I don't own the Hunger Games.

(Peeta POV)

It takes four weeks.

I wake up in the middle of the night to Tom shaking me frantically. He looks at me, eyebrows creased and lips pressed together. I see his Adam's apple bob as he says, "You have to get up."

"Why?" I ask. Tom looks too serious to be joking. And that never, ever happens. I feel legitimately afraid because of that.

Tom exhales. It is an unsteady breath. Unusual. "You just have to get up, Peeta. And go wake up Katniss."

"Why?" I repeat, sitting up. "What's wrong? She's all right?"

"Yes, obviously, that's why I'm telling you to wake her up," he says harshly, in a very un-Tom-like voice. Startled into obedience, I stand up and pull on a shirt and sweater. Tom stands at the door when he adds, "Meet me down at the hospital when you're done."

"... all right," I answer reluctantly before rushing down the hall into the Everdeen compartment, tiptoeing so as to not wake up Prim—but as I look over to Katniss' little sister, I notice that Mrs. Everdeen is not in bed. I frown before shaking Katniss awake.

"Peeta?" she mumbles, opening her eyes. She looks over to her bedside table—it's only now that I notice it's two o'clock in the morning. "Peeta..."

"Something's wrong," I tell her. "We have to go to the hospital now."

"Why?"

I shake my head. "I don't know. Tom just told me to go down to the hospital. Your mom's probably there, too." There is a bathrobe on the back of a chair which I hand over to her. She stands up, pulls it on, still watching me with sleepy but wary eyes.

"What could be wrong?" she asks me, frowning.

I sigh. "Let's go find out."

The hallways are silent until we reach the hospital wing, where everybody is buzzing. The nurses and doctors run around, not looking at us at all. They're all yelling at each other, glancing at clipboards, talking on phones.

"What's going on?" Katniss asks to no one in particular, but a nurse standing beside us answers.

"There was a mission over night," he explains. "Some of the soldiers went to the Capitol late last night."

My eyes widen. "What?"

The nurse nods, pressing his lips together. "Soldier Hunt and Soldier Graveolens."

"They're here?" Katniss exclaims. Just as she says that, though, Gale rushes in behind us.

"Who's here?" Gale asks, looking sleepy. He clearly doesn't know what's going on. I wonder who woke him.

I exchange a cautious look toward Katniss. Something about this doesn't seem right. Why are Lira and Rue in the hospital? Why did nobody tells us that they were going to get her? Why is everybody so worried about two people returning? What happened to them?

Gale looks between the two of us. "Tell me. Now."

The nurse, still there, says, "Soldier Hawthorne."

"Yeah?" Gale turns to the nurse.

"Go down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, turn left, and tell the guard you want to see Soldier Hunt," says the nurse slowly.

"What?" Gale whispers.

I swallow tightly. "Go see her, Gale."

He bolts, running down the hallway.

Katniss grabs my hand, but speaks to the nurse. "Rue. Where is she?"

The nurse points. "Just down that hallway, at the very end."

I am pulled away by Katniss as she begins to sprint. It's not hard to keep up. Rue! I'm going to see her again! She's alive! She's here!

But I still can't shake off the feeling that there's something wrong.

The end of the hallway is a kid's room, which has a large glass window. From the very edge of it, I can see Rue sitting in an orange egg chair with a children's book, spinning around with a dazed look on her face. "Rue..." I whisper, letting go of Katniss' hand and opening the door to see her. Rue looks up, surprised.

I rush toward Rue, Katniss on my heels. Rue's started crying, reaching out for us, and I'm thinking that she's crying in happiness. She stands up, and I take her up in my arms. "Rue, Rue," I whisper, shaking in disbelief. She's alive, she's okay, we have her. She's alive, she's alive, she's alive.

"Peeta," she sobs, "I told them not to bring her! They didn't listen! They knocked her out and they brought her, and they won't listen to me!"

"Wait, what?" Katniss asks, and I let Rue down.

Rue continues weeping. "They did something to her. They took her home, and I told them not to. They didn't listen! They don't stand a chance! Lira's not the same anymore! They shouldn't have brought her back!"

"What happened to Lira?" Katniss demands. She looks back at me. Immediately, we rush off toward the room that Gale had been heading off to. He's standing at the door, talking to a guard.

"Tell me why she's contained," says Gale, voice shaking with anger. "I want to see her."

"Soldier Hawthorne," says the guard impatiently, "I can't..."

Rue comes up behind us. "Gale, you don't want to see her."

"Yes, I do! I've been having nightmares of what they've done to her for the past month! I can't take it anymore!" Gale bellows. "Let me see her!"

Rue stares at him, still and sad. Everybody is silent for a moment, watching as she disappears into whatever she's thinking. Then, in a hushed voice, she says shakily, "Let him in."

