CHAPTER 3.16

'I been thinking of our future 'cause I'll never see those days.

I don't know why this has happened,

But I probably deserve it.'


Two days had passed since Cato had last seen her.

Since then, he had been restrained and sedated to prevent him from charging into her hospital room and ordered to take two days off to recover. In other words, he had been banned from entering the Hospital for 48 hours to ensure he didn't cause anymore commotion to the fragile patients inhabiting it. However, no amount of time would help him regain his composure. Her bloodcurdling screams still rang in his ears. Silence was no longer his companion.

Seated in a corner of the armoury, Cato half-listened to the conversation that Gale and Beetee were having. Whilst he had no desire to learn about weapons to be used against the Capitol, he refused to be alone.

Finnick was enjoying his time with Annie and Cato hated to impose on their bright reunion with his thick cloud of despair.

Lifting his head, he smiled when Katniss shuffled into the room and after receiving a small smile back, he returned to polishing his sword. HADLEY had been engraved into the hilt and as he polished, he tried to ignore the images of Hadley blood staining the gold lettering as they flitted across his mind. He had done what he had needed to do. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on the unforgivable crime he had committed.

Cato's sanity was holding together by a thread and accepting what he had done that night in the Capitol would be the knife that snapped it. Falling apart was not an option.

Disgust swirled within Cato as he paid more attention to the traps that Gale had been theorising with Beetee. Whilst some small part of him admired the crafty intelligence behind it, the majority of it sickened him as he thought of the bloodshed and destruction it would cause. Murdering people who rushed to the aid of the wounded went beyond cruel; it was inhumane.

War warped the minds and personality of people in ways that they often couldn't recover from.

"Don't you think that's going a bit far?" Katniss voiced Cato's own doubts. "But I guess there isn't a rulebook on what's socially acceptable to do to other people."

Nodding his head in agreement, Cato stiffened when the hostile look was directed towards him. Whilst he understood that that wasn't the feedback Gale had expected/wanted, the blond saw no need for the harsh glare twisting the man's features.

"Sure there is. Beetee and I have been following the same rulebook Snow was using when he tortured Indiana and Peeta." Gale spat back, turning away from the two hurt people.

Slamming his sword back onto the rack, Cato stormed past Gale, following the distraught girl as she fled from the room. Ensuring his shoulder smacked into the dark haired man, Cato hissed 'low blow' as he passed. Catching up to the shorter girl, Cato walked in silence. The pair found comfort in the other's company.

Thinking to himself, Cato could see the reasoning behind Gale's barbaric traps. Snow had murdered hundreds of children, he had used dark methods to keep the Districts in line and he had performed unthinkable acts of torture on those who dared oppose him.

On the other hand, whilst the Capitol residents had been hungry for entertainment, their only crime in regards to the Games was being brainwashed into thinking the purpose of them was acceptable – a crime that some members of the Districts could be accused of. Murdering Capitol citizens in cold blood was far too extreme. Most of them were innocent. Most of them were children. Killing them would be no different to the deaths of the children lost in the Games. Did killing civilians make the rebels any better than Snow?

Lost in a battle of morality, Cato was ignorant to the man who had joined them until he almost slammed into him. Luckily, Katniss tugged on his arm, bringing him to a sharp stop.

"Come on." Haymitch addressed Katniss, panting slightly as if he had been hurrying. "We need you back up at the hospital."

Despite looking as dishevelled as ever, there was a spark of life flickering in the bright eyes of Haymitch Abernathy.

A spark of optimism.

"What for?" Katniss asked, palms sweating as her hope rose. "They're going to try something on Peeta. Something about childhood memories."

Curious as to how this would pan out, Cato was grateful when Katniss forced him along with them, as it would give him the opportunity to check on his beloved's condition. Checking his watch, he realised his 48 hours had been up three hours ago.

"I'm surprised they're willing to let you back into the Hospital after the way you behaved." Haymitch commented, sniggering under his breath slightly as he recalled the events he had witnessed.

Whilst Coin had been furious over Cato's aggressive behaviour, Haymitch had found the entire thing amusing. Until he had found out what had caused Cato to go feral. Whilst she had never been his Tribute, he had watched the young girl grow and some small part of him was very fond of the woman who had lost so much. She was adaptable but there was only so much a person could take.

"I only attacked two Doctors and one soldier." Cato defended. "It's not like I killed them."

"From what I heard, that was pure luck after the state you left them in."

Opening his mouth to protest, Cato furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when Haymitch began outright chuckling at the memory. Katniss just rolled her eyes at her mentor.

