AN: Here's a little bit of lunchtime action. Didn't have time to finish reviewing this morning so my turkey sandwich and I had a working lunch in order to get this out to all my lovely readers. Song suggestion for next chapter: 'My Little Box' by John Frizzell (youtube it). Sexiest song ever... I challenge anyone to tell of one sexier. Also rather fitting for the next chapter.

Stayed Silent

Katniss stood at the precipice of a crater in the ground so deep that she couldn't even see the bottom. Accidentally, she kicked a rock the size of her fist over the edge and watched as it tumbled into the abyss below.

She listened.

Nothing. She closed her eyes, straining through the silence, waiting for any indication of how deep this gash in the ground before her went. Nothing. Finally, she gave up trying to hear its depth and when she opened her eyes, she saw someone on the far side.

Rue.

She stood there holding two dolls, one in each hand. She cradled each close to her. She kissed the head of the doll on its silver hair but the face began to crack and crumble beneath the little girl's lips. Prim stood beside Rue now and carefully took the black haired doll from Rues trembling grip. Her sister held the doll at arm's length before backing away into the darkness that lay behind both of the young girls. Rue then looked up, her eyes dripping tears as she tried to hold the breaking doll together. Katniss and Rue stared at one another for several long moments before the young girl smiled sadly at the victor. Then she sat down on the edge of the gaping hole, knocking a cascade of tiny pebbles into the inky abyss. Rue kissed the head of the disintegrating doll, stared into Katniss's eyes, mouthed the words 'I'm so sorry.' and pushed herself over the edge.

Katniss's eyes shot open, her heart pounding in her chest and her body covered in a fine sheen of cold sweat. The only thing that kept her from screaming at the thought of the disturbing dream was the blonde hair she saw splayed out on the pillow next to her. She took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly slipped from the warmth and comfort of her little Prim. She needed to clear her head, move around and try to forget that she was twenty-three levels underground. She shivered. Of course all of District 13 would be underground she thought ruefully. Katniss could practically feel the weight of the earth pushing at the walls, trying to break through and bury her alive.

Shaking her head after the bracelet kissed her arm she carefully slid open the door to the room she shared with Prim. Of the three beds, they were sharing one, something they'd often done so long ago back in the Seam. These beds, while not large, were a bit bigger than what they'd had back in 12. She smiled at her sleeping sister as she closed the door. The hallway was white and light green with no decorations along the walls. It extended for hundreds of yards in both directions and this late at night it was dimly lit from small lights that lined the base of the floor at regular intervals. The overhead lamps were all off with the exception of every fifth one or so. It gave the narrow hallway a somewhat deserted, almost haunted appearance that did nothing to diminish Katniss's nightmare induced unease. No one seemed awake at this hour so she just started walking.

Earlier, before arriving at her room, a tiny woman with hawk like features had given them a brief tour of the level they were quarantined within. Even though Katniss hadn't paid much attention, too preoccupied with seeing her sister once more, she somewhat recalled where the kitchens were. She wasn't hungry but it was the largest space on the floor as she recalled. It seemed like the best possibility she had to try and shake this growing sense of claustrophobia. She stopped at an intersection, looking both ways but found that everything appeared identical. That's when the map on the far wall caught her eye. She walked over to it and noticed the red dot on the map with a neat little label that read, 'you are here'. The simplicity of it actually made her smile. She was in the middle of the 'BC' block of the floor. She traced her finger down the regular blocks of rooms shown on the map until she saw the larger section marked 'galley', what she remembered the woman had called the kitchens when they'd passed by. She took in her current location and headed off. She arrived five minutes later, taking the time during her trek to marvel at just how massive this underground structure really was. It would take her ten minutes just to walk from one side to the other. As far as she knew, there were thirty underground levels… the shear number of people this place could hold was staggering. She wondered how many of the levels were dormitory levels, how many held other purposes and what those other purposes included. She'd also heard that this wasn't the only underground structure found in District 13.

She finally arrived at the doors marked 'galley' and pushed through the wide, swinging double doors, immediately feeling the non-existent weight lift from her chest. She breathed a little easier as she walked down the walkway between large stainless steel countertops. The kitchen took up three quarters of an entire block, a block normally holding ten dorm rooms. Katniss moved from the center of the room and headed to one of the walls lined with sinks, cabinets and cook tops. She opened one cabinet out of detached curiosity and found it empty of anything except a few clean dishcloths and a white, unmarked spray bottle. She closed it and started to head back toward the front of the kitchen, nearer the double doors. Stopping before passing by some larger cabinets with louvered doors, Katniss opened one to find several aprons, hats, potholders and other kitchen related clothing but nothing particularly interesting. She was about to close it again when she heard the sounds of feet running down the outside hallway.

