Disclaimer: Filler chapter.

The angry screaming coming from upstairs causes me to flinch and I can't even pick out the words being said. Kasen returns to the kitchen as if nothing's happening and I follow after him.

"Who's up there?" I ask, my eyes widening. "Someone from the Capitol?"

"Oh yes," Kasen nods, reaching for the stove and switching it on to start a pot of tea. He knows me so well I don't even need to ask for it.

"Well?" I'm basically on his heels waiting for a response.

"That doctor man," he shrugs. "The one who tested you. He wants to test you again. Something about faulty equipment… I don't know." He hums like it's no big deal but it just agitates me.

"But we already know that I have the disease," I mutter angrily. "What more could he want? Different equipment isn't going to change anything." Kasen shrugs and continues to busy himself. I have a hunch he knows more than he's letting off but I don't question him and further considering me he isn't pressing about my night. I sigh and collapse into a chair at the kitchen table. "How's my father? Besides being angry at me?"

"Angry at everyone and everything." I hear something smash against the floor and another burst of noise constituting some yelling. I wonder if my mother's asleep, and if so how she manages to sleep through this with or without morphling. "I'd leave him be if I were you." I tap my foot angrily, because Kasen definitely knows more than he's saying. Finally he sits across from me and glances around the kitchen. "Grash thinks your house is bugged," he whispers faintly. "He also is trying to get your father against the Capital or something. Something to do with a mockingjay, I don't know."

"That's contradictory. If we're bugged then…"

"Exactly," Kasen shrugs. "I mean I know he's from the Capitol but I didn't think they were all idiots. Might be a set up. I honestly don't know. I only catch bits and pieces of the conversation when it comes down the vents." He looks around again. "You know the gas leak at the mines today?" I nod. "It was staged."

"What do you mean it was staged?" I mutter.

"It didn't happen, Madge. You're a smart girl, think." I furrow my brows and glare at him. Why would someone stage a gas leak in the mines? "If people aren't working…"

But then it hits me, "Then they don't get paid." He nods. "But… but who staged it?"

"Bits and pieces," he repeats dully. Moments later the back door slams open and Bristel rushes in.

"Sorry I'm late!" she shouts. "Don't tell your dad!" I run my fingers across my lips as if I'm zipping them and she collapses into the chair next to me. "Hey Kasen," she nods to him, and he nods back as he gets up to finish the tea. "Can I get a glass too?" Again, he nods. "Who's upstairs?"

"Grash," I mumble. Bristel's eyes raise and she looks up.

"Already?" Both Kasen and I turn to look at her but she's looking down at the table by the time we do. "It's early, is all I mean."

"It's the afternoon," Kasen replies, his eyes narrowing on her. Her cheeks flare up but she doesn't respond to him.

Instead she turns toward me, her eyes widening. "Madge, what's on your neck?" I groan and throw my head into my hands.

Grash is ushered out of the house before I even get a glimpse of him. I'm too busy talking to Kasen about how wonderful it feels that spring is finally here. How the birds are chirping and the grass is green again. I don't even realize Bristel gets up to escort Grash out. I do however catch her walking back in.

"I didn't even notice you got up," I say, and she shrugs, walking over to the sink to do some dishes. "Were you talking to Grash?"

"No," she shakes her head. But she's lying. Bristel's lying to me I can hear it in her voice. "Just making sure he actually left." A few moments later a timid knock echoes through the house. "I'll get it."

"No, I'll get it," I say, and then we both rush to the door. I think she's expecting it to be Grash again, and I think I am too, but it's not. It's Peeta. Wide eyed, broken hearted, Peeta. In the midst of my night I seem to have forgotten all about him. The entire situation rushes back into my thoughts and my eyes are already filling with tears. They're going back. Bristel makes her way back to the kitchen as I run forward into his welcoming arms.

"Hey," he croaks out, but I won't release my grip on him. Before I know it I'm crying again. As much as I try not to, I do. "I just wanted to stop by. Say hello. You know…"

"Peeta," I croak too, I swear I hear him chuckle. I pull away and my hand cups his face. "It could be Haymitch," I say weakly, but he shakes his head. Would that make it any better?

"It'll be me. I want it to be me." He ushers me outside and pulls me to sit on the porch next to him. My head leans into his arm and he sighs, holding me close. "What I told you about making Katniss mine… it was wrong. That's all wrong, Madge. You can't force people to love you."

