Last one for awhile-if I get a chance to post while on vacation I will but don't count on it, I'll be at Disneyland seeing friends ;) haha. Please leave me plenty of reviews to read when I get back! Just so you all know, I have finally reached that point when the book is finished and I get to play with my own writing and versions again. I'm excited and hope you are all too! Take care, lovelies!

Love and pixie dust! XOXO


XXIX.

The next morning Tigris invited them all up to watch the TV again and they paid close attention as Beetee interrupted the broadcast again. The rebels tried a new method by sending in cars to activate the pods. Katniss made her way to the window and saw more refugees making their way through the street, some fully dressed with all their belongings and others in their robes and PJs, clinging to each other. Katniss felt guilt all over, felt that this was all her fault but then she reminded herself, it was the Capitol's fault. She was doing everything she could to liberate them from the Capitol. Tigris offered to go outside and act as a spy to find out what was happening with the evacuations and where Snow was. They waited for her to return, impatient and silent. After several hours of speculating where she could be or what could have happened to her, the panel slid open and Tigris told them all to come back upstairs. The aroma of meat cooking met them and Katniss actually started to drool. They sat down to a wonderful meal of chopped ham and potatoes and their stomachs growled hungrily. It was their first hot meal in so long and Tigris explained that fur-lined underwear could still be worth something.

They watch the TV again and were distressed to see Peacekeepers explaining that the Capitol citizens were now responsible for houseguests, as were shop-owners. Peeta bit his lip and glanced at Tigris.

"That could mean you, Tigris. Peacekeepers could come knocking at your door any minute." They all exchanged worried glances and mutually agreed that this would be their last night. Gale cleared his throat loudly and jerked his head toward the TV.

"-identified as District 12 Victor, Peeta Mellark. Sources say that the crowd proceeded to beat him to death-" Katniss stared blankly at Peeta, who shrugged in confusion. A picture came onto the screen and apart from his blonde curls, the boy did not resemble Peeta in any way. Katniss breathed, shaking her head and Cressida frowned at the screen.

"People have lost their minds."

"Well," Gale said, glancing uncomfortably at Peeta, "if they think he's dead, maybe he has more of a chance to…" he fell silent when the reporter came back on.

"-has been confirmed that the victim was NOT Peeta Mellark but seventeen year old Brian Parches. We join his family in their mourning. In addition, any rebel activity should be reported immediately. Any sightings of the Mockingjay or any of her accomplices should be reported immediately." Katniss cleared her throat and jumped to her feet.

"Let me do the dishes."

"I'll give you a hand," Gale said as they walked into the kitchen. Katniss felt Peeta's narrowed eyes on her as she walked out.

"Do you think it's true," she asked as she piled the dishes into the soapy suds. "Do you think Snow will let refugees come into his mansion?"

"He has to now, for the cameras at least."

"I'm leaving in the morning." Gale watched her for a moment but nodded.

"I'm going with you. What should we do with the others?"

"Pollux and Cressida could be helpful. They're good guides and know the city. But Peeta is too…"

"Unpredictable," Gale finished. "Yes he is but hasn't he proven that he can handle himself pretty well?"

"Look at you, standing up for him. He could go mutt at any time, Gale, and could kill us."

"I'm not standing up for him. I know he's still dangerous. I just think…you have to give him credit, is all. Everything that he's been through and he's still fighting like hell to be normal. He's doing it for you." Katniss chose to ignore this as she vigorously scrubbed at the plates. Gale sighed.

"Do you think he'd let us leave him behind?"

"We can ask. He's not stupid. He knows what's at stake. And he knows he could be endangering us."

Still, Katniss was surprised how quickly Peeta agreed to staying behind. Katniss breathed a sigh of relief as she thought about Peeta waiting out the war in Tigris's basement but her jaw dropped when he announced he was going out on his own.

"To do what exactly," Cressida asked.

"I'm not sure. The one thing I might be useful at is causing a diversion. You saw what happened to the boy who looked like me. If I could lead them away from Katniss, she might stand a chance at getting into the mansion without peacekeepers noticing."

"Peeta," Katniss said, forcing her voice to remain calm. "What if you..."

"Lose control? Go mutt? Well if I feel that coming on, I'll try to get back here." It wasn't what she was going to ask but she fell silent and he watched her carefully.