Her heart stopped; she didn't know if she was supposed to be in here or not. Standing stalk still, she listened, as the sound feet grew closer. At first, she thought it was only one set of heavy feet but as the sounds grew even closer, she realized that there was a second pair, a far lighter, and a far quieter pair. However many there were in the hallway, she knew they are almost to the kitchen. Without putting much forethought into it, she ducked down and darted into the large cabinet, squeezing herself between the hooks and hanging items. Katniss just barely managed to close the door when she heard the double doors fling open. Heart pounding, she scooted forward and pressed her eyes against the louvers. The moment she did, she saw the already swinging double doors, burst forward with renewed energy as a bear of a man barreled through them. Immediately he ducked, narrowly missing the knife that lodged right where his shoulder had been only moments before.

"I'm touched, that's the third time you've avoided a center mass throw." Katniss knew the voice; she'd just heard it roughly twenty-four hours ago. She watched Brutus wearily stand once more as he readied himself to drop down again if needed. His dark eyes were pinched slightly with the smile that was broadly plastered to his face.

"I don't want you dead, just bleeding." Katniss almost gasped at the sound of that voice. Lachrimae Snow. She strained her eyes to look deeper into the kitchen. Just at the edge of the view the louvered door allowed her, she saw the woman, hair tied back in a low ponytail and disheveled, wearing what had to be a sleeping robe that barely skimmed her mid thigh. Undoubtedly she was barefoot and that would help explain the quieter footfalls in comparison to the heavy boots that Katniss could clearly see the large man wearing.

"How many more you got?" Brutus asked through heavily panting breaths.

"Guess."

Katniss couldn't tell what was going on at the moment and she had no idea what she should do. The bracelet activated and kissed her arm. Brutus certainly seemed to be the aggressor here but why? Weren't he and Lachrimae allies? Why would he attack her?

"You used two in your room, one in the hall and we've got the one lodged in the door behind me. How many more could you possibly be hiding in that little thing?" He leered. "I honestly didn't think you slept with the damn things."

"Then you're a fool." His smile vanished and his eyes narrowed.

"Just give it up. It was clever to hightail it out of your room…" She interrupted him.

"Too small of a space, you had the distinct advantage." Snow had now moved farther back into the room and Katniss could no longer see her so instead she kept her eyes on the man that had only inched forward marginally. She saw his smile return as he surveyed the room with quick movements of his eyes while obviously still keeping his main focus on Lachrimae.

"Yeah but you thought you could outrun me."

"Almost did." Katniss could hear the derision in the woman's voice. "You've gotten a little quicker since we last met." Again, Katniss could not fathom what was going on so she just continued to listen. Maybe they would kill each other, that way she'd be rid of Snow and even though she didn't know him, she wouldn't have to worry about this brute of a man.

"Few less pounds and a bit more training." He offered in explanation as he slowly moved forward now. Just when Katniss thought he too would move out of her range, he stopped and moved laterally until his back was to one of the large stainless steel tables. He put him hands on the edge and started to push back. Despite its size and obvious weight, it quietly moved back, the table on slick skids against the polished concrete floor. It didn't look like an easy task however as Katniss could see the man's large thigh muscles bunch beneath the strain.

"You'll still bleed." She heard Lachrimae say.

"Not this time. I want it more this time." Brutus said as the table now pressed firmly against the jams of the doors. "I think that's your last one right there and it'll be mine soon enough." He didn't get a reply as he moved forward again and out of her line of sight. From there, the voices stopped and it was quiet except for the breathing of the man she could no longer see and her own breathing that she was trying desperately to keep stifled.

Then she heard a crash, she heard the man growl before a pair of mostly bare legs zipped past her hiding spot, almost making her yelp in panicked surprise. Her hand shot up to her mouth to try to keep in any stray sounds that attempted to escape. She could see Miss Snow again as she started to push the table out of the way while reaching for the knife embedded in the door. Another pair of dark clad legs ran by the cabinet as Brutus bore down on his prey. Miss Snow failed to move the table away quickly enough and she seemed to know it, at the last moment, she spun around, her final knife in her hand as she took diagonal swipe through the air, intent on slicing into her pursuer. She was a fraction of a second too slow. He caught her arm mid swing, used her own momentum to spin her around, and wrenched her arm around and up her back before pressing her lower body against the edge of the table with his.

