AN: Hey guys. =] I've got three chapters to post today to make up for being so terrible to you. I'm a high school graduate now, so the only concrete obligations I've got at the moment are work and finishing the yearbook (I'm an editor so I have to come back after everyone else is out for summer break to finish anything that was left incomplete). Without further ado, here is the first update today.


"Aww shit...come on, guys. At least put some clothes on when you get done. What would you do if we were attacked?" Peeta whined, shielding his eyes against the sight of Cato's naked ass.

"Knowing Cato, it probably wouldn't phase him," giggled Evania.

"Why would it?" he yawned, stretching. "Battle has nothing to do with clothing if the clothing is as weak as what people usually wear. Besides, it can be a distraction to lesser warriors to see someone that surpasses them not only in battle, but in build." That he tacked on with a smirk, which earned him a playful smack on the back of the head from Evania.

"Just get dressed," Peeta commanded, shaking his head.

"I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it," the blonde from District 2 replied. "Now get out so my woman can get up too. No way am I letting you see anything extra." here, he turned and planted his lips onto Evania's, a gentle moment suspending a dozen romantic notions between them.

None of these notions were put into words; none of them needed to be. There was a sweet understanding between them that hadn't altogether been there before they had died the first time.

"Cato...what if the Capitol finds out we're alive? What do you think they'd do?" the whisper brought realistic fears to mind, and he knew that she was closer to the mark than she could ever know in guessing what he'd been thinking.

"Honestly?" he asked, icy eyes staring into hers with a frankness that left her uneasy. His family was deeply involved in dealings with the Capitol, and he was more likely to have accurate information than anyone else.

"Yes."

"They'd do one of two things. Assuming they were on damage control because of Fire Bitch, they'd kill us immediately just to keep too much hope out of the Districts. If they'd loosened up a little, then they'd keep us for entertainment."

Bile rose in her throat. "Like another Hunger Games?"

"Possibly. Or prostitution." he said it plainly—a bad attempt to keep her from realizing the impact of two very likely fates that were staring them in the face.

She tried to keep a brave face, but ended up pressing it against his chest, wrapping her arms around him. He stroked her hair gently, pressing a reassuring kiss to her forehead. "Nobody will touch you. Not as long as there's breath in my lungs."

A loud banging sound issued from outside the door. "If you two are done fucking like rabbits, we need to have a meeting out here!" the muffled voice of Katniss made Cato's eyes narrow like they had so often done in the Games when he was seeking out prey. He still viewed her as the enemy, even more so after all of the torment she'd brought his love.

Evania took his hand the moment she was done tying the drawstring on the pants she stole from him. Her lips were pressed together in a firm line, like she was biting back a scathing retort at the girl outside the door. He sighed. If she could keep quiet against Fire Bitch, who had brought forth enough anger for her to actually attack her, then he could also. The effort was not without difficulty.

Peeta was waiting much more patiently than his temperamental counterpart against the wall. "Hey, guys. Haymitch came with some news—the feud between Districts has come to a standstill."

Despite the seemingly good news, Cato stiffened."Why?"

"We don't know. But it seems to have something to do with the next Games coming up." he worried at his lip, almost as if he wasn't saying everything. Evania noted it, since Cato appeared not to.

"They want to send in family members of everyone that competed in the last Games...District 2 seems to think it's justice, so they're just letting the outlying Districts suffer. We think it's a punishment for defying them last time." It was obvious that Katniss was fuming, and we all knew she was thinking of the younger sister she'd volunteered to defend less than a year ago. "They want to take them to the Capitol, to train them for the rest of the year. It's supposed to be a way to 'shake things up.' If they take Prim, they'll kill her."

"They don't have anything to take from me but Cato, and they think we're dead anyway." Evania met Katniss's raw anger with her own cold glare, making a clear statement that no matter what actions were taken, hers would not benefit Katniss without first benefiting herself and Cato.

"Are they considering age?" Cato asked, blue eyes unreadable. He seemed to be backing Evania up, but at the same time, there was a catch in his voice. Like he was torn.

"No. They're taking toddlers, when parents, siblings or cousins won't volunteer in their place...it's going to be a slaughter. Training or not, all it will be is a bloody slap to those that opposed the Capitol. And some families are going to lose their best fighters—that's another item on Snow's agenda. He wants to sap every strong family with an unbreakable tie to the resistance. He thinks that luring in victors and killing them will solve everything." Haymitch replied grimly.

"We can't let that happen." the words burst from the person with the least to lose in the upcoming Games—she had no family left.

Cato looked at Evania in shock, shaking his head as if he'd heard wrong. "We can't just go out there and volunteer!"

"Of course we can. It's exactly what he wants. But what he's not factoring in is that not only will Katniss and Peeta be able to volunteer again, so will we. Imagine the impact it would have if Panem saw not just two sacrifices, but four. The uprising would be so monumental that not even the Capitol could stand against it."

Katniss looked at Evania in begrudging awe. "And to think that I had written you off..."

"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because I know for a fact that you have a family, Cato. So do you, Peeta. We can't just leave them to pay for our mistakes."

"Of course we can," growled Cato, wrapping an arm firmly around her waist. "I'm not risking you again."

Uncertainty churned within Evania then. She wasn't sure whether to continue on the path that she had begun, the one she knew was right, or to bow to what her lover wanted. It was incredibly tempting.

"But Cato—"

"You survived against me by a miracle. Do you know how lucky it was that you made it long enough for me to fall in love with you and realize just how special you are? How impossible the odds are that you were the one tribute that I didn't get a good enough chance to slaughter..."

"I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that," laughed Peeta. "You had sooo many opportunities to kill her...she slept near you, she tried to drown herself...she was basically at your mercy for the majority of the Games."

"So were you," she snapped back, glaring at him. While she knew that Cato had had an ample amount of time to kill her, she was glad enough that he hadn't taken the chance, and had allowed her to become a part of his life.

"Now the question becomes whether or not you two go back to volunteer," said Haymitch, giving them .

"No." Cato's tone was final, and brutal. It left no room for argument. Sensing this, Evania didn't pose one.

Haymitch's eyes, however, left room for pity when he replied, "Alright."