Chapter 29

Cato woke slowly as if from a very deep sleep. The first thing he became aware of was a pounding headache. In fact his whole body ached. His mouth felt like it was coated in sand and thirst burned in the back of his throat. He must have been drugged, he wondered who he'd killed this time. He pushed against his foggy mind.

The last thing he remembered… he was in twelve, no he was outside twelve. He'd been in the woods with someone. Katniss, that was it. He'd been in the woods with Katniss. They'd been hunting but why would he be hunting with Katniss? Oh yes, animals, they'd been hunting animals. There'd been someone else there, someone he didn't like. Gale. And Satin, he was certain Satin had been there. Satin was dead though, he'd killed Satin in the arena. He must have had a flashback. That would explain the drugs.

Was Katniss okay though? He needed to check. He forced open his eyes, they felt gummy but he didn't bother trying to lift his hands to rub them. His hands would be tied incase he was still in a flashback when he woke.

He was in his room in victor's village. Katniss must have fetched Brutus and Enobaria and shown them out to him. That meant her secret must be out, he hoped they hadn't reported her to the capitol.

But wait, that was her asleep in the chair next to his bed. He must have been out for at least a couple of hours. The dose he'd given her was as strong as he'd dared. He didn't want to risk it not working when she needed it.

'Katniss?' He whispered. His voice was rough and it hurt slightly to talk. He'd been trained to deal with pain though so he pushed it away. The girl started awake, she must have not been sleeping very deeply.

'Cato? You're okay?' She whispered, leaning over him. He nodded and she sighed in relief.

'Are you hurt?' He couldn't see any injuries but that didn't mean there weren't any.

'A little bruised, that's it.' She was still whispering. 'I'll go tell Brutus you're awake.'

Katniss slowly stood and limped out the room. He had hurt her worse than she was telling him. A minute later she returned with his mentor. The massive man didn't even try to untie the bindings around his hands and feet, both him and Enobaria were great believers in "if you can't tie knots, tie lots." Instead he pulled out his black knife and cut straight through the ropes as if they were butter.

Slowly Cato sat up, rotating his wrists to get feeling back into them. Brutus handed him a glass of water which he gladly drank. It had a mild painkiller in it if the taste was anything to go by, probably for the headache that was even then pounding against his skull.

With the efficiency of all capitol medicines, the pain disappeared before he even finished the glass of water.

'Gale's here, he wants to speak to you.' Katniss said as she took the empty glass from him. Brutus glared at her but she completely missed it. What could the man possibly want with him?

He stood, steadying himself against Brutus as he regained his balance. His mentor helped him out the room and down the stairs, at the door to the living room he pushed himself away from Brutus so that he was standing alone. It wouldn't do to appear weak in front of competition because Gale was competition he realised. Competition for Katniss.

The miner was sitting on one of the ornate couches looking very uncomfortable in the immaculate room. Knowing that he was still weak from the sedative but not wanting to appear it, Cato dropped into the chair nearest the door, sprawling across it as if it were a capitol interview chair. Relaxed, confident and more than little intimidating.

'Hey Cato.' Gale started uncertainly. Cato got the impression this was very rare for the fierce district 12 man. 'I'm sorry about earlier. You're right, I don't know anything about being in the games and Catnip does need your help.' Smugness poured through Cato but he was careful not to let it show on his face. 'But I'll never stop fighting for her.' He finished in a voice that only Cato could hear. He heard Brutus start to move towards them as Cato leaned in and replied.

'Neither will I.' He leaned back in his chair and then Gale was getting up to leave, promising Katniss he'd be back for dinner with his family. Then Enobaria was there in an apron covered in flour telling him how irresponsible he'd been and how if they went out again they needed to get her, Brutus or Gloss.

That made him jump back to reality.

'You're not stopping us?' He asked incredulously.

'Of course not. Katniss would just sneak out at night alone if we did.' She snorted. 'Now don't think you're getting out of helping me get ready for this evening. You're going to kneed the dough.'

Fortunately kneeding dough was a job he could do, leaning against the counter for support and falling into the repetitive movement. Katniss soon joined him, slicing peppers and mushrooms. She'd never seen a pepper before, they didn't get them in 12 so Enobaria had to show her how to do it. Then Gloss appeared with an armful of oranges, something Katniss called a delicacy and the rest of them just called fruit. Haymitch even joined in, beating eggs and peeling tomatoes.

They were finished well before dinner time so they all moved to the lounge where Enobaria pulled out her flute and played for them. Cato had long suspected she actually enjoyed her talent rather than just doing the bare minimum to appease the capitol like most trainers.

Brutus was working in his sketchbook, planning his next statue now that he'd finished his beetle. Gloss sharpened his knife and Haymitch just stared at Enobaria. Cato nudged Katniss and pointed him out to her, they shared a look of amazement. When Katniss's family arrived they joined in seamlessly. Enobaria had been teaching Prim to play the piano after school and they played one of Prim's favourite pieces. Katniss' mother sat in the one remaining available chair next to Brutus and he wordlessly showed her his ideas.

Then the Hawthorns arrived, and the peaceful atmosphere shattered. Enobaria left her flute on the piano top, she usually cared for it as meticulously as her weapons and hurried into the hallway. She showed the family to their places, then pointed to a basket by the door as Gloss came in.

'We're bringing in that stupid rule here now too?' Gloss complained, dropping his offending weapons in the basket.

'We have guests, Gloss.' Enobaria intoned and Gloss sneered. 'That includes you too Haymitch.' She said without even turning as he came through the door. Once everyone was seated, Enobaria brought out dinner. It was one of the capitol's favourite meals and consequently was immensely popular in 2 as well.

It was called Pizza; big round disks of herby bread with a tomato sauce smeared thickly over the top. Then various meats and vegetables sprinkled over the top and cheese to hold everything in place. Of course the victor's from 1 and 2 knew it but it was a complete novelty to those from 12.

'Was that you playing earlier, Enobaria? You're very talented.' Hazelle told her. 'This food is incredible as well. You must have had to get so many ingredients from other districts.'

'Wait for dessert. She makes incredible cakes.' Katniss told Hazelle earnestly. Enobaria smiled modestly.

Dessert did not disappoint. True to Katniss' prediction, Enobaria had made an incredible chocolate orange cake. It was light and fluffy with a rich, gooey filling and perfect little cream puffs decorating the top and sides. The children loved it; it was the first time they'd ever tried chocolate and Cato even saw Gale sneak an extra serving.

'Oh, I'll bring some of the powder down to you when we bring you the game.' It was a comment just dropped idly into the conversation by Enobaria but the reaction was immediate. Shock rippled across the table, then several people spoke at the same time.

'You're still letting us go?'

'You're going into the woods with them?'

'You've been back in the woods, Katniss?'

Enobaria just helped herself to a third serving of chocolate cake, licking a bit of frosting off her finger.

'Well, we could hardly let her go alone.'

I love Enobaria's sweet tooth!

R&R please!