"And what if Snow gets you again? You don't even have a gun," Gale pointed out. Katniss suddenly had the image of Peeta back in Snow's grasp, tortured beyond all recognition and all point of return. She stifled a sob and shook her head. Peeta's eyes darted to her for a moment and softened.

"I'll have to take my chances, like the rest of you. I'll be alright," he added, more to her than anyone else. Gale reached into his pocket and withdrew a purple tablet, and placed it in Peeta's hand. Peeta stared at it, neither accepting nor rejecting.

"But what about you," he asked quietly.

"Beetee showed me how to detonate my arrows by hand. If that fails, I have a knife and Katniss. She won't give them the satisfaction of taking me alive." Peeta stared at his palm and Katniss saw him writhing in chains as peacekeepers dove on top of him. She reached out and closed his hand around it.

"Take it, Peeta. No one will be there to help you. And I can't…" she trailed off and turned away, impatiently wiping away her tears. Gale and Peeta stared after her and she excused herself, going back downstairs to settle on her fur pelt, wondering why the hell she was so emotional all the time.

She heard the others coming down the stairs and she pretended to be asleep. Peeta knew better but said nothing as he quietly asked Gale to chain him to the stair support before they went to bed.

Katniss's sleep was plagued by nightmares so she did not hesitate to jump to her feet at five to prepare for the day ahead of them. Tigris decided to remake all of them and went to great lengths to fix their wigs and make-up. She equipped them all with handbags and various knickknacks so now they looked exactly like the refugees outside.

"Never underestimate the power of a brilliant stylst," Peeta said with a weak smile. Tigris blushed under her stripes and gently patted his cheek.

"Alright Katniss. How do you want to do this?" Cressida asked, hoisting her handbag over her shoulder.

"Let's go in groups of three. Cressida and Pollux, you first. You can be our guides and Gale and I will follow from a little ways away. We'll get into the group that is going to Snow's mansion. Peeta, you come behind us and be ready to cause a diversion should we need it." They all nodded and stood in front of the door, waiting. Tigris watched through the curtains, then opened the door when the time was right.

"Take care," Cressida whispered before they swept into the crowd. Katiss remembered something and dug into her pocket, bringing out the key to Peeta's cuffs. She unlocked them and stuffed them into her pocket, watching him as he rubbed his wrists.
"Peeta," she said in a choked voice. "Don't do anything foolish."

"No, it's last-resort stuff. Completely." She wished she could kiss him. It felt too much like their last night in the Quarter Quell and she wanted to fling herself into his arms and never leave them again. But when she forced her eyes to meet his, they were glassy and confused. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood there for just a moment. He hesitated only for a moment before his arms came up and wrapped around her, reminding her of the terror-filled nights on the train. She took a step back and took a deep breath.

"Come back to me," she said in a whisper and wasn't sure if he had heard her. He reached out a shaky hand and she tensed. His fingers gently grasped the end of her braid and the word "always" drifted on a light breath from his lips.

"It's time," Tigris said and Katniss turned away. She kissed Tigris on the cheek, fastened her hooded cloak, pulled up her scarf and followed Gale out into the cold. Peeta watched the red-hood disappear into the crowd and he muttered a thank you to Tigris before he hurried out behind them.

The streets were packed and Gale pulled Katniss to his side so she would not be swept away by the crowd. Peacekeepers directed traffic and yelled to the refugees to keep to the right. Katniss strained to see any sight of Cressida and Pollux but they were too far ahead of her. She turned to look for Peeta but did not see him; instead a small girl in a yellow raincoat caught her eye and she looked surprised. Katniss whirled around and bit her lip.

"We might need to split up," she said in a low voice. "There's a little girl-" but she was cut off by the sound of gunfire and screams. Gale pushed her to the ground and they scurried over underneath an awning.

"Can you see who it is?" Katniss's eyes were scanning the crowd and stopped on the little girl in the yellow raincoat. She was kneeling next to a motionless woman and seemed to be screaming. Katniss swallowed and her eyes scanned over the people, searching for a sign of blonde curls.

"Katniss!" She jumped as Gale elbowed her and he gestured upward.

"They're shooting from the roof. It's got to be the rebels, shooting for the Peacekeepers. What do you think?"

