KatnissPOV

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in tonight. Whatever you are doing, stop. If you're cooking dinner, stop. If you're folding laundry, stop. I promise that my guest will not disappoint," Caesar says in a sparkly suit. His face is painted with make up, and it reminds me that other people are still living their lives. Caesar reported for work, as most of the Capitol citizens most likely did. Meanwhile, District Twelve is still smoldering. "Exactly five days ago, the Quarter Quell unexpectedly ended. Tonight's guest was a victor and a tribute in those games, and she's here to shed some insight into what happened."

I hear the camera pull away from Caesar's face, and I see myself in the tiny frame. I remember the technology from before the Victory Tour. I hear Effie's voice telling me to smile. I try my best, but it doesn't even begin to cover my scowl. "So… Katniss… welcome back."

I let out a small laugh and hope that my dry humor will carry me once again. "Hello, Caesar."

"Katniss," he says dramatically as he makes himself more comfortable. "I bet you thought you'd done your last interview with me."

I nod. "Yes, my plan was for Peeta to win the Quarter Quell." At least everything I say tonight won't be a lie.

Caesar leans towards me. "I think it was clear to all of us what your plan was. Sacrificing yourself so Peeta Mellark could live, even if it meant risking the life of your unborn child."

My eyes drop to my hands in my lap. I keep forgetting about Peeta's lie. I can't imagine how that must seem to everyone watching. Maybe they will see me as the monster that I really am. "Yes," I whisper, and it comes across as raw emotion.

"I think I speak for the entire world when I tell you that we are sorry for your loss."

I look up at Caesar and see that he is wearing a look of genuine concern. I have to remind myself that he is just a piece in Snow's game. He doesn't think for himself. His job does not define him. "Thank you."

"Why don't you tell me about that last day in the arena?" suggests Caesar.

My body breaks out into a sweat just thinking about the arena. "It was terrifying. It doesn't matter where the arena is, who you're against, or what day it is…" I say trailing off. Oh how I wish I was as good with words as Peeta is. "Every hour brought a different horror, and you are constantly looking over your shoulder. We were at that point in the game where alliances break. Friends turn on one another, and I didn't want to be the one to shoot first."

"So you asked Peeta to run away with you," Caesar comments. He makes us sound like lovesick teenagers.

But at this point, I'll take what I can get.

"Yes, but we were so caught up in Beetee's plan that we didn't. Because of this, we were separated that night." I feel a shiver run through my mind as I remember feeling like a caged animal.

"Peeta wanted to go with you and Johanna- at the lightning tree," Caesar tells the world as if they had forgotten. Something tells me that everyone was glued to their television at this point in the games. They had to see if the plan would work or not.

"Yes, but we were outnumbered. We had to do as they said."

"What happened next, Katniss?" Caesar asks. "We watched it play out, but we want to know what happened from your point of view."

I swallow hard. This is what Snow wanted. He wanted me to defuse the Districts. To tell the world that I know nothing about the rebel plan. To ask them to lay down their weapons. So, I say, "The wire snapped, and Johanna knocked me unconscious. I remember the room spinning and the smell of my own blood as she dug into my arm." I look down at my healed arm.

"She removed your tracker," Caesar informs me, but I things start to make more sense. "It was part of the rebel plan."

"Peeta and I knew nothing about a rebel plan," I say defensively.

Caesar holds up his hands as if to surrender. "Okay, okay. What happened next?"

"I was dizzy and confused, but I knew that I had to find Peeta," I say as the memory flashes before my eyes. "I found Beetee on the ground, and Peeta's knife with the wire wrapped around it."

Caesar cuts in, "The world watched as you tried to figure out what to do."

"Yes, I didn't understand Beetee's plan. I don't think any of us really did, but I knew that it was important if he was willing to risk his own life. So I wrapped it around the arrow and shot the forcefield."

"Let me get this straight," Caesar says as he moves to sit on the edge of his seat. "You were not involved in the rebel plan?"

"No, I knew nothing about it."

"You didn't shoot the forcefield to try to break it?"

"No," I say honestly and grip the arms of my plush seat. I desperately try to hang on to reality. The games are over... or are they?

"Peeta wasn't part of the rebel plan?"