When she had heard the ear-piercing scream come from Indiana's room that night, her heart had plummeted. Fear had crept in when a heartbroken roar sounded afterwards, followed by a loud commotion. Half an hour later, a sedated Cato had been wheeled into her room and she had heard whispers of the mangled state of the people he had attacked.

Whilst they had had their differences (what with Katniss murdering her best friend and uncle and her threatening to murder Katniss for revenge), the dark haired girl knew the blonde had protected Peeta far more than Katniss ever had. For that, she would be forever grateful. Furthermore, she knew Indiana's death would be the end of Cato's fragile mental health.

"Coin needs to rethink her leadership skills if she believes you wouldn't go ballistic at being kept from your own fiancee. Did they ever tell you what was wrong with her?"

"No."

"You know, kid, I'm not supposed to tell you but-."

Unfortunately, before Haymitch could finish his sentence, the trio arrived at the Hospital and their attention was diverted elsewhere when Plutarch greeted them. Running his hands through his hair in frustration, Cato was once again left in the dark about the medical status of his fiancee.


Much to the dismay of the Girl on Fire, conversing with a childhood friend hadn't ended well for the tortured boy. In the beginning, Peeta's behaviour was neutral. He had recognised Delly and remained calm, not associating her with Katniss in the slightest. The situation took a turn for the worse when Peeta began asking difficult questions that Delly didn't have the training to answer craftily.

Peeta started inquiring about his home, his family and why he was currently in District 13. After being rescued from the Capitol, he believed he would've been able to return to the bakery and have his life go back to normal. Unfortunately, the truthful answers were complicated and wandered dangerously close to the forbidden topic of Katniss.

Sweating slightly, the young girl tried her best to respond, stammering as she avoided mentioning Snow, the Capitol, the Games or the heartbroken girl he had almost strangled to death. As soon as the word 'fire' was mentioned, something switched in Peeta's fragile, warped mind. A strange glint flickered to life in his eyes as they darkened with anger. His eyes glossed over with insanity before the manic shrieking started. Blaming Katniss for all the death and destruction, Peeta became further unhinged with each hateful screech.

After pulling Delly out of the danger zone, medics rushed in to sedate him just as he began accusing Katniss of being a Mutt. President Snow had twisted his brain into believing that the woman he had once loved was nothing more than a man-made Mutt sent to ruin everything he held dear. If that was what he had done to a boy who had known nothing – whose only mistake had been loving someone unconditionally – then Cato was terrified to see the condition that Indiana would be in. If she ever woke up.

Guilt surged through Cato as he recalled that the only reason she had information that would be of value to Snow was because he had told her. He had dragged her into an alliance that she resented, forced her to join a rebellion she had wanted no part of because of his own selfishness.

Joining the rebellion hadn't been a decision he had made because he believed it was the right thing to do. Instead, he had wanted a future with the blonde woman who had caught his eye during the 74th Hunger Games and who he had been given a second chance to be with during the 75th Games. A bad habit of Cato's was fighting for what he wanted, regardless of the cost. It had never occurred to him that the cost of his stubbornness would be the thing he would burn the world down for. Karma chose the most devastating moments to present itself.

Watching as Katniss fled, tears in her eyes, Cato found himself unable to follow. He was exhausted. He couldn't watch as he and his friends went through this pain anymore. Retrieving the prisoners from the Capitol was supposed to ease some of the suffocating weight pressing down on him. It was supposed to allow some semblance of happiness and normality return to his life.

However, after numerous days of agonising over their lost loved ones, Indiana and Peeta were still so far from their grasps. Still lost. Still gone. There was a chance they would never return. Somehow, that knowledge hurt more now that they were in the same building than it did when they were trapped inside the pristine walls of the Capitol.

Always so close and yet too far.

"Soldier Hadley," a medic approached his table as he ate his dinner. "Miss Summers has reached stable condition and you have been given permission to see her now."

Heart leaping from his chest, Cato clenched the edge of the table as the world around him began fading from view.

Gale beamed at his friend, hopeful that Cato would finally be able to relax.

Finnick clapped him on the back in joy and let out a cheerful laugh at the news. However, Annie, who was often in a world of her own, offered him a sad look. She knew more about Indiana's condition than he did because she had watched as Indiana deteriorated.

"I must inform you about certain aspects of her condition beforehand."


'My life was kinda short,

But I got so many blessings.

Happy you were mine,

It sucks that it's all ending.'