"If we start shooting now, that's it. We've given ourselves away. We need to keep moving." He nodded and followed her as they stood, ducking to avoid the gunfire.

Everywhere they looked it was chaos. Pods were activated. Some sort of strange purple light caused blood to pour from the refugees' orifices and further on down the block, a red gas knocked many to the ground, writhing and then still. Peacekeepers fired at the rebels, the rebels fired at the Peacekeepers. Katniss held onto her bow; if she shot anyone now, everyone would know exactly who she was. She and Gale kept low and Katniss gasped.

"Get down!" They both dropped to the ground, their cheeks resting in a pool of blood as Peacekeepers hurried past. Some would crush her hand, some would kick her in the head with their boots but she remained perfectly still until they had passed. When it was clear, she caught Gale's eye and nodded. On the next block there are more refugees than peacekeepers. Katniss spotted it too late.

"Run!" But the pod had activated and a seam split the street, folding it in half and allowing the earth to swallow up the Capitol's citizens. Katniss choked on the foul stench of rotting corpses from below and she did her best to hold onto the lamppost. Somehow she managed to hoist herself up and she panted, still on her hands and knees.

"Gale? Gale!"

"Over here." She looked over to see him hanging desperately to an iron grating around an apartment door. Others were holding onto whatever they could grip. Doorknobs, mailboxes, lampposts. Gale kicked at the door desperately but no one came to his aid. Katniss lifted her gun and aimed.

"Cover yourself," she yelled to him and he turned away just in time. She fired and blew the door open and Gale was able to slide in. He fell to the floor, panting, until her scream alerted him. At the same time he felt white hands grasp him and he started to fight back. His eyes met hers and he mouthed something but she was too distraught to interpret. His eyes widened and he mouthed it again and she shook her head.

"What?" The white hands yanked him to his feet and started to look around.

"Go! Run, now!" Katniss turned and ran from the pod as fast as her feet could carry her. She was alone. Cressida and Pollux could be among the deceased on the ground. Gale was a prisoner, sure to be tortured or executed. And Peeta…she hadn't seen him either. What had become of him? Had he detected trouble and gone back to Tigris's? No. She knew without a doubt that he was somewhere in the crowd. That he had seen what was happening and still intended to protect her. She blinked back tears as she ran. All of a sudden she stopped, feeling a pain seize her around the middle.

Shoot me. That's what Gale had been telling her. They had agreed that the Capitol would not take them alive. And the first thing that would have happened was the Peacekeepers stripping Gale of his weapons. He wouldn't have been able to reach his arrows. Her shaking hand covered her mouth and she wept. What had she done? She had abandoned her best friend to a fate, possibly the same fate Peeta had met? A disturbance ahead forced her to focus and she gripped her bow as she continued on. They were heading for the City Circle, right across from the President's mansion. Katniss could see a pen filled with Capitol children and she frowned as she approached. Huddled in groups, toddlers to teenagers, they weren't being led into the mansion. They were Snow's human shield. Katniss glanced up and saw a hovercraft bearing a Capitol seal and moments later, silver parachutes were raining down on the children. They ran to grab the gifts, sure they were treats of some kind. Parachutes still meant food and gifts in the Capitol. The hovercraft vanished and that's when many of the parachutes exploded.

Screams pierced the air. Blood stained the snow. Tiny bodyparts were scattered all over the ground. Peacekeepers started to run into the pen and Katniss knew this was a shock to them. Another flock of white uniforms were running beyond the barricades and Katniss immediately recognized them. Medic uniforms. Rebel medic uniforms.

Katniss's wide eyes caught sight of a blonde braid and she ran into the crowd. As Prim took off her coat to comfort a crying child, Katniss saw the untucked tail of her shirt and she screamed her name. It was the Reaping all over again. She ran toward her sister, crying her name, her heart beating out of her chest. Prim turned and her eyes widened when she saw Katniss. Her lips were just forming her name when the rest of the parachutes exploded.

Peeta watched from the crowd, listening to them murmer incessantly about why the Capitol would bomb children. He then saw rebel medics running in and heard her terrified cry. He saw her long braid flapping against her back as she ran to her sister and his eyes followed her, wide and terrified. He started to run toward her, his heart twisting at the sound of her fear. But before he could reach her he heard another explosion and saw everything burst into flame. Including his girl on fire.