"What do you mean?" I mumble, my voice muffled by his sleeve.

"All that matters is that I love her. That she lives… I don't care what happens to me." He throws his head back and lets out a laugh. It's so sudden it startles me and I pull away to meet his eyes. "Is that pathetic? That I'd give up my life to save the girl I'm in love with despite her being in love with someone else?"

"No, Peeta," I touch his arm. "It's not pathetic. It's not." His head drops into his hands and he rubs his eyes. "Peeta listen to me," I've finally stopped crying but I can still feel the lump that lingers in the back of my throat. "Do everything you can. I'll help. I'll help you fight."

"Fight for what, Madge?" he groans.

"No matter what, two of you come home. A mentor and a victor. Right?" he looks up at me and hesitates. "You have the advantage! You were just there; you don't know any of the others in the Games!" His eyebrows knit as he looks away, but I can tell he's still listening. "Get Haymitch to stop drinking," I say quickly. "Train. Be a Career."

"Madge," he tries cutting me off but I stop him.

"No, Peeta. I'll help. I'll do anything you need me to do, but two of you are coming home."

"I'm going into that arena," he forces. "I'm going to make sure Katniss gets home."

"And she's going to make sure you get home," I drawl. "You think she doesn't love you but she does. Just in a different way." Still he doesn't look at me, but I keep talking. "Either way, one of you is coming out of the arena, if not both."

"It's not going to work that way again, Madge," he snaps.

"I didn't say it would be that way." Peeta starts shaking his foot and rubs at his chin. "Call Effie, make her send you tapes of the other Games. Watch them. Learn about your competition. You can do this, Peeta." Finally, he looks back at me. "Did you sleep at all last night?" I ask quietly and he shakes his head. I can tell. The bags under his eyes are heavy and dark.

"I've gotta go," he mutters. He stands up and grabs my wrist, pulling me up as well. Again, he hugs me. "You really think so?" he asks. "That she loves me?"

"Yes," I reply through a muffled voice. "Do what I said, okay? Please?" He releases me and nods. "Right now."

"Right now?"

"Right now," I repeat. He nods again, his jaw locking as a muscle in his cheek twitches. His eyes turn piercing blue and he sighs, nodding one more time before he strides off down the stairs back toward Victor's Village.

Only after he's gone do I wonder where those ideas came from. I spit them out like I had them all planned when in truth they just bubbled out of me. The depths of my mind. My finger twirls around the ring Haymitch gave me. Free once more, he said. Free they'll be, too.

I wait until night to sneak out and visit Haymitch. I know Katniss has got to be at home by then and Peeta must be off painting or throwing his fist at the wall. I don't even knock, I just slip through the door. He's passed out at the kitchen table, a half empty bottle in his hand.

"Haymitch!" I shout, and he rouses immediately. "Give me that," I grumble, yanking the glass out of his grip.

"Peeta tried to take it all," he mumbles to me. "Didn't find this one! Lousy boy dumped it all down the drain…" he trails off and rubs at his eyes. I suppress the smile that wants to shine when I hear what Peeta did. I have to seem strong right now, in charge. I didn't expect him to dump it all down the drain… he's smart. "What're you doing here anyway, kid?"

"I came to give this back," I tell him, yanking the small piece of jewelry from my hand. "I want you to have it."

"I won't be going in," he mutters. He's obviously talked to Peeta. "It was a gift."

"It doesn't matter, Haymitch." I pull his hand up and shove the ring on to whatever finger it manages to fit on. "Wear it. You know what it says, right?" He rolls his eyes and pulls his hand from my grip. "Free once more. You're smart, Haymitch." His eyes dart toward me and then down at the ring.

"What're you trying to say, sweetheart?"

"Get them out." I hesitate for a moment considering I don't have any solid proof, but I go for it anyway. "There was a man in my house today. Apparently he's… he's…"

"Spit it out, would you?"

"He's trying to get my father against the Capitol." Haymitch raises an eyebrow and I slump into the chair across from him. "Do something. Anything!" His eyes dart around like he's studying my face and he nods slowly.

"What was this guy's name, eh?"

"Grash, he's from the Capitol. I don't know… he ran out before I could ask anything." Still, Haymitch nods slowly.

"Peeta wants us to train, that your idea?" I drop my eyes and he smirks. "It would appear you're my Goddaughter after all." There's a long pause before he says anything else. "Katniss and me, we'll get our names drawn."