The guard hesitates. He sighs and opens the door. We follow Gale into the room that Lira's being kept in. I don't know why I'm so surprised and horrified to find her cuffed to the wall. She stands tall despite that, chin held high.

"Lira..." Gale gasps. "Liar, Liar."

Lira watches him, not saying anything. The guard stands beside us, watching calmly. He holds his hands behind him, as if knowing what he can expect.

"I missed you," Gale says softly, reaching for her, to caress her.

Katniss suddenly whispers, "Don't."

"Why not?" asks Gale, turning to her.

"Look at her eyes, Gale. Look at them," Katniss murmurs, staring at Lira in some horror. "Look at her face. This isn't our Lira."

Gale looks at Lira for a long moment. His hand drops. "Who are you?"

She juts her chin out proudly again, and I think she's not going to say something. I'm horrified, because I see what Katniss has seen. There is no warmth in her face. She is cold and unsmiling. She is filled with hatred. But then she answers Gale, a cool smile on her face. It doesn't reach the eyes. It is not the proud smile of tough Lira Hunt, my confidant, the girl who knew me better than anybody else.

"Lira Hunt. I am sixteen years old. I am a soldier for the Capitol."

I turn around to Rue in shock. Rue bites her lip, a tear running down her cheek. She looks down at the ground, shaking.

"What have they done to you?" Gale whispers. "Lira, you aren't a soldier for the Capitol. You're a soldier for the rebels. The Capitol killed your parents, don't you remember?"

"My parents are from the Capitol," she says, her own lie that she believes. "They are well and alive and I will make them proud."

Gale goes right up to her and says through his teeth, "You are Lira Hunt, sixteen years old, soldier for the rebels. My liar... don't... we never meant for that nickname to be real... please, please, don't do this to me!"

"I'm not doing anything to you." She watches him coolly. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm cuffed to the wall and incapable of doing any harm to you."

"I've had nightmares about you getting tortured for a month!" he screams at her. "Do you think that's not harm? I've died again and again for the past four weeks! Just watching you die over and over again in my dreams."

"That," says Lira smoothly, "isn't my problem."

He falls to his knees, clenching his hair. He shakes, beginning to sob. Katniss steps toward him, bends down, puts her arms around him.

"Gale, please..." whispers Katniss. "Don't give up."

I look at Lira, now, and for the first time, she looks back at me. I watch her, trying to talk to her with my eyes... I used to be able to do that, but this is a stranger.

But maybe not entirely.

"I want to talk to her," I say. "Alone."

Gale looks up at me, an angry look on his face. "Why?" I know, though, that his anger isn't for me. It's for the Capitol. He's jealous, now, and raging. What could Peeta Mellark possibly do to bring back his liar? Well, I promised I'd try to bring her back. So I'm just holding to that promise.

I turn to him. "You might have loved her most, Gale, but I knew her best. There's a difference and you know I can make that difference."

His expression softens. "Fine. Bring her home, brother."

I'm honestly scared I won't be able to.

Quietly, I answer, "I'll try." I stand motionless as Katniss helps Gale out, followed by the guard, and then Rue.

Lira is still looking at me. "You think you'll be able to make a difference, Peeta Mellark?"

"You know, your perception tends to be a pain."

She blinks once, as if remembering something. "What?"

"I just get people, Lira. It's what you and I have in common." Lira doesn't answer, so I continue. "If you'd lived in District Twelve, we probably would have been best friends, Lira. I've thought about it... maybe we were best friends, even here in Thirteen. I can't imagine anybody else knowing me as well as you do, and if anybody should be my best friend, it's you. But I couldn't possibly love you the way Gale does, just because of that reason."

She glances coolly at me. I wonder if she believes me. I wonder if she thinks she loves Gale.

"Actually," I say thoughtfully. I sit down. "I don't know if Gale loves you. I know he cares about you. More than a lot of people do... but if anything he deserves to see his Lira Hunt at least one more time, and you are not her. Hey, I thought I should tell you something. I forgot that you hadn't realized. Did you know I finally made a move with Katniss? She's my girlfriend now. You would've been happy about that. You would have thrown a party because of it."

I see her look at me.

I smile. "Aha."

"What?" she asks sharply.

Laughing a little, I shake my head. "You may be a soldier for the Capitol, but I still see a little bit of Lira Hunt in there. The Lira that we know and love."

"How could you possibly think that?" she demands.

I half-smile. "I just know. Because you and me, Lira Hunt... we're people people."

"People people?" repeats Lira.

"People person. Except plural. So people people," I explain. Again, she is silent. So, I stand up. "I'll talk to you soon, Liar."

I walk outside, where Katniss, Gale, and Rue are waiting.

"Well?" asks Gale hopefully.

I look at him. "She's not gone. Not completely. There's hope."

"What makes you say so?" asks Katniss. She is doubtful.

I begin to walk as I answer, "I just know, Kat."

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