"Drop it, you've lost." Lachrimae groaned in pain but didn't release the knife. "Don't make me break your arm." He said darkly as he pressed more of his body against hers to keep her from kicking back or gaining any backward momentum. He knew exactly what he was doing; his movements were practiced, precise and highly effective. He then used his free hand to trace along the arm he held captive in the other. Carefully, he wrapped his hand around the thin hilt of the knife Lachrimae had still refused to drop. From her vantage, Katniss could see her once captor's last desperate attempted to flick her wrist and injure some part of the man that had her pinned. She failed. It seemed Lachrimae Snow, while deadly against most anyone was still capable of defeat at the hands of someone equally as trained as she. It didn't help that he probably outweighed her by at least sixty, maybe eighty pounds. The man seemed to be made of muscle.

Katniss still desperately didn't know what was happening but whatever it was, she now found herself torn between hoping he would kill the woman she hated and wanting to jump out of the cabinet and do… something.

She stayed put and stayed silent.

OoOoO

AN: OMG, now what am I doing? What was the point of this? Where is Peeta and where is Gale or Haymitch… why all these side characters taking up so much written space? Tehe. Because I like side characters and it's my story and I'm feeling cheeky… besides, there are plot points to explore that eventually tie into plot points I've brought up in the past. Love it? Hate it? Indifferent to it? Skimmed it hoping for some Gale or Peeta (naughty if you did but no hard feelings, I've done it)? Oh well. Now how about some review responses.

Rawr: No worries about not reviewing in a long time. I'm just happy you're still with me and ecstatic that you thought it was your favorite yet. It didn't get a lot of response… worried me a bit but to hell with it… still wouldn't change anything. :) El Presidente is plotting as we type.
JNGustin (Joahn): I love reviews that delve into the chapter a bit. I'm sure I've said it before but they are the ones that really let me see if people are picking up on what I'm trying to put out there. I won't judge, I'm sure I check for reviews as much as you hope for your phone to beep at you. I hope you like tomorrow's chapter… it'll be different? I've been excited to get Annie into this thing. Finnick deserves some sugar for all the good deeds he's been doing. I was going for the idea that Finnick had tried to keep his feelings for her a secret from the Capitol. He thought he'd succeeded but only because they never bothered her… seems they knew all along and Rima was the reason she was never used. While we won't actually 'see' her childhood, you'll definitely learn more about it. I love the Buffy reference… is she a Faith like character or not… we'll see. Oh, and we learn more about Haymitch too… in correlation to Rima… hehe. Since I hinted pretty hardcore that there was more to their shared back-story. THE PRESSURE! Ass kissing if perfectly acceptable as well. :) We can be FFBFF's… yeah, I typed that. You wouldn't be my first stalker… I think I can handle myself, lol. Thank you! –Jen-
Artist221: LOL. You can't please everyone. :) It probably would. I don't think Rima was blowing smoke when she said it… she wants the rebellion to be successful. This points to some of her motivations per her previous actions concerning this trio… So while there's still a love triangle of sorts that's going to happen, it's far more complicated than "I love her… Well I lover her more… No you don't…. Yes I do…". Peeta and Rima, what's going on there? Well shucks, I'm not gonna tell you yet. You're only missing something because I haven't revealed it… I'm just beating everyone over the head with his reactions to her(they had several encounters we didn't see afterall). There's a reason that Johanna was allowed to stay with her family and Finnick couldn't be with Annie… and it has little to do with Snow (dun dun dun), nothing crazy, just minor plot points.
kismet4891: Woot! I was worried… got a lot of traffic but not much written response… so happy a few of my regulars seemed to like it!
MaidenAlice: I hope the plan she had and the 'gift' she was given didn't seem too contrived. I enjoyed writing it either way, lol. I just love trying to tie her into the first book which she wasn't obviously in. I like trying to ground her character to it so that you could believably think she was working behind the scenes and we just didn't see her. Meh… that was my plan anyway.
catie8: (44)THANK THE GOODNESS! I missed you! I hope Spain was as awesome as I just know it has to be! I hope you went to The Prado. HEHE, yes, Snow is a rebel. Did you see that one coming? (50) "accidental yet paradoxically deliberate" what a fantastic description… I would have had Snow say just that if I'd thought of it myself. Get ready for angst… I didn't put it as my main story descriptor for nothing. I will give nothing away… will Gale get some? Only time, my furiously typing fingers and my wicked little mind will tell.
UltimateGohan42: Thank you! I will if you do! (Ok, I will regardless but the sentiment remains.)