"How do you know?" I ask. "It could be Peeta."

"No," he cuts me off. "It won't be. The entire thing'll be rigged. People they want gone, people they should've ended awhile ago. Rebels. The crazies. Cresta. Mason. Chaff."

"You're not a rebel," I say quietly. "You're a drunk."

Haymitch lets out a hearty laugh and then shrugs, "Gotta be a drunk for a reason, eh?" He rubs at his chin and glances down at the ring. "Let me know anything you find out about this Grash fellow, alright?" I nod and he smiles. "Thanks for the ring, sweetheart."

The next following weeks pass quickly. Gale shows up in the middle of the night for some kisses. We haven't had the chance to talk to my father, or Katniss. I think he wants it that way. I honestly don't think he wants her to know. Maybe it's best that way. I manage to sneak Katniss the newspapers I steal from my father's office when he isn't home that are betting on winners. She seems to be at the top in most of them, along with some people from the Career districts. Haymitch learns how to run again. Prim visits to play the piano on days she can't focus. Peeta asks me to pose for a picture that he won't let me look at.

I visit Katniss one night, a night closer to the Reaping. "Madge," Katniss sighs as I thrust the paper her way. "You don't have to keep doing this."

"You're my friend, Katniss," I enforce. "I can't run fast, I'm not athletic." She smiles at me and accepts the paper. "This is all I can do to help." Then out of nowhere she pulls me into her arms for a long hug. "Katniss," I sigh.

"You've always been a true friend," she chokes out. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She drops her grip on me and glances down at my necklace. A small laugh escapes her, "When'd you get that?"

"Before you even came home," I tell her. She smiles and reaches for it, examining it between her fingers gently before dropping it with a thud against my chest. "I believe in you, Katniss."

"I wish we could've had more time to hang out," she says sadly. "Like when you'd play the piano for me or when you'd try to shoot an arrow and it would end up bouncing off a tree." To that we both giggle and it feels like old times again. "I wish I could've taught you more."

"You taught me plenty," I reassure her. "And almost none of it had to do with the bow and arrow." A smile cracks on her face and she pulls me into another hug.

I stop by at Haymitch's house after leaving hers and tell him everything I've heard about Grash. My father has been shouting into the phone very angrily about rebellions and uprisings. I tell Haymitch about how Grash and Bristel seem to be having secret meetings. I tell him how my father clams up at the subject and no one seems to tell me what's going on. Even Grash only glances at me when he's by the house which is more often than not recently.

"You've got guts, Madge," Haymitch tells me. He sips on a cup of tea that night and hasn't had a drop of alcohol since the night I gave him the ring back. "Listen, I'm planning something. Not just me but a lot of us. We're planning something."

But that's all he tells me. That they're planning something. Before I leave, however, he gives me a long hug. I'm getting lots of hugs tonight. "Good luck," I mumble into his chest. Haymitch, my savior. Gone in a few days. Maybe for good. "Remember the ring."

"Couldn't forget it sweetheart."

As he pulls away I catch his saddened smile. "I couldn't ask for a better Godfather," I tell him before leaving his house. Hugs. Sad smiles. That's all anyone's had for the past few days. Peeta and I barely talk other than me rambling about how much I care about him, and him doing the same. If we stay on the subject for too long I have to leave because I can't stop the tears from falling.

But I'll get the chance to tell them again how important they are to me. After they're Reaped I'll visit them again. I'll make sure they don't forget me, that they know I'll never forget them. Except, there's a problem with my plan.

Katniss stands alone on her side of the ropes and marches to the stage herself when she's called. Haymitch was right, it's his name that gets picked. Peeta doesn't hesitate to volunteer. And then everyone is ushered into the Justice Building. Only, right after that they're ushered onto the train. No goodbyes. No farewells. I may never see them again and my feet pull me toward the train as quickly as possible but it's already shooting toward the Capitol. Prim is screaming in the background, Gale knelt down at her side whispering frantically to her. My voice is caught in my throat.

"New policy," Thread tells me with a sickening, repulsive grin.

And just like that, they're gone from me.

A/N: I know that was really fast paced but there wasn't much that could've happened between the two dates. Tried to slip in some Katniss/Madge as well as Peeta/Madge and Haymitch/Madge. Tiny obscure bits of Gadge which will be made up for next chapter. Kind of lame. Hope you at least partially enjoyed it.