"No, no one told us anything. We thought we were going to die in the game trying to keep the other alive!" I say while getting worked up in the process. Caesar places a hand on mine to calm me, but it has the opposite reaction. I jerk my hand away as if I've been burned.

Caesar's face pales. He did not expect me to react like that. "I'm sorry, Katniss," he says in a gentle voice. "Is there anything you'd like to say to the rebels?"

"Yes," I say and look straight into the cameras. "This won't end well. A war will result in the deaths of millions. We can't fight one another. Lay down your weapons before it's too late." I hate the words, but I know that they must be said. How many more districts will be burned to the ground? A tear slides down my face as I think of how terrified my mother and Prim must have been when those bombs started dropping.

"So… are you calling for a cease-fire?" Caesar asks, helping me.

Ah, that's the word I was looking for. The underlined word that I needed to say to please Snow. "Yes, I'm calling for a cease-fire," I say with a sigh and look anywhere but at the camera.

Caesar turns to the camera. "All right. I think that wraps it up. Thank you for coming, Katniss. Remember to check back in as we interview our other victors over the next couple of days. Now back to our regularly scheduled program."

We sit frozen as the music plays out. A man dressed in a black suit gathers Caesar and leads him out of the room. Behind me, I hear my two guards approaching. My arms are pulled up harshly despite me not resisting. My hands are handcuffed, and I'm escorted from the room.

President Snow's mansion is gaudy with dark wood and crown molding. I'm led down a crimson hallway, out a door, down some stairs, and shoved into a shiny, black car. The drive is short, and I recognize the building the second I see it. The Training Center. We load into an elevator and travel down. So far down that I feel my throat begin to close.

They've turned the Training Center in to a prison.

Along one wall, there are cages. Silver concrete floors and no beds or chairs. The walls of the cages are clear, see through except for a few feet at the bottom for privacy... How nice of them. It takes me a second to see that two of the cages are occupied. I catch Johanna's eyes and see they are black and blue. She smirks at me, but my face can't hide the horror that I feel. The other occupant is lucky. Annie sits in a while jumpsuit in the middle of the cage. She hugs her knees like she's trying to hold on to reality. I see no physical injuries on her.

I'm shoved into an empty cage beside Johanna and across from Annie. The guards leave the shackles on.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. The Girl on Fire," Johanna sneers. "You look like an angel!" The last part is sarcastic.

My eyes glare daggers at her even though she can't see it through the partition. "What's going on?" I ask.

"Maybe you should be tell me what's going on," she spits back. "Why am I being beat while you play dress up?"

I take the end of my white dress and wipe the beige paint off my face. I leave the eyes alone so it won't smear. Maybe I did learn something from my prep crew. "I did an interview."

"And?"

"And Snow made me call for a ceasefire."

"A ceasefire!" She exclaims with a mad chuckle. "You really are brainless! Do you know how much damage you caused?"

"No," I tell her in an annoyed voice. "I don't know anything because no one told me anything."

Johanna sighs. "It's better that way." She sounds sincere.

"How?"

"Because he can't hurt you. You have no information to give him."

"He's already hurting me!" I hiss. "He burned my district to the ground. He captured Peeta!"

"He did?" She asks quickly. I hear a shifting, and then I see her. Johanna peers over the partition to look at me. Her black eye looks worse than it did a few seconds ago.

"Yes."

"You saw them?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"He told me."

"You didn't ask for proof of life?"

I roll my eyes at her. "Was I supposed to? I've never been held hostage before, Johanna!"

She narrows her eyes at me. "I cut your tracker out so the rebellion could rescue you."

I nod. "I know, but something went wrong because we're still here."

Johanna shakes her head at me. "No, I was never meant to be rescued."

My eyes snap to her, and every ounce of sarcasm in me evaporates. "Then he was right..." I mutter under my breathe.

But she still hears me. "Who?"

"Peeta," I answer louder. "He thought the morphling from Six sacrificed herself for him."

"She did," she answers, and my mouth goes dry. "The few of us that were part of the rebellion knew that it would die along with you. We knew that we had to keep Peeta alive to keep you alive."

"That's crazy," I tell her.

"That's what this rebellion means to us," she tells me. "You caused a lot of damage by calling for a cease-fire."

"Peeta was always better with words."

Johanna smiles at me. "I know."

"So what happens now?"

"We wait and try to stay alive."