuse me to no end, but I just ignore it and watch the hologram. I can already tell from the order that they're keeping Francine and Johanna away from each other; rumor had it that they didn't like each other much, or at least Mason disregarded her as being important.

"Well at least the rescue is moving faster now," the drunk yells from behind a sheet of plywood. There were sections of the conversation that didn't sound like him slurring his words, but I'm not sure why. I know Haymitch is very smart, even while drunk. Years of watching the Hunger Games taught me that he was a rather competent mentor; even with the copious amounts of alcohol he happens to consume.

He slams the object down and returns to the central area, fuming. "Damn woman," he mumbles. "She just can't keep her hands out of every little thing." He keeps going on and on in a scathing retort about the 'Coin' lady he had been talking with. Once he starts to roll down the crazy lane involving the dead District 13, I begin to tune out. I've heard plenty of times about the idea that they somehow survived the toxic bombs the Capitol dropped on them, but the only person who's ever said that was Gale on days when he was angrier than usual. And then I remember Bonnie and Twill. I had been rather quiet about them, primarily since I thought they were mad for believing 13 was still around.

There's a knock at the door and he's already up, storming towards it. I just watch, my desire to keep track of Peeta having worn off for the moment. He opens the door and there's a scraggily old man with the Peacekeeper. "He requested that he got fifteen minutes to talk with you, sir," our guard tells the Haymitch. The drunk just nods before moving out of the elderly man's path. He takes a couple strained steps in before the door is closed.

"Well, it's almost time," the man says, standing up straight and taking a couple of easy steps. He then jumps, clicks his heels together, and lands perfectly. His crippling was just a ploy to use against the Capitol. They can't have cameras in these rooms, if my memory of the Treaty of Treason was correct. He glances at me. "And it's nice to see that one of the most important assets to the Second Rebellion of Panem, led by District 13, is here."

It takes me a second to process what he said, but soon I realized the truth. Not only is 13 still alive, but the rebellion is already in progress. I hurry to the hologram, watching the '12' marking Peeta.

Come back to me soon, I request mentally. Come back to me.

A/N: so I'm planning on a sequel to this. Most likely it'll be named 'Hangar 13' and if anyone can figure out the entire reasoning, then a cookie to you. But only review ones count.